U N I T E D N A T I O N S Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Integrated Regional Information Network for Central and Eastern Africa
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[The weekly roundup is based on IRIN daily updates and other relevant information from UN agencies, NGOs, governments, donors and the media. IRIN issues these reports for the benefit of the humanitarian community, but accepts no responsibility as to the accuracy of the original sources.]
Central and Eastern Africa: IRIN Weekly Round-Up 41-98 covering the period 2-8 Oct 1998.10.9
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO: Fighting continues for control of Kindu
Fighting raged in Kindu in Maniema province this week, with both the rebel and government sides claiming to have the upper hand. Rebel-controlled radio in Bukavu, monitored by the BBC, on Wednesday said rebel soldiers already controlled some areas of Kindu and were advancing towards the airport. The DRC minister of defence, however, said rebel soldiers were retreating in the face of a government counter-offensive towards rebel-held Kalima, 80 km to the east, AFP reported. Casualties were reported by both sides, and the civilian population was on the move, reports said.
Meanwhile, Rwandan radio reported on Wednesday that troops fighting on the side of the government in Kindu include soldiers from Sudan, but none from Zimbabwe, Angola or Namibia.
Concern over Dungu refugees
UNHCR on Thursday expressed "serious concern" over reports that Sudanese refugees in the Dungu area of northeastern DRC were being forced back into southern Sudan by soldiers of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA). In a statement received by IRIN, UNHCR said SPLA soldiers went through settlements sheltering some 41,000 Sudanese refugees near Dungu in Province Orientale on 3 October, telling the refugees to go home. "The security of refugee camps must be respected and refugees themselves allowed to decide when it is safe to return home," UNHCR director of refugee protection Dennis McNamara said in Geneva.
The statement also said SPLA soldiers had ransacked UNHCR's offices in Dungu and Doruma, where communications equipment and vehicles were stolen. It said "several thousand" Sudanese had already arrived in the Yambio area of southern Sudan from the DRC. Meanwhile, World Vision on Thursday quoted local authorities in Yambio as saying returnee women and children remained stranded at the Sudan-DRC border and were in need of transportation.
Museveni, Kagame discuss DRC situation
Rwandan Vice-President Paul Kagame held talks with President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda on Monday to discuss the DRC situation, Rwandan radio reported. A joint communique issued after the meeting at Museveni's home village of Rwakitura stressed both countries' support for a negotiated solution to the conflict which took into account the interests of neighbouring countries. Both leaders reiterated their concern over armed insurgents using DRC as a springboard for attacks on Rwanda and Uganda. They also condemned the "involvement of Sudan" in the conflict and "questioned the wisdom of any continued support for the Kabila-Sudan alliance," the radio reported.
Serious cholera epidemic in South Kivu
A cholera epidemic in South Kivu is worsening, with a serious lack of drugs and functioning treatment facilities reported, humanitarian sources said on Wednesday. Particularly hard hit is the Shabunda area. Information collected from treatment centres in six of Shabunda's 26 sub-districts indicates that there are over 80 new cholera cases and 30 cholera-related deaths reported every day in those centres alone. After Shabunda was bombed, much of the civilian population fled into the forest, where there is a total lack of proper hygiene and drinking water, the sources said. Major cholera outbreaks and high mortality rates are also reported in Mwenga, Walungu and other areas of the province.
Food situation improving in Kinshasa
The food situation has improved considerably in Kinshasa since mid-September, but there is still a shortage of some staple foods, humanitarian sources report. While market mechanisms have rapidly picked up with the resumption of access to Matadi port, food items normally supplied from eastern DRC - in particular palm oil and beans - are in short supply in the capital. A shortage of maize is also reported. High prices and lack of salary payments have also negatively impacted the food-security status of many families.
Banyamulenge organisation distances itself from rebellion
A Banyamulenge organisation, the Forces Republicaines et Federalistes (FRF), has distanced itself from the rebel Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD), stressing that the RCD is not a Banyamulenge movement. The president of the FRF, Joseph Mutambo, told IRIN on Wednesday that while it supported the bid to oust President Laurent-Desire Kabila, the FRF was concerned with the survival of the Banyamulenge people and it did not believe the current war would bring about durable peace. He expressed concern that the Banyamulenge were not only being massacred by Kabila's regime, but also by anti-Banyamulenge militias still operating in areas under RCD control in Katanga province and parts of south Kivu. He said the RCD was unable to stop the activities of these armed militias.
Mutambo issued an urgent plea for the international community to assist Banyamulenge fleeing from areas such as Fizi, Moba and Vyura. He expressed concern over the possible outbreak of epidemics with the onset of the rainy season, saying people were arriving daily in Kalemie awaiting boats to transport them to Uvira. As of Wednesday, 11,000-12,000 people were blocked in Kalemie, he said. About 1,350 Banyamulenge had arrived in Uvira. "Practically the entire Banyamulenge population of Katanga has fled," he added.
TANZANIA: Hundreds of unaccompanied children among refugees
A total of 12,149 refugees have arrived in western Tanzania since the beginning of August, including 9,380 Congolese and 2,769 Burundians, according to UNHCR figures. Between 1-4 October, 567 Congolese refugees crossed Lake Tanganyika to the Kigoma area, mainly from the Fizi and Kalemie areas of eastern DRC. Refugees arriving from the village of Yungu south of Kalemie have reported that other Congolese wishing to cross are stranded due to lack of money and boats as well as rebel restrictions on free movement. Over 380 unaccompanied minors, mostly between 10 and 15 years old, have been registered among the Congolese arrivals in Kigoma since early August.
Namibia denies holding Ugandan POWs
A Namibian defence official has denied press reports that Ugandan soldiers allegedly captured in fighting in western DRC are being held captive in Namibia. "There's absolutely no substance to such claims," he told IRIN on Thursday. "All prisoners of war captured in the DRC by allied forces are normally handed over to the DRC authorities."
BURUNDI: Rebels, government involved in DRC war
An international researcher says both Burundian government and rebel forces are involved in the DRC war. In mid-August, rebel forces were observed in Kigoma, western Tanzania, preparing to travel to Kalemie to hook up with pro-Kabila forces. Rebels interviewed by the researcher said they had been promised weapons and assistance from the Kabila troops. International aid workers were quoted as saying there had been some movement out of the Kigoma refugee camps. On the Burundi government side, the attitude and extent of involvement changed following Kabila's anti-Tutsi declarations, the analyst told IRIN. After the withdrawal of Burundi embassy staff from Kinshasa, the authorities in Bujumbura reportedly deployed reinforcements across the border in South Kivu and near Kalemie in order, they said, to protect national security interests.
Violence reported in Kayanza, Gitega
Rebel attacks were reported in various communes of Kayanza province over the past week, WFP's latest weekly emergency report said. Some population displacement was reported as a result of the violence and National Route 1 was temporarily closed. The WFP report said the insecurity would delay the planned distribution of seed-protection rations in the area. Meanwhile, humanitarian sources reported that a clinic was attacked by rebels in Gitega province over the weekend.
UPRONA ousts leader, elects pro-Buyoya chairman
The main pro-Tutsi party, UPRONA, has elected a new chairman ousting Charles Mukasi considered as a party hardliner. The new leader is Information Minister Luc Rukingama, a close supporter of President Pierre Buyoya. Speaking on Radio Umwizero in Burundi, Rukingama said he had been elected by more than 80 percent of UPRONA's central committee members. The decision meant an end to the "two-year paralysis" of the party, he added. However, Mukasi told the BBC's Kirundi service he had been prevented from attending the meeting and blamed "government pressure" for the changes. He said he and his supporters would continue to work "in accordance with ideals of UPRONA".
A regional analyst on Thursday told IRIN the move was an attempt by President Buyoya, who is a member of UPRONA, to consolidate power ahead of the next round of Arusha talks on Monday. Mukasi has refused to take part in the Arusha process because he opposes negotiations with the mainly Hutu FRODEBU opposition party.
RWANDA: Akayesu appeals against verdict
The former mayor of Taba commune, Jean-Paul Akayesu, convicted of genocide by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) on Friday, has appealed against the verdict, according to an ICTR press release. He urged the Appeals Chamber to "substitute acquittal for the guilty verdict, or alternatively, to quash the guilty verdict and order a retrial". Claiming he was denied the right to be defended by a lawyer of his own choice, he accused the court of bias and being partisan. The prosecution has also appealed against not-guilty verdicts passed down on various counts. Akayesu was sentenced to three life terms for genocide and crimes against humanity, plus 80 years for other violations including rape.
UN urged to condemn Kabila's "genocide"
The Rwandan government has urged the UN to condemn the "genocide" of Tutsis underway in the DRC, news agencies reported. Addressing the UN General Assembly on Friday, Foreign Minister Anastase Gasana said steps must also be taken against President Kabila whose regime "incites the populace to genocide, to massacres and to racial and ethnic hatred". He reiterated the comments on his return to Rwanda on Monday, adding that Rwanda believed DRC must find a solution to the problem of citizenship. "We cannot continue to have stateless people on our borders," he said, according to Rwandan radio. In addition, DRC had to resolve the issue of armed insurgencies operating from its territory and form a proper national army as well as a transitional government.
Army flushing out rebels in northwest
Army operations are underway in northwest Rwanda to flush out Interahamwe insurgents some of whom are reportedly fleeing fighting in DRC's Masisi area, the Rwanda News Agency said. Soldiers killed six "infiltrators" near Vunga in Gisenyi prefecture on Monday night following a series of clashes in the area between the army and rebels. More and more people are arriving at a displaced people's camp in Gatonde commune in neighbouring Ruhengeri prefecture, where 16 rebels were killed last week, RNA added.
WFP distributing urgent food supplies
WFP last week distributed urgently-needed food supplies to thousands of Rwandans pouring back into Kanama commune. In a news release issued on Friday, WFP said it began the distribution of 120 mt of food, under military escort, last Tuesday. Nearly all the commune's 80,000 inhabitants were forced to flee into villages and the nearby Gishwati forest a year ago following rebel attacks. They are now streaming back after hearing the security situation had stabilised, although continuing sporadic attacks mean that many of the returnees prefer to group together near administrative buildings. WFP says this means that thousands of people are still displaced from their homes and unable to cultivate their land.
UGANDA/SUDAN: Kampala reinforces northern border
A private radio station said the Ugandan army has deployed troops to the northern towns of Adjumani and Pakele, allegedly bombed by a Sudanese Antonov at the weekend. The Central Broadcasting Service, monitored by AP, quoted regional commander Colonel Julius Oketa as saying the army is "capable of destroying Sudanese planes". According to aid agencies, nine bombs were dropped in the air raid on the two towns which injured six people.
Uganda has warned it has the capacity to prevent further Sudanese air raids. A statement on Monday from the presidency to UNDP's head of mission stressed that "Sudanese bomb attacks on Uganda . . . will soon be put to an end", AFP reported.
Khartoum claims it repulsed Ugandan advance
Ugandan troops suffered "huge losses" in men and equipment in clashes with the Sudanese army this week in Eastern Equatoria, Khartoum's army spokesman has claimed. Lieutenant General Abdel Rahman Sir al-Khati told the private 'Al-Rai Al-Aam' daily that a Ugandan attack on Mongalla, 50 km northeast of Juba, was repulsed after fierce fighting.
SUDAN: Heavy fighting continues
Meanwhile, heavy clashes were reported around Torit and Bor towns in southern Sudan between the SPLA and government forces, 'al-Rai al-Aam' reported. DPA quoted another Khartoum daily, 'Alwan', as claiming on Tuesday that the army killed 50 SPLA soldiers when it beat off an offensive in the Mundi district of the Nuba mountains.
International efforts to extend ceasefire
International efforts are underway to reschedule the postponed meeting of the IGAD technical committee on humanitarian affairs to discuss the extension and broadening of the Bahr al-Ghazal ceasefire. The meeting, cancelled on Monday, was to have brought together representatives of the Khartoum government and SPLA rebels. OLS coordinator Carl Tinstman told IRIN the three-month ceasefire, which expires on 15 October, "has been of tremendous help to us". "It has allowed us to operate without security concerns and greatly expand the numbers of people we can help."
In SPLA-held Ajiep, hunger-related deaths have fallen from 60 per 10,000 per day, to three per 10,000, OLS spokeswoman Gillian Wilcox said. There has been a comparable improvement in government-controlled Wau. In addition to the humanitarian effort, cattle are returning from their dry season pasture and wild foods have been replenished by the rains. In the longer term, however, a deterioration in conditions is expected during next year's "hunger gap". "It's only a temporary improvement, it's got to be kept in perspective," Wilcox said.
OLS is also concerned with the humanitarian conditions in western Upper Nile where faction fighting has limited access to those in need.
Nairobi, 9 October 1998
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