General

BBC 10 Dec 2001 Analysis: Defining genocide - The term genocide was coined during the Holocaust. Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic has been charged with genocide in Bosnia in 1992-1995. It is the third and most serious indictment against Mr Milosevic, who has already been charged with other alleged war crimes in Kosovo and Croatia. It is also a serious test for the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. Milosevic: Accused of genocide As defined by the United Nations in 1948, genocide has turned out to be difficult to prove. So far, eight people have been convicted for their role in the Rwandan genocide, one for the war in Bosnia. But what is genocide and when can it be applied? Some argue that the definition is too narrow and others that the term is devalued by misuse. UN definition The term was coined in 1943 by the Jewish-Polish lawyer Raphael Lemkin who combined the Greek word "genos" (race or tribe) with the Latin word "cide" (to kill). After witnessing the horrors of the Holocaust - in which every member of his family except his brother and himself was killed - Dr Lemkin campaigned to have genocide recognised as a crime under international law. His efforts gave way to the adoption of the UN Convention on Genocide in December 1948, which came into effect in January 1951. Article Two of the convention defines genocide as "any of the following acts committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such: Killing members of the group Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group The convention also imposes a general duty on states that are signatories to "prevent and to punish" genocide. Ever since its adoption, the UN treaty has come under fire from different sides, mostly by people frustrated with the difficulty of applying it to different cases. 'Too narrow' Some analysts argue that the definition is so narrow that none of the mass killings perpetrated since the treaty's adoption would fall under it. The objections most frequently raised against the treaty include: The convention excludes targeted political and social groups The definition is limited to direct acts against people, and excludes acts against the environment which sustains them or their cultural distinctiveness Proving intention beyond reasonable doubt is extremely difficult UN member states are hesitant to single out other members or intervene, as was the case in Rwanda There is no body of international law to clarify the parameters of the convention (though this is changing as UN war crimes tribunals issue indictments) The difficulty of defining or measuring "in part", and establishing how many deaths equal genocide But in spite of these criticisms, there are many who say genocide is recognisable. In his book Rwanda and Genocide in the 20th Century, former secretary-general of Doctors Without Borders, Alain Destexhe says: "Genocide is distinguishable from all other crimes by the motivation behind it. "Genocide is a crime on a different scale to all other crimes against humanity and implies an intention to completely exterminate the chosen group. "Genocide is therefore both the gravest and greatest of the crimes against humanity." Loss of meaning Mr Destexhe believes the word genocide has fallen victim to "a sort of verbal inflation, in much the same way as happened with the word fascist". Eight people have been convicted for the Rwandan genocide Because of that, he says, the term has progressively lost its initial meaning and is becoming "dangerously commonplace". Michael Ignatieff, director of the Carr Centre for Human Rights Policy at Harvard University, agrees. "Those who should use the word genocide never let it slip their mouths. Those who unfortunately do use it, banalise it into a validation of every kind of victimhood," he said in a lecture about Raphael Lemkin last year. "Slavery for example, is called genocide when - whatever it was, and it was an infamy - it was a system to exploit, rather than to exterminate the living." The differences over how genocide should be defined, lead also to disagreement on how many genocides actually occurred during the 20th Century. History of genocide Some say there was only one genocide in the last century - the Holocaust. Prosecutors in The Hague presented evidence to back genocide charges Other experts give a long list of what they consider cases of genocide, including the Soviet man-made famine of Ukraine (1932-33), the Indonesian invasion of East Timor (1975), and the Khmer Rouge killings in Cambodia in the 1970s. However, some say there have been at least three genocides under the 1948 UN convention: The mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks between 1915-1920 - an accusation that the Turks deny The Holocaust, during which more than six million Jews were killed Rwanda, where an estimated 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus died in the 1994 genocide In the case of Bosnia, many believe that massacres ocurred as part of a pattern of genocide, though some doubt that intent can be proved in Mr Milosevic's case The first case to put into practice the convention on genocide was that of Jean Paul Akayesu, the Hutu mayor of the Rwandan town of Taba at the time of the killings. In a landmark ruling, a special international tribunal convicted him of genocide and crimes against humanity on 2 September 1998. Seven other Rwandans have since been convicted of genocide. Earlier this year, the war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia handed down its first sentence for the crime of genocide, when it found General Radislav Krstic guilty of killing up to 8,000 Bosnian Muslims in Srebrenica. Two other Bosnian Serbs, General Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic, have also been accused of genocide by the tribunal - both remain at large. Now, Slobodan Milosevic faces charges of genocide and complicity to commit genocide for alleged crimes in Bosnia during the 1992-1995 war. He is set to go on trial next year. Mr Milosevic is accused of having "participated in a joint criminal enterprise, the purpose of which was the forcible and permanent removal of the majority of non-Serbs from large areas of the Republic of Bosnia-Hercegovina". Being the most prominent European to face a war crimes court since the Nuremberg trials of Nazi leaders at the end of World War II, campaigners hope his trial will set an important precedent. http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/europe/newsid_1701000/1701562.stm

Reuters 10 Dec 2001 Racism May Be Erasable: Study By Merritt McKinney NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Contrary to previous research, California scientists report that the human mind may not be naturally wired to view other people through the lens of ethnicity. Instead, the brain may have started using ethnicity to classify others not because of the physical differences in skin color, but because ethnic differences were one of several ways to identify people who belonged to competing groups. ``It is not inevitable that differences in physical appearance will cause people to mentally group people into races,'' one of the study's authors, Dr. John Tooby at the University of California at Santa Barbara, told Reuters Health. Ethnicity seems to become a compelling way to group people, Tooby told Reuters Health, when racial aspects of appearance become associated with a social alliance. In other words, he said, these features become ``politicized'' because they represent membership in another group of people. Previous research has found that the brain is hard-wired to view new people in terms of sex, age and race, Tooby and colleagues Drs. Robert Kurzban and Leda Cosmides note in a report in the December 18th issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (news - web sites). This may be true for age and sex, but the researchers challenge the idea that the brain is naturally wired to view others in terms of ethnicity. Tooby's team hypothesized that the brain was wired by evolution to detect any visual sign of difference in a new person to tell whether the individual was a part of the same group, and thus whether a new person was an enemy or an ally. Since early humans rarely encountered people of different races, the researchers thought it unlikely that ethnicity would be wired into the brain. Instead, race is one of many visual clues that the brain uses to tell whether another person is from the same group. To test their idea, the researchers performed a set of experiments that tested what factors people use to classify others into groups, or alliances. The results of the study question the idea that racial categorization is an automatic function of the brain. Although people in the experiments were not completely color-blind, they used ethnicity to categorize people much less often when they were presented with other characteristics for matching people into the appropriate group. The groups, or alliances, that participants viewed were composed equally of blacks and whites. What surprised Tooby and his colleagues was how quickly people could change the way they grouped people, which took minutes rather than years, he said. ``We had no idea it would be so fast,'' he said. ``I think most people think race consciousness is a durable state of mind, rather than something that a new social context can rapidly deflate,'' according to the California researcher. Most people, Tooby said, probably think that consciousness of ethnicity is rooted in physical appearance. But according to the present study, ``the politicization of groups'' causes the mind to group people based on appearance, Tooby noted. He pointed out that these signs of appearance are just as likely to be clothing, manner or accent as ethnicity. ``While it is important not to put too much stock in any single study in thinking about such a complex issue as race, this makes me personally far more optimistic about how rapidly racism might be diminished than I had been previously,'' Tooby concluded. The next step, according to co-author Kurzban, is to confirm the results of the study. ``The findings were surprising enough that we're interested in trying to find other methods that arrive at the same conclusion,'' he told Reuters Health in an interview. The results of the study come from psychological experiments, but there is some evidence that the same process works in the real world, according to Tooby. He pointed out a recent article in The New York Times that described how ethnic tensions in New York City seemed to diminish after the September 11th attacks. ``Of course,'' Tooby pointed out, ``there are happier ways of redrawing social boundaries than the emergence of external enemies.'' And changes in racial attitudes are not always positive. At the same time that relationships between some racial groups improved, at least temporarily, the Times article reported that many Americans began to be suspicious of people of Middle Eastern or South Asian descent. SOURCE: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 2001;98:15387

Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (#5414) 11 Dec 2001 Psychology: Can race be erased? Coalitional computation and social categorization By Robert Kurzban, John Tooby, and Leda Cosmides Center for Evolutionary Psychology, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-2070 Previous studies have established that people encode the race of each individual they encounter, and do so via computational processes that appear to be both automatic and mandatory. If true, this conclusion would be important, because categorizing others by their race is a precondition for treating them differently according to race. Here we report experiments, using unobtrusive measures, showing that categorizing individuals by race is not inevitable, and supporting an alternative hypothesis: that encoding by race is instead a reversible byproduct of cognitive machinery that evolved to detect coalitional alliances. The results show that subjects encode coalitional affiliations as a normal part of person representation. More importantly, when cues of coalitional affiliation no longer track or correspond to race, subjects markedly reduce the extent to which they categorize others by race, and indeed may cease doing so entirely. Despite a lifetime's experience of race as a predictor of social alliance, less than 4 min of exposure to an alternate social world was enough to deflate the tendency to categorize by race. These results suggest that racism may be a volatile and eradicable construct that persists only so long as it is actively maintained through being linked to parallel systems of social alliance. [ http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/abstract/251541498v1 ] Center for Evolutionary Psychology, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA [ http://www.psych.ucsb.edu/research/cep/ ]

Africa

Algeria

BBC 6 Dec 2001 Berbers clash with police at protest More than 60 people have been killed since April Fighting broke out on Thursday in a north east Algerian town between security forces and thousands of Berber demonstrators calling for cultural and linguistic recognition in the country. Police in Tizi Ouzou, the capital of the predominantly Berber region of Kabylie, used tear gas grenades in an attempt to move the young Berbers staging a sit-down protest outside the headquarters of military police. Stones and Molotov cocktails were thrown and anti-government slogans chanted by the protesters, who are furious at attempts by more moderate members of the Berber community to enter dialogue with the Algerian Government. Meetings were scheduled on Thursday between the moderates and Algerian Prime Minister Ali Benflis to discuss the Berber community's demands for better social, economic and cultural conditions. They also want their Tamazight language recognised as an official language alongside Arabic and the gendarme police that patrol their communities to be removed. Riots There have been riots within the Berber ethnic community in Algeria since April this year, when a Berber youth died in police custody. Berbers demand recognition for their language More than 60 people were killed and 2,000 injured. The troubles led to a list of demands being agreed by moderates in the Berber community in June that are to form the negotiations with the Algerian Government. However, militant Berber leader Belaid Aberkane told the French news agency AFP that the moderate Berbers attending the talks did not have the authority to speak for the community. "These people have no mandate from the people to negotiate the blood of our martyrs," he said. He also claimed that the demonstrators had been provoked by police. "We wanted to organise a peaceful sit-in but the gendarmes provoked us by throwing tear gas grenades from their building," he said.

Angola

IRIN 12 Dec 2001 Humanitarian impact of government offensive - Government says its offensive is "pacifying" the country JOHANNESBURG, 12 Dec 2001 (IRIN) - As the Angolan government continues with a military offensive against UNITA rebels in the east of the country, the UN Secretary-General's Special Adviser for Africa has arrived for a series of meetings to determine how the international community can help re-energise the moribund Angolan peace process. During his week-long visit - which began on 8 December - Ibrahim Gambari planned to hold consultations with government leaders, politicians and representatives of civil society, a UN spokesman said. On his return to New York, Gambari is expected to brief the UN Security Council. However, in a sign of the government's continued military operations against Jonas Savimbi's rebel forces, the Angolan Armed Forces (FAA) on 7 December paraded the former chief of Savimbi's personal guard in the Moxico provincial capital of Luena. The authorities said Brigadier Luis Ndimba was recently captured in combat. Last week, Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos stressed that the military campaign was beginning to "pacify" parts of the country. "There are zones where stability is evident, in which circulation is done much more frequently and where rehabilitation and construction works were also intensified," state media reported him as saying. "All those forces which for some time created obstacles to the normalisation of life, are increasingly having less capacity to do so". In its latest update, the World Food Programme (WFP) described the security situation in Angola as "tense", with a steady movement of internally displaced people (IDPs) into urban centres. The UN food agency said in its 3-10 December report that the humanitarian and nutritional situation had deteriorated in the central province of Bie and the southwestern province of Huila due to the high number of IDPs arriving in municipal centres. The agency said the movements were "allegedly as a result of intensified military activity". The report said: "This was particularly the case in Bie province, where troop movements were reported east of the provincial capital Kuito. In Bie province, 90 percent of the IDPs who arrived in Kuito and Camacupa are said to come from Chicala and Cambandua towns, both located to the east of the provincial capital (Kuito)." WFP said it distributed a total of 406 mt of maize, maize meal, pulses, oil, sugar, salt and dry fish to about 32,300 beneficiaries in the Kuito/Camacupa corridor during the reporting week. FAA and UNITA have been engaged in battle in Bie, neighbouring Moxico, and Cuando Cubango to the south in recent months, with the government making what many believe is a full-blooded effort to rout the rebels. Angola's peasants have borne the brunt of the war, which has lasted almost three decades. New IDPs arriving in some centres in Huila showed an acute global malnutrition rate of 24.7 percent as aid agencies battled to deal with the increasing numbers, the report said. "Malnutrition rates are reportedly on the rise among newly arrived IDPs in Huila province in the towns of Matala, Cacula and Hoque especially, and WFP is identifying nutritional interventions with partners," it added. According to WFP, Malanje remained calm last week, with the provincial government starting to fly municipal administration staff to the towns of Kambundi, Katembo, Cahombo and Marimba. Some items like soap, vegetable oil and salt were also being flown into these towns by helicopter for trading purposes. But instability in the northern province of Uige prevented food deliveries to the city during the reporting week. A humanitarian source told IRIN on Wednesday that Uige city was on full alert. The city, seen as a strategic through-route to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) for refugees and UNITA fighters alike, has been attacked by UNITA rebels at least three times since June. The source said that gunfire was being heard around the city at night. WFP said in its report that the Negage airport, about 25 km from Uige city, had been closed due to the precarious condition of the runway, but did not mention security concerns. Meanwhile, UNHCR has warned that the conflict in Angola continues to drive new flows of refugees into Zambia. Since the beginning of December, a total of 1,184 Angolan refugees have crossed into Zambia's Western Province, UNHCR spokesman Rupert Colville told reporters in Geneva. The new arrivals are being transferred to Nangweshi camp, in southwest Zambia, on a temporary basis. There, they are housed at a transit site outside the main camp. In the last three months, an estimated 6,700 Angolan refugees have arrived at Nangweshi and are being assisted at the temporary site. Transfers from the border are organised daily. African Humanitarian Action, UNHCR's implementing partner for the health sector at Nangweshi, immunises the new arrivals against tuberculosis, measles, polio and other communicable diseases before they are taken to the temporary site. Angolans now total 214,524, out of the 274,000 refugees currently hosted by Zambia, UNHCR said.

Burundi

Pan African News Agency (PANA) 12 Dec 2001 UNICEF to demobilise 14,000 child soldiers in Burundi Bujumbura, Burundi (PANA) - UNICEF is planning a demobilisation of over 14,000 children recruited as combatants by rebels in Burundi, it was officially disclosed here. Bruno Mayers, a programme officer with UNICEF, said the figure of Burundian child soldiers was estimated during a recent survey that was undertaken by a foreign non-governmental organisation. Speaking during a seminar on demilitarisation, Mayers said the child soldier phenomenon was not peculiar to Burundi. In the past few years, he said, armies, rebel movements, paramilitary organisations and militias around the world recruited over 300,000 child soldiers. Not only were those children the main war victims, but they were often used as key instruments in armed conflicts around the world. Mayers said UNICEF would work to ensure that the recruitment of child soldiers in Burundi is prohibited. During the seminar that ended Wednesday, UNICEF and the Burundian government agreed to work together in demobilising and reintegration of the child soldiers. "We cannot wait. We must try to understand this phenomenon and its magnitude, and carry out adequate actions which will enable those children, forced to be soldiers, to recover a normal life," said Malick Sene, UNICEF representative in Burundi.

BBC 3 Dec , 2001, Casualties mount in Burundi clashes Buyoya heads the unity government for the first 18 months At least two dozen Burundian army soldiers are reported to have died in a week-long army push against rebels north of the capital, Bujumbura, say returning soldiers. The army offensive coincides with a visit by President Pierre Buyoya to Europe, seeking aid for Burundi's new power-sharing administration. Eight days ago the army announced a major drive to oust rebels from hills some 20km (12 miles) north of Bujumbura, from where they have launched a wave of attacks. According to AP news agency, the rebels have admitted to eight casualties in the fighting, with local hospitals said to be overwhelmed by the numbers of wounded. Hutu rebels continue to reject a ceasefire and have intensified their attacks since the new government was installed a month ago. Former South African president Nelson Mandela, with the support of the international community, brokered a deal which sees the minority Tutsi and majority Hutu community sharing power, as part of attempts to resolve a bitter civil war. Under the deal, Hutu politicans have been returning from exile, with South African forces protecting them. Fighting After talks in Belgium, President Buyoya is due to travel on to France and then to Switzerland, where he will attend a meeting of donors in Geneva. Thousands of Burundians are destitute becaiuse of the war Mr Buyoya said before he left that he was sure the donors would be willing to help Burundi, despite the continued fighting. He has also vowed to increase the military and diplomatic pressure on Hutu rebels to give up their armed struggle. "All Burundians are now convinced, as is the international community, that these people have no reason to fight," he said. More than 200,000 people have died in the past eight years of fighting, which has left Burundi ranked among the world's five poorest countries. So far the government has been promised a 65-million euro ($57m) grant by the European Union to help reconstruct the economy. Belgium's foreign minister said in Bujumbura last week that a further $152m is likely to be confirmed in Geneva. Non-humanitarian aid was suspended in 1997.

Central African Republic

Reuters 3 Dec 2001 Several Killed in New Central African Clashes By Jean-Lambert Ngouandji BANGUI (Reuters) - Several people have been killed in clashes between newly recruited loyalist troops and dissident soldiers in northern Central African Republic, relatives of missing army recruits said on Monday. Reports of the fighting came as President Ange-Felix Patasse, whose Libyan-backed forces struggled to put down a coup attempt in May and an insurgency last month, was in Sudan for talks on how to restore peace to his impoverished country. Patasse recently recruited young members of a pro-government militia to fight troops loyal to sacked army chief Francois Bozize, who fled north to Chad after his forces were driven from Bangui in November. ``They (the recruits) left on Saturday toward the northern border with Chad. They fell in an ambush, there are people dead and wounded,'' one relative told Reuters. More than a hundred people, some weeping and wailing, gathered at the entrance of Bangui's Community Hospital and the morgue to seek information about their loved ones. There was no official confirmation of the new fighting. Diplomats said last week that Bozize's forces retreated to Chad after clashing with Patasse's loyalists. Patasse arrived in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on Sunday for a summit with the presidents of Chad and Zambia and a senior minister from Libya -- whose troops came to Patasse's aid in both crises this year. The Central African Republic, which is slightly larger than the Iberian peninsula and has a per capita income of just $290 despite its diamond wealth, has had a turbulent history since independence from France in 1960. Patasse has been in power since 1993 but has had to repel a series of army mutinies and coup attempts since 1996. In early November, Bozize was called before an inquiry into the failed May coup attempt but the general, who had been fired without explanation in October, took refuge in a barracks near the capital until he was chased out of town.

Congo (Brazzaville)

AFP 5 Dec 2001 Congolese families accuse Nguesso of crimes BRAZZAVILLE: Families of people who disappeared in Congo-Brazzaville in 1999 said on Tuesday they have filed a suit in a Belgian court accusing President Denis Sassou Nguesso of crimes against humanity. The suit "also concerns the highest civil and military authorities in the Congo", a statement released by the families said. The case was filed by the families' lawyer, Georges Henri Beauthier, at the Brussels court, whose Judge Damien Vandermeersch agreed to hear the complaint, the statement added. The suit is the third filed against Nguesso, who wrested power from president Pascal Lissouba after a renewed outbreak of war in 1997. In October, three Congolese nationals living in Belgium brought a class action suit against Nguesso and TotalFinaElf for crimes against humanity. All three suits have been submitted before the same judge. "The testimony of families, the investigations by the Congelese Human Rights Observatory and the International Federation for Human Rights have irrefutably shown that most people arrested were villanously murdered at the headquarters of the infamous presidential guard," the family statement said. "The families have proof that the victims' mutilated bodies were thrown into the Congo river and others were burned at the presidential guard headquarters." In 1997, when civil war broke out, thousands of Congolese civilians fled for neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). In May 1999, they were repatriated by the UN refugee agency (UNHCR). Nguesso had urged the refugees to return home, and had also called on people in the Pool forest, near the capital, to come out of hiding. Following their return, 353 were arrested -- most of them suspected of being Ninja militia who had supported former prime minister Bernard Kolelas, one of Nguesso's foes. The arrests were carried on when they arrived in the capital or at welcome sites set up by the government. Some of them were executed and others were illegally detained. Congo's Communications Minister Francois Ibovi said the people who disappeared were victims of an internal settling of scores among Ninjas or locals. "These people were guilty of attacks on civilians. They were then victims of a settling of scores between Ninjas themselves or from the local population," Ibovi said. "It is the torturers who want to pose as victims," said the minister, adding that the Brussels suit was aimed at "preventing general elections in the Congo." Under a unique 1993 Belgian law, war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide can be tried in Belgian courts. The law stands regardless of where the alleged crimes took place or the nationality or residence of the victims or the accused. An estimated 20,000 people have died and another 800,000 people been uprooted in Congo's protracted political and ethnic conflict, which intensified during the 1990s before officially ending in 1999. Fighting largely pitted Nguesso's northern supporters against groups in the more densely populated south. Over the last 40 years, nearly a dozen coups and military uprisings have taken place.

DR Congo

IRIN 6 Dec 2001 New Special Rapporteur on human rights appointed NAIROBI, 6 Dec 2001 (IRIN) - A new Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has been appointed to replace Roberto Garreton, the UN reported on Wednesday. Iulia-Antoanella Motoc of Romania, is a lawyer and academic who has been a member or alternate member of the UN Subcommission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights since 1996, serving as its chair for the period 2000-2001. She holds a doctorate in international law from the Universite Aix-Marseille III in France and a doctorate in political philosophy from the University of Bucharest, Romania. She has also served as a judge at Bucharest Court from 1990-1995. Garreton announced his resignation on 17 October, stating that his new responsibilities as the human rights advisor for the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (CEPAL) were incompatible with the status of serving as an independent expert. Motoc's appointment follows decisions taken by a UN General Assembly committee in late November for the Special Rapporteur to continue to examine the situation of human rights in the DRC, incorporating a gender perspective; to conduct a mission to investigate massacres perpetrated in the territory of the DRC, "particularly the massacres committed in the province of South Kivu and other atrocities"; and to request that UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan give the Special Rapporteur all necessary assistance to enable them to fully discharge its mandate. Other recent appointments by the UN Commission on Human Rights include Bernards Mudho of Kenya as the Independent Expert on structural adjustment policies and foreign debt. Mudho is an international lawyer with experience in UN and international affairs, and has worked in his country's foreign service department. Theo van Boven, appointed as the new Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, is an international human rights expert who has served as Director of the Division of Human Rights of the UN from 1997 to 1982. He has been a member of the UN Subcommission and of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, among other bodies. A professor of law, he has worked with a number of NGOs active in the defence of human rights.

Ethiopia

IRIN 11 Dec 2001 Scores dead in tribal clashes NAIROBI, 11 Dec 2001 (IRIN) - Violent tribal clashes in the south of Ethiopia in recent months have left at least 60 people dead and almost 200 wounded, according to reliable reports received by the UN. Hundreds of families have fled their homes after skirmishes between the Borana and Garre tribes, who have a long history of fighting over land use, a UN source told IRIN. Water points and grazing rights have often acted as a catalyst and severe shortages of both in the region have served to fuel the violence. The latest clashes erupted after the Borana, who are semi-nomadic pastoralists, accused the ethnic Somali Garre of encroaching on their land. The UN source said the fighting had been extremely fierce with some casualties being ferried over the border to Kenya and others being transported to Agere Maryam hospital for treatment. The latest clashes - in the Wachile and Hisfutu areas of Oromia - have been on going for two months and in that time there have been at least ten significant incidents leading many families to flee for safety, some as far as 150 kilometres away. Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) Holland, who are carrying out a measles vaccination programme in the area, discovered that some of the target groups could not be located. The regional government, who are based in Jijiga, sent in a mission to help secure peace in the region - and try and calm tensions in the area. Although they were partly successful and tribal chiefs called a ceasefire word has still not got round to all the warring factions. Having undertaken a recent field investigation of the trouble, the UN source told IRIN that a "fragile peace" operated in the area. The Borana and the Garre have a long history of violence and revenge attacks. Last September, it was reported 66 Garre men and women were killed during one attack. For the time being the UN have restricted travel by staff between Negele and Wachile. Dewa, Udet and Wachile are also off-limits. Travel by road to the regional capital of Moyale is only authorised via Yabelo and Mega.

Ghana

Accra Mail (Accra) 5 Dec 2001 Curfew Imposed in Bawku The government has imposed a curfew in Bawku in an effort to halt the violence at the wekend in which at least 18 people died. Police and soliders have been sent to there to enforce the curfew. The Kusasis and the Mamprusis, are said to have attacked each other reportedly after members of one ethnic group burned a cargo truck belonging to a member of the rival group. Buildings and cars were set on fire during the clashes The dusk-to-dawn curfew imposed on Monday evening seems to have quelled the worst of the violence, though there were reports of sporadic gunfire into the night. There is a history of armed violence between the two ethnic groups. At least 30 people were killed in clashes between them last year and there was violence during last year's elections.

IRIN 4 Dec 2001 5,000 Displaced, 50 Killed in Communal Clashes Over 50 people have been reported killed and 150 others injured in three days of fighting between members of the Mamprusi and Kusasi ethnic groups in Bawku, northeastern Ghana, police in the Ghanaian capital, Accra, told IRIN on Tuesday. Over 5,000 people have fled the town, which is 880 km from Accra and has a population of 100,000. Bawku was relatively calm on Tuesday morning, but sporadic clashes were still taking place in villages just outside the city. Police described the clashes as "indiscriminate attacks", adding that destruction of property, including houses and vehicles, was evident in the town. Extra military personnel with armoured personnel carriers and police, were deployed from the nearby cities of Wa and Tamale to Bawku on Monday while a dusk-to-dawn curfew imposed on Sunday was still in force. "The current clashes erupted when in an argument over lottery sales, a kiosk belonging to a Mamprusi man was burnt down," police told IRIN. "A shade belonging to a Kusasi man was in retaliation burnt down, sparking off the clashes," police told IRIN. Radio Ghana quoted the deputy commander of police, Reynolds Kwakye, as saying that from Sunday, there had been a rampage in the town with people burning houses and vehicles, mounting barriers and molesting other people. Kwakye said on Monday that 18 people had died, including two lorry drivers, while 23 had been arrested. The radio said the fighting intensified after some Mamprusis ambushed a group of Kusasi youths, killing four of them. Some Kusasis mobilised themselves and staged a retaliatory attack. Over 30 persons had died in Bawku in December 2000 in clashes between the two ethnic groups during presidential and parliamentary polls, according to the police.

BBC 4 Dec 2001 Ethnic clashes in northern Ghana Police in Ghana say more than 50 people are now believed to have died in ethnic clashes in the north of the country. The regional council in Bawku imposed a night curfew after violent disturbances over the weekend involving members of two tribes - the Kusasis and Mamprusis - and a dawn-to-dusk curfew is now in force. Police say the situation is now under control. Up to 150 people were wounded, buildings and cars were burnt and hundreds fled their homes in the clashes. A police officer told AFP news agency that the death toll could be even higher as many of the local Muslims will bury their dead immediately, making it harder to verify casualty figures. Fleeing clashes Ghana's interior minister told parliament that the clashes began after an argument between two young people. One burnt the kiosk of the other and then there was retaliation. The Associated Press reported that some Bawku residents fled to the regional capital of Bolgatanga, 85 kilometres (50 miles) away, to escape the fighting. There is a history of armed violence between the two tribes. At least 30 people were killed in clashes between them last year. The Mamprusi tend to favour President John Kufuor and his New Patriotic Party. The Kusasi generally support the National Democratic Congress, the party of former President Jerry Rawlings.There was violence during last year's elections.

Reuters 3 Dec 2001 At Least 18 Killed in Northern Ghana Clashes-Radio ACCRA At least 18 people have been killed in ethnic clashes in northern Ghana, state radio in the West African country said on Monday. It said the clashes started on Sunday in the town of Bawku, near the border with Burkina Faso, following a dispute between the Mamprusi and the Kusasi ethnic groups. Scores of people were wounded in the fighting and hundreds more fled their homes, the radio said, adding there had been 23 arrests. A witness told private Joy FM radio he had seen 40 bodies at a hospital. Police and troop reinforcements were sent to the town, which is the capital of Ghana's Upper East region.

Kenya

The East African Standard (Nairobi) 11 Dec 2001 The Guns of Kerio Valley And the Looming Danger By Ken Ramani The undeterred arms race in the Kerio Valley is likely to lead to a conflagration that has never been seen in the country, warns a report titled Pacifying the Kerio Valley Conflict - An Analysis of the Conflict. The report takes great exception with the politicians are engaged in the armament of members of the Pokot, Marakwet and Turkana communities to mount bloody cattle-rustling expeditions. The report, which will be launched today in Nairobi, is a joint effort between the National Council of Churches (NCCK), Netherlands Development Organisation (SNV) and Semi Arid Rural Development Programme (SARDEP). The organisations have been working separately in the Kerio Valley for more than five years on peace-making and community development initiatives. The report draws parallels between the barbaric attack dubbed Murkutwo massacre carried out last March where 53 people were killed and the 1994 Rwanda genocide in which close to one million people died. "What is dumfounding pundits and wananchi is the new dimension the conflict has assumed. Initial conflicts pitted communities of different language groups such as the Kikuyu and Kalenjin in Nakuru District, or the Maasai and Kisiis along their common border. But guns have never been used there," says the report. The report warns that the prolonged conflict can only help to solidify current mutual suspicions and development jealousies between the Kerio Valley communities. It is claimed that the guns are no longer being used as instruments of attack or defence during cattle raiding expeditions. They are now being used purely to kill human beings - either as an act of vengeance or intimidation. An employee at the Tot World Vision Centre who was interviewed recalled one incident in which a dozen people were killed: "If these guns are being used to acquire cattle, then why are they being used to kill women and children who don't own cattle? "The bullets should be targeted at men who own cattle. Instead of children being vaccinated with needles, that day they were vaccinated with bullets - 13 of them were killed. Women were also killed. But no action has been taken todate." The report says the Government has the capacity to effectively and urgently disarm the combatants while NGOs, church organisations, and other development partners could facilitate the establishment of long-term mutual understanding between the warring communities. It warns that there is no single community in the conflict that would claim victory, adding that they are all victims and accomplices in the conflict. "Now is not the time to apportion blame. This is the time to collectively pacify, heal and develop the valley." The report talks of the high losses, both human and material that the conflict has cost the area. "Lives - particularly of innocent children, women and the elderly-have been lost to this senseless and blind conflict. "Large tracts of abandoned arable land hitherto under natural irrigation, hectares and hectares of abandoned pasture now being consumed by bushes and ghost market centres which were once bustling with business activities are now a common site in the Kerio Valley. The security situation in the area started to deteriorate in the early 1980s when the Pokot began to acquire firearms from the Karamajong Uganda. The Government was alarmed by the situation and appointed homeguards, commonly referred to as the Kenya Police Reservists (KPRs) among the Pokots, who were legally given guns to protect their community from the Karamajong and Turkana raiders. It is believed that KPR had no strict rules governing the storage and usage of the guns, some of which were used to terrorise the neighbouring communities. For the part of the northern side of Kerio valley, the supply of guns has been from war-ravaged southern Sudan, Uganda, Ethiopia and Somalia. The report also claims that approximately 11,000 illegal guns are sold in the Kenyan black market annually. In Pokot, the report says virtually every moran owns a gun. Merchants of the guns are said to be businessmen and political activists. Cattle rustling in the area has become a lucrative venture such that unscrupulous traders fund the raids. The cattle are sold in western Kenya and even in Nairobi. "Although it is not clear who the arms and cattle merchants are, there is a feeling that they may be influential people in the community," says the report. Most residents interviewed claimed that within two or three days of cattle rustling incidents, lorry loads of cattle are seen being transported out of the area yet no action is taken to ascertain their connection with the raids. The 27-page report blames politicians from the Kerio Valley for igniting and sustaining the conflict for selfish ends. The report recommends the economic empowerment of the youth in the area to discourage them from prolonging the conflict because of idleness. NCCK's General Secretary the Rev Mutava Musyimi and Jessie Bokhoven, a director, SNV-Kenya, say there is need to constitute a consortium of development agencies, which should include the Government and local authorities who will then adopt a uniform approach to pacifying and developing the Kerio Valley. They argue that the scope of development should bear a two-pronged approach with peace for development and development for peace intervention frameworks. "In view of the delicacy, urgency of the situation and dire needs of the valley, a high rate of success would only accrue from uniformity and complimentary of intervention efforts rather than diversity and parallelism." They conclude: "It is in view of these factors that we wish the information will not just end up in nicely-arranged bookshelves. "It is our sincere hope plea that you (Government) use the information to act now in the interest of the suffering residents of Kerio Valley, most of whom have become refugees in their own country."

BBC 7 Dec 2001 Fresh land clashes in Kenya Access to water and land for cattle have been the death of the tribes The authorities in Kenya say at least 20 people have been killed in fresh ethnic fighting over land and river rights in the south east of the country. The ongoing dispute is between the Orma pastoralists and Pokoma farmers in the Tana River District. It is a mess that has to be cleared up sooner rather than later Police Commissioner Peter Muthike Correspodnents say Thursday's violent confrontation was the deadliest since the two sides resumed hostilities this week. The death toll is being put at 38 for the week with more than 100 people estimated to have died this year. The assistant police commissioner for the area has confirmed the figures, and added that on Thursday night, over 100 houses were set on fire. Government's failure The BBC's Tom McKinley in Nairobi says the pastoralists need to water their livestock in the Tana river, however, to do so, they must cross over Orma agricultural land. This land is situated along the banks of the river. The Orma claim that the Pokoma cattle are destroying their crops, and that they have no right to go on their land. He says the government had promised earlier in the year to resolve the land issue, but so far have been unable to secure any sort of compromise. "It is a mess that has to be cleaned up sooner rather than later," police commissioner Peter Muthike told AFP news agency. Red Cross help The police admit that they have been helpless to intervene, although they had announced a sweep of the area to seize all illegal weapons. Mr Muthike added: " We have tried our best but it seems we can't stop the clashes as yet". Our correspondent says with the disputed zone being fairly close to the border with war-torn Somalia, both tribes have been able to obtain weapons without much difficulty. The Kenya Red Cross has been distributing food and clothing to victims who have fled to seek refuge in church compounds and a trading centre. But it says more food and blankets are needed. More than 2,500 people from both communites are homeless.

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) 30 Nov 2001 Kenya Humanitarian Update Issue 11, 01 - 30 Nov 2001 TANA RIVER CONFLICT The recent clash in Tana River District occurred on the 18 th November at Tarasaa and Ngao claiming 14 lives and displacing 3,400 persons. The Pokomo and Orma, farmers and pastoralists respectively, inhabit the Tana River district area. Since December 2000, the two communities have been at conflict over pasture, water and land resources sometimes resulting in clashes during which property was destroyed, people displaced and lives lost. And due to these communities insistence on the use of heavy fire arms, education systems and social development have been disrupted consequently restricting movement and causing food insecurity at the household level as people are unable to access their farms. Several agencies responded positively to the crises, however, there is need for more assistance in the areas of:- 1. Household needs in the form of clothes, cooking utensils and reconstruction materials for those whose homes were burnt. Mosquito nets and sanitary pads for girls and women as well as Jerricans for water storage. 2. Education where there is a serious deficiency of Books. Writing materials and desks for the affected schools. 3. The areas of Health, nutrition, Water and sanitation are in urgent need of help especially in the camps where there is not enough water for all and therefore little or no effort to ensure its cleanliness. The absence of toilet facilities in these camps also poses a great risk especially with the onset of the rainy season, as they are prone to cholera outbreak. 4. Agriculture and Livestock too need assistance in the form of drugs for the animals especially for trypanosomosis and ticks and seeds for the farmers to start planting before the rains stop. To boost the wavering morale, a programme to restock those whose animals were killed during the clashes is necessary. 5. Security. A police post needs to be established at Shirikisho and the security personnel should take swift action by immediately arresting perpetrators from both communities and ridding the area of guns. Peace and conflict management should be enhanced and the land adjudication process more participatory. 6. Food distribution. At least three months food rationing for the indirectly affected populations of Chara, Ngao and Wachi/ Oda, Ozi and kilelengwani locations is urgently needed.

Daily Nation (Nairobi) 6 Dec 2001 Thousands flee clash-hit Nairobi slum By MURIITHI MURIUKI Thousands of men, women and children were streaming out of Kibera yesterday, as the violence continued unabated in the sprawling Nairobi slum. Most went looking for a temporary home with family and friends in other parts of the capital, but many sought safety by spending a miserable second day camping with their few belongings at the DO's office. For the third day running the slum became a no-go zone as riot police and officers from the General Service Unit patrolled the near-deserted alleyways and roads. Those who were left behind told of rape, looting and merciless beatings by the police. They said the police attacked anyone they found outside their homes, and broke down doors and chased out anyone seeking refuge. Two more people were reported killed in the renewed fighting, while a Jehova's Witness hall in Kambi Muruu was burnt down, as warring gangs continued to dodge the police patrols. At Kisumu Ndogo, people could be seen trying to salvage goods from the smouldering ruins of their homes. An aerial tour over the slum, organised by Nairobi police boss Geoffrey Muathe, showed the streets nearly empty save for streams of people fleeing in droves. Some carried their belongings in handcarts, lorries and cars, while others carried whatever they owned in their arms or on their heads. Six more houses were torched during the night, increasing the fears of residents huddled at the DO's office for protection. They claimed they had nowhere to go, and vowed to camp there until calm is restored. Women there appealed for food from well wishers, claiming they had gone without any for two days. With the number of people rising by the hour, there are fears of outbreaks of diseases unless the Government moves fast to bring the situation back to normal. The compound has no toilets or washrooms, except those used by the DO and his staff. Scores of workers returning home in the evening, joined forces to guard their homes against looters. Others were still trying to trace their families, hoping that they had survived the violence of the day. Said Ms Jael Mutiso, a single mother of three children: "They burnt down my house at night, with all my belongings. I cannot go back, and have nowhere to go." She appealed to President Moi to visit the area, saying only he could quell the violence, which began after he visited Kibera and ordered the Provincial Administration to ensure rents were lowered. Following a meeting with landlords at which rent cuts were agreed, PC Cyrus Maina was stoned at a baraza he held to announce the rent reductions. Since then some tenants have refused to pay any rent until the row was settled. Fresh violence broke out again on Tuesday, leaving ten people feared dead and dozens seriously injured. Ms Mutiso added: "Moi ametuuza. Kwa nini alianzisha moto halafu anatoroka? (Moi has sold us. Why did he light the fire and then leave us?)" Ms Shumi Ismael, aged 23, who has two children. broke down as she accused Mr Raila Odinga, the National Development Party leader, of fuelling the violence. "I now have nowhere to go, while politicians who incited their tribesmen not to pay rent sleep comfortably with their wives and children," she said. Ms Ismael, who has lived in Kibera for eight years, accused the President and Mr Odinga of having provoked the fighting. "We the poor are left suffering. Our houses have been burnt, our mosque was tear-gassed . . . if they can do this to us who can help us? We leave it to God because He will surely punish them," she said. Unable to salvage anything, she spent the night huddling among other displaced people at the DO's compound. Ms Amina Subira, 54, wept uncontrollably as she recited verses from the Koran. A grandmother of seven, Ms Subira said her mud-walled home was set ablaze early yesterday. "We were all asleep at night, when we heard some commotion outside. As we struggled to wake up, the house was torched from outside by a gang of men. They were screaming and there was a lot of commotion. By the time we got out the house was on fire and all we could was watch it burn to the ground." Ms Subira, who had lived in her three rooms at Makina for more than a decade, said she became separated from her daughter as they ran to safety. "What shall l do with all these children? Where is my daughter? Who will help us?" she asked. Some women claimed they had been raped. Ms Joyce Chebet said police stole from her and then tried to rape her. She said she was saved by some relatives who screamed an alarm. "I feel traumatised by the incident; the police should protect us and not harass us," she said. A broadcast journalist with Nation Media Group, Ms Alice Kararu, was injured when charged by a group of youths armed with pangas and clubs. She was rescued when police fired in the air to disperse the mob. 6 December, 2001, 16:22 GMT 'Hundreds raped' in Kenya clashes Thousands of residents have fled Kibera Women's groups in Kenya have urged the government to take action on claims that hundreds of women and children were raped during this week's clashes in the Nairobi slum of Kibera. They accused both police and rioters of raping women during the fighting between mostly ethnic Nubian landlords and their Luo tenants which started on Tuesday. We don't want to point at anybody but we want the government to stop these human rights violations MP Beth Mugo But in an interview with the BBC, police spokeman Peter Kimathi said the allegations were untrue, and no evidence of rapes had been presented to them. At least seven people were killed and an estimated 3,000 people fled Kibera - Kenya's largest slum, home to 500,000. The BBC's Muliro Telewa in Nairobi says tension heightened in the area following a speech by President Daniel arap Moi in October. Mr Moi had said that the landlords should reduce the rent since they did not legally own the land. Not named The chairperson of Kenya's women parliamentarians, Beth Mugo, introduced a parliamentary motion on the alleged mass rape. None of the alleged victims were named. "In this room, some women were sexually molested but we don't want them to talk without making sure that they will be protected," she later told a news conference. The fighting took on an ethnic dimension "We don't want to point at anybody but we want the government to stop these human rights violations, these women's and children's rights violations," she said. On Tuesday, several people were hacked to death with machetes and a number of houses were torched before police intervened with live ammunition and tear-gas to break up the disturbances. Reports of the number of people killed range from seven to 12. Police spokesman Peter Kimanthi said 33 people were wounded and 57 arrested. Political rent The fighting followed Monday's visit by local MP, Raila Odinga, an ethnic Luo. "The government is the true landlord, the landlords are the tenants and tenants are the subtenants ... the government will tell the landlords to lower the rent," he told the thousands who had gathered to hear him. This place is a slum, why should anyone pay to live here Irene Ochanda Luo tenant But Mr Odinga has denied he is stoking ethnic tension ahead of elections next year. The Nubians were settled in the Nairobi region during the colonial era but have never been given title deeds to the land. "We built these houses to make a living, to help us earn money," said Adbullah Ali, an unemployed 32-year-old Nubian. "Now we are just protecting our properties... the government cannot come here and tell us to stop earning money." There is little running water and poor sanitary facilities. Irene Ochanda, an ethnic Luo whose Nubian-owned lodgings were burnt down by a gang of Luos on Tuesday agreed with Mr Odinga. "This place is a slum, why should anyone pay to live here," she said.

Guardian UK 5 Dec 2001 Dozen killed in ethnic clashes in Nairobi slum Thousands loot and burn slum shanties in Kenyan capital as rent rows give rise to politically motivated violence. By James Astill in Nairobi. At least 12 people were hacked to death and scores seriously injured in a Nairobi slum yesterday as hostility between landlords and tenants grew into furious ethnic clashes. It was the worst civil conflict in the Kenyan capital since two violent election campaigns in the 90s. With another election looming, this one, too, was politically motivated. The violence began late on Monday when a family of the Luo tribe refused to pay rent to their Nubian landlord, and beat him up. The landlord returned with an armed gang, killing two people and badly injuring six. Early yesterday the same gang toured the homes of Luo residents in the Kibera slum, demanding rent and attacking those who refused to pay with machetes. Another 10 Luo women and men were killed. Paramedics laid out the bodies alongside a railway line running between the closely packed shanties. Most were missing limbs. By midmorning more than 1,000 men from each tribe had gathered. Brandishing machetes, clubs and bottles of paraffin, they surged up and down the rutted alleys, looting and burning property, and looking for a way past the police separating them. "They have killed, they have burned us, now they will be killed," said Paul Okoth, 20, one of several hundred Luo gathered on a slope overlooking the slum. Clusters of armed police officers lined the railway track below. Sporadically, and seemingly without provocation, they fired teargas and rubber bullets at one side or the other. Behind them plumes of smoke mapped the day's destruction. Up to five people, including two children, were killed in Kibera last week during skirmishes with the police which were also provoked by protests about rent. Slum-dwellers subsequently accused the police of widespread rape and looting. Below the railway yesterday, a predominantly Nubian area had been smashed and burned. "They have taken every thing, even my batteries. What will I do?" Fatima Weleseme, 38, said in front of her wrecked beer counter. "We do not want a war, we are quiet. But they do not want to pay rent. We said, 'Do not come now whilst we are fasting' - but they came." Britain brought several thousand Muslim Nubians from Sudan to swell the ranks of the colonial King's African Rifles regiment. After the first world war they were allowed to settle on government land outside Nairobi, establishing the Kibera slum. They are still not allowed to own the land, but they nevertheless exact rent for the shanties they have built there. On a bridge beside the burned Nubian houses a crowd of youths with machetes and metal bars warned foreign journalists away. "The British have done this - it is their fault," one shouted. Last week's skirmishes in Kibera were apparently provoked by a visit by President Daniel arap Moi, during which he advised tenants not to pay excessive rents. Yesterday's violence erupted after Raila Odinga, a senior minister and a Luo, visited the slum to repeat Mr Moi's advice. "The government is the true landlord, the landlords are the tenants and tenants are the subtenants ... the government will tell the landlords to lower the rent," he told a crowd of several thousand. Mr Moi's supporters were accused of inciting tribal clashes during the election campaigns of 1992 and 1997, in which hundreds died. The disruption helped Mr Moi's Kenya Africa National Union (Kanu) party to narrow victories in both elections. After ruling Kenya for 24 years, Mr Moi must give up power at next year's election. But if he is to safeguard his fortune, Kanu must win again.

BBC 5 Dec 2001 Thousands flee Kenya clashes - A heavy police presence failed to stop the violence An estimated 3,000 people have fled fighting in the Nairobi slum of Kibera after two days of clashes over rent leave at least seven dead. The BBC's Muliro Telewa said that they were now stranded at the Kibera District Officer's compound - the only place where they felt safe. We built these houses to make a living, to help us earn money... the government cannot come here and tell us to stop earning money Adbullah Ali Nubian landlord There was more isolated fighting on Wednesday and police spokesman Peter Kimanthi said there had been no new casualties. Violence flared between landlords - mainly ethnic Nubians who originate from Sudan - and the tenants, most of whom belong to the Luo community. Several people were hacked to death and a number of houses were torched before police intervened with live ammunition and tear-gas to break up the disturbances. Stranded Reports of the number of people killed range from seven to 11. Residents blamed most of the deaths on the Nubians. Many Kibera are now stranded Thirty-three people were wounded and 57 arrested, said Mr Kimanthi. Our correspondent says that tensions between tenants and landlords were fuelled by President Daniel arap Moi in October. He told the tenants that they were paying too much rent because the landlords did not own the land. Title-deeds Tension rose further on Monday when the local MP, Raila Odinga, an ethnic Luo visited the area. "The government is the true landlord, the landlords are the tenants and tenants are the subtenants ... the government will tell the landlords to lower the rent," he told the thousands who had gathered to hear him. This place is a slum, why should anyone pay to live here Irene Ochanda Luo tenant The Nubians were settled in the Nairobi region during the colonial era but have never been given title deeds to the land. "We built these houses to make a living, to help us earn money,» said Adbullah Ali, an unemployed 32-year-old Nubian. "Now we are just protecting out properties... the government cannot come here and tell us to stop earning money." Some 500,000 people are estimated to live in the sprawling slum where there is little running water and poor sanitary facilities. Irene Ochanda, an ethnic Luo whose Nubian-owned lodgings were burnt down by a gang of Luos on Tuesday agreed with Mr Odinga. "This place is a slum, why should anyone pay to live here," she said.

Daily Nation (Niarobi) 5 Dec 2001 Ten feared dead in new city slum clashes By NATION Team More than 10 people were last night feared dead and scores critically injured in bloody clashes sparked off by a rent row. Property of unknown value was destroyed in the fighting that has rocked Kibera slums in Nairobi since Monday evening. At least 10 houses and other shelters were razed to the ground yesterday as rival youth groups went on a killing spree. Several people were hacked to death in the morning before anti-riot police backed by hundreds of General Service Unit officers moved in. Last night the whole slum had become a no-go area with police turning back people trying to return home from work. Provincial Commissioner Cyrus Maina and Nairobi police chief Geoffrey Muathe circled the slum in a helicopter to survey the damage. Mr Maina confirmed four of the deaths and said he knew of 28 people who were injured. "Three houses and a few structures along the railway line were burnt. The situation is back to normal now," he said, as hundreds of residents from Kibera remained stranded at the Kibera District Office, unable to reach their homes. Mr Maina said the number of those arrested was still to be established. He confirmed that a survey of the slums was underway. "It is part of the upgrading of Kibera. We are in the process of establishing the perimeters of the land that was allocated to members of the Nubian community in colonial times," he said. Once the boundaries were established, the provincial administration and community leaders would decide whether to allocate a joint communal title deed or individual deeds. He dismissed the violence as the work of a few "layabouts and drunkards" who wanted to take advantage of the rent dispute to escalate the problem. The dispute began when President Moi visited the slum and ordered Mr Maina to ensure the rents were lowered. Following a meeting with the landlords Mr Maina held a baraza to announce the new lower rents but he was stoned and had to be rescued by his bodyguards. Since then some tenants have refused to pay any rent until the dispute is settled. The violence broke out again on Monday night when a landlord went to demand rent from his tenants in Lindi area. Area DO Joel Makoli said: "The tenants declined to pay the money and instead attacked him. The landlord raised the alarm, prompting other tenants said to belong to his ethnic group to come to his rescue." Mr Makoli, accompanied by Kilimani police boss Nemwel Mochache said at least 11 people were slashed in the fighting, two of them critically. "Some of those behind the chaos were the retrenchees who cannot afford to buy food or pay house rent and they have nothing to lose," he said. Police who had camped at the DO's office moved into the slums after midnight and engaged the residents in a battle that went on until dawn. Fresh fighting begun shortly after 10am yesterday, as the news of the attacks spread through the ten villages that make up the slum, with 700,000 residents said to be one of the largest in the world. Youths armed with swords, metal bars and clubs took up positions in all sections of Makina, Mashimoni and Lindi areas. Smoke billowed to the sky as houses, kiosks and other shelters went up in flames when the rowdy youths begun to unleash terror on those believed to belong to their rival camps Three bodies lay along the railway line connecting the slum and the city. Residents said more bodies had been collected at Lindi, which was declared a no-go zone for the Press. The reports were not immediately confirmed. Several people suffered deep cuts on the head, hands and legs. Others were rescued by the St John's Ambulance crews who moved into the slums in three vans and were rushed to hospital. One of the victims, Mr James Mutua, said he was attacked as he went to work. Two other men, one of them with with severe cuts on the neck and legs was taken to Marie Health Centre at the middle of Kibera. Four stone houses were burned near Olympic Primary School and others were destroyed in Mashimoni area. The residents were seen leaving the area carrying their household goods. At Kenyatta National Hospital three deaths were confirmed; two on arrival and a third while being treated, said hospital director, Dr Hosea Waweru. "All the victims being brought to the hospital had deep cuts," he said. By 3 pm, he said, they had received 30 injured people and the number was expected to rise. Reporting by Stephen Muiruri, Muriithi Muriuki and Wahome

Thuku News (Kenya) 4 Dec 2001 Moi now woos the Kikuyu By JAMES KARIUKI The Kikuyu should reconsider their political stand and rejoin the Government, President Moi told a delegation that visited him at Kabarak yesterday. He told the entourage, led by Nakuru Kanu branch chairman Kimani Ngunjiri, that the community had wasted two opportunities - the 1992 and 1997 elections - to gain a strong foothold in the Government. "Your (Kikuyu) failure to speak in one voice has compounded your problems," President Moi said. The delegation, which included Local Government Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, had consulted the President over the political future of the community. They also wanted to thank him for appointing Mr Kenyatta to the new-look Cabinet. The meeting took place against a backdrop of speculation that some key Opposition leaders from Central Province might defect to Kanu. Said the President: "I have lived with you for many years. If you have not understood me, it will be difficult for you to understand another leader in future." The delegation included Nakuru Mayor Mugo Maathai (DP) and councillors from Molo Town, Nakuru County Council and Nakuru municipality. Mr Kenyatta said the Kikuyu could not afford to continue being out of the government. He criticised leaders who had allegedly misled the community into shunning the government for the past 12 years. Said the Local Government Minister: "Because of greed, leaders have divided the Kikuyu and caused wrangles from the grassroots level. The Kikuyu need to unite with other tribes for the sake of development." Former Molo MP Njenga Mungai told the community to think twice and make a decision to return to Kanu. He spoke of political mathematics, and told his people that they could not win against the combined force of the other 41 ethnic groups in the country. Current Molo MP Kihika Kimani (DP) said the Kikuyu would continue to suffer if they refused to cooperate with the government. He added that the Kikuyu in the Rift Valley should co-exist peacefully with other communities. He urged the Kikuyu in Rift Valley to reject politicians from Central Province, saying their aim was to create confusion and hatred among them. Leader of the delegation Ngunjiri said ordinary members of the community were willing to cooperate with the government but were being incited against doing so by their leaders. He said that President Moi should convene a meeting with Kikuyu leaders to chart out ways to woo the community back to Kanu. Earlier, some members of the community objected to the "courtesy call" on the grounds that it might be part of the President's "wider scheme to divide the Kikuyu community". Naivasha MP Paul Kihara (DP) and some councillors said they had turned down a request by senior provincial administration officials to join the State House delegation. The DP legislator, who described the trip as sinister, said Nakuru DC James ole Sirian had telephoned him on Sunday night to confirm whether he would be joining the delegation. "The DC asked me whether I had been informed about the visit to the President by the Nakuru Kanu branch chairman Kimani Ngunjiri who had earlier approached me to join in the delegation," Mr Kihara said. The opposition leaders said those who lead the delegation were opportunists who cannot influence the community's political destiny. However, Mr Ngunjiri told the Nation that the trip was intended to provide a forum for dialogue between the Kikuyus and the President. Mr Kimani was speaking to the Nation outside State House Nakuru where the group had converged before being directed to Kabarak. "We must appreciate what the President has done for the community. This has nothing to do with party issues since leaders and wananchi from all political parties are represented," Mr Ngunjiri said. Over 2,000 Kikuyus comprising businessmen and small-scale traders, elected opposition councillors and political activists across the political divide visited the President at his Kabarak home. The group was ferried to Kabarak in over 100 Nissan Matatu and Mini-buses which Mr Ngunjiri said were donated by well-wishers from the Kikuyu community. In Nairobi, MPs David Mwenje (Embakasi), Maina Kamanda (Starehe) and Paul Mugeke (Makadara) described those in the delegation as "political opportunists. " The DP MPs said their community would "never'' accommodate Kanu and its leadership.

Daily Nation (Nairobi) 5 Dec 2001 Moi and Raila blamed for slum clashes By NJERI RUGENE Opposition MPs yesterday blamed President Moi and Energy Minister Raila Odinga for the violence in the city's Kibera slums. They claimed that the two incited the tenants not to pay rent. Speaking in parliament, Mrs Beth Mugo (Dagorreti, SDP), who sparked the acrimonious debate, claimed that the clashes were ignited in preparation for the next General Election. Saying that the violence had spilled over to her constituency, Mrs Mugo asked the President and Mr Odinga to return to Kibera "and put out the fire they had lit". "The problem is what the President said. No matter the number of security officers you send there, it is only the President who can stop the violence. People in Kibera say openly that it is only the President who can stop them from doing what they are doing. Can he please go there to prevent more deaths and destruction of property?" she said. She said she had information that 13 people had died in the clashes. But Office of the President Assistant Minister William Ruto described Mrs Mugo's statement as "irresponsible" and explained that in directing the Nairobi Provincial Commissioner to look into the rent issue, the President was "merely responding to residents' requests". He said a committee of tenants and landlords had been formed and was seeking a solution to the land problem even before the President made his statement. A temporary agreement had been reached and the government had nothing to do with it. "The rent issue is a private matter between landlords and tenants," he said. He also denied that 13 people had died in the violence, and gave four as the number of people who had been killed – one in hospital. He said 10 were injured. He assured the House that enough security officers had been sent to the slum, including the dreaded General Service Unit.

Liberia

AFP 12 Dec 2001 Several thousands displaced in renewed fighting in Liberia MONROVIA, Dec 12 (AFP) - Liberian Defence Minister Daniel Chea has said that "between twelve to fifteen thousand people" have been displaced by new fighting in the country's northwest, reports said Wednesday. Chea was quoted as saying that huge numbers had left Gbarpolu County, which adjoins the troubled northern Lofa County, and sought shelter at Sawmill in Bomi County. He said the internally displaced people were basically from the towns of Bopolu, Weasua, Ngemgbai in the Fassama and Kolahun regions. Chea said they had left their homes "with nothing at all" and were facing serious food shortages and other problems. "We are urging NGOs (non-governmental organisations) to move to Sawmill (about 70 kilometres northwest of Monrovia) and assist these unfortunate brothers and sisters," he said. He said government forces were doing "everything possible" to secure those areas so that the displaced people could return home. There has been fighting in northern Liberia, especially in Lofa County, since 1998 but it has intensified since last September. The government says about 60,000 civilians have fled the area since then. The rebel group Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD), which has bases in neighbouring Guinea, is leading the fighting in Lofa County. The LURD is thought to be led by former chief of staff Charles Julu, who served in the regime of Samuel Doe, assassinated in 1990 after Taylor launched an insurgency. In a separate development, aid agencies in the war zone have complained that government troops were looting civilian properties. An official of the international charity Action Aid told AFP on condition of anonymity that all Lebanese- and Fulani-owned stores had been looted. Chea, however, denied the claim.

AFP 7 Dec 2001 --Liberian troops recapture two towns from dissidents, 28 rebels killed MONROVIA, Dec 7 (AFP) - The Liberian government has recaptured the northern towns of Foya and Belle Yella from dissidents and killed the deputy commander of the rebels and 27 others, reports said Friday. A government statement released late Thursday quoted Defence Minister Daniel Chea as saying that the two towns were "liberated" by government troops. It said the "deputy chief of staff of the Liberians United for Reconstruction and Development (LURD) rebel group, Randolph Mulbah, along with 27 fighters were killed in fighting in Foya." There has been fighting in northern Liberia since 1998 but it has intensified since last September. The government says about 60,000 civilians have fled the area since then. The rebel group Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD), which has bases in neighbouring Guinea, is leading the fighting in Lofa County. The LURD is thought to be led by former chief of staff Charles Julu, who served in the regime of Samuel Doe, assassinated in 1990 after Taylor launched an insurgency. The defence minister said a senior LURD commander, Fatumata Kamara, had been captured and was in the custody of government troops. The government forces also destroyed two troop carriers and an anti-aircraft gun, the statement said. "The town of Kolahun (on the borders with Guinea and Sierra Leone) is currently under siege from three fronts. The navy forces of the Foya region are said to be advancing from Foya, while the marines and last battalion are said to be closing in rapidly on Kolahun," Chea said. He said the objective was to "finally liberate" Kolahun. Meanwhile, Liberian President Charles Taylor has ordered Chea to search for junior National Security Minister Emmett Ross who reportedly fell in a dissident ambush in the forest of Belle Yella. A ministry of information press statement said Ross, who is also a senior military intelligence officer, was among officers collecting information in the Belle Forest when his vehicle was ambushed by dissidents. He has been offically declared missing in action.

Mali

IRIN 11 Dec 2001 Six Genocide Suspects Begin Sentences in Mali Former Rwandan prime minister Jean Kambanda was among five other genocide convicts transferred to Mali on Sunday to begin serving sentences of between 15 years to life imprisonment, imposed by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, news organisations reported. "Kambanda is the first leader of a government to be convicted of genocide," the Hirondelle News Agency reported. He pleaded guilty in 1999 and was sentenced to life imprisonment. The other convicts, who also got life terms, are former mayor of Taba commune Jean Paul Akayesu, former governor of Kibuye province Clement Kayishema, and former tea factory director Alfred Musema. They are the first convicts transferred from the tribunal's detention facility in Arusha, Tanzania, to serve sentences in another country. The others are former Interahamwe militia leader Omar Serushago who got 15 years, and former businessman Obed Ruzindana who received a 25-year sentence. All lost their appeals against their sentences. The tribunal has signed agreements to imprison the convicts in Benin, Mali and Swaziland, whose penitentiaries must meet international norms. The Rwandan government estimates that just over one million people were killed in the 1994 genocide against the Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus. Others put the number at 800,000. The tribunal has so far handed down eight convictions and one acquittal. The body was created 8 November 1994 to prosecute of persons responsible for genocide and other serious violations of international humanitarian law committed in Rwanda between 1 January 1994 and 31 December 1994. It may also prosecute Rwandans responsible for genocide and other such violations of international law committed in the territory of neighbouring States during the same period.

Nigeria

This Day (Lagos)12 Dec 2001 Respect Human Rights, CD Tells Government. By Wale Olaleye Campaign for Democracy (CD), a non-governmental human rights group has described as unimpressive, the President Olusegun Obasanjo led-government on human rights record, even as the world marks human rights day. The group which also placed a six-point demand from the Obasanjo government in a statement signed by its general-Secretary, Joe Okei-Odumakin said it was not impressed about the human rights record in Nigeria two and a half years into the civil rule. Evident on this score, the group noted was the flagrant disregard for court order at various levels of governance, stating particularly the executive arm of the national government and the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The group in the statement said "personal liberties have neither feared better as there have been several cases of violation of human dignity and right to life. The Tiv massacre, a replica of the Odi genocide is the high point of the abuse. "Another sad pointer to the limitations of human rights", it continued, "is the recently signed electoral bill by the President which constricts the democratic space by shutting out those who cannot find space in the existing political parties from participating in 2003 elections. It is sad that even the 1999 constitution which was prepared in Abacha's bedroom is more liberal over the rights of association than a law made by a supposedly elected people. CD maintained that even as the world celebrates human rights day, the shoot-at-sight order still subsists in Nigeria, following President Obasanjo's directive which thus allows the Police to kill without compunction. More so, it argued that the President, instead of defending the constitution was rather disposed to backing the sharia legal system. Meanwhile, in commemoration of the world human right day, the CD had therefore made some six points demand to the President with relations to the on-going trends in the country. By this way, it was optimistic that the rule of thumb would not override the rule of law. The demands are therefore that; There must be strict adherence to the rule of law. Safiya must not die. Troops must vacate Tivland immediately The reversal of the electoral bill as it affects freedom of association. Recall of all sacked University of Ilorin 44 and Convocation of a Sovereign National Conference.

This Day 12 Dec 2001 Church Loses 251 Members to Tiv/Jukun Crisis Daniel Ior Makurdi As fresh facts continue to emerge over the actual death toll affecting Tiv people in the ethnic crisis in Nasarawa, Taraba and parts of Benue States. The Church of Christ in the Sudan Among the Tiv otherwise known as NKST Church has named 251 of its members killed in the crises. "As at present, about 251 of our members have been properly identified murdered in cold blood, thousands are still missing and feared dead" said the church in a communique issued after an annual synod meeting of the elders of the church held at MKar-Gboko. Apart from the massacre of the 251 members, the church also said it has lost schools and health institutions including other church properties, like cars, buses and motor cycles which it put at several millions of naira. According to the communique made available to THISDAY the 251 people confirmed murdered "were either attacked by men of the army, mobile police, Kwara/Alago militia or Jukun/Fulani militia." In some cases the church has announced that some of its properties especially churches and pastors residences and its school buildings have already been taken over by the Taraba State government. In Agbo village for instance, the church said apart from the loss of over 200 houses including a pastor's residence a church building and a church site have already been "taken over by Taraba State Ministry of Education, while in Ayu which it said was attacked on May 5 and June 26, 2001, the church named one of its churches as also having been "taken over by Jukun native practitioners." The NKST church which started as a result of missionary activities of the Dutch Reformed Church Mission (DRCM) from South Africa as far back as January 1911, expressed fears that it may have been targetted for that massive destruction because "people in Nasarawa and Taraba states cling to a wrong notion that NKST is a tribal church particularly meant for the Tiv race." It regretted however, that while it has been targetted for destruction the aggressors have forgotten the efforts made by the church in education, health and social service. "Most of these clinics, schools and various other amenities are provided by the NKST church to foster rural development," it regretted. The church therefore called on the Federal Government "to rehabilitate all NKST churches, pastoria, clinics and schools in all the affected states," as well as provide relief materials to the displaced people.

Vanguard (Lagos) 11 Dec 2001 Ijaw National Congress Takes Case to the Hague for Compensation -Samuel Oyadongha Yenagoa IRKED by the continued refusal of the Federal Government to rebuild Odi town which was destroyed by federal troops sometimes in November 1999 in the aftermath of the killing of twelve policemen by Ijaw youths, the Izon ethnic nationality may be heading to the International War Crime tribunal at The Hague to seek redress. This was made known by the Ijaw National Congress President, Dr. Kimse Okoko in a statement circulated in Yenagoa. Dr. Okoko also warned of an impending disaster in the Niger Delta over the stand of the Federal Government to go ahead with the dredging of the lower Niger River in spite of the unpleasant effect it will have on the people of the area. Said he: "As we continue to reflect on the tragic and unprovoked declaration of war on Odi by Mr. President, with the attendant devastating decimation of the town by soldiers of the Nigerian Army, we wish to draw the attention of all peace loving Nigerians that two years after the sacking of Odi, the Federal Government has refused to pay any compensation to the aggrieved persons and has also refused to rebuild Odi." The INC president noted with regret that the injuries inflicted on the Izon ethnic nationality by the wanton destruction of lives and property at Odi are too painful to be wished away. His words: "We note with utter dismay, that Mr. President has continued to treat the Odi massacre and destruction with benign neglect. "While the Federal Government may continue to relish in its oppression of Odi community (and by extension the Izon ethnic nationality) the Ijaw National Congress (INC) insists and wishes to again remind the Federal Government (as we put finishing touches) to our preparations to proceed to the International War Crimes tribunal at The Hague, that it is its sole responsibility to rebuild Odi." He added, "congress wishes to draw the attention of Nigerians to another Odi in the making as the Federal Government concludes the positioning of the military in strategic locations at the River Niger consequent upon its directives to the dredging company to start the dredging of the lower River Niger in spite of the fact that there is already a subsisting court action against the dredging. "We are convinced that the dredging of the lower River Niger will worsen the perennial problems of erosion and flooding among others which in the past have wrecked havoc on the Izon community and other settlements along the River Niger besides the fact that no credible and conclusive EIA study has so far been carried out on the exercise. Dr. Okoko therefore calls on Mr. President to respect the rule of law saying, "it is in fact the most inspiring dividend of democracy even in the face of excruciating poverty and hopelessness.

IRIN 27 Nov 2001 Renewed ethnic clashes erupt in central region LAGOS, 27 Nov 2001 (IRIN) - A fresh outbreak of ethnic fighting has erupted in Nigeria’s central region Taraba State, with dozens of people killed and thousands forced to flee their homes, local officials told IRIN on Monday. More than 100 armed men, suspected to be part of an ethnic Tiv militia, attacked several settlements of their neighbours, the Jukuns, in the Donga area, near the border with Benue State on Saturday, burning houses and killing several people, John Adamu, an official of the Taraba State government said. “The attacks continued on Sunday, with more villages burnt and still more people killed,” the official told IRIN. Benue officials have also reported a renewed influx of displaced Tivs from Taraba State seeking refuge in Benue State as a result of the violence. “Early on Sunday three trailers filled with displaced people running for safety were brought into Makurdi”[the capital of Benue State], Benson Ogaba, a Benue state official, told IRIN. Several hundreds of people have been killed since the longstanding dispute between Tivs and their Jukun neighbours over land ownership, flared up in violence in September. Troops sent in by President Olusegun Obasanjo into the area to quell the violence became mired in the conflict after 19 of their men were killed by a Tiv militia. Reprisal attacks mounted by soldiers in October against several Tiv villages resulted in the death of more than 200 people and the displacement of tens of thousands of others. Residents of the affected area have continued to report military activity in their districts against unarmed villagers, with more people being killed, injured or forced to flee their homes.

Rwanda

IRIN 12 Dec 2001 Gacaca Genocide Trials to Begin in May 2002 Gacaca traditional court trials are expected to begin in May 2002, according to a timetable issued by the Rwandan Supreme Court, the Fondation Hirondelle reported on Monday. The timetable was revealed at a meeting of province-level gacaca judges on Monday in Murambi (Gitarama, central Rwanda). It was the first such meeting since some 260,000 gacaca judges were elected in October to preside over community courts, designed to speed up trials related to the 1994 genocide. Trials will begin once training of the judges has been completed. The first stage will involve the training of 780 trainers, from 4 February to 15 March, consisting primarily of magistrates and final year law students. After their own training, they will then be divided into small groups to train gacaca judges in the villages. The 780 trainers will have three months to train 254,152 gacaca judges. Training sessions for judges are to begin on 18 March, in Kigali and in 12 pilot provinces. These judges were elected in October by their communities as "people of integrity". During their training, the judges are to receive instruction in basic principles of law; group management; conflict resolution; judicial ethics; trauma (understanding and recognising trauma, learning how to behave with trauma victims); human resources, equipment and financial management. Some 109,000 training manuals are to be printed and translated into the Rwandan language, Kinyarwanda. However, special challenges will be faced as many of the judges lack much formal education, and some, especially at the lowest administrative level, are even illiterate, Hirondelle reported. Further obstacles are logistical and administrative in nature. Speaking at the Murambi meeting, the president of the Supreme Court's gacaca department, Aloysie Cyanzayire, said that no Rwandan printer had the capacity to print 109,000 handbooks in less than two months, and that none of them had enough stocks of paper, which has to be imported. Cyanzayire also cited budgetary problems: she said that financial resources for setting up gacaca jurisdictions had only been introduced into the state budget for 2002, currently under discussion in parliament. For more details on the Rwandan gacaca court system, go to http://www.hirondelle.org/hirondelle.nsf

New Vision (Kampala, Uganda) 11 Dec 2001 Genocide Widows Die of Aids Forty-seven of the Rwandan genocide widows who were raped by Hutu gangs in the bloodletting have died of AIDS, reports the Association of Genocide Widows (AVEGA). AVEGA which champions for the right of genocide widows says that 1,100 of them have tested HIV/AIDS positive. "This figure is believed to be much higher because the majority of our members have not yet been tested," Hilary Mukamazimpaka, AVEGA coordinator said. She said the above figures were obtained from a survey carried out in three provinces of the country, namely Kigali city, Kibungo and Butare. It was found out that out of this sample, 66.7 per cent were HIV /AIDS positive, while 80 % had been seriously traumatised because of the sexual torture they went through. "Some of these people living with AIDS are dying a slow death," Sylvia Barakagwira, head of the AVEGA advocacy department told dpa. According to Barakagwiza, rape was used as a weapon by the marauding Hutu militias. Some Tutsi women were gang-raped, or were kept in solitary confinement by the militia who were raping them. AVEGA has expressed concern that because of the death rate among its members, no one will be left to give testimony about the horrors that took place in Rwanda in 1994. Barakagwira deplores the fact that those who were at the helm of rape and the killings now in the U.N. Tribunal detention in Arusha, Tanzania, have access to free drugs provided by the international community, while their victims here are faced with a certain death. However, since June 2001, with the help of well-wishers, AVEGA has initiated a project aimed at assisting those infected with the killer disease and orphans by providing them with antibiotics and food items. The Rwanda genocide claimed one million people, mostly ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus. More than 100,000 genocide suspects are crammed in Rwandan jails.

Internews 11 Dec 2001 Documentary On Genocide Screened in Ngoma, Kibuye Province By Mary Kimani Kibuye. Hundreds of Rwandans from Ngoma commune in Kibuye Province, western Rwanda, last Tuesday attended the screening of 'The Arusha Tapes, a Kinyarwanda language documentary, at the Adventist Secondary School (ESAPAN). Internews Network produced the documentary, directed by renowned South African director Mandy Jacobson. 'The Arusha Tapes' chronicles six genocide trials completed before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). Internews has toured the film in more than 20 communes in Rwanda, including nine prisons. Ngoma is the native commune of genocide convict Obed Ruzindana, a former businessman in the province. The ICTR has sentenced Ruzindana to 25 years in prison for his role in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. Ruzindana appealed against the ruling but the ICTR Appeals Court upheld the sentence in June this year. During the screening of 'The Arusha Tapes,' viewers watched with rapt attention the footage from the trial of Ruzindana. Many in the audience pointed out that Ruzindana played an enthusiastic role in the extermination of ethnic Tutsi in Ngoma. "That man really despised us. I want to see what has happened to him now," a woman who lost her husband during the genocide told Internews at Ngoma center. After the screening, many voiced their dissatisfaction with the sentence. "I saw this man myself. After president [Juvenal] Habyarimana died, he called the Hutu and asked them to take machetes and kill the Tutsi people. Now I see they gave him 25 years. I think this does not take into consideration all those who died. If it were my wish, they should burn him, but I know the law does not allow that in Rwanda. When I remember what this man did, I really believe he does not deserve 25 years," Clemence Wamahoro lamented. A 17-year-old student at the ESAPAN narrated his personal encounter with Ruzindana. "When Ruzindana came to our house, I was hiding. He found me. At that time, I was still a child. He said to me: 'I have killed a lot of Tutsis, but I will not kill you.' He said to me he had finished all the Tutsi in Bisesero and he was only leaving me so that Hutu boys could see how few Tutsi boys were now," the student stated, asking if there was a way for anyone to appeal the ICTR process. A central feature of Ngoma commune is the Mugonero Adventist Complex where Adventist pastor Elizaphan Ntakirutimana and his son, Gerard Ntakirutima, a doctor, worked. The complex was the site of the main massacre in the commune. Hundreds of bodies have been reburied in a memorial mass grave at the complex while others remain in a septic tank and in other mass graves. In memory of those who died in the genocide, the bones of an unknown number of victims have been put into four coffins and are displayed in a church within the compound of a secondary and student nurse school (SIM) adjoining the hospital. An estimated 50 pastors were among those who died in the massacre. The Mugonero church still bears grenade impact marks. It is estimated that 5000 Tutsi refugees were killed within the complex. The trial for the Ntakirutimanas is currently in process before the ICTR. They allegedly acted in collaboration with Ruzindana and Charles Sikubwabo, the mayor of the commune at the time, during the killings. "He was our pastor, he knew God, all people feared and respected him, I do not think Ruzindana was worse, because he was just a merchant, but Ntakirutimana (Elizaphan)! We had known him for many years, we cannot understand why he did what he did" an elderly Pascal Sigatare stated with emotion. The audience also recognized Alfred Musema, a factory manager in the adjoining Gisovu commune, and Clement Kayishema, their governor during the genocide. A recurring theme in discussions that follow the screening is the complaint that ICTR detainees live a far better life than most of the local population in Rwanda. "I have now seen what happened to the killers from our area and what I see is that they are living better than most of us," Jonathan Musonera bemoaned. Internews has produced two newsreels that follow 'The Arusha Tapes,' which it tours around Rwanda to bridge the information gap between ordinary Rwandans and their national judicial institutions as well as the ICTR.

IRIN 10 Dec 2001 Kigali Asks Dar es Salaam to Rearrest Genocide Suspect Nairobi: Rwanda has asked Tanzania to rearrest an investigator for defendants on trial at the UN International Criminal Tribunal (ICTR) for Rwanda because Kigali suspects him of having participated in the 1994 genocide, Rwandan Radio reported on Saturday. A Tanzanian court released the investigator, Felix Ntamfurayishyari, on Tuesday after he paid a US $222 fine for illegal entry into Tanzania and for being in possession of a forged Tanzanian passport, news organisations reported. He was arrested in November while trying to obtain a visa from The Netherlands Embassy, the Rwanda News Agency reported on Friday, quoting police sources. Ntamfurayishyari works for the defence team of genocide suspect Juvenal Kajelijeli, former burgomaster (mayor) of the Mujima commune in the northwestern Rwandan province of Ruhengeri, news organisations reported. Ntamfurayishyari is the third ICTR employee of Rwandan origin to be arrested for possession of false travel documents, the radio reported. A translator with the defence team at the ICTR, Patrick Ssimbwa Bugingo, was arrested with a false Ugandan passport and is in detention, news sources in Arusha told IRIN on Monday, Another former investigator Simon Nshamihigo, using a false Congolese identity, was arrested in May and is also awaiting trial, RNA reported. Rwanda's special representative to the tribunal, Martin Ngoga, told reporters in Arusha, Tanzanian, that nine genocide suspects were still employed by the tribunal. However, the tribunal's registrar, Adama Dieng, denied the allegation.

Reuters 9 Dec 2001 Rwandan child fighters exorcise guerrilla past By Helen Vesperini GITAGATA, Rwanda (Reuters) - There used to be a village at Gitagata. The family homes that once lined the red dirt road were razed during Rwanda's 1994 genocide, their inhabitants brutally slaughtered. Now all that remains are the thorn bushes that once served as fences in this region south of Kigali. Just down the road is a memorial to the genocide, vaults piled high with skulls bearing witness to the 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus massacred in May and June 1994. The memorial is not the only reminder of the ethnically fuelled brutality that has rocked the tiny central African country for the last decade. Gitigata is also home to a rehabilitation camp for child fighters, former members of the Hutu Interahamwe militias who led the genocide and have since waged a guerrilla war from bases in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo. The 330 children at the camp, aged between 11 and 18, were forcibly recruited into the Interahamwe as fighters, porters or cooks. Recaptured by the government earlier this year, they are now being prepared for a return to civilian life. The camp is basic. There is no fresh water supply and the climate is conducive to malaria. There is little to fill the boys' time. There are tools for carpentry and sewing machines, but no wood or materials on which to work. But conditions are luxurious compared to the forests of the Congo where the boys have lived for years with the rebel militias. They have bunk beds, mattresses and the younger boys even attend the local school. FAMILY REUNIONS The aim is to reunite the children with their families. For some the transition can be smooth, but others are stuck in limbo, too young to be incorporated into Rwanda's regular army, but too mature and battle-hardened to be sent back to school. Jean Bosco, 17, has made friends with the security officials who guard the camp. His string vest shows off well-defined muscles and he is intent on following the news on his small radio. An hour's drive away, his mother Antoinette Mujawamariya is delighted at having been reunited with her son after five years and optimistic about his homecoming. "The local people know him as a child, not as a soldier," she says from a room packed with sacks of beans and bunches of bananas in the general store she runs on a dusty village road. "They want him back." Others are not so lucky. Some parents handed their children voluntarily to the authorities, scared they would be accused of harbouring infiltrators. And for every Jean Bosco there are several scrawny, wide-eyed children who have no homes to go to. Hakizimana is a 13-year-old orphan who knows only his surname which means "It's God who saves" in Kinyarwanda. He was separated from his elder brothers while trying to fight his way back into Rwanda from the Congolese forests. BRAINWASHED Chased out of Rwanda in the wake of the genocide, the Interahamwe militias moved to the Congo to wage a new campaign against Rwandan President Paul Kagame's government. To bolster their numbers, they recruited children from the Hutu refugees who had joined the flight from Rwanda, brainwashing them into believing that if they returned to Rwanda peacefully they would be killed. Advancing barefoot towards their homeland, they got only as far as the Virunga mountains that straddle the border between Congo and Rwanda when they were faced with disciplined Rwandan soldiers, backed by heavy artillery and a helicopter gunship. After giving themselves up, the children spent a few months in the same camp as adult militiamen before being taken away to Gitagata. The reintegration process will be long and hard. "Those who left as privates in 1998 have had three years of military life now," said Straton Nsanzabaganwa, an official at Rwanda's ministry of social affairs. "They are to all intents and purposes soldiers." The pictures pinned up above the rows of bunk beds at the camp testify to how far the boys still have to go. Blue biro men in army fatigues talk tersely into radios, others fire at roadblocks or man anti-aircraft guns. Beside the drawings, pictures of footballers taken from bubblegum packets for a moment suggest normality, until 13-year-old Justin Mugabo, wearing a France '98 World Cup T-shirt, says three bullet wounds in his legs prevent him from playing the game he loves. But camp director Jean Leonard Munyandinda says he sees hope for the children who were not allowed a childhood. Many of the boys, silent and suspicious when they came to Gitagata, have begun to open up and talk through their experiences. "When a child dares to tell you 'I killed such and such a person, I did wrong', then it's not too late," he said. Search this site In this section 'If it's possible to justify minimalism, this can't be how to do it...' Why authors need a refuge It's not easy for writers from repressive regimes to find safe haven elsewhere.

Somalia

Reuters 11 Dec 2001 -Somali warlords say will shun Kenya peace talks By Tsegaye Tadesse ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Somali warlords opposed to President Abdiqassim Salad Hassan's government said on Tuesday they would not attend talks expected in Kenya this week aimed at ending a decade of chaos in the Horn of Africa country. Hassan Mohamed Nur, chairman of the Somali Reconciliation and Restoration Council (SRRC), a grouping of militia leaders, said his movement believed peace efforts could be achieved only through a separate peace initiative by east African states known as the Intergovernmental Authority for Development (IGAD). ``To avoid polarization and conflicts of interest, SRRC believes that a unified coordinated stand among IGAD states was required before any effort by individual countries was undertaken,'' Nur told Reuters on a visit to Ethiopia. IGAD, a conflict resolution body formed by East Africa states, has been preoccupied mainly with Sudan in recent months. Diplomats say Kenya is planning its own initiative to host peace talks among rival Somali leaders in Nairobi from December 13-17, but say the list of participants has not been finalized. Kenyan government officials have declined to comment. Several powerful warlords belonging to the SRRC declined to attend a previous round of reconciliation talks hosted by Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi in Nairobi in November. ``The few who attended that meeting did not have the mandate to speak on behalf of the SRRC. Whatever commitments they had undertaken reflected their own individual position,'' he said. Abdiqassim's transitional government and Somali faction leaders who attended the November talks said they had agreed on the need to organize further talks to resolve their differences. Moi has said that Somalia, which descended into turmoil after the overthrow of Mohammed Siad Barre in 1991, could become a haven for international terrorists unless peace was restored. His warning echoed international concerns that Osama bin Laden (news - web sites) and his followers, blamed for the September 11 attacks on the United States, might try to shelter in Somalia if forced out of Afghanistan (news - web sites) by U.S. military action. U.S. military officers visited Somalia on Sunday for talks with opposition warlords to identify potential ``terrorist'' targets in the country, sources close to the warlords said. There has been widespread speculation the United States is planning a military campaign in Somalia as a second phase in its war on terrorism, but Washington has played down the possibility of imminent strikes against the country. RIVAL GOVERNMENT Abdiqassim was elected president by a conference of clan leaders at Arta in neighboring Djibouti last year, but he has failed to convince many rival warlords to accept his rule. He controls only pockets of the capital Mogadishu and little of the rest of the country. The SRRC's warlords have formed a rival government in the town of Baidoa southwest of Mogadishu. Nur, who is also president of the Rahanwein Resistance Army (RRA), one of the SRRC's constituent organizations, reiterated that his group did not recognize what he called Abdiqassim's ''Arta group'' as the government in Somalia. ``We at SRRC could only talk to Salad Hassan's group if they renounce their claim as government and want to meet us as a Somali group,'' he added. He appealed to the Somali people to side with the SRRC against Abdiqassim's transitional government, which he said ``is leading the country toward renewed civil war.'' He reiterated an accusation that Abdiqassim had the support of militant Islamist Somali group al Ittihad and bin Laden's al Qaeda organization. Abdiqassim has denied that charge. Nur also repeated an accusation that Djibouti and Arab states such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen and Qatar supported Abdiqassim ``not in the interests of peace in Somalia, but because they serve their narrow sectarian interests.''

AFP 2 Dec 2001 -- 15 people die in inter-clan fighting in southern Somalia MOGADISHU, Dec 2 (AFP) - At least 15 people died and 20 others were wounded in inter-clan in southern Somalia this weekend, travellers said here Sunday. Eleven people were killed Saturday afternoon and four others died overnight in the fighting at Tobonka Bondo village, 35 kilometers (21 miles) south of the capital Mogadishu, the travellers said. Witnesses said that most of the wounded were treated in nearby Afgoi village, while a few others were sent to Mogadishu hospitals for treatment. The fighting, triggered by a land dispute, forced farmers and nomads from the two clans to flee to relatively peaceful villages nearby. Minister of Science and Technology in the Somali Transitional National Government (TNG) Abdulkadir Mohamed "Madahey" confirmed the battle, but pledged to bring together elders of the warring Abgal and Garre sub-clans, both from larger Hawiye, to work out a ceasefire. "We will first negotiate a ceasefire, and follow up with talks to end the hostilities once and for all," Madahaey said. An elder reached by radio call told AFP that five attempts by elders to restore peace between the two sub-clans had failed, since fighting started last month. "But this time we are hopeful that the two warring sides will accept the outcome of forthcoming talks," said the elder, who asked not to be named.

Sudan

AFp 9 Dec 2001 - Sudan extends state of emergency for one more year KHARTOUM, Dec 9 (AFP) - The Sudanese parliament passed Sunday President Omar el-Beshir's request to renew Sudan's state of emergency for another year, state radio announced. Beshir argued that the state of emergency, first imposed in 1999, needed to be extended due to the country's war with Christians and animists in the south, armed robbery in western Sudan and the tense state of global affairs since the September 11 attacks on the United States, the radio said. Beshir said he hoped that the state of emergency could be lifted after next year. Beshir first declared a state of emergency in late 1999 when he ousted his erstwhile colleague and rival, former parliamentary speaker and Islamist ideologue Hassan al-Turabi, who is now under house arrest.

AFP 6 Dec 2001 SPLA accuses Khartoum of violating Nuba ceasefire CAIRO, Dec 6 (AFP) - The rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) on Thursday accused the Khartoum government of violating a ceasefire in the central Nuba Mountains. "Sudanese armed forces launched an offensive on December 3 against the Qurongo region in the Nuba Mountains, violating the ceasefire agreed on November 14 during the visit of US envoy John Danforth, an SPLA spokesman told AFP in a telephone call from Asmara. "Fighting is continuing between the SPLA and the government," said Yasser Arman, without giving any casualty toll. "The Khartoum government is throwing down a challenge to the international community and the American special envoy by mounting this offensive," the spokesman said. Danforth discussed the ceasefire and other confidence-building ideas when he visited Sudan in November on his first peace mission since being appointed pointman for Khartoum by US President George W. Bush in September. The SPLA controls several regions of the Nuba Mountains where the United Nations has just airdropped 2,000 tons of food aid with approval from the warring parties. A four-week truce was arranged to allow for the delivery of US humanitarian aid to rebel-held areas. Danforth witnessed the start of the airdrop by the World Food Programme during his Sudan visit. The SPLA also accused the government of breaking the truce on November 24, although Khartoum had said at the time it was willing to extend the ceasefire, an offer it later withdrew. Earlier last month, the United States criticised the Sudanese government for bombing targets in the south and disrupting UN food distribution operations, and called on Khartoum to halt its raids.

Tanzania

IRIN 24 Dec 2001 Belgian Police Arrest Genocide Suspects