Global

NYT 30 Aug. 2005 The U.N.'s Chance to Act on Genocide To the Editor: Re "Bolton Pushes U.N. on Change as U.S. Objects to Draft Plan" (news article, Aug. 25): After the horror of the Rwandan genocide, in which some 800,000 Rwandans were slaughtered in just 100 days, the world vowed "never again." Because the United Nations Security Council members demonstrated inexcusable apathy and wasted time debating semantics on whether or not genocide was taking place, I and my small United Nations peacekeeping contingent were forced to watch the slaughter up close with no mandate to intervene. Eleven years later, little has changed. Yet in just two weeks, governments of the world have the chance at the United Nations world summit meeting in New York to make "never again" a reality by agreeing to accept their responsibility to protect civilians in the face of mass murder. They would agree to act in situations where the national government was unwilling or unable to do so. If implemented, this historic measure could put an end to politicking, posturing and inaction and save millions of lives. The agreement would mean that all states share the "responsibility to take collective action in a timely and decisive manner" to protect civilians from large-scale killings, including ethnic cleansing, genocide and crimes against humanity. This would be a historic shift, but negotiations at the United Nations are on a knife's edge, and the United States has still not committed itself to backing it fully. Having seen what the failure to protect means on the ground, I urge the United States to seize the opportunity to show global leadership and help drive this agreement that could save the lives of millions. Roméo Dallaire Quebec, Aug. 29, 2005 The writer, a retired lieutenant general, was commander of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Rwanda.

www.embassymag.ca 17 Aug 2005 NEWS STORY By Heather Sonner and Fergus Watt The Concept Of "Sovereignty As Responsibility" Moves Up A Notch At The UN Despite Opposition Intense negotiations continue on a wide range of United Nations reform issues leading to next month's Millennium+5 Leaders Summit in New York. Obtaining strong endorsement of the "Responsibility to Protect" (R2P) principles has been a priority for Canadian officials since the current UN reform effort was initiated by Kofi Annan in 2003. Initial discussions seemed promising. The Responsibility to Protect was strongly supported in the report of the High Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change and also a follow-up report by Annan, entitled "In Larger Freedom." The latter was the focus for debate by governments at the UN General Assembly this spring and summer. Those debates have led to successive "draft outcome documents" for the September Summit which have been more restrained in their commitment to R2P principles, a reflection of the divisions among member states. Incorporating R2P in the September reform package would oblige governments to sign on at the highest level to the idea that sovereign states have a responsibility to protect their own populations from crimes against humanity. But when they are unwilling or unable to do so, the broader international community must bear that responsibility. A majority of governments support this concept of "sovereignty as responsibility." Many early concerns about the inviolability of sovereignty and how R2P should be interpreted have been addressed to the satisfaction of skeptics. The African Group has begun to articulate its own unique perspective on the protection of civilians, emphasizing early warning, the moral imperative to stop genocide wherever it happens, and a continuum of responses from prevention to reaction and also post-conflict rebuilding. However, a vocal minority of states persist in opposing R2P, seeing it as an encroachment on traditional notions of state sovereignty and international law. While the most vocal opponents of R2P are members of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), including Pakistan, Venezuela, Cuba and Egypt, the NAM has been unable to issue a categorical rejection of R2P in the latest negotiations. Some NAM countries attempt to undermine support for R2P by urging the postponing of any agreement, calling for the General Assembly to take up the issue during its upcoming 60th session. The most recent draft outcome document includes a paragraph on the R2P principles, but also calls for further discussions. The text of the R2P paragraph uses the phrase 'responsibility to protect' with respect to states, but, when discussing actions to be taken by the international community when civilians are at risk, replaces 'responsibility to protect' with 'obligation to protect.' This weakens slightly the Responsibility to Protect as an emerging normative framework. R2P opponents at the UN (and elsewhere) have also raised difficult and salient questions about political will and the ability of states to exercise their responsibility to protect. By what criteria will the UN determine that a state is unable or unwilling to protect its citizens? Who will intervene in instances when the Security Council is deadlocked? The atrocities in the Darfur region of Sudan illustrate the difficulty of marshaling the political will to act even when civilians are clearly at risk. From the outset, Canada and other R2P advocates have pursued a "two-track" approach. The first seeks to solidify R2P as an emerging norm of international behaviour; the second and more difficult objective would provide guidance to the Security Council on when it should authorize the use of force. The most recent draft outcome document does little more than invite the Security Council to refrain from using the veto in cases of genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. It also expresses support for implementation of the United Nations Action Plan to Prevent Genocide. Thus, while the current UN reform effort will in all likelihood lead to modest gains for the Responsibility to Protect as an emerging norm, decisive action in times of crisis will depend for the foreseeable future on the notoriously unreliable UN Security Council. -- Heather Sonner works at the World Federalist Movement in New York, and Fergus Watt works at the Canadian branch of the World Federalist Movement.

AP 18 Aug 2005 U.N. Asked to Commemorate Holocaust By EDITH M. LEDERER The Associated Press Thursday, August 18, 2005; 8:55 PM UNITED NATIONS -- The United States and several other nations have asked the United Nations to designate January 27 as an annual day to remember the six million Jews and the countless others who perished in the World War II Nazi Holocaust. A letter from the nations, which also included Russia, Israel, Australia and Canada, circulated Thursday requests the General Assembly to add the proposal to its agenda, noting that this year's 60th anniversary of the United Nations coincides with the 60th year of the end of the war. "The Holocaust constituted a systematic and barbarous attempt to annihilate an entire people, in a manner and magnitude that have no parallel in human history," the five countries said. Since the United Nations was founded on the ashes of the Holocaust with a commitment to "save succeeding generations from the scourge of war," it bears a special responsibility "to ensure that the Holocaust and its lessons are never forgotten and that this tragedy will forever serve as a warning to all people of the dangers of hatred, bigotry, racism and prejudice," their letter said. The United Nations has long been accused of having an anti-Semitic agenda, and its connection to the Holocaust was largely ignored until this year. At the urging of the United States, the General Assembly held the first session in its history dedicated to the Holocaust in January to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the death camp liberations. The U.N.'s recognition of its link to the Holocaust, in some of the strongest language ever, was seen as a watershed event. A draft resolution proposed by the five countries would build on the January commemoration and designate January 27 "as an annual International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust." It would also urge the 191 U.N. member states to develop programs to educate future generations on the lessons from the Holocaust "to prevent future acts of genocide." Secretary-General Kofi Annan would also be asked to establish a U.N. educational program entitled "The Holocaust and the United Nations." If approved, all countries would be asked to reject any full or partial denial of the Holocaust. They would also be asked to condemn "all manifestations of religious intolerance, incitement, harassment or violence against persons or communities based on ethnic origin or religious belief, wherever they occur."

Voice of America - USA 22 Aug 2005 www.voanews.com UN Negotiations Underway On Genocide Agreement By Joe De Capua Washington 22 August 2005 De Capua interview with OXFAM official mp3 De Capua interview with OXFAM official ra Listen to De Capua interview with OXFAM official ra At the United Nations, negotiations got underway today on a proposed agreement calling for quick international action to stop genocide. The final document will be presented for approval at the UN summit in September. A number of countries oppose the measure, while others want to change its provisions. Among the groups calling for the genocide agreement to remain unchanged is the aid agency OXFAM. Nicola Reindorp is the head of OXFAM in New York. She spoke to English to Africa reporter Joe De Capua about the proposed genocide agreement. She says, “On the 14th of September…the largest gathering of world leaders ever will come to the United Nations in New York to attend a UN world summit. And they are coming to make commitments on the big issues of global security and UN reform. But what’s starting today (Monday), negotiations are going on right now…and the next few days will determine whether or not world leaders will endorse the new agreement committing governments to take timely and decisive action to stop atrocities like Rwanda’s genocide.” However, a number of countries are reportedly opposed to the agreement, including Pakistan, Egypt, Cuba, Iran and Syria. And some countries reportedly want to weaken the measure, including the United States, Brazil, Russia and India. Ms. Reindorp says, “Governments have a responsibility to protect civilians. But where an individual government is unwilling or unable to protect its civilians, the rest of the world has a collective responsibility to protect. They have a responsibility to step in and do what they can to protect civilians facing grave danger and atrocities like genocide, ethnic cleansing, war crimes, crimes against humanity. OXFAM believes this is a fundamental commitment. A decade ago, the world said ‘never again’ after genocide in Rwanda. But since then, another 40 million people have fled their homes and millions of people have died as a result of violence. We think it’s fundamental that governments should step up to say we are willing to accept our responsibility to protect civilians. And that we will be ready to act collectively to protect civilians facing grave atrocities like genocide if their own governments are unwilling or unable.” However, there’s the issue of countries interfering in the internal affairs of another country. The OXFAM official says, “In the past, the discussion has been about governments being entitled to do what they want inside their own country. The important thing about this commitment, agreeing the responsibility to protect, is to say that human life is the most important thing. In the 21st Century, governments must come together to protect human dignity, human life."

washingtonpost.com 25 Aug 2005 U.S. Wants Changes In U.N. Agreement By Colum Lynch Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, August 25, 2005; A01 UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 24 -- Less than a month before world leaders arrive in New York for a world summit on poverty and U.N. reform, the Bush administration has thrown the proceedings in turmoil with a call for drastic renegotiation of a draft agreement to be signed by presidents and prime ministers attending the event. The United States has only recently introduced more than 750 amendments that would eliminate new pledges of foreign aid to impoverished nations, scrap provisions that call for action to halt climate change and urge nuclear powers to make greater progress in dismantling their nuclear arms. At the same time, the administration is urging members of the United Nations to strengthen language in the 29-page document that would underscore the importance of taking tougher action against terrorism, promoting human rights and democracy, and halting the spread of the world's deadliest weapons. Next month's summit, an unusual meeting at the United Nations of heads of state, was called by U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan to reinvigorate efforts to fight poverty and to take stronger steps in the battles against terrorism and genocide. The leaders of 175 nations are expected to attend and sign the agreement, which has been under negotiation for six months. But Annan's effort to press for changes has been hampered by investigations into fraud in the U.N. oil-for-food program and revelations of sexual misconduct by U.N. peacekeepers. The United Nations originally scheduled the Sept. 14 summit as a follow-up to the 2000 Millennium Summit, which produced commitments by U.N. members to meet deadlines over the next 15 years aimed at reducing poverty, preventable diseases and other scourges of the world's poor. But the Bush administration is seeking to focus attention on the need to streamline U.N. bureaucracy, establish a democracy fund, strengthen the U.N. human rights office and support a U.S. initiative to halt the trade in weapons of mass destruction. The U.S. amendments call for striking any mention of the Millennium Development Goals, and the administration has publicly complained that the document's section on poverty is too long. Instead, the United States has sought to underscore the importance of the Monterrey Consensus, a 2002 summit in Mexico that focused on free-market reforms, and required governments to improve accountability in exchange for aid and debt relief. The proposed U.S. amendments, contained in a confidential 36-page document obtained by The Washington Post, have been presented this week to select envoys. The U.N. General Assembly's president, Jean Ping of Gambia, is organizing a core group of 20 to 30 countries, including the United States and other major powers, to engage in an intensive final round of negotiations in an attempt to strike a deal. "Now it is maybe time to go on some key issues where we still have controversies and negotiate on these key issues," he said Tuesday. The proposed changes, submitted by U.S. Ambassador John R. Bolton, touch on virtually every aspect of U.N. affairs and provide a detailed look at U.S. concerns about the world body's future. They underscore U.S. efforts to impose greater oversight of U.N. spending and to eliminate any reference to the International Criminal Court. The administration also opposes language that urges the five permanent members of the Security Council not to cast vetoes to halt genocide, war crimes or ethnic cleansing. Russia, Pakistan and several other developing countries have also introduced plans for changes in the power of some U.N. bodies. Bolton and a spokesman did not respond to requests to comment Wednesday. Some delegates were sympathetic with the approach taken by Bolton, who took over as ambassador this month. "I think he just wants to be very cautious," said Canada's U.N. ambassador, Allan Rock. "He's coming into a situation where there's a [29]-page document on the table, and I think he's looking at it very closely and he's concerned that great care be taken before his country's name is put to it, and that's quite natural." But the proposals face strong resistance from poorer countries, which want the United Nations to focus more on alleviating poverty, criticizing U.S. and Israeli military policies in the Middle East, and scaling back its propensity to intervene in small countries that abuse human rights. "We are looking at very, very difficult negotiations in the days ahead," said Munir Akram, Pakistan's U.N. ambassador. The United States has "strong positions, and many of us do have very strongly held positions. That's the nature of the game. My only regret is we didn't get into the negotiations early enough." U.S. and U.N. diplomats say that Bolton has indicated in face-to-face meetings with foreign delegates that he is prepared to pursue other negotiating options if the current process proves cumbersome. For example, he has suggested that the entire document could be scrapped and replaced with a brief statement. He also has indicated that the document could be split up by themes, and that nations could choose the ones to support, the diplomats said. In meetings with foreign delegates, Bolton has expressed concern about a provision of the agreement that urges wealthy countries, including the United States, to contribute 0.7 percent of their gross national product in assistance to poor countries. He has also objected to language that urges nations to observe a moratorium on nuclear testing and to sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, which the Bush administration opposes. "There seems to be general agreement that we must now undertake the more difficult process of open and transparent negotiations to reach agreement on those issues," Bolton wrote Wednesday in a confidential letter to U.N. envoys. "Time is short. In order to maximize our chances of success, I suggest we begin the negotiations immediately, this week if possible."

 Africa

Algeria

www.indiancountry.com. Genocide in Texas Posted: August 24, 2004 - 10:41am EST by: Brenda Norrell / Southwest Staff Reporter / Indian Country Today REDLAND, Texas - It is a history that the United States buried, along with the Indian women and children. But there is an invoice for the smallpox blankets given to Indians to eradicate them and a printed record of the scalp laws with payments of 10 pounds of silver for the scalp of an Indian child. Steve Melendez, Pyramid Lake Paiute and president of the American Indian Genocide Museum in Houston, said the genocide of American Indians is a fact of history that must be recorded accurately in history so Indian nations can heal and racism in America can be countered. Melendez said the invaders of this continent carried out systematic genocide to eradicate Indians and it continues today, with the recent theft of Western Shoshone land in Nevada by the United States government. Melendez spoke on genocide at the commemoration of the massacre at Neches, near Tyler in northeast Texas, where the Texas militia murdered 800 Indian men, women, children and elderly on July 16, 1839. On display was the invoice documenting the smallpox that was distributed to Delaware Indians by way of blankets and handkerchiefs in 1763. "I think it is ironic that we stand here today at the site of a destroyed Delaware village. For it was the Delaware Indians in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania who were given the smallpox blankets back in 1763. Many people don’t believe that the Indians were given smallpox blankets but we have found the invoice from Fort Pitt." The invoice states: "To sundries got to replace in kind those which were taken from the people in the hospital to convey the smallpox to the indians. Viz: 2 Blankets; 1 silk hankerchef and 1 linnen." Speaking to several hundred people, including Cherokee and other tribes, Melendez said, "Was there genocide in America? "The killing here continued in the surrounding area until July 24. A militia force was stationed to the north to cut the Indians off if they fled north but they never saw battle. They were not needed." The people were slaughtered. Texas Cherokee and 13 associated bands led by Chief Bowles and Chief Big Mush were among 800 men, women, children and elderly killed on July 16, 1839. The bands included Shawnee, Alabama, Delaware, Kickapoo, Quapaw, Choctaw, Biloxi, Ioni, Coushatta, Mataquo and Caddo of the Neches. "At some point in history, America has to acknowledge the wrongs that were done and call them what they were - Genocide," Melendez said. "At some point in history, America has to acknowledge that the way they confiscated Native lands was not right. At some point in history, America has to call things like what happened here - they have to call it extermination, which it was." "On July the 7th, our President George W. Bush signed into law bill H.R. 884 which arbitrarily confiscated 24 million acres of Western Shoshone Land." Melendez pointed out that in its final report to Congress, the Indian Claims Commission, which was the vehicle used to value the Western Shoshone land, describes itself as a commission and not a judicial court. This commission arbitrarily set the price of Western Shoshone lands at 15 cents an acre. "Fifteen cents an acre! We had the All Star Game in Houston last Tuesday and hot dogs were selling for five dollars apiece. At this kind of an exchange rate, the Western Shoshone would have to sell 33 acres of land just to buy a hot dog. History seems to keep repeating itself over and over again," Melendez said. "Any memorial that is erected here should not be called the Battle of the Neches. We should honor the dead with the truth, and call it what it was - genocide in the Americas." During the 11th annual Neches memorial ceremony, tribes gathered to pray at a monument erected in memory of Cherokee Chief Bowles. Danny Hair, chairman of the North American Indian Cultural Association of Texas, told those gathered that the spirits of the ancestors remain strong here. The American Indian Cultural Society hosted the ceremony, which included Cherokee Nation Chief Chad Smith and Cherokee National Youth Choir from Tahlequah, Okla. To see more of Indian Country Today, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.indiancountry.com.

www.indiancountry.com. Re Texas appropriate location for American Indian Genocide Museum (Part two) Contact: American Indian Genocide Museum President Steve Melendez, Paiute: indmuseum@yahoo.com Website: http://www.aigenom.com Posted: August 30, 2004 - 3:17pm EST by: Brenda Norrell / Southwest Staff Reporter / Indian Country Today HOUSTON - There was no state that surpassed Texas in the genocide of American Indians. Now, it is here in Texas that the American Indian Genocide Museum is documenting the American holocaust. "They were run out of Texas," said Steve Melendez, Pyramid Lake Paiute of Nevada, now living in Texas and president of the museum. "We are really sitting on a powder keg here in Texas." Melendez said the museum is retelling Indian history and hopes it will lead authors to rewrite textbooks without bias. "It seems like the Indian side of the story has never been told. They would rather live in this sanitized view of history." The payment for Indian scalps, including the scalps of Indian children, was written in the laws of Massachusetts. "The Acts and Resolves of the Province of Massachusetts Bay," Vol. I, states the rate for Indian scalps began at 50 pounds. The price for the scalp of Indian children under 10 was 10 pounds of silver. The scalp law read, "That there shall be paid out of the publick treasury of this province unto any party or parties that shall voluntarily go forth at their own charge, by commission as aforesaid, in the discovery and pursuit of the said Indian enemy and rebels, for every man or woman of the said enemy that shall be by them slain, the sum of fifty pounds; and for every child of the said enemy under the age of ten years that shall be by them slain, the sum of ten pounds ..." When the slaughter subsided in the United States, scalp bounty hunters went to Mexico and slaughtered entire villages. They would leave arrows at the sites to make it look like Indians carried out the carnage. "This is not revisionist history, this will really shock people," Melendez said. Melendez has also discovered an invoice for the blankets and handkerchiefs used by the British to convey small pox to Delaware Indians. It is from Fort Pitt, in modern-day Pittsburg. Pointing out that such invoices have long been concealed, Melendez said, "They don’t want this information to get out." But it was not only the Delaware Indians who received small pox blankets. In Texas, a military colonel distributed small pox to imprisoned Indians and then released them so that they would return to their tribes and infect their people. This account comes from Col. James Neill in "Recollections of Early Texas, Memoirs of John Holland Jenkins." "On this raid, Colonel Neill adopted a singular, if not barbarous, method of sending destruction upon the Indians. Having procured some smallpox virus, he vaccinated one of the captive warriors, and then released him to carry the infection into his tribe! Nothing was ever heard as to the success or failure of this project." Some presidents of the United States also voiced racism and determination to eliminate American Indians. President Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was among those who felt land should be taken from the "savages." Roosevelt is quoted speaking of the red, black and yellow Aboriginal landowners in "The Winning of the West, Vol. 4, The Indian Wars." Roosevelt said, "The most ultimately righteous of all wars is a war with savages, though it is apt to be also the most terrible and inhuman. The rude, fierce settler who drives the savage from the land lays all civilized mankind under a debt to him. American and Indian, Boer and Zulu, Cossack and Tartar, New Zealander and Maori, - in each case the victor, horrible though many of his deeds are, has laid deep the foundations for the future greatness of a mighty people. The consequences of struggles for territory between civilized nations seem small by comparison. Looked at from the standpoint of the ages, it is of little moment whether Lorraine is part of Germany or of France, whether the northern Adriatic cities pay homage to Austrian Kaiser or Italian King; But it is of incalculable importance that America, Australia, and Siberia should pass out of the hands of their red, black, and yellow aboriginal owners, and become the heritage of the dominant world races." Melendez points out that the bounty for Indian scalps and distribution of small pox virus was accompanied by the movement to rid the Plains of buffalo and replace them with cattle, as described in the "Memoirs of Gen. W. T. Sherman." "They naturally looked for new homes to the great West, to the new Territories and States as far as the Pacific coast, and we realize today that the vigorous men who control Kansas, Nebraska, Dakota, Montana, Colorado, etc., etc., were soldiers of the civil war. These men flocked to the plains, and were rather stimulated than retarded by the danger of an Indian war. This was another potent agency in producing the result we enjoy to-day, in having in so short a time replaced the wild buffaloes by more numerous herds of tame cattle, and by; substituting for the useless Indians the intelligent owners of productive farms and cattle-ranches." In Texas, only three federally-recognized tribes remain, the Alabama Coushatta Tribe on the eastern border, the Ysleta del Sur (Tigua) on the southwestern border and the Kickapoo in Eagle Pass, Tex. In the 1700s, President of the Republic of Texas Mirabeau Lamar pressed for the extermination of Indians, including the massacre of 800 Cherokee and related bands at Neches 165 years ago. Melendez said now Texas is considering constructing a monument in Lamar’s memory. "It is like putting up a statue of Hitler," Melendez said. These are facts that the American Indian Genocide Museum hopes will usher in a new era of healing for Indian people and counter racism in America. The museum board, now searching for a building to house their data as a permanent museum, has a vision to defeat prejudice and discrimination through education. The American Indian Genocide Museum is a memorial to the victims of ethnic cleansing. Along with countering racism, the museum is exposing prejudice generated toward Native peoples through biased reporting of history. A library and microfilm archive will be available. The museum states, "The problem with dehumanizing people in order to take their land is, that the next step is to take their lives also. Genocide in the Americas is not an easy subject to address - not for any American." Melendez, pointing out that he is father and grandfather, said, "I want better for my kids and grandkids.

Botswana

survival-international.org 23 August 2005 e-news from Survival International, supporting tribal peoples worldwide. Founded in 1969, registered charity (UK) no. 267444 Botswana: government launches crackdown on Bushmen The Botswana government has launched a massive crackdown on the Bushmen of the central Kalahari aimed at destroying their way of life: o The government has announced that it is putting guards around the Central Kalahari Game Reserve to blockade the area and stop Bushmen going in. o More Bushmen have been arrested this month for hunting to feed their families. o The Bushmen's lawyers have been barred from entering the reserve to consult with their clients. o The radio authority has refused to renew radio licences to Bushmen in the Reserve who were using community transmitters to contact each other. o Officials have gone so far as to stop the Bushmen's own organisation, First People of the Kalahari, from talking to those in the reserve. o The government is on the point of changing the country's constitution to remove existing protection for the Bushmen. o Selelo Tshiamo, one of several Bushmen severely tortured by officials in June, died earlier this month. o At least 37 Bushmen in just one of the relocation camps now have HIV/AIDS. All this amounts to the most serious assault on Bushman rights since their eviction in 2002. http://www.survival-international.org/appeal.php?id=21 Survival International is a worldwide organisation supporting tribal peoples. It stands for their right to decide their own future and helps them protect their lives, lands and human rights. It receives no government funding and is dependent on donations from the public.

Burundi

Reuters 13 Aug 2005 Congo survivors want action on Burundi massacre By Patrick Nduwimana GATUMBA, Burundi, Aug 13 (Reuters) - One year after 160 Congolese refugees were killed at a desolate transit camp just inside Burundi, survivors and relatives held a memorial service on Saturday and demanded the killers be brought to justice. Attackers hacked, bludgeoned and burned to death the Banyamulenge Tutsi refugees at the Gatumba transit camp on the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo. The refugees had come to Burundi to escape warfare in their own country. Witnesses said some were shot, some wounded by grenades and many were slashed with knives and machetes. "What happened on August 13 was a genocide," Binagana Amon, a representative of the Banyamulenge community, said at the memorial ceremony. "One year after the massacre nothing has been done ... We demand that justice be done." About 2,000 people, some visiting from across the border in Congo, sang hymns and recited prayers in memory of the dead. Amon said he wanted to see the United Nations do more to bring to book those responsible for the crime. "We condemn the silence of the United Nations," he said. Burundi's only remaining Hutu rebel group, the Forces for National Liberation (FNL), claimed responsibility for the massacre. U.N. investigators blamed the FNL and said other groups may also have been involved, and urged the governments of Burundi, Congo and Rwanda to pursue the investigation. In a statement released at the memorial ceremony, the U.N. mission in Burundi urged the government to complete its investigation and to ask others for help, including the International Criminal Court. "In the name of the victims and as part of efforts to end impunity for the killings and massacres that have plagued this region for too many years, we urge the government of Burundi to complete its investigations, issue the report of its findings and bring those responsible to justice," the statement said. Burundi's minister in charge of the displaced and refugees, Francoise Ngendahayo, said the government was committed to bringing the guilty to justice. "We promise one thing, that the truth will be known. Those responsible will be arrested but Burundi cannot do this work alone, we need the collaboration of the DR Congo and the UN," she said.

Burundi peace passes milestone with new president 17 Aug 2005 08:39:41 GMT Source: Reuters Background FACTBOX: Central African Republic CRISIS PROFILE: Can peace take root in war-weary Burundi? CRISIS PROFILE: What’s going on in Congo? MORE By C. Bryson Hull BUJUMBURA, Aug 17 (Reuters) - Burundi's peace efforts pass a milestone on Friday when lawmakers elect a president as part of a plan to end years of bloodletting that cost 300,000 lives and helped to destabilise much of central Africa. Pierre Nkurunziza, head of the former Hutu rebel Forces for the Defence of Democracy (FDD), is assured of victory because he is standing unopposed for election by members of a two-chamber legislature acting as an electoral college. Friday's decision is the last in a series of democratic polls this year designed to end more than a decade of ethnic slaughter between the Hutu majority and the Tutsi minority that has long held Burundi's levers of power. The FDD dominates the legislature after commanding wins in recent elections for both houses that passed off with little violence. Nkurunziza's FDD campaigned on a platform of ethnic inclusivity and renewed democracy. "It's really an historic day. The other candidates have withdrawn and he certainly is a confirmed winner," said Carolyn McAskie, head of the United Nations Operation in Burundi. "He brings enormous public support, and is the choice of a very high number of the population," she told Reuters. War-weary Burundians embraced the polls in massive numbers after a civil war that began in 1993 and at times fuelled the ethnic turmoil that tore Rwanda apart in its 1994 genocide and plunged eastern Congo into chaos in subsequent years. Though the presidential election is technically the last step in a peace plan signed in Arusha, Tanzania, in 2000, many say the true shift to lasting democratic peace comes in 2010 when Burundians themselves elect the next president. "The bottom line, the message a lot of people there are saying and I would reinforce, is that this is just the first step in the transition," said analyst Jason Stearns of the International Crisis Group think tank. "The real end to the peace process will be in five years." Though large-scale fighting is over in the mountainous tea- and coffee-producing country of 7 million, there is still one Hutu group that attacks the army and civilians sporadically. But so far, Burundi's success is shaping up as an example of African nations solving their own problems, and raising hopes of increased stability in the volatile Great Lakes region. NEW DEMOCRACY The war, a more sustained version of earlier cycles of violence in Burundi's bloody post-independence history, erupted after Tutsi extremists assassinated the first democratically elected Hutu president, Melchior Ndadaye, in 1993. The crisis in Burundi, however, was overshadowed by the 1994 genocide in neighbouring Rwanda, which shares the same ethnic mix and whose post-independence history is also stained with horrific communal massacres. Nkurunziza, a 41-year-old former university physical education lecturer, faces a host of challenges, not least of which is keeping ethnic and political balance between rival Hutu and Tutsi parties, and reining in hardliners in his own party. The government under the peace plan essentially gives Hutus 60 percent representation and Tutsis 40 percent in the government and legislature, to ensure that most parties feel they have a stake. But risks remain. "If they (the FDD) come in and don't reach out to other parties, there is going to be a lot of resentment," Stearns said. Nkurunziza must also oversee the continuing integration of an army long led by Tutsi hardliners with their former rebel foes. Nkurunziza will be sworn in on Aug. 26 and is due to name two vice presidents then.

IRIN 17 Aug 2005 Rebels spread fighting to northern provinces [ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations] © BUJUMBURA, 17 Aug 2005 (IRIN) - The only remaining Burundian Hutu rebel movement, Front National de Libération (FNL), has for the first time since 1993 intensified its attacks, moving its offensives from the traditional strongholds of Bujumbura Rural and Bubanza provinces to other areas in the north of the country. National army spokesman Maj Adolphe Manirakiza said FNL attacked an army position in Matongo and Muruta communes, north Kayanza Province, on Tuesday and looted from several families. The rebels did not kill any civilians but, Manirakiza said, "FNL lost two combatants." FNL fighting was also reported last week in Musigati Commune, Bubanza Province, near the Kibira Forest. The army pounded the rebels with warplanes; a weapon that Manirakiza said was used because it was difficult to penetrate the forest on the ground and not because the rebel force was powerful. "We did not want to take risk," he added. The FNL's lack of strength, Manirakiza said, was evidenced in its reluctance to engage the army in combat. The UN Mission in Burundi (ONUB), which has deployed military observers, would not comment on the current increase in FNL attacks. "ONUB observers are still monitoring the situation on the ground," Maj Adama Diop, the ONUB military spokesman, said on Tuesday. However, he said the FNL could have moved from its traditional strongholds because of pressure by the army. The Burundian government and the palipehutu-FNL had signed a declaration to stop the hostilities and start negotiations, but they have since accused each other of violating the deal.

IRIN 17 Aug 2005 Woman elected speaker of lower house [ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations] BUJUMBURA, 17 Aug 2005 (IRIN) - Burundi's parliament voted on Tuesday to elect Immaculee Nahayo, of the Conseil national pour la défense de la démocratie-Forces pour la défense de la démocratie (CNDD-FDD) party, as the speaker of the lower chamber of parliament. Nahayo, elected by 107 votes to three, with six abstentions, becomes the first woman in the country’s history to hold the position. She replaces Jean Minani, who chaired the national assembly in the preceding parliament. Following her election, Nahayo urged legislators to return to their respective constituencies to be as close as possible to the people who elected them. "I only want to see you during the national assembly sessions," she said, adding that she wanted to break with the tradition of their predecessors, who were accused of rarely visiting their electorates. During the same session, Burundi's communication minister, CNDD-FDD's Onesime Nduwimana, and justice minister Didace Kiganahe, of Burundi’s' main Hutu party, Front Démocratique du Burundi, were elected first and second vice presidents of the national assembly respectively. Senators also met on Tuesday to elect the speaker of the upper chamber, but a new amendment brought to the senate internal regulations that forced the house to postpone the election till Wednesday, as the rules had to be sent to the constitutional court for endorsement. Parliamentarians and senators will on Friday elect the only presidential candidate, CNDD-FDD's Pierre Nkurunziza, as the central African country's first post-transition president.

IRIN 19 Aug 2005 Parliament elects Nkurunziza nation's president [ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations] © IRIN President-elect Pierre Nkurunziza. BUJUMBURA, 19 Aug 2005 (IRIN) - Burundi's parliament voted 151 to 9 on Friday, electing Pierre Nkurunziza as the country's first post-transitional president. There was one abstention, state radio reported. Nkurunziza, 40, won 91.52 percent of the votes cast by a joint congress of the National Assembly and the Senate, the two houses of parliament. Running on the ticket of the Conseil pour la defense de la democratie-Force pour la defense de la democratie, Nkurunziza was the sole presidential candidate. He required two-thirds of the vote, corresponding to 108 ballots, to win in the first round. Announcing these results, the president of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Paul Ngarambe, said the results must go to the Constitutional Court for endorsement. Under the 2002 Arusha Peace and Reconciliation Agreement for Burundi, the legislature was to choose the country's first post-transitional president. Thereafter, the electorate will vote. Nkurunziza became leader of his party in 2001 when it was still a rebel movement. The CNDD-FDD became a legitimate political party in May 2005. Shifting from rebel leader to statesman, Nkurunziza then became minister of state in charge of good governance and inspection of the state, a post he occupied until a few hours ago.

Crisis Group 25 Aug 2005 Elections in Burundi: A Radical Shake-up of the Political Landscape Burundi's general elections are a welcome step toward a lasting peace, but the political sea change also brings significant risks. Some of the dangers now facing Burundi appeared during the election period itself. The polls have left key political figures with uncertain futures, and for the first time since independence, the Hutu-Tutsi interethnic conflict has been eclipsed by a violent power struggle between two traditionally Hutu parties, the CNDD-FDD, the poll's victors, and FRODEBU, the former governing party, which was a major loser. Most Tutsis in power now belong to traditionally Hutu parties, but it is crucial that the CNDD-FDD preserve the spirit of the Arusha Agreement by also involving the main Tutsi parties in the administration. All parties must also focus on resolving the ongoing war with PALIPEHUTU-FNL. Crisis Group reports and briefing papers are available on our website: www.crisisgroup.org

Congo, Democratic Republic of

BBC 29 Aug 2005 DR Congo rebel threatens invasion Nkunda accuses President Kabila of being dictatorial Renegade Congolese rebel leader Gen Laurent Nkunda has threatened to re-invade eastern Democratic Republic of Congo to bring "peace" to the area. In June last year he jeopardised DR Congo's shaky peace process when he briefly seized the town of Bukavu. In a 17-page letter, extracts of which were published in the Congolese newspaper Le Potentiel, he accused the government of promoting ethnic hatred. Meanwhile, the army has confirmed some of its men in the east have defected. Correspondents in the area say an estimated 1,000 soldiers, who speak Kinyarwanda - the language spoken by the ethnic Banyamulenge whom Gen Nkunda claims to be fighting for - have gathered in Masisi, North Kivu province. Gen Nkunda said he invaded Bukavu last year to protect the Banyamulenge from being targeted and killed by the Congolese army, but the UN dismissed his claims that he was preventing a genocide. 'Not serious' In his letter, seen by the BBC, Gen Nkunda said the transitional administration of President Joseph Kabila was corrupt and intent on promoting instability in the east. Profile: The 'Bukavu bully' He said the decision to stop more than 200,000 Congolese refugees living in neighbouring countries from returning home to Kivu to participate in the elections showed President Kabila's unwillingness to foster peace. Elections were due before the end of June under the terms of the 2002 peace deal, but MPs have backed a six-month delay. According to the BBC's Arnaud Zajtman in Kinshasa, the United Nations refugee agency has said it is not logistically feasible to organise the return of the refugees before the completion of the electoral registration process. The UN mission in DR Congo has received a copy of the letter, but could not authenticate it, our correspondent says. Given up Gen Nkunda belonged to the Rwandan-backed RCD rebel group which fought the Kinshasa government in a five-year civil war Under the peace deal, former rebel groups were supposed to be integrated into the new national army. At the time of Bukavu's capture, President Kabila accused Rwanda of being behind the attack, but this was denied by Rwanda. His ally, Col Jules Mutebutsi, has officially been granted refugee status in Rwanda after he and his men declared in writing that they had given up his armed struggle. The Banyamulenge are ethnic Tutsis, who have lived in DR Congo for several generations but who retain ties to Rwanda. An estimated three million people in DR Congo were killed during the five-year civil war, which drew in several neighbouring countries.

Congo, Republic of

AP 17 July 2005 Congo Officials Cleared in Refugee Case By LOUIS OKAMBA Associated Press Writer August 17, 2005, 10:09 PM EDT BRAZZAVILLE, Republic of Congo -- Top Republic of Congo officials were acquitted Wednesday of genocide and war crimes charges stemming from the disappearance of 350 refugees who had returned home during a cease-fire in the country's civil war. A jury also found the 15 defendants not guilty of crimes against humanity, false arrest and arbitrary detention, according to the decision read by criminal court President Charles Apesse. "The court pronounces their acquittal, pure and simple," he said. Many of the defendants, including 13 top- and midlevel security force officers, were expected to regain their posts after being suspended during the weekslong trial that was broadcast across the Central African nation and was part of the country's attempts at long-term national reconciliation. Their families say the refugees were last seen on a Congo River landing known as "Le Beach," where they were met by security forces. The 353 refugees disappeared in May 1999 after returning to Republic of Congo during a cease-fire that followed unrest in 1998-1999. Relatives of the missing have accused members of the government of involvement in the disappearance. None of the refugees has been found. Many of the defendants still hold high positions in the country's security forces, including Gen. Norbert Dabira, the armed forces' inspector-general. The verdict shed no light on the missing refugees' whereabouts, only ruling that the defendants were not culpable in their disappearance. Victims' families had no immediate comment. The government of President Denis Sassou-Nguesso said the verdict had been reached in "all independence, in transparency and fairness."

VOA News 17 Aug 2005 Congolese Court Acquits All Defendants in Refugee Massacre Case A court in the Republic of Congo has acquitted all 15 defendants of genocide charges in connection with the massacre of more than 300 Congolese refugees in 1999. A jury Wednesday also found the defendants, most of whom were top security officials and military officers, not guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The 353 refugees disappeared in 1999 after returning from exile in neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo. They were last seen in a riverfront area of the capital, Brazzaville, known as "the beach," where they had been arrested by security forces on suspicion of backing an anti-government militia. Relatives and human rights groups say the victims were tortured and executed. Their bodies were never found. "

IRIN 18 Aug 2005 Court acquits top army, police officers of mass murder [ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations] BRAZZAVILLE, 18 Aug 2005 (IRIN) - The Criminal Court of Brazzaville cleared 15 high ranking army and police officers on Wednesday of killing 353 refugees who returned home to the Republic of Congo (ROC) in 1999. "The defendants were not individually responsible for committing war crimes, genocide or crimes against humanity," Charles Emile Apesse, president of the court, said in Brazzaville, referring to the charges against the defendants. Most prominent among the defendants were the inspector general of the armed forces, Gen Norbert Dabira; the commander of the Brazzaville Military Region,Gen Blaise Adoua; and the director general of police, Jean François Ndenguet. The returning refugees had fled to neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo in 1998 to escape their own country's civil war. On their arrival at Brazzaville's river port known as "Le Beach" in 1999, they were arrested on suspicion of being supporters of a local militia known as the Ninjas. They were never seen in public again. Wednesday's acquittals angered relatives of the missing who accused unnamed government officials of involvement in the disappearance. "It's a conspiracy. It's a pity. We are disappointed," Vincent Niamankessi, the president of the committee representing the families of the missing refugees, told AFP. The court said the state had accepted "civil responsibility" for the facts for which the defendants were accused, and ordered the government to pay each plaintiff 10 million francs CFA (US $18,500) in compensation for each of missing relative. Lawyers for the plaintiffs had asked for 100 million francs ($185,000) for each missing person..

Côte d'Ivoire

IRIN 15 Aug 2005 Blue helmets thwarted by angry crowds, Kofi Annan speaks out [ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations] © IRIN UN peacekeepers are facing hostility DAKAR, 15 Aug 2005 (IRIN) - Hostile mobs continue to block the movement of United Nations peacekeepers and other UN officials in Cote d’Ivoire, spurring Secretary General Kofi Annan over the weekend to urge Ivorians to back off. In only the latest in a string of incidents, menacing crowds in Gagnoa – a city in the government-controlled southwest of Cote d’Ivoire – last week blocked UN civilian workers as well as military observers trying to enter the town. The incidents came just after President Laurent Gbagbo called on the population to allow the UN operation in Cote d’Ivoire (ONUCI) to carry out its work unimpeded. In his daily briefing on Friday, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said he welcomed Gbagbo’s declaration but “regrets that ONUCI still does not enjoy the full freedom of movement required to effectively carry out its mandate.” ONUCI peacekeepers are in the country to monitor a ceasefire between government forces and rebels and help with a programme of disarmament following a failed coup in September 2002 that left the country divided between a government controlled south and rebel-held north. But the peace process has repeatedly stumbled and deadlines have been missed, raising doubts about whether this one-time oasis of stability and prosperity in West Africa will be able to hold presidential elections on October 30 as scheduled and escape a devastating cycle of conflict. On Thursday crowds ransacked the vehicle of unarmed ONUCI military observers, who were forced to take refuge in a local government office until UN peacekeeping troops could rescue them, ONUCI spokesperson Hamadoun Toure told IRIN on Monday from the commercial capital, Abidjan. This was a day after angry crowds blocked two UN civilian legal experts from entering Gagnoa, Gbagbo’s birthplace and historically a stronghold of the ruling Ivorian Popular Front, about 270 kilometres from Abidjan. The pro-Gbagbo militia, the Young Patriots are believed to be behind the attack, according to diplomats. The militants have harassed both the UN and French peacekeepers, accusing them of siding with the rebels. Toure said people in the crowds flung insults at the UN workers and cried, “ONUCI, get out.” The UN workers were there at the request of local authorities, Toure said. It is not clear whether the uprisings are spontaneous or planned, he said, adding, “The important thing is that they stop.” Toure said he was not aware of anyone in the mobs being armed. However it is not only hostile civilians but also government armed forces who have attempted to hamper ONUCI’s movements, Toure said. In one case, after an attack by armed men in the Abidjan suburb of Anyama and Agboville, about 80 kilometres from the commercial capital, government forces and civilians blocked UN peacekeepers from entering Agboville for an investigation. Renald Boismoreau, ONUCI military spokesperson told IRIN that while the incidents are a concern they have not widely hampered ONUCI forces’ work. Toure said despite the most recent incidents coming after Gbagbo’s appeal, the UN hopes would-be protesters will heed the president’s call. “We hope that everyone has now received the message and that everyone will respect it,” he said. He said the citizens who would continue to block UN officials from carrying out their work are only hurting themselves. The UN is in Cote d’Ivoire to help accelerate an end to the conflict, Toure said. “It is their country they are penalising. It’s the resolution of this crisis they are blocking."

BBC 26 Aug 2005 Ivory Coast rebels reject polls The rebel statement raised fears of a return to war Rebels who control the north of Ivory Coast say they will not accept the elections intended to restore peace and stability, scheduled for 30 October. The New Forces say it is impossible to hold free and fair elections within two months, and insist that President Laurent Gbagbo step down. They refuse to disarm until pro-Gbagbo militias also lay down their weapons. Ivory Coast, once West Africa's richest country, has been divided in two for three years. The UN recently repeated its threat to impose sanctions on those who are blocking the peace process. War fears The BBC's James Copnall in the main city, Abidjan, says the New Forces' statement means they are now saying out loud what they - and the unarmed political opposition - have been saying privately for some time. Just two months before the elections are due, the electoral roll has still not been drawn up. In the statement, which followed six days of discussions in the rebel stronghold of Bouake, they warned they would "take their responsibilities" if Mr Gbagbo was still in power in November. Our correspondent says the statement reinforces fears about what may happen if the elections are not held on time. The last major outbreak of fighting was last November, when the Ivorian air force bombed Bouake. The rebels also hit out at the mediator for the Ivory Coast conflict, South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki, saying he favoured Mr Gbagbo. Mr Mbeki has approved Mr Gbagbo's legal reforms, which the rebels say do not go far enough to redress alleged prejudice against northerners - one of the key factors behind the rebellion. A spokesman for Mr Gbagbo told the BBC his side had no reaction until after Mr Mbeki presented a report to the UN Security Council at the end of this month.

Ethiopia

BBC 27 Aug 2005 Ethiopia blames EU for protests Ethiopian students staged protests after the May election The Ethiopian government has accused EU observers of contributing to post-election violence during which about 40 people died. It said the EU mission "illegally and secretly leaked information" to the opposition, prompting protests in June. The statement was issued days after an EU report said the 15 May polls failed to meet international standards. Prime Minister Meles Zenawi's coalition retained its majority but opposition parties gained many seats. 'Mistakes' The statement says the "leaked information" gave opposition supporters the confidence to take to the streets to protest against the elections. "The mission, against the regulations of its tasks as an observer, illegally and secretly leaked unfounded information to the opposition which gave them confidence wrongly so as to lead them to violence in the streets," the government statement said. It added the EU mission's report released this week criticising the election process was "intended simply to cover its mistakes". The government believes the EU told the opposition long before the results had been officially released that it had won the polls, says the BBC's Grant Ferrett. He says EU officials have dismissed the allegations, noting that they were made soon after the release of their critical report. Several days of violence followed the parliamentary elections and around 40 people were killed when police fired on protesters.

Liberia see Nigeria

15 August 2005, 13:41 GMT 14:41 UK E-mail this to a friend Printable version Liberia gears up for peace poll Liberian hope the candidates can remain peaceful Campaigning has started for Liberia's first general elections since the end of a 14-year civil war. Small groups of activists carrying photographs of the rival candidates braved the wet weather in the capital. Among the best-known candidates in the October poll are ex-footballer George Weah, rebel leader Sekou Conneh and economist Ellen Sirleaf Johnson. Some 15,000 UN peacekeepers are in Liberia, tasked with ensuring stability in the volatile country. Voters will be asked to choose a successor to transitional President Gyude Bryant, who took office in October 2003, succeeding Charles Taylor. 'Smooth sailing' On Friday, the election commission threw out a challenge to Mr Weah's candidature, based on allegations that he had taken French citizenship while playing in France. Mr Weah, 38, who is considered one of the favourites in the presidential race, welcomed the decision. They told us that they were going to take us home to vote there - we will not vote here J Sirleaf Masah Displaced person The election commission has published a list of 22 candidates cleared to run in the 11 October poll. Six of the original 28 applicants were rejected. National Elections Commission Chairperson Frances Johnson-Morris denied that there were too many candidates. "There are so many people who had wanted to participate in our past electoral processes and maybe they did not get the chance; this is a time that everyone has the opportunity," she said. "We are going well, I think this process is sailing smoothly." Mr Taylor - wanted by the UN-backed war crimes court in Sierra Leone - has been accused of trying to manipulate the election from the Nigerian town of Calabar, where he lives in exile. One of his former ministers, Roland Massaquoi, is a candidate. However, some of the 500,000 people displaced during the war have not yet been repatriated. One group outside the capital, Monrovia, said they would refuse to vote unless they had been sent home. "They told us that they were going to take us home to vote there; we will not vote here, if they bring their ballot boxes, we will simply watch them," said J Sirleaf Masah in the New Land Displaced People's Camp. In concurrent legislative elections 206 candidates are fighting for 30 senate seats, and the 64 lower house seats are being contested by 503 hopefuls.

Nigeria

WP 23 Aug 2005; Page A11 Nigeria Admits to Torture, Killing of Criminal Suspects LAGOS, Nigeria -- Nigeria's president has acknowledged that police often torture and kill criminal suspects, according to an international human rights group, which urged him Monday to end such abuses. In a surprising departure from official denials, President Olusegun Obasanjo confirmed the abuses in a message last week to a human rights forum in Nigeria, according to local media and the New York-based Human Rights Watch, which detailed alleged abuses in a recent report. A wildfire rages around a French firefighter in a forest near the village of Boulternere, near Perpignan, in southern France. (By Georges Bartoli -- Reuters) Obasanjo said police violations "ranged from extra-judicial killings to torture and unlawful detention," according to press reports. He singled out an incident in June in which policemen in the capital, Abuja, allegedly killed six people returning from a night outing after branding them armed robbers. "Obasanjo's recognition of human rights abuses by the police is an important first step," Peter Takirambudde, executive director of the African division at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. "It is essential that his words are followed by concrete steps to end police abuses."

Rwanda

Dallaire and Foreign Authors on Genocide to Discuss Rwanda The New Times (Kigali) NEWS August 12, 2005 Posted to the web August 12, 2005 By Nasra Bishumba Kigali General Romeo Dallaire, who headed the UN peacekeeping forces in Rwanda at the time of the Genocide in 1994 will at the end of the month be joined by French journalist Jean Hatzfeld, who covered the Genocide and both will discuss their experiences and the 100 days of the Genocide, 11 years ago. Dallaire is the author of Shake Hands with the devil: A failure of humanity in Rwanda, while Hatzfeld wrote Into the quick of life and the newly published Machete Season. In Machete Season, Hatzfeld reports on the results of his interviews with nine of the Hutu killers. They were all friends who came from a single region where they helped to kill 50,000 out of their 59,000 Tutsi neighbours, and all of them are now in prison, some awaiting execution. It is usually presumed that killers will not tell the truth about their brutal actions, but Hatzfeld elicited extraordinary testimonies from these men about their role in the Genocide. He rightly sees that their account raises as many questions as it answers. The event will be chaired by Linda Melvern, an investigative journalist and world expert on the Rwandan Genocide, who has published two books on this issue; A people betrayed and Conspiracy to Murder. This event is in association with Survivors Fund, a charitable organisation based in the United Kingdom, which has offices in Kigali and is dedicated to aiding and assisting the survivors of the Rwandan Genocide.

AP 21 Aug 2005 Cheadle Visits 'Hotel Rwanda' for 1st Time By RYAN PEARSON The Associated Press Sunday, August 21, 2005; 2:18 PM LOS ANGELES -- Don Cheadle has finally visited "Hotel Rwanda." The 40-year-old actor toured the Hotel des Milles Collines in Rwanda's capital Kigali last month, speaking with several of the more than 1,000 people who were sheltered there during the country's 1994 genocide by manager Paul Rusesabagina, the character portrayed by Cheadle in the film. "All of their experiences were the stuff of epic films _ things they had to go through in those 100 days," Cheadle told The Associated Press in an interview this week. "It was amazing." Cheadle, who earned an Oscar nomination for "Hotel Rwanda," had never seen the hotel because last year's film was shot primarily in South Africa. Through the movie, however, he developed a new passion for the vast continent. "I felt drawn to that area, and felt drawn in any way I can to bringing attention to the place, and any way that I can," he said. During his 2 1/2-week visit in late July, he met with Rwandan President Paul Kagame, attended the premiere of "Hotel Rwanda" in Uganda and toured displaced-person camps in the country's northern provinces. More than 1.5 million Ugandans have fled their homes to avoid a campaign of murder, rape and abduction waged by rebel group Lord's Resistance Army. Cheadle met with young girls who said they were taken as wives by rebel soldiers. "That was amazing, to hear these stories of these kids and what they had been forced to do, and trying to imagine ... I don't have that frame of reference," he said. Cheadle said he's writing a book with John Prendergast of the nonprofit International Crisis Group about how individual Americans can respond to Africa's problems. "It's really talking about my path out of apathy, and what people can do who are having the same questions and feelings," he said. "I had the same concerns and skepticism about sending aid to some shadowy situation where I didn't know if a warlord was going to get the money." The actor said he was struck by many Africans' sense of hope. "They believed there was an opportunity for things to get better, which was surprising," he said. "I think that's what's actually going to sustain them."

washingtonpost.com 21 Aug 2005 Ordinary Men Farmers in a desolate corner of Rwanda tell how they slaughtered their neighbors. Reviewed by Alison Des Forges Sunday, August 21, 2005; BW03 MACHETE SEASON The Killers in Rwanda Speak By Jean Hatzfeld Translated from the French by Linda Coverdale Farrar Straus Giroux. 253 pp. $24 In 1994, shortly after the genocide of Rwanda's Tutsi minority ended, I went to the small brick church at Ntarama, a desolate patch in the southeastern corner of the country. Leaving the glare of the noonday sun for the dim of the sanctuary, I smelled the bodies before I saw them. As my eyes adjusted to the gloom, I could make out the twisted and broken remains of babies, children, women and men in the aisles, at the foot of the altar, on and under the simple wooden benches that served as pews. Some of the Ntarama murderers have now talked about their crimes to the French journalist Jean Hatzfeld, who has recorded their words in the harrowing pages of Machete Season . Fulgence Bunani, a farmer and volunteer deacon in the Catholic church, was 33 at the time of the genocide; Pancrace Hakizamungili, another farmer, was 25. Neither had ever killed before. They recall their victims screaming as they and other killers struck out blindly in the crowded Ntarama church. Fulgence began by cracking "an old mama's skull with a club," then began striking "without seeing who it was, taking pot luck with the crowd." Pancrace remembers "a mixture of blows and cries coming in a tangle from everyone." Alphonse Hitiyaremye, then 39 and a father of four, was one of those who returned to the church the next day to finish the "work," as the genocide was called; he helped locate those still breathing among the corpses. He and others yelled, sneered and insulted their victims, he says, as they worked "to finish off everyone conscientiously." Hatzfeld has previously published accounts of Tutsi civilians who survived the genocide by hiding in swamps near Ntarama. In this book, he presents the words of 10 ordinary Hutu people from the same region (most of them farmers) detailing how they took up machetes to slaughter other ordinary people who happened to be Tutsi -- people with whom they had sung in the church choir and played on the local soccer team. As this book makes clear, Rwanda's genocide was marked both by its intimacy (the killers used machetes and guns, not gas chambers) and its speed (at least 500,000 deaths in about 100 days). The jailed and confessed killers who tell their stories here had known each other before the genocide -- some were neighbors and drinking buddies -- and had "worked" together during the "machete season." Hatzfeld had a hard time persuading them to talk but had no problem getting access to them from the prison authorities, who were eager to increase foreign awareness of the genocide. The killers spent many days discussing their crimes with Hatzfeld under an acacia tree in a garden adjoining the prison. He has grouped their remarks into short thematic chapters, creating an illusion of a conversation between speakers, each of whom is identified by first name. The reader is drawn in, in effect eavesdropping on a casual chat among killers. The murderers discuss everything from the first time they killed to how they joked about raping and murdering Tutsi women to how they enjoyed feasting on pillaged cattle and other food. (Some even tasted candy for the first time.) They remark that sex with their wives was hot and relations with their children undisturbed during the time of the slaughter. The language throughout is as shocking as the subject matter. "Rule number one was to kill," one says. "There was no rule number two." Another compares killing a person to killing a goat: a whack on the head, and either goes down. Readers who can get beyond their (justified) initial horror will find a wealth of detail here about the genocide, including the part played by government authorities and the Interahamwe militia, the importance of economic motivations (particularly the hope of acquiring land, ever scarce in this densely populated country), the impetus provided by anti-Tutsi hate radio broadcasts, the role of the local bar as a gathering place after the day's "work" and the social status bestowed by owning a firearm. Hatzfeld's book does not pretend to be a scholarly account of the genocide; it is limited in scope and marred by numerous errors (there were no massacres in the region in 1973; prisoners released in 2003 had confessed but had not been convicted; youngsters caught up in the slaughter were freed because Rwandan law doesn't recognize criminal responsibility for those under 14 years of age, not because they were amnestied). But its grassroots view of the genocide enriches and completes other, more formal accounts. Above all, Hatzfeld's presentation highlights the individuality of each killer: the bully, the hypocrite, the older ideologue, the naive youngster. By the end of the book, we feel we know Fulgence, Pancrace and the others -- a familiarity underscored by the use of their real names, by the brief biographies provided at the end and by a group photo. Such familiarity is disturbing. As the distance between them and us decreases, we begin to wonder if we, too, could become killers in circumstances like theirs. Hatzfeld dismisses such speculation, "not so much because we cannot get inside the skin of bean farmers on a hill in Rwanda, but because we cannot imagine being born and growing up under such a despotic, ethnocentric regime." Although he refuses to imagine himself in the genocidaires' place -- perhaps because he identifies so closely with the survivors -- Hatzfeld does give the killers a chance to describe their sense of guilt and the strangeness of finding themselves involved in such heinous crimes. He accepts that most in the group had no quarrels with their victims and underlines how reluctant they were to express hatred of the Tutsi. He acknowledges that some Hutu even died to save Tutsi but insists that no one was at imminent risk of death for refusing to kill. He simply presents these contradictions and leaves them unresolved, just as he leaves unanswered the ultimate question of why these men killed. Hatzfeld recounts that when several of the killers started describing the slaughter of Tutsi as a battle, he cut them off brusquely, insisting that he knew the real truth. Of course, the genocide was no battle; but it did take place during a war, with the Hutu-dominated Rwandan authorities insisting that all Tutsi -- members of the same ethnic group as the guerrilla force then attacking the government in Kigali -- were the enemy. By refusing to hear this part of the truth, Hatzfeld minimizes the wartime context of the genocide and maximizes the guilt of the bean farmers. He also hinders our understanding of the murderers' motivations. In the final reckoning, this imperfect but devastating book tells us more about the how of genocide than the why. It lets us listen to the bean farmers but tells us too little about their fears to make us understand why these ordinary people committed extraordinary crimes. · Alison Des Forges is a senior advisor to the Africa division of Human Rights Watch and the author of "Leave None To Tell the Story: Genocide in Rwanda."

The New Times (Kigali) 22 Aug 2005 OPINION It is Parmehutu Ideology, Not Genocide Ideology, But Where to Place the Moral Responsibility? Kigali An unheralded meeting of minds quietly took place last July. This was at the behest of the Rwanda Defense Forces (RDF) during a seminar for its Commanders, in which it brought together some of the foremost of Rwandan intellectuals today. These included the academically uncompromising José Kagabo, professor of African history in both Europe and America and visiting lecturer at the National University of Rwanda (UNR); the subtly incisive and thoughtful Josias Semujanga, Associate Professor of literature at the University of Montreal and UNR, and visiting professor at other universities in the US and Canada; and the dapper Dr Anastase Shyaka, a much sought after consultant on conflict issues, who also teaches at UNR and heads the Centre for Conflict Management at the University. The fourth was Brig. Gen. Frank Rusagara, Commandant, Rwanda Military Academy at Nyakinama, notable for his thought provoking insights on Rwanda and the region through the media and public lectures. With this collection of academics the RDF engaged in the ever compelling national debate on "The History of the Rwandan Genocide and its Consequences," which was the theme for the seminar. As it warmed to the subject, the Commanders Seminar would exhibit not only the depth of the RDF's considerable intellectual muscle, but its earnest strife to remain the enlightened guardian of peace and security. Thus, under the moderation of the polished Army Chief of Staff, Lt. Gen. Charles Kayonga, it emerged at the seminar that (among other notable issues) there was a misunderstanding about the term genocide ideology, and gave rise to a sobering question about the issue of moral responsibility. This question, as it would turn out, came out of an expressed concern about a fear or shame many "Hutu" apparently must be living with for their role either as perpetrators or bystanders. They seem not to feel absolved despite the law taking its course, and seem to expect a certain undefined form of retribution now or in the future. Though there was an assurance that this fear is misplaced, that penalty is based on individual culpability, and that it is in the law that such unreasoned retribution is unacceptable other than through due process as is currently happening, the issue of moral responsibility caught fire and generated quite some debate. It may be summarized thus: If the Genocide was committed by the Hutu on behalf of all its members, wasn't the entire group morally responsible (though not necessarily to be penalized), if only for doing nothing about it? But, it is in the law that Hutu, Tutsi and Twa identities are not officially recognized in Rwanda, and that Rwandans are one and the same people. Who, therefore, is to take the moral responsibility? Perhaps the Government? How? The seminar was reminded that the former German Chancellor Willy Brandt apologized to Israel on behalf of the entire German nation for the Nazi atrocities on the Jews decades after the Holocaust. Doesn't the Rwandan Government, therefore, in its capacity as an institution since independence, hold a similar responsibility to Rwandans as victims of a tragedy they have to collectively own and live with? What about the moral responsibility of individuals so far adversely mentioned? There's no doubt that the Government has taken its due responsibilities, but this tangled moral question is largely subjective and, in all fairness, must be left 'to whom it may concern'. It was however clear that the fear expressed needs to be addressed as a vital aspect of the pervasive sense of latent conflict in Rwanda, as noted in the resultant ten-point seminar resolutions that also suggested a follow-up to the forum. To come to the genocide ideology, Prof Semujanga demonstrated that, other than believed by many Rwandans, the term "genocide ideology" as applied in the country is not plausible. Though the Genocide occurred, it is, by definition, more a result than an ideology. Instead, the Rwandan Genocide was driven by the Parmehutu ideology. The Parti du Mouvement pour l'Emancipation Hutu (PARMEHUTU), it may be recalled, was the most influential of the earliest political parties in Rwanda that capitalized on the false colonial division between Rwandans to gain power. The Rwandan tragedy, therefore, was not informed by some general creed about genocide, but by a particular, consciously directed and sectarian ideology espoused by the Parmehutu party to marginalize and eliminate. This ideology was given form and action by Gitera's 1959 Ten Hutu Commandments, and again by Kangura's 1990 Ten Commandments of the Bahutu, which have been subconsciously internalized and unquestioned over time. And thus the Parmehutu ideology continues to dog the country and the region. The seminar brought out many notable issues, which it however may not be within this space to delve into, and was characterized by illuminating presentations and frank discussions. Remarking that "not all Rwandan history is bad, and neither was it only about the Genocide," Prof Kagabo lengthily elaborated on the dubious colonial scholarship that justified a divided Rwanda. He presented a knowledgeable analysis of a list of scholars, singling out the French historian Herni and Belgian Jean-Claude Willame as some of the most recent and notorious in the distortion of Rwanda's history. With this he was able to furnish a compelling argument for a multi-disciplinary approach to the study and analysis of the Rwandan history and the root causes of the Genocide. As understanding the issues of the Rwandan conflict was the key thing, it was most appropriate therefore when Brig. Gen. Rusagara, painting an all-too-real scenario, quoted conflict management scholar, Michael Banks, observing that; "we live in a world in which conflict is rarely understood and often mismanaged." In this light he demonstrated RDF's awareness to its responsibilities in peace and development, and dwelled on the Gacaca as "a creative problem-solving [way] of redefining and transcending the Rwandan conflict" that no one could escape in the momentum it has generated. On his part Dr Shyaka observed that conflict is not only destructive but is also a powerful motivation for post-conflict peace building. Rwanda is proof of such motivation, in which, among other examples, European countries emerged as peaceful and prosperous after World War Two. He however cautioned that there must be a change of attitudes and behaviour among Rwandans, as negative attitudes can destroy any positive political and ideological initiatives in the country. On the whole, the RDF seminar was a candid reflection on issues as they are currently playing on the ground. But, with such issues as the "Hutu question", it was also testament that a nation, despite all it may hold as its values and have them enshrined in a constitution, is not an end in itself but something that continually has to be worked at. This must be what Abraham Lincoln meant when, commenting on the Declaration of (the US) Independence, he observed that constitutional principles of democratic nationhood are "a standard maxim for free societyâ-oeconstantly looked to, constantly laboured for, and even though never perfectly attained, constantly approximated." Just like no individual is perfect, therefore, so is a nation, and the seminar was an earnest RDF attempt at the approximation of a more ideal Rwanda.

The New Times (Kigali) 29 Aug 2005 Brig. Gen. Rusagara Implores On Genocide By John Kimanuka Kigali Brig. General Frank Rusagara has strongly cautioned the masses over the Genocide ideology which destroyed the country from 1959 to 1994. Addressing a recent workshop on the 1994 Genocide at Hotel Novotel Umubano, Rusagara said the fight against divisive ideologies should involve all citizens as a preventative measure. "We should make joint verification in order to overcome the tragedy and educate Rwandans to have a good future generation. Let us advise elders to play their role in educating the young ones about the dangers of Genocide," he observed. Past regimes were blamed for propagating divisions among Rwandans and setting the ground for the 1994 massacres that claimed about a million victims. Former Rwandan President Gregoire Kayibanda was accused of masterminding the divisions among Rwandans. "As other countries struggled for independence, Kayibanda was busy creating divisionism between Hutus and Tutsis," Rusagara observed. Brig. Gen. Rusagara, who is also a renowned researcher of Rwandan history, castigated individuals who call the 1994 massacres a 'Double Genocide'. He said, "There was no double Genocide. Those that keep saying it are merely belittling the Genocide." There was a general concern over some elites and politicians who try to gain public support by spreading hatred among the people. "Our focus should be developing our nation rather than listening to these unconstructive ideologies," Rusagara observed. The consultative meeting was attended by different researchers, and addressed by the coordinator of (IRDP) Institute of Research and Dialogue for Peace, Professor Pierre Rwanyindo, who said they intend to research more about the 1994 Genocide. Another guest speaker, Presidential advisor Joseph Nsengimana, urged the participants to teach facts about the Genocide in order to build peace and maintain state security. Contributing to the same issue, Callixte Kayisire, the National Inspector of Education in the education ministry said authorities should double efforts to teach the youth and engage them in developmental activities.

Sudan

San Francisco Chronicle 11 Aug 2005 www.sfgate.com Halting the genocide in Darfur - Elvir Camdzic, John Weiss Thursday, August 11, 2005 The 21st century's first genocide in the Darfur region of western Sudan has entered its third year. According to an analysis of U.N. data by Eric Reeves, a professor at Smith College (see www.sudanreeves.org), since early 2003, 215,000 civilians have been killed in a campaign of ethnic cleansing of the non-Arab African inhabitants of Darfur carried out by a government-backed Arab militia known as "Janjaweed." Approximately 200,000 more have died from disease and malnutrition, bringing the total dead in Darfur to more than 400,000. At least 2 million persons, more than half the population of Darfur in 2002, have been uprooted, and several hundred thousand have fled the country into neighboring Chad. Our misunderstandings and inaction have, once again, given victory to the entrepreneurs of genocide. Sudan's government in Khartoum now has what it wants: a diminished, controllable, disregardable Darfur population that it can leave to the international humanitarian organizations and their terrorized agents to maintain, culturally speaking, in a permanent vegetative state in camps along the Sudan-Chad border and throughout Darfur. The Darfur disaster has established, once again, that every democratic country in the world opposes slaughtering large numbers of civilians and, at the same time, that no country in the world will take action to stop such slaughter if it entails any significant risk, burden or price. A Kosovo-style intervention could have stopped the Darfur genocide at any time, but the international community has chosen instead to repeat the trial-and-error pattern of policies that failed in Bosnia. The resolutions, statements of concern, empty deadlines, ineffective sanctions and observers, and deployment of troops without a mandate to protect civilians are actions that have deadly consequences demonstrated in Bosnia and elsewhere. Remember Srebrenica, where 8,000 Bosnian men and boys were massacred by Serb forces while being under the "protection" of the United Nations troops. Why do we have to learn the same lessons again? Why waste precious time building the African Union's capacity at the expense of Darfur lives? Why accept obviously tendentious slogans like "African solutions for African problems"? Why not accept, as a community of nations, the responsibility to protect the people of Darfur? Some claim that the genocide has stopped because the destruction by the Khartoum government and its allied militias of a village a day has stopped. But the full effect of genocide undermines the conditions of survival of a people and radically diminishes its capacity for culture. It is not necessary to physically eliminate every last member of the targeted people. The government of Sudan continues its campaign of genocide in Darfur by killing smaller numbers of civilians as an intended "collateral damage" of its retaliatory attacks against Darfur's rebels and by outfitting its Janjaweed killers in uniforms and putting them in charge of the government-controlled camps for internally displaced persons, where they continue to terrorize their victims. How many people die each month from malnutrition, disease and sheer despair in the refugee camps and elsewhere in Darfur? Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's benighted remarks during and after her recent visit to Khartoum leave little hope that the Bush administration will take any effective action to stop the genocide in Darfur. Her apparent forcefulness in calling for actions, not words, and her criticism of Khartoum's failure to stop the rapes (and what of the killings and burnings?) were undermined in four ways: 1) the failure to call for a change in the mandate of the African Union troops to allow them to protect civilians; 2) her declaration that in the Darfur crisis, the African Union "has the lead" despite that body's evident lack of the necessary capabilities, experience and political will; 3) her silence about the evident tokenism of the NATO program to transport to Darfur no more than 50 African Union troops per day, a force not augmented by better equipped non-African troops far more trusted by the victims than those of the African Union; and 4) her dubious claim that the new unity government should be given a chance to solve the Darfur problem despite the fact that the North-South Peace Agreement, under which this government is constituted, completely ignores Darfur and contains no provisions that would enable the new government to deal with this crisis. The callousness of the call to give Sudan's new unity government more time, which would postpone the effective mandate-changing and force-upgrading solutions known to all, only reveals how much the Bush administration has been seduced by the arguments of Khartoum. The thread of appeasement in Rice's trip, the real purpose of which was to "set the conditions" for further collaboration with Khartoum in the global war on terror, illustrates clearly that the Khartoum regime's continuing terrorization of its own citizens is studiously ignored by this administration. The death of Southern Sudanese leader John Garang de Mabior last week is a severe setback to the implementation of the North-South Peace Agreement, but also to the prospects that the international community will take any effective action to end the Darfur genocide. Just as Garang's entry into the new government became Rice's excuse to give Khartoum more time, so the "instability" of the country following Garang's death will likely be used as an argument against an effective intervention. The international community will now again focus its efforts and attention on salvaging the North-South Peace Agreement, thereby giving the Khartoum regime an opportunity to reinforce its troops and proxy militias in Darfur. To move our own words to actions, the United States should demand the immediate deployment of an international force sufficient to stop all ongoing violence and protect the people of Darfur, the refugee camps, the relief workers, the relief-transport systems, the International Criminal Court investigators and the refugees trying to return to their villages. Elvir Camdzic is a co-founder of the San Francisco Bay Area Darfur Coalition (www.darfursf.org) and executive director of the Bosnian-Herzegovinian Center of San Francisco. John Weiss is the founder of the Darfur Action Group (www.weaversofthewind.org) at Cornell University, where he is an associate professor of history. Page B - 9

www.nato.int 11 Aug 2005 NATO diversifies aid to African Union 11 August 2005 By Staff Sgt. Mellissa M. Novakovich NATO’s continuing support to the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) has become more diverse as NATO offers capacity building training as well as logistical support to the African Union. NATO’s logistical support to AMIS in the form of the coordination of strategic airlift began in July. Since then NATO has transported approximately 1,950 troops including 49 members of the civilian police force. These airlift missions are a blend of efforts by NATO and the European Union to create a combined endeavour to promote peace in the Darfur region. In addition to the airlift missions, NATO is also providing Staff Capacity Building workshops for the African Union’s officers within the Deployed Integrated Task Force (DITF) Headquarters in Ethiopia. The training is based on strategic level planning and focuses on technologies and techniques to create an overall analysis and understanding of Darfur and to identify the areas by which the application of AU assets can influence and shape the operating environment to deter crises . The training covering command and control procedures, reporting systems, battle rhythm, intelligence collection and analysis, force generation, situational awareness and task force and headquarters standard operating procedures refinement began on 1 August. At their request, the AU officers are also receiving informational briefs on NATO’s experiences with the NATO Response Force concept, and deployed operations in Afghanistan. In a separate activity, NATO is also providing 14 officers in support of a United Nations (UN) organized MAP Exercise for the AMIS Force Headquarters in Sudan. In this exercise, NATO has provided exercise writers and tactical-level controllers. The MAP Exercise will run Aug 17-26. In May NATO’s North Atlantic Council (NAC) agreed that the Alliance could support the AU mission by providing strategic airlift and training, especially in the areas of command and control and operational planning. www.nato.int/issues/darfur

UN News Centre UN Mission reports fresh violence, looting in Darfur 16 August 2005 – The United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) today reported fresh violence, looting and attacks on refugee camps in the strife-torn western Darfur region, where tens of thousands of people have been killed and millions displaced during two-years of fighting between the Government, allied militia and rebels. UNMIS received several reports of related incidents indicating that banditry and armed attacks on vehicles – UN-hired trucks, as well as vehicles operated by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and commercial enterprises – continue in the three Darfur States. The goods on the trucks were looted and while there were no reported casualties, there were some reports that trucks had been hijacked. Meanwhile, UNMIS says that last Thursday, a Sudanese Government police officer on his way to Zam Zam camp in North Darfur was killed by unidentified gunmen and his weapon taken. Also, in South Darfur on Saturday, armed tribesmen reportedly attacked returnees from Kalma camp in their village of origin, Sarman Jago. The attackers surrounded the village and stole the returnees’ belongings. No casualties were reported, UNMIS said. In a separate incident on Saturday, unidentified armed men attacked and killed four persons in a village 29 kilometres from of Nyala, South Darfur, who were sleeping near their cattle. The bodies were brought to Nyala hospital by the relatives of the victims.

CTV.ca 16 Aug 2005 Darfur training going well, Cdn. commander says News Staff Canadian troops are in Senegal, training African Union troops how to use equipment Ottawa is lending to a mission to ease the crisis in Darfur, Sudan. Defence Minister Bill Graham announced late last month that Canada would send a total of 105 armoured vehicles to the war-ravaged northern African nation. The 100 Grizzly general purpose armoured vehicles and the five Husky armoured recovery vehicles were previously deployed in Bosnia. As part of a $137 million aid package announced by Prime Minister Paul Martin, the vehicles, as well as training and maintenance assistance, are being loaned to the 53-nation African Union Mission in Sudan for one year. Between now and Sept. 26, some 80 Canadians are training Africa Union personnel to turn around and train their fellow soldiers in the vehicles' use and upkeep. At the vehicles' base in Dakar, Senegal, Major Gilles Legacy says, so far, the training has been proceeding as planned. "We're keeping on time with our schedule," Maj. Legacy told CTV's Canada AM on Tuesday. "We've had a little bit of a challenge with the language, but other than that everything seems to be going as per plan." But Legacy says, overall, their mission has been well-received. "Morale among the troops is very, very high. They're quite happy about being here -- they really enjoy the Canadian soldiers' expertise." AU troops from Nigeria, Rwanda and Senegal are expected to be operating the vehicles in Sudan by mid-September. Begun a year ago, the AU mission in Darfur is expected to expand to a deployment of 7,700 troops by next month. The UN-backed mission's goal is to enforce a series of peace pacts agreed to by the southern Sudan Liberation Army and the Sudanese government. Years of conflict between the government and ex-rebel separatists have seen millions of Sudanese displaced from their homes. Since 2003, when rebels took up arms in Darfur, between 180,000 and 300,000 people are believed to have died from war-induced hunger and disease.

www.africaaction.org 18 Aug 2005 A Day for Darfur: Sept. 8, 2005 Wash. DC Stop the Genocide, Protect the People! Join us for a powerful event in front of the White House on September 8th! One year since the Bush Administration declared that genocide is occuring in Darfur, little has been done to stop the violence and protect the people. Up to 400,000 people have lost their lives in Darfur since the government-sponsored genocide began in 2003. More than 2.5 million people have been displaced, their livelihoods and villages destroyed by government forces and their proxy militias. These forces have raped many thousands of women a