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
Tel: +254 2 622147 Fax: +254 2 622129 email: irin@ocha.unon.org
Central and Eastern Africa: IRIN-CEA Weekly Round-Up 1-99 covering the period 1-7 Jan 1999
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO: Rebels to probe alleged massacre
The rebel Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD) on Wednesday ordered an investigation into allegations that its forces massacred at least 500 civilians in a remote village in eastern DRC over the New Year. "If it is true, then those responsible will be punished ... but we cannot say if it is true or not," RCD leader Ernest Wamba dia Wamba told Reuters from Goma.
The Roman Catholic missionary news service MISNA said on Tuesday the massacre in the village of Makobola, 15 km from Uvira, was in retaliation for an earlier Mayi-Mayi attack in the area. MISNA said the victims had been shot and hacked to death and then buried. They included women and children and a local protestant church leader.
Human rights sources in touch with the region confirmed to IRIN the killings had taken place. They said a Mayi-Mayi group infiltrating the Uvira region from Fizi had attacked an RCD position in the Makobola area before escaping into the bush. RCD reinforcements from Uvira arrived in the village and exacted revenge on the local population, the sources said. An RCD statement denied its forces had massacred civilians in Makobola but said they had killed hundreds of Burundi rebels in the area where the alleged slaughter took place. The statement said that 400 Burundian rebels crossed into eastern DRC on 31 December and were routed and the majority killed.
ICRC told IRIN it had been informed that Red Cross volunteers were among the alleged victims. Regional ICRC information officer Nina Galbe said the organisation was collecting first-had accounts of the alleged killings.
Meanwhile, local sources refuted RCD claims that they still control Fizi. They said Mayi-Mayi and Burundi rebel forces hold the town under the command of an ex-FAZ officer, Colonel Njabiola. They added that Moba and Zongo were in government hands while the RCD controlled Nyunzu, Businga and Gemena.
Concern over humanitarian situation in Kinshasa
Humanitarian sources told IRIN that the situation in Kinshasa continued to be of "considerable concern". Chlorine stocks were now reportedly exhausted with serious potential ramifications for clean water provision and that food stocks were again low and market prices high.
Serious food shortages in Kisangani
In addition, they said flooding around rebel-held Kisangani had left the eastern city without electricity for the last several days. LWF, which sent a fact-finding team to Kisangani in late-December, reported that although foodstuffs were available the lack of purchasing power on behalf of the local population was contributing to serious food shortages. "Many Kisangani residents remain unable to feed themselves adequately due to lack of financial resources. This is evidenced by increasing numbers of children requiring supplementary feeding," the team reported.
In general, the team concluded there was a humanitarian crisis, though "not an acute emergency", saying many among the town's estimated 500,000 population had fled into the bush. "The isolation of Kisangani has reduced supplies of most commodities and has affected the health standards of the people. There are no supplies of soaps. Skin infections are very common among children and women," the team's report stated. In addition, it said a water purification plant was expected to have exhausted its supply of chemicals by the end of December. "After this date the population will only have access to untreated water and will suffer increased exposure to water-borne diseases," the report added.
UNHCR reports refugee exodus
UNHCR said renewed fighting in DRC has led to an exodus of refugees into the neighbouring Central Africa Republic and Uganda. The UN agency said that since Saturday some 5,000 Congolese refugees, mostly women and children, had fled the northern town of Zongo for the CAR capital Bangui. The refugees said they feared the town was about to fall to the RCD. In Uganda, UNHCR has registered more than 2,900 refugees over the past several days. Most of them had arrived from the DRC's Tutshuru district.
Government sends more troops to Zongo
Meanwhile, human rights sources told IRIN that 500 DRC government troops have been flown into Bangui to reinforce government forces in Zongo. The sources said the soldiers were ferried in on a plane requisitioned from the state mining company Societe Miniere du Kivu (SOMINKI).
Rebels reach accord
Earlier in the week, a threatened split within the RCD was apparently averted after talks with senior Ugandan and Rwandan officials, the Associated Press reported rebel leaders as saying. On Tuesday, AP quoted RCD president Ernest Wamba dia Wamba as announcing: "We have agreed on the objectives of the struggle".
The RCD's faction feuding essentially pits Wamba dia Wamba against Mobutu's former prime minister Lunda Bululu. AP said that Bululu was unavailable for comment on the reported reconciliation. In a New Year's address, Wamba dia Wamba lashed out at power-hungry and corrupt ex-Mobutuists in the movement who threaten to "destroy" the RCD. In the broadcast, a copy of which has been received by IRIN, Wamba dia Wamba said: "We will not allow that our politics of openness serves only these former rulers who have ruined our country and who are now looking to confiscate all power and to destroy the RCD movement." He added the RCD assembly was a "syndicate" controlled by ex-Mobutuists opposed to accountability and professionalism. According to news reports Wamba dia Wamba's address was cut off by his political rivals.
Lusaka peace talks likely next week
On the political front, the long awaited Lusaka peace talks on the Congo conflict are now expected to begin next week. Officials in Lusaka told IRIN on Friday the date would be announced after Zambian President Frederick Chiluba holds a final round of preparatory talks in Harare at the weekend with Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe.
The officials said Chiluba had cautioned after a visit to Rwanda this week that a solution to the DRC conflict "cannot be found in a week or a month". He met Rwandan President Pasteur Bizimungu on Thursday. He said the summit talks in Lusaka would follow a meeting of regional foreign affairs and defence ministers, and he appealed to all sides in the conflict for "patience" in the search for an end to the conflict.
TANZANIA: Government appeals for urgent food aid
Tanzania has appealed for urgent food aid to help cover what it described as acute shortages in 13 out of the country's 20 regions. According to media reports this week, Prime Minister Frederick Sumaye said that from now until July Tanzania will face a food deficit of some 600,000 mt. WFP country representative Irene Lacey told IRIN today that an FAO/WFP assessment mission was due in Tanzania on 17 January to help verify the situation. The mission is to be accompanied by donor observers. "We know there's a serious problem," Lacey said. "In addition to Dodoma and Singida regions, pockets of critical need have been identified in Iringa and Morogoro."
CONGO-BRAZZAVILLE: Army's conduct criticised
Government forces claimed they killed dozens of Ninja rebels in fighting south of Brazzaville while acknowledging the loss of at least four of their own men and two armoured vehicles, AFP reported. The clashes occurred on Tuesday in operations to flush out Ninja militiamen from the Linzolo hills, 20 km from the capital. Meanwhile, government radio has criticised the army's conduct in last month's fighting in the southern suburbs of Brazzaville. The radio commentary, monitored by the BBC, said the army had shown signs of weakness and serious lapses in military discipline, including looting.
SUDAN: New dress code for women
The government has ordered all women to wear Islamic attire and head scarves in public, news reports said on Tuesday. Public order police will ensure the new dress code is enforced. Respect for the new law would be a condition for entering the country.
Political associations apply for party registration
Seven Sudanese political movements on Wednesday applied to register as political parties under a controversial new law, news reports said. Among the organisations is the ruling National Congress. Any group of 100 or more eligible voters can create a political association and request registration, but must abide by Islamic Sharia law. The main opposition parties are boycotting the registration because it is being held under a constitution which they say does not reflect Sudan's diversity.
Food aid needs fall in south
Food aid needs in southern Sudan have fallen during the present harvest and WFP is reducing the level of food aid distributions. WFP plans to distribute 7,700 mt in January, benefiting between 900,000 and one million people, the agency said in its latest December report.
BURUNDI: Radio says 17 rebels killed near Bujumbura
State-run Radio Burundi reported a military operation was underway this week in Mubone, Kabezi commune and that 17 "terrorists" had been killed over the last three days. Burundi's Tutsi-led government refers to the mainly Hutu rebel groups opposing its rule as "terrorists". The radio quoted the commander of the first military region Colonel Juvenal Niyoyunguruza as saying the area had been declared a "combat zone" since August 1998. The same official says the population of Mubone zone have been asked to leave the hill and seek protection near military positions. Meanwhile, humanitarian sources separately told IRIN heavy fighting had been reported in Bujumbura Rurale over recent weeks.
In its latest report on Humanitarian Operations in Burundi, OCHA said that though the city of Bujumbura had remained calm over the holiday period, attacks had continued in conflict-ridden areas in Bujumbura Rurale, Bururi and Bubanza. Incidents were also reported in Muramvya and Ruyigi. The report said a heavy clash on 30 December had left 28 people dead in Mukike commune in Bujumbura Rurale. Four days previously, four people had been killed in another clash. On 27 December, four people were also killed in Kanyosha commune when the provincial Director for Agriculture and Animal Husbandry was assassinated.
GREAT LAKES: FAO reports overall improvement in food situation
FAO has reported an improved food situation in the Great Lakes region, but says the outlook in eastern DRC is bleak.
In its December report, FAO said that in Rwanda, the overall food situation has improved following a good 1998 B season harvest. However, the persistent insecurity in the northwestern prefectures continues to displace large and increasing numbers of the local population.
The food and nutritional situation of these IDPs is reported to be precarious. Recent estimates indicate that 300,000 persons are displaced in Ruhengeri, 250,000 in Gisenyi and 100,000 in Gikongoro. Food aid provided by WFP in these areas has doubled in the past six months.
In Burundi, the food supply situation, affected by a succession of poor crops and the embargo imposed by neighbouring countries, has eased with improved food production in 1998 and a revival of economic activities.
In the DRC civil strife has been occurring since the beginning of August, particularly in the eastern provinces of North and South Kivu, but also extending to Orientale, Maniema and Shaba provinces. The A season has started in these areas but insecurity is disrupting farming activities. Severe shortages of food and medical supplies are reported. Cholera remains a major concern, especially in the Shabunda area, where the cholera mortality rate is reported by some NGOs to be quite high.
Moreover, during the last B season, many farming households were unable to take full advantage of the favourable weather conditions largely due to a shortage of inputs. Large-scale population movements have been reported, both within DRC and to neighbouring countries. (The full report is available on the FAO website at
http://www.fao.org/waicent/faoinfo/economic/giews/english)
ETHIOPIA/ERITREA: Contingency plan for renewed conflict
A contingency plan prepared by regional authorities in Tigray estimates that another 268,239 people in the region would be displaced by the resumption of conflict with Eritrea. A UN report received by IRIN said the plan, presented last month, was designed to meet the humanitarian needs of the potential additional population displacement, which might exceed the absorption capacity of the local communities that host the displaced. There are currently 315,976 conflict-affected displaced persons in Tigray, most of whom are being assisted by local families, the report said. Should conflict resume, the contingency plan envisages the need for additional shelter materials, water supply systems, latrines as well as temporary schools and clinics for the displaced, while food aid requirements until the harvest in November/December 1999 would increase to 128,625 mt, the report said.
Nairobi, 8 January 1999 11:00 GMT
[The material contained in this communication comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. UN IRIN Tel: +254 2 622123 Fax: +254 2 622129 e-mail: irin@ocha.unon.org for more information or subscriptions. If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Quotations or extracts should include attribution to the original sources. IRIN reports are archived on the WWW at: http://www.reliefweb.int/ or can be retrieved automatically by sending e-mail to archive@ocha.unon.org. Mailing list: irin-cea-weekly]
distributed by - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Volunteers in Technical Assistance Disaster Information Center lists: listproc@vita.org sitreps nat-dsr web: www.vita.org appeal fireline - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Central/East Africa - http://www.vita.org/humanitarian/ceafrica