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WEST AFRICA
IRIN-WA Weekly Roundup 137
31 August - 06 September 2002


CONTENTS:

NIGERIA: Parliament raises 17 charges against Obasanjo
MAURITANIA: food aid needed, government says
LIBERIA: Amnesty regrets court ruling on rights defender
LIBERIA: Civil society calls for ceasefire
TOGO: Journalists under threat
SIERRA LEONE: Truth hearings set for November
GABON: Newspapers suspended for three months

NIGERIA: Parliament raises 17 charges against Obasanjo

Nigeria's House of Representative on Thursday released a list of charges-
17 in all- that it said represented the arguments for moves to impeach
President Olusegun Obasanjo. Most of the charges revolve around
non-implementation of budgets in the past three years and the deployment
of military troops to troubled zones.  Not only the military deployments
had not been approved by parliament, the operations led to the death of
hundreds of people and displacement for many more.

Unless Obasanjo responds within 10 days, the impeachment proceedings would
take place, members of the House said.

This week's release of the charges against Obasanjo is the latest in the
political crisis that is threatening Nigeria's democracy.  In mid-August,
the House passed a motion asking Obasanjo to resign within 14 days or face
impeachment. Two weeks later, after the motion had expired, the Senate
gave its backing to the House, paving the way for the chamber to re-ignite
its demands.

According to Information Minister Jerry Gana, Obasanjo is willing to give
a "full and comprehensive response to charges".

Others items this week included:
NIGERIA: Focus on moves to impeach President Obasanjo
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=29764&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=NIGERIA

NIGERIA: Late appeal against stoning sentence
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=29683&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=NIGERIA

MAURITANIA: Food aid needed, government says

The Mauritanian government on Sunday appealed for food aid, saying it
needs 52,000 mt of food aid to offset food insecurity brought on by
insufficient rains.

Interior Minister Lemrabet Sidi Mahmoud Ould Cheikh Ahmed, who made the
announcement before diplomats and heads of international organizations,
said dams were empty and pastoralists were living in fear that many
livestock would die. Veterinary medicine, Cheikh Ahmed said, was also
needed to prevent animal diseases.

The situation had prompted pastoralists to migrate towards better grazing
lands near the border with Senegal and Mali. Families were also relying on
financial aid from relative abroad, while others relied on a barter system
to purchase food for the family, the Famine Early warning System Network
(FEWS) said in its report covering July 2002.

According to FEWS, Southwestern Mauritania was the most affected by the
shortage of rain. The capital city, Nouakchott, and other big towns were
hard hit because residents, who already had to pay a high price for
commodities on the market, now had to cater for relatives coming in from
rural areas, FEWS Net said.

The FEWS report is available at: http://www.fews.net

LIBERIA: Amnesty regrets court ruling on rights defender

The human rights organisation Amnesty International has expressed dismay
at a recent court decision that human rights defender Sheikh K M Sackor be
tried under military jurisdiction.

"This ruling displays complete disregard for human rights provisions of
the Liberian constitution and blatant interference in the judiciary by the
government," Amnesty stated in a news release on Thursday.

Sackor, Executive Director of Humanist Watch, a Liberian nongovernmental
human rights organisation, has been detained incommunicado since his
arrest on 25 July, it added.

Although Sackor has not been charged, government lawyers have accused him
of belonging to the armed opposition Liberians United for Reconciliation
and Democracy (LURD), and argued that the case should be handed over to a
military tribunal, according to Amnesty.

A judge had earlier ruled that the case was within civilian jurisdiction,
quoting Article 19 of the Liberian constitution which states that: "No
person other than members of the Armed Forces of Liberia or of the militia
in active service shall be subject to military law, or made to suffer any
pains or penalties by virtue of that law, or be tried by a court martial."

This ruling had now been overturned and the case passed over to military
jurisdiction, Amnesty reported on Thursday.

"It appears that the government may have unduly influenced the judge to
change his ruling in this matter and that this is just the latest in a
series of attacks on human rights defenders and members of the Mandingo
ethnic group," it said.

"The detainees are being presumed guilty until proven innocent," the
organisation added.

Amnesty's statement expressed concern that there were fewer fair trial
guarantees under military than civilian jurisdictions, and that government
interference was likely to be greater.

The establishment of a Court Martial Board under military jurisdiction was
subject to the discretion of the president Liberia and could result in
unacceptably long periods of pre-trial detention, it said.

The government has used the military jurisdiction to justify the continued
detention without charge or trial of human rights defender cum journalist
Hassan Bility and two others, Ansumana Kamara and Mohammad Kamara, since
24 June.

The practice of trying civilians in military courts, while not expressly
prohibited by international standards, raised issues about the fairness of
trials, according to Amnesty.

In the two cases, it said, the government had failed to produce the
detainees in court as required by writs of habeas corpus ('produce the
person') submitted by defence lawyers.

This was in violation of Article 87 of the Liberian constitution which
states that: "The writ of habeas corpus shall remain available and
exercisable at all times and shall not be suspended on account of any
state of emergency."

Since President Charles Taylor declared a state of emergency in early
February 2002, there has been increased repression of government critics
and those under suspicion of being dissidents or dissident collaborators,
Amnesty said on Thursday.

The government has repeatedly accused Liberian civil society and
international human rights groups of spreading false information intended
to tarnish the image of Liberia within the international community, it
added.

Full statement is available at http://www.amnesty.org

LIBERIA: Civil society calls for ceasefire

A group of 50 Liberian civil society organisations, under the umbrella
organisation Civil Society Movement of Liberia (CSML), on Friday 29 August
called for a ceasefire in the fighting between government soldiers and
dissident groups, and urged the government to allow the deployment of a
peacekeeping force.

Two other recommendations included the lifting of the current state of
emergency and the withdrawal of armed men from the streets of the capital,
Monrovia.  President Charles Taylor declared a state of emergency on 8
February amid reports that armed dissidents were near Monrovia. Since
then, armed troops have been patrolling the streets.

An official of the ruling National Patriotic Party, Harrison Luo responded
to CSML by saying the government would do everything to protect the
Liberian people, but added that it was "irresponsible" for the group to
demand the removal of the armed men from the streets.

Also this week, the World Food Programme (WFP) resumed the distribution of
full food rations to displaced Liberians and Sierra Leone refugees. In
recent weeks, beneficiaries had been receiving half of their usual rations
because of delays in the delivery of some commodities.

Other stories this week included:
LIBERIA: Detained journalist's wife missing, says RSF
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=29706&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=LIBERIA
GUINEA-LIBERIA: Release of abducted nurses welcomed
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=29681&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=GUINEA-LIBERIA
GUINEA-LIBERIA:  Efforts under way to register Liberian refugees
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=29666&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=GUINEA

TOGO: Journalists under threat

Togo's parliament on Tuesday voted unanimously to change the country's
press laws, a reform which imposes harsher penalties on the media and that
which freedom groups had tried to block.

The new bill, first approved in cabinet, increases the penalty for
"insulting the Head of State" from six months imprisonment to a one to
five year jail term with no parole and a fine of FCFA one to five million
(US $1,480-7,400). For insulting the national assembly speaker, the prime
minister, parliamentarians, government officials and constitutional
institutions, the penalty ranges from three months to two years in jail.
The armed forces, courts, tribunals and civil servants are also protected.
Media professionals could spend three years in jail for "defaming" them.

Reporters sans Frontieres and the Committee to Protect Journalists had
campaigned against the amendment, saying that it would stifle Togo's
independent media.

SIERRA LEONE: Truth hearings delayed

Sierra Leone's Truth and Reconciliation Forum has delayed the beginning of
public hearings as the body awaits its new budget of US $6 million

Acting spokesperson Yebu Bangura told IRIN on Monday that the TRC had
hoped to begin the hearings in October but was forced to change the date
after cutting down its budget from an original $10 million to $6 million.
Once the budget is approved by the UN High Commission for Human Rights,
the TRC will then identify centers for the hearings to start in November.

One of the key targets is war amputees.

They had threatened not to participate unless they were provided with
food, monthly allowance, health and education facilities. TRC Chairman
Bishop Joseph Humper however said on Friday that the matter had been
resolved and the amputees would participate in the hearings.

Inaugurated officially on 5 July, the TRC is intended to offer a forum
where perpetrators and victims of abuses during Sierra Leone's 10-year
civil war can "tell their stories in an effort to heal the wounds of war".
The Commission hopes to produce an impartial record of violations of human
rights and humanitarian law, address impunity, help the victims, promote
healing and reconciliation, and prevent any repetition of abuses.

GABON: Newspapers suspended for three months

Gabon's Conseil National de Communication (CNC- National Communication
Council) on Friday suspended two weeklies, the Misamu and Gabaon, for
three months for publishing information that aim at "discrediting the
State and the dignity of the members of institutions of the republic".

According to Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF), the Misamu weekly was
suspended for reporting the "disappearance of US $4.5 million from the
public revenue department". In turn the Gabaon weekly was suspended for
criticising the senate president, Georges Rawiri. Two other newspapers, Le
Nganga and La Lowe, have received ultimatum over informations that "attack
the dignity of the Prime Minister".

"Once again the CNC and the authorities of Gabon attack the private press.
In Gabon, as soon as a newspaper denounces the misappropriations or
criticises the high authorities of the State, it is sure to be censured or
suspended" said Robert Menard, secretary general of RSF in a mail
addressed to the Prime Minister, Jean-Francois Ntoutoume Emane. RSF
requested Ntoutoume Emane to seize the CNC in order to nullify this
measure and to implement measures that can lead to a wide freedom of the
press in Gabon.

In 2001, another paper La Griffe was censored by the CNC, the state body
in charge of regulating the media in the West African country, RSF said.
The paper's managing publisher and editor-in-chief were also banned from
the news industry.


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