World Council of Churches FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - 17 Nov 2003 Diplomat and theologian offer principles for intervention to protect human rights and prevent genocide Two advocates for peace and human rights outlined principles for international intervention - including the possibility of military action - where violence or genocide threaten basic human rights at a 13 November public forum entitled "The responsibility to protect". The forum was part of a World Council of Churches (WCC) International Affairs and Advocacy Week in New York. For Permanent Mission of Canada to the United Nations minister councillor Gleyn Berry, preventing or ending violence and atrocities has been the theme of a "millennia-long conversation". The subject remains particularly relevant, Berry said, in view of such modern-day examples as the killing fields in Cambodia and the genocidal slaughter of innocents in Kosovo and Rwanda. "The goal of international efforts is to prevent such incidences of violence before they occur," he said, explaining that the underlying principle is to move nations and international bodies towards recognition of internationally recognized norms and laws so that neither prevention nor intervention is ultimately necessary. The proper role of government Although conversations are under way in international bodies and among nations, it is important to remember that they should remain centered within the context of the well-being of individual human beings, Berry reminded the forum participants. "Inherent in this notion is that it is the proper role and responsibility of government to protect all its citizens." For Berry, "there is such a jealous protection of the sovereignty of the nation state" in the modern world that the concept of international jurisdiction in areas of human rights and the prevention of atrocities "is extremely sensitive". The international community represented by the United Nations "is not ready for a serious debate on the obligations of sovereignty". Thus a "broader definition of sovereignty" that does not focus narrowly on military and political control of a specified territory, but rather "on the obligations of nation states to protect the human rights of their citizens" is needed. Acknowledging that the attempt to develop an international consensus on this subject will "require a long-term effort to change norms," he insisted that the conversation must be broadened beyond the UN to include civil society, NGOs, political parties and other interest groups, and communities of faith. 'Human security' Noting that "at present, there is no consensus among those responsible for international law or policy making" about when to consider international action, WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Konrad Raiser urged participants to employ the WCCs concept of "protection" over "intervention". This shift in terminology "broadens the perspective by adopting the wider principle of human security over against the narrow understanding of national security," he suggested. Raiser highlighted an inherent tension in the UN Charter between "the prohibition of intervention in the internal affairs of sovereign states, and the affirmation of the universal validity of human rights and recognition that the observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms for all is essential for international peace". Asserting that Christians "cannot escape making decisions involving moral and ethical uncertainties," Raiser noted that the ecumenical movement itself contains believers who differ about whether the teachings of Jesus allow the use of armed force. He noted that some uses of force are commonly accepted throughout the international community - such as the creation of police forces to defend individual rights and security, or the use of force in cases of individual self-defence. Yet, Raiser reminded his audience, such accepted uses of force are held with certain limits: nearly all nations distinguish between the roles of police and military, and most nations submit policing functions to judicial examination. Who decides? Raiser posed some crucial questions on the use of force on the international level. "Who makes the assessment that human security in a given state is endangered to such an extent that protection becomes a concern for the international community, and on the basis of what criteria?" he asked. "Who has the legitimate authority to take this decision on behalf of the international community?" A decision to intervene "cannot be based solely on moral arguments, or on grounds of political expediency; it should pass through the trustees of the rule of law," Raiser insisted. Since the UN Security Council currently acts "both as trustee of international law and as the enforcing authority," the current configuration is "politically and ethically unsatisfactory, and opens the door to selective and arbitrary decisions," he suggested. Principles for protection There is an emerging consensus around the globe to recognize such international tribunals as the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court. But until that consensus is universally accepted, some general principles are needed to protect endangered populations, Raiser said. "In a situation of a dramatic breakdown of public order and the inability or unwillingness of the existing government to protect citizens, the basic objective of any international intervention must remain to re-establish a functioning framework of government which can assume the responsibility to protect - however imperfectly," he said. However, a military intervention "causing disproportionate numbers of civilian casualties and vast damage to civilian infrastructure in violation of the Geneva Convention cannot be considered humanitarian," Raiser argued. Any military protection must be "proportional" to the scale and scope of the conflict, and "even military protection for humanitarian action can compromise its objectives," he warned. "Human rights cannot be enforced by military means. In contrast to military logic, it is precisely the purpose of international humanitarian law to protect the rights and dignity of people in situations of war," Raiser asserted. The text of Rev. Dr Raiser's presentation is available on our website: http://www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/international/kr-ny-03.html The World Council of Churches is a fellowship of churches, now 342, in more than 120 countries in all continents from virtually all Christian traditions. The Roman Catholic Church is not a member church but works cooperatively with the WCC. The highest governing body is the assembly, which meets approximately every seven years. The WCC was formally inaugurated in 1948 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Its staff is headed by general secretary Konrad Raiser from the Evangelical Church in Germany.

The Ukrainian Weekly 16 Nov 2003 (No. 46, Vol. LXXI ) 30 U.N. member-states sign joint declaration on Great Famine NEW YORK - Speaking on the morning of November 10 at an international conference on the Famine-Genocide of 1932-1933 held at Columbia University, Ukraine's ambassador to the United Nations reported that a joint declaration signed by the U.N. delegations of 25 states would be released later that day to mark the 70th anniversary of the Great Famine of 1932-1933 in Ukraine. By mid-week, the list of states signing the declaration had grown to 30, plus the European Union. The document describes the Famine as "a national tragedy for the Ukrainian people" that "took 7 to 10 millions of innocent lives," but stops short of calling it genocide. According to Ambassador Valeriy Kuchinsky of Ukraine's Permanent Mission to the United Nations, the declaration will be circulated as an official document of the United Nations and it is hoped the declaration will be read before the U.N. General Assembly by Secretary General Kofi Annan. Ambassador Kuchinsky noted that the declaration - which is signed by, among others, the Russian Federation, the United States and Canada - is "the result of hard work and strenuous efforts of Ukrainian diplomats who have spent many months in intense consultations and discussion within the United Nations, as well as within various capital cities. These efforts have informed many political activists and, in turn, their respective nations of the true nature of the Great Famine in Ukraine." He characterized the declaration as "unique in that it is the first of its kind within the United Nations to publicly condemn the Soviet totalitarian regime for the murder of millions of innocent victims." [In Kyiv, according to The Ukrainian Weekly's Kyiv Press Bureau, a source at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, when asked whether the word "genocide" appears in the text of the joint declaration, explained: "I think you understand that the Russians would never have allowed for the word 'genocide' to be used. We agreed to this version because we realized that we could end up with nothing. If the Russians had blocked the statement, we might not even have had this.'] The joint declaration "On the 70th anniversary of the Great Famine of 1932-1933" was signed by the U.N. delegations of: Azerbaijan, Argentina, Bangladesh, Belarus, Benin, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, Egypt, Georgia, Guatemala, Jamaica, Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Mongolia, Nauru, Pakistan, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Republic of Macedonia, Republic of Moldova, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic, Tajikistan, Timor-Leste, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United States and Uzbekistan.

Africa

Burundi

International Campaign to Ban Landmines 24 Oct 2003 Africa gets two new treaty members: Burundi, Sudan Mine-affected countries Burundi and Sudan come on board Burundi and Sudan, both mine-affected countries, recently ratified the Mine Ban Treaty. Burundi submitted its ratification instrument to the United Nations on 22 October and Sudan completed its ratification on 13 October 2003. Now Somalia (which does not have a functioning government) is the only country in sub-Saharan Africa that is neither a State Party nor a signatory to the Mine Ban Treaty. Ethiopia is the only remaining signatory in the region. The ratifications bring to 141 the number of States Parties to the convention, with a further 9 countries having signed but not yet completed their ratification process. Treaty universalisation has gathered pace in recent months. Long-awaited ratifications and accessions have now been completed by Belarus, Greece, Guyana, Serbia & Montenegro and Turkey. Campaigners are pleased that Bujumbura and Khartoum have confirmed their commitment to a comprehensive ban on antipersonnel landmines by ratifying the treaty. However, they are concerned about allegations of ongoing mine use in Burundi and Sudan. Any allegations of use will now be subject to critical examination by fellow States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty. There are ceasefires in both countries at the moment, following years of bloodshed. Burundi Burundi joins the treaty amid troubling accounts of ongoing use of antipersonnel landmines inside Burundi by both rebel and government forces. "It is clear that antipersonnel mines continue to be used in Burundi. It is difficult, however, to determine with certainty who is planting the mines. Most observers believe that both the Army and rebels are using mines," notes the Landmine Monitor Report 2003: Toward a Mine-Free World. Last year, there were at least 114 new civilian mine/UXO casualties reported in Burundi, of which 26 were killed and 88 injured, including 23 children. Of the total casualties, 87 were caused by antipersonnel mines, eight by antivehicle mines, and 19 by UXO. Sudan Both sides to the conflict in Sudan, the government and the SPLM/A, have used mines in the past and accuse each other of ongoing use. Landmine Monitor Report 2003 notes that Sudan does not have "large defensive minefields contaminating whole areas, but rather a number of relatively random mines blocking access routes to key areas. Roads, especially in the Nuba Mountains, are blocked to humanitarian relief traffic." Landmine casualties run high in Sudan. As of June 2003, a total of 2,667 mine/UXO casualties had been reported to the National Mine Action Officer since 1998. The U.N. wire service reported that on 3 October 2003 a truck belonging to Danish Church Aid ran over a landmine near the town of Kauda in Sudan's central Nuba Mountains. Eight people were killed and two injured - the highest known fatality count from a landmine accident in Sudan this year, it was noted.

AFP 9 Nov 2003 Four people killed by soldiers in Burundi: witnesses BUJUMBURA, Nov 9 (AFP) - Four people were killed and seven wounded Sunday in a village outside the capital of war-torn central African country of Burundi Sunday after having been detained by army troops, witnesses said. All the victims were civilians, witnesses said, but the authorities suggested they were members of one of the largest rebel groups still opposed to the government in a 10-year civil war that has killed more than 300,000. "Soldiers came to the village of Kwigere early this morning and took a group of men with them and we later found four bodies and seven people injured," one witness who asked not to be named told AFP. Three other inhabitants of the village 30 kilometers (20 miles) east of the capital confirmed the account. The authorities said they were aware of the incident, but did not yet know all the details, while no military officials could be reached for comment. The governor of the Bujumbura rural region, Ignace Ntawembarira, said the incident apparently happened as an army patrol chased FNL rebels. "I've been told they had an engagement and four people were killed and a certain number wounded, but I don't know the details yet," he told AFP. "We don't know what happened exactly, but the residents accuse the military of systematically killing civilians even if they happen to be rebels," said Daniel Ndirahisha, administrator for the town of Isale, which includes Kwigere. The National Liberation Front (FNL), is the major rebel group which has yet to join the country's peace process, and is active in the west of the country near the capital where the population is almost exclusively Hutu. A FNL spokesman accused the military Sunday of burning hundreds of homes in eight villages outside of the capital, but Ntawembarira said there was no large-scale fighting in the area and he had reports of only several homes being burned. The main rebel group, the Front for Defense of Democracy (FDD), earlier this month initialled a peace deal and will join the transition government.

AFP 10 Nov 2003 Five dead in shelling attack on Burundi capital BUJUMBURA, Nov 10 (AFP) - At least five civilians were killed and another injured in an overnight mortar attack on Burundi's capital Bujumbura by rebels from the Hutu ethnic group, an army spokesman said Monday. The attack was claimed by the rebel National Liberation Forces (FNL), which has refused to take part in peace talks aimed at ending a 10-year civil war that has claimed more than 300,000 lives in the small central African state. "A number of shells fell on Bujumbura and we have already counted one death in Kiriri, four others in the Kamenge quarter and one injury in the Gihosha area," army spokesman Augustin Nzabampema told AFP. The renewed violence comes just a week after the country's main rebel group, the Forces for Defence of Democracy (FDD), agreed a peace deal in Pretoria which will see the group included in Burundian President Domitien Ndayizeye's transitional government. But the small but active FNL of Agaton Rwasa has continued military operations on the outskirts of Bujumbura, shelling the capital from hills overlooking the city to the east. "The army and the FDD are saying that they have chased us out of rural Bujumbura, it's a lie that we are denying through military action," FNL spokesman Pasteur Habimana said. "If the army sets fire to one more house in the hills or if the FDD rapes one more girl in rural Bujumbura we are going to come back down into the capital," he added. The civil war broke out in 1993 between rebels of Burundi's Hutu majority and the army dominated by minority Tutsis.

IRIN 11 Nov 2003 Nairobi Women and children continue to bear the brunt of human rights violations in Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where, despite some progress towards peace, rape is still being used as a weapon of war, and children are still being recruited to fight these wars, according to two new UN reports. The UN special rapporteur on human rights in Burundi, Marie-Therese Keita-Bocoum, said she had found no improvement in the situation of economic, social and cultural rights during the months of March through August, UN News reported. She urged the international community to encourage humanitarian organisations to support the protection and promotion of human rights, especially those of women and the Batwa people, often referred to as pygmies, who are widely discriminated against in the region. Keita-Bocoum called on the international community to support the UN-sponsored conference on peace, security and stability in Africa's Great Lakes region, saying its success would "undeniably have a positive impact on the human rights situation in Burundi and central Africa". However, she warned that continuing clashes in the region were serious obstacles. "A ceasefire and cessation of hostilities must be quickly established, first of all because the complete implementation of the peace agreements depend on them, and also so that war can no longer be used to justify gross human rights violations," she said. Meanwhile, in neighbouring DRC, genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes serve to "create a frightening picture of one of the most serious human rights situations in the world", according to the UN special rapporteur on human rights in the DRC, Iulia Motoc. She highlighted the country's northeastern Ituri District as a source of particular concern, where she warned that "without effective intervention by the international community, Ituri will be turned into a bloodbath", UN News reported. She said the efforts of the UN peacekeeping mission in the DRC, known as MONUC, to protect civilians in Ituri had been mostly insufficient, and that the civilian population remained in danger, UN News quoted her as saying. Motoc also raised the issue of "child sorcerers" - children accused of having mystical powers who suffer ill-treatment and even murder.

Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) 11 Nov 2003 - Violence and armed clashed increase in capital city Bujumbura Despite the signing of a Power Sharing agreement between the main Hutu armed group (CNDD-FDD) and the transitional government on 8 October in Pretoria, the political situation in Burundi remains uncertain, with many question marks remaining over still-unresolved though vital issues, reports JRS from Bujumbura. The power sharing deal includes details of the future shape and make-up of the armed forces and police, including the percentage allocation of officer corps and general staff positions, which will be shared out on a pre-agreed basis between the CNDD-FDD and the current transitional government. A similar arrangement was also worked out for the distribution of government ministerial posts and other influential political positions. However, several issues vital for the establishment of peace have not yet been tackled. On the one hand, the second most powerful Hutu armed group, FNL, remains outside the political peace process initiated in Arusha in 2000. Considered as the oldest and most radical armed group, FNL has been able to demonstrate its military strength on a number of occasions, including an attack on Bujumbura City in the second week of July 2003. The total absence of this group from the recent peace and power sharing agreements creates the risk of new and similar high-level attacks against the capital city, though no political alternative seems to have been offered to the FNL. In the last few days, fighting between the two main Hutu armed groups, CNDD-FDD and FNL, has affected the capital city, in particular the districts of Kamenge, Kinama (and most recently Kiriri). The most recent clashes between these two groups have taken place on almost a daily basis in Kamenge district, normally after sun down. The absence of an available political exit for FNL combined with the disproportionate level of military force suggests that a military solution is the course of action being pursued against FNL. Despite the increase in violence in the capital city, the signing of the 8 October agreement is starting to have a positive impact in other parts of Burundi. Both Government and CNDD-FDD leaders have been making concerted efforts to demonstrate to the international community that the security situation has improved as a result of the power sharing deal. CNDD -FDD forces are preparing to station their troops, a preliminary step to the demobilisation and integration of the former rebel soldiers into the new national army. The CNDD-FDD itself is expected to join the new government on 23 November. Other unresolved questions relate to the return of more than 600,000 Burundian citizens who are currently residing in refugee camps in neighbouring Tanzania. Access to land for this large group, should they return home, is an issue that the government has been slow to offer an adequate strategy or response to. The people of Burundi, who have suffered under the violence of years of civil war, have been slow to greet the news of a power sharing deal with outspoken optimism and hope. Promises broken following previous agreements have led the Burundian people to show caution and distrust towards hopes for a real and lasting peace. Ten years of war have completely ruined the Burundian economy. The state coffers are all but empty, the military effort having become an unbearable burden and drain, both for the Tutsi-dominated army and the CNDD-FDD. International pressure and economic breathlessness seem to be the main reasons that both sides have now decided to bring the long-running hostilities to an end. More than 300,000 people have been killed in Burundi since 1993, the majority of whom were civilians. War, poverty and the absence of funds to pay troops have also unleashed a lawless situation with total impunity onto much of the country, where civilians are systematically victims of looting, robbery and human rights violations at the hands of armed groups. The indifference shown by the international media towards this dramatic and cruel conflict and suffering, as well as towards a similar situation in neighbouring areas of North and South Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), is a serious cause for concern that must be addressed if the humanitarian crisis in the Great Lakes region is to be addressed.

IRIN 12 Nov 2003 Fighting displaces 12,000 civilians in Bujumbura BUJUMBURA, 12 November (IRIN) - Some 12,000 civilians have fled their homes in Burundi's western province of Bujumbura Rural following the latest fighting between the army and fighters loyal to rebel leader Agathon Rwasa, Governor Ignace Ntawembarira told IRIN on Wednesday. "These people fled their homes in the last one-and-a-half weeks and are now gathered at the [southern] commune of Mutambu near the hydroelectric dam of Mugere," he said. Others have sought refuge in nearby villages. The latest fighting in the province brings to at least 60,000 the number of people displaced since fighting in September between Rwasa's Force nationales de liberation (FNL) and the Burundian army, and between the FNL and the country's largest rebel movement, the Conseil national pour la defense de la democratie-Forces nationales pour la defense de la democratie (CNDD-FDD) faction led by Pierre Nkurunziza. Ntawembarira said that at least 40,000 people who fled fighting in September between the CNDD-FDD and the FNl were in the northern commune of Mubimbi. These people have not returned to their homes but they are regularly receiving food assistance from the UN World Food Programme. Ntawembarira said the displaced people in Mutambu needed urgent relief aid. "I think there are preparations to assist them but the administration is also planning their return home," he added. He said another 5,000 to 6,000 residents of Bugarama and Muhuta communes were still displaced since two-and-a-half weeks ago. An information officer at the WFP Burundi office, Karine Strebelle, told IRIN that WFP was in contact with Ntawembarira to see how to help the displaced in Mutambu Commune. She said the governor had submitted to WFP a list of 12,000 displaced people at Mutambu Commune, and that the agency had planned to distribute food to them at the beginning of the week but it had to be postponed because there were no local authorities to organise the distribution. "WFP will soon resume the planned food distribution," she said. Bujumbura Rural Province, said to be an FNL stronghold, has been the most war-affected region in the country since war broke out in 1993. Local residents are often displaced in fighting between the army and the rebels.

Comoros

AFP 27 Nov 2003 Comoros troops fire on protesters accused of trying to seize power Agence France Presse, 11/27/03 Comoran authorities alleged Thursday that protesters shot and wounded by troops in the capital Moroni were on their way to the office of the federal president to seize power. Fifteen people were injured, at least two of them seriously, on Wednesday when the troops opened fire on them as they marched in Moroni, capital of the three-island archipelago and main city on the largest island, Grande Comore. The Indian Ocean islands have been in political and economic crisis since 1997, when the two smaller islands, Anjouan and Moheli, unilaterally declared independence, despite a reconciliation process under which each of the three islands has become semi-autonomous. Abdou Soule Elbak, president of Grande Comore island, told AFP in Nairobi by telephone that he was leading a peaceful demonstration to protest the policies of the country's president, Colonel Azali Assoumani, when the troops opened fire. He said seven of the injured had suffered gunshot wounds. One of them, a 29-year-old woman, was shot in the head, while a 49-year-old man was in a coma. "I was walking in the first row, my hands crossed behind my head. The soldiers fired on innocent people," said Elbak, whose entourage said between 3,000 and 6,000 people took part in the march. But a spokesman for Azali told AFP that the protesters were marching on the federal president's office, where they intended to grab power. "Security services were informed that backers of the president of Grande Comore island wanted to march on the presidency of the union to seize power," said Mohamed Inoussa, referring to a statement issued late Wednesday by the defense and security ministry. The government "regretted that the situation should have taken such a bad turn", and called the shooting "an unfortunate event which left some 15 people injured," Inoussa said, quoting the statement. "But we avoided the worst," he said, before quoting the statement again as saying that federal government troops had opened fire "only after giving the usual warnings." France, the former colonial power, on Thursday voiced concern over the shooting. "We are worried about yesterday's (Wednesday's) events in Moroni. We call on all Comoran parties to show restraint ... and ask them to abstain from all provocation," foreign ministry spokesman Herve Ladsous told journalists in Paris. "It is now more important than ever that an agreement is quickly reached on holding legislative elections," he said, referring to long-delayed elections both for the union as a whole and for each of the islands. The Comoros, lying between the east coast of Africa and the island state of Madagascar, have a population of some 630,000, of whom some 250,000 live on Grande Comore. More than 85 percent of the people are Muslims, and the protest march was held after Eid el-Fitr ceremonies marking the end of Ramadan, the month of abstinence. The Comoros have been plagued by a score of coup attempts since independence from France in 1975. Azali, who came to power in a 1999 coup, was democratically elected president of the Comoros union last year, as were the presidents of the three semi-autonomous islands. The dispute between Elbak and Azali is over the distribution of powers -- notably over finance and internal security -- between the central government and the three islands under a new constitution adopted on December 23, 2001. Elbak said Thursday: "I had expressed (to the Eid rally) my regrets for my country, which is the victim of poverty and dictatorship, corruption and theft by the dignitaries of the Union's leadership," he said. The constitution came into effect 10 months after a national reconciliation pact, negotiated under the auspices of the Organisation of African Unity and the international association of French-speaking states in response to Anjouan's 1997 secession attempt. The legislative elections were to have been held by last December 23. Youssouf Said Soilihi, secretary general of the main island's presidency, warned: "If this conflict is not settled quickly, the people will demonstrate their discontent under a variety of forms, which is up to them." For his part the island's education minister, noting that an investigation had been announced, said "We know what that means," predicting arrests of Grande Comore officials, including ministers. .

Côte d'Ivoire

Reuters 31 Oct 2003 No newspapers on sale after youth gangs attack distribution vans ABIDJAN, 31 Oct 2003 (IRIN) - Cote d'Ivoire was without newspapers on Friday after the country's only distributor suspended operations following several attacks on its distribution vans by gangs of youths who seized opposition titles and burned them. Internal Security Minister Martin Bleou, who recently imposed a three-month ban on street demonstrations, appeared on state television at lunchtime on Friday to warn that certain un-named people were planning illegal marches and urged them to desist. He added that the government had learned of a plot to kill Cardinal Bernard Agrey, the head of the Roman Catholic archbishop of Cote d'Ivoire and other prominent personalities. A church spokesman said a statement would be issued on the threats on Saturday. The country's only newspaper distribution firm, Edipresse, said it had suspended the delivery of all newspapers following attacks on distribution vans in Cote d'Ivoire's commercial capital, Abidjan, and several towns in the interior on Thursday. "The [distribution of] newspapers has given rise to security incidents, so our sub-distributors have decided not to work today," the distribution manager of Edipresse, who gave his name as Assomolly, told IRIN. Vans had been seized in the southern towns of Gagnoa, San Pedro, Divo, Agboville and Adzope and in Abidjan's large working class suburb of Yopougon, he added. "We received written threats last night saying the sale of newspapers would be prevented in Abidjan, so this morning we decided not to distribute newspapers in Abidjan," Assomolly said. These attacks on Cote d'Ivoire's independent media by hardline militants who demand that President Laurent Gbagbo's take an uncompromising stand towards rebels occupying the north of the country came barely a week after a uniformed policeman shot dead a French radio journalist in central Abidjan. Jean Helene, the Cote d'Ivoire correspondent of Radio France Internationale, was shot in the head at point blank range while he was waiting outside the main police station in Abidjan to interview a group of detained opposition activists who were about to be released. His self-confessed killer has been arrested and charged with murder. Newspaper editors held a crisis meeting with Prime Minister Seydou Diarra on Friday to discuss the interruption of newspaper distribution, the latest blow to freedom of expression in this divided country which is in danger of slipping back into civil war. Assomolly said the directors of Edipresse were meeting with senior officials of the prime minister's office and the defence ministry to discuss measures to guarantee the safe distribution of newspapers. Media sources said the main titles targeted by the gangs of pro-Gbagbo youths were Le Patriote, 24 Heures, Le Liberal, Le Front, Le Jour and Nouveau Reveil. These are all close to the Rally of Republicans (RDR) opposition party of former prime minister Alassane Ouattara and the Democratic Party of Cote d'Ivoire (PDCI) of former president Henry Konan Bedie. Leading figures in Gbagbo's Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) party have accused the RDR of supporting rebels who have occupied the northern half of Cote d'Ivoire since the country erupted into civil war in September last year. The youths who attacked the newspaper distribution vans are widely believed to belong to the pro-Gbagbo "Young Patriot" militia groups, which have made repeated threats to stop Le Patriote newspaper from appearing in the past. Its journalists were recently banned from covering events at the presidency. However, Charles Legray, a senior figure in COJEP, one of the main groupings of Young Patriots, denied that his members were involved in Thursday's attacks on newspaper distribution vans. "We have not given any orders for this to be done," he told IRIN. But Legray added: "Remember that in December 2000, Le Patriote published a map of Cote d'Ivoire divided in two with a flag of Burkinabe Faso shown flying in the north. The reaction of these young people is a result of the way these various opposition newspapers handle the news." The rebels signed a peace agreement with Gbagbo in January and joined a broad-based government of national reconciliation in April, but pulled out on 23 September, alleging that the president was failing to implement the peace accord in full. On Thursday, presidents Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria and John Kufuor of Ghana paid a flying visit to Abidjan to press Gbagbo to urgently legislate reforms promised in the peace agreement in order to persuade the rebels to return to government and begin a delayed programme of disarmament.

IRIN 5 Nov 2003 Côte d'Ivoire: Main opposition party threatens to withdraw from government ABIDJAN, 5 November (IRIN) - The main opposition Democratic Party of Cote d'Ivoire (PDCI) has threatened to pull out of the government of national reconciliation established in January under the French-brokered Marcoussis peace accords. More than six weeks after the withdrawal of the new forces from the government of Prime Minister Seydou Diarra, the PDCI's Secretary-General, Alphonse Djedje Mady, called on PDCI ministers to be ready to suspend their activities. A source close to the Prime Minister's office said that the seven PDCI ministers had not been present at the last cabinet meeting on Tuesday. Djedje Mady told IRIN that the ministers were absent because they had been recalled for consultations with the PDCI's Political Bureau. In a televised statement on Tuesday, Djedje Mady denounced what he described as the terror of the Ivorian Popular Front (FPI), the party of President Laurent Gbagbo. He accused the FPI of carrying out flagrant abuses of human rights, threatening members of his party and incitement to murder. The last straw for the PDCI appears to have been the arrest and detention of Political Bureau member Alphonse Kobenan Kossonou, now accused of "attempted destabilisation, association with criminals and conspiracy". He was transferred to prison in Abidjan on Tuesday. Kossonou's arrest coincided with the detention of 11 activists from another opposition party, the Rally of Republicans (RDR), all of whom were subsequently released. Reacting to the PDCI's boycott threat, President Laurent Gbagbo said on national television on Tuesday: "Blackmail has become the principal way of life for certain political parties". For years the PDCI dominated the political landscape in Cote d'Ivoire, first under President Félix Houphouet-Boigny and then under his successor, Henri Konan Bedié. The party still has the biggest block in parliament, with 98 seats. But despite the party's strong warning about leaving the government, some observers believe the PDCI will stay in. The PDCI reportedly sent two of its senior members to Prime Minister Seydou Diarra to announce its withdrawal from the cabinet, but no such message was delivered. The Marcoussis accords brought together the ruling party, other political parties and rebels who control the north of the country, to create government of national unity. But the rebels pulled out of the government accusing Gbagbo of failing to delegate effective power to the ministers. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has arranged a meeting between the warring parties in Ghana next Tuesday to try and kick-start the stalled peace process.

Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) 10 Nov 2003 More Ivorians displaced by ethnic violence, as African leaders meet to save peace process Norway Website: http://www.idpproject.org GENEVA, 10 November 2003 ? Ethnic violence continues to force large numbers of Ivorians and immigrants from neighbouring countries to flee their homes, as West African leaders are meeting at a special summit in the Ghanaian capital Accra tomorrow in an attempt to rescue C?te d?Ivoire?s collapsing peace process. The western, government-held part of the country has seen most of the recent displacements, according to a report published by the Global IDP Project of the Norwegian Refugee Council today. A total of 500,000-800,000 people have been internally displaced by inter-ethnic violence and the fighting that erupted following a coup attempt by rebel groups in September 2002. ?Until the current deadlock in the Ivorian crisis is resolved, there is little prospect of improvement in the already miserable conditions for hundreds of thousands of displaced people?, concludes the report. C?te d?Ivoire?s large immigrant community, as well as internal migrants from the Muslim north have been among the main victims of forced displacement. Recently, migrants from other parts of the country have been targeted as well. In a typical pattern, the victims receive an ultimatum to leave their houses and are chased away under death threats by the local population while their property is being looted, says the report. The humanitarian situation of the displaced is alarming, says the study. Camps are overcrowded, and there is insufficient food supply and medical assistance. There has been little international attention to the plight of C?te d?Ivoire?s internally displaced people, and assistance provided by aid agencies is severely hampered by international funding shortfalls. The full report is available at www.idpproject.org. The Geneva-based Global IDP Project, established by the Norwegian Refugee Council at the request of the United Nations, is the leading international body monitoring internal displacement worldwide. .

IRIN 12 Nov 2003 Côte d'Ivoire: Rebels hint at secession after failure of Accra summit BOUAKE, 12 November (IRIN) - Rebels occupying the north of Cote d'Ivoire sent out mixed signals on Wednesday about how they intended to proceed following the failure of a West African summit to achieve a breakthrough in the country's deadlocked peace process. Louis-Andre Dakoury-Tabley, the deputy leader of the rebel movement, officially known as "The New Forces," said in a speech that nothing more could be expected of the French-brokered peace agreement signed in January and the rebels might consider establishing a separate state in the area under their control. However, an official statement issued at the end of a three-day Economic and Social Forum in the rebel capital Bouake, said: "The New Forces reiterate their total and unconditional adherence to the Marcoussis agreement." Dakoury-Tabley said in a speech to the closing session of the forum, that the meeting of Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo with six other West African heads of state in the Ghanaian capital Accra on Tuesday had been a failure, because Gbagbo had refused to make any of the concessions that the other leaders had demanded of him. "Accra III failed, not because of wishes of the heads of state of ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States), but because President Laurent Gbagbo was summoned by his peers and refused to give ground to them," the deputy secretary general of the New Forces said. "Those who talk about secession will from now on be right, because there is nothing more we can expect from the Marcoussis agreement," he added. The forum was called to discuss ways of making the rebel-held zone, which mainly comprises their poorer rural areas of Cote d'Ivoire, more economically self-sufficient. The north has been financially cut off from the rest of the country since civil war broke out in September last year. Officials at the presidency and the office of Prime Minister Seydou Diarra were not immediately available for comment on the outcome of Tuesday's summit in Accra. It was called to find a way of bringing the rebels back into the peace process. They walked out of Diarra's broad-based government of national reconciliation on 23 September in protest at what they called Gbagbo's refusal to implement in full the terms of the Linas-Marcoussis peace agreement and froze plans to disarm. In particular, the rebels protested at Gbagbo's refusal to delegate effective power to ministers in Diarra's coalition government.The issue has also caused tension between Diarra, a former civil servant and politically neutral figure, and the head of state.

AFP 26 Nov 2003 Ivorian president arrives for fence-mending visit to Burkina Faso Bobo Dioulasso, Agence France Presse, 11/26/03 Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo arrived Wednesday in southern Burkina Faso for talks with his Burkinabe counterpart Blaise Compaore amid easing tensions between the two west African neighbors. The pair went straight into talks at the airport in Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina Faso's second city just across Ivory Coast's northern border. Gbagbo was due to fly straight back to Abidjan after the meeting at around 1:00 pm (1300 GMT), according to an official program, which did not detail an agenda for the talks. It will be the two presidents' second meeting in as many weeks after they met on the sidelines of a summit on November 11 in Ghana focusing on the power struggle crippling Ivory Coast. In October, Ivorian elements had been accused of involvement in an alleged plot to overthrow the Ouagadougou government. Last year, Ivory Coast accused an outside power -- widely held to be Burkina Faso -- of being behind the September 2002 rebel uprising that plunged the world's top cocoa producer into 10 months of civil war. Compaore is said to have tremendous influence with the former Ivorian rebels who reached a peace agreement with Gbagbo's administration in January this year, but abandoned a unity government in September. The tensions between the neighbors have had important economic repercussions. Notably, thousands of tonnes of goods from landlocked Burkina Faso have sat at the port in the Ivorian economic capital Abidjan since the war erupted in September 2002. The land border between Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast, where some three million Burkinabe nationals were working before the war, reopened only in September this year. Compaore said on the eve of the summit in Accra that Ivorians "are our first brothers." He told an Ivorian daily: "We must advance together. That is our destiny. We cannot do otherwise." A member of the Ivorian delegation to the talks here told AFP that a planned visit to Mali later Wednesday to meet with President Amadou Toumani Toure had been called off and would be rescheduled.

DR Congo

IRIN 3 Nov 2003 Congo pledges to arrest Rwandan Hutu rebels KIGALI, 3 Nov 2003 (IRIN) - The government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo has vowed to root out Rwandan Hutu rebels in eastern Congo in a bid to normalise relations between the two countries. "We need to open a new chapter in terms of relations between our two countries," Mbusa Nyamwisi, the Congolese minister for regional cooperation, announced on Friday in the Rwandan capital, Kigali. "The Interahamwe [Rwandan Hutu militia] are equally a greater problem for the DRC that we do not need now. They are in fact at the moment more of a serious problem for the DRC than Rwanda itself," he added. Before joining the transitional government of national unity installed in June in the DRC capital, Kinshasa, Nyamwisi was a leader of Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie-Mouvement de liberation (RCD-ML), which in the past had been accused by Rwandan authorities of recruiting the Hutu rebels into the rebel group's headquartered in Beni town, eastern Congo. Nyamwisi denied that Rwandan Hutu rebels had been part of RCD-ML. He was in Kigali to deliver a message from Congolese President Joseph Kabila on the two countries normalising their relations. Regarding allegations that Rwandan troops were present in the Congo, Nyamwisi could neither deny nor confirm the claims. "I am not here to make any allegations. It's not my role to accuse Rwanda," he told reporters. Human rights groups and NGOs operating in eastern Congo have reported that Rwanda has continued to maintain troops in the Congo. But Rwanda has denied the claims, terming them fabrications not based on credible evidence and aimed at sabotaging reconciliation between the two nations. As the Congolese government expressed commitment to dealing with the Interahamwe, Rwanda also dropped its long-held claim that Kinshasa was still supporting the armed Hutu extremists responsible for the country's 1994 genocide. Nyamwisi's visit to Kigali follows that of Rwandan Foreign Minister Charles Muligande to Kinsahasa last week. Muligande also expressed optimism that the Congolese government was now serious about disarming the Rwandan Hutu extremists in its territory.

The Nation (Nairobi) 3 Nov 2003 Lawyer Out to Battle Looting of the Congo Chege Mbitiru Nairobi An Argentine lawyer has an idea that's so good it sounds crazy. But then thoughts once considered on verge of insanity turned out to be sprouts of genius. Luis Moreno Ocampo has some consolation. Mr. Ocampo isn't an ordinary lawyer. He's International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor. Back home he was involved during the 1980s in the prosecution of Argentina's military junta for crimes committed in that country's "dirty war", as if there ever was a clean one. The war was mostly one-sided. Government agents used, with impunity, all manners of human rights abuses, including torture, abduction, rape, murder and whatever tactic suited their whims in annihilating real and imagined enemies of the state. Now Mr. Ocampo isn't planning just to go after murderers, rapists and abductors. He's also after money people and their friends. According to Reuters news agency, Mr. Ocampo says foreigners who bought "blood diamonds" from the Democratic Republic of Congo could be charged with complicity in war crimes and genocide. "Follow the trail of money and you will find the criminals. If you stop the money then you stop the crime," Mr. Ocampo says. Pillage has accompanied wars from time immemorial. After all, fighting is over tangibles. Modern states hypocritically talk about protecting "national interests". They actually mean grabbing goodies other countries own. During World War II the Japanese didn't cause mayhem in the Far East and South East Asia solely for the love of Emperor. The Nazis didn't devastate Europe because they so much adored the Fuhrer. Much earlier Americans didn't all but wipe out Native Americans and buffaloes for sport. Pillage enthralled British monarch's so much that War Knights are beyond counting. Examples are as old as the human race. Mr. Ocampo says he's gathering information from prosecutors in countries where money people bought DRC blood diamonds. "This is the most important case since World War II," he said. That might turn out to be an understatement. Lawyers have a habit of whirling legal tentacles. Once he opens the floodgate, the list of blood commodities in the DRC will lengthen. Add other nations that have recently experienced armed conflict and legal hydras pop. Last week the United Nations gave Mr. Ocampo a helping hand. A UN panel investigating the plunder of gems and minerals produced a final report. It named 125 companies and individuals involved in the plunder of the DRC. The report noted "illegal exploitation remains one of the main sources of funding for groups involved in perpetuating conflict." Establish legality or illegality in a country where thugs totting all manner of weapons roam is tricky. Some human-caring groups have a plausible explanation. They include Human Rights Watch, Friends of the Earth, Oxfam and the International Human Rights Law Group. They argue some multinationals have developed networks of political, military and business elites to acquire the resources. The reasoning is that these networks are conduits of the goods, the money and weapons. Hence complicity. These groups can't be dismissed. Were they mere self-serving do-gooders, the Paris-based Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) wouldn't have issued guidelines on how multinationals should have behaved in the DRC. That business groups and political friends have engineered conflicts and wars for profit isn't news. That these interests have not only prospered but also remained unpunished is as much of a fact as daylight and darkness. So far there has been no machinery to say: Stop or else. A year ago the Worldwatch Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based research outfit issued a report on conflicts directly linked to commodities in various parts of the world. Figures of the estimated value weren't peanut. The author of the report said, and this is what will cause Mr. Ocampo real trouble, companies and nations that benefit from conflict-related supplies turn a blind eye. Consumers of goods derived from these commodities don't even know blood flowed. Examples of obstacles Mr. Ocampo faces already exist. The United States wishes his court would vanish in the Bermuda Triangle. The DRC report detailed how money accrued bought arms. That remains confidential. Some UN bureaucrats had a hand in the classification. The money people and political friends weren't just sipping whisky. Mr. Ocampo is unlikely to get a conviction in his lifetime. But the world wouldn't moan if some day it could be established in court that the likes of President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair concocted evidence just so their cronies might get a piece of Iraqi pie. Mr Mbitiru, a freelance journalist, is a former 'Sunday Nation' Managing editor

Reuters 4 Nov 2003 Quiet market unsettles locals in murky Congo peace By Nicholas Shaxson BRAZZAVILLE (Reuters) - The men in dreadlocks are missing from the normally busy level-crossing next to the main railway station in Brazzaville, and some locals are worried. The crossing in Congo Republic's capital is usually crowded with long-haired former rebels who arrive by train to sell products from their homes in the forested Pool region -- a volatile zone gripped by years of war. "When they are absent there is tension in Pool," said a local resident. "It is a worrying sign when this happens." Just a few days later, a gun battle between soldiers and rebels broke out on the rail line from Brazzaville to the coastal oil town of Pointe Noire, leaving 13 dead. The rebels, who call themselves "Ninjas" after Japanese warriors glamorised by Hollywood, agreed a peace deal in March but it now seems stuck -- a worrying prospect in this oil-rich central African nation ravaged by a brutal 1997 civil war. Sub-Saharan Africa's fourth biggest oil producer has seen sporadic explosions of violence since independence from France in 1960, including the war in which tens of thousands were killed and nearly a million displaced. The March agreement, effectively a restatement of a 1999 deal to end the civil war, calls on the Ninjas to disarm and reintegrate into the army and civilian life. An August amnesty cleared the way for the fighters to do just that, but although some have started to disarm, many remain in the dense Pool forests. Their leader, renegade pastor Frederic Ntoumi, has yet to come to Brazzaville as promised. He has cited security arrangements and other logistical problems for the delay. "Everyone is waiting for the next step: for Ntoumi to come here, and for disarmament," said Martin Merkelbach, head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). "The longer this ambiguous situation goes on, the greater the chance things can go wrong." SHADOWY FORCES AT WORK Humanitarian organisations including the ICRC and Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) returned gingerly to Pool this year, along with several thousand civilians who fled earlier phases of fighting. The flow of people has slowed recently. "Armed forces and rebels are cohabiting in Pool," Merkelbach said. "For the humanitarian organisations and for the civilian population this is a very uncomfortable situation." Congo's conflict is rooted in a long power-struggle between the more densely populated agricultural south and President Denis Sassou Nguesso's north, a land of hunters and fighters. Sassou came to power as Marxist ruler in 1979. He lost elections in 1992 but seized power with the help of Angolan troops in the 1997 war, ousting President Pascal Lissouba and Prime Minister Bernard Kolelas. The deposed leaders are now in exile and have been condemned to death in their absence by a Congolese court. The Ninjas were originally loyal to Kolelas. Many locals and some diplomats believe hardliners in government are keen to stir up clashes in the Pool to divide the opposition and consolidate their influence in the clique-ridden upper echelons of power. Observers say the aim is to divide and rule by splitting opposition support between Kolelas, who is seen as the biggest threat to Sassou, and the renegade Ntoumi. "The people in power want to divide the Pool, against Kolelas," said Christian Mounzeo of the Congolese Observatory of Human Rights. The Lari people in Pool share ethnic links with Brazzaville's crowded southern suburbs, where Kolelas is popular -- so the two leaders are competing for similar support. Jacques Mouandapassi, a senior opposition spokesman, said this divide-and-rule policy was a key reason why Ntoumi was still active, despite having weak military forces. "Ntoumi was put in place, even if he is not exactly controlled by those in power," he said. "It is complex but one thing is sure: Ntoumi was fabricated by those in power, to make people forget Kolelas". And some analysts say this is a risky strategy. "The government is not doing anything in depth to deal with the problem of the Pool," said one diplomat, who declined to be named. "You have the Ninjas and the military living with each other...There could be a clash which could degenerate."

BBC 5 November, 2003, Rape legacy of DR Congo conflict This 12-year-old is trying to get over her ordeal by going to school The massive scale of rape in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo is being uncovered, aid agencies say. "We have never come across as many victims of rape in a conflict situation," said a spokeswoman for the World Food Programme (WFP). Christiane Berthiaume said that thousands of women were going to health centres to receive treatment. After four years of war, the situation in DR Congo is improving, allowing aid workers further into rebel-held areas. According to WFP, doctors in the eastern city of Bukavu, near the border with Rwanda, are treating 150 new cases a month and the numbers are growing. 'Tortured' For each victim who sought treatment, often for severe internal wounds, aid workers estimated that there were 30 more women or young girls who had been raped, Ms Berthiaume said. "There are women, girls, as young as five and as old as 80, who have been systematically raped several times, tortured and injured by firearms." With fighting now decreasing in the North and South Kivu provinces, the World Food Programme said it had access to areas which were too dangerous to enter earlier. The two provinces border Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi, all of which were involved in DR Congo's war. The situation was said to be mirrored in other eastern towns. However, UN humanitarian affairs officials reported that fighting had resumed in parts of South Kivu province, displacing thousands of civilians. A UN mission is monitoring the ceasefire agreement under the peace process set up in April, ending a war that drew in half a dozen African countries at its height and claimed an estimated 2.5 million lives. Despite the establishment of an interim government in July, armed groups still roam across parts of eastern DR Congo.

WP 5 Nov 2003 Congo Practices A Wary Peace Former Enemies, Still Fearful, Try to Move Country Forward By Emily Wax Washington Post Foreign Service Wednesday, November 5, 2003; Page A19 KINSHASA, Congo -- One of Congo's new vice presidents, Jean-Pierre Bemba, keeps a helicopter on his front lawn in case the former Ugandan-backed rebel leader has to make a quick getaway from an assassination attempt. Another vice president, Azarias Ruberwa, the former leader of the Rwandan-backed rebel group and once the most despised man in Kinshasa, has young rebels armed with guns and binoculars peering out from his riverside office when they aren't wandering the neighborhood in faded T-shirts emblazoned with their leader's face. The two other vice presidents have their security quirks, too. They have to, they say, to stay alive during a peace process that has everyone afraid of war. No one can be cautious enough, in a country with four vice presidents, 60 ministers, 620 legislators and at least a dozen armed groups and factions all forming a two-year power-sharing government that brings enemies together. "In Africa, we say there is no room for two male crocodiles to live in the same place. Well, now as the situation stands, we have five male crocodiles -- including the president -- sharing the same swamp," said Arthur Z'Ahidi Ngoma, a vice president from an unarmed political opposition group. Earlier this year, two other vice presidents wanted him removed from the government. "I would, to be honest, call it a Congolese miracle that we are all committed to coexisting," he said, sitting in his home in the capital, with bodyguards roaming nearby. "Even if some of us wanted to see the others dead at certain points." This is the unwieldy theater of one of Africa's toughest peace deals. Yet it is clearly one of high stakes that could set the Democratic Republic of Congo, potentially Africa's richest country, on a path to peace and a prosperity for its 55 million people, who have attempted little more than survival for decades. The latest round in Congo's violent history was a five-year regional war that took an estimated 3.3 million to 4.1 million lives, mostly from disease and hunger, in a human catastrophe fought largely outside the view of the West. Pockets of fighting continue, and the country must form an army out of enemy fighters. But never before has there been this much hope for a lasting peace in the country formerly known as Zaire. It is in this atmosphere that President Joseph Kabila is visiting the United States this week, talking with World Bank officials and meeting with President Bush on Wednesday. Diplomats say he hopes to benefit from the pressure of the international spotlight. "Are we out of the woods yet? No. But we are headed to the savanna," Kabila said last week in an interview at the presidential palace here in Kinshasa. "This is quite an important moment. We are turning the page on a very dark chapter. It has given hope after 40 years of misrule. The process of unification is underway. People who at different times were shooting at each other on the front lines, who each believed they had their own kingdom, are now sitting together." But the complexity of making peace a reality in this vast country is a uniquely Congolese drama, he said. "We have been in more or less a confused state throughout modern history, with a century of abuse and foreign powers launching unjust wars on the Congolese people. Everyone all along has taken Congo's resources," said Kabila, 32, a soldier who came to power after the assassination of his father, President Laurent Kabila, two years ago. This central African nation is rich in diamonds, gold, coltan, cobalt and other minerals. After a period of rule by the Belgians, who were criticized for exploiting Congo's resources, the dictator Mobutu Sese Seko continued to squander the country's minerals for personal gain. Laurent Kabila overthrew Mobutu in 1997, and civil war erupted a year later. Rwanda invaded, saying Kabila was protecting Hutu fighters responsible for the 1994 genocide of some 800,000 Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus in Rwanda. Those fighters fled across the border into eastern Congo. Angola, Zimbabwe and Namibia entered the conflict on the side of the Congolese government. Rwanda and Uganda joined forces to help rebels trying to seize power, but their cooperation soon disintegrated into a contest for control of the minerals of the northeast, fought largely by their local proxies. The plundering is reportedly continuing. Human rights groups say that the Rwandan government has permitted polishing plants to be set up in Kigali, the Rwandan capital, for diamonds taken from Congo. Recent reports say Rwandan troops have been reentering the country after withdrawing a year ago. Rwanda has been silent on the allegations. "To be very frank, a key issue in peace in the Congo is getting foreign-backed armed groups out of this country," said Lt. Col. Subhash Yadav of the U.N. peacekeeping mission here. After a failed mission in Bunia, the capital of Ituri province in eastern Congo where ethnic fighting in June led to thousands of deaths, the peacekeeping force added 2,000 troops and beefed up its mandate. Called the Mission of the Organization of the United Nations in Congo and now numbering 10,800, it has the right to use military force in response to any threat to peace. Pakistani-led peacekeepers in still-volatile Ituri province have recently been firing back, and this and similar actions by peacekeepers have served to slow the fighting. Standing before a map in Bukavu, an eastern city near the Rwandan border, Yadav admitted there were still areas that the peacekeepers were not reaching, and gave a snapshot of his organization's successes and problem areas. "There is still a lot of human suffering," he said. "There are still places where armed groups are operating, and all you see in a village are children and old people without even clothing." The task of uniting the vast country under a central government is daunting. Some regions haven't been visited by a government minister in 20 years. Information Minister Vital Kamerhe made a visit to the eastern town of Kindu -- the first by a central government official since the 1980s. He drew thousands of shocked residents when he distributed new radio transmitters to relay broadcasts of the government-owned station. Kamerhe has presented transmitters to towns throughout the east, the cradle of the civil war. For more than a decade, residents of the interior could not listen to the capital's radio station. The radios may help psychologically, but leaders hope they will also aid in preparing the country for elections in two years. The last time this nation voted was 1960. In Kabila's offices, the BBC news plays on a television and photos of every Congolese leader except Mobutu hang on the wall. The younger Kabila, who has been largely credited with cementing the peace process, says the Congolese people deserve a chance to vote. "I'm determined to have elections, whether there are roads or rain," Kabila said. "I think it's a pretty legitimate demand of the people at this point." Meanwhile, ordinary Congolese are in patriotic limbo. Moussa Bahiti stood on a street corner in the eastern town of Goma, more than a thousand miles from Kinshasa. He said he was a tax collector for the central government years ago but had not worked since the war began. Still, he proudly wore an orange shirt printed with swirling maps of the country, names of various rebels groups and the title "La Reunification." "The war is complete. I am Congolese. Slowly, slowly, the country is one," Bahiti said. "From Goma to Kinshasa, the country is uniting. I believe in it working out this time. Maybe. I hope."

AFP 6 Nov 2003 UN rights expert adds to alarm over rapes in eastern DR Congo, GENEVA, Nov 6 A UN human rights expert on Thursday said she was deeply concerned about a flare-up of fighting in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, adding to growing alarm over the horrific scale of rapes in the region. Iulia Motoc, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights for DRC, warned in a statement women and children were particularly at risk following recent clashes between the tribal Mai-Mai warriors and Rwandan rebels in South Kivu province. "Women and children are more and more the targets of attacks by militia. Sexual violence against them continues on a large scale and has reached a very alarming level," she said in a statement released by the UN human rights office. On Tuesday, the UN's World Food Programme (WFP) said thousands of women had come forward for medical help since aid workers moved deeper into rebel-held areas made accessible in recent months as the peace process in DRC took hold. "We have never come across as many victims of rape in a conflict situation as we have now," said Christiane Berthiaume, a spokeswoman for WFP. Motoc indicated that sexual violence was a crime that could be prosecuted by the recently-formed International Criminal Court. A UN mission is monitoring the ceasefire agreement under the peace process set up in April in DRC, ending a war that drew in half a dozen African countries at its height and claimed an estimated 2.5 million lives. But the east of DRC is overrun by a mass of armed groups and there has been sporadic fighting in northeastern DRC despite the establishment of an interim government in July. Motoc said thousands of people had been forced out of their homes and were in a "very precarious" humanitarian situation following the flare-up in fighting in the Mwenga region last week.

Ethiopia

News 24 SA 13 Nov 2003 'Red Terror' death sentence Addis Ababa - An Ethiopian high court has sentenced to death a former military officer for his role in the killing of 13 inmates and the torture of 51 during the dictatorship of Mengistu Haile Mariam more than two decades ago, a court source said on Thursday. Solomon Yimsegan, chairperson of a revolutionary guard squad in Addis Ababa during Mengistu's "Red Terror" period that followed the overthrow of emperor Haile Selassie, was sentenced to death late on Wednesday for crimes committed between 1977 and 1979. Mengistu, who faces charges of genocide and crimes against humanity, is currently in exile in Zimbabwe. The presiding judge who sentenced Solomon to death said the killing and torture of the inmates had been a "premeditated and brutal act." Ethiopia has since 1994 been conducting trials of people accused of genocide and crimes against humanity, particularly during the Red Terror period, when tens of thousands of Ethiopians were killed or disappeared. Nearly 5 200 former soldiers and communist activists are due to be tried by the courts. Around 2 200 are currently in prison in Ethiopia but several of the key accused are to be or have been tried in absentia. Mengistu, who has lived in Zimbabwe since fleeing in 1991, was convicted in absentia. The Red Terror trials are due to be concluded next year, according to the Ethiopian judiciary.

Ghana

AFP 4 Nov 2003 ACCRA Ghanaian opposition denounces ICC immunity deal with US Ghanaian opposition politicians Tuesday decried the ratification by parliament last week of a deal with the United States to protect US citizens here from prosecution by the International Criminal Court (ICC). "We feel disappointed that government is yielding to the US because of the financial inducement being offered," parliamentary minority leader Alban Bagbin said in reaction to the 101-53 vote to ratify the controversial accord last Thursday. Noting that Ghana was the second African country to sign and ratify the 1998 Rome treaty establishing the ICC, whose vice president Akua Kuenyehia is a Ghanaian, Bagbin said it was "the hallmark of double standards for Ghana to ... turn around to ratify an agreement that obviously undermines the integrity of the court." The small opposition Socialist Forum of Ghana also slammed the vote, accusing the ruling New Patriotic Party of having a "slavish mentality" while noting that Ghana does not receive much aid from the United States. "The total value of military support that the US might withhold if we refused to sign the impunity agreement is a paltry four million dollars," the forum said in a statement. The United States cut off military aid to 38 countries that refused to sign an accord known as a Bilateral Non-Surrender Agreement (BNSA) that effectively grants US citizens immunity from ICC jurisdiction. The ICC prosecutes charges of war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity, with liability for such crimes beginning from July 2002. Washington fears the court could become a forum for politically motivated prosecutions of US citizens, especially soldiers deployed abroad, and has been on a worldwide campaign to sign bilateral immunity deals. On Saturday the United States lifted sanctions against Ghana and six other countries -- Antigua and Barbuda, Botswana, East Timor, Malawi, Nigeria and Uganda -- that had finalized such agreements. Ghana agreed to the BNSA, subject to parliamentary approval, in July, becoming the 24th African country to do so. Thursday's vote was held, following a heated debate, because a parliamentary sub-committee had failed to reach a consensus. Foreign Minister Nana Akufo-Addo told AFP on Tuesday that the accord was in Ghanas national interest, adding that the agreement does not prevent Ghana from prosecuting any individual on its soil for such crimes.

Kenya

East African Standard (Nairobi) 2 Nov 2003 BOOK REVIEW Koigi Lays Bare the Monster of Negative Ethnicity Dennis Onyango Nairobi Koigi wa Wamwere is brutally honest in his latest book, Negative Ethnicity; From Bias to Genocide. In 200 pages, the Subukia MP tackles the monster of tribe with the cold detachment of an intellectual and the emotional engagement of a victim and witness to the curse. He goes deeper than other writers who have tried to capture how complex, real and intricate ethnicity is in the affairs of African nations. Negative Ethnicity goes deeper than David Lamb's The Africans or Blaine Harden's Dispatches from a Fragile Continent. For Wamwere, negative ethnicity is a monster, a tragedy that is already happening and a matter of life and death. He comes close to Chinua Achebe's treatment of the subject in The Trouble With Nigeria. But Wamwere has covered wider ground on the havoc negative ethnicity is wreaking on Africa, quoting numerous cases. Wamwere stops short of calling for a government policy on ethnicity that will define the role the tribe is expected to play in national politics. Readers will be tempted to agree that the writer should have gone out of his way to ask for a Ministry of Tribes or Ethnic Affairs. Nothing ruins national politics and governance like ethnicity, even if it is being used only as an excuse. It is a monster that sullied Kenyatta's reign and killed his relationship with his one-time defender Jaramogi Oginga Odinga. It caused the ethnic cleansing in the Rift Valley and at the Coast and nobody yet knows how ethnicity will fare in Kibaki's regime. But the signs are already there that ethnicity will play in this regime the roles it played in those of Kenyatta and Moi. Wamwere's hatred for negative ethnicity comes to the fore in this work, and he wants something done about it before it consumes Kenya. Ironically, in national politics, Wamwere is accused of perpetrating this monstrosity. In theory, there is no tribalist in Kenya. In practice, ethnic chauvinists have been the key men of Kenya's two past regimes. But there is no doubt that Wamwere has researched on and understands the psychology of negative ethnicity. "Negative ethnicity says that only we are perfect. Those who are different from us culturally and linguistically are less human than we are. They are our enemies and we are entitled to enslave, exploit and destroy them if they resist." Language plays a great role in perpetuating negative ethnicity, Wamwere says. Kikuyu tribalists call the Luo Kihii or uncircumcised boys. The Luo on their part call the Kikuyus Jamwa, which he says is derogatory as it means uncivilised or unpolished. The writer recalls that during the 1992 elections, most Kikuyu voters denied Jaramogi Odinga votes because he was believed to be uncircumcised. Animal images have been used across the continent to justify ethnically-driven actions, he says. Other tribes are referred to as nyoka (snakes), a characterisation, he says, played a major role in the ethnic cleansing of 1992 in the Rift Valley. "In the idiom of negative ethnicity, to be a snake is to deserve destruction. A snake need not bite, or even look about to strike, to deserve its fate. It is dangerous. It must die." The murder of its children is justified by the saying mtoto wa nyoka ni nyoka (a snake's offspring is a snake). "Kill the children before they grow, smash the egg before it hatches." "Any name provoking fear, stirring the desire to destroy and justify the death of the other, is used: hyena, rat, snake, lice and cockroach." Sometimes these negative images get so intertwined with reality that they become part of the everyday worldview that communities use without a sense of guilt. Negative ethnicity gets tricky when a threatened leader turns to his tribe to retain power. Wamwere confesses coming face-to-face with it in 1969. That year, Kenyatta's Government allegedly assassinated its own minister, Tom Mboya. Suddenly, the Kikuyu were being called upon to protect their Government from the Luo. The writer recalls queuing in Kairu Village to take an oath that was being administered on the Kikuyu, binding them to protect "their" Government. He asked a young school girl waiting in line why they had to take the oath. "Because we must protect the Government of black people," the girl replied. "Protect it from whom?" Wamwere asked. "Luo people," the girl replied. Asked whether she knew that the Luo were black, she asked, "Are they?" He says Kenyatta came to power as a popular democrat, but died as an ethnic despot. He details how Kenyatta resorted to negative ethnicity to discredit Odinga who had resigned as his deputy because of his disappointment with him. Wamwere writes: "Without Moi in power, Kenya has an extraordinary opportunity to root out this disease from the heart and body of the country. The fate of Kenya is in its own hands." I disagree. Kenya's fate is in the hands of its politicians.

Liberia

AFP 3 Nov 2003 Fighting erupts in northeastern Liberia MONROVIA, Nov 3 (AFP) - Rebels have overrun a string of towns and villages in northeastern Liberia on the border with Ivory Coast, leaving scores of people killed or wounded, the defense ministry said here Monday. The rebels are also setting fire to villages in Nimba county, near the stronghold of the rebel Movement for Democracy in Liberia (MODEL). A MODEL legislator in the transitional government installed in mid-October denied the group's involvement in the fresh fighting, the latest unrest to erupt despite an August 18 peace accord. News reports last week said the son of exiled former president Charles Taylor and the former deputy commander of the Liberian military were in Ukraine negotiating for arms to launch a fresh attack from Ivorian territory. The United Nations, which confirmed the reported fighting, has dispatched a fact-finding mission to the area. Meanwhile, peacekeepers Sunday arrested five rebels of the main Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) as they ferried a huge cache of arms into Gardnersville, a former stronghold of militia loyal to Taylor. Clashes have erupted sporadically in Liberia since the August power-sharing agreement to help ensure lasting peace in the west African state, which has been ravaged by two civil wars in the last 14 years.

Reuters 4 Nov 2003 UN gives Liberia's warring factions ultimatum By Alphonso Toweh MONROVIA (Reuters) - The United Nations on Tuesday ordered rebels and government fighters to pull back from a volatile frontline in the north of Liberia and end clashes that have threatened a fragile peace deal. "They have been given 48 hours to pull back to the various positions they were in," Margaret Novicki, a UN spokeswoman in Monrovia, said. Reports of fierce clashes in Nimba -- far from the thousands of UN peacekeepers deployed around the capital, Monrovia -- have cast doubt on a peace deal meant to end 14 years of war. The ultimatum came after a UN mission flew to northern Nimba county to check reports of fighting between Liberia's smaller rebel group, known as Model, and government soldiers. The mission met with the commanders of the warring factions. Novicki did not say what would happen if the fighters did not move back before the deadline expired. She said Model had been asked to retreat to Tappita, a town near the border with Ivory Coast, while government soldiers had been asked to withdraw to Saclapea, further north. A UN mission will visit the area again on Thursday. Earlier, military officials said the towns of Gray, Tappita and Kpetuo had been attacked by Model. After former warlord Charles Taylor stepped down as Liberia's president in August, the warring factions agreed to lay down their arms and form a power-sharing government meant to shepherd the country to elections in two years. Although security is returning to Monrovia, thousands of armed fighters, including many child soldiers, still roam Liberia's lawless interior, looting at will. All sides have accused each other of violating the peace deal. A VHF radio operator in contact with people in Nimba, which was a traditional stronghold for Taylor, said attacks were reported on Tuesday morning. "The Model team is using heavy weapons to destroy the cities. Most of the people in the areas have fled the towns," the operator told Reuters. Model and the larger rebel Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) still control swathes of the country, which was founded by freed American slaves. The UN force is due to reach 15,000 to become the world body's biggest mission since one that ended war in nearby Sierra Leone.

Africa News 7 Nov 2003 War Crimes Charges Hang Over Warring Parties, The NEWS There are indications that violators of the Accra Agreement would face the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the future. United Nations Under Secretary General Jacques Klein reminded belligerent parties that events in Nimba County where skirmishes between militias of the former Government and rebels of the Movement of Democracy In Liberia (MODEL) have been taking place may be a recipe to face the ICC in the future. Ambassador Klein statement was contained in a release issued Thursday in which he warned that "all those who continue to commit atrocities, as defined under the ICC statute, will accordingly be liable to face future prosecution." The UNMIL called on leaders of warring parties to honor their obligations under the comprehensive Peace Agreement and the Ceasefire Agreement, restrain their ground commanders and cease further hostilities. Ambassador Klein said he was concerned and dismayed over reports of skirmishes between warring parties in northern Liberia and the atrocities committed by combatants against civilians in Nimba, saying, "those actions must be condemned in the strongest term." He pointed out that recent skirmishes constitute grave violations of the Ceasefire Agreement of June 17, 2003, and the comprehensive Accra Agreement signed by all parties in Accra, Ghana. According to the statement, the UN Under Secretary General explained that since the outbreak of those hostilities, UNMIL patrols visited the area on November 2 and 3 to assess the situation. The statement said on November 4, a joint investigation team led by UNMIL and including the Ministers of Defense and Justice-designate and representative of MODEL visited Tapeta and Saclapea in Nimba at which time it was clear that the fighting was between militias of the former government and rebels of MODEL. Ambassador Klein said the UNMIL team made it clear to the MODEL fighters on the ground - who were on the offensive toward saclapea - to cease and withdraw to their base in Tapeta while militias of the former Government were told to disengage and remain in their Saclepea position. "I also want to state that those atrocities being committed against civilians constitute WAR Crimes for which all perpetrators will be held accountable, since there is no amnesty for such crimes, the UN envoy warned.

AFP 12 Nov 2003 UN quells new fighting in eastern Liberia MONROVIA, Nov 12 (AFP) - UN peacekeepers in eastern Liberia have quelled new fighting between rebels and militias loyal to former president Charles Taylor, the United Nations said Wednesday. Abou Moussa, deputy commander of the UN Mission to Liberia (UNMIL), told reporters that fighting in the port city of Buchanan, some 90 kilometers (55 miles) down the west African country's Atlantic coast from Monrovia, erupted Tuesday between the militia and the Movement for Democracy in Liberia (MODEL). The fighters commandeered several UN vehicles but they have since been returned, Moussa told a regular press briefing. MODEL, the country's second largest former rebel group, has a stronghold in the southeast of Liberia, which is seeking to emerge from two successive civil wars over the past 14 years. Despite a power-sharing agreement signed in the Ghanaian capital Accra on August 18, sporadic clashes continue between rebels and the militias. Taylor stood down as president on August 11 under international pressure, taking asylum in Nigeria, although he is still thought to be in contact with sympathetic elements in Liberia. The power-sharing pact, which set up an interim government led by businessman Gyude Bryant that is to lead the country to elections in 2005, gave positions to rebels and members of Taylor's government, the political opposition and civil society. Moussa called on all parties in the conflict to honor the peace, warning that ceasefire violations "will not be tolerated." "The former government of Liberia and (rebel groups) are all participating in the transitional government," he said. "It is time they put their act together in the interest of Liberia." Newly installed UNMIL police commissioner Mark Croker, meanwhile, told reporters Wednesday that a small group of officers from Jordan, Bangladesh, Turkey and Norway were already in the country laying the groundwork for a UN police force to eventually number 1,115. The civilian police force, to number 100 by the end of the year, is to "provide the support necessary to build a resourceful, fully functioning police service, national in scope, community-based, with sound leadership," he said. "They will be trained and so well-equipped that all Liberians will be happy with them." The United Nations is due on December 7 to begin a disarmament, demobilization, rehabilitation and reintegration program in Liberia at three sites in areas now under UN control.

Kenya

East African Standard (Nairobi) 15 Nov 2003 Churches Unite to Make Schools Safer Ken Ramani Nairobi Churches have initiated a project that will ensure safety in learning institutions across Sub-Saharan Africa. The Schools Safety Zone (SSZ) , an initiative of the Church World Service (CWS), offers conceptual and programatic frameworks for implementing the resolve of the African ecumenical leadership and responding to calls made by regional and international organisations concerning children. The New York-based CWS has incorporated Kenyan churches of different denominations in the effort to ensure conducive learning environment in schools. The initiative also involves the Ministry of Education, Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) and National Agency for the Campaign Against Drug Abuse (Nacada), Undugu Society, Women's networks, and the Ministry of Home Affairs. Speaking at the SSZ stakeholders' forum at a Nairobi hotel yesterday, Education Minister, Prof George Saitoti said the initiative will provide an opportunity for all to work together to enhance and close the gaps in education. He said the initiative addresses factors that militate against access to education and thus safe learning environment in institutions. Saitoti noted that unrest and strikes in schools, as well as incidences of drug abuse are clear indications of inappropriate learning environments. "Any learning institution that shows signs of these factors becomes an unsafe learning zone," said Saitoti. He told the forum that his ministry was making every effort to streamline student discipline and address problems of insecurity in schools through various interventions. The CWS project co-ordinator in Eastern Africa, Ms Jane Machira says the idea is an invitation to a meaningful multi-sector partnership among those who have a stake in Africa to invest in its future. It is hoped that the SSZ interventions could help reduce social inequalities rooted in poverty by helping to provide pupils with a safe area even during their further education. "To create school safe zones is an enormous task that calls for radical, creative, comprehensive and innovative interventions by all stakeholders," said Saitoti. Noting that the SSZ concept is holistic and addresses the total learning environment of children, which will ensure improved access, retention and performance, Saitoti promised his ministry's full backing. Others at the function included church leaders such as Rev Jesse Kamau, Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi, Bishop Mark Kariuki, Education PS, Prof Karega Mutahi, Knut Secretary-General, Mr Francis Ng'ang'a and Nacada Co-ordinator, Mr Joseph Kaguthi. It is noted that children in Africa live with the ominous and ever-present danger of violence that might erupt at any time, and many are buffeted by floods and droughts in repetitive patterns. These expose children to risks that make it almost impossible for them to concentrate on studies. Educational institutions are frequently targets for control and attack by warring factions during civil strife. In the recent past, schools in the North Rift, were closed for several months following skirmishes between the Marakwet and Pokot herdsmen and cattle rustlers. In Rwanda, during the 1994 genocide that shocked the world, there were routine attacks against schools by the Interahamwe, killing large numbers of teachers. Also during the Kosovo war in 1999, both the Orthodox Serbs and Muslim Albanians struggled for control of schools as they fought over community and religious practices. It was argued that educational institutions are considered sites of ideological struggle and contestation where the values of a particular group can be cultivated and fostered. Thus controlling schools is seen as key to power and the way to capture the hearts and minds of the next generation. Machira says SSZ is predicated upon the active participation of multiple stakeholders including children, parents, community, business, and government throughout the conceptualisation, designing, and implementation of the programme.

Rwanda

News 24 SA 8 Nov 2003 Genocide prosecutor to visit 08/11/2003 14:17 - (SA) Print article email story Tanzania - The new chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, Hassan Bubacar Jallow, is scheduled to make his first official visit to Rwanda next week, court officials said on Saturday. The visit comes at a time of tense relations between the tribunal and Rwanda that led to the highly political removal of Jallow's predecessor, Carla Del Ponte. The government of Rwandan President Paul Kagame refused to co-operate with the ICTR when Del Ponte threatened to investigate members of the Tutsi-led armed forces for atrocities they may have committed when they invaded Rwanda in the wake of the genocide. Court officials said Jallow would meet senior government officials during his five-day visit to Rwanda. Jallow, a former judge from Gambia, took up his post as prosecutor on September 15. Del Ponte continues to be the prosecutor for the ICTR's sister court that deals with war crimes in the former Yugoslavia. The ICTR was set up by the United Nations three months after the end of the 1994 genocide, in which up to a million Tutsis and their Hutu sympathisers were slaughtered, to try the alleged orchestrators and perpetrators of the genocide. The court is currently hearing a case against for former government ministers in Rwanda who are accused of genocide and crimes against humanity.

Telegraph UK 8 Nov 2003 Rwanda showcases its grim past for tourists By Steve Jones (Filed: 08/11/2003) Macabre trips to sites of mass murder are being offered in Rwanda as the country tries to rebuild its shattered tourism industry. Tourism to Rwanda collapsed in 1994 after a civil war in which nearly one million Tutsis were butchered in 100 days. Rwanda has recently opened a tourist office in Ascot, Berkshire, and is keen to promote the country's areas of natural beauty such as Volcanoes Park, home to mountain gorillas. But officials predict curious visitors will be drawn to the many sites of mass graves. Local guides will escort people to the sites and describe the story of the genocide. In a tour of a former school near Butare - where 60,000 people died - bodies have been preserved in formaldehyde and stacked on tables. At another location in the capital, Kigali, a monument displays bodies in glass cages. Despite the nature of the tours, Julie Brenner, the director of Rwanda Tourism Europe, described some of the sites as "incredibly moving", but added that they were not for everyone. Natalie De La Porte, the marketing co-ordinator in Europe for Rwanda Tourism, said she was escorted by a guide who had seen entire family murdered. "They want to show and explain to overseas visitors what happened," she said. "It is important for them to make people aware and to make sure it never happens again."

AFP 9 Nov 2003 Rwandans embrace Islam in wake of genocide - Muslim community represents 10% of total Rwandan population For long a marginalised minority, Rwanda's Muslims have grown considerably in number and stature in the 10 years since the genocide of 1994. Like many of his compatriots, Isaac, a lanky young stonemason, converted after the bloody events of that year when he was a soldier in the Rwandan Patriotic Front, a Tutsi-led rebellion that is now the dominant force in government. "I converted after my unit came into Kigali and I saw how many of my fellow Tutsis has been hidden, and therefore saved, by Muslims," he told AFP between sips of a soft drink in the populous Nyamirambo district of the capital. According to the current government, up to a million people were killed over 100 days in 1994 during an orchestrated campaign by the Hutu government to rid the country of its Tutsi minority. At the time, about 1.2% of the population were of the Islamic faith which was introduced to Rwanda in about 1900 by Arab traders and translators working with the German military. One of those to swell this proportion to the current estimate of 10% is former Roman Catholic Jean-Pierre Sagahutu, who now works as a taxi driver. "I was hiding in a septic tank behind the house of a Muslim called Idrissa. Only he knew where I was. If he had betrayed me I would have been killed," he said. "But he didn't betray me," said Sagahutu. Many Rwandans can tell similar stories. Generally, those who sought refuge in mosques were protected from the government soldiers and militias who sought out and killed Tutsis. Church's record The Catholic church, by contrast, has a sorrier record. There are many examples of mass killings inside consecrated churches and even of collusion between the clergy and the killers. The UN court in Tanzania trying leading genocide planners and perpetrators has charged several Christian clergymen. In February, the court convicted an Adventist pastor and his son of genocide and crimes against humanity. In 2001, a court in Belgium, Rwanda's former colonial power, sentenced two nuns to 15 and 12 years in jail for their roles in the genocide. Rush to Islam The spokesman for Rwanda's Muslims, Salih Habimana, is an unassuming, hospitable man, sometimes seen with his wife and children at one of Kigali's swimming pools. Mosques are built and financed by local communities He recalls a big rush to convert to Islam immediately after the 1994 genocide, sometimes for dubious reasons. He told AFP that some Hutus thought conversion would spare them from suspicion of complicity, while some Tutsis saw it as a way of protecting themselves in the event of another genocide. Habimana believes Islam maintains its independence in Rwanda because it is largely self-financing. The tiny mosques whose green and white minarets dot the Rwandan countryside, are all built and financed by local communities. 'Mentally free' "Rwandan people, poor as we are, we are mentally free... We know that any funding which comes from abroad comes with conditions," he said, conceding that Rwandan Muslims do receive small contributions from Libya and Saudi Arabia. The Zaidi bin Sabiti Quranic school in Kigali's Bilyogo district where 40 girls and boys aged between five and 17 - selected for their knowledge of the Quran - study for free, is financed by a Saudi individual. Rwandan Muslims, themselves extremely tolerant of other religious beliefs, are well perceived by other religions - and, since the coming to power of President Paul Kagame, himself a Protestant, almost 10 years ago - are well-represented in the administration. The Muslim community, unsurprisingly, is anxious to maintain its newly-gained status. After the September 11 attacks on the US, the Rwandan Muslim community was quick to align itself with the government position, condemning the attacks in the strongest of terms.

Hirondelle News Agency (Lausanne) 13 Nov 2003 ICTR Prosecutor and Genocide Survivors Promise to Resolve Differences The new prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), Hassan Jallow, and genocide survivors' organizations on Wednesday said they had agreed on "channels" to start resolving long-standing differences. "We are establishing a new relationship", Jallow told reporters as he walked to his car after his first meeting with genocide survivors'organizations since his appointment in August. "They represent an important constituency (&). Their concerns on the process are of extreme importance to us", he said. "We are starting in better conditions", said François Ngarambe, president of the genocide survivors'umbrella organization IBUKA. "He promised to consider our concerns so we can resume our cooperation with the court" "This is just the beginning", said Dancilla Mukandori, the president of AVEGA, the organization of women survivors of the genocide. "He has promised to examine what went wrong in the past such that we can have a good start. But this will not stop us from continuing to highlight any malfunctions of the court", she added. AVEGA has been one of the strongest critics of the functioning of the court. The ICTR and genocide survivors have had a strained relationship since early 2002. Genocide survivors organizations then severed cooperation with the ICTR accusing it of mistreating witnesses before the court, employing genocide suspects and generally operating at a very slow pace. On the other hand, the ICTR accused the government in Kigali of masterminding the cooperation standoff in a bid to frustrate efforts by the court to investigate allegations of war crimes committed by its members in the 1994 war. Consequently, the court had trouble convincing genocide survivors to testify, leading to adjournments of some trials. Although genocide survivors resumed testifying at the ICTR, their organizations have never officially removed the ban on testifying at the ICTR. Jallow is due to meet Rwandan president Paul Kagame on Thursday. Political observers in Kigali say that Thursday's meeting is the most important in determining whether or not the relationship between the court and Rwanda improves. The prosecutor of the ICTR on Wednesday also met Rwandan prosecutor General, Gerald Gahima. He is also expected to meet ICTR staff in Kigali before returning to his base in Arusha, Tanzania, on Friday.

AFP 13 Nov2003 Rwandan genocide survivors again to cooperate with war crimes court KIGALI : Rwandans who escaped the country's genocide in 1994 are ready to resume cooperation with the UN war crimes court trying its alleged ringleaders, the leader of a group of widows said. "We shall shortly be announcing the resumption of cooperation," Dancille Mukandoli, president of the Association of the Widows of Genocide (Avega), told AFP after meeting the tribunal's new chief prosecutor, Hassan Bubacar Jallow of Gambia, making his first visit to Kigali. Advertisement "Since the new prosecutor is ready to work with us and shows good will we cannot refuse," she said. Jallow took over in September as ICTR prosecutor from Carla Del Ponte of Switzerland, whose relations with Kigali grew increasingly tense towards the end of her tenure. The court was established by the United Nations in November 1994, seven months after the start of the genocide estimated to have left a million Tutsi and moderate Hutus dead. Associations representing victims of genocide will encourage witnesses to go to Arusha in Tanzania where the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) sits, Mukandoli said. Victims' associations stopped cooperating with the court in early 2002 in protest against what they said was the bad treatment of victims who went to give evidence, and in particular of women who had been raped. They also condemned the slow pace of the proceedings. "The meeting went very well, he made us good promises and seems ready to improve the working of the ICTR," Mukandoli said. "We asked in particular for the creation in Arusha of a reception centre for victims so they can be prepared before they testify and he agreed," she said. "He also promised to take the necessary steps to speed up the trials in view of the 2008 deadline (when the court's mandate expires)." Rwandan State Prosecutor Gerard Gahima said he was optimistic that relations would improve with the court. "I believe the new prosecutor is determined to improve the workings of the tribunal," Gahima said after meeting Jallow. The two prosecutors talked about "general cooperation between Rwandan institutions and the ICTR," he added. The ICTR, which was set up in November 1994, got off to a very slow start and the boycott by the victims made the process even more laborious. It has handed down a dozen convictions and one acquittal. About 60 genocide suspects are currently detained at the tribunal's facility in Arusha, northern Tanzania.

BBC 15 Nov 2003 Rwandan rebel gives up the fight Many rebel soldiers are implicated in the genocide The leader of a Rwandan Hutu rebel group which includes some of those who took part in the genocide of 1994 has surrendered to the government. Militia leader Paul Rwarakabije arrived in the capital Kigali on a Rwandan army helicopter after nearly a decade in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Accompanied by about 100 militiamen, he said he realised that violence was not the answer to Rwanda's problems. He was embraced by the army chief, General James Kabarebe. We have decided to put down guns - war is not the best solution Paul Rwarakabije The group which he led, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, brought together members of the former Rwandan army and Interahamwe fighters. Many of the rebels are implicated in the genocide in which an estimated 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were murdered. The group is estimated to have between 15,000 and 20,000 troops fighting the Rwandan Government from bases in the jungle of the eastern DR Congo. 'Important moment' A smiling Mr Rwarakabije was given a cordial welcome on his return to Kigali after giving himself up in the southwestern town of Cyangugu. "We have decided to put down guns," he said. "War is not the best solution." "This is a very important moment for Rwanda," said General Kaberebe. "The people we have been fighting with have made a decisive decision to come back in peace and abandon fighting. This is very interesting and very welcome." Sharoah Sharif, head of the UN peacekeeping mission in the Congolese province where Mr Rwarakabije's troops were based, also called the surrender "a very positive development". Mr Rwarakabije was a major in the Rwandan police before the 1994 genocide. He rose to the rank of lieutenant-colonel in the old Rwandan army before it was defeated by the Tutsi-led Rwandan Patriotic Front headed by current President Paul Kagame. Around two million Hutus fled to DR Congo, then known as Zaire. More recently, rebels under Mr Rwarakabije fought alongside the troops of DR Congo President Laurent Kabila against Rwandan Government troops and Congolese rebels. But Rwandan troops pulled out of DR Congo earlier this year as part of a peace deal signed in July.

Sudan

Reuters 2 Nov 2003 Sudan army says air raid not truce violation-paper KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan's armed forces have admitted carrying out air strikes in western Sudan but denied rebel claims the attack had broken a two-month-old ceasefire, an army spokesman was quoted as saying on Sunday. Khartoum and the rebel Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A) in September signed the truce to end fighting that began in February in the arid and poor western Darfur province. The SLM/A said Khartoum had launched air strikes against its bases in Darfur on Saturday, which they considered a "return to war". The group added it would respect the truce while peace talks between the sides continue in the Chadian town of Abeche, near the borders of the two countries. But the independent Akhbar Al-Youm newspaper quoted armed forces spokesman Mohammed Bashir Suleiman as saying the army had hit positions of a different rebel group, with which Khartoum has no truce. "Since midday yesterday we noticed suspicious movements of the armed groups belonging to the Justice and Equality group in...an area not covered by the ceasefire signed in Abeche with the SLM/A," the paper quoted Suleiman as saying. "The issue was resolved militarily through air strikes". The SLM/A said on Friday the Chad peace talks were deadlocked over Khartoum's rejection of rebel demands for international monitors in Darfur, which the rebels accuse Khartoum of marginalising. Separate peace talks between the Sudanese government and another southern rebel group to end a 20-year-old civil war are making progress in Kenya, with both sides pledging to reach a comprehensive peace deal by the end of December.

AFP 5 Nov 2003 Sudan government, Darfur rebels extend ceasefire NDJAMENA, Nov 5 (AFP) - The Sudanese government and rebels in Sudan's western Darfur region have agreed to extend a ceasefire while they pursue negotiations in neighboring Chad, the official radio said late Tuesday. It cited a joint communique saying that the ceasefire agreed September 3 would be extended another 10 days to allow the rebels of the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) to prepare annexes to a projected overall peace pact. The government and the SLM resumed talks at Abeche in eastern Chad on October 26 in an attempt to stem a conflict that is estimated to have cost 3,000 lives and displaced hundreds of thousands of people, many of whom have streamed into Chad. The rebels demand economic development of the semi-desert Darfur region, which lies near the Chad border. A first round of talks in Abeche produced a 45-day ceasefire that took effect on September 6 and remained in force even after it expired on October 18. However, each side has accused the other of violating the truce, which would amount to a first step toward ending a rebellion that erupted in February. Sudanese newspapers said that with Chadian President Idriss Debe chairing talks late Tuesday in Abeche, delegations from both sides endorsed a continuation of the ceasefire and a resumption of negotiations on December 4. Sudan's official Al Anbaa daily, reporting from Abeche, said the ceasefire statement provided for freedom of movement of people through the region and for granting relief organisations access to people on both sides. The SLM leadership last month voiced fears that the group will be wiped out by government troops if Khartoum reaches an agreement ending its 20-year war with the southern rebels of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA). The government-SPLA negotiations are taking place in Kenya.

IRIN 6 Nov 2003 Religious leaders' efforts to promote peace NAIROBI, 6 November (IRIN) - The government of Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) have hailed recent efforts by muslim and christian leaders to promote peace and dialogue as part of efforts to end their country's 20-year civil war. The Sudanese deputy ambassador to Kenya, Muhammad Ahmad Dirdeiry, on Tuesday said any initiative by religious leaders to ease the tensions between Muslims and Christians was welcome. "We welcome all religious dialogue between Christians and Muslims. Religious leaders always have a very important role in societies such as ours," he said. "They should assist to ease the tensions and send a message of tolerance to their communities. The idea we have as a negotiating party is also to sensitise civil society and other groups," he added. He was commenting on recent remarks by the general secretary of the All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC), the Rev Mvume Dandala, challenging Sudanese church leaders to gear themselves up for the task of "profiling and marketing peace" in their country. Dandala told a meeting in Nairobi, Kenya, that the church had a crucial responsibility in monitoring peace implementation, noting that a final peace agreement between the Sudanese government and SPLM/A was expected to be signed soon. He went on to say that the church needed to ensure that the Sudanese people were educated on the protection of human rights, which was a critical element in fostering peace in the country. "Signing the peace agreement is one thing, but the development of a harmonious society is another. Churches will have to play a leading role, as they have done in the past, to help create a harmonious society," he said. Samson Kwaje, the official spokesman of the SPLM/A told IRIN on Tuesday that the church was "better placed to promote peace in Sudan due to its credibility. When a priest preaches on the pulpit, nobody challenges him." The church in Sudan had often associated itself with the southern struggle, leading to its persecution by the government in the north, he said. "Somehow, the church has a stake in peace in Sudan, because with peace, freedom of religion would be better," he said. Earlier this week, a leading Sudanese Islamic leader, Hasan Abdullah al-Turabi, also called for the enhancement of inter-religious dialogue in Sudan. Turabi, who is the chairman of the opposition Popular National Congress (PNC), led a delegation to visit and congratulate the newly appointed Sudanese Catholic Cardinal Gabriel Zubeir Wako in the capital, Khartoum. Turabi said Muslims and Christians needed to continue working for peace in the country "through dialogue and coexistence". "As a cardinal, your voice will be heard and respected in Sudan, Africa and in the world," Turabi was quoted by the Catholic news service (CISA) as saying. Kwaje said Turabi, as an authoritative Islamic leader in Sudan, had a major role to play in promoting dialogue and peace in the country. "He [Turabi] has authority. Whatever he says can be taken seriously. Even those with a hostile attitude can believe in his pronouncements," Kwaje told IRIN. Kwaje added that the SPLM/A movement was already conducting awareness campaigns among its constituents in southern Sudan about progress in the peace process, and sensitising them on their roles in perpetuating peace in the country. "We ourselves are doing a lot. When talks adjourn, we go back to south Sudan and have consultative meetings with local governors, religious groups and women's groups on the peace talks, and sensitise them on their responsibilities," Kwaje added. The Sudanese peace talks, due to resume in Kenya at the end of November, have made promising progress in the past few months. Despite the outstanding issues of wealth and power sharing, and the disputed territories of Southern Blue nile, Abyei and the Nuba mountains, both negotiating parties have committed to signing a final peace agreement before the end of the year.

AFP 9 Nov 2003 US embassy in Sudan regrets ban on visit to troubled Darfur province KHARTOUM, Nov 9 (AFP) - The US embassy expressed regret that US officials were barred on Sunday from visiting South Darfur state in western Sudan to monitor humanitarian programmes. "The American embassy regrets that the charge d'affaires and other reporesentatives of the embassy and USAID were prohibited travel," the mission said in a statement. It said the visit was authorised by the Sudanese foreign ministry but barred by the Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC), a government agency. The embassy and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) had asked for the visit "to monitor ongoing programs and determine the need for other assistance", it said. It noted that USAID administrator Andrew Natsios had visited the region two weeks ago and found that hundreds of thousands of people were in need of assistance. "The embassy believes that the present climate, including a ceasefire agreement, should permit free travel throughout Sudan and encourage the government of Sudan to remove barriers to free movement," the statement said. Khartoum and Darfur rebels decided Tuesday to extend a Chadian-brokered ceasefire agreed in September for another 10 days while they pursue negotiations in neighboring Chad.

AFP 11 Nov 2003 15 killed in armed attacks in western Sudan: report KHARTOUM, Nov 11 (AFP) - Unidentified gunmen have killed 15 people and wounded many others in four separate attacks in Sudan's western province of Darfur, a Sudanese electronic newspaper reported Tuesday. The report on the privately-owned website Sudanile quoted an MP from the region, Bashir Ibrahim Yahyah. He did not specify the dates of the attacks nor the identity of the gunmen. Authorities here had no comment on the report. The last such attacks in the region, last week, were attributed by the Sudanese press to Arab militias known as Janjaweed. The Sudanese regime has said it stopped supporting these militias but that they had run out of control. Khartoum initially backed them to fight a Darfur