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 50 9-15 December 2000
CONTENTS: AFRICA: Civil society supports efforts small arms curb BURKINA FASO: Police disperse demonstrators CAPE VERDE: Prisoners' rights violated COTE D'IVOIRE: International NGOs to investigate killings COTE D'IVOIRE: Security forces accused of atrocities COTE D'IVOIRE: Legislative elections results THE GAMBIA: Electoral commission's president dismissed GHANA: Would-be presidents head for second-round GUINEA: UNHCR cleared to evacuate workers GUINEA: WFP suspends food aid in the south GUINEA: Amnesty calls for opposition leader's release MAURITANIA: Opposition leader released NIGERIA: US refugee status difficult for Ogonis SENEGAL: Children march for peace SIERRA LEONE: Ex-junta leader hands in weapons SIERRA LEONE: RUF surrenders vehicles SIERRA LEONE: First of India's UNAMSIL troops pull out SIERRA LEONE: Ukrainian parliament approves troops for UNAMSIL SIERRA LEONE: ICRC commits US $20 million SIERRA LEONE: More refugees return from Guinea SIERRA LEONE: Canadian soldiers arrive WESTERN SAHARA: Polisario frees 201 Moroccan POWs AFRICA: Civil society supports efforts small arms curb Representatives of African civil society and communities meeting in Lome on 7-9 December pledged to help curb the proliferation and trafficking of small arms on the continent. Participants appealed to the international community to halt the supply of small arms by enacting effective prevention and control measures. The meeting was organised by the Lome-based UN Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Africa in collaboration with NGOs and other institutions. The NGOs also supported the African Common Position on Small Arms, a plan adopted on 1 December at an Organisation for African Unity ministerial meeting in Bamako. BURKINA FASO: Police disperse demonstration against impunity Police in Ouagadougou used teargas and clubs on Wednesday to disperse hundreds of demonstrators as they tried to march to a cemetery to commemorate the second anniversary of the death of journalist Norbert Zongo. Policemen pursued protesters, who had placed barricades and burning tyres in the streets near Gounghin cemetery, where Zongo was buried. The charred bodies of Zongo, editor of 'L'Independant' weekly and three other persons were found on 13 December 1998 in the journalist's car. He had been investigating the suspicious death of the driver of President Blaise Compaore's younger brother, Francois. CAPE VERDE: Prisoners' rights violated, association charges Human rights violations are being committed in Cape Verdean prisons, a local human rights organisation charges in a book launched on 10 December, Portuguese radio reported. RDP-Africa said the book, 'Human rights in Cape Verdean prisons', is based on a study which the Ze Moniz Association for Solidarity and Development (AZM) of Cape Verde conducted in the first four months of the year. AZM cited violence, insufficient medical attention, unhygienic conditions and overcrowding. It proposed the immediate abolition of disciplinary cells, which it described as "absolutely unacceptable", and appealed for the water problem that affects many prisons to be resolved as soon as possible. COTE D'IVOIRE: International NGOs to investigate killings The International Federation of Human Rights League (IFHR) and Reporters Without Borders (RSF) have set up a joint panel to probe the killings that followed the 22 October presidential elections in Cote d'Ivoire, PANA reported. The organisations said: "This Commission of inquiry should find the answer to a central question: who killed the dozens of people found in a mass grave at Yopougon, a working class district in Abidjan, and in what conditions?" The panel will seek to determine the role of the security forces as well as political, social and international actors in the October killings and last week's riots in the country. COTE D'IVOIRE: Security forces accused of atrocities Security forces in Cote d'Ivoire have been committing severe human rights violations, including rape and torture, against detainees, two Ivorian human rights organisations and Amnesty International have said in separate declarations and reports. The Association ivoirienne pour la Defence des Droits de la Femme (AIDF) on Tuesday called on the minister of the interior, decentralisation and security, Emile Boga Doudou, to apologise on the state's behalf to women who were allegedly raped while in detention. Another Ivorian rights group, the Mouvement ivoirien des Droits de l'Homme (MIDH), issued a report detailing atrocities committed during post-election protests in December. Amnesty International said on Wednesday there had been "an incessant cycle" of abuses in Cote d'Ivoire over the past year. Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo has ordered Boga Doudou to investigate the reports. COTE D'IVOIRE: Legislative elections results President Laurent Gbagbo's Front Populaire Ivorien (FPI) won 96 of the 196 seats decided in Sunday's legislative elections in Cote d'Ivoire, while 77 went to the Parti democratique de Cote d'Ivoire (PDCI), the National Electoral Commission reported on Wednesday. Sixteen seats went to independents and four parties shared the remaining seven, according to the commission, which said 33.12 percent of the electorate voted. The PDCI, which ruled the country from independence in 1960 until last December's coup, had held 147 of the 175 seats in the previous parliament, whose membership was increased this year to 225. The FPI had 13 seats. The other major party in the country, the Rassemblement des Republicains (RDR), boycotted the polls because the Supreme Court invalidated the candidature of its leader, Alassane Ouattara. Elections were postponed in most constituencies in the north due to unrest that followed the court's ruling. THE GAMBIA: Electoral commission's president dismissed Gambian President Yahya Jammeh has dismissed Bishop Solomon Johnson, chairman of the country's Independent Electoral Commission, Deyda Hydara, editor of 'The Point' newspaper, told IRIN on Thursday. The dismissal took place before the Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday in favour of the commission, which had taken the government to court over its failure to hold local elections, Hydara added. Johnson had been the head of the commission since 1997. GHANA: Would-be presidents head for second-round face-off A run-off poll on 28 December will pit John Kufuor against John Atta Mills after none of the seven candidates won an outright majority in the first round of Ghana's presidential poll on 7 December. The National Electoral Commission announced on 10 December that with the results of all but one of the 200 constituencies declared, Kufour, of the National Patriotic Party (NPP), polled 3,104,393 votes (48.4 percent). Vice President Mills of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) won 2,871,051 ballots or 44.8 percent. The NPP won half the 200 parliamentary seats and the NDC 91. GUINEA: UNHCR cleared to evacuate humanitarian workers UNHCR has obtained permission from the Guinean government to evacuate all humanitarian personnel from the southern area of Guekedou, a UNHCR source in Conakry told IRIN on Monday. The area came under attack from unidentified armed men last week and many people were killed, according to several sources. Another town in the area, Kissidougou, was attack for about two hours on Sunday, but the assailants were beaten back by the military and local residents, Guinean Defence Minister Dorank Assifat Diasseny said. In the preceding 10 days, attacks have been reported farther and farther inside Guinea, UNHCR said. The government said up to 94,000 refugees have fled the Kissidougou region. All other local staff have been accounted for in Guekedou and Kissidougou. GUINEA: WFP suspends food aid in the south The World Food Programme (WFP) announced on Thursday the temporary suspension of its food aid to refugees in the southern Guinean town of Guekedou because of rebel attacks. "In the absence of a safer environment, we'll have to find alternative ways to assist the local residents and refugees there," Ardag Meghdessian, WFP's representative in Conakry, said. WFP and other UN agencies have relocated their staff to safer areas. GUINEA: Amnesty calls for opposition leader's release Amnesty International has called on authorities in Guinea to release leading opposition politician Alpha Conde and a number of his supporters. Conde was arrested on 15 December, 1998, soon after losing a presidential election. He and 47 members of his Rassemblement du Peuple de Guinée (RPG - Guinean People's Rally) were accused of threatening state security. He was sentenced to five years in prisons, while 10 others received sentences of up to three years. Four were convicted in absentia. Amnesty said many of the detainees had been tortured and did not have a fair hearing, adding that the rule of law could never be applied in Guinea while the armed forces continued to act with total impunity. MAURITANIA: Opposition leader released Ahmed Ould Daddah, leader of Mauritania's main opposition party, has been released by the authorities after being held for three days, AFP reported on Tuesday. Ould Daddah, secretary-general of the Union des Forces democratiques/Ere Nouvelle (UFD/EN), had been arrested on his arrival at Nouakchott International Airport on Saturday. The government did not comment on the detention of the politician, whose party was banned in October for allegedly threatening public order. NIGERIA: US refugee status difficult for Ogonis A campaigner for the rights of the Ogoni people of southeastern Nigeria, Apollos Bulo, has warned over 600 Ogonis seeking refugee status in the United States that they stand little chance of achieving their aim, The 'Vanguard' newspaper of Lagos reported. Bulo, who is president of the US chapter of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), added: "We are now under a democratic government and President Obasanjo has given the world the impression that normalcy has returned to the country." The Ogonis in the US were among some 30,000 members of their community who fled their homes in the heat of their struggle against multinational oil companies that led to the execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other MOSOP members. SENEGAL: Children march for peace in Casamance Thousands of schoolchildren marched for peace in Ziguinchor, the main town in Casamance, southern Senegal, ahead of talks between the government and the Mouvement des forces democratiques de Casamance (MFDC), news organisations reported. AFP said about 4,000 children went first to the house of the MFDC leader, the Reverend Augustin Diamacoune Senghor, and gave him a statement calling for peace. They then left copies of the statement at the residence of the area's governor. Peace talks are due to begin on Saturday between the government and the MFDC, which has been fighting for independence for Casamance for nearly two decades. SIERRA LEONE: Ex-junta leader hands in weapons Former military strongman Johnny Paul Koroma surrendered weapons and other military equipment to UNAMSIL on Friday, UNAMSIL spokeswoman Hirut Befecadu told IRIN. He was joined by some 90 former soldiers of his defunct Armed Forces Revolutionary Council that ruled from May 1997 to February 1998 when ousted by the Nigerian-led West African peacekeepers. Koroma called on other groups - the Revolutionary United Front and the pro-government Civil Defence Forces - to follow his example. SIERRA LEONE: RUF hands back vehicles to UNAMSIL The Revolutionary United Front (RUF) has given back vehicles it seized in May from the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL), the mission's spokeswoman, Hirut Befecadu, told IRIN on Thursday. RUF interim leader Issa Sesay handed over a recovery truck and 11 armoured personnel carriers seized from Kenyan and Zambian UN troops to UNAMSIL Force Commander Lt-Gen Daniel Opande at a ceremony on Wednesday in Magburaka, some 170 km northeast of Freetown. Four of the personnel carriers were flown back to Mile 91. The condition of the vehicles has not yet been made public, Befecadu said. However, armoured vehicles returned on another occasion had been vandalised by the RUF. SIERRA LEONE: First of India's UNAMSIL's troops pulls out A first group of 275 Indian troops serving with the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone left for home on 10 December, marking the start of the Indian contingent's withdrawal from UNAMSIL, Sierra Leone Web reported. India announced its withdrawal in September. In Nairobi, Kenya, 270 Kenyan UNAMSIL troops landed on Sunday at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to a rousing welcome from families and friends, the `East African Standard' newspaper reported. The soldiers included most of the officers who were captured and terrorised by Revolutionary United Front rebels. SIERRA LEONE: Ukrainian parliament approves troops for UNAMSIL The Ukrainian parliament endorsed on Thursday a motion to contribute 800 peacekeepers to the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone, the Ukrainian news agency UNIAN, reported. It said 259 of the 384 deputies present voted for the motion tabled by President Leonid Kuchma. The Ukrainian force will be backed by 220 armoured personnel carriers and an equal number of trucks at a cost of US $1.26 million a month. The first shipment of equipment is due to leave on Wednesday. SIERRA LEONE: ICRC commits US $20 million The International Committee of the Red Cross will give Sierra Leone US $20 million in humanitarian and development aid in 2001, ICRC official Pierre Wettach has said. SLENA reported him as telling President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah that the money would be used in accordance with government's priorities in the agriculture and health sectors, and for the National Commission for Reconstruction, Resettlement and Rehabilitation. SIERRA LEONE: More refugees return from Guinea Sierra Leonean refugees in Guinea continue to return home, UNHCR spokesman Kris Janowski said on Tuesday in Geneva. He reported the Sierra Leone Embassy in Conakry as saying that 2,100 Sierra Leoneans had registered for the next government-chartered ferry from Conakry to Freetown, including about 1,400 from refugee camps in Guekedou and Forecariah in southern Guinea. Those leaving told UNHCR they feared for their lives amid growing instability in Guinea. To date, over 19,000 people have arrived in Freetown on government-chartered boats. More than 5,000 of them are returning refugees in UNHCR's care. The others are Sierra Leoneans who had been resident in Guinea. SIERRA LEONE: Canadian soldiers arrive Canada has sent 10 military instructors to join the British-led International Ministry and Advisory Training Team for the Sierra Leonean army, OCHA said in its humanitarian situation report for 14 November to 6 December. The Canadians will provide infantry training at Newton, near Freetown. They will also help with logistics and administration at defence headquarters. WESTERN SAHARA: Polisario frees 201 Moroccan POWs The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) repatriated on Thursday 201 mostly old and sick Moroccan prisoners of war released by the Polisario Front fighting for the independence of Western Sahara. The ICRC said one of its teams escorted the prisoners from Tindouf, Algeria, aboard a Red Cross-chartered plane, to Morocco's Inezgane military base near Agadir, 350 km to the northwest. The release and repatriation came three weeks after private talks that ICRC President Jakob Kellenberger had near Tindouf with the secretary-general of the Polisario Front, Mohamed Abdelaziz, the ICRC said. However, the ICRC said it remained concerned about the 1,481 Moroccan POWs still held captive and viewed the repatriation "as a step towards the release of all prisoners". Abidjan, 15 December 2000; 18:33 GMT [IRIN-WA: Tel: +225 22-40-4440; Fax (Admin): +225 22-40-4435; Fax (Editorial Desk): +225-22-41-9339; e-mail: irin-wa@irin.ci] [This item is delivered in the "africa-english" service of the UN's IRIN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations. For further information, free subscriptions, or to change your keywords, contact e-mail: irin@ocha.unon.org or Web: http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN . If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Reposting by commercial sites requires written IRIN permission.] Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2000 distributed by - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Volunteers in Technical Assistance Disaster Information Center lists: www.vita.org/listsub.htm sitreps nat-dsr web: www.vita.org fireline - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - West Africa - http://www.vita.org/humanitarian/wafrica