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
e-mail: irin@ocha.unon.org


HORN OF AFRICA
IRIN-HOA Weekly Round-up 35
28 April - 4 May 2001


CONTENTS:

ETHIOPIA: Buffer zone "not established" yet
ETHIOPIA: Thousands of Tigrayans without food
ETHIOPIA: Police break up university meeting
ETHIOPIA: Oromo youth demand release of detainees
ETHIOPIA: Buried armaments discovered in Tigray
ERITREA: One quarter of Eritreans at risk
ERITREA-DJIBOUTI: Isayas for talks with Guelleh in Djibouti
SUDAN: Ceasefire blocked by rebel demands, says government
SUDAN: Control of oil fields linked to human rights
SUDAN: Talisman helps finance Sudan, says Canada
SUDAN: Aerial bombardments should "cease immediately"
SOMALIA: Somaliland's referendum condemned
SOMALIA: Yemen denies supplying arms
SOMALIA: Vessel and crew freed
SOMALIA: UN Commission "concerned" over human rights

ETHIOPIA: Buffer zone "not established" yet

Ethiopia has rejected the boundaries of the Temporary Security Zone (TSZ)  
on the disputed border with Eritrea, news agencies reported on Wednesday.  
Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi told the head of the UN Mission in
Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE), Legwaila Joseph Legwaila, in a meeting on
Monday that the southern border of the TSZ should be established "as
defined by Ethiopia", and as stipulated in the 18 June Cessation of
Hostilities Agreement, said the pro-government news agency, Walta.

"As far as Ethiopia is concerned, the TSZ has not yet been established,
because it does not guarantee the separation of forces," Walta quoted
Meles as saying.

Prime Minister Meles told Legwaila that the only acceptable position was
that held by Ethiopia, and that the pre-war May 1998 borders were not
subject to change, according to Walta. Meles was quoted as saying that
Eritrean army and intelligence units had entered the demilitarised TSZ
disguised as police and militia. He said Ethiopia had granted UNMEE
freedom of movement by providing ground and air corridors, and that UNMEE
should seek similar compliance from the Eritrean government.

Spokeswoman for UNMEE, Angela Walker, told IRIN that UNMEE had declared
the establishment of the TSZ on 18 April. "The Special Representative of
the Secretary General [Legwaila] is continuing to have discussions with
both parties and addressing their concerns. The UNMEE Commander General
Cammaert is also continuing to talk to the military of both Ethiopia and
Eritrea." Walker said the next Military Coordination Commission would be
held in Nairobi, Kenya, on 22 May, where some of the issues would be
"brought to the table".

ETHIOPIA: Thousands of Tigrayans without food

Emergency food aid has failed to reach 130,000 people in eastern and
southern Tigray, northern Ethiopia, for March and April. Walta said on
Friday that although food had been distributed to some districts in
Tigray, poor coordination between relief agencies appeared to have
disrupted some deliveries.

Walta quoted the Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Department (DPPD) of
eastern Tigray as saying that more than 83,000 people living in Wikro,
Hawzen and Ganta Afeshum districts (woredas) had not yet received
emergency food entitlements. More than 46,000 people in Enda Meconni and
Amba Alage districts of southern Tigray were also still awaiting food
deliveries, Walta said.

Although emergency assistance had been distributed by World Vision
Ethiopia and the DPPDs in southern and eastern Tigray, they did not have
the responsibility for delivering aid to the districts in question, and
had expected the Relief Society of Tigray (Rest) to cover those areas, WIC
said. WIC quoted Rest as saying that, although it was distributing food in
seven other districts in Tigray, the five districts in question were "not
in its agenda for the provision of rations".

ETHIOPIA: Police break up university meeting

Hundreds of police entered Addis Ababa University campus on Monday to
break up a student meeting, the BBC reported. The students, who were
meeting to discuss a return to classes, dispersed when they saw the police
approaching, the BBC said. Security sources in Addis Ababa told IRIN that
there had been "some tension" on Monday. Last month student demonstrations
led to widespread riots, and the arrest of about 3,000 students - most of
whom were reportedly released last week.

According to the BBC, police chased students, who hid in their dormitories
or departments, while others jumped over the wall and tried to hide in a
nearby church. Local media said that Monday was the deadline for students
to return after the university was briefly closed because of protests. 
Local sources said the police had been checking student identity cards
against a list of names.

ETHIOPIA: Oromo youth demand release of detainees

The Oromo Youth Association (OYA) has demanded the immediate release of
students and activists detained by the Ethiopian security forces. The OYA
said that it "condemned" the activities of police in continuing to detain
student protesters arrested during riots two weeks ago. The OYA -
affiliated to the rebel Oromo Liberation Front (OLF)- called on the United
States, the European Union, the Organisation of African Unity and the
United Nations to impose sanctions on the ruling Ethiopian People's
Revolutionary Democratic Front until it "lives up to its obligations to
the OAU and UN charters on human and civil rights". 

The OYA said that over 20,000 Oromos were currently imprisoned in
Ethiopia, suspected of being OLF members, supporters or sympathisers. 
Local sources told IRIN that while there was no confirmation of the
numbers of Oromos currently detained, police had recently forcibly
intervened in a dispute on the Addis Ababa campus between Oromo and
Tigrayan students, which may have contributed to the tensions in the
university. The source added that there were concerns that the authorities
had taken the opportunity to arrest Oromo activists during the recent
unrest. The OLF withdrew from the coalition government in 1992. It is
considered a terrorist organisation by the Ethiopian government, which has
said it enjoys no support in country. 

ETHIOPIA: Buried armaments discovered in Tigray

The Chemical Weapons Convention Implementing Department (CWCID), of the
Ministry of Trade and Industry has revealed that 1,420 armaments items and
a considerable quantity of gunpowder were uncovered in Amba Alaga District
(12.59N 39.33E) in Tigray State, Walta reported on Wednesday. The
armaments were believed to have been buried during the Italian occupation
in the 1930s, said WIC. They were reportedly found during the digging of a
trench for the laying of foundations for a school extension construction
project. The items comprised include 775 artillery shells, 249 cartridges,
327 grenades, 69 fuses and an accumulation of gunpowder, said the report.

According to the CWCID, the Italians brought 80,000 tonnes of chemical
weapons into Ethiopia during their occupation. CWCID has urged the Italian
government to identify the sites where these had been buried and provide
the necessary help to effect their elimination, WIC reported. 

ERITREA: One quarter of Eritreans at risk

A quarter of the Eritrean population face serious food shortages unless
emergency assistance reached them soon, the World Food Programme (WFP) 
said on 27 April. The UN agency called on international donors to provide
US $33 million needed to assist over 700,000 people hit by three years of
drought and crop failure. "Eritrea and its people are facing a desperate
scenario in the year ahead," said WFP Country Director Patrick Buckley. 

The combined effects of war and drought had pushed the price of basic
foods beyond the means of most people, Buckley said. Crops had failed and
livestock had died due to lack of pasture, leaving families with little or
no income to buy the food they needed. As a result, this year WFP was
aiming to feed three times the number of people it had assisted in the
year 2000, he said. According to Buckley, total grain production last year
was a "meagre" 85,000 mt compared to 320,000 mt in 1999. The border
conflict with Ethiopia had hit food production badly last year, he said. 

ERITREA-DJIBOUTI: Isayas for talks with Guelleh in Djibouti

Eritrean President Isayas Afewerki arrived in Djibouti to a 21-gun salute
on Thursday morning, where he was greeted by Djibouti President Ismail
Omar Guelleh. The two heads of state were due to talk about bilateral
relations and regional issues, including Somalia. The Eritrean delegation
included Foreign Minister Ali Sa'id Abdullah, Health Minister Salih Makki
and acting Transport and Communications Minister Estifanos Afewerki.
Djibouti Communication Minister Rifki Abdulkadir Bamakrama told local
journalists that that the two sides had agreed to set up committees in
charge of "revitalising the various areas of our bilateral cooperation".
He said the main fields of interest were related to trade, industry,
transport and telecommunications. Security issues were also discussed.
President Isayas and his delegation are expected to go on Friday to
Tadjourah, one of Djibouti's two major northern towns inhabited by Afars,
an ethnic group which spreads into neighbouring Ethiopia and Eritrea.
Local sources said the visit to Tadjourah was taking place at a time when
the Djibouti government and the radical wing of the former Afar-led Front
for the Restoration of Unity and Democracy (FRUD) were on the verge of
concluding year-long secret negotiations. The source told IRIN that
Guelleh was expected also to press Isayas to support the Somali
Transitional National Government, which was established last year after
Djibouti-hosted talks. Eritrea and Djibouti resumed ties in March 2000,
after a 15-month diplomatic rift related to the Ethiopian-Eritrean border
conflict. 

SUDAN: Ceasefire blocked by rebel demands, says government

Demands by the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) that oil exploration
and exploitation operations in southern Sudan be suspended before a
ceasefire could be established have been rejected by the Sudanese
government. Ibrahim Mattar, a Sudanese government official, told IRIN that
the demands were "unacceptable conditions" and were blocking agreement on
a ceasefire. He said the government had no intention of suspending oil
operations.

He said previous demands were that a "comprehensive political settlement" 
be reached before a ceasefire could be established. Mattar told IRIN from
Khartoum that the government felt that the SPLA did not have a "clearcut
objective" and were deliberately blocking talks. He said the Sudanese
government would "keep all doors open" to attain a peaceful end to the
war. 

SUDAN: Control of oil fields linked to human rights

Amnesty International has called on the Canadian oil company, Talisman
Energy, to prevent human rights abuses in and around its oilfields in
southern Sudan. The international human rights organisation said on
Tuesday that there was a significant risk that Sudanese government forces
would use roads and airstrips, built to serve the oilfields, to commit
human rights violations. It said there was "little evidence" that Talisman
had taken any action to protect civilians from bombings or against forced
displacements in its area of operations. Amnesty International released
the statement on the eve of a meeting of Talisman shareholders. 

As the Sudanese government attempted to establish control in the new
Kaikang [9.18N 29.09E] oilfield, Amnesty said it feared human rights
abuses would spread. Civilians had suffered forced displacement and
unlawful killings by government-allied forces from the Hajlij and Unity
oilfields since 1999, Amnesty added. It expressed concern that oil
revenues would be used by the Khartoum government to increase military
expenditure. Military spending had increased by 96 percent since 1998, and
now stood at 84 billion Sudanese dinars per year. Amnesty quoted the
Sudanese government army spokesman, General Muhammad Uthman Yasin, as
saying Sudan was already manufacturing mortars, tanks and armoured
personnel carriers as a result of income from oil exploitation. The
Sudanese government has denied committing human rights abuses as a result
of oil operations.

SUDAN: Talisman helps finance Sudan, says Canada

Canadian Foreign Minister John Manley told parliament on Thursday that he
recognised revenue Talisman's operations in Sudan was helping finance the
Sudanese government, including military operations. But Manley also said
that there was evidence that Talisman might even be helping to ease the
plight of refugees and impoverished villages in war-affected southern
Sudan, Agence France Presse (AFP) said on Thursday. He told parliament
that he had no plans to introduce legislation to stop Talisman from
operating in Sudan. Were it not for the engagement of Talisman, "it would
be a much worse situation", Manley was quoted by AFP as saying. He
rejected arguments from opposition MPs, who had called on the government
to ban Canadian firms from investing in Sudan while the conflict
continued. He said he did not want to create a precedent that would have
to apply to other situations around the world; but he shared concerns that
revenues from Talisman and other foreign companies were "fuelling the
aggression and exacerbating the hostilities". 

Meanwhile, Sudan was on Thursday voted to take up membership of the
Geneva-based UN Commission on Human Rights, while the US - which has had
uninterrupted membership since 1947 - was voted off. Sudan was elected
unopposed to one of the four African seats, which drew criticism from the
US-based Human Rights Watch that "an abusive country cannot honestly pass
judgement on other abusive countries", AFP said. 

SUDAN: Aerial bombardments should "cease immediately" 
 
The United Nations Commission on Human Rights expressed concern at human
rights violations by the Sudan government, including restrictions on
freedom of religion, expression, association, and peaceful assembly. It
also pointed to arbitrary arrests, detention without trial, and cases of
torture. The Commission - which concluded its 57th session in Geneva on 27
April - said it welcomed the cooperation Sudan had extended the UN Special
Rapporteurs on Human Rights. 

The statement called on all parties to the Sudan conflict to respect and
protect human rights, put in place an effective cease-fire, and stop using
weapons against civilian populations. The government should "cease
immediately" all indiscriminate aerial bombardments of the civilian
population. It called on the southern-based SPLA to abstain from using
civilian premises for military purposes. 

SOMALIA: Somaliland's referendum condemned

The Transitional Government of Somalia (TNG) has condemned the planned
referendum in the self-declared independent state of Somaliland,
northwestern Somalia. The Deputy Information Minister Ali Muhammad Arale
described the referendum as violating international and national law. In a
press statement issued on 29 April, he said the aim of the referendum was
to legitimise the secession of the north from Somalia, and that the
division of Somalia into small fiefdoms was "unacceptable".  The
Mogadishu-based TNG called on the international community not to assist or
encourage the holding of the referendum.

Earlier, the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland, northeastern
Somalia, warned Somaliland against holding the referendum in the regions
of Sool, Sanaag, and the district of Buhoodle. A Puntland press statement
issued on 26 April described the referendum, scheduled for May this year,
as "unwise and provocative". 

The referendum, which is to take place throughout Somaliland, will ask the
people of the region to approve a new constitution, which includes
confirmation of Somaliland's independent status. In 1991, Somaliland
declared itself independent, based on the borders of former British
Somaliland. The regions specified in the Puntland statement are
geographically part of the former British Somaliland, but the clans
inhabiting them are associated with Puntland clans. "Historically, clan
boundaries existed long before European colonial administrations, and
remained intact after independence and eventual union of the southern and
northern Somalia," said the statement. It said the "politically motivated" 
referendum may provoke violence.

However, Somaliland Information Minister Muhammad Ali Waran'ade told
journalists at a press conference in Hargeysa on 28 April that the
disputed regions were part and parcel of Somaliland. He said the
referendum would go ahead as planned, the BBC reported. 

SOMALIA: Yemen denies supplying arms

The government of Yemen has denied accusations that it is arming the
Somali Transitional National Government (TNG), AFP said on 27 April. A
Yemeni foreign ministry spokesman described the accusations as "both
regrettable and surprising, because they are unfounded and reflect an
irresponsible attitude towards Yemen".

The accusations were made on 26 April by faction leader Husayn Muhammad
Aydid, who said Yemen, Sudan, Libya and Saudi Arabia were arming the TNG. 
Aydid is the current chairman of the recently formed Somali Reconciliation
and Restoration Council (SRRC), which brings together most of the southern
faction leaders opposed to the TNG.

SOMALIA: Vessel and crew freed

A Russian fishing vessel held at the southern port of Kismayo since early
March has been released. The vessel, the Gorizont-2, with its Russian crew
of eight was released on 29 April, a Kismayo businessman told IRIN. The
vessel was being held by businessmen who had demanded money from the
owner. The source said an agreement had been reached between the
businessmen and the owner of the vessel, after discussions in Kisamayo,
and Nairobi, Kenya. Kismayo businessmen said the vessels owed money for
fuel, food and water provided, and also owned money on a consignment of
shrimp caught off Kismayo. 

SOMALIA: UN Commission "concerned" over human rights

The United Nations Commission on Human Rights, during its 57th session,
expressed concern at the human rights situation in Somalia. In a statement
released on 27 April, the Commission expressed concern at the reported
cases of rape, arbitrary and summary executions, torture, and other cruel
treatment, in particular against women and children. It also condemned the
forced or compulsory recruitment of children for use in armed conflict,
and the use of children by militias. The statement also condemned acts of
violence by militia against humanitarian workers, particularly the recent
abduction in Mogadishu of UN and NGO workers.

The Commission urged the TNG, and all parties and administrations of
Somalia, to create "an environment that would bring into the
reconciliation process those who did not participate in Arta
[Djibouti-hosted Somali talks last year] peace conference". The Commission
called on the international community to provide increased assistance to
Somalia.
 
Nairobi, 4 May 2001


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