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WEST AFRICA
IRIN-WA Weekly Roundup 146
19 - 25 October 2002


CONTENTS:

COTE D'IVOIRE: Peace efforts pick up speed
GLOBAL: US $80 million needed to address refugee needs
NIGERIA: HRW report on Niger Delta
NIGERIA: Government rejects ICJ ruling on Bakassi
WEST AFRICA: No widespread abuse of refugees, concludes UN

COTE D'IVOIRE: Peace efforts pick up speed

Efforts by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to end a
six-week-old crisis in Cote d'Ivoire shifted into a higher gear this week
with the holding of various meetings involving high-level civilian and
military officials.

The highlight of the week was the summit of a six-nation contact group,
held on Wednesday in Abidjan to map out solutions for ending the
insurrection that began on 19 September. Participants chose Togolese
President Gnassingbe Eyadema as coordinator "to facilitate day-to-day
management of mediation activities", the summit commmunique said. On
Friday, General Cheick Oumar Diarra of the ECOWAS secretariat clarified
that Eyadema himself would not lead the peace talks, but would instead
designate a negotiator for this purpose.

Mali, Togo, Niger, Nigeria and Ghana attended the summit. Guinea-Bissau
did not.

The meeting, also attended by the United Nations, the African Union and
South African President Thabo Mbeki, called for the talks to begin
"immediately" and asked both the insurgents and the government to make
sacrifices to ensure successful negotiations. According to ECOWAS, the
rebels, who welcomed Eyadema's choice, were expected to form their
negotiation team.

Wednesday's meeting coincided with an ECOWAS military reconnaissance
mission to the frontline. The mission - made up of army chiefs of staff of
ECOWAS countries, was expected to report on Friday to the ECOWAS Defence
and Security Commission on an eventual deployment of a West African force
to ensure that a 17 October ceasefire is respected. The Defence and
Security Commission, which includes ministers of defence from the
respective countries, will then propose a plan to the Security and
Mediation Commission, the final authority on the deployment of West
African peacekeepers.

However, the week started on a sour note as a demonstration, organised on
Tuesday in front of the French military base in Abidjan, turned violent
with French troops using teargas and water hoses to prevent some
demonstrators from jumping into the camp. They demanded that the French
authorities hand over opposition leader Alassane Ouattara. Ouattara was
not in the military camp. He has been living at the residence of the
French ambassador since his house was attacked soon after the 19 September
coup d'etat.

The French government on Wednesday reminded the authorities to ensure the
protection of French nationals and foreigners living in Cote d'Ivoire.
Later on Wednesday, the interior ministry issued a statement notifying
potential demonstrators that foreign embassies and the French military
base were off limits to demonstrators.

According to French army officials, about 50 people were injured. The
organisers said 100.

Reports of human rights violations by both rebels and the national army
also surfaced over the past week. The reported abuses included illegal
detentions, disappearances, and extrajudicial killings.

Meanwhile, many people lost their homes between Wednesday and Friday when
a bulldozer escorted by police demolished hundreds of dwellings in a poor
Abidjan neighbourhood. Most of the structures were made of wooden planks,
plastic sheeting and adobe. Electricity and water supplies were cut.
Earlier this month, President Gbagbo had ordered the demolition of
shanties suspended, except those near security facilities.

According to the authorities, the demolitions had been aimed at enabling
the security forces to find weapons and any rebels who may have remained
behind after the failed coup on 19 September. The authorities said the
assailants had used the shantytowns to hide themselves and their weapons.

GLOBAL: US $80 million needed to address refugee needs

UNHCR's funding shortfall dropped by US $5 million this week following a
pledge from Netherlands.

UNHCR spokesman Ron Redmond said in Geneva on Tuesday that $80 million was
needed to maintain at "least minimum standards for refugees" and to allow
the agency to do its work properly. UNHCR has written a letter to donors
appealing for funds without which, it said, operations in November and
December would be cut back. According to Redmond, operations in Africa
would suffer the most because the continent represented the agency's most
pressing needs.

UNHCR said on Friday that positive indications had also come from Norway
and Germany.

For more details go to http://www.unhcr.ch

NIGERIA: HRW report on Niger Delta

The economic dividends from Nigeria's oil industry have benefited the
state but have not improved citizens' quality of life, Human Rights Watch
said on Tuesday in a report titled 'The Niger Delta: No Democracy
Dividend'.

People in the Niger Delta, where the bulk of Nigeria's oil is produced,
have therefore resorted to civil protests, including kidnapping oil
workers and occupying oil facilities, to voice their discontent. Rather
than addressing their grievances, the government of President Obasanjo has
used military might against communities, HRW said in its report.

HRW also pointed fingers at the oil companies themselves which "too often
go along with whatever the government does- or even make things worse".
It said the companies also exacerbated the violence in the region by
making pay-offs to compensate for oil spills or to gain access to drilling
sites and thus splitting communities into antagonistic factions.

HRW recommended that the government investigate human rights violations in
the Niger Delta. It asked the oil companies to monitor the conduct of law
enforcement agencies in their operational areas and to have third parties
audit payments they make to communities or their representatives.

The international watchdog called on the European Union and G-8 countries
to set up a binding code of conduct for multinational oil companies based
in their countries so as to ensure that they conform to internationally
acceptable human rights standards.

[The HRW report is available at http://www.hrw.org]

NIGERIA: Government rejects ICJ ruling on Bakassi

The Nigerian government has rejected a 10 October ruling of the
International Court of Justice awarding the Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroon.

In a statement on Thursday, Nigeria accused the ICJ of bias for basing its
ruling on a 1913 treaty between colonial powers Germany and Britain,
rather than an 1884 treaty between Britain and the population of Old
Calabar, the original owners of the peninsula. Under the treaty, Britain -
the then colonial power in Nigeria - ceded the peninsula to Germany which
ruled Cameroon. However Nigeria said this violated the terms of the 1884
treaty.

"Great Britain could not have given to Germany what it did not have. For a
stronger reason, what Germany did not have could not have been transferred
to Cameroon," the Nigerian statement said.

Nigeria also accused the ICJ of not following precedents set in previous
cases, such as Western Sahara, Mali and Burkina Faso, where local titles
of disputed territories were considered "superior to other forms of
title". The Abuja government also said the ruling was biased because the
French president of the court and the German and English judges represent
countries who "are in essence parties to the action or have substantial
stakes". As citizens of these colonial powers they had "acted as judges in
their own cause and thereby rendered their judgment null and void", the
Nigerian government said

WEST AFRICA: No widespread abuse of refugees, concludes UN

The United Nations on Tuesday reported that it was unable to confirm
allegations of extensive sexual exploitation of refugees in West Africa
following a six-month investigation.

The allegations were made in November 2001 by consultants which UNHCR and
Save The Children hired to study violence in refugee camps in Guinea,
Liberia and Sierra Leone.

The UN's Office for Internal Oversight Services (OIOS), which began the
investigation in February, was unable to substantiate any of the 12 cases
alleged by the consultants' report.

"None of the allegations against regular UN staff members was
substantiated, so in OIOS's view, the consultants' allegations of
widespread sexual exploitation by UN aid workers and peacekeepers cannot
be substantiated," OIOS chief Dileep Nair said at a press conference in
New York. He added that the allegations tarnished "the reputation and
credibility of a large majority of UN aid workers and peacekeepers who are
out in the field".

OIOS looked into 43 additional cases of possible sexual exploitation and
was able to substantiate 10 of them, including one involving a 44-year old
UN Volunteer who had sexual relations with a 15-year old refugee. His
contract has since been terminated. In another case, a UN peacekeeper in
Sierra Leone sodomised a 14-year old boy. The soldier has since been
repatriated and UNAMSIL has asked his country to take action against him.

Nevertheless the Inter-Agency Standing Committee, the UN's main forum for
bringing together the UN system, the Red Cross Movement and the NGO
community, has developed a plan of action to combat the problem and a set
of core principles representing agreed standards of behaviour among
humanitarian agencies.

"Among other things, the code explicitly prohibits sex with children under
18, prohibits the exchange of money, employment, goods or services for
sex, calls for discipline, including dismissal, against those who violate
the code of conduct and requires staff to report suspected abuses," UN
Emergency relief Coordinator Kenzo Oshima told journalists in New York.

[For the full story go to
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=30559&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=WEST_AFRICA ]


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