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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Central and Eastern Africa: IRIN-CEA Weekly Round-Up 3-99 covering the period 16-21 Jan 1999
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO: Ceasefire proposal agreed
Five countries involved in the DRC conflict agreed to sign a ceasefire, along with the rebel Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD), Namibian President Sam Nujoma announced on Monday. The announcement followed talks in the Namibian capital Windhoek between the presidents of Rwanda, Uganda, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Angola's defence minister.
A statement issued by participants after the meeting claimed "significant progress" had been made towards achieving greater mutual understanding. According to media reports, the rebels welcomed the initiative but now had to examine the text in detail. The RCD was not invited to the Windhoek meeting.
On Tuesday, Rwanda urged the rebels to sign the ceasefire agreement, Reuters reported. The RCD "should be led one way or another to place their signature on the accord," Rwandan Foreign Minister Anastase Gasana said. He confirmed that Kigali would sign the agreement, reached by Namibia, Angola, Zimbabwe, Uganda and Rwanda on Monday. Later in the week, however, the Rwandan government said it did not believe a DRC ceasefire was imminent. "A ceasefire within three, four months is not expected soon," the Rwanda News Agency reported Minister in the President's Office Patrick Mazimhaka as saying. The insistence on the signing of an agreement, "and not the content of an agreement is definitely symptomatic of an impatient world that wants to run away from the problem and not solve the problem". "If you listen to the government of Congo today, it sounds exactly the way it sounded in August," he said. "We are very far from reaching a settlement, but then there are signs of hope."
The RCD, while welcoming the ceasefire deal, has insisted that only direct talks with President Laurent-Desire Kabila on democratic reforms would bring peace. "The agreement on a ceasefire is good for the foreign countries, and it may be good for the people of Congo, if it brings us a step closer to direct negotiations," senior RCD official Bizima Karaha said. Deputy leader Arthur Z'Ahidi Ngoma stressed: "We have to discuss who will be the parties involved in the negotiations ... and we will then have to discuss how to set up a transitional system that will lead to a true democracy."
Later in the week, the RCD said it was to broaden its movement to encompass other opposition groups, and was developing a political programme and federal constitution. The RCD intends to create a nationally representative 137-member assembly to act as a parliament. A 24-member government and an eight-person collective presidency is to be in charge of rebel-controlled areas. Ernest Wamba dia Wamba is to remain at the head of the movement, but as part of the collective presidency. The expanded assembly would have the power to check the presidency and government. The
programme was hammered out during the course of a general assembly that has been under way for the past two months.
Windhoek looking to withdraw from DRC
Namibia wants to disengage from the DRC conflict, Prime Minister Hage Geingob told AFP this week. "We are for ending the war," he said. "We need to concentrate on development." Namibia is believed to have spent US $10 million and sent 2,000 troops - a quarter of its army - to the conflict. The government has suffered considerable domestic criticism over its military intervention on the side of Kabila.
Zambia warns Angola
Zambian President Frederick Chiluba has warned his country would defend itself if Angola decides to attack, 'The Post' newspaper reported on Wednesday. Responding to Angolan government allegations that Zambia was supporting the rebel UNITA movement, Chiluba described the claim as "extremely sad" because Lusaka had neither the political will nor the finances to become involved in Angola's conflict. According to Chiluba, those making the allegations wanted to compromise Zambia's position as mediator in the DRC conflict. [For full report see IRIN-SA item: 'ZAMBIA: Chiluba warns against Angola attack']
Five opposition leaders arrested
Five DRC opposition leaders arrested at the weekend have been adopted as prisoners of conscience by Amnesty International. The men, held by the Agence nationale des renseignements (ANR), were detained after they were "invited" to ANR headquarters and have not been charged, Amnesty said in a release yesterday. The men include Union pour la democratie et la progres social (UPDS) Secretary-General Adrien Kunda Phongo, and an aide to UPDS party leader Etienne Tshisekedi, Jean-Joseph Me Mukendi Mulumba. UPDS said in a statement received by IRIN that they condemned the "systematic violations" of human rights in DRC and called for the immediate release of its two leaders.
UN official presents humanitarian plan of action
The UN's Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths visited Kinshasa to present needs and priorities for reinforcing UN humanitarian operations in affected areas of the DRC including the rebel-held east. Griffiths, whose mission ended on Thursday, focussed on principles of engagement for humanitarian organisations, an OCHA statement said. The principles of neutrality and impartiality were highlighted along with the need to address urgent humanitarian needs of the people and vulnerable groups wherever they are located. The DRC government responded favourably to these humanitarian principles endorsed by the international community, the statement said.
The nutritional situation in Kinshasa "continues to deteriorate", according to the latest WFP weekly emergency report (see
http://www.wfp.org). The food, medical and clean water needs of displaced people are among the humanitarian priorities. The plan of action is to be executed within the principles and "rules of engagement" devised at a November meeting in Nairobi which stress "impartiality and transparency" in the delivery of humanitarian aid.
The UN expects both sides to "accept and adhere to" the principles and rules, a UN official told IRIN. A "major impediment" to the resumption of full-scale operations, he continued, is the need for the return of looted humanitarian assets. Another UN official said he remained "very, very much concerned" about the failure of the rebel authorities to return dozens of UN cars and trucks looted at the outset of the rebellion.
BURUNDI: Burundi talks open in Arusha
The fourth round of Burundi peace talks opened in Arusha on Monday evening with an appeal to participants by mediator Julius Nyerere not to "unnecessarily prolong" the process. He added: "We can't end this century without giving hope to the people of Burundi," the independent Agence Hirondelle reported. Among the issues being discussed at the talks are the lifting of regional sanctions on the Burundi government, the inclusion of CNDD-FDD in the peace process, and the freeing of political prisoners. Nyerere proposed a South African general as deputy to Father Matteo Zuppi of the Italian San'Egidio community in the peace and security commission. The Arusha peace process has cost US $1.1 million between June and December 1998 and is projected to rise to US $6 million by June 1999. Nyerere stressed donors would be unwilling to fund endless talks.
A spokesman for the CNDD-FDD faction in Belgium told IRIN that a team from the party was en route to Arusha but that they were still not officially invited. "We are accustomed to being in the corridors", the spokesman said. In any case, he added, "the cards are being played in Burundi".
Parties determined to find solution to Burundi's problems
Representatives of the parties engaged in the Burundi peace process are determined to come up with concrete solutions to the country's problems, a spokesman of the Nyerere Foundation, Mark Bomani, told IRIN. "All parties are seriously deliberating both in the plenary and committee sessions. The process is peaceful and everyone is listening to the other," he said.
Debate on economic reconstruction and rehabilitation has taken center stage in the first three days of the proposed two-week talks. "We have no infrastructure, thousands of people are displaced, many are refugees. People's lives were disrupted and destroyed and this is the concern of all political parties represented here," CNDD's spokesman, Leonce Ndarubagiye, told IRIN.
UN Security Council calls for positive debate in Arusha
Meanwhile, the President of the UN Security Council, Ambassador Celso Amorim of Brazil, said yesterday that Council members expressed support for the Arusha peace process and urged the international community to provide financial support. "Members of the Security Council encouraged all parties, including the government of Burundi, to negotiate seriously in Arusha so as to bring an end to the volatile situation in the country," Ambassador Amorim said. The Council also appealed to regional leaders who imposed sanctions against Burundi to review them with a view to lifting them, or at least suspending them, on the basis of proposals by Nyerere.
ETHIOPIA: OLF claims it killed 62 Ethiopian soldiers
The Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) said it killed 62 Ethiopian soldiers, wounded 20 and captured 18 in an attack on two government garrisons at Tuqa and Hidi-lola in the Borana region on Friday night. An OLF statement, received by IRIN, said its forces also captured weapons and ammunition. The statement added: "Two stores full of relief supplies intended to be distributed to the people in the surrounding areas, but was diverted to be used by the Tigrean army was captured and duly distributed to the civilian people."
Meanwhile, the Kenyan authorities maintain that all is calm on the Kenyan side of the border, contrary to reports in the local press that Kenyan security forces engaged Ethiopian troops in fierce fighting. "There is no problem on the Kenyan side. No Ethiopian troops crossed over to Kenya and we are hiding nothing from anybody," a senior police officer told IRIN. "The truth is, there was fighting in Ethiopia at Hidilola, Tuqa and Magado between 15 to 18 km away from the Kenyan border on Friday," Senior Assistant Commissioner of Police David Munuhe said. After the clashes six OLF militiamen sought refuge inside Kenya at the village of Damballa Fanchana. The six failed to identify themselves, provoking a brief shoot-out with the Kenya police reserve in the area. Two of the policemen and two civilians were slightly injured, he added.
Ethiopian embassy spokesman Wondimu Asamnew told IRIN he could not confirm the incident or issue a statement because communication links with Addis Ababa were down. "I am sure the ministries concerned are working on the problem and soon we will have an official statement," he said.
ETHIOPIA-ERITREA: Annan to send special envoy Sahnoun
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Friday announced that Mohamed Sahnoun, his special envoy in Africa, would be sent "in support of the diplomatic efforts" of the OAU and the US in resolving the Ethiopia-Eritrea conflict. Sahnoun is expected to travel to the region soon. Annan expressed concern at "heightened tension" between the two countries, whose border dispute has rumbled on since May 1998.
UGANDA: ADF kill five, abduct six
Five people were killed and six abducted in two separate raids by the rebel Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) in western Uganda, the semi-official 'New Vision' reported security sources as saying. The attacks occurred over the past week in Kaberole and Bundibugyo districts. The rebels, operating in small groups and described as desperate and hungry by the army, also reportedly ransacked shops, stealing food and medical supplies.
RWANDA: Tribunal aims to speed up genocide trials
The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) announced this week that it would start to implement measures to speed up trials of individuals suspected of participation in the 1994 genocide. The measures, adopted last year, include a decision that judgement and sentencing would be dealt with as one and not two separate procedures.
The new procedures are to be implemented next Monday in the trial of Alfred Musema, a former director of a tea factory in Kibuye prefecture. He
is charged with seven counts of genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide, crimes against humanity and serious violations of the Geneva Convention. In his initial appearance in November last year, he pleaded not guilty on all counts.
Rwanda to drop French for English
Rwanda is to replace French with English as its official language. President Bizimungu said the reason for the change was due to France's involvement in the 1994 genocide, the weekly 'The EastAfrican' reported. "If you followed the recent report of investigations from the French Parliament, it is clearly indicated that France has been involved in the genocide in Rwanda and in the events which proceeded the massacres, because they wanted to 'defend their own language'," Bizimungu was quoted as saying.
CONGO-BRAZZAVILLE: Gunmen kill 10
Gunmen shot dead 10 people on Monday, including four Chadians, in the southern Brazzaville district of Massengo, the police said. The Associated Press cited a witness as identifying the attackers as Ninja militia, loyal to ousted Prime Minister Bernard Kolelas. The gunmen apparently selected their victims, shooting first the Chadian cattle traders, and then people identified as northerners. On Tuesday, the army announced it had lifted its blockade on the southern districts of the city. The government appealed to an estimated 80,000 displaced people to return to their homes after a "cleaning exercise" and the removal of 415 dead bodies from the streets, PANA reported. Meanwhile, the Cocoye militia of ex-president Pascal Lissouba still control the Moukoukoulou hydro-electric dam they seized on 6 January. Power remains cut to Pointe-Noire and other towns in the south.
Meanwhile, parliament approved budget expenditure of US $996 for 1999, raising spending levels above an austerity budget announced by the government in November, Reuters reported yesterday.
TANZANIA: Cholera outbreak threatens three districts
A cholera outbreak in southwestern Tanzania threatens three districts in the Rukwa region, MSF told IRIN. An MSF spokesperson said the situation is "bad in some areas, where they've run out of supplies." MSF is looking into providing supplies and training, she added. Radio Tanzania reported on Saturday that the outbreak had killed 56 people in the region and 529 others are infected. WHO was unable to provide IRIN with current data on the outbreak.
SUDAN: Ceasefire extended for three months
The Khartoum government and Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) agreed to a three-month extension of the ceasefire in Bahr al-Ghazal, the UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy for Humanitarian Affairs in Sudan, Ambassador Tom Eric Vraalsen said in a press conference in Nairobi last Friday. He added that Khartoum was equally concerned over the activities of maverick warlord Kerubino Kwanyin Bol, who recently defected back to the government's side with a force of 600 men, and is believed to be heading towards Bahr-al-Ghazal. Vraalsen also said there was agreement in principle for UN missions to open in the Nuba mountains.
Meanwhile, rebel spokesman John Luk said in Nairobi the ceasefire would be unilaterally extended by the SPLA for the first time to cover
central Upper Nile to help relief assistance, Reuters reported.
AFRICA: Nairobi to host world environmental conference
UNEP is to organise a world conference in Nairobi on the control of toxic chemicals from 25-29 January. The conference, following on from last year's Montreal gathering, will involve representatives from 100 countries in negotiating a global treaty to govern Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) known to cause cancer and other health problems. POPs include DDT, chlorine and PCBs - toxic chemicals that migrate globally through eco-systems and accumulate in the tissues of animals and humans. POPs are used widely in Africa to fight malaria and protect crops. "The session is to look at obligations that might be contained in a future convention," a UNEP official told IRIN. "If we can agree an outline for a legal framework, that would be great."
Nairobi, 22 January 1999 10:00 GMT
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