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 West Africa Tel: +225 22-40-4440 Fax: +225 22-41-9339 e-mail: irin-wa@irin.ciWEST AFRICA IRIN-WA Weekly Roundup 48 24 November - 1 December 2000
CONTENTS: SIERRA LEONE: HRW documents new evidence of atrocities SIERRA LEONE: Appeal launched for US $78 million SIERRA LEONE: Japan approves funding for rehabilitation SIERRA LEONE: UNHCR reintegrates returnees from Guinea LIBERIA: Ex-president, rights leader attacked LIBERIA: NGOs want fast-track implementation of arms moratorium GUINEA: The fight against yellow fever continues GUINEA: Civilians reported killed in new attacks COTE D'IVOIRE: Former prime minister disqualified from poll SENEGAL: Government and MFDC agree to talk NIGERIA: Dozens die in Lagos pipeline fire NIGERIA: Delta groups call for probe into oil accidents NIGERIA: Pledge to speed up justice GUINEA-BISSAU: Detained politicians refuse to leave prison GUINEA-BISSAU: Former military strongman shot dead, reports say WEST AFRICA: Sahel countries shift gears on education GHANA: International workshop on malaria MAURITANIA: Four opposition politicians released AFRICA: Experts meet on small arms trafficking and proliferation SIERRA LEONE: HRW documents new evidence of atrocities Human Rights Watch released new evidence this week that atrocities against civilians continue unabated in Sierra Leone's civil war. The rights watchdog provided details of ongoing atrocities by the rebel Revolutionary United Front (RUF) in both Sierra Leone and Guinea, and of attacks against civilians in recent months by armed factions fighting on behalf of the government. Human Rights Watch called on UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who is to visit Sierra Leone on Saturday, to ensure that the UN Mission in Sierra Leone does more to protect civilians. In a letter to Annan, Human Rights Watch urged that the Special Court for trying war crimes in Sierra Leone should be created without further delay and be empowered to enforce cooperation. [Details of the atrocities and the letter can be found on the HRW website at http://www.hrw.org/press/2000/11/atroc1130.htm ] SIERRA LEONE: Appeal launched for US $78 million The United Nations and its partners have appealed for US $78.1 million to carry out programmes in at least 14 sectors in Sierra Leone in 2001. Among the 14 priorities for Sierra Leone in 2001 are economic recovery and infrastructure rehabilitation. To reduce vulnerability and overall dependence on relief aid, humanitarian agencies plan to help provide micro-credit and small enterprise development schemes for internally displaced persons (IDPs), returning refugees and impoverished host communities. The nearly two million people expected to benefit from the programmes in Sierra Leone include 910,000 IDPs and returnees from Guinea who live in stable areas. They also include one million people living in vulnerable communities and 5,000 war-wounded and psychologically scarred persons such as amputees and ex-child combatants. SIERRA LEONE: Japan approves funding for rehabilitation Japan has approved the allocation of US $306,094 to the UN Trust Fund for Sierra Leone to support reintegration and rehabilitation projects. Ex-combatants, former child soldiers, war-affected women and children are to benefit from the programmes, which the UN Mission in Sierra Leone will carry out. Some US $22,464 has been provided for the reintegration of child combatants in Kenema. SIERRA LEONE: UNHCR reintegrates returnees from Guinea UNHCR has started reintegrating former refugees who fled fighting in Guinea between government and rebel forces, UNHCR spokesman Kris Janowski said in Geneva on Tuesday. In Lungi, 19 km north of Freetown, the UN agency is helping almost 10,000 former refugees who either walked or were bussed from areas affected by fighting along Guinea's border with Sierra Leone. They are being placed within local communities because most of the returnees originate from rebel-held districts such as Port Loko and Kambia. Other returnees are being hosted in eight villages in the Lokomassama chiefdom in Lungi Peninsula, where the UNHCR has opened an office. Janowski said chiefs in the area were given bicycles to help monitor population movements. UNHCR said 2,000 people arrived in Freetown from Guinea on Monday, bringing to 17,000 the number of Sierra Leoneans who have returned by boat since September. LIBERIA: Ex-president, rights leader attacked About 100 men armed with knives, hammers, sticks and other weapons attacked Liberia's former interim president, Amos Sawyer, and a leading human rights defender on Tuesday in the offices of their pro-democracy group, the Center for Democratic Empowerment (CEDE). The assailants, who appeared to be former combatants, ransacked the CEDE offices, ripped Sawyer's shirt off, beat and robbed him, Liberian media organisations said. The attackers beat and stabbed human rights activist Conmany Wesseh, CEDE's executive director. Both men sought treatment in hospital, a humanitarian source in the capital, Monrovia, told IRIN on Wednesday. Liberian President Charles Taylor condemned the attack and offered to meet Sawyer. LIBERIA: NGOs want fast-track implementation of arms moratorium Civil society groups in Liberia have called on the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to step up implementation of its moratorium on small arms. They said particular attention needed to be paid to the Mano River Union, which groups Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, PANA reported on Tuesday. All three countries are plagued by problems related to the proliferation of small arms. The moratorium, which was signed by 16 West African leaders in October 1998, bans the import, export and manufacture of small arms in the region. It is set to expire in October 2001. GUINEA: The fight against yellow fever continues Guinea's health authorities, supported by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and international NGOs, continue to fight a yellow fever epidemic that has been raging in the West African nation since September. WHO officials in Guinea said there were 190 cases and 88 deaths between 4 September and 19 November. WHO contributed some 137,000 doses of the yellow fever vaccine to the country, Professor Brahima Koumare of the WHO epidemiological service in Abidjan, told IRIN. The UN agency also deployed an epidemiologist from WHO-Conakry and a consultant contracted by its Harare-based Africa regional office to reinforce the Guinean national team fighting the epidemic, Koumare said. GUINEA: Civilians reported killed in new attacks Nine civilians were killed on Tuesday in two attacks by men armed with automatic weapons in southeastern Guinea, AFP reported, quoting police sources. It said the attacks were carried out by fighters based in Liberia. Six people were reportedly killed in Bayaro, near the border town of Macenta, while three others were killed near Guekedou. AFP said the attackers fled in the direction of Liberia just before military reinforcements arrived from Guekedou. COTE D'IVOIRE: Former prime minister disqualified from poll Cote d'Ivoire's Supreme Court has ruled that former Prime Minister Alassane Ouattara is ineligible to stand in parliamentary elections to be held on 10 December, state media reported on Friday. Diplomatic and media sources said small groups of people protested against the ruling by erecting barricades in parts of Abidjan on Friday amid fears of further protests. 'Fraternite Matin' daily said the court ruled that a certificate of nationality issued to Ouattara had not been delivered according to proper legal procedure and thus was invalid. The court's ruling came in reaction to objections made by private citizens to Ouattara's candidacy, which had been approved by the national electoral commission. The court considered about 60 petitions contesting his eligibility along with many more filed against various other candidates. SENEGAL: Government and MFDC agree to talk The Senegalese government and the Mouvement des Forces democratiques de Casamance (MFDC) are to hold peace talks on 16 December, media organisations reported. The decision was announced after a meeting the two sides had on Thursday, just two days after a clash in Casamance between soldiers and suspected members of the MFDC. Three people were killed and eight wounded.The peace talks will take place in Ziguinchor, the main town in Casamance, southern Senegal. The MFDC has been fighting for two decades for independence for Casamance. NIGERIA: Dozens die in Lagos pipeline fire Dozens of people were killed early Thursday when a ruptured fuel pipeline exploded near Nigeria's commercial capital, Lagos. Officials of the state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said the fire erupted at a vandalised point on its pipeline. NNPC's Atlas Cove jetty, used for delivering imported fuel, is located some 500 metres from the scene. The fire damaged the jetty and adjacent depots. A statement by NNPC's public relations manager, Ndu Uhamadu, said several people died in the blaze. Witnesses said up to 60 people, mostly local fishermen and others from their community, were killed while scooping fuel from the ruptured pipeline. NIGERIA: Delta groups call for probe into oil accidents Community leaders in five of Nigeria's southeastern states have called on the federal government to set up a judicial commission into all oil- and gas- related tragedies in the area, 'The Guardian' newspaper reported. Participants at a weekend conference on the area's problems said the panel should have the power to recommend enforceable measures to prevent the recurrence of oil spills which have been damaging the environment. The participants came mainly from Akwa Ibom - venue of the conference - Rivers, Bayelsa, Delta and Edo states. They called for the establishment of a Niger Delta Development Bank, control of their own resources and free education for residents of the Delta. NIGERIA: Pledge to speed up justice President Olusegun Obasanjo pledged on Monday to speed up the justice system in Nigeria to help reduce the number of detainees awaiting trial. He said the government would build new facilities to separate prisoners from people awaiting trial, AFP reported. Obasanjo was jailed for more than three years under late military ruler General Sani Abacha. More than 70 percent of the nearly 50,000 people in Nigerian prisons are on remand, AFP said. Many have been in detention for years. GUINEA-BISSAU: Detained politicians refuse to leave prison Seven politicians detained by authorities in Guinea-Bissau on suspicion of complicity with or support for last week's attempt by General Ansumane Mane to take over the military have refused to leave the central police station where they are being held, a humanitarian source told IRIN on Tuesday. The men were among eight opposition politicians whom President Kumba Yala had instructed the security forces to place under house arrest. They had originally been detained following the clashes between Mane supporters and soldiers loyal to the government. One of the detainees agreed to leave the police station but the others remained, saying they feared for their safety, according to the source. GUINEA-BISSAU: Former military strongman shot dead, reports say Guinea-Bissau's authorities have announced that former military strongman General Ansumane Mane was killed in a shootout with loyalist forces, a humanitarian source told IRIN on Friday. The announcement was made on Thursday evening on state radio and television. Two other people were said to have been killed in the clash, which reportedly occurred on Thursday in the region of Biombo, west of the capital, Bissau. There had been much uncertainty over Mane's fate in the past week. Mane had reportedly been on the run since 23 November when loyalist forces overcame his followers in Bissau. Three days before, he had seized control of the armed forces after revoking military promotions made by President Kumba Yala. WEST AFRICA: Sahel countries shift gears on education Six Sahelian nations on Monday pledged to draw on their own resources to improve education, and urged international donors to follow up with assistance that would give them greater independence in implementing their programmes. Officials agreed to commit half of their education budgets to primary education. They said they would set aside 4 percent of gross domestic product and 40 percent of debt relief savings for education. "The heads of state have made some very strong commitments," Ouane Adama, director of UNESCO's institute for education in Hamburg, Germany, told IRIN on Tuesday. "We have a chance now to make a breakthrough." GHANA: International workshop on malaria A week-long international workshop on malaria opened on Monday in Accra with calls on African scientists to conduct more research that would provide better tools to control the disease, PANA reported. The calls come amidst global efforts by scientists to come up with a vaccine by 2010, according to PANA. It said there were about 20 vaccines on trial. Scientists from Africa and Europe attended the workshop organised by the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research and the World Health Organisation. It was scheduled to lead to the establishment of a network of trained African scientists capable of conducting research into the disease, PANA said. MAURITANIA: Four opposition politicians released Four officials of the banned Union des forces democratiques-Ere nouvelle (UFD-EN) party in Mauritania have been released from detention. A media source told IRIN on Monday that the government had not mentioned the politicians' release and that the former detainees made no public statement about conditions of their detention. They had been arrested for inciting demonstrations in support of Palestinians in the latest crisis in Israel. The government banned the UFD-EN, headed by Ahmed Ould Daddah, in October for allegedly fomenting violence. AFRICA: Experts meet on small arms trafficking and proliferation Experts from African nations have urged their governments and regional institutions to establish mechanisms to step up the fight against the proliferation of small arms in Africa. The call came in a declaration drafted at a conference held on 27-29 November in Bamako, Mali, Napoleon Abdulai of the Lome-based Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Africa told IRIN on Thursday. Some 500 experts from Organisation of African Unity member states, the United Nations, non-governmental organisations and research institutions attended the meeting. 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