Informing humanitarians worldwide 24/7 — a service provided by UN OCHA

Burundi + 2 more

IRIN Update 977 for the Great Lakes

UNITED NATIONS
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Integrated Regional Information Network
for Central and Eastern Africa
Tel: +254 2 622147
Fax: +254 2 622129
e-mail: irin@ocha.unon.org

DRC: Kinshasa close to abandoning Lusaka agreement

The government of President Laurent-Desire Kabila appears ready to abandon the Lusaka peace accord, diplomatic sources said this week. The sources said he believed it no longer had validity and that the Kampala disengagement plan could not deliver an end to the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo. They said Kinshasa had never considered the Lusaka agreement a good deal - especially in light of the potential threat a meaningful inter-Congolese dialogue would pose to Kabila's position and power. The Lusaka process had, however, slowed the progress of the Congolese rebel groups and their allies, and allowed Kabila time to reorganise his army, they said. Neither have the Congolese authorities been pleased by UN condemnation of their continuing offensive in northwest Equateur province, which they consider justified as a means of retaking areas captured by the rebel Mouvement de liberation du congo (MLC) after the signing of the Lusaka ceasefire agreement in July 1999. Kabila's government has also expressed anger at what it perceives as UN weakness in not bringing more pressure to bear on Rwanda and Uganda to withdraw from the DRC, as demanded by UN Security Council resolution 1304 of 16 June.

DRC: UN delegation in Lusaka

Meanwhile, the UN Special Representative to the DRC, Kamel Morjane, and Mountaga Diallo, the Force Commander of the UN Mission in the DRC (MONUC), travelled to the Zambian capital, Lusaka, on Friday for a Political Committee meeting of the Lusaka peace accord, a UN statement said. The meeting of defence and foreign ministers of the signatories of the Lusaka accord would discuss military disengagement plans drafted by the Joint Military Commission (JMC) charged with implementing the agreement, JMC chairman Brigadier-General Timothy Kazembe told journalists this week.

In a related issue, the UN statement said a UNDP-led team to assess the loss of life and damage caused by fighting between Ugandan and Rwandan forces in Kisangani was preparing to leave for the northeastern city in the middle of August.

DRC: Annan reports on children in conflict

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has recommended that the impact on children of the exploitation of natural resources in DRC should be investigated by a special panel appointed by Security Council. In his report on 'Children and Armed Conflict', Annan said an estimated 10,000 to 20,000 children under 15 serve as combatants with the various fighting forces in the DRC. He also cited the importance of breaking the link between illegal exploitation of resources, the illicit trade in small arms and the involvement of children in armed conflict. The Security Council had adopted his proposal that child protection officers be part of all peacekeeping operations. He said they would join the MONUC team with the specific task of ensuring humanitarian assistance for children.

The full report, 'Children and Armed Conflict', can be viewed at: http://www.un.org/Docs/sc/reports/2000/sgrep00.htm]

DRC: Kinshasa "committed" to child demobilisation.

In response, the DRC representative to the UN, Andre Kapanga, cited his government's commitment to resolving the problem of conflict-affected children. He said his nation was only the third African country, after South Africa and Malawi, to adopt a National Action Plan on the matter, as called for by the 1993 Vienna World Conference. DRC, he said, had also ratified the UN Convention on Child Rights, and was in the process of doing so for the related OAU charter.

DRC: New rebel group in Bunia

A new rebel movement - as yet unnamed - has been formed in Bunia, eastern Congo, causing uncertainty in the already volatile region, a security source told IRIN on Friday. The source said that the new movement comprised some 300 ethnic Wahema militiamen in Ituri and some Banyamulenge fighters who had joined the Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie - mouvement de liberation (RCD-ML) under Ernest Wamba dia Wamba. The sources said they have already clashed with the Ugandan army and RCD-ML troops."

Last year ethnic fighting between the Lendu and Hema tribes in the area led to the deaths of more than 7,000 people, prompting the Ugandan army to intervene. The former RCD-ML finance minister, Atenyi Tibasima, and the former RCD-ML premier, Mbusa Nyamwisa, were said to be opposed to the leadership of Wamba dia Wamba. A regional analyst told IRIN: "The problem is that rival camps within the RCD-ML have backing from different camps in the Ugandan security system, which makes it difficult to sort out their problems. The Ugandan leadership has to talk with one voice." Ugandan army spokesman Major Pheneas Katirima told IRIN that the existence of the new movement had been confirmed, but that its leadership and motives were yet to be established.

BURUNDI: Over 700,000 still displaced

More than 700,000 people are still in camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Bujumbura Rural, Bubanza and Makamba provinces, according to a joint FAO/WFP assessment. It said the majority had a restricted access to land. The assessment, conducted last month, said that although insecurity continued to disrupt economic and agricultural activities, there had been a "relative general improvement" since the end of 1999, with a number of people in IDP camps decreasing from 821,000 people to 704,000, a figure comprising 11 percent of the country's population.

According to the team, the worst affected provinces are Bujumbura Rural with some 58 percent of its population displaced, followed by Bubanza with 39 percent, Makamba with 33 percent and Bururi with 21 percent. The report further said that security conditions in Makamba are still "precarious" in the communes of Kayogoro, Kibago, Mabanda and Nyanza-Lac.

BURUNDI: UPRONA-Mukasi vows to scupper accord

A splinter group of the Tutsi-dominated UPRONA movement, led by Charles Mukasi, this week denounced the Arusha peace process, saying it was "aimed at institutionalising genocide and destroying the Burundi nation". The private NetPress agency quoted members of the party's committee as vowing to "do everything to ensure failure" of the agreement. The group's statement urged all leaders involved in preparing the framework agreement "not to succumb to intimidation of any kind" and to carry on with the work of making a success of "the real process of preventing genocide and discouraging it forever".

BURUNDI: Curfew slapped on Kamenge

Municipal authorities in the capital Bujumbura have imposed a night-long curfew on the predominantly Hutu suburb of Kamenge, according to the BBC Kirundi service. Citing "a lot of banditry", the authorities said the curfew had been imposed on Wednesday night. They also said they suspected the presence of armed groups in the area.

RWANDA: ICTR case helps break impunity for sex crimes

A recent conviction by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) had helped the process of ensuring accountability for crimes against children in conflict situations, Kofi Annan reported to the UN Security Council this week. The case resulted in a conviction for genocide and crimes against humanity for acts that included the rape of a very young girl, he said. Details of the case were not disclosed.

Particularly grave forms of sexual violence - including rape, sexual slavery and enforced prostitution - constitute war crimes within the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court, Annan noted. "The facade of impunity for the perpetrators of sexual violence against children in wartime is finally crumbling," he said. He also welcomed the government's enactment in November of legislation to allow girls inherit farms and other properties. As a result of the Rwandan genocide in 1994, an estimated 45,000 households were headed by children, 90 percent of them girls, but before November they could not inherit land, the report stated.

RWANDA: UN concern over child detainees

However, the state of the national justice system remained a concern, particularly when children were to be prosecuted for serious wartime offences, Annan reported. "As from June 1996, over 1,700 children accused of genocide were being detained in dreadful conditions," he said. The ministry of justice and UNICEF had provided legal assistance for the 1,191 children of sufficient age to have been charged with criminal responsibility for genocide but, several years later, no special procedures have yet been devised to process these youths, he said. Those too young to be charged and tried had yet to receive documentation and be reunited with their families, he told the Security Council. Children who were under the age of criminal responsibility must benefit from appropriate measures "to promote physical and psychological recovery and social reintegration," Annan said.

Nairobi, 28 July 2000, 15:00 gmt

[ENDS]

[IRIN-CEA: Tel: +254 2 622147 Fax: +254 2 622129 e-mail: irin-cea@ocha.unon.org ]

[This item is delivered in the "africa-english" service of the UN's IRIN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations. For further information, free subscriptions, or to change your keywords, contact e-mail: irin@ocha.unon.org or Web: http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN . If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Reposting by commercial sites requires written IRIN permission.]

Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2000