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01 Jun 2004

Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone: Special Court affirms child soldier recruitment is a crime

Report
— Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers
London, 1 June 2004 - The International Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers today welcomed a historic court decision that confirmed the recruitment and use of child soldiers as a crime under international law even when and where the International Criminal Court's powers do not apply.
Today's decision by the Appeals Chamber of the Special Court on Sierra Leone recognised child recruitment under age 15 as a crime under customary international law - even before the adoption of the Rome Statute for the International Criminal Court, in July 1998.
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01 Jun 2004

Burundi
Burundi leaders fail to agree on elections

Report
— Agence France-Presse
by Jean-Jacques Cornish
PRETORIA, June 1 (AFP) - Burundi's political leaders failed to agree on a timetable for holding elections following four days of talks in Pretoria, setting the stage for a showdown on the thorny issue at a weekend summit, an official said Tuesday.

Burundian President Domitien Ndayizeye and leaders of former rebel groups held meetings from Saturday to try to agree on an election date and a progress report to be presented to a regional summit in Dar es Salaam.

"We had wanted to have something

Agence France-Presse:

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01 Jun 2004

Haiti
UN takes command of Haiti's security

Report
— Agence France-Presse
by Philippe Rater

PORT-AU-PRINCE, June 1 (AFP) - Blue-helmeted UN peacekeepers will once again begin patrolling impoverished Haiti this month as the world body formally takes over a security and stabilization mission from multinational troops under US command here Tuesday.

The UN is dispatching 6,700 troops and 1,622 civil police officers to Haiti, which has been ravaged by heavy storms in the past week, compounding its citizens' woes.

The handover ceremony occurred at Haiti's Police Academy as the multinational stabilization force's authority was

Agence France-Presse:

©AFP: The information provided in this product is for personal use only. None of it may be reproduced in any form whatsoever without the express permission of Agence France-Presse.

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01 Jun 2004

Democratic Republic of the Congo
Fighting resumes near eastern DR Congo town

Report
— Agence France-Presse
BUKAVU AIRPORT, June 1 (AFP) - Fighting resumed near the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) town of Bukavu on Tuesday morning as rival army factions clashed for the third straight day, UN military sources said.
The factions battled for two hours near Bukavu airport Monday evening, but the night was calm.

The source from the UN's mission in DRC, MONUC, said fighting resumed Tuesday morning around 10:30 am.

Mortar and gunfire could be heard from the airport, which lies about 30 kilometres (20 miles) north of the town.

The head of the so-called "dissident"

Agence France-Presse:

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01 Jun 2004

Dominican Republic + 1 other
Télécoms sans Frontières expands its intervention in Haiti

Report
— Télécoms Sans Frontières
Set up since May 26th in Jimani in the Dominican Republic, the TSF team has put its satellite equipment and its expertise at the service of the rescue teams' coordination and at the disposal of the affected population. Local volunteers have been trained in order to help the technicians at the TSF data transmission centre and for the humanitarian telephony activity.
Heavy rainfalls still beat down on the island and Haiti is also seriously affected. Therefore, TSF decided to deploy its action on both sides of the boarder and part of the team reached
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01 Jun 2004

Haiti
UN ready to work with Haiti to ensure sustainable future, says UN SG as Stabilization Mission assumes authority

Report
— UN Secretary-General
SG/SM/9339, PKO/112
Following is Secretary-General Kofi Annan'smessage at the beginning of the mandate of United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti in Port-au-Prince, 1 June:

Ten years after the first United Nations peacekeeping operation was deployed to Haiti, the United Nations flag is hoisted again. Today, the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti, or MINUSTAH, assumes authority from the Multinational Interim Force, and the mandate of the Mission, as approved in Security Council Resolution 1542, comes into force. The Mission demonstrates the international

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01 Jun 2004

Somalia
At least 31 killed in Somali clashes

Report
— Agence France-Presse
MOGADISHU, June 1 (AFP) - At least 31 people were killed and around 40 wounded Tuesday in clashes in the southern Somali town of Bulohawo, near the Kenyan border, militia sources and witnesses said.

The bodies of the dead, 25 gunmen and six civilians hit by stray bullets as they were going to morning prayers, littered the streets of the town, eyewitnesses said.

An earlier toll put the number of dead at five.

Around 18 people who sustained serious gunshot wounds were rushed to nearby hospitals while a dozen others were seen seeking treatment in local phamarcies.

Agence France-Presse:

©AFP: The information provided in this product is for personal use only. None of it may be reproduced in any form whatsoever without the express permission of Agence France-Presse.

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01 Jun 2004

Dominican Republic
Aid provided to Dominican Republic flood survivors

Report
— Adventist Development and Relief Agency International
Silver Spring, Maryland - Severe flooding in the Dominican Republic has killed hundreds, with many more still missing or unaccounted for. Those affected by the flooding are receiving aid from the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) office in the Dominican Republic. In response ADRA will provide clothing, shoes, medicine and food supplies to 1,000 people affected by the flooding. Food supplies will include rice, beans, cooking oil, potatoes, pasta, salt, milk, and oatmeal.
Medical consultation, treatment, and
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01 Jun 2004

Iraq
Iraq: Rights groups - mixed reaction to new government

Report
— IRIN
BAGHDAD, 1 June (IRIN) - After weeks of wrangling, a new government has been sworn in to serve as an interim authority to take over sovereignty from US-led administrators on 30 June. Workers at an Iraqi human rights group and a women's group expressed cautious support for the new government, which will serve until general elections scheduled for January, but called on it to be independent of US-led coalition forces.
Flanked by the newly named prime minister and president, Lakhdar Brahimi, special adviser to UN Secretary-General
IRIN:

A selection of IRIN reports are posted on ReliefWeb. Find more IRIN news and analysis at http://www.irinnews.org

Une sélection d'articles d'IRIN sont publiés sur ReliefWeb. Trouvez d'autres articles et analyses d'IRIN sur http://www.irinnews.org

This article does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. Refer to the IRIN copyright page for conditions of use.

Cet article ne reflète pas nécessairement les vues des Nations Unies. Voir IRIN droits d'auteur pour les conditions d'utilisation.

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01 Jun 2004

Sierra Leone + 2 others
Returns to Sierra Leone step up before June 30 deadline

Report
— UN High Commissioner for Refugees
FREETOWN, Sierra Leone, June 1 (UNHCR) - More than 1,500 Sierra Leonean refugees have come home from neighbouring Liberia in recent days as the pace of repatriation steps up ahead of a June 30 deadline.
Last Friday, 718 refugees arrived at Zimmi way station, southern Sierra Leone, in the biggest return convoy so far this year. Another 614 came back earlier last week while a convoy of 337 was expected to arrive today.

This comes as UNHCR phases out its repatriation programme for Sierra Leonean refugees who had fled during a decade of civil

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01 Jun 2004

Sudan
Sudan: Access to Darfur for aid workers improves despite persistent problems

Report
— IRIN
NAIROBI, 1 June (IRIN) - Just over a week after the government of Sudan said it would allow aid workers into the western region of Darfur within 48 hours, humanitarian access was "fairly smooth," according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Khartoum.
OCHA had managed to deploy seven field staff members since 20 May, several of whom had been waiting for up to two months for a travel permit, said Ramesh Rajasingham, the head of OCHA Sudan. In one or two cases, visas were still being delayed, but these were
IRIN:

A selection of IRIN reports are posted on ReliefWeb. Find more IRIN news and analysis at http://www.irinnews.org

Une sélection d'articles d'IRIN sont publiés sur ReliefWeb. Trouvez d'autres articles et analyses d'IRIN sur http://www.irinnews.org

This article does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. Refer to the IRIN copyright page for conditions of use.

Cet article ne reflète pas nécessairement les vues des Nations Unies. Voir IRIN droits d'auteur pour les conditions d'utilisation.

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01 Jun 2004

Dominican Republic + 1 other
Caribbean floods leave thousands of children homeless

Report
— Save the Children
Westport, CT (June 1, 2004) - Following one of the worst floods to hit Haiti and the Dominican Republic in years, Save the Children is moving quickly to support relief efforts in remote towns along the border of the two countries where mudslides last week leveled villages, claimed the lives of up to 2,000 people and left thousands more children and their families homeless.
Save the Children emergency relief specialist Tammie Willcuts this weekend joined several other relief workers in a ten-hour trip to flood-ravaged areas on the Haiti side of the border to help
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01 Jun 2004

Iraq
Iraq: Statement by Mr. Lakhdar Brahimi, Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General

Report
— UN Department of Public Information
Consultations for the formation of the Iraqi Interim Government have been going on without interruption throughout the four weeks which have elapsed since my United Nations colleagues and I returned to Baghdad. These consultations have involved the Governing Council, the Coalition Provisional Authority, and a very large number of representatives of the Iraqi public, including political parties, professional associations, trade unions, tribal and religious leaders, academics and intellectuals, women's and youth organizations, and others.
I am pleased to announce that, on Sunday,
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01 Jun 2004

Iraq
14 killed as new Iraqi government welcomed by explosion of violence

Report
— Agence France-Presse
by Virginie Locussol

BAGHDAD, June 1 (AFP) - Insurgents launched an onslaught on Iraq even as the country was given a new government Tuesday, with two deadly car bombs rocking central Baghdad and a US military base in the north.

At least three people were killed and 34 wounded in a car bomb attack on the Baghdad headquarters of a main Kurdish party, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), a US military source said.

The Karam hospital received three killed and 28 injured, the Yarmuk hospital one dead and five wounded and the Kindi hospital one wounded.

Agence France-Presse:

©AFP: The information provided in this product is for personal use only. None of it may be reproduced in any form whatsoever without the express permission of Agence France-Presse.

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01 Jun 2004

Sudan + 12 others
World: New World Vision report charts devastating cost of conflict

Report
— World Vision
As US President George Bush lobbies for the forgiveness of Iraq's debt, a new report argues the accumulated debt of 16 of the world's worst war-torn countries could be wiped away for even less.
The report, "An ounce of prevention: The failure of G8 policy on armed conflict", says the collective failure of international institutions to take conflict prevention seriously has contributed to the deaths of 14 million people and the displacement of 19 million people over the last four decades in these 16 countries. Yet
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01 Jun 2004

Israel + 1 other
Trauma soaring among Palestinian children, says UN

Report
— Agence France-Presse
by Sophie Claudet

QALANDIYA REFUGEE CAMP, West Bank, June 1 (AFP) - Trauma and stress-related troubles have risen among Palestinian children since the beginning of the intifada, psychologists working in this UN-run refugee camp near Ramallah said Tuesday.

"Palestinian children have lost all sense of normalcy. They don't know whether they'll be able to go to school, whether they'll come home safely because of curfews and (Israeli) army incursions," Yoad Ghanadreh told reporters at a visit in Qalandiya's community center managed by the UN agency for refugees (UNRWA).

Agence France-Presse:

©AFP: The information provided in this product is for personal use only. None of it may be reproduced in any form whatsoever without the express permission of Agence France-Presse.

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01 Jun 2004

Burundi
In message to 'handover' ceremony for UN Operation in Burundi, UN SG pledges to work 'shoulder to shoulder' with people to build better future

Report
— UN Secretary-General
SG/SM/9338, AFR/953
Following is the message by the Secretary-General Kofi Annan, read out by Berhanu Dinka, Special Representative for Burundi, at the handover ceremony from the African Mission in Burundi to the United Nations Operation in Burundi, in Bujumbura today:

Burundi is today witnessing the dawning of a new day in its peace process, marked by the official handover of the mandate of the African Mission in Burundi (AMIB) to the United Nations Operation in Burundi, or ONUB.

Allow me to express my appreciation to

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01 Jun 2004

Angola
Angola: Government concerned about child abuse

Report
— Government of Angola
Luanda, 06/01 - Angolan Government has manifested its concern about the growing cases of child abuse, committed by people who act against the country's laws currently in force, regarding children's rights and protection.
This was manifested today, here, during a Press conference, by the Angolan Minister of Welfare and Social Reintegration, Jo=E3o Baptista Kussumua, when answering questions from some journalists about the "breaking of the law" by some people, regarding sexual abuse of minors and also using them for labour.

The referred Press conference was aimed

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01 Jun 2004

Myanmar
Expert on human rights in Myanmar "disappointed" with Government's cooperation

Report
— UN Commission on Human Rights
The Special Rapporteur of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights on the situation in Myanmar issued the following statement today:
Prof. Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on the situation in Myanmar, expresses his disappointment with the lack of cooperation with his mandate on the part of the Myanmar authorities.

Since his last mission to Myanmar in November 2003, the Special Rapporteur has requested twice from the Myanmar authorities to return to the country to carry out in situ missions, but

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01 Jun 2004

Uganda
At least 170 killed in northern Uganda in May: army

Report
— Agence France-Presse
KAMPALA, June 1 (AFP) - At least 170 people, including 55 civilians, 108 rebels and six government soldiers were killed in May during battles with Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels in northern Uganda, the army said on Tuesday.

"We lost six soldiers and nine injured during the same month, while at least 55 civilians were killed by the rebels in different parts of the region. Our forces killed 105 rebels," Lieutenant Paddy Ankunda told AFP from Gulu, quoting the army's monthly report.

He particularly cited the attack on Pagaka

Agence France-Presse:

©AFP: The information provided in this product is for personal use only. None of it may be reproduced in any form whatsoever without the express permission of Agence France-Presse.

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