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BURUNDI: Aid agencies suspend work in Bubanza
The UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Burundi has strongly condemned an attack on an NGO vehicle in Bubanza province last week and called on all armed factions to adhere to international human rights and humanitarian law. In a statement, he urged the armed groups to stop targeting civilians and aid workers. "Humanitarian workers, often at great risk to themselves, are delivering much needed assistance to the most vulnerable populations throughout Burundi," the statement noted. It recalled that the vehicle belonging to the British NGO Children's Aid Direct (CAD) was stopped by a "man in uniform". The man opened fire on the vehicle, killing the driver, and seven more "heavily armed men" emerged from the bushes and took the remaining three CAD workers hostage. They were released after one and a half hours. Three international NGOs who have been operating in Bubanza - CAD, International Rescue Committee (IRC) and Action contre la faim (ACF) - have suspended their activities in the province until further notice.
BURUNDI: FDD denies responsibility for Bubanza attack
Meanwhile, the rebel Forces pour la defense de la democratie (FDD) denied any involvement in the Bubanza attack. In a statement, received by IRIN on Wednesday, the CNDD-FDD said it did not target civilians in its fight against the Burundian army.
BURUNDI: Two rebels reportedly killed by Tanzanian soldiers
The Tanzanian security forces killed two Burundian rebels, injured several and captured three others when they intervened at Nyabibuye hill in western Tanzania following an attack by the rebels on the night of 17-18 June. The Agence burundaise de presse (ABP) said the rebels, who were based in Tanzania, were on a mission to steal cattle in Burundi's neighbouring Cankuzo province.
The agency also said that fishing activities had stopped since 25 June on Lake Tanganyika near Rumonge in the southern Bururi province for "security reasons". It quoted eyewitnesses as saying that rebels living in Ubwari district of DRC had been launching attacks on Burundi via the Lake. A vehicle was shot at on Monday 25 June, afternoon between Rumonge and Nyanza-Lac but no injuries were reported.
BURUNDI: Five killed ambush
Five people, including a soldier were killed in an ambush about 10 km northeast of Bujumbura, the Associated Press (AP) reported on Wednesday. It quoted army spokesman Colonel Augustin Nzabampema as saying that the four civilians were employees of the Ministry of Education and the soldier acted as their escort. "They did not loot the passengers, their aim was to kill," he said. "Lately, there has been an increase of attacks on the road by the rebels. The ambush was reportedly laid by rebels on the national highway One linking Bujumbura to Muberure. According to the Agence burundaise de presse (ABP), three people were killed in Muberure in yet another incident on Sunday morning by a gang of assailants "crossing the zone on their way to Rutegama in Isale commune where they have taken up residence".
BURUNDI: Mandela invites regional leaders to meet on Burundi
The mediator of the Burundi peace process, Nelson Mandela, has invited 12 African heads of state to a summit in Tanzania next month, news organisations quoted Mandela's representative Mark Bomani as saying on Tuesday. "The facilitator will report the state of negotiations to heads of state of the Great Lakes region on 23 July in Arusha," Bomani said. "He will report on the progress made in mediating the conflict." The presidents of Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, South Africa, Burundi, Rwanda, DRC, Togo, Zambia, Libya, Namibia and Gabon have been invited.
BURUNDI: Over 500,000 people displaced
There are about 580,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Burundi, an update by the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) released on Monday said. It, however, cautioned that chronic insecurity and problems of access often make the compilation of exact figures difficult. It quoted UN sources as saying that 379,779 IDPs were recorded in 210 sites within Burundi as of May 2001. Following the dismantlement of the regroupment sites, more than 200,000 people may be dispersed in other areas of the country side, NRC said. The largest number of the displaced now reside in sites of the southern provinces of Makamba (103,656 persons), Bururi (87,581 persons) and Rutana (77,901). NRC said the number of the displaced in Rutana had greatly increased since last September due to conflict, from 2,000 to almost 78,000 at present according to UN estimates.
It said that while many people have had to flee their homes to escape violence, displacement in Burundi is not just a consequence of the conflict. "It has been to a large extent the result of a planned action by the government, both in 1996-97 and 1999-2000, which became known under the name of regroupment policy," NRC said. It said because of the bad climate conditions, insecurity and massive forced displacement, malnutrition and disease are starting to cause more victims than war. "Many displaced people have been unable to grow food and live mostly on international assistance," NRC said. It said that while the overall number of malaria patients declined in April 2001 with the dry season, the situation might worsen again in September 2001. HIV/AIDS has also been increasing dramatically in the country over the last year, it noted. The current WHO estimates are that 20 percent of the country's urban population and six percent of the rural population are HIV positive.
DRC: Humanitarian groups resume operations in northeast
The humanitarian community in Ituri province in northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is gradually resuming activities that had been suspended since 27 April following the murder of six staff members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), a humanitarian source based in Bunia confirmed to IRIN on Wednesday.
In a letter read on rebel-controlled Radio Candip in Bunia said to have been signed by humanitarian organisations in the region, it was stated that "in the light of efforts to restore political, administrative, military and traditional authorities in Ituri, and the revival of peace, liaison and follow-up committees ... we, the humanitarian community, have decided to resume our action on the ground gradually." The source in Bunia confirmed that the humanitarian community had received written assurances of security from the local authorities.
Signatories of the letter from the humanitarian community were reported to have included the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Medair, the UN Mission in DRC (MONUC), Oxfam-UK, Save the Children, Tearfund, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the World Health Organisation (WHO).
DRC: Over 2 million uprooted people
The US Committee for Refugees (USCR) released last week an overview report of statistics and recent history of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) for the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Among its most notable data is that DRC was the source of more than 2.1 million uprooted people at the end of 2000, including some 350,000 refugees and asylum seekers, and an estimated 1.8 million IDPs. Approximately 1 million Congolese fled their homes during the year, and there were significant numbers of refugees from DRC in at least ten countries: about 110,000 in Tanzania, nearly 100,000 in Congo-Brazzaville, some 60,000 in Zambia, 28,000 in Rwanda, 15,000 in Central African Republic, 12,000 in Angola, 10,000 in Uganda, 5,000 in Burundi, 2,000 in Cameroon, and 2,000 in Malawi. About 8,000 citizens of DRC applied for asylum in Europe during the year. Congo has a total population of about 50 million.
At the same time, about 275,000 refugees from six neighbouring countries were in DRC at the year's end: 170,000 from Angola, 70,000 from Sudan, 20,000 from Burundi, 10,000 from Uganda, 5,000 from Congo-Brazzaville, and 1,000 from Rwanda. The report noted that an estimated 30,000 or more Rwandans were in DRC living in refugee-like circumstances, but their status remained undetermined pending assessment of their asylum claims.
The complete report can be found at http://www.refugees.org/world/countryrpt/africa/congokinshasa.htm
DRC: Minister denies Rwandan rebel support but confirms Mayi-Mayi support
The foreign minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Leonard She Okitundu, on Tuesday rejected accusations that his government was allowing Rwandan rebels to attack Rwanda from bases in the DRC, Reuters reported on Tuesday. "The government considers these accusations as being entirely unfounded," Okitundu told Reuters. Rwanda has accused Kinshasa of impeding implementation of the Lusaka peace agreement by supporting rebel attacks into Rwanda. Instead, Okitundu blamed attacks on Rwandan rebels based within Rwanda as well as Uganda, Reuters reported.
Okitundu, however, confirmed that the DRC government was arming Mayi-Mayi militias operating in territory occupied by Rwandan-backed rebels. "If you call the Mayi-Mayi Congolese citizens who are fighting against occupation, then we support them," Okitundu told Reuters. "This struggle will continue until the occupation is over. It is legitimate that the population fight against this occupation and this will continue and we support this fight."
DRC: "Torture a weapon of war against unarmed civilians" - Amnesty
During the past three years, thousands of unarmed civilians have been tortured in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), said Amnesty International on Tuesday in its latest report "Torture: a weapon of war against unarmed civilians". In a conflict involving troops from at least six governments and at least as many armed political groups, many forces use torture against unarmed civilians they suspect or know to be opposed to the armed conflict, the government or the armed group to which they belong. According to the report, torture is committed by armed forces of the DRC, Uganda and Rwanda, as well as by armed opposition groups allied to them, such as the Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD-Goma), the Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie - Mouvement de liberation (RCD-ML), the Congolese Mayi-Mayi and DRC-based Rwandese Hutu armed groups. When asked by Amnesty about reports of torture by their forces, authorities have repeatedly denied that they have ordered or condone the abuses.
Rape of girls and women of all ages has been extensively used by all forces. "Many women have been subjected to rape and other forms of sexual violence by members of the security forces," the Amnesty report said. However, rape is seriously under-reported because of the social stigma that victims must endure. Journalists have been targeted for torture to intimidate and prevent them from criticising the government, and human rights activists investigating and denouncing human rights abuses have also been tortured, the report noted.
Although DRC President Joseph Kabila announced on 8 March 2001 the closure of all unofficial detention centres not supervised by the judiciary, such centres continue to be used to hold criminal suspects and government opponents, according to Amnesty. The detention system is reputed for harsh, cruel, inhuman and degrading conditions. As a result of congestion in prisons, many detainees become seriously ill with little or no access to medical attention or treatment, leading to high rates of mortality.
"It is primarily the responsibility of governments to prevent acts of torture and other human rights abuses and to bring alleged perpetrators to justice. Armed political groups too have a duty to prevent their forces from carrying out these abuses, in accordance with international humanitarian law," the report stated. [ For further details, see http://www.amnesty.org.uk/cgi-bin/eatsoup.cgi?id=Ozh08tRDxIcAAEUVHgI ]
RWANDA: Rwandan reconciliation commission making progress, says official
Aloysea Inyumba, executive secretary of Rwanda's National Unity and Reconciliation Commission (NURC), told AP on Tuesday that the organisation was making progress in its efforts to restore normality to the country following the 1994 genocide in which Hutu extremists killed some 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus. In the two years since the NURC was established, it has managed to speed up the process of justice, help find new homes for 300,000 orphans from the genocide and run programmes to bring Rwanda's Hutu and Tutsi communities together, AP reported.
"Managing the aftermath of a genocide is extremely challenging. The question is: how do we promote a culture of justice and reconciliation while also discouraging a culture of impunity?" AP quoted Inyumba as saying.
Inyumba and other NURC members are currently visiting Europe to seek additional funding. NURC has an annual budget of US $300,000, donated in part by the US and the European Union. Inyumba is also meeting with Rwandan exiles, AP reported.
RWANDA: Namibia seeks to strengthen relations with Rwanda
Namibian President Sam Nujoma on Tuesday sent a message to President Paul Kagame of Rwanda aimed at improving relations between the two countries, news agencies reported on Wednesday. "There is need to work together in the restoration of peace especially in the Great Lakes region and the Namibian government is committed towards achieving that goal so as to facilitate the development of socio-economic activities," the message was reported in part to have read, according to the Rwanda News Agency.
The message was presented to Rwandan Prime Minister Bernard Makuza by Namibian special envoy and Minister for Mines and Energy Jesaya Nyamu, Radio Rwanda reported on Tuesday. "Our discussions touched on the relations between Namibia and Rwanda and how they could be strengthened. We also discussed African issues, next month's OAU [Organisation of African Unity] summit and the situation prevailing in the Great Lakes region, including the DRC," Makuza said. Kagame was out of the country, attending the UN conference on AIDS in New York.
Namibia, together with Angola and Zimbabwe, sent troops into the DRC in August 1998 to support the government of late president Laurent-Desire Kabila against rebel factions backed by Rwanda and Uganda.
Nairobi, 27 June 2001
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