Summaries:

Africa

Botswana www.survival-international.org 16 Jan 2004 BOTSWANA: De Beers boycott launched Survival has launched a postcard campaign calling on the public to boycott De Beers diamonds and Iman cosmetics. De Beers opposes the recognition of indigenous peoples’ rights in Africa, and its managing director in Botswana has welcomed the eviction of the Gana and Gwi Bushmen from their land;

Burundi AFP 1 Jan 2004 Ex-rebels to join Burundi's army brass next week: president / AFP 27 Jan 2004 - Six civilians, two soldiers killed in west Burundi clash

Côte d'Ivoire IRIN 31 Dec 2003 Côte d'Ivoire: French peacekeepers to deploy more widely in North / AP 8 Jan 2004 French troops probe massacre of workers in Ivory Coast / UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) 22 Jan 2004 - Inter-communal clashes in Côte d'Ivoire increase

DR Congo AFP 6 Jan 2004 Seven killed in DR Congo ambush, Burundi rebels blamed / Reuters 21 Jan 2004 Hutu rebels blocked from leaving Congo: UN 21 January 2004 KINSHASA: Thousands of Rwandan Hutu rebels based in eastern Congo are being blocked from returning home by hardliners from within their own movement, United Nations officials in Congo said Tuesday. / AFP 23 Jan 2004 More than 100 people killed in alleged DR Congo massacre: local official

Ethiopia The McGill Report 2 Jan 2004 www.mcgillreport.org U.S. Anuak Refugees Fear 400 Dead in Ethiopian Massacre / Genocide Watch 8 Jan 2004 Genocide Watch has received numerous reports of genocidal massacres of Anuak people in and around Gambella, Ethiopia in December 2003. At least 416 Anuak people were murdered. The massacres were led by Ethiopian government troops in uniform, but they were joined by local people from highland areas. / IRIN 12 Jan 2004 - Since a spate of ethnic killing occurred last month in the Gambella region of western Ethiopia, about 15,000 members of the Anyuak community have fled to neighbouring Sudan, IRIN 12 Jan 2004 Gambella State Top Official Disappears IRIN 15 Jan 2004 Gov't involved in Gambella attack, says rights group

Ghana Republic of Ghana 26 Jan 2004 The Kofi Annan International Peace-Keeping Centre Commissioned

Kenya East African Standard, Kenya 17 Jan 2004 www.eastandard.net New clues in hunt of a most wanted killer By Douglas Okwatch Vital clues have emerged in the hunt for a Rwandan mass murderer believed to be hiding in Nairobi. Felicien Kabuga,

Namibia The Namibian (Windhoek) www.namibian.com.na January 12, 2004 No Apology, No Payout for Herero Petros Kuteeue, Windhoek GERMANY has ruled out any question of compensating the victims of its 1904-07 genocidal campaign, as Namibians begin yearlong activities to mark the centenary of the outbreak of hostilities in the Herero-German War. Not only did the German Ambassador to Namibia, Wolfgang Massing, yesterday reject the demand for reparations, but he also fell short of offering a formal apology for the genocide.

Nigeria Vanguard (Lagos) 16 Jan, 2004 19 Itsekiri, Not Ijaw Killed in Warri, Group Alleges

Rwanda The Monitor (Kampala) December 30, 2003 Rwanda Genocide Day Set for April Kigali The UN General Assembly has designated April 7 as the International Day of Reflection on the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. / IRIN 9 Jan 2004 Probe Launched Into Genocide-Linked Deaths Kigali Rwandan Prime Minister Bernard Makuza told the Senate on Thursday that government had launched investigations to unearth the masterminds of the killings of survivors of the 1994 genocide.

Somolia East African Standard (Nairobi) 10 Jan 2004 Museveni Says It is Genocide Ben Agina And Andrew Teyie Nairobi Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni yesterday described the civil war in Somalia as slow genocide. He said the bloody civil war threatened to wipe out an entire generation of youthful Somalis. IRIN 29 Jan 2004 Somalia: Groups sign compromise deal NAIROBI, 29 January (IRIN) - Somalia's various political factions and the Transitional National Government (TNG) on Thursday signed a landmark agreement after days of delay and disagreement.

South Africa SAPA 8 Jan 2004 We're demonised, say landless campaigners The Landless People's Movement (LPM) lamented on Thursday what it described as a grotesque distortion of its programmes by the media, and denied it had any violent or lawless intentions.NYT 6 Jan 2004 Africa Quandary: Whites' Land vs. the Landlessness of Blacks

Sudan Reuters 4 Jan 2003 Darfur Sudan rebels accuse army of massacring civilians IRIN 30 Jan 2004 Sudanese bombs dropped on Chadian town, three killed

Tanzania IRIN 20 Jan 2004 Former UN general in Rwanda testifies at tribunal ARUSHA, 20 Jan 2004 (IRIN) - The commander of UN troops who were in Rwanda leading up to and during the 1994 genocide, Gen. Romeo Dallaire, testified on Monday before the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) in Arusha, Tanzania, about the military's role in the killing spree, which lasted 100 days and left at least 800,000 people dead.

Zimbabwe SAPA 19 Jan 2004 Mugabe was 'my hero' says Tsvangirai January 19, 2004, 06:19 PM Morgan Tsvangirai, Zimbabwe's opposition leader, has taken the witness stand for the first time in his 11-month treason trial, and told the court that President Robert Mugabe was his "hero" during the country's civil war against white minority rule. He denied allegations that he had plotted to assassinate Mugabe.

Americas

Bolivia AP 15 Jan 2004 U.S.-Led Meeting to Discuss Bolivia Aid . A leader of the uprising was Evo Morales, a radical member of Congress who ran a close second to Sanchez de Lozada in the 2002 elections. He has accused the former government of ``economic genocide'' and said the U.S.-backed policies it pursued did not benefit the Bolivia's indigenous majority.

Brazil www.survival-international.org 16 Jan 2004 BRAZIL: Indians face bitter opposition over land In the face of violent protests, a thirty-year struggle by four Indian tribes to protect their land in northern Brazil has reached a critical moment.

Canada Toronto Globa & Mail 21 Jan 2004 The 10th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide, one of the bloodiest crimes in modern history, will soon be here, and Gerry Caplan is determined that this tragic milestone will not go unmarked.

Guatemala FT.com 18 Jan 2004 Nobel prizewinner to oversee Guatemala peace deal By Sara Silver in Mexico City The Guatemalan Nobel prizewinner Rigoberta Menchu will help to oversee the implementation of the peace accords that ended the country's 36-year civil war as part of its newly elected government.

Haiti AP 14 Jan 2004 Haitian military chief linked to massacre arrested in Orlando

United States Gainesvillesun.com 2 Jan 2004 81 years later, Rosewood memorialized ROSEWOOD - The first memorial service was held Thursday for those who died or had their lives irretrievably altered by the horrific racial incident that began on Jan. 1, 1923. / NYT 11 Jan 2004 RACIAL and religious hate speech is criminal in much of the world, but it flourishes in the United States. . . Wahhabism and other religious doctrines advocating violence are freely preached in the United States. In 1969, in overturning the conviction of a leader of a Ku Klux Klan group under an Ohio statute that banned the advocacy of terrorism, the Supreme Court unanimously endorsed Holmes's idea and turned it into the language of law.The line separating the two categories - abstract advocacy and incitement to imminent action - can be a little fuzzy, but in practice it has protected just about everything said from a pulpit, at a rally, on the radio and in a newspaper, no matter how ugly. There have been only a few exceptions, and some of those have used analyses that avoided the distinction entirely.

Asia-Pacific

Afghanistan WP 5 Jan 2004 Afghan Delegates Approve Charter Following Bitter Debate, Assembly Clears Path To Democratic Elections Herald 9 Jan 2004 (Glasgow, Scotland, UK www.theherald.co.uk) Serb ethnic cleansing brigade in training for Afghan mission The 1000-strong force comprises some former members of the "red berets", a feared military police unit which helped lead the campaign to drive the Albanian majority out of Kosovo and wipe out Kosovo Liberation Army resistance fighters. The US has provisionally accepted the offer of the battalion to help relieve the strain on its overstretched garrison in Kandahar and to help hunt al Qaeda and Taliban fugitives in the mountains east of the city. General Goran Radosavljevic, its proposed commander, led anti-guerrilla teams during the conflict alleged by Human Rights Watch to have committed atrocities against civilians, including the massacre of 41 villagers at Cuska in May, 1999.

Bangladesh Daily Star 3 Jan 2004 Vol. 4 Num 217 Front Page Anti-Ahmadiyya group issues fresh threat Staff Correspondent An alliance of Muslim fundamentalists yesterday took oath to launch a holy war (jihad) against Ahmadiyyas if the government does not declare them non-Muslims by January 9. Daily Star 10 Jan 2004 Vol. 4 Num 223 We have achieved primary victory, anti-Ahmadiyya group tells rally S PTI 9 Jan 2004 Bangladesh bans publications of Ahmadiyya sect Daily Star 17 Jan 2004 Vol. 4 Num 230 Anti-Ahmadiyya group's new programmes Staff Correspondent The chairman of the Islamic Oikya Jote, a partner of the ruling coalition, threatened that the country would turn into a province of India if the government did not declare the Ahmadiyyas non-Muslim. "Beware, Bangladesh will no more exist and will become India's province if you do not declare the Ahmadiyyas non-Muslim immediately," warned Fazlul Haq Amini MP.

Cambodia NYT 3 Jan 2004 A Top Khmer Rouge Leader, Going Public, Pleads Ignorance By SETH MYDANS As Cambodia moves closer to convening a trial for the deaths of 1.7 million people under the brutal rule of the Khmer Rouge in the 1970's, one of the movement's top leaders has begun to plead his case publicly, claiming ignorance, innocence, shock and contrition. "I have found it so difficult to believe what people told me of what happened under the Khmer Rouge regime, but today I am very clear that there was genocide," said the leader, Khieu Samphan, 72, in one of a series of interviews he has given reporters in recent days. / Reuters 7 Jan 2004 Cambodia marks 25th anniversary of Pol Pot's fall NYT January 7, 2004 In Cambodia, an Anniversary Renews Call for Genocide Trials AP 20 Jan 2004 Khmer Rouge No. 2 Admits "Mistakes" PAILIN, Cambodia - The top surviving leader of the Khmer Rouge admitted he made "mistakes" during the feared regime's rule but denied being guilty of genocide and rejected the idea that millions of people died. Nuon Chea, second in command under Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot, told The Associated Press in an interview he would gladly appear before a U.N.-backed war crimes tribunal pursuing top Khmer Rouge leaders.

India Indian Express 18 Jan 2004 Accused in Delol massacre held Express News Service Vadodara, January 18: A month after two FIRs were registered in connection with the brutal killing of 23 persons in Delol village near Kalol during the post-Godhra riots, the police have arrested one of the 19 accused in the case. / NewIndPress.com Senior VHP leader Ashok Singhal has warned that all of India might become another Gujarat if Hindu rights and lives are not protected. "Hindus are no longer safe," Singhal said. "They are being evicted from everywhere, from New York, New Zealand and Australia. "In Suriname, 100,000 Hindus have been thrown out, 150,000 from Guyana and 200,000 from Fiji. There are 600,000 Hindu refugees in Sri Lanka and 300,000 in Jammu and Kashmir. . . . "There are no extremists in Hinduism," he said. "People rose up to avenge the atrocities perpetrated on them. . . .Singhal said the VHP would help the BJP win the upcoming parliamentary elections in India, expected by April. "The BJP is the natural partner of the VHP," Singhal added. / Indo-Asian News Service India News:25-January-2004 Ahmedabad, "We are planning to build a state-wide Shanti Sena (peace corps) of youth belonging to Hindu, Muslim as well as other communities," Sanjay Bhavsar, who is coordinating the effort, told IANS. Bloody communal violence in Gujarat claimed at least 1,000 lives two years ago. Sporadic flare-ups were witnessed last year as well.

Indonesia Laksamana.Net 12 Jan 2004 Try Sutrisno Defends Massacre January 12, 2004 11:58 PM, - Former vice president Try Sutrisno has defended the massacre of at least 33 Muslim protesters by state troops almost 20 years ago in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta. The Jakarta Post, January 15, 2004 Opinion Reviewing the Biak Massacre At 5 a.m. on July 6, 1998, the army allegedly opened fire on a crowd of sleeping young people at Biak harbor, who had been guarding their Morning Star flag, raised a few days earlier. The entire population of Biak town was rounded up at gunpoint and forced to the harbor area, where for the whole day they were subjected to physical and sexual abuses, including the young children. More than 100 people -- mostly women, some with babies and young children -- were rounded up and forced on board two naval vessels, where they were stripped, killed and their bodies mutilated and dumped at sea. Laksamana.Net 20 Jan 2004 Denial of US Visa to Wiranto Hailed January 20, 2004 04:56 PM, ETAN Laksamana.Net - The Washington-based East Timor Action Network (ETAN) has hailed the US State Department’s decision to put former Indonesian military chief Wiranto and five other officers on a visa watchlist barring them from entering the country. Wiranto was in charge of the armed forces when militia gangs backed by the Indonesian military unleashed carnage in East Timor in the weeks surrounding its August 1999 vote for independence.

Iraq WP 2 Jan 2004 The Trial of Hussein: Choosing the Evidence Prosecution Likely to Focus on Few Incidents Reuters 5 Jan 2004 U.S. soldiers sacked for abusing POWs UPI 8 Jan 2004 Army clears officer in 'Midtown Massacre' By Mark Benjamin and Dan Olmsted U FORT BENNING, Ga., Jan. 8 (UPI) -- The Army has exonerated a 3rd Infantry Division battalion commander of possible war crimes for his role in what soldiers from the unit are calling the "Midtown Massacre," a bloody urban battle in Baghdad last April that blurred the line between enemy combatant and prisoner of war. BBC 9 January, 2004 Five dead in Iraq mosque blast Police say the blast was caused by a booby-trap bomb At least five people have been killed in a bomb blast at a Shia mosque in central Iraq. The bomb went off during Friday prayers in Baquba, a largely Sunni Muslim town, about 65 kilometres (40 miles) north of Baghdad. WP 10 Jan 2004 Pentagon Calls Hussein a POW Declaration Formally Binds U.S. to Geneva Conventions

Japan BBC 2 Jan 2004 Japan shrine visit angers S Korea - It was the prime minister's fourth visit while in office

Myanmar Christian Solidarity Worldwide 21 Jan 2004 www.csw.org.uk Thousands more civilians attacked in Burma as ceasefire talks start January 21 2004 While Burma’s largest armed ethnic resistance group, the Karen National Union (KNU), arrived in Rangoon last week to negotiate a ceasefire agreement with the ruling military junta, CSW received reports that an estimated 3,500 Karen and Karenni people have been newly displaced by the Burma Army.

Sri Lanka AFP 1 Jan 2004 Sri Lanka in talks with peace broker Norway over freeze in foreign aid

Thailand BBC January, 2004, Muslim group 'behind Thai raids' Southern Thailand is under martial law following a wave of attacks Thai officials have named a Muslim militant group they believe carried out a wave of attacks on southern Thailand which killed six soldiers and police.

Europe

Bosnia AP 12 Jan 2003 Hunt for War Crimes Suspect Ends in Bosnia PALE, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP)-- NATO-led peacekeepers wrapped up a three-day search for war crimes suspect Radovan Karadzic on Monday and examined documents discovered during the manhunt in hopes that they provide clues to his whereabouts. / CBC 20 Jan 2004 www.cbc.ca Posters of Karadzic taunt NATO troops Last Updated Tue, 20 Jan 2004 8:49:04 SARAJEVO - Posters in support of Bosnian Serb war crimes suspect Radovan Karadzic have begun springing up around Pale in the aftermath of a failed search by NATO troops.

Germany (see Namibia) Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung 16 Jan 2002 www.faz.com Genocide in Namibia still haunts Germany - Compensation claims against Germany could become precedent case for colonial atrocities / Reuters 19 Jan 2004 Slovak WWII massacre suspect arrested in Germany -MUNICH, Germany, Jan 19 (Reuters) - An 86-year-old man accused of having taken part in the massacre of 146 Slovak citizens near the end of World War Two has been arrested in Munich, German prosecutors said on Monday. / JTA 27 Jan 2004 Victims of Nazi medical experiments get symbolic justice in form of $5,400

Italy Reuters 14 Jan 2004 Italy to try three ex-SS men for village massacre 14 January 2004 ROME: Italy says it will bring three former Nazi SS officers to trial over the massacre of hundreds of civilians in a Tuscan village 60 years ago.

Kosovo AP 16 Jan 2004 NATO's secretary general says alliance to stay committed in Kosovo Updated at 14:12 on January 16, 2004, EST. PRISTINA, Serbia-Montenegro (AP) - NATO's new secretary general pledged Friday that the alliance would remain committed to the province where thousands of troops were deployed to keep the peace after the 1999 war. Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, who assumed his post as NATO's top official last week, travelled to Kosovo for a one-day visit to alliance peacekeepers and local leaders.

Lithuania Observewr UK 18 Jan 2004 Refugee faces Nazi war trial Nick Paton Walsh in Moscow Sunday January 18, 2004 The Observer They were some of the most savage acts of genocide in history. In Lithuania more than 200,000 Jews were murdered - many by their neighbours working with the occupying Nazi forces. Now a 82-year-old man, who fled the Baltic state for the United States 54 years ago, may soon face trial for the killings. Algimantas Dailide was forced to leave the US for Germany last week. An American court had concluded that between 1941 and 1944 he had promised Jews an escape route in his truck, but instead led them to the Nazi-sponsored Lithuanian Security Police, the Saugum

Netherlands BBC 13 Jan 2004 Analysis: Proving genocide But genocide, the most serious of the charges, may be more difficult to prove. So far there has been only one conviction for genocide - that of the Bosnian Serb General Radislav Krstic. One key requirement is to establish that Mr Milosevic - who as President of Serbia at the time had no formal authority over the Bosnian Serb forces - exercised de facto control over them.

Russia kavkazcenter.com/eng/ 5 Jan 2004 Kremlin committing genocide against Chechens… …in search for the way out of the 'Chechen deadlock'. Earlier it was reported that December 10 during the International Human Rights Day the conference, «Catastrophe in Chechnya: Escaping the Quagmire» was held in Washington, DC dedicated to the situation in Chechnya.

Serbia AP 21 Jan 2004 Serbia Still Plagued by Vendetta Violence Now, with the republic veering sharply to the right after big ultranationalist gains in Dec. 28 parliamentary elections, there are worries that Milosevic-style vendetta violence could intensify. ``We are all targets,'' Foreign Minister Goran Svilanovic told The Associated Press. / B92 21 Jan 2004 Serbia indicts eight for Vukovar massacre | 19:26 | B92 BELGRADE -- Tuesday – Serbia’s special war crimes court is to begin trying eight suspects in the 1991 Vukovar massacre on March 9.

Sweden Reuters 17 Jan 2004 Israel's ambassador to Sweden destroys Palestinian art / AP 18 Jan 2004 Envoy's Outburst Shows Israel-Europe Rift / AFP 20 Jan 2004 Israel demands Sweden disown art piece as pre-condition TEL AVIV, Jan 20: Ignoring accusations of censorship, Israel warned yesterday that it would boycott an international genocide conference in Stockholm next week unless Sweden disowns an exhibit at a related art show. See also  Selected news reports on the Stockholm International Forum (Jan. 26-28, 2004)

Turkey BBC 9 January, 2004Turkey 'genocide' film is dropped Ararat was directed by Atom Egoyan The release of a movie that tackles one of the most controversial periods in Turkish history has been scrapped in the country after fears of violence. Turkish nationalist groups had vowed to keep the film, Ararat, off screens, according to distributor Belge Film.

United Kingdom Scotsman 1 Jan 2004 Massacre inquiry's failings pre-warned MINISTERS in Edward Heath’s Conservative government were privately warned that the official inquiry into the Bloody Sunday shootings would not satisfy critics of the army. Thirteen people were killed on Bloody Sunday - 30 January, 1972 - when soldiers from the Parachute Regiment opened fire on a civil-rights march in Londonderry. / Guardian UK 5 Jan 2004 lan for new Met war crimes unit falls foul of funding problems Hugh Muir Monday January 5, 2004 The Guardian Plans to re-establish a dedicated war crimes unit within Scotland Yard have been shelved because of cost and concerns about who should pay.

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Africa

Christian Science Monitor 2 Jan 2004 A continent at peace: five African hot spots cool down By Abraham McLaughlin JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - As the new year begins, Africa - so often besieged by wars - is seeing a period of growing peace. For the first time in five years, no major wars are roiling the continent, even if low-level conflicts still smolder. A deal to end Sudan's civil war - Africa's longest - could be struck this month. And peace processes are pushing ahead in Liberia, Burundi, Ivory Coast, and Congo. Perhaps it's just a lull between storms. Yet observers see fundamental shifts that may create an era of relative calm for Africa's 800 million people. The biggest new force is Africans themselves. Led by South Africa, there's growing desire to arm-twist warriors into laying down their weapons. Also, outside powers, including the United States, are more engaged. They may be motivated by antiterror fears, need for oil, or guilt for inaction during Rwanda's 1994 genocide, but they're increasingly supporting Africa's peaceful impulses. "The continent as a whole has asserted a good bit more activism about putting conflicts to rest - and has turned down the flames of its active wars," says Ross Herbert, Africa Research Fellow at the South African Institute of International Affairs in Johannesburg. South Africa's role is key. In the late 1990s, President Thabo Mbeki and other South Africans "looked around and realized the continent was sliding into the abyss, and that if they didn't do something dramatic they'd find themselves surrounded" by decay, says Stephen Morrison, head of the Africa program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. So they helped jump-start peace talks in Burundi and Congo. South Africa now has 2,500 troops in Burundi. Nigeria has played a similar role in West Africa. The moves are good for peacemakers' economies, too. South Africa invests about $1 billion - and has exports of $3 billion - a year into the rest of Africa, says Alan Gelb, chief Africa economist at the World Bank in Washington. Nurturing peace protects and expands economic activity. Indeed, in the past two years or so, as African economies have become more intertwined, "Leaders have recognized that without action to stop conflict in Africa they're going to suffer economically," says Dr. Gelb. Outside powers are key as well. "There is a longer-term trend of the West reengaging in Africa," says Mr. Herbert. The US sent a small contingent to Liberia earlier this year to help separate rebels and the government, who had been fighting for years. When Sierra Leone exploded in 2000, British troops intervened successfully. And French soldiers are still in the volatile Ivory Coast. There's also clearly a self-interested agenda. In the post-9/11 world, the US sees chaotic African countries as potential terrorism incubators. It's also eyeing Africa's growing oil exports. Sudan symbolizes the many reasons for America's new engagement in Africa. The United Nations has also played a bigger role in Africa as its role in large global conflicts wanes. In Iraq, Kosovo, East Timor, and elsewhere the UN was sidelined at first in favor of a lead player like the US, Britain, or Australia, notes Morrison. Meanwhile, "Africa has, in very short order, become the central zone for UN peacekeeping," he says. The world body has more than 30,000 troops in Africa and just 12,000 in the rest of the world. Its biggest global mission will soon be Liberia. Not that Eden has been created here. Even amid peace treaties, peacekeepers, and power-sharing governments, atrocities continue. "Away from the eyes of journalists and cameras, the nastiness carries on," says Richard Cornwell of the Institute for Security Studies in Pretoria, South Africa. Eastern Congo is a prime example. Several conflicts could also escalate this year. Observers point to Ethiopia/Eritrea tensions and a growing guerrilla war in western Sudan, which wouldn't be covered by a north-south peace deal. And even if they don't explode, many problems still exist - lack of food, the AIDS crisis, ethnic repression, and more. Without addressing those, says Mr. Cornwell, "We're likely to have a situation of no war, but no peace either." Sudan: America Intervenes A deal to end Africa's longest-running war - which has killed up to 2 million people - could be signed as early as next week. Sudan's Muslim government and southern Christian and animist rebels have been fighting since 1983. The US, among others, is now pushing hard for peace. A major reason: terrorism. Sudan once harbored Osama bin Laden and is still on America's list of terrorism sponsors. But it has cooperated with the US since 9/11. To reward its cooperation, and prevent it from being a terrorist breeding ground, Western donors have pledged up to $1 billion in aid if peace is forged. As well, if peace holds, Sudan could produce up to 500,000 barrels of oil a day by 2005. The government and rebels have agreed to share oil revenues as part of the peace deal. Also, US Christian conservatives like the Rev. Franklin Graham have prodded President Bush to resolve the conflict and prevent more mistreatment of Christians by the Muslim government. Liberia: UN's major focus In coming months, the UN peacekeeping force in Liberia may grow to 15,000 soldiers, becoming the largest team of UN troops. It symbolizes the UN's big commitment to Liberia - and Africa. Still, the UN controls only about a third of Liberia in the wake of the West African nation's 14-year civil war, which killed some 300,000 people. Rebel groups control the rest. This week, however, UN troops did set up their first base in rebel-held territory. Efforts last month to disarm rebels by paying them $75 for their guns went haywire. The UN didn't have enough cash to pay the 8,000 who showed up. Rebels rioted. Meanwhile, the UN and US will host a conference in February to raise up to $500 million for reconstruction. Former President Charles Taylor is in exile in Nigeria. A UN-backed war-crimes tribunal has indicted him. The US is offering a $2 million reward for his delivery to the tribunal. Burundi: Neighboring Pressure The costs of Burundi's 10-year, ethnically charged civil war have been steep. Some 300,000 people have been killed in this central African nation the size of Massachusetts. Gross domestic product shrunk 20 percent, making Burundi the world's third-poorest country. Now a fragile peace process has begun. On Nov. 16, the largest rebel group agreed to lay down arms and take up top posts in the government. Much of the peace impetus has come from neighbors, especially South Africa. Former President Nelson Mandela once led negotiations. His successor, Mr. Mbeki, is now pushing hard. The African Union deployed its first-ever peacekeepers there - 2,500 mostly South African soldiers. But tensions continue. The 2,000-strong National Liberation Forces rebel group refuses to negotiate and often attacks the capital. Pope John Paul II's peace emissary was killed on Monday in an apparent assassination. Congo: Violent peace In this giant central African nation - which is nearly as big as Alaska and Texas combined - a political peace is taking hold in the western capital, while low-level fighting and terrorizing of civilians continues in remote eastern regions. Congo's five-year war involved at least six other African nations - and led to some 3 million deaths. Then a power-sharing government was formed June 30. Democratic elections are slated for 2005 and would be the first since independence from Belgium in 1960. Meanwhile, in resource-rich eastern Congo, rebels reportedly continue to operate, perhaps with support from Rwanda and Uganda. Civilians are reportedly killed, raped, or tortured regularly. But an aggressive UN peacekeeping force is making headway in subduing rebel forces. Ivory Coast: A fragile union In a sign of growing trust between former warring factions, rebel leaders and government officials in this West African nation are moving heavy weapons away from the central frontline that divides this former French colony, where war broke out in 1999 after a failed coup attempt. Last week rebels also said they will rejoin the power-sharing government, which they've boycotted since September because of disagreements with President Laurent Gbabgo. The UN is expected to decide this month whether to launch a peacekeeping mission in this country of 16 million. Some 4,000 French and 1,200 African troops are now enforcing the cease-fire in the world's largest cocoa exporter. Neighboring leaders have pushed hard for peace, because Ivory Coast's main port, Abidjan, is the largest in West Africa and a major regional economic hub.

Botswana

www.survival-international.org 16 Jan 2004 BOTSWANA: De Beers boycott launched Survival has launched a postcard campaign calling on the public to boycott De Beers diamonds and Iman cosmetics. De Beers opposes the recognition of indigenous peoples’ rights in Africa, and its managing director in Botswana has welcomed the eviction of the Gana and Gwi Bushmen from their land; Iman is De Beers’s ‘public face’. The diamond deposits beneath the Bushmen’s land are widely believed to be behind their eviction by the government two years ago. Botswana’s diamond mines are run by Debswana, a 50/50 partnership between De Beers and the Botswana government. De Beers’s stance has drawn widespread condemnation from indigenous people around the world: the Chairperson of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission called it ‘nonsensical and offensive’.

Mmegi 21 Jan 2004 www.mmegi.bw Opinion/Letters Mugabe needs the “Lesotho 1998” solution 1/20/2004 9:57:49 PM (GMT +2) THE Zimbabwe crisis, illegal immigrants and South Africa’s “quiet diplomacy” are making headlines now every week. To understand the position of the southern African countries towards Zimbabawe, a view backwards will be helpful. It is largely forgotten that Zimbabwe suffered tremendously during apartheid South Africa. It fought for 10 years (1982-1992) against the South African-sponsored Renamo and saved the government of Mozambique from defeat. Many Zimbabwean soldiers lost their lives. You cannot expect that the government of Mozambique can now turn against President Robert Mugabe even though they certainly disagree with him on many issues. Zimbabwean troops also kept the Tete Corridor open during that period - the lifeline for Malawi- before troops from Botswana took over as part of the agreed peace keeping mission. Mugabe’s position against apartheid South Africa was absolutely firm. Even though he favoured the Pan African Congress (PAC), the African National Congress (ANC) had offices in Zimbabawe that became targets of bomb attacks by South African agents. Zimbabwe also supported SWAPO in its struggle for the independence of Namibia. All these countries owe Zimbabwe a lot. That prevents them from now turning against Mugabe, even though most of them disapprove the terror Mugabe is inflicting upon his own people. There is also no love lost between Mbeki and Mugabe. Mugabe put him in prison in Bulawayo for two weeks together with ZAPU leaders Lookout Masuku and Dumiso Dabengwa in 1981. What are the alternatives to quiet diplomacy for Thabo Mbeki? The only alternative that would work would be action. Closing Beitbridge border post, putting troops on the border, cutting the electricity supply and giving Mugabe an ultimatum to step down. The “Lesotho 1998” solution. This would make him a hero in Zimbabwe but a traitor and sellout elsewhere in Africa. Mugabe still commands a lot of support at the grassroots level not in Zimbabwe anymore, but across Africa and even within the ANC. This could have been witnessed at Walter Sisulu’s funeral where he got the second biggest applause upon arrival. The violent land grabbing has made him even more popular as someone who corrects the imbalances of colonialism, makes the whites suffer and does not care what the old colonial master, Britain says. However, quiet diplomacy cannot work with Mugabe, who regards himself as a visionary Pan Africanist leader, hoping to inspire the blacks in South Africa to rise up in a big revolution and chase the whites out of Africa. For him Mbeki is a manager, not a visionary. Only a person like Nelson Mandala could stand up and explain to the Africans that Mugabe is no longer a true African leader, but a dictator, guilty of genocide after the Matabele massacres that killed at least 20,000 people and a racist. However, Mandela keeps quiet and does not want to get involved in day-to-day politics. Botswana’s views about Zimbabwe are shared by many of its neighbour governments albeit not openly. Botswana can openly display its views because it owes Zimbabwe absolutely nothing. In the contrary, Botswana gave refuge to Zimbabweans during the terror regime of Ian Smith. For this outstanding contribution, Seretse Khama was awarded the Nansen Medal. Botswana again gave refuge to the Matabele who fled from the terror of Mugabe’s Fifth Brigade during the period of 1982-1987. Now again Botswana is flooded with political and economic refugees from Zimbabwe, who create a huge problem and are to a certain extent responsible for the ever-increasing crime rate in this country. Even street kids from Bulawayo are roaming around now in Francistown. The only way out is a firm common position of all SADC countries towards Zimbabwe, exposing the continuous terror and at the same time pressing for a government of national unity. Dr. Alexander von Paleske GABORONE Dr Alexander von Paleske was head of Heamatology Department at Mpilo-Hospital in Bulawayo from 1987 to 2001.

Burundi (see United States 19 Jan 2004)

AFP 1 Jan 2004 Ex-rebels to join Burundi's army brass next week: president BUJUMBURA, Jan 1 (AFP) - Burundian President Domitien Ndayizeye said in his New Year's message to the nation late Wednesday that a post-war armed forces chief of staff integrating former rebels would be formed by next week. The former rebel movement, the Forces for the Defense of Democracy (FDD), welcomed the move Thursday as a "crucial step" in the creation of new armed forces. In the televised message, Ndayizeye said former rebel fighters in Burundi's 10-year civil war must be cantoned by January 5 and the new army leadership made up of 40 percent former rebels would be in place by January 7. "All the armed movements that signed (the November 2003 ceasefire) accords should have finished cantoning their combatants ... by January 5, 2004, at the latest," Ndayizeye said. "The integrated chief of staff, including ex-rebels, should be put in place before January 7," the president added. The exercise mainly concerns the FDD, the largest of the six rebel movement in the small central African country that signed the accords. A seventh has refused to sign. "These movements should have given the list of all their combatants to the commander of the African Force and the armed forces chief of staff and his deputy by the same date," Ndayizeye said. The African Force is a peacekeeping operation deployed by the African Union to supervise the ceasefire in Burundi, whose civil war pitting Hutu rebels against the Tutsi-dominated army has claimed some 300,000 lives since 1993. A small diehard rebel movement, the National Liberation Forces (FLN), has refused to join the peace process. "It is a crucial step, the most important that we have taken until now in the implementation of the overall peace accord," FDD spokesman Colonel Gelase Daniel Ndabirabe said of the president's announcement. "If the date of January 7 is respected for the creation of an integrated army chief-of-staff, it will signal the start of the building of a new Burundian army that is already late," he told AFP. Ndabirabe said the FDD would "do everything possible to make (the plan) succeed, but for that all the conditions must be right". He said the plan in particular called for financial resources that were not yet available. On December 11, the four FDD ministers in the government had refused to take the oath of office until former rebels were integrated into the chief-of-staff of the armed forces, the police and security services.

AFP 27 Jan 2004 - Six civilians, two soldiers killed in west Burundi clash BUJUMBURA, Jan 27 (AFP) - Six civilians and two soldiers were killed at the weekend in a clash at a market near the Burundian capital Bujumbura between the army and the country's last active Hutu rebel group, the National Liberation Forces (FNL), a regional governor said on Tuesday. "FNL in civilian clothes shot and killed two soldiers who were at the market at about 01:00 pm (0900 GMT)," Ignace Ntawembarira, governor of rural Bujumbura province, told AFP. "The soldiers responded and in the chaos which followed six civilians were killed and more than 20 injured." The clash took place in Karinzi, in a mountainous area of rural Bujumbura province, in the west of the country. It is the zone where the FNL is most active. "We strongly condemn the approach taken by the FNL, which attacks soldiers in a crowd, looking to provoke a bloodbath," he added. Since November 2002, more than 20 soldiers have been killed in similar circumstances, while more than 50 civilians have died in exchanges of gunfire that have followed the shootings, according to AFP figures. Burundian President Domitien Ndayizeye met FNL leaders in the Netherlands between January 18 and 21. The two parties agreed to meet again but did not specify a date. The FNL refuses to negotiate with the country's transitional government, claiming it has no legitimacy. More than 300,000 people have been killed in Burundi's 11-year civil war, most of them civilians. Since January 22, several thousand civilians have fled fighting in Nyabibondo, about 20 kilometres east of Bujumbura, between the FNL and a former rebel group which has joined the national government. The Forces for the Defence of Democracy (FDD) was the biggest of the country's rebel movements before it made a deal with the government. "Since Thursday, the FDD has been attacking the FNL, which was in several sectors of the area of Nyabibondo and we fled due to the intensity of the fighting," a 54-year-old farmer who gave his name as Gaspard told AFP. .

Chad (see Sudan)

Côte d'Ivoire

IRIN 31 Dec 2003 Côte d'Ivoire: French peacekeepers to deploy more widely in North ABIDJAN, 31 December (IRIN) - French peacekeeping troops will soon start to fan out from the front-line between government and rebel forces to deploy more widely in the rebel-held north of Côte d'Ivoire, French Defence Minister Michele Aillot-Marie said on Wednesday. "We are at the point where the rebels agree that the neutral forces should move into the north," she told reporters after an hour-long meeting with President Laurent Gbagbo. Alliot-Marie said France would maintain its military force in Côte d'Ivoire at its present strength of 4,000 men, and would not increase it in the run-up to a planned programme of disarmament, demobilisation and rehabilitation. In a series of confidence-building measures over the past two weeks, the government army and the rebels have both pulled back their heavy artillery from the front line and have dismantled dozens of check points on main roads. This has taken some of the pressure off the French and West African peacekeeping troops patrolling the demilitarised zone that separates the two sides. The French news agency AFP quoted General Pierre-Michel Joanna, the head of the French peace-keeping force, as saying his troops would initially deploy along the main transport routes linking the port of Abidjan to landlocked Burkina Faso and Mali. He specifically mentioned the establishment of bases in the northern towns of Korhogo and Ferkessedougou. Alliot-Marie said French peacekeeping forces would remain in Côte d'Ivoire until after the next presidential election, which is due to take place in 2005. "The Unicorn Force [official name of the French contingent] is very expensive, but we feel that the peace and security of a friendly country like Côte d'ivoire deserves this financial commitment by French taxpayers", she said, before heading up-country to celebrate the New Year with French troops on the frontline. Alliot-Marie was due to see the New Year in at Sakassou, a small lakeside town in central Côte d'Ivoire, where two French peacekeepers were shot dead in a skirmish with a group of drunken rebels on 25 August. Her visit capped a series of positive developments in Côte d'Ivoire's fragile peace process in December. On 4 December Gbagbo agreed in principle with the rebel military commander, Colonel Soumaila Bakayoko, that the long delayed process of rebel disarmament would get under way. At the same time the president pledged that he would implement in full a French-brokered peace agreement signed in January. Then on 22 December, as military confidence building measures got under way, the rebels, who are officially known as "The New Forces" pledged that they would resume participation in a broad-based government of national reconciliation, which they had boycotted since 23 September. All their nine ministers are expected to turn up for the next cabinet meeting on 6 January. As political and military tension wound down after the three-month stand-off, politicians started talking more seriously about the 2005 elections. Trade Minister Amadou Soumahoro, who belongs to opposition party, Rally of the Republicans", was quoted as saying on Tuesday that "I don't see who can beat the RDR in 2005. He said RDR leader Alassane Ouattara was "the only one who can reconcile Côte d'Ivoire with the rest of the world." Ouattara, a former prime minister of Côte d'Ivoire and senior official of the International Monetary Fund,was barred from the October 2000 presidential election on the grounds that his mother was Burkinabe. The law under which he was banned from taking part in the poll is due to be revised as part of the terms of the January 2003 peace agreement. On Wednesday, the government-owned daily Fraternite-Matin quoted rebel leader and communication minisster, Guillaume Soro, as saying that "it was time to come together to prepare the 2005 elections." Earlier this year, independent Prime Minister Seydou Diarra asked the United Nations to help organise the 2005 elections.

AP 8 Jan 2004 French troops probe massacre of workers in Ivory Coast ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) - French peacekeepers on Wednesday were investigating the killings of six West African guest workers, including three children hacked to death by machetes, in what appeared the latest anti-foreigner attack in Ivory Coast's cocoa-rich west. The attack occurred Monday near Bangolo, a city in a western buffer zone patrolled by French troops. Bangolo is 500 km (310 miles) from Ivory Coast's commercial capital, Abidjan. Witnesses said unidentified men armed with rifles and machetes attacked the workers in the village of Kahin, French army spokesman Lt. Col. Georges Peillon told The Associated Press. The attackers shot to death three adults, and killed the three children with machetes, Peillon said. Though it was unclear who was behind the killing, foreign citizens, once welcomed as labour here, have increasingly become targets as Ivory Coast's economy and ethnic tensions worsen. Countless of Ivory Coast's millions of guest workers have been beaten, detained or driven from their homes since the once-prosperous West African nation fell into instability with a 1999 coup. France has 4,000 troops in its former colony, guarding front lines and keeping government soldiers and rebels apart after a 9-month civil war.

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) 22 Jan 2004 - Inter-communal clashes in Côte d'Ivoire increase (New York: 22 January 2003) - Thirty-five people have been killed and hundreds displaced since inter-communal violence in Côte d'Ivoire's western regions worsened late last month. "There has been an alarming increase in levels of inter-communal violence in Côte d'Ivoire. The Government must do more to stop the violence. I call on all parties to actively bring an end to violence directed against civilians," said Ms. Carolyn McAskie, the United Nations Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator. Since 29 December, thirty-five bodies have been found by LICORNE, forces sent by the French Government to Côte d'Ivoire, in villages surrounding Bangolo. The town is some 600 kilometers northwest of Abidjan and has recently been a flashpoint for violence against people perceived to be non-native to the region. On January 5, six persons, including three children, were killed in one incident alone. Hundreds of people of Burkinabé origin have been displaced from villages in Gagnoa District. More than 180 persons have arrived at a camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Guiglo, 550 kilometers from Abidjan, since the beginning of the month. Many have reported that they had been forced to flee a nearby village, Troya 2, by armed persons from neighboring villages. According to the internally displaced persons at Guiglo, there have been no ethnic conflicts within their community, but "armed young people from surrounding villages" have harassed and driven them out. Further, they reported that there were scores of displaced persons who had not yet reached the IDP site at Guiglo. The great majority of the displaced are long-term residents of Côte d'Ivoire, 300 of who had been living in Troya 2 for years. There are now only 22 persons of Burkinabé origin in Troya 2. The new displacement is straining the resources of Guiglo, where 21,000 IDPs reside, and those of nearby transit centers for displaced persons at Nicla. The two sites at Nicla, already home to some 7,400 Liberian refugees and Côte d'Ivoire's internally displaced, lack enough shelter or sanitation to cope with recent influxes. In response to growing demand, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) and International Organization for Migration (IOM) have increased the amount of services they provide to the area. WFP and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) have also asked the authorities for permission to begin food distributions to some 7000 Liberian asylum-seekers in the border town of Bin Houye. Refugees there lack basic necessities and food. It has been difficult to reach them with aid, as the towns are just 3 kilometers from the border with Liberia's Nimba County, where some instability persists. The local administration, including the police and judiciary, has not been able to resume the full range of their activities in this crime-prone area since services lapsed at the peak of fighting between Government forces and rebels roughly a year ago. Complicated property issues in cocoa-producing regions and the proliferation of small arms contribute to the tension in western Côte d'Ivoire. The harvest season may give rise to increased tensions and insecurity over the next three months.

DR Congo

AFP 6 Jan 2004 Seven killed in DR Congo ambush, Burundi rebels blamed BUJUMBURA, Jan 6 (AFP) - Seven civilians were killed late Tuesday and 13 wounded in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a local government official told AFP, blaming the attack on rebels from neighbouring Burundi. "Burundian rebels attacked a truck driving towards Uvira at around 10:00 pm. They killed seven men and wounded nine others and four women," Uvira Mayor Medard Madjalibu said by phone. He said a wing of the National Liberation Forces (FNL), the only Hutu rebel group still fighting in Burundi's civil war, which has killed more than 300,000 people since 1993, had laid the ambush. In a surprise announcement Monday, the main wing of the FNL said it would meet Burundi President Domitien Ndayizeye later this month, something it had long refused to contemplate. Madjalibu said the FNL wing behind the ambush had "already killed hundreds of Congolese citizens. We have had enough and we want them to be neutralised."

News 24 SA 12 Jan 2004 Hutu exiles fear for families Hutus taught reconciliation Kigali welcomes convictions Kinshasa - Hutu militia fighters, who were responsible for Rwanda's 1994 genocide, on Monday accused the Rwandan army of torturing members of their families who have refused to persuade the ex-combatants to return from exile in the Democratic Republic of Congo. "The Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) - a Rwandan political-military movement based in the DRC - learned recently that fighters' relatives who live in Rwanda are systematically harassed, intimidated and even tortured," the group said in a statement. The FDLR fighters, accused of playing a key role in the 1994 genocide of up to a million minority Tutsis and their Hutu sympathizers, fled across the western border into the DRC when mainly Tutsi rebels seized power in Rwanda. According to the grouping, the Rwandan army ordered wives of the former fighters to go to the DRC to convince their husbands to return to Rwanda. "Wives of officers were taken under escort to the United Nations Mission in DRC (Monuc) in Walikale (eastern Sud-Kivu province)... and those who refused to carry out orders were tortured," the statement said. "The FDLR rigorously denounces Monuc's complicity in this operation, and expresses the wish that, if the UN wants to facilitate a return of true peace in the Great Lakes region, it should stop acting as a drive belt that carries out orders of the Kigali regime." Monuc should concentrate on leading a detailed inquiry into the fate of FDLR fighters who have been "repatriated against their will," the grouping said. In November, FDLR leader Paul Rwarakabije returned to southwestern Rwanda from the DRC and gave himself up. "In his letters, Paul Rwarakabije warns that the Kigali regime will turn on (FDLR fighters') families who have remained in Rwanda in the event that these combatants do not return home," the statement said, urging Kigali to "halt all harassment of defenceless women and children." Under a peace deal signed in 2002 aimed at ending the war in the DRC, which broke out as a rebellion in 1998 and grew into a complex conflict that drew in up to half-a-dozen other countries including Rwanda, Kigali agreed to withdraw troops from the DRC if the Kinshasa government disarmed and detained Rwandan Hutus operating in its territory. Rwanda pulled out its troops in October 2002, but has since complained that Kinshasa has not kept its side of the bargain. The DRC conflict claimed an estimated 2.5 million lives through combat, famine and disease. About two million Hutus, including many of those responsible for the massacres in Rwanda in 1994, fled to the DRC - then Zaire - when the slaughter was stopped. Rwanda later sent in its troops to attack refugee camps in eastern DRC, which housed mainly Hutu militiamen. Eastern DRC remains overrun by armed groups. There has been sporadic fighting, despite the establishment in July 2003 of an interim government for the vast country, tasked with guiding it to elections.

Reuters 21 Jan 2004 Hutu rebels blocked from leaving Congo: UN 21 January 2004 KINSHASA: Thousands of Rwandan Hutu rebels based in eastern Congo are being blocked from returning home by hardliners from within their own movement, United Nations officials in Congo said Tuesday. A spokesman for the UN mission said the hardliners had blocked strategic exit points around forests in the eastern province of North Kivu, near the Rwandan border, preventing around 3000 fighters and their families returning home. The Rwandan fighters, some of whom were involved in their country's 1994 genocide, have been based in neighbouring Congo for nearly a decade and fought alongside government forces during the country's five-year civil war. Congo's conflict, which claimed around three million lives mainly from hunger and disease, was declared over last year and the Rwandan fighters' presence in the country is seen as a major obstacle to cementing the fledgling peace accord there. "They have been blocked since their leader surrendered in November. They are being prevented from leaving by hardliners in the movement," UN spokesman Hamadoun Toure said. Paul Rwarakabije, commander of the rebel Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda (FDLR), surrendered to Rwandan officials last year after years of fighting in Congo and urged his fighters to do the same. Toure said hardliners had also been telling the rebels, who include former Rwandan army soldiers and "Interahamwe" militiamen who committed the genocide, that they would be prosecuted if they return home to Rwanda. During the civil war, the FDLR fought with the former Congolese government against Rwandan-backed Congolese rebels, who are now part of a power-sharing government. Rwanda invaded Congo in 1998 to hunt down those responsible for the 1994 genocide in which 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed by Hutu extremists. Under Congo's peace deal, the new national army has been charged with disarming foreign fighters on its soil. But only 5000 of the 15,000 Rwandan Hutu combatants believed to be in eastern Congo have been repatriated so far.

AFP 23 Jan 2004 More than 100 people killed in alleged DR Congo massacre: local official KINSHASA, Jan 23 (AFP) - More than 100 people have reportedly been killed in the restive Ituri region in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, a local official told AFP Friday, citing an unconfirmed report by a survivor of the alleged bloodbath. "More than 100 people, most of them men, are said to have been massacred in Bogu, on the banks of Lake Albert, by 'Adja' fighters," Emmanuel Leku told AFP by phone from the main Ituri town of Bunia, citing an account by a survivor of the alleged attack, whom he met at a medical centre in Mokambo, 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of Bogu. A team made up of observers from the UN Mission in DR Congo (MONUC), the interim administration for Ituri, and two main armed groups from the troubled region was sent to the region to verify the massacre reports. But "the team, of which I was part, stopped at Mokambo and was unable to travel on to Bogu," said Leku. According to Leku, the massacre happened two days ago and was perpetrated by members of a dissident wing -- the Adja -- of the Nationalist Integrationist Front (FNI), one of many armed groups operating in Ituri. The Adja fighters joined a group of civilians on five boats that left Mokambo, he said. "When the convoy of boats was off Bogu," he said, "the militia fighters ordered the boatsmen to stop so that the other passengers could listen to a 'pacification' message," which the Adja leader was due to give in the town. "After the meeting, they (the Adja) began beating up some of the passengers and killing others," said Leku. A MONUC spokeswoman said it was difficult to confirm whether a massacre had taken place. "A MONUC team will go to Bogu tomorrow (Saturday) where the killing took place," Isabelle Abric told AFP by telephone from Bunia. "At this stage, we can neither confirm nor deny if there was a massacre in Bogu," she said. Ituri has been riven by inter-ethnic violence that has cost 50,000 lives and left about 500,000 wounded since 1999. Even since DRC's wider war ended in April last year, at a cost of some 2.5 million lives lost either directly in combat or through disease and hunger, violence has continued in the troubled northeastern region, prompting the UN to deploy more than 4,000 peacekeepers there. A 51-page report by Amnesty International in October chronicles acts of violence and mass slaughter in the first nine months of this year in Ituri and cites cases of massacre, rape, torture and mass displacement of people.

Ethiopia

The McGill Report 2 Jan 2004 www.mcgillreport.org U.S. Anuak Refugees Fear 400 Dead in Ethiopian Massacre Rochester, MN -- There will be no last names given in this article. The reason is that if the last names are published, those people or their relatives could be shot and killed. Let me explain. I am talking about the relatives of some 1,200 Minnesotans. At 1 p.m. on the afternoon of Dec. 13, more than 200 uniformed soldiers of the Ethiopian army marched into the town of Gambella in remote western Ethiopia, near the border with Sudan. The soldiers spread out through the town and knocked on the doors of the houses and huts made from corrugated steel and straw matting. Some of the soldiers had pieces of paper with addresses and names. If no one answered their knocks, the soldiers broke down the doors and grabbed all the men and boys inside the house, looking under beds for anyone hiding. Once the frightened prisoners were in the street, the soldiers beat them with their guns and then told them to run. When they did, the prisoners were shot in their backs. Meanwhile, civilians in town from a different ethnic group than the victims appeared wielding spears and machetes. "I am going crazy right now," said Romeago, a Minneapolis resident whose sister's home was burned down. "My sister and her kids ran for their lives into the bush. We have no idea if they are safe. We are just praying." Eyewitness Report Sometimes the spear-wielding civilians, watched by the passive Ethiopian government soldiers, ran the prisoners through with their spears or simply hacked them down like small trees. They crumpled and died in the street. Eyewitnesses to the massacre, including one man named Omot who lives in Gambella, and with whom I spoke on the telephone Monday, say that more than 400 bodies have been recovered, many of them from a mass grave. The United Nations, which runs three refugee camps in the region, has confirmed the massacre and said all of the dead are members of the Anuak tribe, an indigenous people of Western Ethiopia who have been the target of ethnic cleansing for more than a decade. About 2,000 Anuak refugees came to the United States in the 1990s, with more than half of them settling in southern Minnesota. About 200 Anuak rallied on Saturday at the state Capitol, marching and making speeches to grab the attention of Minnesota citizens, legislators and the press. It was a freezing cold day, however, and I was the only reporter present. "The problem is hunger," said Obang, a Minneapolis citizen whose brother is missing and feared dead. "There is nothing to eat. Even if you have money, you have no place to go to get food. You are afraid of being killed." Ethnic Cleansing The Anuak live in a verdant but remote area that has active gold pits and is also known to have oil deposits. Over the past two decades, more than 100,000 refugees from the Sudanese civil war, many of them members of the Nuer tribe, have been settled in the region. Tens of thousands of Ethiopians from poorer parts of the country have also been resettled to the Anuak land. On Dec. 13, according to the testimony of Anuak survivors, the government and "highlander" Ethiopians collaborated in the massacre. Omot, the man I interviewed by phone, lost a son in the attack. "He was a driver and they shot him in his car," Omot said. "I survived by hiding in the bush. I saw a uniformed soldier kill one boy, a student." Omot also saw a young man who had been shot in the leg and could not walk, and was crying out for help in the street. Omot couldn't help the boy for fear of being shot himself. The thought of that boy haunts me. Is he still alive, I wonder? Or was he shot like a crippled dog by the soldiers? What would it be like to be shot and wounded and left abandoned to die slowly, on the side of a street in the middle of one's own town? That question kept me awake last night. That and whether Minnesotans will rally to help the suffering relatives of their fellow citizens, the Minnesota Anuak. If you want to be in touch with Anuak leaders in Minnesota who are organizing a relief effort, drop me an e-mail and I'll put you in touch: doug@mcgillreport.org. The McGill Report Global Perspectives from Minnesota by Doug McGill

Genocide Watch 8 Jan 2004 genocidewatch.org GENOCIDE WATCH: THE ANUAK OF ETHIOPIA 8 January 2004 Genocide Watch has received numerous reports of genocidal massacres of Anuak people in and around Gambella, Ethiopia in December 2003. At least 416 Anuak people were murdered. The massacres were led by Ethiopian government troops in uniform, but they were joined by local people from highland areas. Genocide Watch has checked these reports carefully with eyewitnesses in Gambella as well as with the United States State Department and the United Nations, who have confirmed that the massacres were committed by Ethiopian government forces. Between 3000 and 5000 additional Anuak refugees have fled into Sudan, where they have congregated around Pochalla. Genocide Watch has verified these reports with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees and with sources in Pochalla. The refugees say they are fleeing massacres of Anuak in Ethiopia. The pretext for these massacres was the ambush of a van on December 13 by an unidentified gang who murdered its eight occupants, who were U.N. and Ethiopian government refugee camp officials. There is no evidence that the killers were Anuak. Even if they had been Anuak, the response of Ethiopian government troops was criminal. The troops responded by murdering hundreds of Anuak civilians in Gambella and surrounding areas. They also burned their homes. These massacres were not committed by Nuer who had prior conflicts with Anuak. The government cannot blame the victims. Our sources indicate that those targeted particularly have been educated Anuak men, a tactic often intended to render a group leaderless and defenseless. Arrests of educated Anuak men that began over a year ago are continuing. 44 Anuak leaders have been held in jail in Addis Ababa for over a year without trial, and over 200 more are being held in Gambella. Genocide Watch has the names of nine more arrested last week. The Anuak in Ethiopia have also been disarmed, a threat to their ability to defend themselves. Massacres of people who are singled out and killed because of their ethnic group membership are genocidal. The Genocide Convention outlaws the intentional destruction of part of an ethnic group, not just destruction of the whole group. Ethiopia was one of the first signers of the Genocide Convention on December 11, 1948 and ratified it in July, 1949. Ethiopia endured one of the worst genocidal man-made famines of the twentieth century under the Derg communist regime. Tens of thousands of Amhara, Tigray, and Oromo highlanders were resettled into Anuak traditional territory during this period, which ended with the overthrow of the Derg regime in 1991. They have stayed. The situation has grown worse since oil was discovered under Anuak lands by the Gambela Petroleum Corp., a subsidiary of Pinewood Resources, Ltd. of Canada. Highland Ethiopians who control the Ethiopian government now have strong economic motives to drive Anuak off of their land. The situation is similar to the plight of southern Sudanese across the border. There have been regular massacres of Anuak since 1980. Cultural Survival (www.cs.org) has reported on them in six excellent reports published in the Cultural Survival Quarterly beginning in 1981. (See Anuak Decimated by Ethiopian Government, Issue 5.3, 1981; The Anuak – A Threatened Culture, Issue 8.2, 1984; Ethiopia’s Policy of Genocide Against the Anuak of Gambella, Issue 10.3, 1986; Resettlement and Villagization – Tools of Militarization in SW Ethiopia, Issue 11.4, 1987; Anuak Displacement and Ethiopian Resettlement, Issue 12.4, 1988; Oil Development In Ethiopia: A Threat to the Anuak of Gambella, Issue 25.3, 2001.) The 13 December 2003 massacre in Gambella has thus far gone unreported in the press, except for articles in the online McGill Report. According to Genocide Watch sources, the massacres on 13 December 2003 were ordered by the commander of the Ethiopian army in Gambella, Nagu Beyene, with the authorization of Dr. Gebrhab Barnabas, an official of the Ethiopian government. The accusation has also been made that lists of targeted individuals were drawn up with the assistance of Omot Obang Olom, who is himself Anuak, but holds an official position. Impunity gives the green light to those who commit genocide. If they are not arrested, they and their followers will know they can literally get away with mass murder. They will kill again, and the massacres could become full-scale genocide. On 8 January 2004, Genocide Watch faxed an urgent letter to Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi imploring him to take three actions: “1. We urge you to investigate and arrest the three men named above, as well as others who participated in the December massacres of Anuak in and around Gambella. “2. We ask you to release the Anuak leaders who are being held in prison in Addis Ababa, in Gambella, and elsewhere in Ethiopia. Police should also be ordered to stop arresting Anuak leaders and students simply because they are Anuak. “3. We encourage you to assist independent human rights experts who will investigate these massacres.” “We would be happy to discuss this very dangerous situation with you, your Foreign Minister, and other Ethiopian officials.” Respectfully, Dr. Gregory H. Stanton President, Genocide Watch Coordinator, The International Campaign to End Genocide The United States Department of State has confirmed and protested the massacres at the highest level of the Ethiopian government. Genocide Watch has also urged the Prevention Team of the Department of Political Affairs at the United Nations to bring the massacres to the attention of the Interdepartmental Framework for Coordination and the United Nations Security Council.

News 24 SA 12 Jan 2004 Ethiopian cops hunt for leader Ethiopia, Eritrea worry UN Eritrea 'fomenting trouble' Ethnic violence arrests Addis Ababa - Ethiopian police on Monday continued their search for the chief executive of a region in western Ethiopia, who went missing on Friday, the Ethiopian news agency reported. Okello Aquay is the regional chief executive of Gambella, where inter-ethnic violence claimed at least 57 lives late last month. More than 40 houses were gutted in the clashes between the Aunak and Nuer ethnic groups. Total damage was estimated at 3.5 million birr (around $400 000, or R2,6m). Aquay is an ethnic Anuak. Police found Aquay's car abandoned on Friday but found no trace of the driver or his two personal bodyguards. Police commissioner Kong Lul said the disappearance came "as a normal situation was being restored to the Gambella region, after the central and regional governments had pacified the region as a whole, following the recent ethnic violence and the ensuing tensions". The Ethiopian government has blamed neighbouring Eritrea for stirring tensions in the region through dissident elements.

IRIN 12 Jan 2004 Thousands of Anyuak flee to Sudan NAIROBI, 12 Jan 2004 (IRIN) - Since a spate of ethnic killing occurred last month in the Gambella region of western Ethiopia, about 15,000 members of the Anyuak community have fled to neighbouring Sudan, according to humanitarian sources. Between 100 and 300 Sudanese and Ethiopian Anyuak were arriving every day in Pachala County in the Upper Nile region of southern Sudan, Myron Jesperson, the director of World Relief, told IRIN. Most of the arrivals were in Pachala town, with others scattered throughout the county, he said. Many of the arrivals were camped at a local school and church, and were dependent on either purchased or hunted food, said Jesperson. With little surplus food available from the last harvest, food assistance would most likely be required in Pachala for between eight and 10 months, he added. "They're not in a desperate condition, but the question is what is going to happen to them long-term," said Jesperson. If the refugees stay in Pachala, it will result in a 30 percent to 50 percent increase in the county's population, according to World Relief. Violence in the Gambella region erupted in December when the Anyuak were blamed for an attack on a UN-plated vehicle carrying government officials to Odier, a proposed site for a camp for Dinka and Nuer Sudanese refugees. Eight people in the vehicle were killed and badly mutilated, including three government refugee workers. The Odier camp was supposed to be a neutral haven for the Sudanese refugees who were to be transferred from another camp, Fugnido, where earlier clashes had occurred. Local sources told IRIN the attack had sent a clear message to the authorities: that the proposed refugee camp site was on Anyuak land, which they were not prepared to give up to the Nuer and Dinka. Reprisals against the alleged attackers saw hundreds of Anyuak homes burned to the ground and dozens - some say hundreds - killed over a number of days. Over 5,000 Ethiopian troops helped to restore calm to the area, which has abundant natural resources, but tensions have since remained high. A local humanitarian source told IRIN: "They [the Anyuak] are afraid because no-one is protecting them. They are afraid they will be killed or arrested." The advocacy group Genocide Watch said many of those targeted had been educated Anyuak men. Over 240 Anyuak leaders were being held in jail without trial, it said, with nine more arrested last week. Competition over land between the Anyuak, who make up 27 percent of the population, and the Nuer, who make up 40 percent, is fierce. The Anyuak see themselves as losing land to the nomadic Nuer, whose numbers are steadily rising. The Ethiopian government's decentralisation policy of distributing power along ethnic lines in local government has exacerbated the problem, say regional analysts, because the Anyuak fear their power base is being eroded. There are currently five refugee camps on the Ethiopian side of the border, which are home to 87,000 Sudanese refugees. A spokesman for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Mahary Maasho, said it remained to be seen whether or not the Odier camp would be established.

I RIN 12 Jan 2004 Gambella State Top Official Disappears Addis Ababa Ethiopian police are investigating the disappearance of a top government official after at least 50 people were killed in western Ethiopia, officials said on Monday. The president of Gambella State, Okelo Akuai, vanished along with his driver and two bodyguards just weeks after clashes left dozens of people dead in the remote region that borders Sudan. Government spokesman Zemedkun Teckle said the authorities were investigating the disappearance of Akuai and his companions, which happened on Friday. "We are trying to find him," Teckle said. "We do not know why he has disappeared." His abandoned four-wheel drive vehicle was found in the state capital, Gambella town, but no word has been heard from him since, he added. The people killed in the recent clashes in Gambella, located some 800 km west of Addis Ababa, were mainly from the local Anuak ethnic group. Akuai, who is an Anuak, headed the region for the past year. According to humanitarian sources he is believed to have crossed into Sudan after claiming that the death toll in the fighting was much higher than government figures. Humanitarian organisations in the area said up to 5,000 Ethiopian troops had moved into restore order. But critics claimed they were fuelling the fighting. Gregory Stanton, who heads human rights group Genocide Watch, claimed that several thousand Anuak had fled Gambella for Sudan. "The refugees say they are fleeing massacres of Anuak in Ethiopia," said Stanton in a statement from Genocide Watch released last Thursday. The Hague-based organisation said that at least 416 Anuaks had died in reprisal killings after an attack on a vehicle on 13 December which eight people were killed. Anuaks were blamed for the attack and several senior government refugee workers who were to have opened a refugee camp were among the victims. Relevant Links East Africa Ethiopia Civil War and Communal Conflict Stanton accused Ethiopian troops of fuelling the violence and called on the country's Prime Minister Meles Zenawi to help stop the fighting. But Teckle dismissed the accusation that troops were behind some of the killings and also rejected claims that the death toll was in excess of 400. "There is no reason for the troops to kill civilians. They are there to stop the killings," said Teckle, who is from Ethiopia's ministry of information. The United Nations refugee agency pulled out staff from the area as a result of the violence, which was further fuelled by an on-going dispute between the Nuer and the Anuak who have clashed in recent years for scarce lands. Anuaks fear they are losing their land to the nomadic Nuer - whose numbers in recent generations have been increasing steadily as they move into the area.

VOA 13 Jan 2004 Ethiopia's Gambella State Governor Is Missing Alisha Ryu Nairobi 13 Jan 2004, 15:59 UTC Officials in western Ethiopia are investigating the disappearance of the Gambella state governor, who vanished last Friday. His disappearance follows violent ethnic clashes last month that prompted thousands of people to flee the region and seek refuge in Sudan. Ethiopian government spokesman Zemedkun Teckle says officials in Addis Ababa have no idea what has happened to the governor of Gambella state, Okelo Akuai. "The reason why he disappeared from that area is not actually clear. What we can say at this point is the reason is under investigation." Mr. Akuai's four-wheel drive vehicle was found in the state capital, Gambella town, shortly after he was reported missing on Friday. But officials say no one has heard from him or from his missing driver and bodyguards. International humanitarian and human-rights organizations believe the governor's disappearance may be linked to heightened tension between the Anuak and the Nuer, two tribes among several rival ethnic groups in the remote area, near the border with Sudan. There are fears Mr. Akuai, who is an Anuak, may have been the victim of an attack. But some humanitarian workers speculate that he may have fled into Sudan. Anuaks fear they are losing their land to the nomadic Nuer, whose numbers in Gambella have been steadily rising for several decades. The latest fighting erupted in early December, after an attack on a U-N vehicle left eight-people dead. Among them were three government workers who were trying to set up a new refugee camp for thousands of Nuers in territory traditionally held by the Anuak. A radical Anuak group was immediately blamed for that attack, sparking several days of ethnic clashes, which killed dozens of mostly Anuak people. In response to the unrest, the government sent as many as five-thousand troops to Gambella to restore order. But an international human-rights organization, Genocide Watch, claims that government troops were actually sent to fuel the fighting, not to stop it. On its Internet web site, Genocide Watch says it has confirmed numerous reports of massacres of Anuaks, some of them by Ethiopian troops. The organization says nearly 420 Anuaks were murdered last month, prompting thousands of Anuaks to flee into Sudan. Genocide Watch accuses the Ethiopian government of trying to drive the Anuaks out of Gambella because oil was recently discovered in Anuak territory. The organization compares the situation to the plight of the southern Sudanese across the border. The Ethiopian government spokesman, Mr. Zemedkun, says such allegations are baseless.

IRIN 15 Jan 2004 Gov't involved in Gambella attack, says rights group NAIROBI, 15 Jan 2004 (IRIN) - Government defence forces helped attack an ethnic group in western Ethiopia where least 93 people were killed, the country’s human rights council claimed. Addressing a press conference in the capital, Addis Ababa, on Wednesday, Prof Mesfin Wolde-Mariam, the president of the Ethiopian Human Rights Council (ERCHO), said local forces were involved in the attack on a tribe living in Gambella. The government has dismissed the allegations as unfounded. The fighting erupted after eight people, including three government officials, were murdered when the United Nations-plated vehicle they were travelling in was ambushed in mid-December. The bodies of the men were badly mutilated, but the defence forces later paraded them through Gambella town, thereby provoking even greater outrage, ERCHO said. A local tribe, the Anyuak, was blamed for the ambush, which, Mesfin said, was the spark that had ignited the current tensions in Gambella town. In its wake, local groups, bent on revenge, started attacking the Anyuak. He noted that tensions already existing prior to the ambush between ethnic groups over land and political rights were serving to exacerbate the fighting. Mesfin said those tensions were between the five ethnic groups originally inhabiting the region - including the Anyuak - on the one hand, and residents who were more recent arrivals from other parts of the country, known as highlanders, on the other hand. Some of these highlanders had taken to accusing the Anyuak of "high-handed behaviour" and of failing to show them due respect. In the weeks following the ambush, the region, which is some 800 km west of the capital, Addis Ababa, has witnessed an explosion of violence and instability. According to aid agencies working in Sudan, 16,000 Anyuak have fled across the border in recent weeks, with 300 new refugees arriving daily. Okelo Akuai, the ethnic Anyuak president of Gambella Regional State, is believed to have fled to Sudan along with his driver and two bodyguards. Mesfin said ERCHO had the names of 93 Anyuaks who had been murdered in the last four weeks – most of them the day after the ambush. He went on to note, however, that the overall death toll could be more than 300 after groups of highlanders armed with axes, hatchets, knives and daggers attacked Anyuaks living in Gambella town. "It is reasonable to state that many more people have been killed than our numbers suggest. What happened in Gambella was verging on genocide," he said. Mesfin went on to say that in the run-up to the attack, 5,000 Anyuaks had sought refuge in one of the town's churches, because soldiers had blocked the roads leading out of the town. "The mob, in collaboration with members of the [government] defence forces, continued to attack those who could not find anywhere to hide. Many were killed or sustained severe and light injures," added Mesfin, who has been the president of ERCHO for eight years. He asserted that the country’s "ethnic policy" was fuelling conflict. "These conflicts are becoming alarming and increasing," Prof Mesfin added. The country’s regions, he asserted, were divided along ethnic lines, with the largest ethnic groups gaining the most seats in local administrations. People had therefore become more conscious and sensitive of their ethnicity. "There are feelings running high, especially in the marginal areas," he said, noting that solutions such as having recourse to the services of local elders could serve as a contributory means towards defusing tensions. "This would stop them hating each other," he told journalists. "But if you leave it to fester, it gets worse." Meanwhile, the government spokesman, Zemedkun Teckle, has insisted that the government’s death toll of 57 is correct. He rejected claims that the defence forces might have been involved. "There is no reason for the troops to kill civilians. They are there to stop the killings," said Zemedkun, from the information ministry. In this context, he noted that at least 56 people suspected on involvement in the violence had been arrested. www.ehrco.net

AFP 16 Jan 2004 Rights group says Ethiopia unrest toll 93, almost double official figure ADDIS ABABA, Jan 16 (AFP) - An independent human rights group in Ethiopia said Friday that 93 people were killed last month during ethnic unrest in the western Gambella region, many more than the number released by the government, which the group accused of failing to prevent the bloodshed. "The Ethiopian Human Rights Council (EHRC) has managed to get the names and identities of 93 people who were killed, and the names of 42 others who sustained light and serious injuries," EHRC said in a statement. Government officials still insist that the death toll in Gambella is 57 and denied any official involvement in the unrest. More than 470 houses that belong to members of the Agnwak ethnic group were torched, EHRC added. The unrest began in mid-December after eight people, including a policeman, were killed on their way to Gambella town and has displaced more than 5000 Agnwaks and others who took shelter in Mekane Yesus Church, EHRC stated. The statement cited local government authorities saying that the mutilated bodies of 65 people were buried at a place called Jejebe. The Council accused the state authorities of failing to take action to prevent the violence, despite clear indications of tension before the killings. "As a result of the government ethnic policy, it is becoming a common occurrence to see Ethiopians who (once) lived in peace and harmony killing each other, categorizing themselves along ethnic lines," the statement said. "The ethnic-based policy that the government is promoting is poisoning people's mentality by a negative tribal thinking," it added. The council warned that severe poverty could fuel further ethnic violence. Defence ministry spokesman Major Harnet Yohhanes told AFP that the army was working with the police to restore order and had nothing to do with killings. Meanwhile, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said in Nairobi on Friday that between 100 and 200 people from Gambella were crossing into Sudan every day. "Most of them are men, which is rather unusual, because normally refugees are women and children, and these men are coming with absolutely nothing," UNHCR spokeswoman Kitty McKenzie told AFP. She added that the refugees had walked for between 10 and 17 days before reaching the border and were now "foraging in the forest or hunting to provide themselves with food."

Addis Tribune (Addis Ababa) 23 Jan 2004 UN Sends Agencies to Assess Anuak Refugees in Sudan The United Nations refugee and food relief agencies have sent staff to the town of Pochalla in southern Sudan to assess reports that thousands of Ethiopian and Sudanese Anuaks have fled there to escape inter-ethnic violence in western Ethiopia. Officials from the UN High Commissioner for Refugee and the world Food Programme (WFP) spent two days in Pochalla investigating the health and humanitarian needs of the people who have gathered there. The agencies' move follows reports from local authorities and the United States-based Christian charity World Relief - the only non-governmental organization (NGO) operating in Pochalla - that 15,000 Anuak people have reached the town recently. Last month eight people, including three officials from an Ethiopian government agency, were ambushed in their vehicle in Gambella. The attack was blamed on the Anuak community, sparking a recent round of deadly reprisals against Anuaks, according to UNHCR.

Genocide Watch 23Jan 2004 genocidewatch.org GENOCIDE WATCH: THE ANUAK OF ETHIOPIA Update to Release of 8 January 2004 Genocide Watch has received no reply to its letter to Prime Minister Meles. Instead, the Ethiopian government has undertaken a classic campaign of denial. It attempts to minimize the number killed (“only 57”) despite lists of those killed that exceed 400. The government has dug up mass graves and burned the bodies in an effort to cover up the crimes. Most typically, the government blames the massacres on the Nuer, traditional rivals of the Anuak, in an attempt to portray the killings as a “civil war” arising from “ancient tribal hatreds” and thus shift attention away from its own responsibility. Eyewitnesses, including both Africans and non-Africans, have confirmed that the massacres were in fact carried out by Ethiopian Defense Forces, not Nuer. The government also portrays the massacres as “tit for tat” reprisals for the ambush of the van, blaming the victims, who were unarmed civilians, for their own deaths. The government has sent 5000 Ethiopian Defense Forces to the area to “restore calm.” In fact, they continue to rape and pillage the area. Nuer and highlanders are reportedly settling into abandoned Anuak homesteads. No Ethiopian government officials have been arrested for their roles in the massacres. On 9 January, the President of Gambella state, Okelo Akuai, fled to Sudan after he was ordered to resign by those responsible for the massacres, who questioned his loyalty because he is Anuak. He arrived safely in Pochalla on 12 January. An assessment mission of NGO and UN agencies went to Pochalla, Sudan from 15 – 18 January and on 19 January, planned relief assistance to the refugees there, including food, medicines, blankets, mosquito nets, cooking utensils, buckets, and sanitation programs. Genocide Watch has urged the Prevention Team of the Department of Political Affairs at the United Nations to bring the massacres to the attention of the Interdepartmental Framework for Coordination and the United Nations Security Council. The outflow of refugees affects an area of Sudan controlled by the Sudan Peoples Liberation Army. There is thus danger of cross-border conflict and destabilization. The situation is a threat to international peace and security that should be brought before the Security Council. However, there is no indication yet that the United Nations plans to take any political action.

The McGill Report 28 Jan 2004 www.mcgillreport.org How an African Genocide First Came to Light in Minnesota By Doug McGill The McGill Report Rochester, MN -- The response to my column three weeks ago, in which I reported on a genocide occurring in Ethiopia, has been so extraordinary I'd like to share it. I got 55 e-mails and more than a dozen phone calls from such places as The Hague, New Dehli, Cape Town, Melbourne, Geneva, and Washington, D.C., as well as from southern Minnesota, Wisconsin and South Dakota. The Post-Bulletin was the first newspaper anywhere to report on a new genocide occurring on the other side of the planet. I wrote the column because more Anuak refugees live in Minnesota than any other state, and they have been thrown into a panic about family and friends back home. My account of the massacre was based on interviews with two dozen Anuak in St. Paul and Minneapolis who had spoken by telephone with eyewitnesses in Ethiopia on the day of the massacre and in the days immediately after. " You were the first to report on this and we're very grateful," wrote Greg Stanton, president of Genocide Watch in The Hague, in an e-mail. On Jan. 8, after having done its own research in Ethiopia to corroborate the Post-Bulletin report, Genocide Watch put the Anuak killings on its genocide alert list and published an article filled with damning new evidence. Someone Listened By breaking local news, we broke global news. Anuak refugees all over the world, desperate for news of friends and relatives from home, sent the Post-Bulletin column zipping around the Internet. Most meaningful of all to me were two dozen e-mails from Anuak refugees around the world who wrote to say -- often in these very words -- "God bless you and thank you." These letters were filled with a heavy grief but also with a great dignity and a profoundly touching gratitude. The fact that someone had listened to them had moved many Anuak deeply. " Sir, I would like to thank you for being a real friend of this small and defenseless tribe," wrote Ujulu Goch, from Washington, D.C. "God has always worked through someone to help needy people like the Anuak. But Sir, this is not the end of the tragedy. It's the beginning of the extinction of my tribe from the face of the Earth." Obang Metho, from Saskatchewan, Canada, sent me six attachments in his e-mail -- letters he had written to U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, and other diplomats and aid groups. Why Rebel? He also sent a poem called "Why Do I Rebel?" that captured a note of inspired defiance: I rebel because honor And justice are the work of duty and destiny. I fight because honor and justice Are the fixed demands of duty and beauty. I speak up because love of liberty And the well-being of every human Are the splendid ornament of the moral life. Here in Rochester, we can be an early warning system for crimes and atrocities committed all over the world, which would never receive the cleansing light of international attention if not for us. We are free; most of the world is not; therefore, it's our opportunity and our responsibility. We can do this simply by being open to what our immigrant neighbors have to say. The Rev. LeRoy Christoffels, pastor of the Worthington Christian Reformed Church, which has many Anuak refugees as parishioners, said his church is raising money for an Anuak relief effort. Ripples of Grief John Frankhauser of Spokane e-mailed to say he had brought an Anuak pastor, the Rev. Okwier Othello, to their church last summer to meet with Anuak members. "He spoke of the danger he faced when he returned to Gambella," Frankhauser wrote. "We were impressed with his gentle spirit and the way the other Anuaks respect him as their pastor." The Rev. Othello is the first name on the list I have of the dead. Frankhauser received eyewitness accounts of Othello's murder and gave details of his death too grisly to recount here. It was Martin Luther King Jr. Day when I wrote this column, so I went to his "Letter from Birmingham Jail" to find some lines that seemed relevant. There are parallels between the way King encircled Birmingham and Atlanta within a single moral sphere, and the way the ripples of grief and outrage from the Anuak massacre had so quickly spread around the world. " I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham," King wrote in his jail cell. "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly." Splendid. http://www.mcgillreport.org/anuak_genocide_links.htm

Ghana

Republic of Ghana 26 Jan 2004 www.ghana.gov.gh The Kofi Annan International Peace-Keeping Centre Commissioned The Kofi Annan International Peace Keeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) at Teshie, a suburb of the capital, was commissioned under the joint distinguished patronage of H. E. John Agyekum Kufuor, President of the Republic of Ghana and the H. E. Gerhard Schroeder, Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, last Saturday in Accra. The Centre is to serve as a Regional Training Centre of Excellence where education, training and research concerning peace keeping operations are to be delivered at the highest academic and professional standards. Opening the Centre, President Kufuor said the naming of the Centre after Mr. Kofi Annan, the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, was in recognition of his unwavering commitment to World Peace and Security throughout his career with the world body. He said with a joint venture by a number of nations, Germany is a major contributor and donated $1.8 million. Chancellor Schroeder on his part, described the UN Secretary-General as a trustworthy leader in the international circles. Mr. Schroeder emphasized the need for Africa to develop its own capacity in peacekeeping, saying without peace, the African continent has no hope of sharing in the fruits of globalisation. Dr. Kwame Addo-Kufuor, Defence Minister, in a welcome address, hoped that the Centre would realize its objectives fully to impact positively on peace, stability and security in the sub-region, Africa and the world at large. A special message from Mr. Kofi Annan, read by the UNDP Representative, Dr. Alfred Fawundu, said the support provided by the Centre by Canada, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and others is both testimony to the commitment to peace and recognition of the challenges ahead. Source: ISD 26/01/04 [Kofi Annan International PeacekeepingTraining Centre (KAIPTC) www.kaiptc.org]

Kenya

East African Standard, Kenya 17 Jan 2004 www.eastandard.net New clues in hunt of a most wanted killer By Douglas Okwatch Vital clues have emerged in the hunt for a Rwandan mass murderer believed to be hiding in Nairobi. Felicien Kabuga, a war criminal, is the most wanted man in Africa, and one of the most sought after thugs in the world. A price of $5 million dollars, the equivalent of Sh400 million, has been promised to anyone who can provide information leading to his capture. Investigations by the East African Standard revealed that a close associate of Kabuga is living in a posh Nairobi neighbourhood and operates freely in the city — with the full knowledge of the police. Kabuga was reported to have friends in high places in the former government, forcing former Internal Security PS Zakayo Cheruiyot to deny any links. Weeks of investigations, two vital clues – a Mercedes Benz limousine and a flat on Lenana Road in upmarket Hurlingham believed to belong to the Kabuga family — and a meeting in downtown Nairobi with two ex-police officers who were involved in the Kabuga hunt led to the alleged associate, Burundian Constantin Ndikumana, who is reported to be running Kabuga’s business interests in Nairobi. Yesterday sources close to the Rwandan embassy in Nairobi said: "Yes, Mr Ndikumana has been in Nairobi for quite sometime now. Let’s (…just) say he lives here and is looking after Mr Kabuga’s businesses." The source, who is privy to intelligence on the hunt for Rwandan war criminals added: "Also, I can add (sic… ) that he may be privy to vital information that might lead investigators to his (Kabuga’s) arrest, that is if they want to arrest him at all. If you want to look, his car (Mercedes) is always seen around Yaya Centre, and of course there are the flats he looks after." The Mercedes Benz, according to the source, was originally owned by one Andrei Singaye, also alleged to have been, alongside Kabuga, a mastermind of the genocide. "But Mr Singaye is dead now," said the source, adding "He died of natural causes in Nairobi." The sources would not say if Singaye had been assassinated Seth Sendashonga-style by Rwandese hitmen operating out of Nairobi. All he would say was: "That’s a theory, I’m only giving you facts." In late 2002, just as the storm of the political transition in Kenya was beginning to gather, there were widespread reports that Kabuga, wanted for his role in the 1994 massacre of millions of Rwandan men, women and children, was hiding in Kenya. It was alleged that top Kenyan security officials were hiding the fugitive. Visiting at the time, the US ambassador-at-large for war crimes, Pierre-Richard Prosper, had sensationally claimed that Kabuga had been "using Government infrastructure to maintain his fugitive status in Kenya". But Kenyan authorities consistently denied the accusations, even though a lie detector test administered by investigators on a top security official would appear to suggest that the official was lying. In recent times, however, the search for Kabuga appears to have petered out with both independent and Government sources saying that the man Washington accuses of planting seeds of acrimony and hate, which resulted into deaths of close to a million Rwandese, most of them Tutsi, may no longer be in Kenya. "He is somewhere, living in one of those Indian Ocean Islands," one source said without giving details. But evidence that a key Kabuga ally is in the country is likely to stir fresh interest in Washington’s hunt for Africa’s most notorious war criminal. Yesterday, a spokesman for the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) told the East African Standard from Washington: "He (Kabuga) still stands indicted by ICTR for war crimes. There is hope that we’ll capture him at some point." Speaking on behalf of Mr Jonathan Crock, whom the US Embassy in Nairobi had suggested that the East African Standard speaks to, the official would not comment on whether Washington still believed Kabuga was hiding in Kenya. "I’m not at liberty to say where he is, or where we’re looking [for him]," the official said. But a source at the US Embassy in Nairobi said of Mr Ndikamana’s presence, "That’s a very important development. You need to share it with the National Security ministry, preferably the Permanent Secretary." That alone would suggest that the US may not consider the hunt for Kabuga a top priority any more. Neither would the source say whether the Embassy would act on the information. Efforts to get the PS, Mr Dave Mwangi, were fruitless, even as the Immigration Department appeared hell-bent on frustrating efforts to establish Ndikumana’s immigration status. Rwandan intelligence sources said they believed Ndikumana may have information that could assist in the arrest of Kabuga. "Mr Ndikumana is the caretaker of the flats," the source said. The flats, on Lenana Road, according to the source, are owned by Kabuga’s son-in-law, a Mr Francois Ngirabatware. But Mr Ngirabatware has since moved to Brussels, according to the source. Expressing surprise that the police have failed to show interest in the matter, the source further said of the fugitive and his operations: "It is Kabuga’s style of doing things. His fronts here appear harmless. Ndikumana may not come across as a bad guy. But it says one thing about Kabuga; he trusts Ndikumana more than his own sons." Mr Ndikumana is said to be the one driving the mysterious Mercedes Benz, bearing an old Rwandan pre-genocide registration mark. The vehicle’s registration plate, according to sources indicates that it originated from Gisenye, Rwanda. Sources say the old Mercedes 200 model, is often to be seen in the Hurlingham and Yaya Centre neighbourhoods. But police yesterday appeared clueless about the existence of such a vehicle, which sources say has been in the country for over five years. The vehicles records couldn’t be traced at the Registrar of Motor Vehicles, either. Kenya Revenue Authority’s Mary Kiragu said information on the vehicle provided by the East African Standard was "scant", and would not be useful in tracing it. The same information was passed on to the police who were equally uninterested. Jesse Mituki, a deputy police spokesman said, "I have given the details of the car to the Criminal Investigations Department, but they haven’t come back to me yet." Mr Mituki, however, said the search for Kabuga is still on. He declined to give details, only saying that the Kenya Police, America’s Federal Bureau of Investigation and Interpol were still trying to track down the killer. The East African Standard was taken on a cat-and-mouse chase at the Immigration Department in Nyayo House on the question of Ndikumana’s immigration status. Initially, when contacted, Mr M R Njuguna, the Deputy Principal Immigration Officer, said when asked about Ndikumana’s status, "…That’s difficult, I cannot tell you that. This man you’re looking for, where does he live? This place is full of people from Uganda, Somali, Congo, Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania… you name it."

Liberia

Refugees International 16 Jan 2004 Liberia: Major effort needed to address gender-based violence Sarah Martin and Michelle Brown completed an assessment mission to Liberia in November 2003. Gender-based Violence (GBV) in all of its forms is endemic in Liberia. During the 14-year civil war, it is estimated that as many as 40% of women were raped. Rape and other human rights abuses are still widespread throughout the country. On a recent assessment mission to Liberia, RI heard numerous accounts of rape and violence that women had suffered at the hands of rebels and government militia forces. Few of these were personal accounts, however, as these women were reluctant to talk about their own experiences. The former girl combatants that we interviewed would admit to being "forced to have sex," but would deny that they were raped. This was in stark contrast to Sierra Leonean women refugees in Liberia, who spoke freely about the rapes that they had endured. One of the differences is that the refugee women had participated in rape counseling programs that were less available to other displaced persons and to Liberian women. RI is particularly concerned about the impact of widespread rape on the future of Liberia. The needs of rape survivors should be prioritized and not considered to be "second-tier" needs after food, water, and shelter. In addition to the psychosocial ramifications of rape that are yet to be determined, rape also leads to increased rates of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) and HIV transmission. An NGO worker in Monrovia remarked that in some health clinics, all of their female patients tested positive for at least one STI. Most of these women were raped by either militia or rebel forces. High STI rates can indicate high HIV rates. STIs must be screened and treated as they greatly increase the risk of HIV transmission. Many organizations are starting to develop programs to address the consequences of rape as a weapon of war in Liberia. These programs are normally geared towards women. But women are not the only victims of rape and its aftermath. Young boys in Liberia were routinely forced to rape women as part of the initiation process for the fighting forces. The trauma associated with both being forced to rape and being a survivor of rape will impact the culture of Liberia in ways that are not yet known. Anyone who has been impacted by rape in Liberia should be able to access services. Community awareness programs must be developed to help integrate the survivors and forced perpetrators of rape back into their communities. Programs should also be incorporated in the demobilization process, which will involve up to 38,000 combatants, of whom between one and two thousand are thought to be women. The rapid influx of peacekeepers and the international community into Liberia brings its own problems. According to a November 2001 UN Population Fund report on The Impact of Conflict on Women and Girls, "The demand for commercial sex increases sharply in settings with peacekeeping organizations." In addition to consensual and commercial sex, in the past, peacekeeping troops from ECOMOG were perpetrators of rape, sexual exploitation, and other crimes. UNMIL is to be congratulated for committing to incorporate a gender perspective in their work in Liberia. Special Representative of the Secretary General Jacques Klein told RI that any UNMIL employee engaged in a sexual relationship with a person under 18 will be expelled. RI applauds him for his commitment to reducing sexual exploitation of minors and urges that UNMIL's Code of Conduct be enforced to the fullest extent possible. The women of Liberia need to be given all the necessary tools and skills to protect themselves from exploitation and disease. In addition to vocational training services, income generating activities, and formal and non-formal education programs, it is essential that HIV/AIDS prevention education, sex education, empowerment training, and STI treatment be available for women and girls. Condoms must be readily available to women and girls -- as well as to peacekeeping troops and police forces. UNMIL has recently appointed a special advisor on gender issues who will report directly to the SRSG and will oversee the integration of gender into all UNMIL programs. RI urges UNMIL to make certain that this advisor is not a figurehead but rather is an integral player in decision-making. The gender unit must have adequate funding to mainstream gender into UNMIL's peace and security programs to ensure a sustainable impact. In addition, UNMIL must employ a significant number of women on its staff to ensure that the human rights of all the people of Liberia, both men and women, are protected. Many of the peacekeeping troops that are expected to serve in Liberia are being drawn from countries in sub-Saharan Africa where rates of HIV/AIDS are high. While statistics of HIV infection in individual militaries are rarely available, some estimates reach as high as 70% in sub-Saharan Africa. RI urges countries providing troops to offer extensive HIV/AIDS education to the troops prior to deployment. Providing treatment of STIs and focusing on STI prevention is another way to reduce HIV transmission while avoiding the stigma of HIV testing. Refugees International, therefore, recommends that: Appropriate and accessible health treatment for victims of rape and other forms of GBV be provided in communities and in all IDP and refugee camps; UNMIL's strict Code of Conduct to prevent sexual exploitation be enforced; The UN Gender Advisor for the SRSG is staffed and resourced to allow the monitoring of soldiers and needs of female ex-combatants, as well as to mainstream gender into all aspects of UNMIL activities; NGOs and UNMIL ensure female ex-combatants receive adequate health and social services and that programs for male ex-combatants include information and counseling about gender-based violence and human rights (including rights of women and girls); UNMIL and GOL train civil police, judges, and other law enforcement officials about crimes of gender-based violence, including sensitive interviewing, investigations of GBV, and special considerations for safety and security of victims and potential victims; Focus on providing women and girls with the economic and social resources needed to reduce their reliance on commercial sex work and their vulnerability to sexual exploitation; UNMIL provide aggressive treatment for STIs to all former combatants in the cantonment sites and that NGOs incorporate treatment of STIs in their health programs for communities, IDPs, returnees, and ex-combatants.

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