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.ci


WEST AFRICA
IRIN-WA Weekly Roundup 158
11 - 17 January 2003


CONTENTS:

COTE D'IVOIRE:  Paris talks continue amid minor skirmish
LIBERIA: Pro-democracy groups call for violence-free elections
SIERRA LEONE: HRW report on sexual violence during civil war
GUINEA-BISSAU: UN electoral mission arrives in country

COTE D'IVOIRE: Minor skirmish in western Cote d'Ivoire

A minor skirmish in western Cote d'Ivoire on Thursday between the Ivorian
national army and rebels capped off a week that started on a positive note
with the signing of a truce between the two parties.

Military sources told IRIN that there was no dead or wounded.

On Monday, an Ivorian delegation and the two western rebel groups - the
Ivorian Popular Movement of the Great West (MPIGO) and the Justice and
Peace Movement (MJP) - signed a truce in Lome, Togo. The signing came two
days before the opening of the Ivorian round-table meeting which began on
Wednesday in Paris. The Ivorian meeting, under the aegis of France, has
brought together the major political parties and the three rebel groups
currently operating in the country and is expected to run until 24
January. Participants aim to lay down a plan that would end the four-month
old crisis. President Ggagbo is not attending the talks.

The United Nations' Humanitarian Envoy for the crisis, Carolyn McAskie,
begun on Thursday a mission in the region aimed at assessing the level of
crisis and lobby in favour of the work of the international community.
So far she has met with the Ivorian ministers of Housing and Construction
and Foreign Affairs to encourage the government to continue to provide aid
and assistance to those affected by the conflict. During her mission,
McAskie is expected to travel to neighbouring countries where she will
also meet with senior officials to address the regional consequences of
the crisis.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs,
the number of displaced people has topped the one million mark. There are
also several thousands of Ivorian and foreign nationals who have fled to
neighbouring countries since the beginning of the crisis. The head OCHA's
Regional Support Office for West Africa, Besida Tonwe, said this week that
health, food security and education constituted the major priorities of
the UN system in Cote d'Ivoire. Since the beginning of the crisis, UN
agencies have opened nine sub-offices in the hinterland.  Also this week,
the UN high Commissioner for Refugees announced this week that it would
start the repatriation of up to 1,000 Liberian refugees from southwestern
Cote d'Ivoire as an emergency measure of last resort, Panos Moumtzis told
IRIN on Wednesday.

For IRIN coverage of the Ivorian crisis please go to
http://www.irinnews.org/frontpage.asp?SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=Cote_d_Ivoire

LIBERIA: Pro-democracy groups call for violence-free elections

Liberia's Catholic Justice and Peace Commission (JPC) on Thursday
expressed concerns over the "enabling security environment for the conduct
of free, fair and transparent and tension-free general and presidential
elections," warning that the multitude of uncontrolled armed security
agencies could lead to the worse violence in the run to the polls. The
same concern was expressed last week by a coalition of pro-democracy
groups at a three-day consultative meeting on the upcoming elections.

It called for security for all opposition and independent party candidates
and for the deployment of a joint United Nations and Economic Community of
West African States stabilization force to provide violence-free elections
and ensure transparency.  It called for the rebel Liberians United for
Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) to abandon its military endeavour and
join the electoral process.

The group also called on President Charles Taylor to release all human
rights defenders. Two religious leaders, David Kiazolu and Christopher
Toe, were released following their arrest on 28 December on suspicion of
collaborating with the LURD.

For more IRIN reports on Liberia please go to
http://www.irinnews.org/frontpage.asp?SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=Liberia

SIERRA LEONE: HRW report on sexual violence

Human Rights Watch on Thursday issued a report that noted that women were
subjected to widespread and systematic sexual violence during the
country's 10-year war.  According to HRW, women- of all ages, ethnic
groups and socio-economic classes- were subjected to individual and gang
rape that often left long term health consequences, including incontinence
and severe infections.

The main perpetrators of sexual violence, including sexual slavery, were
the rebel forces of the now-defunct Revolutionary United Front, the Armed
Forces Revolutionary Council and the West Side Boys, a splinter group of
the AFRC.  The organization also documented a limited number of cases by
the Sierra Leone Army and the Civil Defence Forces.

HRW recommended, among other things, that the government take all the
necessary measures to ensure the release of women and girls who were
abducted during the conflict; prioritise the nationwide establishment of
reproductive health clinics for women and girls that could provide testing
and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases.

The full report can be accessed at:
http://hrw.org/reports/2003/sierraleone/

GUINEA-BISSAU: UN electoral mission arrives in country

A team of the United Nations Electoral Assistance Division arrived on
Tuesday in Guinea-Bissau to evaluate the level of logistical assistance
that the UN could provide in the run-up to the legislative elections
slated for April 20. The mission is expected to spend 10 days in the
capital Bissau, will also assess what financial assistance is needed to
run smooth elections, the Portuguese online provide Lusa reported on
Wednesday. According to Lusa, UN assistance for the elections, called by
President Kumba Yala this month after he dissolved parliament in November,
is virtually a "fait accompli" because the West African nation lacks the
financial, logistical and other resources to hold transparent elections.


IRIN-WA
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Fax: +225 22-41-9339
Email: IRIN-WA@irin.ci

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