U N I T E D   N A T I O N S
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WEST AFRICA
IRIN-WA Weekly Roundup 147
02 - 08 NOvember 2002


CONTENTS:

SIERRA LEONE: Adolescents still traumatised by war - study
TOGO: RSF protests against editor's arrest
COTE D'IVOIRE: West African force to be deployed next week
GHANA: Over three hundred displaced
LIBERIA: Amnesty calls for release of rights activist
NIGERIA: Tension in Delta over troop deployment
MAURITANIA: Government urged to end slavery
AFRICA: 10 million euros needed to contain meningitis


SIERRA LEONE: Adolescents still traumatised by war - study

Young people in Sierra Leone are still traumatised by their war
experiences, according to a study among some 600 adolescents. The study,
titled 'Precious Resources: Adolescents in the Reconstruction of Sierra
Leone', found that past experience had made the youths mistrustful of
adults. They were also frustrated because rehabilitation efforts had not
substantially improved their lives.

The study, commissioned by the Women's Commission for Refugee Women and
Children, documents findings in areas such as livelihood, protection,
disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration, refugees and internally
displaced returnees, and psychosocial concerns.

[The full report is available at
http://www.reliefweb.int/library/documents/2002/wcrwc-sie-31oct.pdf
For other IRIN reports on Sierra Leone, go to
http://www.irinnews.org/frontpage.asp?SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=Sierra_Leone ]

TOGO: RSF protests against editor's arrest

Reporters sans frontières (RSF) protested this week against the arrest of
the managing editor of the weekly 'La Tribune du Peuple', Siliadin Kodjo.

Kodjo was arrested on Tuesday by plainclothes police officers and taken to
Lome police station, the media watchdog said. He was accused of publishing
an article, one month earlier, that denounced the suppression of an
opposition demonstration by security forces.

[For other IRIN reports on Togo, go to
http://www.irinnews.org/frontpage.asp?SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=Togo]

COTE D'IVOIRE: West African force to be deployed next week

West African defence chiefs decided at a meeting on Wednesday and Thursday
in Abuja, Nigeria, to start deploying a regional peacekeeping force to
Cote d'Ivoire next week.

Cheick Diarra, Deputy Executive Secretary of the Economic Community of
West African States (ECOWAS), told reporters the size of the force had
been cut from the proposed 2,000 to 1,500.

Troop-contributing countries include Togo, Benin, Senegal, Niger and
Ghana. France, Britain and the United States have pledged to fund the
operation, with additional help expected from Germany, Canada and The
Netherlands.

The peacekeepers would replace French troops monitoring a 17 October
ceasefire between government forces and rebels. The insurgents control
much of the north and centre of the country. Talks between rebel
representatives and a government-designated delegation began last week in
Lome and continued this week.

[For other IRIN reports on Cote d'Ivoire, go to
http://www.irinnews.org/frontpage.asp?SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=Cote_d_Ivoire]

GHANA: Over three hundred displaced

At least 336 people were displaced by clashes last week between members of
two ethnic groups, the Konkomba and the Nawuri, in eastern Ghana, the
district coordinator of Ghana's National Disaster Management Organisation
(NADMO), Bernard Mensah, said.

News organisations reported eight deaths. However, Mensah said five people
were killed and several others wounded, while property was destroyed and
looted. A number of people were arrested.

The clashes were sparked off by a dispute between two individuals.

[For other IRIN reports on Ghana, go to
http://www.irinnews.org/frontpage.asp?SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=Ghana]

LIBERIA: Amnesty calls for release of rights activist

Amnesty International appealed on Tuesday to the Liberian government to
release a leading human rights activist, Aloysius Toe, who was arrested on
Monday and charged with treason.

Toe is a member of the National Human Rights Center, secretary-general Of
the Liberia Coalition of Human Rights Defenders and executive director of
the Movement for the Defense of Human Rights (MODHAR). Amnesty said he was
the latest "in a long line of human rights defenders to be imprisoned as
the Liberian government persists in attempting to silence its critics".

The authorities claimed that documents linking him to the armed opposition
Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy had been found in his
home.

[For other IRIN reports on Liberia, go to
http://www.irinnews.org/frontpage.asp?SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=Liberia]

NIGERIA: Tension in Delta over troop deployment

The recent deployment of troops and reports that they were harassing local
villagers has caused tension in Delta State, southern Nigeria.

Residents of villages in the area said scores of heavily armed marines had
been deployed in their communities since an oil spill last month. They
accused the Royal/Dutch Shell oil company of inviting the troops following
a dispute over compensation and the procedure for cleaning up the spill.

An area resident said the troops had been arresting people
indiscriminately and trying to intimidate the communities into accepting
an unfavourable settlement for damage caused by the oil spill.

A navy official denied the allegations. He said the navy had launched an
operation to recover weapons seized from some marines and to crack down on
pirates.

[ For other IRIN reports on Nigeria, go to
http://www.irinnews.org/frontpage.asp?SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=Nigeria ]

MAURITANIA: Government urged to end slavery

Amnesty International has asked the Mauritanian government to take
"practical steps" to ensure the abolition of slavery, saying that despite
its legal abolition 20 years ago, abuses related to slavery still existed.

In a report titled "Mauritania: A future free from slavery", Amnesty said
on Thursday that while Mauritanian laws prohibited slavery, escaped slaves
had no legal protection and there was considerable discrimination against
former slaves.

It said no government official was willing to take the action needed to
eradicate slavery and end impunity by perpetrators. The government, it
added, "denied the existence of slavery and slavery-like practices and
failed to respond to cases brought to its attention". Moreover, it refused
to recognise anti-slavery organisations, whose members were under constant
threat of arrest and imprisonment.

The organisation urged the international community to encourage the
Mauritanian government to confront the issue openly and support the work
of human rights organisations working on slavery and slavery-like
practices in Mauritania.

[The report is available at:
http://web.amnesty.org/ai.nsf/recent/AFR380032002!Open

For other IRIN reports on Mauritania, go to
http://www.irinnews.org/frontpage.asp?SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=Mauritania ]

AFRICA: 10 million euros needed to contain meningitis

Several international health organizations appealed on Tuesday for 10
million euros (US $11 million) to prepare for a meningitis outbreak in
Africa that could be less than two months away.

The International Federation of the Red Cross, Médecins Sans Frontières,
UNICEF and the World Health Organization said if current stocks of
vaccines and drugs were not replenished, countries hit by the outbreak
would be left to deal with the epidemic alone, leading to thousands of
deaths.

Countries in the "African meningitis belt" experience outbreaks almost
every year. The belt stretches from Ethiopia to Senegal. In 2002 alone,
there were at least 33,000 cases and 2,500 deaths, including 1,500 in
Burkina Faso between February and June 2002, WHO said.


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