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HORN OF AFRICA
IRIN-HOA Weekly Round-up 103
24 - 30 August 2002


CONTENTS:

ERITREA: Remaining POWs freed
ETHIOPIA: Eritrea POW release "public relations gimmick"
ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: Annan welcomes POW commitments
ERITREA: UN appeals on behalf of international demining groups
SOMALIA: UN condemns abduction of employee
SOMALIA: Editor imprisoned in Somaliland
SOMALIA: UN human rights expert visiting
SOMALIA: Drugs destroyed in Mogadishu
SOMALIA: IGAD foreign ministers' meeting again postponed
SUDAN: Rights groups plead for 88 on death row
SUDAN: Southern women's group moots conditions for voting
SUDAN: Direct talks due between government and rebels

See also: SUDAN: Calls for Nuba Mountains independence:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=29495]




ERITREA: Remaining POWs freed

Eritrea released 279 remaining Ethiopian prisoners of war (POWs) on
Thursday, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) confirmed.
In a statement, it said ICRC delegates in Eritrea accompanied the
prisoners to a crossing point on the Mereb river between the Eritrean town
of Adi Kwala and Rama on the Ethiopian side. They were met by ICRC staff
in Ethiopia, who handed them over to the Ethiopian authorities. "With this
release operation, the last prisoners of war registered and regularly
visited by the ICRC in Eritrea have been released and repatriated," the
statement said. "Pending individual cases of presumed or alleged prisoners
not visited by the ICRC will be followed up as required with the Eritrean
authorities." Both Eritrea and Ethiopia agreed to release the remaining
prisoners during a recent visit to the countries by the ICRC president,
Jakob Kellenberger. The repatriation process - stipulated in the 2000
Algiers peace deal, which put an end to their two-year border war - had
been held up due to differences between the two governments. There have
been off and on POW-exchanges between both countries over the last few
years. [Full story at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=29597]

ETHIOPIA: Eritrea POW release "public relations gimmick"

Ethiopia has termed Eritrea's release of its remaining prisoners of war
(POWs) as a "public relations gimmick". An Ethiopian foreign ministry
statement described the release as "partial". "The [Eritrean] regime...
has refused to disclose the whereabouts of the remaining prisoners who
fell under its custody under different circumstances," the statement
charged. "The announcement made by the Eritrean government that it has
partially released today [Thursday] Ethiopian prisoners of war is just a
public relations gimmick aimed at improving the regime's international
image."

Eritrea on Friday rejected Ethiopia's claims. "However they want to
portray this, we are talking results here," Eritrea's deputy ambassador to
Kenya, Teweldemedhin Tesfamariam, told IRIN. "We have freed their POWs. It
would be more appropriate for them to reciprocate, rather than trading in
insults." [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=29625]

ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: Annan welcomes POW commitments

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has welcomed a pledge by Eritrea and
Ethiopia to release all remaining prisoners of war (POWs). In a press
statement, the secretary-general's spokesman said the pledge to free some
1,300 Eritrean and 300 Ethiopian POWs "will no doubt contribute to the
successful implementation of the peace process between the two countries".
The commitments were made during official visits to Eritrea and Ethiopia
earlier this month by the president of the International Committee of the
Red Cross (ICRC), Jakob Kellenberger. According to the ICRC, the main
objective of the visits was "to ensure the release and repatriation of all
remaining prisoners of war in accordance with the Third Geneva Convention
and the peace agreement signed in Algiers on 12 December 2000". [Full
story at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=29515]

ERITREA: UN appeals on behalf of international demining groups

The UN has urged the Eritrean government to extend a deadline for all
international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) involved in demining
activities to cease their work by the end of this month. UN spokesman Fred
Eckhard said a UN delegation - headed by Resident and Humanitarian
Coordinator for Eritrea Simon Nhongo, and Chief of the UN Mine Action
Service Martin Barber - had met President Isayas Afewerki to press the
demand. The meeting follows a joint appeal by the UN Secretariat, the
United Nations Children's Fund and the UN Development Programme for the
deadline to be extended. Eritrean sources told IRIN the government was
unhappy with the procedures of some NGOs involved in mine action. "We very
much regret that Eritrea insists on its decision to exclude the
international NGOs from mine action," Eckhard said on Wednesday. "This
will no doubt result in a significant loss of human and material capacity
in this vital area." [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=29592]

SOMALIA: UN condemns abduction of employee

The UN has condemned the abduction of a staff member in the Somali
capital, Mogadishu, two days ago. In a statement issued on Thursday, the
Office of the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia said
Mohamed Farah Omar, a UN national project staff member, was abducted by
armed men in the Towfiq area of Mogadishu on the morning of Tuesday 27
August, as he left his house for the office. Omar, who works for the Food
and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), is the fourth UN staff member to be
abducted in Mogadishu this year. The statement added this was the second
abduction this month of a staff member from the same UN office. "As
always, the UN is concerned about the welfare of the abducted staff
member, and is working to secure the unconditional release of Mr Omar,"
the statement said. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=29606]


SOMALIA: Editor imprisoned in Somaliland

A court in Hargeysa, the capital of the self-declared republic of
Somaliland, has sentenced a newspaper editor to four months' imprisonment,
according to official Radio Hargeysa. Abdirahman Isma'il Umar, the editor
of the Hargeysa-based daily newspaper Wartire, had been found guilty of
"misreporting", the radio said on Wednesday. The Somaliland
attorney-general had accused the editor of "fabrications and baseless
reports". A humanitarian source in Hargeysa told IRIN the paper had
published an article claiming that Somaliland President Dahir Riyale Kahin
had, during a recent visit to Djibouti, signed a secret pact with Djibouti
President Ismael Omar Gelleh. According to Radio Hargeysa, "this was found
to have been a fabrication and an example of irresponsible journalism".
The opposition Party SAHAN issued a statement on Thursday condemning the
imprisonment of the journalist, and called upon the president of
Somaliland not to encourage the suppression of press freedoms, the source
added. [Full story at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=29596]


SOMALIA: UN human rights expert visiting

A UN-appointed independent expert on human rights for Somalia, Dr Ghanim
Alnajjar, arrived in the region this week on an 11-day mission. He was due
to meet "a variety of diplomats, local authorities, civil society
representatives, and international organisations in [the Kenyan capital]
Nairobi and different regions of Somalia as time and security permit", a
press statement from the UN Resident & Humanitarian Coordinator’s Office
for Somalia said. Alnajjar, who was appointed by UN Secretary-General Kofi
Annan in June last year, is making his second visit to Somalia. At the
time of his last visit a year ago, Alnajjar told IRIN that he would write
to Annan and the UN Security Council urging them to appoint an independent
committee of experts to investigate human rights abuses in Somalia. [Full
story at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=29568]


SOMALIA: Drugs destroyed in Mogadishu

Somalia's Transitional National Government (TNG) has destroyed a
consignment of drugs weighing about 1,000 kg, Mogadishu's police chief
said. Abdi Hasan Awale Qeybdid told IRIN the drugs were burned in public
in front of the police academy on Saturday. The event was attended by
senior TNG officials, including President Abdiqassim Salad Hassan. The
drugs, mostly cannabis, had been seized in special operations over the
past few months by anti-narcotics police. "We have so far detained 280
people on drugs charges," Qeybdid said. He added that the drug was found
mostly in the regions of Lower Shabelle, Middle Shabelle, Shabelle, Lower
Juba, Middle Juba and some districts of the capital. "We also seized about
40 kg of cannabis seed from India," he said. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=29544]

SOMALIA: IGAD foreign ministers' meeting again postponed

A meeting of the foreign ministers of Djibouti, Ethiopia and Kenya to
discuss the Somali peace process has again been postponed. The meeting was
originally fixed for 16 August, then postponed until last Friday (23
August) and further delayed until this week. But a source involved in the
Somali reconciliation talks told IRIN on Monday the meeting would not go
ahead. "They will most likely meet sometime next week," he said. The three
countries, which all border Somalia, have been mandated by the
Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) to take the lead in
preparing for the Somali reconciliation conference, which is to be held in
Kenya. The delay is due mainly to logistical and time constraints. "Most
of the ministers are attending the Earth Summit in Johannesburg, and
therefore are not available at this time," the source said. The three
countries' technical committee completed a report two weeks ago, after
ending a fact-finding mission to Somalia, during which it held talks with
the Transitional National Government (TNG) and other groups. The
ministerial meeting was expected to discuss this report. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=29516]


SUDAN: Rights groups plead for 88 on death row

International human rights organisations have expressed concern over the
fate of 88 people, including two children, who have been sentenced to
death by hanging or crucifixion in Sudan's Darfur region for taking part
in ethnic clashes. On Sunday, the Sudanese government reportedly said it
would not overturn the death sentences against the 88 people convicted of
taking part in May clashes between the ethnic al-Muraalia and Reizagat
tribes. At least 50 people were killed in the clashes. The rights group,
Amnesty International, has condemned the death sentences as unfair and
called for the immediate release of the detainees. "Everything is wrong
with this case," the organisation said in a recent statement. "Not only
have death sentences been passed, which Amnesty International opposes
unconditionally, but they were passed after an obviously unfair trial.
Those sentenced include two children, despite the worldwide ban on
sentencing children under the age of 18 to death." [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=29543]


SUDAN: Southern women's group moots conditions for voting

A south Sudan women's group has said voting in the country's forthcoming
referendum should be restricted to ethnic southerners. In a statement on
last month's peace agreement, the Southern Women's Group for Peace (SWGP)
said residency in southern Sudan should not automatically be the basis for
acquiring the right to vote. The referendum on self-determination is to be
held in six years' time in accordance with the provisions of the Machakos
Protocol. The organisation said voting should be restricted to southerners
"in the context of a clearly specified southern region". It said a
southerner should be defined as a person whose parents' ancestry was
traceable to any of the ethnic communities residing in south Sudan since
1820. A referendum law should be part of the final agreement reached
between the Sudanese government and the rebel the Sudan People's
Liberation Movement (SPLM), which would include the principles and
outlines of the referendum processes, the SWGP added. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=29520]


SUDAN: Direct talks due between government and rebels

Direct negotiations between the Sudanese government and the rebel Sudan
People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) were due to begin on Monday after a
week spent deliberating the agenda, the state-run Sudan News Agency (SUNA)
reported. The current round of negotiations is being held in the Kenyan
town of Machakos. SUNA said the announcement was made by Ghazi Salah
al-Din al-Atabani, the presidential adviser on peace affairs. He said
documents presented by international experts and discussed by the warring
parties included wealth-sharing at national and state level, and
power-sharing arrangements. Meanwhile, President Umar al-Bashir on Monday
reaffirmed his government's commitment to the provisions of the Machakos
peace agreement, signed between the two sides last month, Sudanese radio
reported. He said he hoped agreement would be reached between the
government and the SPLM during this second round of talks, and stressed
the need to present the agreement to the public, saying the option of
unity would be left to the Sudanese people. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=29519]


IRIN-CEA
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