Global

Freedom House 28 Apr 2005 www.freedomhouse.org PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Michael Goldfarb 212-514-8040 x12 UN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION FURTHER UNDERMINED Re-election of Zimbabwe, Other Rights Abusing Regimes, Highlights Dire Need for Major Reform NEW YORK, April 28, 2005 -- The re-election of Zimbabwe to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights plainly underscores the urgent need for sweeping reform of the UN's human rights system, Freedom House said today. The government of Zimbabwe, despite ongoing, brutal repression of its citizens, was re-elected to a three-year term during voting Wednesday by the UN's Economic and Social Council, the governing body of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR). "Once again, the already tattered credibility of the Commission on Human Rights has been severely compromised," said Freedom House Executive Director Jennifer Windsor. "The government of Zimbabwe under President Robert Mugabe ranks among the most egregious violators of human rights in the world. It has no place at the Commission's table, which should be reserved for governments that honor and respect their citizens," she said. For the last several years, the Mugabe government and its supporters have driven white farmers from their land, stifled dissent, and intimidated political opponents, often through brutal violence. Zimbabweans do not enjoy basic rights such as freedom of speech and assembly and they cannot change their government democratically. During parliamentary elections last month -- while the CHR was in session in Geneva -- the Zimbabwean government and its backers deliberately withheld food aid from supporters of the democratic opposition, arrested, jailed, and deported foreign journalists, and barred election observers from entering the country. The elections were widely judged by outside observers to be fraudulent and rigged by the government. Zimbabwe was not censured during the CHR's session, which concluded April 22. Similarly, condemnatory resolutions were not pursued against China, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Russia, over its brutal tactics in Chechnya.. Zimbabwe was not the only rights violating regime re-elected to the CHR; China and Venezuela also preserved their seats. More significantly, with the election of Cameroon and Azerbaijan, the total number of non-democratic governments on the CHR increased. Out of 53 member states, now 16 -- a full 30 percent -- are considered "Not Free" in Freedom House's annual "Freedom in the World" survey. There are 23 countries (43 percent) rated "Free" and 14 (26 percent) rated "Partly Free." The increased presence of human rights abusers on the CHR reinforces the importance of fundamentally overhauling the Commission and replacing it with a human rights council composed of members with admirable human rights records, as recommended recently by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. In an address before the Commission on April 7, he stated that rights violating regimes seek CHR membership in order to disrupt the Commission's proceedings and shield themselves from legitimate criticism. The UN's Africa regional group nominated Zimbabwe as a candidate. "Zimbabwe's re-election dramatically underscores the absence of democratic cohesion at the United Nations and the need for reform," said Ms. Windsor. "Democracies in each of the UN's regional groupings must support one another's candidacy for seats on important UN bodies. Foreign ministers currently gathered in Santiago, Chile for the Community of Democracies meeting should endorse the Secretary General's proposals, and their recently created UN Democracy Caucus should mobilize the UN's regional groups to ensure that democracies fill CHR slots," she said.

Africa

Algeria

HRW 14 Apr 2005 [Partial text] Algeria: Amnesty Law Risks Legalizing Impunity for Crimes Against Humanity (New York, April 14, 2005) -- Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s proposal of a general amnesty for human rights abuses committed in the country’s brutal internal conflict may permanently deprive victims or their families of their right to truth, justice and reparation, a group of international human rights organizations warned today. The organizations include Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the International Center for Transitional Justice, the International Commission of Jurists and the International Federation for Human Rights. President Abdelaziz Bouteflika is proposing an amnesty law as a step towards “national reconciliation.” He has recently declared that he envisages a referendum on the law “as soon as the necessary conditions are satisfied.” So far, little is known about the terms of the proposed amnesty. No draft law has been made public, but official statements indicate that the law will grant exemption from prosecution to any member of an armed group, state-armed militia or the security forces for crimes committed in the course of the conflict, including serious human rights abuses. This proposal comes after years of failure by the Algerian authorities to investigate the human rights abuses committed during the internal conflict that began in 1992. This failure is all the more serious in light of the severity and magnitude of these abuses, some of which amount to crimes against humanity. In recent public statements, President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has said that 200,000 people have been killed during the conflict. Tens of thousands are civilian men, women, and children who were killed in violent attacks. Thousands have been tortured in detention. Thousands more have “disappeared” after arrest by the security forces or have been abducted by armed groups and summarily executed by them. In the overwhelming majority of cases, the authorities have not taken action to clarify the circumstances of the crimes and bring the suspected perpetrators to justice, despite the tireless efforts of victims and their families to search for the truth and provide information to the judicial authorities in cases where complaints have been filed. In this context, a general amnesty would leave the legacy of the past unresolved and might permanently undermine future prospects for full human rights protection. It would prevent the truth about the crimes of the past from ever emerging in Algerian courts, and thus impede any chances of ensuring that justice and accountability become part of a transition to peace. . .

Burundi

BBC 22 Apr 2005 New timetable for Burundi poll President Ndayizeye was supposed to step down on Friday African regional leaders have extended the mandate of Burundi's transitional president by four months and said elections must be held by 19 August. President Domitien Ndayizeye's term of office was due to end on Friday, which, under a peace deal, should have coincided with elections. The polls are supposed to end some 12 years of ethnic conflict. On Thursday, former rebels now part of a power-sharing government, urged the leaders not to let Mr Ndayizeye stay. They called him "an obstacle to peace". "The transitional period is extended to 26 August, national elections will be held not later than 19 August and the swearing in will be on the 26th," Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni told reporters after the meeting of leader from east and central Africa. 'Distraction' "We have written to the mediators and to all the regional heads of state ahead of the Kampala summit, asking them not to extend Ndayizeye in his duties," the former rebel Forces for the Defence of Democracy (FDD) spokesman Karenga Ramadhani told AFP. Rebel attacks continue Correspondents say the call by the FDD has led to fears that the peace process may be in danger. On Thursday, two people were killed in clashes between the army and the only active rebel group near the capital, Bujumbura. The ethnic Hutu Forces for National Liberation (FNL) had offered to declare a ceasefire but army spokesman Adolphe Manirakiza said this was a "distraction", reports Reuters news agency. Some 250,000 people have been killed in Burundi's 12-year civil war, which saw Hutu rebels fighting for a greater share of power from the Tutsi minority which has traditionally ruled the country. Mr Ndayizeye is a Hutu but critics say he is a front for Tutsis who still wield the real power, through their domination of the military. Former Hutu rebels are being integrated into the army.

AFP 18 Apr 2005 Burundi moves Rwandans fearing genocide charges away from common border BUJUMBURA, April 18 (AFP) - Burundi Monday began moving about 2,000 Rwandan refugees who fear prosecution on genocide charges at home away from the border between the two countries, sources said. "We have decided to move these asylum-seekers away from the frontier and rehouse them temporarily on two sites before their definitive transfer to Mishiha (in southwest Burundi)," Colonel Didace Nzikoruriho, responsible for refugee issues at the Burundian interior ministry, said. Last week local authorities identified 1,921 Rwandan refugees at two places within 10 kilometres (six miles) of the border. "Most of them say they are fleeing for fear of being put on trial before gacaca (pronounced "gachacha") courts for their possible role in the 1994 genocide but others say they are being enslaved by their (Tutsi) compatriots," a statement from the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) said. In the 1994 genocide some 800,000 minority ethnic group Tutsis and moderate majority Hutus were massacred by extremist Hutus, before a Tutsi-dominated government took control. Trials opened nationwide in Rwanda in March in 12,000 gacaca courts designed to clear a backlog of genocide-related cases in Rwanda's overstretched regular judiciary, which has to date managed to try fewer than 10,000 suspects. The Rwandans in Burundi are being taken to sites 50 and 100 kilometres (30 and 60 miles) from the border. About 630 have been moved so far. So far they have not received any UN or non-governmental organisation aid though the UNHCR says at the request of the Burundian government it will provide emergency humanitarian help. "Everyone -- the Burundian government, the UNHCR, the ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross) -- everyone is in a delicate position," a Western diplomat who asked not to be named told AFP. "Rwanda is not all happy and has let it be known through diplomatic channels. It does not want these people welcomed as refugees." Burundi says it will not give asylum to people who took part in the genocide.

Cameroon

IRIN 29 Apr 2005 At least two students shot dead in university protests [ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations] © YAOUNDE, 29 Apr 2005 (IRIN) - Two university students have been shot dead in a clash with soldiers at Buea University in English-speaking western Cameroon, the government said on Friday. The deaths follow several days of protests at the English-speaking university in Cameroon's northwest province bordering Nigeria, and come as angry students at the country's largest university, Yaounde One, negotiate with officials to end 10 days of trouble there. In a statement read on state-run radio on Friday, Higher Education Minister Jacques Fame Ndongo appealed for calm and said President Paul Biya "has requested a judicial enquiry to establish the exact cause of the deaths." One of the students was shot in the head and the other hit in the chest. Both died instantly. Independent newspapers however said a third, female student had died of wounds sustained during the clash with police and paramilitary gendarmes. Thursday's protest was the second in two days at Buea University where protesters are demanding the suppression of annual school fees of 50,000 CFA francs (US $99) instituted in 1993 in all six state-run universities in the West African country. Striking students are also demanding more food and toilets. The clash occurred when students took to the streets to reach the office of the province's governor and hand in their complaints. Police and troops used tear gas and water cannons to disperse the crowd, and independent newspaper reports say many students were injured and taken to hospital for treatment. Classes have been temporarily halted at Buea University. Meanwhile in Yaounde, student protesters were in negotiations with officials on Friday after strikes caused a 10-day stoppage of classes over demands for an end to fees and an improvement in academic and living conditions. The strike at Yaounde One has also spread to other institutes of higher learning, such as the teacher-training school Ecole Normale Superieure, the Ecole Nationale de Polytechnique and the Advanced School of Mass Communications (ASMAC). President Biya has ordered the government to disburse 2.4 billion CFA francs (US $4.7 million) to resolve the crisis at Yaounde One. But the higher education minister said at a news conference last week that the government could not simply suppress school fees given that the nation's financial situation was not that healthy. Minister Ndongo is scheduled to meet with student leaders of the Association for the Defence of the Rights of Cameroon University Students (ADDEC). But there are fears that student dissatisfaction could extend to other state-run universities and teaching institutions.

Côte d'Ivoire

IRIN 19 Apr 2005 Hundreds displaced by inter-ethnic violence in confidence zone 19 Apr 2005 17:46:15 GMT Source: IRIN BOLI, 19 April (IRIN) - An exchange of insults between two children of different ethnic groups mushroomed two days later into full-scale fighting between neighbours in this large village in the no-man's land between government and rebel lines in Cote d'Ivoire. Houses were burned, cattle were killed, several people received machete wounds and 1,000 members of the minority Dioula community in Boli last month trekked out to seek shelter in the rebel sector. UN peacekeepers were called to restore order, but took six hours to arrive from the rebel capital Bouake, 75 km to the north. President Laurent Gbagbo and the rebel forces occupying the north of Cote d'Ivoire may have agreed earlier this month to put a two-year-old peace agreement back on the rails, but the situation on the ground in many places remains tense. As in Boli, a village of 8,000 souls on the railway line from the port of Abidjan to Burkina Faso, Muslim northerners are all too readily seen as sympathisers with the rebel cause, while Christian southerners are identified with the pro-Gbagbo camp. The curious thing about the flare-up of violence in Boli on 30 March was that it took place in the Zone of Confidence, a demilitarised zone between the government and rebel frontlines where neither faction holds sway. UN and French peacekeepers that patrol the broad swathe of territory that keeps the two sides apart, are supposed to maintain security. "It started with name calling," said village chief Nana Paul Kouadio Yao, who comes from the Baoule tribe, to which most of Boli's inhabitants belong. "One of the Dioula youngsters starting making fun of a Baoule lad - a handicapped boy," he said. "News spread like wildfire, with each side saying they were the injured party until a couple of days later, Baoule from all the surrounding villages came here armed with traditional hunting guns, machetes and big sticks to settle the matter," Yao said. Initially around 1,000 members of the village's Dioula community were displaced. According to the UN World Food Programme (WFP), well over 400 of them remain lodged with family and friends elsewhere three weeks after the incident. Just over 200 fled to Bouake, and around 230 sought refuge in Raviart, 15 km up the road. Old tensions aggravated by war The Dioula are Muslims who originally came from the north of Cote d'Ivoire, the heartland of the rebellion, but many of those in Boli had been living there for generations. Yao, the village chief, played down suggestions that the feud between them and the local Baoule people had anything to do with the war. "It had nothing to do with the political situation in the country - it was the same in the 1950s when I was a youngster," he explained. However, long-standing ethnic tensions at a local level have been exacerbated since the civil war erupted in September 2002, particularly in the south. There, people of northern origin and immigrants from other West African countries have suffered frequent persecution, sometimes at the hands of their neighbours, at other times by the security forces and pro-Gbagbo militia groups. Hate campaigns on radio, television and in the Abidjan daily newspapers have only served to deepen the existing mistrust. In Boli, scores of Dioula homes were burned down and because the Dioula are traders, the market was set alight too. "When they came with their hunting guns and clubs, I left my shop and ran and hid in another part of the village," said Lassina Zourme. As he sat by charred remains of his general store where he sold everything from soap to canned food and cement, Zourme predicted that the market was unlikely to reopen, since many Dioula people were too frightened to return to the village. "Lots of people left and they haven't come back - they had their houses and shops badly burned and smashed up so they're scared. My mother left. She's staying in Bouake, but I had nowhere to go," he told IRIN. "It's not easy - not because it's dangerous - but because I have no income," he said. "I am married, I have a wife and two little girls. We have to rely on the help of others to get by." WFP has donated a month of dry rations - oil, beans, maize, salt and vitamin biscuits - to every displaced adult. "We are helping the displaced and a lot of people who stayed behind as they lost their harvest in the attack," said Mamadou Diarra, logistics assistant at WFP Bouake. The white-robed elderly chief of the Dioula community in Boli, Baboukary Traore, said the Baoule attackers also targeted the mosque. "Take a look!" They smashed the door of the mosque and broke things inside," he said, standing in the remains of his own burned-down compound. Road of no return Soumauka Sylla, a Dioula cotton farmer, is among those who left Boli. He fled with his three wives and eight children to Raviart, three hours walk away, and vowed never to return. "I brought the whole family - even that dog there!" he said with a nod in the direction of a dirty mongrel lazing in the sticky afternoon heat. "What else can you do when everything is burned - the clothes you wear, the place you sleep, where you eat and with children too? No. I can't go back," said Sylla, who explained that he had lost his cotton crop as well as all his money and belongings. "They killed two of our community's cows - full grown ones too, worth about 250,000 CFA (around US $500) a piece. We clubbed together and bought them as a cooperative, we've got 35 left which we've brought with us." "If I build my house in Boli, they will smash it up again. So I'm building here in Raviart. I have connections here," said Sylla. He laid the blame for the violence squarely on Yao, the Baoule chief in Boli, saying that he called on people from the surrounding villages to carry out the attack. But Yao, a well-educated man with a smart cement house set among mango and banana trees, denied having any part in the affair. "I was out of town. If it hadn't been for my efforts to calm the situation upon my return it could have been much worse. I informed ONUCI (the UN peacekeeping force) of what was going on at 9 a.m. but they didn't get here until 3 p.m.," he said. "When I asked them why they took so long, they said it was because the road is bad but it is two hours, not six hours, from here to Bouake," said Yao. Help was slow in coming Sylla is also confused why help didn't arrive earlier. "There is a French base, right here in Raviart - just behind those houses over there," he said pointing up the hill. But the officer in charge of the French base, where 30 soldiers rotate on two-week cycles, explained that his unit was unable to intervene in Boli, since it had not received a request to do so from the UN Operation in Cote d'Ivoire (ONUCI). "I was personally not on duty here at Raviart when the incident took place, but it is the case that we need a mandate from ONUCI before we can intervene in local affairs," Lieutenant Blanc told IRIN. "Of course we would not sit back and watch things happen before our eyes, but to have been able to assist in this case we would have needed a request from ONUCI. We did not get one." Back in Bouake, ONUCI section commander Major General Bezzani said that his forces got to the scene as soon as possible. "We were informed of the problem at 11.30 a.m. or 12 noon, something like that. It certainly was not 9 a.m. And as the road is bad, it took three hours for the military vehicles to get there," he said. "The problem is, there are always lots of rumours flying around and our job is to monitor the situation between FANCI [the government army] and the New Forces," he said. Yao, the Baoule chief of Boli, has urged all the Dioula villagers to return, promising that they will be safe. "All the problems have been solved. They should come back. We have more to gain by living together in harmony than we do by living separately," he said. He is looking for money to start rebuilding the village's burnt-out houses and shops. Zourme agreed with the chief that things would be better in Boli, if they could get over the events of last month, but for different reasons. "Since they burned down the market, you have to walk half an hour to get to the nearest shop," he complained. "And if you want some car parts you have to go all the way to Bouake." "There's all this rebuilding that needs doing and it used to be me that sold the cement. But they'll have to get that from Bouake now too," he said grumpily.

Reuters 20 Apr 2005 Ivory Coast polls feed cocoa farmers' fears By Ange Aboa GAGNOA, Ivory Coast, April 20 (Reuters) - Cocoa farmers in western Ivory Coast fear October polls will fan ethnic violence just as the main crop will be getting under way in a region where war has already deepened tribal rifts. Growers and industry players said some farmers were too scared to travel to the main towns, while others were reluctant to go into the bush and tend to their plantations for fear of attacks from ethnic rivals. Analysts said fear of attacks was already hindering the flow of mid-crop cocoa from the bush in some areas and cast a cloud over the 2005/06 main crop, due to start in October. "The land problems have not been sorted out properly and this means farmers are hesitant about going to the plantations," said Alexi Kouassi, from the Cora cooperative in Ouragahio, north of Gagnoa. "They are afraid of being attacked again." Ivory Coast, which has been split into a rebel-held north and government-controlled south since war started in 2002, is expected to hold presidential polls in six months, although political reforms to open the vote to all are still required. The west of the world's top cocoa grower has long been torn by tribal splits that predate the war and pit local plantation owners and villagers against outsiders from neighbouring countries or other parts of the country. "The foreigners are scared and don't deliver cocoa to the warehouses anymore," said Christophe Djedje, at the Coopraba cooperative in Bayota, 35 km (22 miles) north of Gagnoa. "And neither locals nor foreigners are going to the fields since the latest (violence) at the start of the year...they are scared and that means we have less cocoa," he told Reuters. Feuds over rich land have erupted into violence several times and the war has only served to make the fighting more bitter, with outsiders accused of backing the rebels, who mostly hail from northern Ivory Coast. LYING LOW IN TOWNS Many of the plantations around Gagnoa, which is the heartland of President Laurent Gbagbo's Bete ethnic group, are owned by people from other areas of Ivory Coast or immigrants from neighbouring countries. "We are scared about what might happen during the election campaign because the village youths still want to chase us from our fields and take them," said Aboude Karamoko, a farmer from the north of Ivory Coast who has five hectares north of Gagnoa. Local officials said clashes between locals and farmers from outside the area in January and February left more than 10 dead. The army has tried to calm things down but sporadic outbreaks of violence persist. "If there is no solution before the main crop, I'm going to stay in town because I'm scared of what might happen in the bush during the election campaign," said Karamoko, who is staying in Gagnoa at the moment with his wife and children. Amadou Kizerbo, a farmer from Burkina Faso, said he was hanging on in Ivory Coast in the hope of getting his seven hectare plantation back after being chased away by local youths. "Many of my compatriots have left because they are afraid, others want to go before the elections," he said. "I have stayed...because it's all I own. I don't know where to go to start a new life, so I'm waiting for it to calm down." A buyer for a major exporter in the main city Abidjan also said he was concerned about the election and so was trying to get his hands on as much cocoa as possible now. "There is a risk the farmers abandon their fields during the electoral campaign, which coincides with the period when plantations are being prepared for the main crop," he said. "The region is a tinderbox and no one can predict what will happen.".

Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo

IRIN 12 Apr 2005 Key Ituri militia group declares end to war [ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations] © IRIN Thomas Lubanga, the arrested leader of the Union des patriotes congolais (UPC). BUNIA, 14 Apr 2005 (IRIN) - The Union des patriotes Congolais (UPC), one of the major militia groups in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, announced on Wednesday an end to its insurrection in the district of Ituri. "All those who refuse to adhere to the disarmament process will now be regarded as outlaws," John Tinanzabo, UPC's secretary-general, said in Bunia, Ituri's largest town. He said the central government should now decide what to do with those he termed "armed gangsters", who remain outside the peace process. The UN Mission in the DRC, MONUC, had already given a 1 April deadline for all armed groups in the district to surrender their guns. One of the militia groups, the Forces armees du peuple congolais, headed by Jerome Kakavu-Bukande, sent the remaining 416 of its militiamen to a disarmament site in Mount Awa, northern Ituri, on Wednesday. The Congolese government said this was the last of fighters from this movement, effectively ending their war. While declaring an end to the UPC's war, Tinanzabo criticised the government for the continued detention of UPC leader Thomas Lubanga in Kinshasa, the nation's capital. "He was arrested illegally and we will employ peaceful means to gain his release, even if it takes 27 years as with Nelson Mandela of South Africa," he said. Lubanga was arrested in March following investigations into the killing of nine UN peacekeepers in February in Ituri. Other militia leaders were also arrested. They are Mandro Panga Kahwa of the coalition Parti pour l'unite la sauvegarde de l'integrite du Congo, Floribert Ndjabu of the Front des nationalistes et intergretionnistes and Germain Katanga of Forces de resistance patriotiques en Ituri. Warrants of arrest are also out for officials of Ituri's seven armed groups, accused of human rights violations. They include Bosco Taganda, the UPC's chief of staff and his aide. In addition, Tinanzabo was also arrested on Thursday - causing Bunia residents to demonstrate. Shop owners closed their premises and there was heavy police presence around the town's market to prevent looting. Bunia's state prosecutor, Thomas Fiama, ordered Tinanzabo's arrest in connection with the death, three years ago, of Bulamuzi Mangilyo, the chief of the collectives of Badira Andisoma and Nyakunde, some 45 km southwest of Bunia.

IRIN 14 Apr 2005 Militia group dismantled as 416 fighters surrender guns [ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations] © UNDP A former combatant lays down his gun at a disarmament transit centre in Bunia, Ituri District. BUNIA, 14 Apr 2005 (IRIN) - The remaining 416 militiamen of the Forces armees du peuple congolais (FAPC) surrendered their guns to UN troops on Wednesday, effectively dismantling the movement and boosting efforts to pacify the troubled Ituri District in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). "The FAPC no longer exists. This movement is now history," Kwaje Duku, a Congolese army colonel heading the government-run National Disarmament Commission in Ituri, said. The militiamen, loyal to Jerome Kakwavu-Bukande, surrendered at Mount Awa, 25 km from Aru in northern Ituri. They can either enter the programme for disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) into civilian life or be integrated into the new national Congolese army. FAPC has already said 2,014 of its fighters have disarmed, among them 251 children. The adult fighters are being registered after which they will be sent to Aru and provided food aid and undergo four days of counselling in transit sites before choosing whether to integrate into the army or return to civilian life. However, rather than surrender, some fighters have fled, Elongi Mabe, an ex-combatant who surrendered at Mount Awa on Wednesday, said. "There are some recalcitrant people who refused to be disarmed," he said. "They are fleeing to Uganda and Sudan. Others have buried their weapons in the villages." Duku said these were isolated cases and the culprits would be considered as bandits. Meanwhile, at a news conference in Kinshasa, the nation's capital, the military chief of staff of the UN Mission in the DRC (MONUC), Col Jean-Francois Collot d' Escury, said on Wednesday the UN knew the fighters were fleeing or hiding and would hunt them down. "We are going to pursue them," Escury said. MONUC said by Wednesday a total of 10,020 ex-combatants, form various movements, had entered the DDR process in Ituri, leaving some 2,000 more to be disarmed. There are at least seven militia groups in Ituri. In Bunia, the main town in Ituri, a MONUC public information officer, Mohammad Abdul Wahab, said the disarmament programme would continue to accept militiamen even though MONUC's 1 April deadline to hand in guns had expired. Fighters below 18 years old were among those who presented themselves for disarmament at Mount Awa, although not all were combatants. They are considered as minors and as hostages of the militias, rather than "outlaws". Such children are now being referred to as "children associated with armed groups", not child soldiers. Typically, their non-combat tasks include cooking, acting as porters and, for the girls, being "wives" to older fighters. 0ne of them, Mama Safi, is a girl-mother who turned up at Mount Awa on Wednesday. She does not know the whereabouts of her child's father. "I have an orphan child, who was separated from his father during a raid by [UN] Nepalese troops," she said.

IRIN 20/04/2005 DRC: Who's who in Ituri - militia organisations, leaders IRIN [ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations] NAIROBI, 20 Apr 2005 (IRIN) - Conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) continues despite a peace agreement signed by Congolese parties in April 2003. Most former rebel groups in other parts of the country were party to the agreement but militia groups in the northeastern district of Ituri were not signatories. In 2004 seven of the Ituri groups signed a peace agreement with the transitional government, although some failed to disarm by the 1 April deadline set by the UN Mission in the DRC, known as MONUC. Now it seems that the government and its newly integrated army brigades are taking the fight to the militia and their leaders. IRIN looks at who is who among Ituri's militia. L'Union des patriotes congolais (UPC) - Union of Congolese Patriots: The UPC, a largely Hema organisation, was formed by Thomas Lubanga. It began operating in Bunia, Ituri District's main town, in July 2001, but only gained importance a year later. Lubanga set up the UPC after splitting from the formerly pro-Ugandan Rassemblement congolais pour la démocratie-Mouvement de libération (RCD-ML) - the Congolese Rally for Democracy-Liberation Movement - where he was a military commander and 'minister' of defence. The UPC is reportedly largely backed by politicians and business interests from the Hema ethnic group - one of the two largest in Ituri - and is divided into the clans of the northern (Gegere) and southern (Banyoro) Hema. The movement and its armed wing, the Front pour la réconciliation et paix - Front for Peace and Reconciliation - took control of most of Bunia before being forced out of the area by the Ugandan army on 6 March 2003. Tension between the UPC and Uganda - its original supporter - arose in late 2002 when the UPC demanded the immediate withdrawal of all remaining Ugandan troops from the DRC. The tension widened into a split on 6 January 2003, when the UPC formed an alliance with the Rwandan-backed RCD-Goma. In March 2003 anti-Lubangists in the UPC defected to Uganda, which was already supporting another Hema militia coalition opposed to Lubanga, the Parti pour l'unité et la sauvegarde de l'intégrité du Congo (PUSIC) - Party for Unity and Safeguarding of the Integrity of Congo. The UPC refused to sign the Ituri Cessation of Hostilities Agreement reached between rival governments, political, ethnic and militia groups on 14 May 2004. Thomas Lubanga had been arrested in March 2005, following an investigation into the killing of nine Bangladeshi UN peacekeepers in Ituri. The UPC's secretary-general, John Tinanzabo, was also arrested on 14 April 2005, a day after declaring that the party had officially renounced armed struggle. The UPC-Kisembo (UPC-K): This faction is led by Floribert Kisembo Bahemuka, who broke away from the Lubanga (UPC-L) group in December 2003. Kisembo had tried to unseat Lubanga but failed when most of the militia remained loyal to his rival. Although UPC-K was considered a minor armed group, Kisembo was appointed a general in the national army in 2005 under the reconciliation process of the Pretoria peace accords. Human Rights Watch has named Kisembo as one of five militia leaders accused of massacres and other serious war crimes in Ituri. The others are Lubanga, Jérôme Kakwavu, Bosco Taganda and Germain Katanga, who were also given generalships in the new unified army. Le Front des nationalistes et intégrationnistes (FNI) - Nationalist Integrationist Front: The FNI, led by Floribert Ndjabu Ngabu, draws most of its support from the Lendu ethnic group and is based in the Ituri towns of Rethy, some 100 km northeast of Bunia, and Kpandroma, 140 km north of Bunia. The military leader of the movement is Etienne Lona, who was arrested by security services in Kinshasa on 11 March 2005 for his group's alleged involvement in the killing of nine Bangladeshi peacekeepers in Ituri. Nabu was transferred to Makala Prison in Kinshasa. The Forces armées du peuple Congolais (FAPC) - The People's Armed Forces of Congo: Also known as the Union des congolais pour la démocratie-Forces armées du people congolais - Union of Congolese for Democracy-People's Armed Forces of Congo - headed by Jérôme Kakwavu-Bukande, who broke away from UPC in March 2003. The movement's headquarters is in Aru, some 300 km north of Bunia, from where it mostly controls Aru Territory and the area around Mahagi Territory. FAPC's ethnic composition is mixed, and it has reportedly formed alliances with other militia groups where and when convenient, including the FNI and, later, PUSIC. The FAPC's strength was thought to be around 4,000 fighters, who began surrendering their weapons on 6 March 2005 in Aru, with the aim of integrating into the national army. Le Parti pour l'unité et la sauvegarde de l'intégrité du congo (PUSIC) - Party for Unity and Safeguarding of the Integrity of Congo: Mandro Panga Kahwa, the former military chief of UPC, formed this Hema party in February 2003 after a dispute over leadership and military support with the UPC leader, Thomas Lubanga. PUSIC is dominated by a southern Hema group living near the Ugandan border and has close ties with the neighbouring country. Officially, PUSIC's leader was Floribert Kisembo but, according to African Security Review, Chief Mandro Panga Kahwa was really in control. Congolese judicial authorities, with the support of the UN peacekeepers of the Ituri Brigade, arrested Kahwa on 9 April 2005. Kahwa, 30, is chief of the Bahema Banywagi region north of Bunia. One of PUSIC's leaders, Ychali Gonza, was also promoted to general in the national army. PUSIC controls part of the Irumu and Djugu territories and the Lake Albert ports of Tchomia and Kasenyi. On 20 December 2004, PUSIC announced that Kisembo had been dismissed as its chairman in favour of Deo Pimbo, who had been the secretary-general. However, a week later, PUSIC militiamen stated categorically that they still considered Kisembo as their commander. Forces de resistance patriotiques en Ituri (FRPI)- Patriotic Resistance Front in Ituri: FRPI, led by Dr Adirodo, is a political party of the Ngiti, one of 18 distinct ethnic groups in Ituri. The party was established in November 2002 and is allied to the Front des nationalistes et integrationnistes (FNI) - Nationalist Integrationist Front - led by Floribert Ndjabu Ngabu. The alliance is aimed at bringing Ngiti militias and traditional leaders together to face the UPC. It supported Uganda's move to drive the UPC from Bunia in March 2003. Forces populaires pour la democratie au Congo (FPDC) - Popular Force for Democracy in Congo: This is an Alur and Lugbara political party. Its current leader, Thomas Unen Chen, was a former member of parliament in Zaire (as the Democratic Republic of Congo was formerly known). FPDC was formed in 2002, mostly by the Alur and Lugbara ethnic groups in the Aru and Mahagi areas of northern Ituri, with the aim of countering the UPC. The party has reportedly been supported by Uganda as part of the Front pour l'intégration et la paix en Ituri - FIPI (an offshoot of the UPC) coalition.

Congo, Republic of Congo

www.iol.co.za 23 Apr 2005 World ignores Congo's crisis - UN April 23 2005 at 03:04PM By David Lewis Kinkala, Congo - Less than three percent of funds needed to tackle a humanitarian emergency in the Republic of Congo have been received, highlighting the oil-producer's plight as a forgotten nation in crisis, the United Nations said. Congo's civil war officially ended in 1999 but sub-Saharan Africa's fourth biggest oil producer has no peacekeeping force and is struggling to disarm former rebels who continue to attack civilians in the Pool region, far from international eyes. "This is scandalous. We need to have a better response to this emergency," Aurelien Agbenonci, the head of the UN in Congo, told Reuters in an interview. - 'This place is a time bomb we need to defuse' "Of the nearly $22-million needed, just over 20 percent has been promised and under three percent has actually been given," he said. "This is a low-level conflict which appears not to interest people as there is neither war nor peace." Despite the official truce, clashes in 2002 and 2003 between government soldiers and the rebels, known as Ninjas, rocked the peace process and undermined a disarmament programme in the central African country of three million people. Thousands of Ninjas, named after ancient Japanese warriors glamourised by Hollywood, who have not been disarmed and are no longer part of a structured rebel movement roam around the Pool region west of the capital Brazzaville. Known for their trademark purple scarves and Rasta-style dreadlocks, the gunmen live off civilians and reguarly hijack the train that links the landlocked capital to the oil-producing coastal town of Pointe Noire. There are no international peacekeepers in Congo, a former French colony, and analysts say the government seems unwilling, or unable, to put an end to the attacks in Pool. The UN is due to open an office in Kinkala, a town at the heart of the Pool region, but Agbenonci said media attention on other conflicts around the world had taken its toll and the lack funds meant several aid agencies working in Pool may shut down. "I also know many aid workers who used to work here but who have ended up being pulled out and sent to Darfur. This is very symbolic of our problem," he said. According to the UN, thousands were killed during Congo's war - some put the toll as high as 10 000 - and 150 000 civilians fled the latest bout of violence in March 2003. Although Congo is rich in oil, Pool is an economic backwater where many schools have remained closed for up to eight years, there are few health facilities and the road to the coast has been reduced to deeply rutted paths cut into the red soil. Agbenonci said the humanitarian and economic woes of the region needed to be addressed to avoid reigniting the conflict. "The stability of the Pool is the stability of the whole of Congo but it doesn't seem to be a priority. There are no resources in Pool, just its people," he said. "There is a very free flow of weapons, so there is still a risk of rebellion." "This place is a time bomb we need to defuse."

Equatorial Guinea

IRIN 15 Apr 2005 Prisoners face death by starvation, says Amnesty [ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations] © LIBREVILLE, 15 Apr 2005 (IRIN) - At least 70 prisoners being held in Equatorial Guinea’s notorious Black Beach prison outside the capital Malabo are facing death by starvation, Amnesty International said in a report this week. President Teodoro Obiang Nguema went on air to deny the allegation, saying on national radio that “although there are many prisoners incarcerated at Black Beach, they are well treated.” Amnesty said those most at risk in the former Spanish colony were dozens of political prisoners arrested last year who were being held without trial, and 15 foreign nationals who were deprived of contact with family and lawyers. Many were particularly at risk since they had been severely weakened by ill-treatment, torture and lack of adequate medical care for chronic illnesses, the London-based rights watchdog said in a statement. Among the prisoners are six Armenians and five South Africans convicted last November of preparing the ground for a mercenary invasion to overthrow Obiang. The former army officer has ruled the tiny oil-rich nation with an iron hand since he deposed and killed his uncle in a 1979 coup. Four Nigerians have also been held at Black Beach prison for several months without charge or trial and without their embassy being notified, Amnesty said. Prison officials reduced the daily food ration for inmates in December from a cup of rice to one or two bread rolls, but since the end of February “provision of any prison food at all has been sporadic,” the report said. “Unless immediate action is taken, many of those detained at Black Beach prison will die,” said Kolawole Olaniyan, the director of Amnesty's Africa programme. “Such near starvation, lack of medical attention and appalling prison conditions represent a scandalous failure by the Equatorial Guinea authorities to fulfil their most basic responsibilities under international law.” Both Amnesty and exiled opposition sources said prisoners often were dependent on food handed to prison guards by families. This made the situation all the more difficult for foreigners and for people from the mainland part of Equatorial Guinea, 200 km to the southeast, since they had no family nearby, Amnesty said. Black Beach is situated on Bioko, a mountainous volcanic island formally known as Fernando Poo, where the country's offshore oil industry is based. Amnesty said all prisoners were kept in their cells for 24 hours a day and that foreign detainees were held with their hands and legs cuffed at all times. The foreigners were handed sentences of between 14 and 34 years in jail in November for their alleged role in an abortive invasion by South African mercenaries. Their trial was slammed as unfair at the time by Amnesty and the London-based International Bar Association. Former South African soldier Nick du Toit, the alleged leader of the group, was the sole defendant to have initially confessed to a role in the conspiracy. He later said that his admission of guilt had been obtained by torture. Obiang, the present head of state, has been widely accused of corruption and human rights abuse during his 25-year rule of what used to be one of the world’s poorest nations. Equatorial Guinea now produces 350,000 barrels per day of oil and has become Africa’s third-biggest oil producer after Nigeria and Angola, but most of its 500,000 people still live in dire poverty. Although oil generates US $30,000 per year for every one of the Equatorial Guinea's 500,000 inhabitants - giving the country a gross domestic product per capita equivalent to that of Switzerland or Denmark - life expectancy remains low at 49 and less than half the population have access to clean drinking water, according the UN Human Development Index.

Ethiopia

AP 25 Apr 2005 Minnesota becomes refuge for Ethiopian ethnic minority BY XIAO ZHANG MINNEAPOLIS - Abang Ojullu can't stop crying when she thinks of two of her brothers, killed by the Ethiopian military. Ochwor Ojulu calls relatives in his native Ethiopia every week to check on his brother, who has been jailed and tortured by the government for more than a year. Obang Okello worries whenever he thinks of his parents, forced to live in a shed they built under some trees after their home was taken by soldiers. All three are Anuak, an ethnic minority from western Ethiopia, and now live in Minnesota. They say their stories of family and friends being terrorized by the Ethiopian government are part of a larger picture outlined by a Human Rights Watch investigator last month. That report said Ethiopian troops have committed widespread killings, rapes and torture of the tribal Anuak population in the southwestern corner of the country since late 2003. Hundreds were killed and thousands driven from their homes after numerous attacks by soldiers and civilians from other ethnic groups, it said. The Ethiopian government has said it is committed to human rights. Having left families behind, some of the Anuak who came to the United States as refugees say they live in a constant state of worry as they hear news of more turmoil, and more killings, in their native land. "My life is very in fear and in pain," said Ojullu, 30, of Worthington, Minn. "I hurt a lot. But I don't say nothing about it. God knows about it." Neither Minnesota nor the federal government tracks the number of Anuak who have settled here, drawn by the same refugee resettlement infrastructure that has attracted large numbers of Hmong and Somalis. People in the Anuak community estimate that 1,500 Anuak live in the state, which is believed to have the largest concentration outside Africa, said Akway Cham, chairman of Minneapolis-based Anuak Community Association of North America. The newcomers have found jobs in the Twin Cities and across southern Minnesota, some on meatpacking production lines, some in nursing homes, some running their own businesses. Others are college students. Ojullu first landed in South Dakota in 1993. She moved to Minnesota three years later to work at a meatpacking plant before becoming a nurse assistant, and is raising a family of four. She said her mother, who remains in Ethiopia, told her of the fate of two of her brothers: killed by the Ethiopian military while walking in the street with her cousins about a year ago. The troops also went into her parents' house, broke its windows, took the furniture and hit her father, blinding him in one eye, she said. "It seemed like I'm dead, too, when I heard this," Ojullu said. For strength, she turned to her church, where leaders have seen growing numbers of Anuak in the pews. About 30 of the 400 members of Worthington Christian Reformed Church are Anuak, said the Rev. LeRoy Christoffels. Through potlucks and other church activities, longtime members have learned of the refugees' stories of suffering on a distant continent. "There's a lot of pastoral care that's needed by the people who are here because their lives are not only disrupted, and they keep getting word from Africa about their relatives' lives getting disrupted there," Christoffels said. The word "Anuak" means people who do everything together. Anuak refugees in Minnesota describe their native region of Gambella, Ethiopia, as a fertile land graced by four rivers. They farm -- sometimes planting three crops a year -- and fish, said Okello, chairman of Minneapolis-based Anuak Justice Council. The group was formed to raise awareness of the Anuak and encourage outside investigations. Okello, who came to the United States in 1997, has been telling his story for years to raise awareness. After fleeing a school at age 11 when it was set on fire, he walked barefoot to neighboring Kenya, a journey that took two months. He spent six years in a refugee camp there before migrating to the U.S. and finding his brother in Minnesota. Many Anuak in Minnesota have dramatic stories to tell. Ochwor Ojulu, whose brother remains jailed, said another brother was kidnapped by the military and killed. "Sometimes I wonder why the government did that," Ojulu said. He said he wants answers and a peaceful solution: "Violence cannot win."

Ghana

IRIN 15 Apr 2005 Hundreds of refugees from Darfur trek to Ghana [ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations] © IRIN Mubarak Alchek, whose amputed foot did not stop him trekking 3000 km from Darfur to Ghana ACCRA, 15 Apr 2005 (IRIN) - Several hundred refugees from the civil war in Sudan's western Dafur region have trekked west for 3,000 km, crossing five international borders, to seek asylum in Ghana. They came into the spotlight for the first time this week when a group of 180 refugees from Darfur briefly occupied an unfinished building on the outskirts of the capital Accra. Most of them had arrived in Ghana in small groups since January. "I fled Dafur in May last year, after my village was attacked and completely destroyed," said 33-year-old farmer Omar Mubarak, who comes from Ambrow district near the town of Kutum. "Some of my family members were killed. I do not know where the rest are. I finally left Sudan in September, " he told IRIN. "I and my compatriots decided to come to Ghana because we hear it is peaceful here," Mubarak continued. "People claiming to be immigration authorities in the other countries have harassed us. In Togo, for instance, some Gendarmerie extorted monies from us." Mubarak said he was hassled by the local authorities in Nigeria, where he had initially hoped to stay, and he had deliberately passed through Benin and Togo, because he could not speak their official language, French. He and a few of the other Sudanese refugees who occupied the half-buillt offices of Ghana's National Bureau of Local Languages on Tuesday were able to speak halting English. But most of the refugees from Darfur who gathered there only spoke Arabic and local Sudanese languages. All gave harrowing accounts of their flight from Darfur before government officials and officials of the UN refugee agency UNHCR moved them on to the Ussher Fort, a colonial era fort on the coast of Accra, which functioned as a prison until 1993. The government said in a statement on Friday that they would remain there while their applications to stay in Ghana were processed. Mubarak Alchek, a 28-year-old man whose left foot was amputated after he was injured during an air raid on his village, said he left Sudan through Chad in January last year. Alachek said he hitched rides on horseback and rode on top of trucks carting goods through the countries he passed through. He finally arrived in Ghana on 11 April via Togo. "We need protection. We need food and medicine. We do not have money," his English-speaking friend Mubarak told IRIN. "Some of our people are sick, some have been mugged, we do not know anyone here and we are seeking asylum because we have no where to go," Before Mubarak and his compatriots came to the attention of the Ghanaian authorities by invading a government building, they had been living in the open without access to clean water and sanitation facilities. "We are facing an unusual situation because the group is so large. But together with the Ghana Refugee Board and the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO), we have began moving them to a temporary camp," Jane Muigai, a protection officer of the UN refugee agency UNHCR told IRIN on Thursday. "We are giving them food and medical assistance. Depending on the authenticity of their claims, they shall remain at this temporary camp until we finally process and resettle them." she added. UNHCR officials said a further group of 200 refugees from Chad had already been granted refugee status in Ghana and had been settled at a camp in the west of the country. Ghanaian officials said it was is too early to say if there the influx of refugees from Darfur would continue on a large scale. "They do not come in bulk. All this time they have been coming in small groups," said Kwabena Asomaning, NADMO’s Chief Disaster Control Officer. Most of those who fled from Darfur since the conflict began there two years ago have remained at refugee camps in eastern Chad. A UNHCR headcount in March put the total number of Sudanese refugees there at 193,000. But conditions are tough in these overcrowded camps on the southern fringe of the Sahara desert, where food and water are often in short supply. Some of the refugees have obviously decided to move on further West in search of a better life. International relief workers fear a fresh exodus of refugees from Darfur into Chad if the conflict continues. The UN World Food Programme (WFP) said earlier this week that it was making contingency plans for an extra 150,000 refugees from Darfur to flood across the border in the coming months in the fighting continued. According to UNHCR estimates, Ghana currently hosts about 48,000 refugees, most of whom are Liberians. Thousands of the Liberians have been going home since their country's 14-year civil war ended in August 2003, some spontaneously, others under the auspices of a UNHCR voluntary repartriation programme which began in October last year. There is still a Liberian refugee camp at Buduburam, 45 km west of Accra.

Liberia

Daily Observer (Monrovia) 12 Apr 2005 liberianobserver.com 25 Years Later, Pain Still Lingers in Liberia; Liberians Are Still Suffering On the 25th anniversary of the coup that brought Samuel Kanyon Doe to power, Liberia is still in dire straits. Corruption is at an all time high and Liberians are still struggling to make ends meet. Daily Observer Editor-in-Chief, Rodney D. Sieh goes back in time in search of answers as to why Liberia has never been the same. By Rodney D. Sieh rsieh@liberianobserver.com On April 22nd 1980, 13 members of Tolbert's True Whig Party government were executed by firing squad. Monrovia, Liberia, April 12- It's been 25 years since Richard Tolbert last celebrated his birthday. The date on which he was born, April 12, has become a painful part of his life, since the last time he did have a celebration, in 1980. Tolbert was returning from a nightclub after celebrating his thirtieth birthday on a fateful day in 1980, when he realized something was going down. After realizing that a coup was in the works, Tolbert went into hiding. Richard's uncle, William, the 19th president of Liberia was shot and killed in the early morning hours of April 12, 1980, along with his seven-year-old son, Momo, who had ran to William's side, after he was shot by the soldiers who had staged a military coup, the first of its kind in the West Africa sub-region. The Executions Ten days later, on April 22, 1980, while hiding at a friend's house, somewhere in Monrovia, Richard was alerted by his host to come and watch what was unfolding on television -the public execution of his 70 year old Father, Frank, and his 12 colleagues, all of whom were members of the Tolbert administration. Richard had no idea that the last time he saw his father at a family home in Bentol, just on the outskirts of Monrovia would be his last. "I went to work as usual "across the bridge" at the Mesurado Fishing Complex where I was the General Manager. After work, I drove to Bentol ( the Tolbert family hometown, 25 miles from Monrovia) where I saw my Father (Senator Frank E. Tolbert) and his brother President William R. Tolbert for the last time as they walked around surveying the President's new home that was under construction, says Richard. "Later that evening, I returned to Monrovia and went out with some friends to Eddie Dunn's social spot on Broad Street called "Hibiscus", as April 12 is my birthday. I have never celebrated my birthday since then for the past 25 years," he says. It was only a few hours later that the rest of the world came to find out that seventeen non-commissioned officers, led by a 29-year-old Master Sargeant, Samuel Kanyon Doe, had seized control of Liberia, ending more than a century of rule by the Americo-Liberian elite who were descendants of former slaves who colonized the country in the nineteenth century. Corruption, brutality and coup plots Liberia, which only a few years earlier had been listed as the most peaceful country in Africa would never be the same after this day. Doe's reign was characterized by corruption and brutality, numerous coup attempts, countless imprisonments of his rivals and enemies and finally the eruption of a civil war on the Christmas Eve of 1989. Led by Charles Taylor, a former trusted aide of Doe, the war has to date claimed the lives of some 200,000 Liberian and forcing some 1.5 million others to be displaced. Doe was assassinated in Sept. 1990. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) negotiated with the government and the rebel factions and attempted to restore order, but the civil war raged on. By April 1996, factional fighting by the country's warlords had destroyed any last vestige of normalcy and civil society. The civil war finally ended in 1997. 'Night of Reflections Twenty five years after the events of April 12, the families of those executed are still searching for closure. Ten days from today, on April 22nd, they plan to hold simultaneous memorials in Liberia and the United States to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the executions. The requiem mass themed, "A Night of Reflection" in Gaithersburg, MD will be held on Friday, April 22nd at the First Baptist Church of Gaithersburg and followed by a memorial service in Gaithersburg, Maryland on Saturday April 23rd at the same church. A similar service is planned for Monrovia on Saturday April 23rd. "I watched these events unfold in horror, I felt within myself that this was the beginning of the end for Liberia, says Tolbert. "The end of reason. The only consolation I ever got from that day was learning later that my Father went to his death like the man he was - cursing his executioners," Tolbert says. The Fallen Among those executed were: Cyril Bright, was the Minister of Agriculture and a former Minister of Planning; Joseph F. Chesson, Sr, Minister of Justice; C. Cecil Dennis, Jr., Minister of Foreign Affairs; Richard A. Henries, Speaker of the House of Representatives; Charles King, Member of the House of Representatives; D. Franklin Neal, Minister of Planning and Economic Affairs; P.Clarence Parker II, Chairman National Investment Commission and Treasurer of the True Whig Party; James T. Phillips, former Minister of Finance, also former Minister of Agriculture; James A.A. Pierre, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Liberia; John W.F. Sherman, Minister of Commerce and Industry and the youngest among them; Frank J. Stewart, Sr., Director of the Budget, Frank E. Tolbert, Sr., President Pro-Tempore of the Senate, and E. Reginald Townsend, Chairman of the True Whig Party. former Minister of State for Presidential Affairs and former Director General of the Liberia Information Service. Eyeing Closure The families are hoping that the 25th anniversary services finally put to rest their memory of their relatives who were killed in 1980. "Speaking only for myself, I believe strongly as an African and Christian that it is our duty to honor our ancestors. As the Bible says in the Ten Commandments: "Honor thy Father and Thy Mother that it may be well with thee, and though mayest live long on earth," Tolbert says. Tolbert himself was not able to get out of Liberia for several months and then only by what he calls "Divine Deliverance " after being brutalized and briefly incarcerated at the Barclay Training Center, Post Stockade (BTC). "When the officer who incarcerated me as "his prisoner" came for me at midnight, a mysterious hand had delivered me from the prison. Although my experiences in hiding, in BTC and my eventual escape from Liberia were nothing compared to what happened to hundreds of others, it would probably make an interesting part of a novel or movie someday, he says. Band of plotters disbanded Today, since the famous "In the cause of the people, the struggle continues slogan by Doe, Africa's oldest republic remains a shadow of itself and is still struggling to find itself. The non-commissioned officers who staged the coup all died violent deaths. Over the years, the People's Redemption Council that came to liberate Liberians for nepotism and rampant corruption have all disintegrated. Nicholas Podier who became Speaker of the Interim-National Assembly was later dismissed and executed on the orders of Doe; Sergeant Thomas "strongman" Quiwonkpa ", became Commanding General of the Armed Forces of Liberia but was executed, dismembered, and allegedly cannibalized, after he led a foiled November 12, 1985 coup against Doe. Four other officers were also killed in the failed Quiwonkpa plot.; and Doe himself was executed on September 10, 1990 in the midst of the Liberian-civil war. Doe's arms were reportedly "battered, legs amputated, one eye poked out, and genitals severed." Thomas Weh Syen, the most radical of the group, was executed on August 14, 1981 for allegedly plotting to kill Doe; Weh-Syen was considered leader of the left wing of the PRC, which opposed close relations with the United States. Other original members of the council, Harrison Pennue; and Nelson Toe, who reportedly pulled the trigger that killed Tolbert on that fateful day also suffered similar fates and were either accused of plotting to kill Doe and executed or died under mysterious circumstances. The killing of Quiwonkpa stirred a nation-wide string of reprisals against the plotters, and the Gio people (Quiwonkpa's ethnic group) erupted into a national frenzy of executions, castrations, dismemberment of bodies, rapes, flogging, and imprisonment without trials. Between 500 to 1,000 Liberians were reportedly killed. For Richard Tolbert and all of the surviving family members of the 13 executed officials, the time for healing and reconciliation begins now. Following the disruption of business activities in Liberia in 1980, Richard Tolbert left for Wall Street where he has worked successfully for the past 20 years. From 1980-1998, he was a Vice President with Merrill Lynch. Currently, he is a Senior Vice President of PaineWebber Inc., one of America's largest investment houses and is responsible for developing international business, especially in Africa. As a practical manifestation of their desire for healing and reconciliation the families are launching a Scholarship Fund in the name of the April 22 Memorial Group which will be given out for education to needy Liberians throughout Liberia. "We have held memorials before on the anniversary of April 22, but felt it was especially important to hold a major service to honor our loved ones - and all those killed senselessly in Liberia - at this Quarter Centenary mark of their deaths. And pray that it will serve as a moment of reflection and reconciliation for all the Liberian people, Tolbert says.

The Analyst (Monrovia) 28 Apr 2005 Taylor Plots Assassination Against Conteh Says Chief Prosecutor By Dino Mahtani Lagos The chief prosecutor of an UN-backed war crimes court in Sierra Leone has accused Charles Taylor, exiled former Liberian president, of masterminding an assassination attempt on the president of neighboring Guinea in January this year. David Crane, a former US Defense Department lawyer, said he had evidence that Mr. Taylor backed the gunmen who fired on President Lansana Conté's convoy in Conakry, the Guinean capital. "His assassination attempt on Conté marks him as a true threat to international peace and security," Mr. Crane said. The Sierra Leone special court has already indicted Mr. Taylor on 17 counts of crimes against humanity for his role in supporting Sierra Leone's rebels in a war that caused tens of thousands of deaths. Mr. Taylor has yet to face trial. The warlord-turned-president was at the centre of more than a decade of conflict in Liberia that spilled into neighboring West African countries. He agreed to step down as Liberia's president in 2003 when Nigeria offered him asylum to prevent further bloodshed as rebels surrounded Monrovia, the Liberian capital. Regional analysts say Guinea is considered the weakest link in the chain of interlinked countries in West Africa that Mr. Taylor may be eyeing as a base for a new regional war. General Conté's health is a concern to those who fear a power vacuum if he dies. He has ruled Guinea since taking power in a coup in 1984. A recent report by Human Rights Watch documented detailed interviews in August last year with 60 former fighters from different conflicts in the region. It noted a third of them had been solicited by different recruiters to fight either for or against General Conté. A special court document obtained by the Financial Times alleges that Mr. Taylor, who escaped detention in the US in 1985, has also broken the terms of his asylum in Nigeria by traveling to Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso's capital, in February. There, the document alleges he met collaborators including Francis Galawulo, a Liberian lawyer who has recently announced his ambitions to contest Liberia's presidential elections slated for October. The document also alleges that Mr. Taylor's master plan includes toppling the government in Ivory Coast. Both Guinea and Ivory Coast backed Liberian rebel movements that conquered swathes of the largely forested country. Hardliners in the Ivory Coast government say Mr. Taylor and the government of Burkina Faso have supported Ivorian rebels in the west and the north of the country respectively. Analysts say Guinea, which has a third of the world's known bauxite reserves, would provide Mr. Taylor with ample resources to fund a new war chest. Mr. Taylor sustained his previous campaigns through the sales of timber and diamonds from Liberia and Sierra Leone. International investigators say he also laundered diamonds through al-Qaeda. The special court has been lobbying hard for Mr. Taylor to be handed over for trial, but the Nigerian government says it can only do this when an elected Liberian government asks Nigeria to extradite him. The Nigerian government said it would never have allowed Mr. Taylor to leave the port city of Calabar, where he is supposed to be held. "There is not a single iota of truth in that allegation," Remi Oyo, presidential spokeswoman, said. Ellen Is Best Fit For Presidency - Says American official A former chief of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), J. Brian Atwood, says Unity Party standard bearer Mrs. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, is the best fit to become Liberia's next president in these critical times of great need for the country. Atwood made the remarks at an intellectual forum of the University of Minnesota, United States, under the theme, "The Role of Democratic Economic Accountability In Post-War Liberia - A Conversation with Madam Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf" organized by the Liberian student assembly of the University of Minnesota in collaboration with the African-American & African Students Department of the University. The program brought together Liberians and Americans from different walks of life including the president of the Organization of Liberians in Minnesota, Wilfred Harris, former Information Minister and Transitional Legislative Speaker , Morris Dukuly, Former LPRC Managing Director, M. Tarnue Mawolo, Unity Party US National Chairman, Garyah Fahnbulleh, former ALCOP Youth Wing Chairman Abdulai Kiatamba, Wilfred Russel, a Liberian instructor of African studies in the University of Minesota, among many others. Addressing the gathering, former USAID boss who now serves as a professor of international affairs and dean of the Hubert H. Humphrey Graduate Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Minessota, observed that Liberia, like many African countries, has gone through a tragic period of national destruction which has devastated its social and economic infrastructure. He said the recovery of such level of massive dislocation and loss of international credibility requires a country to elect a leadership of the best kind. A dispatch from Minnesota quoted Mr. Atwood as saying that it was not his intention to get drawn to interfering in Liberia's politics. But he observed that having seen the "laundry list of candidates of 2005 elections," he had no doubt in his mind that Mrs. Sieleaf is best fit to be president of Liberia "in these times of need for the country. "I have seen the list of candidates; I've heard and talked to many of them; and it's easy for me to reach the conclusion that Ellen is most qualified to become president of them all," said Mr. Atwood, who also served as the US ambassador to neighboring La Cote d'Ivoire. He invoked thunderous laughter and applause when he said "For instance, I know both Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and Winston Tubman, but knowing the two I just believe that Ellen can make a good president and Winston Tubman can definitely make a good Foreign Minister at this time." He then urged Liberians to choose carefully because as he put it, the international community does not have much patience for continuous errors. Mr. Atwood said as the boss of the United States premier international development agency and as a former chairman of the National Democratic Institute from 1986 to 1993, he has seen the toll wall and conflicts that have taken on the people of Africa and the third world. But the veteran American public servant observed that he has also seen examples of hope and recovery in those parts of the world. He pointed to the cases of Uganda and Ghana as examples of countries once devastated by wars, coups, national instability and economic mismanagement, but are now making the transition to democracy, economic prosperity and development through sound national leadership and good economic policies. The former chairman of the National Democratic Institute, who also served as the under secretary of State for Management and led the State Department Transition Team during the Clinton administration, described the Unity Party Standard bearer as "incorruptible." He said such character and leadership qualities were necessary requirements in the leaders of countries emerging out of crises in order to attract and restore donor confidence to their countries. The Hubert H. Humphrey Dean further explained to the audience that in carrying the development agenda for many African and third world countries, Mrs. Sirleaf has always been there with the international community trying to help these people restore credibility and achieve development goals, adding "development is her business and she knows what is needed to develop a country." "I have crossed the Oceans to go to Africa and other parts of the world to meet this woman helping other people. So it was not difficult for me to cross the Mississippi River to meet with her here in Minnesota today." Mr. Atwood further observed, "I remember flying with Ellen across Africa to meet the young Joseph Kabila in the Democratic Republic of Congo to fashion a way to help that country out of war and on the path to development. I remember working with her to address issues of genocide in Rwanda and its aftermath. I remember working with her on the World Bank projects for Africa. In all of these roles, she was outstanding. She is a good and smart woman, she has helped Africa. It's time Liberians see the wisdom and give her the chance to do for Liberia what she has done for other African countries," the US international public policy expert said.

Namibia

The Namibian (Windhoek) 25 Apr 2005 Farm Massacre Case Postponed By Werner Menges Windhoek THE case against the three men who have been charged in connection with Namibia's largest mass murder since Independence was postponed for further investigations on Friday. The dock in the Magistrate's Court at Kalkrand was shared by self-admitted multiple killer Sylvester Beukes (20), his brother, Gavin Beukes (24), and Christiaan Justus Erasmus Jr (27), the son of the married couple that was among Sylvester Beukes's eight victims, when the three charged men appeared before Magistrate Alweendo Sebby Venatius on Friday morning. Proceedings were brief, with Public Prosecutor Boniface Konga only asking the Magistrate to postpone the case to May 30 for further investigation, with the Beukes brothers remanded in custody and Erasmus's bail extended until then. Erasmus Jr and the Beukes brothers have been charged with eight counts of murder, after eight people were shot dead at the farm Kareeboomkolk, which belonged to Erasmus's father, on March 5. Except for part-time farmer Justus Christiaan Erasmus Sr and his wife, Elzabé Erasmus, the foreman at the farm, Sonnyboy Swartbooi (35), his pregnant wife, Hilma Engelbrecht (32), their six-year-old daughter, Christina Engelbrecht, Settie Swartbooi (50), who was the foreman's brother, Deon Gertze (18), who was a brother of Hilma Engelbrecht, and the four-year-old Regina Gertze, who was also a daughter of Engelbrecht, were also killed in the massacre. At his and his brother's first court appearance after their arrest a day after the killings, Sylvester Beukes related that he had in essence executed the eight victims one after the other by shooting them with firearms that he had stolen from the farmhouse. The last to be killed, he claimed, was the foreman himself. Killed before him were Mr and Mrs Erasmus, who had been called to the farm when Beukes forced the farm foreman to phone them and summon them to the farm to assist with a supposed medical emergency. Sylvester Beukes claimed in the Mariental Magistrate's Court on March 9 that he had acted alone and that his brother was not involved in the massacre, although he was also present at Kareeboomkolk, situated some 50 kilometres south of Rehoboth, while the bloody events were unfolding. Beukes's explanation in court was that he was taking revenge against Mr Erasmus, who he felt had treated him unjustly in the past, when Beukes was employed by Erasmus. About a week and a half after his arrest, Beukes however added a stunning twist to his version of events. In a sworn statement to the Police, he then claimed that in fact the son of the slain Erasmus couple - Mr Erasmus's namesake, who is also known as "Shorty" - had asked him to kill the couple. It is understood that Beukes claimed in that statement that Erasmus Jr had promised him that he would be paid N$50 000 for the dirty deed once insurance policies of the Erasmus couple had been paid out after their deaths. Erasmus Jr was arrested on March 15. He was released on bail of N$20 000 on March 22.

Nigeria

News24 SA 25 Apr 2005 Land battles erupt in Nigeria Lagos - Nigerian authorities fear that scores of villagers have been killed in clashes between two communities over land rights in the southeast of the country, state and police officials said Monday. Violence erupted between the Ukelle community in Cross Rivers State and their neighbours, the Izzi people of Ebonyi State, on April 13 and continued over the weekend. Newspaper reports said more than 100 people were feared killed. "The fighting is in the bush, so it is difficult to say precisely how many have lost their lives. But scores might have died," Cross Rivers state spokesperson Dominic Kidzu said by telephone from the state capital, Calabar. He said many houses had been razed and property valued at millions of naira destroyed since fighting broke out over "ownership of farmland". "Right now, the governors of the two states and the traditional leaders of the warring communities are trying to broker a truce. They met in Calabar on Saturday and the communities have agreed to a ceasefire," he said. A police spokesperson in Abakaliki, the capital of Ebonyi, confirmed there had been fighting. "As I am talking to you now, the commissioner of police has ordered police reinforcements to contain the fresh violence," he added. Nigeria is Africa's most populous nation, home to more than 130 million people, and competition for land and resources between rival political, criminal and ethnic groups often boils over into violence. Thousands are killed every year in communal clashes and by the security forces, who do not hesitate to use lethal force to quell the fighting.

IRIN 26 Apr 2005 Dozens killed in southeast feud over farmland [ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations] PORT HARCOURT, 26 Apr 2005 (IRIN) - Dozens of people died in clashes last week between two rival communities in southeastern Nigeria over ownership of prized farmland, residents and officials said Tuesday. More than 50 people were killed in the worst day of the violence last Thursday when fighters armed with machetes and rifles, believed to be from Cross River State, rampaged through a settlement of people across the border in neighbouring Ebonyi State, residents said. John Otu, Ebonyi commissioner for information, confirmed there were many deaths but said he could not give definite figures. He said a longstanding dispute over farming land flared up again last week, with retaliatory attacks culminating in Thursday’s mayhem. “The people are farmers and this is the farming season which often brings such conflicts,” Otu told IRIN. Ebonyi governor, Sam Egwu, on Saturday met his Cross River counterpart, Donald Duke, in an effort to calm rising tension in the area and stop the violence from spreading. Police officials said reinforcements had been sent to the area to prevent more fighting and Otu said no further violence has been reported between the two communities. Thousands of people have died in Nigeria in communal, ethnic and religious clashes often triggered by land disputes since the 1999 election of President Olusegun Obasanjo ended more than 15 years of repressive military rule.

Rwanda see USA (April 26)

Sudan

washingtonpost.com 11 Apr 2005 Doing Better by Darfur Monday, April 11, 2005; Page A18 LAST JUNE Secretary of State Colin L. Powell visited Sudan in an attempt to stop the Darfur genocide. Sudan's government rewarded him with promises to rein in its allies in the Janjaweed death squads; to stop impeding humanitarian access to Darfur; and to open political talks with Darfur's rebels. None of these concessions worked. The promise to rein in the Janjaweed turned out to be hollow. The improvement in humanitarian access was real but incomplete and impermanent. Negotiations between the government and rebels have gone nowhere. The upshot of Mr. Powell's visit was that mass killing continued, and Darfur's death toll is likely to be even more appalling this year than last. This week it is the turn of Robert B. Zoellick, the new deputy at the State Department, to journey to Sudan. Mr. Zoellick is a forceful diplomat. In his previous job as President Bush's trade representative, he made progress that eluded his predecessors. He may therefore be tempted to believe that he can continue Mr. Powell's approach of extracting promises from Sudan's government and yet somehow succeed. But success is unlikely unless the administration absorbs the lessons of the past year and changes its strategy. Diplomatic pressure, which should be aimed primarily at getting a large peacekeeping force into Darfur, won't work unless it's supported by the threat of sanctions. And neither the sanctions threat nor the peacekeeping deployment will be credible unless the United States invests more political capital in Darfur than it has so far. After Mr. Powell's visit last year, the United Nations Security Council passed two resolutions threatening sanctions but then never followed through; this gave Sudan's rulers a green light to kill more people. The reason for the lack of follow-through was that the Bush administration made a conscious decision not to elevate Darfur's genocide to the top of its agenda. Mr. Bush did not place phone calls to the leaders of China and Russia to insist that they back tougher action, so both countries followed their commercial interests -- for China, Sudan is a source of oil; for Russia, it is an arms market. Partly at Mr. Zoellick's urging, Mr. Bush did recently phone Japan's prime minister to complain about beef regulation. Perhaps the president can also be persuaded to call members of the Security Council who resist sanctions on Sudan that might bring an end to genocide. After Mr. Powell's visit, too, ground was prepared for a small peace-monitoring deployment under the umbrella of the African Union. The presence of AU forces helped to reduce violence but only to a limited extent; 2,000 or so troops cannot monitor an area the size of France. As a result, villages have continued to be burned and their inhabitants forced into unsanitary and undersupplied camps for displaced people. A much bigger peacekeeping force is needed, but none has materialized -- again because the Bush administration has not invested the necessary effort in corralling other countries. The AU's leaders, notably the South Africans and the Nigerians, have been more interested in retaining a lead role in Darfur than in preventing genocide; they see their deployment as a sign that Africa can be responsible for its own problems, and they are reluctant to admit that a bigger deployment is needed, because that would imply accepting extra help from rich countries. In a better world, the United States would not have to lead on Darfur. Russia and China would support sanctions without being pressured; the African Union would be less prickly. American allies would show more interest in preventing genocide than in haggling over which court should try its perpetrators, as European supporters of the International Criminal Court have done recently. France, in particular, would use its military clout in the region to support the AU peacekeepers. Instead, when NATO's secretary general suggested using his organization's assets to support the AU mission, France resisted, apparently out of a desire to preserve its own status as chief military intervener in Africa. You face genocide in Sudan with the international partners you have, not the ones you might wish to have. If the United States does not lead on Darfur, nobody else is going to. Leadership means getting a much larger peacekeeping force into Darfur, so that attacks on civilians cease and humanitarian workers can reach all parts of the territory. To achieve that objective, Mr. Zoellick needs to break the collective paralysis by changing the way the Chinese, Russians, Europeans and Africans think; his most important mission is not this week's visit to Khartoum but future trips to Beijing, Moscow and so on. Mr. Zoellick must argue that nations calling themselves civilized cannot stand by while hundreds of thousands are massacred. He must ask America's partners to judge themselves not by whether they have made sympathetic gestures, nor even whether they have done "their share," but rather by the one standard that matters: Is the genocide continuing?

IRIN 14 Apr 2005 AU protects women from attacks in North Darfur camp [ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations] © Displaced women in a North Darfur camp. NAIROBI, 14 Apr 2005 (IRIN) - African Union (AU) personnel in the western Sudanese state of North Darfur have started providing armed escorts for displaced women and girls to protect them from attacks, an AU official told IRIN on Wednesday. "The women from Abu Shouk IDP [internally displaced person] camp in North Darfur are escorted by AU soldiers once a week, when they venture outside the camp to collect firewood," said Justin Thundu, AU’s public information officer at El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur. Thundu said the AU considered these escorts an integral part of its protection mandate in Darfur. "Beside our daily patrols, it is one of the activities we carry out to promote confidence-building among the IDPs." "We haven’t heard of any harassment cases around Abu Shouk over the past weeks," Thundu added. "It has been a very successful exercise. We are doing it in a few other camps as well" However, Leslie Lefkow, a researcher for the Africa division of Human Rights Watch (HRW), and co-author of a new briefing paper on sexual violence in Darfur, told IRIN on Tuesday that the AU did not yet have the resources to extend such protection to the rest of the region. "This is a great interim solution that could be replicated across Darfur, but the AU does not have the capacity to do that at the moment," she said. In Lefkow’s report, released on Tuesday, HRW said women and girls who had fled the conflict in Darfur to live in IDP camps were continuing to suffer rape and sexual violence. It called for urgent protection for them. "Rape and sexual violence have been used to terrorise and uproot rural communities in Darfur," Peter Takirambudde, HRW Africa director, said in the brief. The report documented how Sudanese security forces - including police meant to protect IDPs and Janjawid militias allegedly aligned with the government - had continued to commit rape and sexual violence on a daily basis around the camps. It was not immediately possible to get a comment from the Sudanese government. According to Tuesday’s report, even women and girls in Chad, who had fled the violence in Darfur, continued to face the risk of rape and assault by civilians or militiamen when collecting water, fuel or animal fodder near the border. HRW said that as of February, only one of the six agencies that were providing health services in refugee camps in Chad had a protocol for rape which included the provision of emergency contraception, comprehensive treatment of sexually transmitted diseases and post-exposure prophylaxis for HIV. "Donors urgently need to set up programmes to protect women and girls - and address the needs of those who have been raped," Takirambudde added, referring to the international donor conference on Sudan, which took place on Monday and Tuesday in Oslo, Norway. The Oslo conference raised US $4.5 billion for the reconstruction of Sudan, exceeding an initial target of $2.6 billion. In its report, HRW urged donors and humanitarian agencies to respond to the medical, psychological, social and economic consequences of sexual violence in the Darfur conflict. Entitled "Sexual violence and its consequences among displaced persons in Darfur and Chad", the report was based on personal accounts collected during a number of mission to the region over the past 14 months. "I can’t put an exact number to it, but we collected at least 300 testimonies, if not 400 or 500," Lefkow told IRIN. "Dozens and dozens of them involved sexual violence." HRW documented scores of cases, as recently as last month, of women being raped while travelling along rural roads in Darfur. Despite the existence of international standards for responding to sexual and gender-based violence, the report suggested that humanitarian agencies were not implementing these guidelines on a systematic basis in Darfur and Chad. The war in Darfur pits Sudanese government troops and militias, allegedly allied to the government, against rebels fighting to end what they have called marginalisation and discrimination of the region's inhabitants by the state. Over 2.4 million people have been affected by the conflict, 1.85 million of whom are internally displaced or have been forced to flee to neighbouring Chad.

Financial Times UK 14 Apr 2005 ft.com Zoellick reluctant to describe Darfur violence as genocide By Guy Dinmore in Khartoum Published: April 15 2005 03:00 | Last updated: April 15 2005 03:00 Robert Zoellick, US deputy secretary of state, yesterday put pressure on the Sudanese government to stop the violence in Darfur but backed away from the Bush administration's assertion that the mass killings and village burning amounted to genocide. Mr Zoellick is the first senior US official to travel to Khartoum since Congress was told last September that a long US inquiry had determined the Sudanese government and allied janjaweed militia were responsible for genocide in the western region. But at a press conference after meeting Ali Osman Taha, vice-president, Mr Zoellick was clearly unwilling to repeat that assertion. "I don't want to get into a debate over terminology," he said, when asked if the US believed genocide was still being committed in Darfur against mostly African villagers by Arab militia and their government backers. He said it was Colin Powell, the former secretary of state, who had "made the point" in his testimony to Congress. Nonetheless, Mr Zoellick did speak of "crimes against humanity", in line with the findings of a United Nations commission of inquiry. He said he had emphasised to the Sudanese government the need for accountability through sanctions and legal processes, referring to the UN resolution that sent the issue of Darfur to the International Criminal Court. Mr Zoellick, who is to make a quick visit to Darfur today, also proposed to the government that it start using its own courts and make the process transparent. Estimates of the numbers of dead from the conflict vary hugely. The Bush administration says 60,000-160,000 people have died from fighting, disease and famine. Aid organisations say the death toll is closer to 300,000. Whether to describe the violence in Darfur as genocide became a heated issue in Washington last year. Mr Powell was under intense domestic pressure, notably from Christian lobby groups, to reach the genocide definition. But some officials argued against, saying the debate over words was irrelevant and time-wasting.

Reuters 19 Apr 2005 UN fears war-crimes suspects behind Sudan attacks By Irwin Arieff UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Sudanese officials fearful of being tried for war crimes in Sudan's Darfur region may be behind a wave of attacks on international aid workers in the turbulent area, the United Nations said on Monday. Among the rash of attacks in March were three that stood out because they appeared aimed at harming or killing relief workers, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in his monthly report to the Security Council on the situation in Darfur. A U.N. panel of experts drew up a list of 51 war crimes suspects in Darfur that it sealed and turned over to Annan in January. The Security Council voted March 31 to refer the suspects to the International Criminal Court in The Hague. "The possibility cannot be excluded that those who may believe that they are on the commission's sealed list of war crimes suspects will resort to direct attacks against ... international personnel, or will try to destabilize the region more generally through violence," Annan said. The U.N. mission in Sudan would continue to closely monitor the situation, he said. The secretary-general's latest assessment, like his earlier reports on Darfur, had a gloomy take on the situation. The fighting rages on between rebel groups and government forces said to be operating jointly with armed Arab militias, and civilians continue to come under attack along with African Union peacekeeping troops and relief workers, he said. The number of people touched by the conflict rose to 2.45 million last month from 2.4 million in February, 1.86 million people remained in refugee camps in the remote desert region, and food shortages are growing more acute in remote areas, he said. "The government continues to pursue the military option on the ground with little apparent regard for the commitments it has entered into" to end its attacks and protect civilians, Annan said. "It must be stressed that the only route to peace in Darfur remains a political settlement." More than 180,000 people have died in Darfur from hunger and disease over the past year in the conflict the United States has denounced as genocide. The current crisis began in February 2003 when pastoral rebels took up arms against the government, accusing it of neglect and giving preferential treatment to Arab tribes. The government is accused of mobilizing Arab militia known as Janjaweed to loot and burn non-Arab villages.

BBC 21 Apr 2005 UN body fails to condemn Sudan Darfur refugees accused the government of arming the Janjaweed The United Nations Human Rights Commission has approved by consensus a resolution condemning human rights violations in Sudan. The resolution, which was agreed after long negotiation, does not condemn the Sudanese government by name for atrocities committed in Darfur. It does, however, call on all parties to immediately end all violence. At least 180,000 people have died and two million fled their homes, in what some say is genocide against non-Arabs. The Sudan government denies accusations that it armed the Janjaweed militias blamed for the worst atrocities. Reform African countries say Sudan's government had to make painful concessions in this resolution. But the BBC's Imogen Foulkes in the Swiss city of Geneva where the meeting was held, says that human rights groups are disappointed that it doesn't go further. A vote on human rights in Sudan was originally scheduled for last week, but it was postponed and postponed again while intense negotiations took place between European and African members of the commission. The Europeans wanted what is known as a naming and shaming resolution clearly condemning the government of Sudan for its responsibility for some of the atrocities taking place in Darfur. The African group, among them Sudan itself, opposed this, so the final resolution is milder. It condemns human rights abuses by all parties in Sudan without specifically naming the government, but it does contain a key demand of human rights activists - the approval of a special investigator on human rights to Sudan who will report to the UN General Assembly. Our correspondent says it is a compromise that prevented a messy row, something all sides wanted to avoid at a time when many say the commission lacks credibility. But the fact that it took so long to agree on a resolution which does not even go as far as the UN Security Council which has already referred Sudan to the International Criminal Court is, human rights groups say, simply another sign that the UN's top human rights body needs reform.

AP 21 Apr 2005 Corzine measure on Darfur passes Senate By DONNA DE LA CRUZ April 21, 2005, 5:42 PM EDT WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Senate on Thursday unanimously passed a measure sponsored by Sen. Jon Corzine demanding that the genocide in the war-ravaged Darfur region in Sudan be stopped. The Senate also approved a Corzine amendment adding $90 million for humanitarian aid to the region. "We will continue to raise this issue until the killings stop," said Corzine, D-N.J. "Today's milestone brings us closer to that goal." Corzine, along with Republican Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas, has spearheaded measures regarding Darfur in the Senate. Corzine said his interest in Darfur is one everyone should share. "If we are committed to saying never again with regard to the killing fields of Cambodia or the genocide of Rwanda, or even the kinds of actions that took place in World War II, we need to react to what is happening now," Corzine said. "We can't have a review of our actions and history showing that we stood on the sidelines when we could have taken a stand on a moral issue." Corzine visited Darfur last year and plans to go to the region again next week. The Darfur Accountability Act calls for sanctions against the Sudan and the establishment of a special presidential envoy to the region, Corzine added. Similar legislation is pending in the House of Representatives. The Darfur conflict began after two non-Arab rebel groups took up arms against the Arab-dominated government in February 2003 to win more political and economic rights for the region's African tribes. Sudan's government is accused of responding by backing the Janjaweed militia in a campaign of wide-scale abuses, including rape and killings, against Sudanese of African origin. The government denies backing the Janjaweed. The United Nations has called Darfur the world's worst humanitarian crisis. An estimated 180,000 people have died in the upheaval and about 2 million others have been displaced since the conflict began.

CRISIS GROUP 26 Apr 2005 - NEW BRIEFING A New Sudan Action Plan Despite recent Security Council resolutions and a peace agreement covering part of the country, Sudan remains at war, with as many as 10,000 or more civilians dying monthly in Darfur. The UN, NATO and the EU need to get together urgently with the AU, decide who can do what best and then do it without regard for institutional prerogatives or national prestige. How to maximise cooperation to get the necessary additional troops on the ground quickly with equipment, structure and command organisation to be effective is probably the single most urgent and complex issue the international community faces in Sudan. More action is needed to protect civilians and relief agencies in Darfur; implement accountability; build a Darfur peace process; implement the Khartoum-SPLM agreement; and prevent new conflict in the east before it becomes the next major war. Crisis Group reports and briefing papers are available on our website: www.crisisgroup.org

Reuters 26 Apr 2005 Aid group criticises US policy on Sudan Tue April 26, 2005 4:18 PM GMT+02:00 By Sue Pleming WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is playing down the crisis in Sudan and should take the lead in global efforts to resolve the conflict, said a leading international advocacy group on Tuesday. The International Crisis Group, a nongovernmental body that seeks to promote solutions to conflicts worldwide, also called for African Union troop monitors in Sudan to be increased fivefold and for the appointment of a high-profile international mediator on the Sudan conflict. The group's special adviser on Sudan, John Prendergast, took aim at U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick for his comments during a visit to Sudan this month in which he said between 60,000 and 160,000 people had died in Sudan's Darfur region. "For Zoellick to float 60,000 as a low end number is negligent criminally," said Prendergast, whose group estimates as many as 10,000 people or more die each month in Darfur. "It's a deliberate effort by the Bush administration to downplay the severity of the crisis in order to reduce the urgency of an additional response. I find that to be disingenuous and perhaps murderous," he added in a conference call to discuss a report on Sudan by the group. Prendergast, who has worked on crisis issues in Africa for the past two decades, said he was also disturbed the United States seemed to be backing away from assertions last year by then Secretary of State Colin Powell that what was happening in Darfur amounted to genocide. State Department spokesman on Sudan issues, David Sims, dismissed criticism over the death toll figures given by Zoellick and said he disagreed with the view that the United States was playing down the crisis. "We have done a great deal in Sudan but we will not sit back. We will continue our work. Whether it's genocide or not in the legal sense, too many people have died," Sims told Reuters. Donors pledged $4.5 billion at an international conference in Oslo this month to help Sudan recover from Africa's longest civil war. The United States, with a pledge of $1.7 billion, is the largest donor. The crisis in Darfur was triggered in February 2003 when pastoral rebel groups took up arms against the government in a struggle over power and scarce resources. Khartoum retaliated by arming a nomadic Arab militia known as the Janjaweed. Criticism of Zoellick's death toll numbers followed a weekend editorial in The Washington Post which said the Bush administration was "taking a step in the wrong direction" in its Sudan policy and this would encourage others to drag their feet. "Next time he should cite better numbers," commented the Post of Zoellick.

IRIN 29 Apr 2005 AU to double peacekeeping force in Darfur[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations] ADDIS ABABA, 29 Apr 2005 (IRIN) - The African Union (AU) agreed on Thursday to substantially increase the size of its peacekeeping force in the troubled western Sudanese region of Darfur, officials said. AU Peace and Security Commissioner Said Djinnit told journalists after a meeting of the pan-African body's peace and security council in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, that the enhanced force would be in place by the end of September. Kenya, Nigeria and Rwanda had already pledged to contribute extra troops, he added. "We are concerned over the continuing crisis in Darfur and condemn the continued attacks against defenceless civilians," Djinnit said. "These extra troops will further promote a more secure environment and help build confidence as well as protecting civilians." The AU acknowledged that its current 2,300-strong force, which it plans to increase to 3,320 by late May, was "extremely stretched" and could not fulfil its mandate. The increased force would come to more than 7,700 men, including nearly 5,500 troops, 1,600 civilian police and some 700 military observers. AU commission Chairman Alpha Oumar Konare told the council that attacks against civilians were still continuing and that a “new phenomenon” had occurred: the deliberate targeting of the AU peacekeepers. "Militarily, the force should be in a position to promote a secure environment across Darfur," he said in a report to the council. "As difficult as the situation in Darfur is, it is my strong conviction that the AU’s efforts, if intensified and pursued with determination, will ultimately lead to the restoration of lasting peace and stability in that region," Konare added. The AU also said it was struggling to get enough civilian police into the region, a vital component of their protection mission. So far only a quarter of the proposed civilian police contingent had been deployed because of poor logistical support, Konare said. He added that the AU would need to quadruple the force to 12,300 to restore order in Darfur, a view endorsed by Jan Pronk, the UN's special envoy to Sudan. "We need to get around 12,000 troops in by early next year as soon as we have a peace agreement," Pronk told journalists outside the closed-door meeting. "We need a comprehensive peace agreement between the government and the rebels by early next year. I don't think people will return before there is a peace agreement." The 12,000 troops, he added, would be expected to remain in Darfur for around four years. Pronk said the situation in Darfur had improved since last year, but 500 people were still dying every month. He also said serious violations of a cease-fire – most of which were committed by the rebels - were continuing. "The AU presence has resulted in more stability where they are, but they have to be able to back their mediation with force," added Pronk. The 15-strong AU council did not discuss newly announced talks with NATO on possible logistical support or strengthening the current mandate, Djinnit said. But after the four-and-a-half hour meeting, he added that the "scope" of the mandate would be further increased to allow greater protection of civilians, convoys and checkpoints. On the sidelines of the meeting, the Sudanese ambassador to the AU, Abuzeid Alhassein, said the pan-African body risked being seen by the Sudanese as an occupying force if it broadened its mandate and allowed AU peacekeepers to step in and use force to protect civilians. "The protection of the civilians in Darfur should be left to the Sudanese civilian police," Alhassein said. "We do not think the AU should strengthen its mandate because if it engages militarily with people it will be seen as an occupying force." The Darfur conflict broke out in February 2003 after rebels in the region took up arms, complaining of discrimination by Sudan's Arab-dominated government. Human rights organisations accuse the Sudanese government of responding by backing a counterinsurgency led by militias known as the Janjawid. According to the UN, over 2.4 million people continue to be affected by the conflict, 1.85 million of whom are internally displaced or have been forced to flee to neighbouring Chad.

Togo

BBC 18 Apr 2005 Togo election rally turns violent Opposition supporters wore yellow during the rally in the capital At least seven people were killed during violent clashes between rival political groups in Togo's capital during Saturday's pre-election rallies. Officials from the Togolese ruling party said six of their supporters had been killed during the fighting. An opposition leader said one of its supporters had also been killed during the clashes which erupted in a northern suburb of the capital, Lome. At least 150 people were injured in the street scuffles. People had flooded onto the streets to welcome the country's exiled opposition leader ahead of presidential elections. The elections, organised under international pressure, are due to be held next Sunday. "Sadly, six supporters of the ruling party were killed," Claude Vondoly, of a human rights group linked to the ruling party, told Reuters news agency. 'Hasty' poll A member of the opposition party said that 55 of its supporters had been injured and that one man had been killed. Many opposition supporters had taken to the streets on Saturday, wearing yellow T-shirts and caps and waving palms, the traditional symbol of support for opposition leader Gilchrist Olympio's Union of Forces for Change (UFC) party. Mr Vondoly said many of those who support the ruling party were attacked for wearing T-shirts with an image of their candidate, Faure Gnassingbe. Mr Gnassingbe took power when his father died. Opposition parties have criticised the hastily-arranged presidential poll, alleging that the vote has been organised too quickly and is vulnerable to vote-rigging. Mr Olympio, who has lived in exile since an assassination attempt in 1992 and who was met by cheering crowds on his return to Togo on Saturday, is ineligible for this election. He confirmed that his deputy, Bob Akitani, would stand in the poll. Charismatic But Mr Olympio, the son of Togo's first president, who was murdered in a military coup, has lent the process qualified support. On Saturday he said he would not call for a boycott unless conditions deteriorated during the week. The BBC's Elizabeth Blunt in Lome says Mr Olympio is still clearly an iconic figure, completely overshadowing his less charismatic deputy. Aides refused to say whether, if elected, Mr Akitani planned to stand aside in favour of Mr Olympio. They said Togolese would be voting less for any particular candidate than to get rid of the Gnassingbe family, who have been in power in Togo for the past 38 years, our correspondent reports.

BBC 28 April, 2005, 15:58 GMT 16:58 UK E-mail this to a friend Printable version Calm returns after Togo poll riot Residents have been forced to help with the clean up of the capital Residents of Togo's capital, Lome, are clearing up after violence erupted following Sunday's disputed elections. Soldiers beat people to make them take down barricades and clean the streets in opposition strongholds, correspondents say. At least 20 people were killed as opposition supporters went on the rampage, saying the polls were rigged. Ruling party candidate and son of the former leader, Faure Gnassingbe, officially won with 60% of the vote. His main rival Emmanuel Bob Akitani got 38%, the electoral commission said but he declared himself president, saying there had been massive fraud. Patrols Election observers from West African regional body Ecowas accepted that there had been problems but said the results had generally reflected the will of the people. [The security forces] smashed in the door. They told us to get out and pick up the stones Assou Lome resident In pictures: Burning protests Ecowas condemned Mr Akitani's declaration and called for a national unity government to prevent further violence. According to the BBC's Mark Dummett in Lome, security was tightened overnight and soldiers are patrolling the city in jeeps mounted with heavy machine guns. They began a massive clear-up operation with bulldozers clear the remnants of burning roadblocks. "[The security forces] smashed in the door. They told us to get out and pick up the stones," Lome resident Assou told Reuters news agency, adding one of soldiers shouted: "Work, work!" Fleeing Meanwhile, communication remains difficult as telephone networks are not working and most private radio stations were taken off the air on Wednesday. ELECTION RESULTS Faure Gnassingbe: 1.4m votes (60%) Emmanuel Bob Akitani: 841,000 (38%) Turnout: 64% Source: Electoral Commission (Provisional results) Some 600 people are reported to have fled into Benin from southern Togo, following clashes in the opposition town of Aneho. Mr Atikani's coalition intends to appeal to Togo's constitutional court - which has still to confirm the re