African Press Agency
3 May 2007
APA-Porto-Novo (Benin) The MP of Force Cauris pour un Bénin Emergent (FCBE, majority party) Mathurin Nago was elected Thursday Speaker of the Beninese parliament winning 45 votes against 34 for his challenger Bruno Amoussou of the Alliance pour une Dynamique Démocratique (ADD, close to the parliamentary opposition), APA noted here.
Formerly Minister of Higher Education and Professional Training in the government of Yayi Bonie, Mathurin Coffi Nago is 56.
The new Parliament Speaker is a holder of a Ph. D. in Biochemistry from the University Paris VII et a Ph. D. in Sciences from the University Paris VII-Denis Diderot.
Mr. Nago was a professor of Biochemestry and Food Sciences, Director of the Regional Nutrition and Food Centre at the University of Abomey Calavi, and the Dean of the College of Agronomic Sciences of the same university.
Mathurin Coffi Nago was a charter member of the Union pour la Démocratie (UPD - Gamesou) that he later on left to join Force Cauris pour un Benin Emergent, just before the March 31rst Legislative Elections.
03 May, 2007
Congo Miner Nikanor Receives Approach.
Bloomberg
By Antony Sguazzin
3 May 2007
Nikanor Plc, a company spending $1.6 billion to reopen a Democratic Republic of Congo copper mine, said it got an approach regarding a ``possible offer.'' Shares of the company rose as much as 26 percent.
Nikanor, controlled by Israeli diamond entrepreneurs Beny Steinmetz and Dan Gertler, also received other ``expressions of interest,'' it said in a statement dated yesterday and released today by London's Regulatory News Service. The Isle of Man, U.K.-based company postponed a shareholders meeting scheduled for today until May 16.
Miners such as Nikanor and Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. are seeking to tap Congo's minerals, which include about a 10th of global copper reserves. Investor interest in Congo has surged since the country held its first democratic elections in four decades last year following a civil war that killed 4 million people and prompted foreign companies to withdraw.
``Congo offers a scale and quality of project that is not available in many parts of the world,'' Jim Taylor, an analyst at Canaccord Adams in London who rates Nikanor's stock a ``buy,'' said in an interview.
Shares of Nikanor rose 125 pence to 610 pence as of 9:38 a.m. London time, giving the company a market value of 853 million pounds ($1.7 billion). The stock has declined 4 percent since a July initial public offering.
Nikanor needs to raise as much as $650 million and has been seeking partners after the company increased its cost estimate for restarting the KOV mine in southern Congo by more than a fifth, Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Leslie said in an interview from London.
Likely bidders may include Rio Tinto Group, Freeport, BHP Billiton Ltd. and Anglo American Plc, according to Taylor. Leslie is a former Rio Tinto executive.
``Rio is toward the top of that list,'' said Taylor. Hugh Leggatt, a spokesman for Rio in London, declined to comment.
Rio is considering buying copper projects in Congo that would add more than 200,000 metric tons to annual production, Credit Suisse Group said in a March 21 report, citing a meeting with Bret Clayton, the head of the company's copper business.
Anne Dunn, a Anglo spokeswoman in London, declined to comment today. Illtud Harri, a London spokesman for BHP, also refused to comment.
``We've had various expressions of interest,'' Leslie said.
Earlier talks with a Chinese company over financing failed. That company may have decided to approach Nikanor again, according to John Meyer, an analyst at Numis Securities in London.
``Something approaching 7 pounds would be a reasonable starting point'' for a bid, Taylor said.
By Antony Sguazzin
3 May 2007
Nikanor Plc, a company spending $1.6 billion to reopen a Democratic Republic of Congo copper mine, said it got an approach regarding a ``possible offer.'' Shares of the company rose as much as 26 percent.
Nikanor, controlled by Israeli diamond entrepreneurs Beny Steinmetz and Dan Gertler, also received other ``expressions of interest,'' it said in a statement dated yesterday and released today by London's Regulatory News Service. The Isle of Man, U.K.-based company postponed a shareholders meeting scheduled for today until May 16.
Miners such as Nikanor and Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. are seeking to tap Congo's minerals, which include about a 10th of global copper reserves. Investor interest in Congo has surged since the country held its first democratic elections in four decades last year following a civil war that killed 4 million people and prompted foreign companies to withdraw.
``Congo offers a scale and quality of project that is not available in many parts of the world,'' Jim Taylor, an analyst at Canaccord Adams in London who rates Nikanor's stock a ``buy,'' said in an interview.
Shares of Nikanor rose 125 pence to 610 pence as of 9:38 a.m. London time, giving the company a market value of 853 million pounds ($1.7 billion). The stock has declined 4 percent since a July initial public offering.
Nikanor needs to raise as much as $650 million and has been seeking partners after the company increased its cost estimate for restarting the KOV mine in southern Congo by more than a fifth, Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Leslie said in an interview from London.
Likely bidders may include Rio Tinto Group, Freeport, BHP Billiton Ltd. and Anglo American Plc, according to Taylor. Leslie is a former Rio Tinto executive.
``Rio is toward the top of that list,'' said Taylor. Hugh Leggatt, a spokesman for Rio in London, declined to comment.
Rio is considering buying copper projects in Congo that would add more than 200,000 metric tons to annual production, Credit Suisse Group said in a March 21 report, citing a meeting with Bret Clayton, the head of the company's copper business.
Anne Dunn, a Anglo spokeswoman in London, declined to comment today. Illtud Harri, a London spokesman for BHP, also refused to comment.
``We've had various expressions of interest,'' Leslie said.
Earlier talks with a Chinese company over financing failed. That company may have decided to approach Nikanor again, according to John Meyer, an analyst at Numis Securities in London.
``Something approaching 7 pounds would be a reasonable starting point'' for a bid, Taylor said.
Mozambique Not to Deploy Troops to Somalia For Now.
Shabelle News Networ
Aweys Osman Yusuf
3 May 2007
Editor's Note: Let's see... Mozambique may send troops to Somalia when the fighting calms down, the U.S. just signed a military pact with Mozambique, hmm....
Mozambique has decided not to send troops to Somalia, where fighting has intensified as Somali and Ethiopian troops battle militants, a senior Defence Ministry official said on Wednesday.
Teofilo Joao, permanent secretary in the Defence Ministry, said Mozambique had not been adequately briefed about the nature of its proposed role in Somalia.
"Is it a peace-keeping mission or a peace imposition mission? ... the two parties (government and its opponents) are not willing to have third parties in their conflict," he said.
The retired general said Mozambique would respond to any request for calls to serve in countries or regions in conflicts across the globe once the conditions of its participation are clarified.
The U.N. Security Council has asked the United Nations to draw up contingency plans for U.N. peacekeepers in Somalia to support an African peacekeeping mission which thus far has involved only about 1,500 troops from Uganda.
The African Union on Friday called for more African troops to take their places in the proposed 8,000-strong force, saying that unless order is reimposed soon the country will descend into disaster.
Joao said Mozambique had reconsidered its initial pledge to join the African peacekeeping effort after reviewing its own equipment and remaining questions over how the operation would be funded.
"Capacity and clarity, including funding, are the major obstacles in our intervention.
We have troops but we need sufficient equipment if we are to participate," he said.
Conflict in and around the Somali capital Mogadishu between government and Ethiopian forces and Islamist fighters has displaced an estimated 350,000 people.
On Wednesday, African Union peacekeepers began patrolling the Somali capital, their first time in the city since clashes between the government and Islamist forces ended.
Over 30 Ugandan armored vehicles have entered the ravaged area in northern Mogadishu to gain the support of locals, according to BBC reports monitered here.
"As we move forward, we will be doing active patrolling, protecting government institutions, and preparing an environment for a humanitarian delivery," said the spokesman for the AU mission, Capt Paddy Ankunda.
Last Monday, the UN Security Council had decided to send international peacekeeping troops to take control of the mission from the African Union troops.
The Union of Islamic Courts fighters have fought fierce battles against the government and its Ethiopian allies since February.
The clashes have left 1, 300 people killed and thousands displaced.
Aweys Osman Yusuf
3 May 2007
Editor's Note: Let's see... Mozambique may send troops to Somalia when the fighting calms down, the U.S. just signed a military pact with Mozambique, hmm....
Mozambique has decided not to send troops to Somalia, where fighting has intensified as Somali and Ethiopian troops battle militants, a senior Defence Ministry official said on Wednesday.
Teofilo Joao, permanent secretary in the Defence Ministry, said Mozambique had not been adequately briefed about the nature of its proposed role in Somalia.
"Is it a peace-keeping mission or a peace imposition mission? ... the two parties (government and its opponents) are not willing to have third parties in their conflict," he said.
The retired general said Mozambique would respond to any request for calls to serve in countries or regions in conflicts across the globe once the conditions of its participation are clarified.
The U.N. Security Council has asked the United Nations to draw up contingency plans for U.N. peacekeepers in Somalia to support an African peacekeeping mission which thus far has involved only about 1,500 troops from Uganda.
The African Union on Friday called for more African troops to take their places in the proposed 8,000-strong force, saying that unless order is reimposed soon the country will descend into disaster.
Joao said Mozambique had reconsidered its initial pledge to join the African peacekeeping effort after reviewing its own equipment and remaining questions over how the operation would be funded.
"Capacity and clarity, including funding, are the major obstacles in our intervention.
We have troops but we need sufficient equipment if we are to participate," he said.
Conflict in and around the Somali capital Mogadishu between government and Ethiopian forces and Islamist fighters has displaced an estimated 350,000 people.
On Wednesday, African Union peacekeepers began patrolling the Somali capital, their first time in the city since clashes between the government and Islamist forces ended.
Over 30 Ugandan armored vehicles have entered the ravaged area in northern Mogadishu to gain the support of locals, according to BBC reports monitered here.
"As we move forward, we will be doing active patrolling, protecting government institutions, and preparing an environment for a humanitarian delivery," said the spokesman for the AU mission, Capt Paddy Ankunda.
Last Monday, the UN Security Council had decided to send international peacekeeping troops to take control of the mission from the African Union troops.
The Union of Islamic Courts fighters have fought fierce battles against the government and its Ethiopian allies since February.
The clashes have left 1, 300 people killed and thousands displaced.
Puntland Denies its Militias Hijacked Thailand Fishing Boats.
Shabelle News Network
Aweys Osman Yusuf
3 May 2007
The administration of the semi-autonomous regional government of Puntland rebuffed Thursday reports of Thailand fishing vessels hijacked near the seashores of the province.
Head of Puntland CID (Criminal Investigation Department), Abshir Abdi Jama told Shabelle by phone from Bosaso that reports indicating that three fishing boats were hijacked by militias from Puntland were false.
“If such things were true, there could not be a way we would deny them,” he said.
He said the regional government seized several foreign fishing boats that were illegally fishing form its sea on 27 April. “The vessels we captured belonged to some Arab countries and some European countries and we still made no contacts with their governments,” he said,”
Somalia has had no affective central government since 1991 when warlords toppled former dictator Mohammed Siad Barre.
Aweys Osman Yusuf
3 May 2007
The administration of the semi-autonomous regional government of Puntland rebuffed Thursday reports of Thailand fishing vessels hijacked near the seashores of the province.
Head of Puntland CID (Criminal Investigation Department), Abshir Abdi Jama told Shabelle by phone from Bosaso that reports indicating that three fishing boats were hijacked by militias from Puntland were false.
“If such things were true, there could not be a way we would deny them,” he said.
He said the regional government seized several foreign fishing boats that were illegally fishing form its sea on 27 April. “The vessels we captured belonged to some Arab countries and some European countries and we still made no contacts with their governments,” he said,”
Somalia has had no affective central government since 1991 when warlords toppled former dictator Mohammed Siad Barre.
Human Smuggling and Human Trafficking in Puntland: Fact sheet - May 2007.
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
03 May 2007
In 2005, stories of desperation multiplied, describing how hundreds of people from the Horn of Africa were risking their lives to make a perilous sea voyage in overcrowded fishing boats, from Somalia across the Gulf of Aden to Yemen, to escape conflict, poverty and recurrent drought conditions. This smuggling route had been known to be active for years but since 2005, the number of people arriving in Bossaso expecting to make the journey has grown dramatically. During this season's dangerous voyage there has been an alarming increase in the number of dead bodies being washed up on the shores of Yemen.
The United Nation's Protocol Against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea, and Air defines the smuggling of migrants as “the procurement, in order to obtain, directly or indirectly, a financial or other material benefit, of the illegal entry of a person into a State Party of which the person is not a national or a permanent resident.” In most cases, individuals will contact smugglers themselves to realize their objective of crossing a border illegally in search of a better life and improved economic prospects. Human smuggling is quite different to human trafficking which is defined in the United Nation's Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children, as “the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, either by the threat or use of abduction, force, fraud, deception or coercion, or by the giving or receiving of unlawful payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having the control over another person.”
Human smuggling continues unabated from the northeast coast of Puntland, Somalia, resulting in the death of hundreds of Ethiopians and Somalis. Hundreds of Ethiopians travel for days, often by foot, across the desert from Ethiopia to Puntland with the aim of crossing the sea to Yemen. As a result of drought, flooding, and conflict between forces of the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) and the Ethiopian/TFG, experienced in 2006, there has also been a notable increase in the number of Somalis from the south of the country attempting the journey. Continued conflict in Mogadishu in early 2007 continues to prompt movement north. Yemen is mostly used as a point of transit for migrants en route to Gulf States, Europe and other destinations in search of work. Most of the migrants are young men and women between the ages of 15 and 30.
Smugglers charge around US$ 500 to cross Ethiopia and to reach the port of Bossaso, and then between US$30-50 per person for each sea voyage. Hundreds of people are often crammed into small vessels, with little food and water for a 30 hour journey. Prices fluctuate depending on the number of boats and people wanting to cross at any one time. During monsoon season, however, fewer boats make the crossing thus prices increase to between US$ 60-100 per person. In one recorded account of a voyage, 20 passengers out of 65 were thrown overboard during the journey. Such casualty rates are not uncommon with some tied up and/or thrown overboard by the smugglers in an attempt to avoid capsizing in deep waters. Others drift for days at a time with little food or fresh water on board. Even when the boats reach Yemen's coast, passengers – including children – are forced to swim the last kilometres so that the boats are not detected by the Yemen authorities. Some drown. Fatality figures are difficult to verify as the trade is secret and many bodies are never found.
In September 2006, the Puntland authorities started to clamp down on migrants passing through Bossaso to the Gulf States; six smugglers were arrested and four boats captured immediately. However, even with these instantaneous achievements, the authorities state they do not have the resources to control all departure points such as Qaw, Elayo and Marero, some distance from Bossaso, which smugglers use as alternative departure points.
According to UNHCR, tragic incidents of people crossing the Gulf of Eden have increased. On 22 March 2007, at least 29 people were confirmed dead and 71 missing after smugglers forced some 450 Somalis and Ethiopians into stormy seas off the coast of Yemen. Survivors reported that those who resisted were stabbed and beaten with wooden and steel clubs, then thrown overboard. Some were then attacked by sharks. Some recovered bodies showed signs of severe mutilation. Upon arrival to Yemeni shores, some passengers reportedly had their money confiscated by security forces. During the travel across Somalia and the sea voyage, several migrant and IDP women are sexually abused, exploited and/or raped by the smugglers as well as police. Somalis attempting the perilous journey continue to site fear of conflict in the South/Central regions as reasons for fleeing while most of the Ethiopians are in search of better livelihood options with some fleeing the deteriorating human rights situation back home.
During February 2007 and with increased conflict in Mogadishu, a total of 1,186 Somalis were reported to have arrived in Yemen, in addition to 622 Ethiopians; 131 people are known to have died attempting the crossing, in March 2007, at least 1,391 Somalis and 818 Ethiopians followed. As of the 23 April, 915 Ethiopians and 430 Somalis arrived in Yemen. According to UNHCR since the start of 2007, nearly 5,400 people have arrived in Yemen, while at least 212 people have died during the crossing and 96 are missing. In 2006, despite efforts to curb human smuggling – including by the Puntland authorities – UNHCR estimates that around 26,000 people crossed the Gulf of Aden, with at least 330 deaths and another 300 reported missing (and now believed to be dead).
The humanitarian community started work on a response to the issues raised by human smuggling in Somalia in 2005. UN agencies (UNICEF, UNDP/RRIDP, WHO, WFP, UNHCR) and the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) began providing emergency assistance for the most vulnerable groups stranded in Bossaso including the urgent provision of water, sanitation and health facilities. In June 2006, IOM assisted the voluntary return of 777 Ethiopians stranded in Bossaso. This assistance was only a temporary measure since the abusive nature of people smuggling required longer term investments and activities. In mid-2006, with UNHCR support, Puntland's Ministry of Interior instated its Refugee Affairs Committee (RAC) and together with UNHCR arrived at joint procedures to ensure that the latter's Refugee Status Determination (RSD) services could be initiated. In September 2006, the Puntland authorities issued a Presidential Decree banning human smuggling, following which a series of arrests were made of Ethiopians and Somalis from South/Central. The smuggling of people, however, persisted. A decision was made to open a temporary 'transit and processing center' in October for Ethiopian migrants in Bossaso. In the center, humanitarian assistance was provided as well as counselling to identify potential asylum seekers, individuals who wished to return home, or anyone with special needs (unaccompanied minors, trafficked individuals). In November 2006, over 200 Ethiopians were returned to Ethiopia with assistance from IOM and DRC, while Puntland's RAC began registering and referring asylum seekers to UNHCR for RSD services. The temporary centre was officially closed with the RAC continuing to register asylum seekers for ongoing referral to UNHCR. While efforts continue to curb smuggling, challenges persist. Somalis from southern Somalia continue to arrive, particularly as the fighting in Mogadishu is unresolved. On 23 March, some 300 people from South/Central were taken in for questioning by the local authorities on account of 'security concerns'. Shortly thereafter, 169 were released but on 28 March the remaining 131 – all men between the age of 18 and 35 - were transferred to Galkayo where they are being detained. UNHCR is following up with the Puntland authorities to gain access to the group to ensure their legal rights and protection.
In April 2007, the Protection Cluster formed a Mixed Migration Task Force to improve the design of rights-based humanitarian interventions with a cohesive and practical strategy for and on behalf of vulnerables unprotected in Somalia, within this larger,
Instability and armed conflict in the Horn of Africa coupled with weak governance capacity to control or monitor movements across borders has created fruitful grounds for the emergence of irregular migration. This is true for Somalia, which continues to be characterized by intense migration flows with irregular migration constituting a major challenge for the development of institutional and legal systems. In addition to being an important source of emigrants, the country also represents a major area of transit for people being smuggled from the Horn of Africa to the Gulf States and to Europe. The port of Bossaso is considered one of the world's busiest smuggling hubs. Smuggled migrants have a number of specific vulnerabilities, including a higher risk of becoming victims of trafficking. Factors increasing the likelihood of being trafficked are linked to the social and contextual realities faced by smuggled people such as lack of protection and security, poverty, or human rights abuses in their places of origin. Given the magnitude of smuggled migrants transiting the Puntland State of Somalia, there is an urgent need to develop responses to prevent human trafficking as well as to protect smuggled human beings and potential victims of trafficking, which include asylum seekers, refugees and IDPs. Even with the establishment of UNHCR's RSD services, an active and committed inter-agency IDP working group consisting of UN agencies, international NGOs and local partners continues to struggle to provide basic assistance to smuggling and trafficking victims and to give much-needed guidance and support to the Puntland authorities for IDPs in Bossaso and Garowe, looking also at the implementation of longer term responses which focus on IDP reintegration.
While the ongoing work helps to reduce the probability that IDPs turn away from the sea as an escape to their current situation, much greater contributions are necessary to comprehensively address and tackle this regional migration problem. Understanding the relevant Somali authorities' need to address migration management within its own territory and through regional partnerships, the humanitarian community, including local NGOs, must also reinforce its own protection monitoring and response efforts, ensuring elements are there to address the IDPs' particular protection concerns, within the greater migratory challenge.
Activities related to this issue are coordinated through the Protection and IDP working group based in Nairobi, co-chaired by UNHCR and OCHA, as well as through the Protection and IDP working group established in Puntland. The working groups in Somalia facilitate the collaborative approach to addressing Protection assistance needs by including a range of UN agencies and other humanitarian actors as well as local authorities. Key partners working to tackle the issues raised in the field of human smuggling and human trafficking are UNHCR, IOM, OCHA, UNDP, UNICEF, WHO, WFP and the DRC as well as other international organizations and local NGOs, with the Mixed Migration Task Force in place as of April 2006, in order to develop practical strategies and streamline response.
Throughout 2006/2007, OCHA Somalia has received funding from: Australia, ECHO, Ireland, Republic of Korea, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Italy and United Kingdom
OCHA SOMALIA - 7th Floor, Kalson Towers, Crescent Street, off Parklands Road, P.O. Box 28832, 00200 Nairobi, Kenya Tel No: (254-20) 3754150-5; Fax No: (254-20) 3754156 website: http://ochaonline.un.org/somalia 2 May, 2007
03 May 2007
In 2005, stories of desperation multiplied, describing how hundreds of people from the Horn of Africa were risking their lives to make a perilous sea voyage in overcrowded fishing boats, from Somalia across the Gulf of Aden to Yemen, to escape conflict, poverty and recurrent drought conditions. This smuggling route had been known to be active for years but since 2005, the number of people arriving in Bossaso expecting to make the journey has grown dramatically. During this season's dangerous voyage there has been an alarming increase in the number of dead bodies being washed up on the shores of Yemen.
The United Nation's Protocol Against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea, and Air defines the smuggling of migrants as “the procurement, in order to obtain, directly or indirectly, a financial or other material benefit, of the illegal entry of a person into a State Party of which the person is not a national or a permanent resident.” In most cases, individuals will contact smugglers themselves to realize their objective of crossing a border illegally in search of a better life and improved economic prospects. Human smuggling is quite different to human trafficking which is defined in the United Nation's Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children, as “the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, either by the threat or use of abduction, force, fraud, deception or coercion, or by the giving or receiving of unlawful payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having the control over another person.”
Human smuggling continues unabated from the northeast coast of Puntland, Somalia, resulting in the death of hundreds of Ethiopians and Somalis. Hundreds of Ethiopians travel for days, often by foot, across the desert from Ethiopia to Puntland with the aim of crossing the sea to Yemen. As a result of drought, flooding, and conflict between forces of the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) and the Ethiopian/TFG, experienced in 2006, there has also been a notable increase in the number of Somalis from the south of the country attempting the journey. Continued conflict in Mogadishu in early 2007 continues to prompt movement north. Yemen is mostly used as a point of transit for migrants en route to Gulf States, Europe and other destinations in search of work. Most of the migrants are young men and women between the ages of 15 and 30.
Smugglers charge around US$ 500 to cross Ethiopia and to reach the port of Bossaso, and then between US$30-50 per person for each sea voyage. Hundreds of people are often crammed into small vessels, with little food and water for a 30 hour journey. Prices fluctuate depending on the number of boats and people wanting to cross at any one time. During monsoon season, however, fewer boats make the crossing thus prices increase to between US$ 60-100 per person. In one recorded account of a voyage, 20 passengers out of 65 were thrown overboard during the journey. Such casualty rates are not uncommon with some tied up and/or thrown overboard by the smugglers in an attempt to avoid capsizing in deep waters. Others drift for days at a time with little food or fresh water on board. Even when the boats reach Yemen's coast, passengers – including children – are forced to swim the last kilometres so that the boats are not detected by the Yemen authorities. Some drown. Fatality figures are difficult to verify as the trade is secret and many bodies are never found.
In September 2006, the Puntland authorities started to clamp down on migrants passing through Bossaso to the Gulf States; six smugglers were arrested and four boats captured immediately. However, even with these instantaneous achievements, the authorities state they do not have the resources to control all departure points such as Qaw, Elayo and Marero, some distance from Bossaso, which smugglers use as alternative departure points.
According to UNHCR, tragic incidents of people crossing the Gulf of Eden have increased. On 22 March 2007, at least 29 people were confirmed dead and 71 missing after smugglers forced some 450 Somalis and Ethiopians into stormy seas off the coast of Yemen. Survivors reported that those who resisted were stabbed and beaten with wooden and steel clubs, then thrown overboard. Some were then attacked by sharks. Some recovered bodies showed signs of severe mutilation. Upon arrival to Yemeni shores, some passengers reportedly had their money confiscated by security forces. During the travel across Somalia and the sea voyage, several migrant and IDP women are sexually abused, exploited and/or raped by the smugglers as well as police. Somalis attempting the perilous journey continue to site fear of conflict in the South/Central regions as reasons for fleeing while most of the Ethiopians are in search of better livelihood options with some fleeing the deteriorating human rights situation back home.
During February 2007 and with increased conflict in Mogadishu, a total of 1,186 Somalis were reported to have arrived in Yemen, in addition to 622 Ethiopians; 131 people are known to have died attempting the crossing, in March 2007, at least 1,391 Somalis and 818 Ethiopians followed. As of the 23 April, 915 Ethiopians and 430 Somalis arrived in Yemen. According to UNHCR since the start of 2007, nearly 5,400 people have arrived in Yemen, while at least 212 people have died during the crossing and 96 are missing. In 2006, despite efforts to curb human smuggling – including by the Puntland authorities – UNHCR estimates that around 26,000 people crossed the Gulf of Aden, with at least 330 deaths and another 300 reported missing (and now believed to be dead).
The humanitarian community started work on a response to the issues raised by human smuggling in Somalia in 2005. UN agencies (UNICEF, UNDP/RRIDP, WHO, WFP, UNHCR) and the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) began providing emergency assistance for the most vulnerable groups stranded in Bossaso including the urgent provision of water, sanitation and health facilities. In June 2006, IOM assisted the voluntary return of 777 Ethiopians stranded in Bossaso. This assistance was only a temporary measure since the abusive nature of people smuggling required longer term investments and activities. In mid-2006, with UNHCR support, Puntland's Ministry of Interior instated its Refugee Affairs Committee (RAC) and together with UNHCR arrived at joint procedures to ensure that the latter's Refugee Status Determination (RSD) services could be initiated. In September 2006, the Puntland authorities issued a Presidential Decree banning human smuggling, following which a series of arrests were made of Ethiopians and Somalis from South/Central. The smuggling of people, however, persisted. A decision was made to open a temporary 'transit and processing center' in October for Ethiopian migrants in Bossaso. In the center, humanitarian assistance was provided as well as counselling to identify potential asylum seekers, individuals who wished to return home, or anyone with special needs (unaccompanied minors, trafficked individuals). In November 2006, over 200 Ethiopians were returned to Ethiopia with assistance from IOM and DRC, while Puntland's RAC began registering and referring asylum seekers to UNHCR for RSD services. The temporary centre was officially closed with the RAC continuing to register asylum seekers for ongoing referral to UNHCR. While efforts continue to curb smuggling, challenges persist. Somalis from southern Somalia continue to arrive, particularly as the fighting in Mogadishu is unresolved. On 23 March, some 300 people from South/Central were taken in for questioning by the local authorities on account of 'security concerns'. Shortly thereafter, 169 were released but on 28 March the remaining 131 – all men between the age of 18 and 35 - were transferred to Galkayo where they are being detained. UNHCR is following up with the Puntland authorities to gain access to the group to ensure their legal rights and protection.
In April 2007, the Protection Cluster formed a Mixed Migration Task Force to improve the design of rights-based humanitarian interventions with a cohesive and practical strategy for and on behalf of vulnerables unprotected in Somalia, within this larger,
Instability and armed conflict in the Horn of Africa coupled with weak governance capacity to control or monitor movements across borders has created fruitful grounds for the emergence of irregular migration. This is true for Somalia, which continues to be characterized by intense migration flows with irregular migration constituting a major challenge for the development of institutional and legal systems. In addition to being an important source of emigrants, the country also represents a major area of transit for people being smuggled from the Horn of Africa to the Gulf States and to Europe. The port of Bossaso is considered one of the world's busiest smuggling hubs. Smuggled migrants have a number of specific vulnerabilities, including a higher risk of becoming victims of trafficking. Factors increasing the likelihood of being trafficked are linked to the social and contextual realities faced by smuggled people such as lack of protection and security, poverty, or human rights abuses in their places of origin. Given the magnitude of smuggled migrants transiting the Puntland State of Somalia, there is an urgent need to develop responses to prevent human trafficking as well as to protect smuggled human beings and potential victims of trafficking, which include asylum seekers, refugees and IDPs. Even with the establishment of UNHCR's RSD services, an active and committed inter-agency IDP working group consisting of UN agencies, international NGOs and local partners continues to struggle to provide basic assistance to smuggling and trafficking victims and to give much-needed guidance and support to the Puntland authorities for IDPs in Bossaso and Garowe, looking also at the implementation of longer term responses which focus on IDP reintegration.
While the ongoing work helps to reduce the probability that IDPs turn away from the sea as an escape to their current situation, much greater contributions are necessary to comprehensively address and tackle this regional migration problem. Understanding the relevant Somali authorities' need to address migration management within its own territory and through regional partnerships, the humanitarian community, including local NGOs, must also reinforce its own protection monitoring and response efforts, ensuring elements are there to address the IDPs' particular protection concerns, within the greater migratory challenge.
Activities related to this issue are coordinated through the Protection and IDP working group based in Nairobi, co-chaired by UNHCR and OCHA, as well as through the Protection and IDP working group established in Puntland. The working groups in Somalia facilitate the collaborative approach to addressing Protection assistance needs by including a range of UN agencies and other humanitarian actors as well as local authorities. Key partners working to tackle the issues raised in the field of human smuggling and human trafficking are UNHCR, IOM, OCHA, UNDP, UNICEF, WHO, WFP and the DRC as well as other international organizations and local NGOs, with the Mixed Migration Task Force in place as of April 2006, in order to develop practical strategies and streamline response.
Throughout 2006/2007, OCHA Somalia has received funding from: Australia, ECHO, Ireland, Republic of Korea, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Italy and United Kingdom
OCHA SOMALIA - 7th Floor, Kalson Towers, Crescent Street, off Parklands Road, P.O. Box 28832, 00200 Nairobi, Kenya Tel No: (254-20) 3754150-5; Fax No: (254-20) 3754156 website: http://ochaonline.un.org/somalia 2 May, 2007
Le CNDD-FDD Boîte, le Pays Piétine.
La Libre Belgique
Marie-France Cros
3 Mai 2007
Lorsque, le 7 février dernier, un congrès du parti CNDD-FDD (ex-rébellion; majoritairement hutu), grand vainqueur des élections démocratiques de 2005, avait destitué son président, Hussein Rajabu, véritable homme fort du pays, on avait cru le Burundi remis sur les rails de la reconstruction après 12 ans de guerre civile.
L'arrestation de M. Rajabu, vendredi dernier (lire LLB du 30 avril) a montré qu'il n'en était rien. Le déchu, qui conteste la légalité du congrès de février, et donc son éviction, est accusé d'atteinte à la sûreté de l'Etat; il aurait tenté de relancer une rébellion.
A la veille de son arrestation, Radio publique africaine, un émetteur privé très apprécié au Burundi pour sa combativité en défense des droits de l'homme, avait diffusé un enregistrement de M. Rajabu ordonnant, lors d'une réunion secrète, à d'anciens rebelles CNDD-FDD démobilisés, de rester vigilants et leur expliquant comment noyauter l'appareil d'Etat en faveur des "rajabistes".
Ces trois derniers mois, le Burundi a assisté aux destitutions de plusieurs fidèles de Hussein Rajabu placés à des postes clés.
Lorsque l'assemblée nationale convoqua, jeudi et vendredi derniers, le député de Bujumbura pour évoquer une demande de levée de son immunité parlementaire, M. Rajabu refusa de s'y rendre. La première à s'être levée contre lui et ses "abus de pouvoir" lorsqu'elle était encore deuxième vice-Présidente de la république, Alice Nzomukunda (CNDD-FDD), a en effet, depuis lors, été élue première vice-présidente de l'assemblée nationale.
L'immunité de M. Rajabu a donc été levée et lui-même arrêté et incarcéré à la prison de Mpimba - dans la même cellule, dit le tout Bujumbura, que celle occupée par l'ex-président Domitien Ndayizeye (Frodebu, rival du CNDD-FDD pour les voix hutues) lorsqu'une fausse accusation de tentative de coup d'Etat - qu'aurait montée M. Rajabu - l'avait maintenu en détention durant six mois avant qu'il soit blanchi par la justice.
Respecter la Constitution
Mais l'arrestation de M. Rajabu ne règle pas tous les problèmes.
Ainsi, le tout puissant CNDD-FDD n'a toujours pas exécuté ses promesses - réitérées en mars dernier, en échange d'un appui parlementaire du Frodebu au CNDD-FDD pour destituer une "rajabiste" - d'enfin respecter la Constitution en donnant au Frodebu les cinq postes de ministre qui lui reviennent, au prorata de son nombre d'élus.
Reste aussi à régler le problème des 30 000 membres de la Jeunesse du CNDD-FDD, qu'Hussein Rajabu a transformée en milice à ses ordres, selon Mme Nzomukunda. "Mon emprisonnement ou ma disparition ne peut résoudre le problème en rien. La machine est en marche", aurait dit M. Rajabu à la veille de son arrestation...
Reste aussi à faire la lumière sur diverses malversations dont on rend depuis quelques mois M. Rajabu responsable, mais pour lesquelles il aurait bénéficié de complicités au sein de l'appareil CNDD-FDD toujours en place. Reste enfin à voir comment la communauté musulmane (4 pc de la population), favorisée par M. Rajabu, accueillera l'éviction des siens promus par le déchu.
Marie-France Cros
3 Mai 2007
Lorsque, le 7 février dernier, un congrès du parti CNDD-FDD (ex-rébellion; majoritairement hutu), grand vainqueur des élections démocratiques de 2005, avait destitué son président, Hussein Rajabu, véritable homme fort du pays, on avait cru le Burundi remis sur les rails de la reconstruction après 12 ans de guerre civile.
L'arrestation de M. Rajabu, vendredi dernier (lire LLB du 30 avril) a montré qu'il n'en était rien. Le déchu, qui conteste la légalité du congrès de février, et donc son éviction, est accusé d'atteinte à la sûreté de l'Etat; il aurait tenté de relancer une rébellion.
A la veille de son arrestation, Radio publique africaine, un émetteur privé très apprécié au Burundi pour sa combativité en défense des droits de l'homme, avait diffusé un enregistrement de M. Rajabu ordonnant, lors d'une réunion secrète, à d'anciens rebelles CNDD-FDD démobilisés, de rester vigilants et leur expliquant comment noyauter l'appareil d'Etat en faveur des "rajabistes".
Ces trois derniers mois, le Burundi a assisté aux destitutions de plusieurs fidèles de Hussein Rajabu placés à des postes clés.
Lorsque l'assemblée nationale convoqua, jeudi et vendredi derniers, le député de Bujumbura pour évoquer une demande de levée de son immunité parlementaire, M. Rajabu refusa de s'y rendre. La première à s'être levée contre lui et ses "abus de pouvoir" lorsqu'elle était encore deuxième vice-Présidente de la république, Alice Nzomukunda (CNDD-FDD), a en effet, depuis lors, été élue première vice-présidente de l'assemblée nationale.
L'immunité de M. Rajabu a donc été levée et lui-même arrêté et incarcéré à la prison de Mpimba - dans la même cellule, dit le tout Bujumbura, que celle occupée par l'ex-président Domitien Ndayizeye (Frodebu, rival du CNDD-FDD pour les voix hutues) lorsqu'une fausse accusation de tentative de coup d'Etat - qu'aurait montée M. Rajabu - l'avait maintenu en détention durant six mois avant qu'il soit blanchi par la justice.
Respecter la Constitution
Mais l'arrestation de M. Rajabu ne règle pas tous les problèmes.
Ainsi, le tout puissant CNDD-FDD n'a toujours pas exécuté ses promesses - réitérées en mars dernier, en échange d'un appui parlementaire du Frodebu au CNDD-FDD pour destituer une "rajabiste" - d'enfin respecter la Constitution en donnant au Frodebu les cinq postes de ministre qui lui reviennent, au prorata de son nombre d'élus.
Reste aussi à régler le problème des 30 000 membres de la Jeunesse du CNDD-FDD, qu'Hussein Rajabu a transformée en milice à ses ordres, selon Mme Nzomukunda. "Mon emprisonnement ou ma disparition ne peut résoudre le problème en rien. La machine est en marche", aurait dit M. Rajabu à la veille de son arrestation...
Reste aussi à faire la lumière sur diverses malversations dont on rend depuis quelques mois M. Rajabu responsable, mais pour lesquelles il aurait bénéficié de complicités au sein de l'appareil CNDD-FDD toujours en place. Reste enfin à voir comment la communauté musulmane (4 pc de la population), favorisée par M. Rajabu, accueillera l'éviction des siens promus par le déchu.
Mozambique, U.S. Sign Military Agreement.
News24
3 May 2007
The governments of Mozambique and the United States signed a mutual assistance military agreement on Wednesday in Maputo, reported AIM news agency.
The "Acquisition and cross-servicing agreement" is aimed at mutual assistance in terms of logistical support and other military services and was signed by Mozambique's Permanent Secretary of Defence, Teofilo Joao, and Rear-Admiral Michael Lyden of the US European Command.
Mozambican Defence Minister Tobias Dai, who witnessed the signing, said the agreement "is for mutual help between the two countries in the areas of training, logistics, the fight against the HIV/Aids, among others, and to help prepare the Mozambican armed forces to take part in peace-keeping missions".
Not only would this help train and equip the Mozambican soldiers involved in peace-keeping in countries such as Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and now Uganda, but also actions inside the country, including mine clearance, health care and mobility of soldiers.
Dai declined to give details of costs and said most of the US programmes were in the form of grants but some were loans.
US defence attaché Lieutenant-Colonel John Roddy, called it an important agreement.
"You never know when it may be required, but once signed, the agreement is there if needed," said Roddy.
3 May 2007
The governments of Mozambique and the United States signed a mutual assistance military agreement on Wednesday in Maputo, reported AIM news agency.
The "Acquisition and cross-servicing agreement" is aimed at mutual assistance in terms of logistical support and other military services and was signed by Mozambique's Permanent Secretary of Defence, Teofilo Joao, and Rear-Admiral Michael Lyden of the US European Command.
Mozambican Defence Minister Tobias Dai, who witnessed the signing, said the agreement "is for mutual help between the two countries in the areas of training, logistics, the fight against the HIV/Aids, among others, and to help prepare the Mozambican armed forces to take part in peace-keeping missions".
Not only would this help train and equip the Mozambican soldiers involved in peace-keeping in countries such as Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and now Uganda, but also actions inside the country, including mine clearance, health care and mobility of soldiers.
Dai declined to give details of costs and said most of the US programmes were in the form of grants but some were loans.
US defence attaché Lieutenant-Colonel John Roddy, called it an important agreement.
"You never know when it may be required, but once signed, the agreement is there if needed," said Roddy.
Croatia to Try Two Generals for War Crimes in June.
Reuters
By Igor Ilic
Croatia will open a major war crimes trial in June of two generals indicted for atrocities against rebel Serbs, in another test case of its readiness to deal with the recent past.
Mirko Norac and Rahim Ademi, an ethnic Albanian, have been charged with commanding troops who killed some 30 Serb civilians and prisoners of war during a swift commando incursion into rebel territory in southern Croatia in September 1993.
The trial -- seen as a test case for the judiciary of this European Union candidate country -- will start in Zagreb on June 18, the state news agency Hina reported on Thursday.
"The trial will have nine hearings before the summer break. Only the prosecution and the generals' defence teams are summoned to the first hearings, while witness testimonies will follow after summer," Zagreb county court spokesman Kresimir Devcic told the agency.
The case was initially investigated by the Hague war crimes tribunal for former Yugoslavia but was later transferred to the Croatian judiciary.
"This is the first case the Hague tribunal has handed to the Croatian judiciary and we will be following with interest. It's another test case of whether the local judiciary is mature enough," said a European Commission official in Zagreb.
"Unlike in the past, this time we do not expect any protests or rallies by right-wing groups or war veterans, and that's a good sign," the official said. Croatia hopes to join the European Union around 2010.
Norac is already serving a 12-year sentence for a separate war crime against Serb civilians. His arrest in 2001 and trial -- the first of a high-ranking army officer since Croatia's 1991 independence -- were marked by widespread anti-government protests.
Ademi, who surrendered voluntarily to the Hague tribunal, was not jailed while awaiting trial, but must not leave his place of residence, talk to the press or influence witnesses.
Earlier this month, another local court indicted a powerful parliamentarian, Branimir Glavas, and six other people for killings of Serb civilians in the eastern town of Osijek in late 1991. Glavas is the first senior state official to be charged with such offences.
By Igor Ilic
Croatia will open a major war crimes trial in June of two generals indicted for atrocities against rebel Serbs, in another test case of its readiness to deal with the recent past.
Mirko Norac and Rahim Ademi, an ethnic Albanian, have been charged with commanding troops who killed some 30 Serb civilians and prisoners of war during a swift commando incursion into rebel territory in southern Croatia in September 1993.
The trial -- seen as a test case for the judiciary of this European Union candidate country -- will start in Zagreb on June 18, the state news agency Hina reported on Thursday.
"The trial will have nine hearings before the summer break. Only the prosecution and the generals' defence teams are summoned to the first hearings, while witness testimonies will follow after summer," Zagreb county court spokesman Kresimir Devcic told the agency.
The case was initially investigated by the Hague war crimes tribunal for former Yugoslavia but was later transferred to the Croatian judiciary.
"This is the first case the Hague tribunal has handed to the Croatian judiciary and we will be following with interest. It's another test case of whether the local judiciary is mature enough," said a European Commission official in Zagreb.
"Unlike in the past, this time we do not expect any protests or rallies by right-wing groups or war veterans, and that's a good sign," the official said. Croatia hopes to join the European Union around 2010.
Norac is already serving a 12-year sentence for a separate war crime against Serb civilians. His arrest in 2001 and trial -- the first of a high-ranking army officer since Croatia's 1991 independence -- were marked by widespread anti-government protests.
Ademi, who surrendered voluntarily to the Hague tribunal, was not jailed while awaiting trial, but must not leave his place of residence, talk to the press or influence witnesses.
Earlier this month, another local court indicted a powerful parliamentarian, Branimir Glavas, and six other people for killings of Serb civilians in the eastern town of Osijek in late 1991. Glavas is the first senior state official to be charged with such offences.
Former Namibian Leader Nominated to Remain Head of Ruling Party.
African Press Agency
3 May 2007
APA-Windhoek (Namibia) A section of Namibia’s ruling SWAPO party in Oshana region has nominated former president Sam Nujoma to retain the position of party president, thus setting the stage for a bruising battle ahead of the party’s congress before the end of 2007.
Nujoma, who stepped down as head of state in 2004 has remained at the helm of SWAPO, the party he has led for more than four decades.The nomination also lays the platform for his rumoured intentions to make a comeback to the national presidential race in 2009.
SWAPO regional co-ordinator, Erastus Utoni told state owned daily New Era Thursday that the executive in the region wants Nujoma, christened Father of the Nation to retain the party presidency.
Current Namibian president Hifikepunye Pohamba would remain in his position as party vice president. The nomination comes ahead of SWAPO’s congress, which is likely to be held before the end of the year.
Namibia has 11 regions and the nomination by the Oshana region sets the stage for other regions to also come up with their own nominations, a political analyst Paul Helmut told APA Thursday.
“The decision by the Oshana regional executive is the first indication by any of the party structures to declare their position ahead of the congress,” Utoni said.
It however remains unclear what Nujoma would do should he be re-elected to retain the presidency of the party.
Helmut said that Nujoma ’should have stepped down’ and hand over the party presidency to Pohamba.
“Nujoma is supposed to have stepped down by now...he has been there for more than 40 years, he should step down and give succession a chance,” Helmut, a popular political and social commentator said.
The veteran freedom fighter, Nujoma, has recently been under intense pressure from civic organisations and privately owned media to relinquish the reigns of power.A war of attrition is being wedged by some privately owned media against the bearded former freedom fighter, who led Namibia to independence in 1990.
Although Nujoma has not openly declared his intentions to run again for office, the opposition and some ambitious SWAPO officials suspect his lieutenants are clearing the way for his comeback.
“If he is elected at the SWAPO congress, it means he would eventually run for the national presidency,” Helmut said.
3 May 2007
APA-Windhoek (Namibia) A section of Namibia’s ruling SWAPO party in Oshana region has nominated former president Sam Nujoma to retain the position of party president, thus setting the stage for a bruising battle ahead of the party’s congress before the end of 2007.
Nujoma, who stepped down as head of state in 2004 has remained at the helm of SWAPO, the party he has led for more than four decades.The nomination also lays the platform for his rumoured intentions to make a comeback to the national presidential race in 2009.
SWAPO regional co-ordinator, Erastus Utoni told state owned daily New Era Thursday that the executive in the region wants Nujoma, christened Father of the Nation to retain the party presidency.
Current Namibian president Hifikepunye Pohamba would remain in his position as party vice president. The nomination comes ahead of SWAPO’s congress, which is likely to be held before the end of the year.
Namibia has 11 regions and the nomination by the Oshana region sets the stage for other regions to also come up with their own nominations, a political analyst Paul Helmut told APA Thursday.
“The decision by the Oshana regional executive is the first indication by any of the party structures to declare their position ahead of the congress,” Utoni said.
It however remains unclear what Nujoma would do should he be re-elected to retain the presidency of the party.
Helmut said that Nujoma ’should have stepped down’ and hand over the party presidency to Pohamba.
“Nujoma is supposed to have stepped down by now...he has been there for more than 40 years, he should step down and give succession a chance,” Helmut, a popular political and social commentator said.
The veteran freedom fighter, Nujoma, has recently been under intense pressure from civic organisations and privately owned media to relinquish the reigns of power.A war of attrition is being wedged by some privately owned media against the bearded former freedom fighter, who led Namibia to independence in 1990.
Although Nujoma has not openly declared his intentions to run again for office, the opposition and some ambitious SWAPO officials suspect his lieutenants are clearing the way for his comeback.
“If he is elected at the SWAPO congress, it means he would eventually run for the national presidency,” Helmut said.
US to Send $30 Million in Military Aid to SPLA.
Associated Press
May 3, 2007
President George W. Bush approved a second $30 million (A22.1 million) installment of military aid to southern Sudan’s autonomous government, the White House announced.
The money is to help upgrade the region’s former guerrilla force, the Sudan People’s Liberation Army, into a conventional army, develop a defense plan for the region, establish a protective service for southern Sudan’s president and high-ranking officials and create a police force and intelligence service.
"The United States has a critical interest in facilitating security sector reform in southern Sudan," National Security Council spokeswoman Kate Starr said in a statement.
The SPLA, ethnic African non-Muslims, fought a 2-decades-long war against the central government in Khartoum that ended three years ago. The conflict, separate from the violence in Darfur, Western Sudan, was blamed for more than 2 million deaths, primarily from war-induced famine and disease.
To give the money to southern Sudan, Bush had to waive a section of the U.S. Arms Control Act that prohibits giving military aid to countries that sponsor terrorism.
While Sudan remains on the U.S. State Department’s list of state sponsors of terror, southern Sudan qualifies for the waiver because it has had its own regional government under the 2004 comprehensive peace agreement that ended the civil war. Under the agreement, the region can hold a referendum in 2011 on whether to become an independent country.
May 3, 2007
President George W. Bush approved a second $30 million (A22.1 million) installment of military aid to southern Sudan’s autonomous government, the White House announced.
The money is to help upgrade the region’s former guerrilla force, the Sudan People’s Liberation Army, into a conventional army, develop a defense plan for the region, establish a protective service for southern Sudan’s president and high-ranking officials and create a police force and intelligence service.
"The United States has a critical interest in facilitating security sector reform in southern Sudan," National Security Council spokeswoman Kate Starr said in a statement.
The SPLA, ethnic African non-Muslims, fought a 2-decades-long war against the central government in Khartoum that ended three years ago. The conflict, separate from the violence in Darfur, Western Sudan, was blamed for more than 2 million deaths, primarily from war-induced famine and disease.
To give the money to southern Sudan, Bush had to waive a section of the U.S. Arms Control Act that prohibits giving military aid to countries that sponsor terrorism.
While Sudan remains on the U.S. State Department’s list of state sponsors of terror, southern Sudan qualifies for the waiver because it has had its own regional government under the 2004 comprehensive peace agreement that ended the civil war. Under the agreement, the region can hold a referendum in 2011 on whether to become an independent country.
Rwandan Delegation Heads to Burundi.
The New Times
Godwin Agaba
3 May 2007
The Burundian President, Pierre Nkurunziza, will today open the first special meeting of the regional ministerial committee (RIMC), The New Times has established.The two-day meeting will be held in Bujumbura. According to Charles Murigande, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the meeting is convened in light the pact on security, stability and development in the Great Lakes Region adopted in Nairobi, Kenya this past December, calling for the establishment of the conference secretariat of the International Conference on the great lakes region(IC/GLR) with in three months.
The special RIMC meeting is to be attended by the ministers from member states and it will attract other participants from co-opted member countries; co-chairs of the group of friends, the European Union; the African Development Bank and various United Nation missions and agencies.
The Rwandan delegation to the meeting will be headed by Ambassador Richard Sezibera, the presidential special envoy to Great Lakes Region.
The objective of the special meeting of RIMC is to officially inaugurate the Conference Secretariat and also consider its programme of work for 2007.
Other objectives are consideration and adaptation of the regular budget for 2007 and proposals on the recruitment process of the secretariat staff for the first four years.
Godwin Agaba
3 May 2007
The Burundian President, Pierre Nkurunziza, will today open the first special meeting of the regional ministerial committee (RIMC), The New Times has established.The two-day meeting will be held in Bujumbura. According to Charles Murigande, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the meeting is convened in light the pact on security, stability and development in the Great Lakes Region adopted in Nairobi, Kenya this past December, calling for the establishment of the conference secretariat of the International Conference on the great lakes region(IC/GLR) with in three months.
The special RIMC meeting is to be attended by the ministers from member states and it will attract other participants from co-opted member countries; co-chairs of the group of friends, the European Union; the African Development Bank and various United Nation missions and agencies.
The Rwandan delegation to the meeting will be headed by Ambassador Richard Sezibera, the presidential special envoy to Great Lakes Region.
The objective of the special meeting of RIMC is to officially inaugurate the Conference Secretariat and also consider its programme of work for 2007.
Other objectives are consideration and adaptation of the regular budget for 2007 and proposals on the recruitment process of the secretariat staff for the first four years.
Uganda Government, LRA Sign Second Agreement.
The Daily Monitor (Kampala)
3 May, 2007
By Grace Matsiko
The government and the rebel Lord's Resistance Army last night signed another landmark agreement on Comprehensive Solutions to the Northern Uganda conflict.
This is the second in weeks after both sides endorsed an extension to the ceasefire agreement recently.
Minister of State for Foreign Affairs (in charge International Affairs) Henry Oryem Okello signed on behalf of the government while Martin Ojul, the LRA's peace delegation chairman signed for the rebels, in Juba.
It was witnessed by Vice-President of Southern Sudan and chief mediator Riek Machar, observers from Kenya, Mozambique, South Africa and Tanzania.
By press time, the final copy of the agreement had not been accessed but according to a draft copy which was agreed upon in principle, the government agreed to provide protection to the LRA leaders, combatants and personnel during the transition from conflict to peace, once a final agreement has been signed.
"This is a major breakthrough to both delegations," LRA's David Nyekorach Matsanga said.
"This is a major success," Matsanga's colleague, James Obita added.
The two delegates were involved in ending an impasse in agreeing to the shape the agreement will take.
The agreement on comprehensive solutions handles issues of participation in national politics, system of government, inclusiveness in participation in the government, ensuring equal opportunities, participation in state institutions, the judiciary, security organs, Internally Displaced Persons, reconstruction of Northern Uganda, land and restocking of cattle in the war affected areas.
"The parties agree that members of the LRA who are willing and qualify shall be integrated into the national armed forces and other security agencies in accordance with subsequent agreements between the parties" the draft copy obtained by Daily Monitor indicates.
The two parties also agreed that the children of the departed LRA combatants shall benefit alongside other conflict-affected children from the Universal Primary Education and Universal Post-Primary Education and Training.
On land, the parties agreed that fair and equitable compensation shall be payable in case of expropriation of land.
"No expropriation shall be allowed except in the public interest and in accordance with the law" the agreement reads.
It states that land owners whose land has been used for settlement of IDPs or establishment of barracks and detaches, will be entitled to repossess their land or to receive fair and just compensation.
"The government shall strengthen and fast track re-stocking programmes in the affected areas by committing additional resources to mitigate the effect of losses of livestock taking into account individual losses and the need to improve the quality of livestock in the affected areas," the draft copy of the agreement said.
"The parties affirm the principle of proportional representation and agree to adopt security measures.
On the system of governance, the parties agreed that government shall, through the Equal Opportunities Commission, review and assess the nature and extent of any regional or ethnic imbalances and disparities in participation in central government institutions and shall take all necessary steps to remedy any anomalies.
The parties affirmed the principle of proportional representation of all the regions in the armed forces and other security agencies as a guarantee for sustainable stability in the country.
The two groups also agreed that recovery programmes for Northern Uganda are implemented expeditiously and where necessary "fast tracked" in order to respond effectively to the post -conflict needs in affected areas.
3 May, 2007
By Grace Matsiko
The government and the rebel Lord's Resistance Army last night signed another landmark agreement on Comprehensive Solutions to the Northern Uganda conflict.
This is the second in weeks after both sides endorsed an extension to the ceasefire agreement recently.
Minister of State for Foreign Affairs (in charge International Affairs) Henry Oryem Okello signed on behalf of the government while Martin Ojul, the LRA's peace delegation chairman signed for the rebels, in Juba.
It was witnessed by Vice-President of Southern Sudan and chief mediator Riek Machar, observers from Kenya, Mozambique, South Africa and Tanzania.
By press time, the final copy of the agreement had not been accessed but according to a draft copy which was agreed upon in principle, the government agreed to provide protection to the LRA leaders, combatants and personnel during the transition from conflict to peace, once a final agreement has been signed.
"This is a major breakthrough to both delegations," LRA's David Nyekorach Matsanga said.
"This is a major success," Matsanga's colleague, James Obita added.
The two delegates were involved in ending an impasse in agreeing to the shape the agreement will take.
The agreement on comprehensive solutions handles issues of participation in national politics, system of government, inclusiveness in participation in the government, ensuring equal opportunities, participation in state institutions, the judiciary, security organs, Internally Displaced Persons, reconstruction of Northern Uganda, land and restocking of cattle in the war affected areas.
"The parties agree that members of the LRA who are willing and qualify shall be integrated into the national armed forces and other security agencies in accordance with subsequent agreements between the parties" the draft copy obtained by Daily Monitor indicates.
The two parties also agreed that the children of the departed LRA combatants shall benefit alongside other conflict-affected children from the Universal Primary Education and Universal Post-Primary Education and Training.
On land, the parties agreed that fair and equitable compensation shall be payable in case of expropriation of land.
"No expropriation shall be allowed except in the public interest and in accordance with the law" the agreement reads.
It states that land owners whose land has been used for settlement of IDPs or establishment of barracks and detaches, will be entitled to repossess their land or to receive fair and just compensation.
"The government shall strengthen and fast track re-stocking programmes in the affected areas by committing additional resources to mitigate the effect of losses of livestock taking into account individual losses and the need to improve the quality of livestock in the affected areas," the draft copy of the agreement said.
"The parties affirm the principle of proportional representation and agree to adopt security measures.
On the system of governance, the parties agreed that government shall, through the Equal Opportunities Commission, review and assess the nature and extent of any regional or ethnic imbalances and disparities in participation in central government institutions and shall take all necessary steps to remedy any anomalies.
The parties affirmed the principle of proportional representation of all the regions in the armed forces and other security agencies as a guarantee for sustainable stability in the country.
The two groups also agreed that recovery programmes for Northern Uganda are implemented expeditiously and where necessary "fast tracked" in order to respond effectively to the post -conflict needs in affected areas.
ACT Alert: Conflict in Gambella Region, Ethiopia.
Source: Action by Churches Together (ACT) - Switzerland
Elisabeth Gouel
2 May 2007
Editor's Note: This oil-rich region of Ethiopia that borders Sudan has been the target of attacks from the Murle and PM Zenawi's soldiers for several years now but their attempts to drive the native people off their land have been unsuccessful.
The Sudanese Murle has subjected the Nuer and Anuak people of Gambella Regional State in Ethiopia to repeated cross-border attacks since the beginning of the year.
Historically, people have coped with these cross-border attacks, but the latest attack on the Anuak people were extremely severe, with many casualties recorded.
The president of East Gambella Bethel Synod of the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus, Ojod Miru, said that some 1,000 armed Murle attackers crossed the border with Sudan on April 11 this year, attacking the Angela Peasant Association, an Anuak village in Jor Wereda (District) of the Gambella Regional State.
The attacks claimed the lives of 26 people, as well as resulted in loss of livestock and the destruction of property. In total, 200 houses were burnt down, and large herds of cattle belonging to the Anuak raided.
The situation has returned to normal after the police force and local militia intervened, but all social and economic activities have stopped, disrupting day to day life of people in the area significantly.
Some 5,000 people are reported displaced—most of whom have sought shelter under trees, in individual homes and on the premises of institutions in Shantwa, a small town in the Jor Wereda (District).
The affected communities have not yet received any food assistance from the government and/or humanitarian agencies and are in serious need of assistance. Concern has been expressed that the situation may deteriorate if people are left in overcrowded shelters, especially with the imminent onset of the short rainy season.
The Joint Government-Humanitarian verification team deployed to assess the situation is expected to return at the end of this week. The ACT Ethiopia Forum made up of members: Christian Aid, DanChurchAid, Ethiopian Orthodox Church, Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus, Lutheran World Federation, Norwegian Church Aid and the Swiss Interchurch Aid (HEKS) are in touch with the ACT CO and will be looking at how best to respond to the humanitarian needs once more information is made available from the field.
Elisabeth Gouel
2 May 2007
Editor's Note: This oil-rich region of Ethiopia that borders Sudan has been the target of attacks from the Murle and PM Zenawi's soldiers for several years now but their attempts to drive the native people off their land have been unsuccessful.
The Sudanese Murle has subjected the Nuer and Anuak people of Gambella Regional State in Ethiopia to repeated cross-border attacks since the beginning of the year.
Historically, people have coped with these cross-border attacks, but the latest attack on the Anuak people were extremely severe, with many casualties recorded.
The president of East Gambella Bethel Synod of the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus, Ojod Miru, said that some 1,000 armed Murle attackers crossed the border with Sudan on April 11 this year, attacking the Angela Peasant Association, an Anuak village in Jor Wereda (District) of the Gambella Regional State.
The attacks claimed the lives of 26 people, as well as resulted in loss of livestock and the destruction of property. In total, 200 houses were burnt down, and large herds of cattle belonging to the Anuak raided.
The situation has returned to normal after the police force and local militia intervened, but all social and economic activities have stopped, disrupting day to day life of people in the area significantly.
Some 5,000 people are reported displaced—most of whom have sought shelter under trees, in individual homes and on the premises of institutions in Shantwa, a small town in the Jor Wereda (District).
The affected communities have not yet received any food assistance from the government and/or humanitarian agencies and are in serious need of assistance. Concern has been expressed that the situation may deteriorate if people are left in overcrowded shelters, especially with the imminent onset of the short rainy season.
The Joint Government-Humanitarian verification team deployed to assess the situation is expected to return at the end of this week. The ACT Ethiopia Forum made up of members: Christian Aid, DanChurchAid, Ethiopian Orthodox Church, Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus, Lutheran World Federation, Norwegian Church Aid and the Swiss Interchurch Aid (HEKS) are in touch with the ACT CO and will be looking at how best to respond to the humanitarian needs once more information is made available from the field.
02 May, 2007
Gold Fever Infects Young and Old in Mozambique.
IRIN
2 May 2007
Three children living outside Manica town in western Mozambique, bordering Zimbabwe, spent the Easter holidays digging a hole. Manica Province is the scene of a gold rush, and has all the problems associated with resource exploitation in a desperately poor country: dangerous working conditions, environmental degradation and violence.
Taking turns with a blunt-edged shovel, the young work crew excavated a shaft as wide as a coffin and about five metres deep. After a week of labour, the trio had collected gold flakes worth about US$2. They need to come up with about US$8 each to buy school uniforms, said Josefa Joao, 13, oldest of the three.
"We asked our parents' permission," she said. "They said go."
An estimated 20,000 garimpeiros - as the gold panners are known in Portuguese - are spread through the province, living in rough encampments, often without ready access to food, potable water or medical assistance. Perhaps as many as half of them are young Zimbabwean men escaping the economic hardships in their homeland, where inflation has reached 2,200 percent and unemployment levels are above 80 percent.
Accidents are relatively common. In March, 16 garimpeiros were found dead in the Chimanimani Mountains. According to police, they had frozen to death, victims of exposure following Cyclone Favio, which hit the region in February. Among the gold panners one camp is known as "Burundi" because of its history of violent fights.
Gold panning used to be a way for families to supplement their income from farming, said Celestino Sousa, the state's mineral resources manager for Manica Province. "Now, many people are using gold for survival."
The gold panners have built dams, panning pools and encampments along a 50km stretch of the Revue River, which flows eastward through Manica Province. In Machamba Samanhika, a typical camp just outside Manica city, about 250 workers are on site at any one time.
Because of its proximity to the town, many informal miners live in local houses or shacks, but some live in shanties by the river. Workers tend to be men in their twenties, and pay the owner of the land a little less than $2 per hole.
Some shafts are as deep as 20 metres, and may run horizontally for another nine or so metres. Underground it is stifling hot and pitch dark, and the miners say there is not enough air to sustain candles. Bunches of leaves are repeatedly dropped down the hole and quickly retrieved in the belief that this helps oxygenate the shaft.
Hundreds of open shafts pock Machamba Samanhika, each one a potential death trap: over the last year, four miners have been killed in cave-ins. "We are accustomed to it," shrugged one garimpeiro. "When there's a cave-in, the person you are working with screams for help, and everyone in the camp comes running as fast as possible and starts digging the worker out."
When the gold potential of a hole is exhausted, it is often left open, while the excavated, nutrient-poor clay blankets the rich riverside soil and renders the land unusable for cultivation.
Rivers become as unproductive as the land. Sousa said that many, if not most, streams in the area were cloudy with sediment churned up by mining activity. The water is undrinkable: the last test for mercury, which the garimpeiros use to leach out gold, showed water toxicity well above the threshold considered dangerous.
Sousa was also worried about the hydroelectric operations of the nearby Chicamba dam. If panning continues at its present rate, sediment could collect in the reservoir, reducing its capacity to generate electricity.
The history of gold production in Mozambique has been erratic. Locals have been extracting the precious metal from Manica's mountains and rivers since precolonial times. During Portuguese colonial rule, international mining companies set up formal operations, but abandoned Manica when Portugal began to lose control of Mozambique.
Gold activity did not resume again in earnest until the mid-1990s, after the country's 16-year civil war, but by decade's end the gold price had dropped, shutting down the few small enterprises that had sprouted around Manica town.
A buoyant gold price of just under US$700 has again made gold mining an alluring option. Miners left unemployed by the exiting mining concerns knew where to find the gold and how to extract it. Beginning in 2001 and 2002, Zimbabweans crossed the border in droves as their country's economic meltdown began, joining those already at work along rivers that flow through the province.
Earning just a dollar or two a day digging for gold is still worth the trouble when the alternative is earning nothing at all.
Sidio Elias, 12, emerges from the mine shaft he excavated with two other children. After a week of work, they found about $2 worth of gold flakes.
Clayton Mugumi, 27, sold bananas on the streets of the Zimbabwean capital, Harare, before joining his brother in Manica last year to pan for gold. He averages about $2 to $3 a day, roughly what he spends. "I have no future," he said, "so I work for money just to get me through the day." Mugumi once found a five-gram nugget worth about $75. "But that was last year."
The Zimbabweans in Manica lack family networks to care for them when something goes wrong. "They get sick, but they don't have assistance," Francisco Manuel, the community police officer at Machamba Samanhika told IRIN. "We have to take them to the hospital. They come back, but they can't work because they're still sick."
Technically, all garimpeiro activity is illegal. But unlike in Zimbabwe, where the government has cracked down on gold panners, the Manica authorities have opted for a more practical, laissez faire approach. "We can't use force to stop it because it's a way of sustaining families," said the governor of Manica province, Raimundo Diomba.
The government's law-enforcement capabilities are also limited: there are only four monitors attached to the mining resources department, and funds are in short supply. "The problem isn't trucks, we have those," Sousa said. "The problem is gasoline."
Instead of locking up the garimpeiros, the government is attempting to formalise their activities. One way is by encouraging mining companies to set up operations again. Another approach is to promote the creation of workers' associations, which could regulate the behaviour of members, collect subscriptions, and provide for members when they suffer injuries or sickness.
As an enticement to join, the government offers panning equipment. People stay in the association, said Diomba, because they see immediate benefits as production improves and drinking water clears up. Not only does the province benefit from having better environmental conditions at the mining sites, but the government can collect taxes as well.
According to government officials, about 4,000 garimpeiros are split among six associations, with several others in formation. But connecting with the gold panners is becoming more difficult; chasing after new gold strikes, they are settling further away, beyond the reach of the authorities, in more remote places.
The Chimanimani Mountains lie on the border between Mozambique and Zimbabwe, adjoining the Chimanimani National Park in Zimbabwe, with most of the range situated in Mozambique. The mountains, which straddle the Zimbabwe border, are a national park, where government officials say gold panning cannot be tolerated under any circumstances, yet thousands of garimpeiros are said to be camped there.
Enhancements are modest even at the encampments with organised associations. At Tsetsserra, a two-hour drive from Chimoio, the provincial capital of Manica, the remoteness and the terrain make the need for some kind of formalised framework even greater than along the Revue River.
At a mountain mine with a workers' association of about 250 members, instead of digging shafts, the miners remove large shoulders of mountainside, creating giant craters. "We have gold, but it's very deep," explains Tomas Joao Machigeya, the association's elected chief, demonstrating with a sharp downward thrust of his hand.
By providing the workers with shovels and other equipment, Sousa was able to convince the garimpeiros to repack some of the earth near the road. This has helped ensure that the road did not collapse, cutting off the encampment from the rest of the province. He also persuaded them to build pools to collect the mercury used in the gold mining process and prevent it from reaching sources of drinking water.
2 May 2007
Three children living outside Manica town in western Mozambique, bordering Zimbabwe, spent the Easter holidays digging a hole. Manica Province is the scene of a gold rush, and has all the problems associated with resource exploitation in a desperately poor country: dangerous working conditions, environmental degradation and violence.
Taking turns with a blunt-edged shovel, the young work crew excavated a shaft as wide as a coffin and about five metres deep. After a week of labour, the trio had collected gold flakes worth about US$2. They need to come up with about US$8 each to buy school uniforms, said Josefa Joao, 13, oldest of the three.
"We asked our parents' permission," she said. "They said go."
An estimated 20,000 garimpeiros - as the gold panners are known in Portuguese - are spread through the province, living in rough encampments, often without ready access to food, potable water or medical assistance. Perhaps as many as half of them are young Zimbabwean men escaping the economic hardships in their homeland, where inflation has reached 2,200 percent and unemployment levels are above 80 percent.
Accidents are relatively common. In March, 16 garimpeiros were found dead in the Chimanimani Mountains. According to police, they had frozen to death, victims of exposure following Cyclone Favio, which hit the region in February. Among the gold panners one camp is known as "Burundi" because of its history of violent fights.
Gold panning used to be a way for families to supplement their income from farming, said Celestino Sousa, the state's mineral resources manager for Manica Province. "Now, many people are using gold for survival."
The gold panners have built dams, panning pools and encampments along a 50km stretch of the Revue River, which flows eastward through Manica Province. In Machamba Samanhika, a typical camp just outside Manica city, about 250 workers are on site at any one time.
Because of its proximity to the town, many informal miners live in local houses or shacks, but some live in shanties by the river. Workers tend to be men in their twenties, and pay the owner of the land a little less than $2 per hole.
Some shafts are as deep as 20 metres, and may run horizontally for another nine or so metres. Underground it is stifling hot and pitch dark, and the miners say there is not enough air to sustain candles. Bunches of leaves are repeatedly dropped down the hole and quickly retrieved in the belief that this helps oxygenate the shaft.
Hundreds of open shafts pock Machamba Samanhika, each one a potential death trap: over the last year, four miners have been killed in cave-ins. "We are accustomed to it," shrugged one garimpeiro. "When there's a cave-in, the person you are working with screams for help, and everyone in the camp comes running as fast as possible and starts digging the worker out."
When the gold potential of a hole is exhausted, it is often left open, while the excavated, nutrient-poor clay blankets the rich riverside soil and renders the land unusable for cultivation.
Rivers become as unproductive as the land. Sousa said that many, if not most, streams in the area were cloudy with sediment churned up by mining activity. The water is undrinkable: the last test for mercury, which the garimpeiros use to leach out gold, showed water toxicity well above the threshold considered dangerous.
Sousa was also worried about the hydroelectric operations of the nearby Chicamba dam. If panning continues at its present rate, sediment could collect in the reservoir, reducing its capacity to generate electricity.
The history of gold production in Mozambique has been erratic. Locals have been extracting the precious metal from Manica's mountains and rivers since precolonial times. During Portuguese colonial rule, international mining companies set up formal operations, but abandoned Manica when Portugal began to lose control of Mozambique.
Gold activity did not resume again in earnest until the mid-1990s, after the country's 16-year civil war, but by decade's end the gold price had dropped, shutting down the few small enterprises that had sprouted around Manica town.
A buoyant gold price of just under US$700 has again made gold mining an alluring option. Miners left unemployed by the exiting mining concerns knew where to find the gold and how to extract it. Beginning in 2001 and 2002, Zimbabweans crossed the border in droves as their country's economic meltdown began, joining those already at work along rivers that flow through the province.
Earning just a dollar or two a day digging for gold is still worth the trouble when the alternative is earning nothing at all.
Sidio Elias, 12, emerges from the mine shaft he excavated with two other children. After a week of work, they found about $2 worth of gold flakes.
Clayton Mugumi, 27, sold bananas on the streets of the Zimbabwean capital, Harare, before joining his brother in Manica last year to pan for gold. He averages about $2 to $3 a day, roughly what he spends. "I have no future," he said, "so I work for money just to get me through the day." Mugumi once found a five-gram nugget worth about $75. "But that was last year."
The Zimbabweans in Manica lack family networks to care for them when something goes wrong. "They get sick, but they don't have assistance," Francisco Manuel, the community police officer at Machamba Samanhika told IRIN. "We have to take them to the hospital. They come back, but they can't work because they're still sick."
Technically, all garimpeiro activity is illegal. But unlike in Zimbabwe, where the government has cracked down on gold panners, the Manica authorities have opted for a more practical, laissez faire approach. "We can't use force to stop it because it's a way of sustaining families," said the governor of Manica province, Raimundo Diomba.
The government's law-enforcement capabilities are also limited: there are only four monitors attached to the mining resources department, and funds are in short supply. "The problem isn't trucks, we have those," Sousa said. "The problem is gasoline."
Instead of locking up the garimpeiros, the government is attempting to formalise their activities. One way is by encouraging mining companies to set up operations again. Another approach is to promote the creation of workers' associations, which could regulate the behaviour of members, collect subscriptions, and provide for members when they suffer injuries or sickness.
As an enticement to join, the government offers panning equipment. People stay in the association, said Diomba, because they see immediate benefits as production improves and drinking water clears up. Not only does the province benefit from having better environmental conditions at the mining sites, but the government can collect taxes as well.
According to government officials, about 4,000 garimpeiros are split among six associations, with several others in formation. But connecting with the gold panners is becoming more difficult; chasing after new gold strikes, they are settling further away, beyond the reach of the authorities, in more remote places.
The Chimanimani Mountains lie on the border between Mozambique and Zimbabwe, adjoining the Chimanimani National Park in Zimbabwe, with most of the range situated in Mozambique. The mountains, which straddle the Zimbabwe border, are a national park, where government officials say gold panning cannot be tolerated under any circumstances, yet thousands of garimpeiros are said to be camped there.
Enhancements are modest even at the encampments with organised associations. At Tsetsserra, a two-hour drive from Chimoio, the provincial capital of Manica, the remoteness and the terrain make the need for some kind of formalised framework even greater than along the Revue River.
At a mountain mine with a workers' association of about 250 members, instead of digging shafts, the miners remove large shoulders of mountainside, creating giant craters. "We have gold, but it's very deep," explains Tomas Joao Machigeya, the association's elected chief, demonstrating with a sharp downward thrust of his hand.
By providing the workers with shovels and other equipment, Sousa was able to convince the garimpeiros to repack some of the earth near the road. This has helped ensure that the road did not collapse, cutting off the encampment from the rest of the province. He also persuaded them to build pools to collect the mercury used in the gold mining process and prevent it from reaching sources of drinking water.
LRA Denies Killings As Peace Talks Resume.
UN Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN)
May 2, 2007
The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) denied claims by the Ugandan military that it was responsible for killing seven people in an ambush in the north of the country on Monday evening.
The Ugandan army on Wednesday also charged that the insurgency was in violation of a truce agreement signed in 2006 to pave the way for peace talks under way in southern Sudan.
The LRA, however, denied responsibility for Monday's attack on the passengers travelling in three lorries from southern Sudan to Uganda.
"Three trucks heading from Sudan to Uganda were ambushed and the occupants abducted. They were moved about one-and-a-half kilometres from the scene as one of the eight victims escaped and the seven were undressed, the rebels tied their hands at their backs and used clubs to smash their heads and kill them," said army spokesman Lt Chris Magezi, quoting an account of the incident obtained from the survivor.
"This is a blatant violation of the [truce] agreement and it is an indication that they [the LRA] lack seriousness to pursue a peace deal with the government. The mediators and observers should investigate these incidents because they are of concern to us," said Magezi.
Justin Labeja, a member of the LRA delegation to the peace talks in Juba, the capital of southern Sudan, said the army's accusation was "unfair", telling IRIN by telephone from Juba: "It is always fashionable for the Ugandan military to blame any attack on the LRA."
The talks resumed on 27 April after four months of uncertainty that followed an LRA demand that Sudanese mediators be replaced and the venue of the talks moved. The United Nations special envoy to the talks, Joaquim Chissano, managed to convince the LRA to abandon its demands and go back to the negotiating table. The cessation of hostilities agreement initially signed in August 2006 has been extended until the end of June and the rebels have six weeks to assemble at Ri-Kwangba in southern Sudan during the talks.
The peace talks are aimed at ending the conflict that has raged in northern Ugandan since 1988, when the elusive LRA leader Joseph Kony took over leadership of a two-year-old rebellion among northern Uganda's ethnic Acholi minority. Thousands of civilians have died in the war and nearly two million people have been displaced by the conflict and forced to live in squalid camps.
Kony and four other LRA leaders have been indicted by the International Criminal Court on charges of war crimes, including the abduction of thousands of children for conscription into the LRA forces and forced marriage to soldiers.
May 2, 2007
The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) denied claims by the Ugandan military that it was responsible for killing seven people in an ambush in the north of the country on Monday evening.
The Ugandan army on Wednesday also charged that the insurgency was in violation of a truce agreement signed in 2006 to pave the way for peace talks under way in southern Sudan.
The LRA, however, denied responsibility for Monday's attack on the passengers travelling in three lorries from southern Sudan to Uganda.
"Three trucks heading from Sudan to Uganda were ambushed and the occupants abducted. They were moved about one-and-a-half kilometres from the scene as one of the eight victims escaped and the seven were undressed, the rebels tied their hands at their backs and used clubs to smash their heads and kill them," said army spokesman Lt Chris Magezi, quoting an account of the incident obtained from the survivor.
"This is a blatant violation of the [truce] agreement and it is an indication that they [the LRA] lack seriousness to pursue a peace deal with the government. The mediators and observers should investigate these incidents because they are of concern to us," said Magezi.
Justin Labeja, a member of the LRA delegation to the peace talks in Juba, the capital of southern Sudan, said the army's accusation was "unfair", telling IRIN by telephone from Juba: "It is always fashionable for the Ugandan military to blame any attack on the LRA."
The talks resumed on 27 April after four months of uncertainty that followed an LRA demand that Sudanese mediators be replaced and the venue of the talks moved. The United Nations special envoy to the talks, Joaquim Chissano, managed to convince the LRA to abandon its demands and go back to the negotiating table. The cessation of hostilities agreement initially signed in August 2006 has been extended until the end of June and the rebels have six weeks to assemble at Ri-Kwangba in southern Sudan during the talks.
The peace talks are aimed at ending the conflict that has raged in northern Ugandan since 1988, when the elusive LRA leader Joseph Kony took over leadership of a two-year-old rebellion among northern Uganda's ethnic Acholi minority. Thousands of civilians have died in the war and nearly two million people have been displaced by the conflict and forced to live in squalid camps.
Kony and four other LRA leaders have been indicted by the International Criminal Court on charges of war crimes, including the abduction of thousands of children for conscription into the LRA forces and forced marriage to soldiers.
Ugandan Oil Pipeline to Begin Construction Soon.
African Oil Journal
2 May 2007.
A Czech firm, Skoda Export has been selected as the main contractor for the Kenya - Uganda oil pipeline extension. Tamoil East Africa, which won the oil line extension tender last year, is now working on engineering procurement and construction work.
The construction is set to commence in August this year. Tamoil's challenge is determining the actual pipeline route as well as signing contracts with suppliers.
According to the UN experts, the major problems to be solved include high costs and uncertainty as well as other risks associated with road transportation of oil products.
The UN recommend that road hazards, including fatalities, spillage and fires during accidents, and adverse environmental hazards associated with the transportation of oil products by road, be minimized.
In 2003, Uganda and Kenya decided to hold a 49 % equity shareholding in the Eldoret-Kampala pipeline, leaving 51 % to the private sector. In 2001, the two governments contracted Nexant of the UK to carry out a final study on the viability of the pipeline. But while Nexant said operation of the pipeline be placed under a private transport company or consortium, it suggested a number of ownership schemes, including joint government development, and government/private-sector arrangements.
Editor' Note: Nexant is chiefly owned by Bechtel, Morgan Stanley, and JPMorgan/Chase.
Nexant said it was cheaper to ship oil products for Uganda, Rwanda and eastern Congo to Kampala using the pipeline than by road. The European Investment Bank funded the first study on the viability of the pipeline, whose report was submitted to the two governments in 1999.
According to an earlier timetable for the project, construction of the pipeline was to start in July 2002 and end in December 2004.
2 May 2007.
A Czech firm, Skoda Export has been selected as the main contractor for the Kenya - Uganda oil pipeline extension. Tamoil East Africa, which won the oil line extension tender last year, is now working on engineering procurement and construction work.
The construction is set to commence in August this year. Tamoil's challenge is determining the actual pipeline route as well as signing contracts with suppliers.
According to the UN experts, the major problems to be solved include high costs and uncertainty as well as other risks associated with road transportation of oil products.
The UN recommend that road hazards, including fatalities, spillage and fires during accidents, and adverse environmental hazards associated with the transportation of oil products by road, be minimized.
In 2003, Uganda and Kenya decided to hold a 49 % equity shareholding in the Eldoret-Kampala pipeline, leaving 51 % to the private sector. In 2001, the two governments contracted Nexant of the UK to carry out a final study on the viability of the pipeline. But while Nexant said operation of the pipeline be placed under a private transport company or consortium, it suggested a number of ownership schemes, including joint government development, and government/private-sector arrangements.
Editor' Note: Nexant is chiefly owned by Bechtel, Morgan Stanley, and JPMorgan/Chase.
Nexant said it was cheaper to ship oil products for Uganda, Rwanda and eastern Congo to Kampala using the pipeline than by road. The European Investment Bank funded the first study on the viability of the pipeline, whose report was submitted to the two governments in 1999.
According to an earlier timetable for the project, construction of the pipeline was to start in July 2002 and end in December 2004.
Liberia Opens 10 Diamond Purchasing Offices Nationwide.
African Press Agency
2 May 2007
APA-Monrovia (Liberia) The Liberian government has opened ten regional diamond purchasing offices across the country, with President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf performing the symbolic opening of one of them in the western provincial city of Tubmanburg in Bomi County about 70 kilometres from the capital, Monrovia, APA learnt here.
Four of the offices are in north-eastern Nimba County, one in Kakata, Margibi County in central Liberia and the other five in western Liberia, according to Mr Kpandel Fayia who is the focal person of the Kimberly process in Liberia.
During the symbolic opening of the Tubmanburg office on Tuesday, President Johnson Sirleaf acted as the dealer, while the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative Alan Doss acted as the broker.
Mr. Fayia told reporters that a three-percent tax is levied by the Central Bank on every diamond sold, and explained that the Kimberly certificates which will be issued to all buyers, will arrive in the country in the next two weeks.
Liberia is expected to begin exporting diamonds in two weeks time, officials said.
2 May 2007
APA-Monrovia (Liberia) The Liberian government has opened ten regional diamond purchasing offices across the country, with President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf performing the symbolic opening of one of them in the western provincial city of Tubmanburg in Bomi County about 70 kilometres from the capital, Monrovia, APA learnt here.
Four of the offices are in north-eastern Nimba County, one in Kakata, Margibi County in central Liberia and the other five in western Liberia, according to Mr Kpandel Fayia who is the focal person of the Kimberly process in Liberia.
During the symbolic opening of the Tubmanburg office on Tuesday, President Johnson Sirleaf acted as the dealer, while the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative Alan Doss acted as the broker.
Mr. Fayia told reporters that a three-percent tax is levied by the Central Bank on every diamond sold, and explained that the Kimberly certificates which will be issued to all buyers, will arrive in the country in the next two weeks.
Liberia is expected to begin exporting diamonds in two weeks time, officials said.
US, Montenegro Sign Military Pacts.
Herald Sun
2 May 2007
United States signed a defence pact today with Montenegro that could open the way for the deployment of US forces to the young Balkan republic - a step likely to fuel tensions with Russia.
The Status of Forces Agreement was signed by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Montenegrin President Filip Vujanovic, who was making his first official visit to Washington since his nation broke from Serbia and gained independence in 2006.
Dr Rice said the agreement "establishes a basis for United States military personnel to operate in Montenegro for mutually agreed activities".
"Mr President, we share your aspirations for a Euro-Atlantic future for Montenegro and the United States and Montenegro are working towards that goal," she said during a joint press conference with Mr Vujanovic.
The State Department revealed yesterday the two governments had also signed last month a so-called "Article 98" agreement, a controversial bilateral immunity deal that would shield US troops and nationals stationed in Montenegro from possible prosecution by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The United States has signed Article 98 agreements with more than 100 countries despite questions about the international legality of the pacts.
Mr Vujanovic said he hoped the agreement with the United States would enhance his country's image as a "safe environment" for foreign investment.
Montenegro broke away from an alliance with Serbia following a referendum vote for independence in May 2006.
The prospect of US troops deploying to the Balkan nation is likely to add fuel to a growing dispute with Russia over the expansion of NATO into former Soviet bloc countries in eastern Europe and bilateral deals placing US forces in the region.
Russia President Vladimir Putin announced last week that Moscow was suspending its compliance with a key East-West treaty on conventional forces in Europe in protest at the moves and at US plans to station anti-missile interceptor bases in Poland and the Czech Republic.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also lashed out at his NATO counterparts over the alliance's expansion during a meeting on Friday in Oslo.
2 May 2007
United States signed a defence pact today with Montenegro that could open the way for the deployment of US forces to the young Balkan republic - a step likely to fuel tensions with Russia.
The Status of Forces Agreement was signed by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Montenegrin President Filip Vujanovic, who was making his first official visit to Washington since his nation broke from Serbia and gained independence in 2006.
Dr Rice said the agreement "establishes a basis for United States military personnel to operate in Montenegro for mutually agreed activities".
"Mr President, we share your aspirations for a Euro-Atlantic future for Montenegro and the United States and Montenegro are working towards that goal," she said during a joint press conference with Mr Vujanovic.
The State Department revealed yesterday the two governments had also signed last month a so-called "Article 98" agreement, a controversial bilateral immunity deal that would shield US troops and nationals stationed in Montenegro from possible prosecution by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The United States has signed Article 98 agreements with more than 100 countries despite questions about the international legality of the pacts.
Mr Vujanovic said he hoped the agreement with the United States would enhance his country's image as a "safe environment" for foreign investment.
Montenegro broke away from an alliance with Serbia following a referendum vote for independence in May 2006.
The prospect of US troops deploying to the Balkan nation is likely to add fuel to a growing dispute with Russia over the expansion of NATO into former Soviet bloc countries in eastern Europe and bilateral deals placing US forces in the region.
Russia President Vladimir Putin announced last week that Moscow was suspending its compliance with a key East-West treaty on conventional forces in Europe in protest at the moves and at US plans to station anti-missile interceptor bases in Poland and the Czech Republic.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also lashed out at his NATO counterparts over the alliance's expansion during a meeting on Friday in Oslo.
Venezuela Seizes Last Private Oil Fields.
By NATALIE OBIKO PEARSON
AP Business Writer
AP Business Writer John Porretto contributed to this report from Houston.
The Associated Press
Updated: 10:18 p.m. ET May 1, 2007
President Hugo Chavez's government took over Venezuela's last privately run oil fields Tuesday, intensifying a power struggle with international companies over the world's largest known single petroleum deposit.
Newly bought Russian-made fighter jets streaked through the sky as Chavez shouted "Down with the U.S. empire!" to thousands of red-clad oil workers in the Orinoco River Basin, calling the state takeover a historic victory for Venezuela after years of U.S.-backed corporate exploitation.
"The nationalization of Venezuela's oil is now for real," said Chavez, who declared that for Venezuela to be a socialist state it must have control over its natural resources.
Chavez accused foreign oil companies of bad drilling practices due to their hunger for quick profits, and said Venezuela could sue them for causing lasting damage to oil fields.
While the state takeover had been planned for some time, BP PLC, ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron Corp., France's Total SA and Norway's Statoil ASA remain locked in a struggle with the Chavez government over the terms and conditions under which they will be allowed to stay on as minority partners.
All but ConocoPhillips signed agreements last week agreeing in principle to state control, and ConocoPhillips said Tuesday that it too was cooperating.
The companies have leverage with Chavez because experts agree that Venezuela's state oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela SA, cannot transform the Orinoco's tar-like crude into marketable oil without their investment and experience.
"They're hoping ... that as time passes Chavez will realize he needs them more than they need him," said Michael Lynch, an analyst at Winchester, Mass.-based Strategic Energy and Economic Research. He predicted most oil companies _ with the possible exception of Exxon Mobil _ would stay.
Patrick Esteruelas, an analyst at the New York-based Eurasia Group, said the companies are likely to stay, but in the meantime, the turmoil could cause production to fall at the operations, which export much of their output to the United States and other countries.
State-run PDVSA "is going to be assuming control as an inefficient and cash-starved company and is probably going to drag production down," he said.
Multinationals pumping oil elsewhere in Venezuela, one of the leading suppliers of oil to the United States, submitted to state-controlled joint ventures last year because they were reluctant to abandon the profitable operations.
Esteruelas said since those takeovers, Venezuela's overall output has declined by close to 4 percent, or 100,000 barrels a day, with some companies complaining they have not been paid for the crude they have been pumping. "I expect to see a repeat of that in the Orinoco," he said.
Venezuela denies production problems and says it is on track to lift output in the coming years.
Chavez says the state is taking a minimum 60 percent stake in the Orinoco operations, but he is urging foreign companies to stay and help develop the fields. They have until June 26 to negotiate the terms.
The stakes are high for both sides. The Orinoco River basin, though not yet fully explored, is recognized as the world's single largest known oil deposit, potentially holding 1.2 trillion barrels of extra-heavy crude.
If Venezuela is able to recover much of that, it would surpass Saudi Arabia as the nation with the most reserves. If the big oil companies were to leave, Chavez says state firms from China, India and elsewhere can step in, but industry experts doubt they are qualified.
Pulling out would be damaging for the companies. They have invested more than $17 billion in the projects, now estimated to be worth $30 billion. Venezuela has indicated it is inclined to pay the lesser amount for taking over control _ with partial payment in oil and, some experts suspect, tax forgiveness.
Chevron's future in Venezuela "will very much be dependent on how we're treated in the current negotiation," said David O'Reilly, chief executive of the San Ramon, California-based company. "That process is going to have a direct impact on our appetite going forward."
Venezuela may still prove enticing because three-quarters of the world's proven reserves are already controlled by state monopolies.
Nationalization of the oil industry has been tried in Venezuela before, though with a different tack. Venezuela shut companies out of the oil sector completely between 1976 and 1992 before beginning a series of partial privatizations, which Chavez is now rolling back.
Chavez is also nationalizing electricity companies and the country's biggest telecommunications company, and has threatened to take over private hospitals if they continue raising prices for care. He says radical changes are needed to help the poor.
U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Tuesday that Venezuela's negotiations with oil companies "will proceed as they will" but said Chavez's broader actions _ including a move to pull out of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund _ were digging Venezuela into a hole.
"I think he's digging a hole for the Venezuelan people," McCormack told reporters in Washington. "You can't take the shovel out of the man's hand. He just keeps on digging. And sadly, it's the Venezuelan people who are victimized by this."
AP Business Writer
AP Business Writer John Porretto contributed to this report from Houston.
The Associated Press
Updated: 10:18 p.m. ET May 1, 2007
President Hugo Chavez's government took over Venezuela's last privately run oil fields Tuesday, intensifying a power struggle with international companies over the world's largest known single petroleum deposit.
Newly bought Russian-made fighter jets streaked through the sky as Chavez shouted "Down with the U.S. empire!" to thousands of red-clad oil workers in the Orinoco River Basin, calling the state takeover a historic victory for Venezuela after years of U.S.-backed corporate exploitation.
"The nationalization of Venezuela's oil is now for real," said Chavez, who declared that for Venezuela to be a socialist state it must have control over its natural resources.
Chavez accused foreign oil companies of bad drilling practices due to their hunger for quick profits, and said Venezuela could sue them for causing lasting damage to oil fields.
While the state takeover had been planned for some time, BP PLC, ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron Corp., France's Total SA and Norway's Statoil ASA remain locked in a struggle with the Chavez government over the terms and conditions under which they will be allowed to stay on as minority partners.
All but ConocoPhillips signed agreements last week agreeing in principle to state control, and ConocoPhillips said Tuesday that it too was cooperating.
The companies have leverage with Chavez because experts agree that Venezuela's state oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela SA, cannot transform the Orinoco's tar-like crude into marketable oil without their investment and experience.
"They're hoping ... that as time passes Chavez will realize he needs them more than they need him," said Michael Lynch, an analyst at Winchester, Mass.-based Strategic Energy and Economic Research. He predicted most oil companies _ with the possible exception of Exxon Mobil _ would stay.
Patrick Esteruelas, an analyst at the New York-based Eurasia Group, said the companies are likely to stay, but in the meantime, the turmoil could cause production to fall at the operations, which export much of their output to the United States and other countries.
State-run PDVSA "is going to be assuming control as an inefficient and cash-starved company and is probably going to drag production down," he said.
Multinationals pumping oil elsewhere in Venezuela, one of the leading suppliers of oil to the United States, submitted to state-controlled joint ventures last year because they were reluctant to abandon the profitable operations.
Esteruelas said since those takeovers, Venezuela's overall output has declined by close to 4 percent, or 100,000 barrels a day, with some companies complaining they have not been paid for the crude they have been pumping. "I expect to see a repeat of that in the Orinoco," he said.
Venezuela denies production problems and says it is on track to lift output in the coming years.
Chavez says the state is taking a minimum 60 percent stake in the Orinoco operations, but he is urging foreign companies to stay and help develop the fields. They have until June 26 to negotiate the terms.
The stakes are high for both sides. The Orinoco River basin, though not yet fully explored, is recognized as the world's single largest known oil deposit, potentially holding 1.2 trillion barrels of extra-heavy crude.
If Venezuela is able to recover much of that, it would surpass Saudi Arabia as the nation with the most reserves. If the big oil companies were to leave, Chavez says state firms from China, India and elsewhere can step in, but industry experts doubt they are qualified.
Pulling out would be damaging for the companies. They have invested more than $17 billion in the projects, now estimated to be worth $30 billion. Venezuela has indicated it is inclined to pay the lesser amount for taking over control _ with partial payment in oil and, some experts suspect, tax forgiveness.
Chevron's future in Venezuela "will very much be dependent on how we're treated in the current negotiation," said David O'Reilly, chief executive of the San Ramon, California-based company. "That process is going to have a direct impact on our appetite going forward."
Venezuela may still prove enticing because three-quarters of the world's proven reserves are already controlled by state monopolies.
Nationalization of the oil industry has been tried in Venezuela before, though with a different tack. Venezuela shut companies out of the oil sector completely between 1976 and 1992 before beginning a series of partial privatizations, which Chavez is now rolling back.
Chavez is also nationalizing electricity companies and the country's biggest telecommunications company, and has threatened to take over private hospitals if they continue raising prices for care. He says radical changes are needed to help the poor.
U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Tuesday that Venezuela's negotiations with oil companies "will proceed as they will" but said Chavez's broader actions _ including a move to pull out of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund _ were digging Venezuela into a hole.
"I think he's digging a hole for the Venezuelan people," McCormack told reporters in Washington. "You can't take the shovel out of the man's hand. He just keeps on digging. And sadly, it's the Venezuelan people who are victimized by this."
New U.S. Defense Advisor Arrives Today.
The Inquirer
2 May 2007
The newly appointed Senior United States Defense Advisor to Liberia, is expected to arrive in the country today, sources has hinted this paper.
According to information gathered by this paper, Colonel James Andrew Elliott Jr., will arrive in the country today to take over his new assignment.
He replaces CoL. David Osinki, who has ended his duty in the country and has since departed the country.
The new US Military Advisor, according to our source before his new appointment, served as the Deputy Chief of Staff Force Development, 98th, Division, Rochester, New York.
He has been commissioned in the US military for over 27 years and has attended several military schools.
According to information received by this paper, Col. Elliott, holds a B.Sc. Degree in Agriculture from the University of Missouri and a MSB in Business from the Husson College, Bangor Maine.
He also did several military courses and served as a student, Artillery Officer Basic and Cannon Course, Fort Sill, Oklahoma.
Colonel Elliott, served on active duty as a student at Defense Language Institute, Monterey, California and Weapon Officer, Battery D, 6/80 Field Artillery, Fort Ord, California.
His current occupation according to information gathered by this paper, is that he is a teacher, Department of Corrections, State of Maine, Mountain View Youth Development Center, Charleston, Maine.
Born on February 24th, 1951, Colonel Elliott, although not on active duty, served as Chief Operations Officer, the United Nations Military Observer Group, the UN Mission to Ethiopia, Eritrea.
Presently, he serves as Deputy Chief of Staff, Force Development, 98th DV- IT Rochester, New York.
2 May 2007
The newly appointed Senior United States Defense Advisor to Liberia, is expected to arrive in the country today, sources has hinted this paper.
According to information gathered by this paper, Colonel James Andrew Elliott Jr., will arrive in the country today to take over his new assignment.
He replaces CoL. David Osinki, who has ended his duty in the country and has since departed the country.
The new US Military Advisor, according to our source before his new appointment, served as the Deputy Chief of Staff Force Development, 98th, Division, Rochester, New York.
He has been commissioned in the US military for over 27 years and has attended several military schools.
According to information received by this paper, Col. Elliott, holds a B.Sc. Degree in Agriculture from the University of Missouri and a MSB in Business from the Husson College, Bangor Maine.
He also did several military courses and served as a student, Artillery Officer Basic and Cannon Course, Fort Sill, Oklahoma.
Colonel Elliott, served on active duty as a student at Defense Language Institute, Monterey, California and Weapon Officer, Battery D, 6/80 Field Artillery, Fort Ord, California.
His current occupation according to information gathered by this paper, is that he is a teacher, Department of Corrections, State of Maine, Mountain View Youth Development Center, Charleston, Maine.
Born on February 24th, 1951, Colonel Elliott, although not on active duty, served as Chief Operations Officer, the United Nations Military Observer Group, the UN Mission to Ethiopia, Eritrea.
Presently, he serves as Deputy Chief of Staff, Force Development, 98th DV- IT Rochester, New York.
Iraq Al-Qaeda Chief Jail Mystery.
BBC News
7 June 2006
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/5153364.stm
Editor Note: This is the same bloke the U.S. claimes they just killed earlier this week. Are they lying to trump up morale? If not, how did he get out of prison and suddenly take command of a militia group?
A prominent Cairo lawyer says the Egyptian man identified by the US as the new al-Qaeda leader in Iraq has been in jail in Egypt for seven years.
The lawyer, Mamdouh Ismail, who has represented Egyptian Islamists for many years, says he met the man days ago in a jail on the edge of Cairo.
He says the apparent contradictions in information may be part of a disinformation campaign by both sides.
However, independent verification is virtually impossible.
This is a murky story, just like a great deal of the information involving counter-terrorism operations and the work of the intelligence services.
Mamdouh Ismail is a veteran Egyptian lawyer who was once an Islamist activist and an associate of Osama Bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, before he left Egypt.
Mr Ismail says that the apparent contradictions in the information on who succeeded Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in Iraq is possibly part of a disinformation campaign.
Following the killing of Zarqawi in Iraq last month, the US military there released the picture of an Egyptian man they said was the successor.
Maj Gen William Caldwell, the US military spokesman in Iraq, said at the time: "This is Ayyub al-Masri, probably the person who's going to be responsible for al-Qaeda in Iraq.
"Ayyub al-Masri is a senior al-Qaeda in Iraq operative. We know he is responsible for facilitating the movement of foreign fighters from Syria into Baghdad itself. We know al-Masri has been a terrorist since 1982, beginning with his involvement in the Egyptian Islamic Jihad."
The mystery militant
But according to Mamdouh Ismail, a security source within the Egyptian interior ministry has disclosed that al-Masri is in fact the nom de guerre of an Egyptian militant by the name of Sharif Haza.
Mr Ismail says that the American assertion could not possibly be true.
"Three days ago, I was in Turah jail," he said.
"There I met Sharif Haza and he laughed a lot about what is being said about him out there.
"He told me that he has been in jail for many years now and that he has no relationship whatsoever with al-Qaeda or Osama Bin Laden"
Mr Haza has been in jail for seven years on terrorism charges, says Mr Ismail.
The question of the identity of the successor to Zarqawi took another twist a few days ago when Osama Bin Laden said in an audio message that a man by the name of Abu Hamza al-Muhajir was the new leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq.
Mr Ismail says no-one has heard of al-Muhajir.
He adds that the names being released by the Americans and Bin Laden, are probably part of disinformation campaigns from both sides, whose sole purpose is to confound each other.
7 June 2006
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/5153364.stm
Editor Note: This is the same bloke the U.S. claimes they just killed earlier this week. Are they lying to trump up morale? If not, how did he get out of prison and suddenly take command of a militia group?
A prominent Cairo lawyer says the Egyptian man identified by the US as the new al-Qaeda leader in Iraq has been in jail in Egypt for seven years.
The lawyer, Mamdouh Ismail, who has represented Egyptian Islamists for many years, says he met the man days ago in a jail on the edge of Cairo.
He says the apparent contradictions in information may be part of a disinformation campaign by both sides.
However, independent verification is virtually impossible.
This is a murky story, just like a great deal of the information involving counter-terrorism operations and the work of the intelligence services.
Mamdouh Ismail is a veteran Egyptian lawyer who was once an Islamist activist and an associate of Osama Bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, before he left Egypt.
Mr Ismail says that the apparent contradictions in the information on who succeeded Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in Iraq is possibly part of a disinformation campaign.
Following the killing of Zarqawi in Iraq last month, the US military there released the picture of an Egyptian man they said was the successor.
Maj Gen William Caldwell, the US military spokesman in Iraq, said at the time: "This is Ayyub al-Masri, probably the person who's going to be responsible for al-Qaeda in Iraq.
"Ayyub al-Masri is a senior al-Qaeda in Iraq operative. We know he is responsible for facilitating the movement of foreign fighters from Syria into Baghdad itself. We know al-Masri has been a terrorist since 1982, beginning with his involvement in the Egyptian Islamic Jihad."
The mystery militant
But according to Mamdouh Ismail, a security source within the Egyptian interior ministry has disclosed that al-Masri is in fact the nom de guerre of an Egyptian militant by the name of Sharif Haza.
Mr Ismail says that the American assertion could not possibly be true.
"Three days ago, I was in Turah jail," he said.
"There I met Sharif Haza and he laughed a lot about what is being said about him out there.
"He told me that he has been in jail for many years now and that he has no relationship whatsoever with al-Qaeda or Osama Bin Laden"
Mr Haza has been in jail for seven years on terrorism charges, says Mr Ismail.
The question of the identity of the successor to Zarqawi took another twist a few days ago when Osama Bin Laden said in an audio message that a man by the name of Abu Hamza al-Muhajir was the new leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq.
Mr Ismail says no-one has heard of al-Muhajir.
He adds that the names being released by the Americans and Bin Laden, are probably part of disinformation campaigns from both sides, whose sole purpose is to confound each other.
Braeckman Describes KIBAT Soldiers Deaths and Sides With FPR.
Hirondelle News Agency
Brussels, April 27, 2007 (FH) – “It’s craziness to accuse the RPF of having provoked the 1994 massacres,” Colette Braeckman said during her testimony at the Court of Assises which must try the Rwandan Major Bernard Ntuyahaga specifically for the murder of ten Belgian Blue Helmets in Kigali on April 7, 1994.
The Le Soir journalist was heard as a background witness. The previous day, the writer-journalist Pierre Pean spoke of a “tension strategy” of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF). Another background witness, Joseph Matata explained that “the Hutus were allowed to massacre because it was known that the RPF would later benefit.” “How is it morally imaginable that RPF soldiers deliberately allowed their families who lived in Rwanda to be sacrificed?” Colette Braeckman asked.
According to her, Matata has “become more a defender of Hutu rights than a defender of human rights.” Regarding Pean, the journalist and close to President Francois Mitterand who confided his desire for him to “lavish praise on France and the President” in his book on Rwanda.” She also criticized an insufficiency of sources.
Invited to name sources on the assassination of the Blue Helmets, she responded, “I spoke about it with other Blue Helmets who were still at Kigali airport when I arrived. They heard, as did others, the communications of the ten paras. Also, at this time there is also a report made by the Belgian military on these acts,” she explained.
Stating her “innermost belief,” Braeckman explained “if the companions of the Blue Helmets intervened, they could have saved a part of the 10. And if the Belgian repatriating Silver Back forces also intervened, they could have stopped the massacres” thus recalling the UNAMIR (United Nations)’ weakness and the inaction of the international community at the time of the genocide. Casting doubt on the credibility of Braeckman’s work, Mr. de Temmerman, Bernard Ntuyahaga’s lawyer told the jurors, “She’s a novelist. You will decide.”
Then, the historian Jean-Pierre Chretien recalled “the operationalization of the opinions in the media such as that of Radio-Television Libre Des Milles Collines (RTLM) and the Kangura newspaper. The media, added the CNRS emeritus researcher took on an anti-Belgian nature after October 1993. “There was effectively a campaign,” he said.
New incidents marked the hearing. The president Gerard scolded Temmerman during a cross-examination of the background witnesses. The latter left the hall in protest, and the president had to allow his two assistants to stand in.
Also, Mr. Jean-Paul Dumont, lawyer for one of the Rwandan civil parties, strongly attacked Marc Uyttendaele, lawyer for the families and the Belgian state. “It shocks the Rwandan victims that the Belgian state had the boldness to stand as a civil party and even more that the lawyers Marc Uyttendaele and Laurent Kennes are absent,” he decried.
Brussels, April 27, 2007 (FH) – “It’s craziness to accuse the RPF of having provoked the 1994 massacres,” Colette Braeckman said during her testimony at the Court of Assises which must try the Rwandan Major Bernard Ntuyahaga specifically for the murder of ten Belgian Blue Helmets in Kigali on April 7, 1994.
The Le Soir journalist was heard as a background witness. The previous day, the writer-journalist Pierre Pean spoke of a “tension strategy” of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF). Another background witness, Joseph Matata explained that “the Hutus were allowed to massacre because it was known that the RPF would later benefit.” “How is it morally imaginable that RPF soldiers deliberately allowed their families who lived in Rwanda to be sacrificed?” Colette Braeckman asked.
According to her, Matata has “become more a defender of Hutu rights than a defender of human rights.” Regarding Pean, the journalist and close to President Francois Mitterand who confided his desire for him to “lavish praise on France and the President” in his book on Rwanda.” She also criticized an insufficiency of sources.
Invited to name sources on the assassination of the Blue Helmets, she responded, “I spoke about it with other Blue Helmets who were still at Kigali airport when I arrived. They heard, as did others, the communications of the ten paras. Also, at this time there is also a report made by the Belgian military on these acts,” she explained.
Stating her “innermost belief,” Braeckman explained “if the companions of the Blue Helmets intervened, they could have saved a part of the 10. And if the Belgian repatriating Silver Back forces also intervened, they could have stopped the massacres” thus recalling the UNAMIR (United Nations)’ weakness and the inaction of the international community at the time of the genocide. Casting doubt on the credibility of Braeckman’s work, Mr. de Temmerman, Bernard Ntuyahaga’s lawyer told the jurors, “She’s a novelist. You will decide.”
Then, the historian Jean-Pierre Chretien recalled “the operationalization of the opinions in the media such as that of Radio-Television Libre Des Milles Collines (RTLM) and the Kangura newspaper. The media, added the CNRS emeritus researcher took on an anti-Belgian nature after October 1993. “There was effectively a campaign,” he said.
New incidents marked the hearing. The president Gerard scolded Temmerman during a cross-examination of the background witnesses. The latter left the hall in protest, and the president had to allow his two assistants to stand in.
Also, Mr. Jean-Paul Dumont, lawyer for one of the Rwandan civil parties, strongly attacked Marc Uyttendaele, lawyer for the families and the Belgian state. “It shocks the Rwandan victims that the Belgian state had the boldness to stand as a civil party and even more that the lawyers Marc Uyttendaele and Laurent Kennes are absent,” he decried.
ICTR Rules They Cannot Try President Kagame.
Hirondelle News Agency
April 20, 2007 (FH) – The Trial Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) ruled that they had no jurisdiction to open a judicial prosecution of Rwandan President Paul Kagame and other former officials from the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), suspected of having committed crimes in 1994, it was learned from a judicial source Friday.
The chamber, presided by the Norwegian Judge Erik Mose, who is also directing the Tribunal, rejected a request submitted last December by the former paracommando battalion commander’s lawyer, Major Aloys Ntabakuze, after the publication of the investigation of the French antiterrorism Judge Jean-Louis Bruguiere on the bombing on April 6, 1994 against President Juvenal Habyarimana’s plane.
“The Chamber finds that it has no jurisdiction to direct the Prosecutor’s course of action in conduction investigations or prosecutions and denies the Defence request for a writ of mandamus,” according to the text of the decision.
Designating Kagame as the primary person responsible for the assassination of his predecessor, Judge Bruguiere ordered the opening of a judicial investigation against the Rwandan number one and issued arrest warrants against nine other Rwandan figures.
The Chamber noted that the writ of mandamus on prosecutions, provided for in certain national judicial systems, was not part of the ICTR texts.
In his request, Mr. Peter Erlinder, Ntabakuze’s American lawyer, blamed the ICTR prosecutor for only prosecuting members of the former regime removed from power by the RPF in July 1994.
According the prosecutor’s spokesperson, the decision on whether or not to prosecute crimes which had been committed in 1994 by the RPF will be made in the middle of the year.
The Gambian Chief Prosecutor of the ICTR, Hassan Bubacar Jallow, said his office had jurisdiction to prosecute crimes allegedly committed by the RPF but stated that the assassination of President Habyarimana was not part of its mandate.
Since the opening of the trials in 1997, the ICTR, sitting in Arusha, Tanzania, has pronounced 28 guilty verdicts and 5 acquittals.
The Security Council has asked it to finish all trials in Trial Chamber by the end of next year.
April 20, 2007 (FH) – The Trial Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) ruled that they had no jurisdiction to open a judicial prosecution of Rwandan President Paul Kagame and other former officials from the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), suspected of having committed crimes in 1994, it was learned from a judicial source Friday.
The chamber, presided by the Norwegian Judge Erik Mose, who is also directing the Tribunal, rejected a request submitted last December by the former paracommando battalion commander’s lawyer, Major Aloys Ntabakuze, after the publication of the investigation of the French antiterrorism Judge Jean-Louis Bruguiere on the bombing on April 6, 1994 against President Juvenal Habyarimana’s plane.
“The Chamber finds that it has no jurisdiction to direct the Prosecutor’s course of action in conduction investigations or prosecutions and denies the Defence request for a writ of mandamus,” according to the text of the decision.
Designating Kagame as the primary person responsible for the assassination of his predecessor, Judge Bruguiere ordered the opening of a judicial investigation against the Rwandan number one and issued arrest warrants against nine other Rwandan figures.
The Chamber noted that the writ of mandamus on prosecutions, provided for in certain national judicial systems, was not part of the ICTR texts.
In his request, Mr. Peter Erlinder, Ntabakuze’s American lawyer, blamed the ICTR prosecutor for only prosecuting members of the former regime removed from power by the RPF in July 1994.
According the prosecutor’s spokesperson, the decision on whether or not to prosecute crimes which had been committed in 1994 by the RPF will be made in the middle of the year.
The Gambian Chief Prosecutor of the ICTR, Hassan Bubacar Jallow, said his office had jurisdiction to prosecute crimes allegedly committed by the RPF but stated that the assassination of President Habyarimana was not part of its mandate.
Since the opening of the trials in 1997, the ICTR, sitting in Arusha, Tanzania, has pronounced 28 guilty verdicts and 5 acquittals.
The Security Council has asked it to finish all trials in Trial Chamber by the end of next year.
Belgian Courts Pospone RDF General's Trial in Brussels.
Hirondelle News Agency
2 May 2007
Belgian courts postponed until May 24 the consideration of the complaint of two Rwandan generals to subpoena the French instruction judge Jean-Louis Brugiere and the Belgian state.
The status of the file not permitting a decision at this point, the first Chamber of the civil tribunal of Brussels had a hearing for postponement.
Generals Charles Kayonga, chief of the General Staff of ground-forces and Jackson Nkurunziza, in charge of civic education in the Rwandan army, are part of nine figures close to Rwandan President Paul Kagame named by international arrest warrants delivered following an order from the judge of instruction, made public on November 27, 2006.
This order concluded that the RPF and Paul Kagame were responsible for the bombing of President Juvenal Habyarimana’s plane on April 6, 1994 the day before the genocide started, which caused between 800,000 and 1 million deaths. Charles Kayonga and Jackson Nkurunziza participated in this bombing, according to the French judge.
The two generals asked Belgium to not enforce these arrest warrants which would constitute a hindrance to their freedom of movement in the course of their responsibilities. They also allege defamation by the order “which considers facts as already established” even though the judge of instruction should have not stepped beyond the stage of “presumptions,” their lawyer Serge Moureaux told the Hirondelle Agency a few days ago.
The judge of instruction’s lawyer as well as those of the Ministers of the Interior and Justice who represent the Belgian state, did not wish to respond to our questions.
Rwanda also filed a case Wednesday at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the United Nations in a request against France after these arrest warrants were issued. Kigali asked the Court to take immediate measures and to suspend – during the time which the matter could be heard on the merits – the arrest warrants so that the named persons could travel. Because France must accept the Court’s jurisdiction, it has, for this reason, little chance of occurring.
2 May 2007
Belgian courts postponed until May 24 the consideration of the complaint of two Rwandan generals to subpoena the French instruction judge Jean-Louis Brugiere and the Belgian state.
The status of the file not permitting a decision at this point, the first Chamber of the civil tribunal of Brussels had a hearing for postponement.
Generals Charles Kayonga, chief of the General Staff of ground-forces and Jackson Nkurunziza, in charge of civic education in the Rwandan army, are part of nine figures close to Rwandan President Paul Kagame named by international arrest warrants delivered following an order from the judge of instruction, made public on November 27, 2006.
This order concluded that the RPF and Paul Kagame were responsible for the bombing of President Juvenal Habyarimana’s plane on April 6, 1994 the day before the genocide started, which caused between 800,000 and 1 million deaths. Charles Kayonga and Jackson Nkurunziza participated in this bombing, according to the French judge.
The two generals asked Belgium to not enforce these arrest warrants which would constitute a hindrance to their freedom of movement in the course of their responsibilities. They also allege defamation by the order “which considers facts as already established” even though the judge of instruction should have not stepped beyond the stage of “presumptions,” their lawyer Serge Moureaux told the Hirondelle Agency a few days ago.
The judge of instruction’s lawyer as well as those of the Ministers of the Interior and Justice who represent the Belgian state, did not wish to respond to our questions.
Rwanda also filed a case Wednesday at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the United Nations in a request against France after these arrest warrants were issued. Kigali asked the Court to take immediate measures and to suspend – during the time which the matter could be heard on the merits – the arrest warrants so that the named persons could travel. Because France must accept the Court’s jurisdiction, it has, for this reason, little chance of occurring.
100s Flee Gacaca Courts For Congo.
Hirondelle News Agency
2 May 2007
Hundreds of people from the Rwandan district of Rutsiro, in the Western Province, have crossed the Rwando-Congolese border in the past few days, fleeing the semi-traditional gacaca courts, it was learned from a local administrative source.
“The people who are in the process of clandestinely fleeing to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are for the most part people accussed of genocide and who by ricochet, are fleeing the gacaca jurisdictions,” a local administrative authority reached by telephone from Kigali said.
According to local administrative authorities, the fugitives are pretending to seek work in the neighboring DRC while in reality, they are fleeing gacaca justice.
There are, among them, women and children and certain of them are apprehended before the border crossing.
The period of commemoration of the genocide generally registers movements of people towards border countries, a phenomenon that essentially was limited to border regions.
The gacaca courts, inspired by Rwandan tradition, were set up to try the majority of those accused of having been responsible for the 1994 genocide which caused, according to Kigali, nearly a million deaths, essentially all members of the Tutsi community.
In June 2005, nearly 10,000 Rwandans crossed the Burundian border for the same reasons. The majority of them were forcefully repatriated.
According to figures from the National Service of Gacacas Courts, a little more than 800,000 persons are suspected of having participated in the genocide.
2 May 2007
Hundreds of people from the Rwandan district of Rutsiro, in the Western Province, have crossed the Rwando-Congolese border in the past few days, fleeing the semi-traditional gacaca courts, it was learned from a local administrative source.
“The people who are in the process of clandestinely fleeing to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are for the most part people accussed of genocide and who by ricochet, are fleeing the gacaca jurisdictions,” a local administrative authority reached by telephone from Kigali said.
According to local administrative authorities, the fugitives are pretending to seek work in the neighboring DRC while in reality, they are fleeing gacaca justice.
There are, among them, women and children and certain of them are apprehended before the border crossing.
The period of commemoration of the genocide generally registers movements of people towards border countries, a phenomenon that essentially was limited to border regions.
The gacaca courts, inspired by Rwandan tradition, were set up to try the majority of those accused of having been responsible for the 1994 genocide which caused, according to Kigali, nearly a million deaths, essentially all members of the Tutsi community.
In June 2005, nearly 10,000 Rwandans crossed the Burundian border for the same reasons. The majority of them were forcefully repatriated.
According to figures from the National Service of Gacacas Courts, a little more than 800,000 persons are suspected of having participated in the genocide.
Rwanda Went From One Totaltarian State to Another.
Hirondelle News Agency
2 May 2007
Rwanda, which had previously been led by a totalitarian regime that based its power upon the peasants, is currently commanded by an oligarchy settled in the Capital, André Guichaoua, a witness-expert before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), explains in a very documented article.
In an article to be published in the German magazine “Eins - Entwicklungspolitik”, the French sociologist, a professor at the University of La Sorbonne, describes the contrast between “the speed of the reconstruction and the degree of investments which deeply changed landscapes” and “a socio-political system that is particularly authoritarian”.
According to him, the regime of President Habyarimana and, before that, the “social revolution” of 1959 were based on “an ideology of ruralism and of a parsimonious administration of local resources”.
The fall of the coffee price and the intervention of the IMF, which wanted the State to withdraw, challenged this “rural populism”. The war triggered by the RPF in 1990 and the fragmentation of the party system in 1991 were fatal for the regime. “The ethnic mobilization imposed itself on situations of economic, social and political tensions”, the research-professor explains.
“Before the 6th April the Rwandan state was not in the hands of a fascistic power: none of its institutions had been won over for the genocidal project”, Guichaoua underlines. But, according to him, after the attack on the presidential plane, “Hutu extremists” took over the power and “during three months mobilized the state’s resources in order to annihilate the inner ¢ethnical enemy¢”.
With the RPF controlling Kigali, “any return to democracy, which was considered responsible for the political divisions that led to the war, was excluded”, Guichaoua says. The transition, characterized by many flights and assassinations of leaders, came to an end with the Constitution of 2003 and the election of Paul Kagame with 95 % of the votes.
Further, instituting of the gacacas which are primed to try 10% of the population has had the effect of creating “an atmosphere of fear, truly of pure terror,” Guichaoua writes.
“From now on, at the expense of social relations a largely mythical discourse is being superimposed exploiting the themes of authenticity and revalorization of national values, without any protection of written law or customs, technocratic decisions and/or fail-safe,s which are disrupting the last ties to the rural world,” he writes.
For the first time in Rwandan History, the elites who settled in Kigali after the war and the genocide 3consider themselves capable of emancipating themselves from this dependence on the peasantry”, the French Sociologist writes. On the 270,000 inhabitants of the capital counted by money lenders, 200,000 came from outside, more than 40 % of them being former citizens who returned from exile.
Since they are “the main, if not the only” beneficiaries of national investments and foreign contributions, while the peasants, kept in “a countrywide poverty”, provide the main part of the State’s income, “there is neither a direct link between rural and urban living levels nor a limit to these levels anymore. All evidence shows that this consolidated totalitarian order is going to last”, Guichaoua writes.
2 May 2007
Rwanda, which had previously been led by a totalitarian regime that based its power upon the peasants, is currently commanded by an oligarchy settled in the Capital, André Guichaoua, a witness-expert before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), explains in a very documented article.
In an article to be published in the German magazine “Eins - Entwicklungspolitik”, the French sociologist, a professor at the University of La Sorbonne, describes the contrast between “the speed of the reconstruction and the degree of investments which deeply changed landscapes” and “a socio-political system that is particularly authoritarian”.
According to him, the regime of President Habyarimana and, before that, the “social revolution” of 1959 were based on “an ideology of ruralism and of a parsimonious administration of local resources”.
The fall of the coffee price and the intervention of the IMF, which wanted the State to withdraw, challenged this “rural populism”. The war triggered by the RPF in 1990 and the fragmentation of the party system in 1991 were fatal for the regime. “The ethnic mobilization imposed itself on situations of economic, social and political tensions”, the research-professor explains.
“Before the 6th April the Rwandan state was not in the hands of a fascistic power: none of its institutions had been won over for the genocidal project”, Guichaoua underlines. But, according to him, after the attack on the presidential plane, “Hutu extremists” took over the power and “during three months mobilized the state’s resources in order to annihilate the inner ¢ethnical enemy¢”.
With the RPF controlling Kigali, “any return to democracy, which was considered responsible for the political divisions that led to the war, was excluded”, Guichaoua says. The transition, characterized by many flights and assassinations of leaders, came to an end with the Constitution of 2003 and the election of Paul Kagame with 95 % of the votes.
Further, instituting of the gacacas which are primed to try 10% of the population has had the effect of creating “an atmosphere of fear, truly of pure terror,” Guichaoua writes.
“From now on, at the expense of social relations a largely mythical discourse is being superimposed exploiting the themes of authenticity and revalorization of national values, without any protection of written law or customs, technocratic decisions and/or fail-safe,s which are disrupting the last ties to the rural world,” he writes.
For the first time in Rwandan History, the elites who settled in Kigali after the war and the genocide 3consider themselves capable of emancipating themselves from this dependence on the peasantry”, the French Sociologist writes. On the 270,000 inhabitants of the capital counted by money lenders, 200,000 came from outside, more than 40 % of them being former citizens who returned from exile.
Since they are “the main, if not the only” beneficiaries of national investments and foreign contributions, while the peasants, kept in “a countrywide poverty”, provide the main part of the State’s income, “there is neither a direct link between rural and urban living levels nor a limit to these levels anymore. All evidence shows that this consolidated totalitarian order is going to last”, Guichaoua writes.
P. Bizimungu's Release a Political Move by President Kagame.
Hirondelle News Agency.
2 May 2007
The pardon given on April 6 by Rwandan President Paul Kagame to his predecessor Pasteur Bizimungu, sentenced to 15 years in prison for, among other crimes, inciting civil disobedience, was the result of a political calculus, several specialists interviewed by the Hirondelle Agency assessed.
For the French sociologist Andre Guichaoua, “Pasteur Bizimungu’s freedom is a purely political decision just as his sentence in 2004 was. The interest is in what it reveals on the political mores of the current regime in Kigali.” The French academic, author of numerous publications on Rwanda and an expert witness close to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), assessed that even if the former President thus had the luck to have his life spared, he is “now permanently condemned to silence.”
Guichaoua who was, for many years, a professor at the National University of Rwanda (UNR), meanwhile, sketched a less than flattering portrait of Bizimungu. He recalled that the former President is a “former member of the committees of public safety which set about the hunt for Tutsis in 1973, then a disgruntled official of the regime of (Juvenal) Habyarimana.” “Pasteur Bizimungu was chosen to occupy the post of the President of the Republic in July 1994 because this specifically permitted the real leader of the RPF (Rwandan Patriotic Front), Paul Kagame, to neutralize the primary figure in waiting, Seth Sendashonga, the grand intellectual and militant Hutu of the RFP.
Guichaoua accuses Bizimungu of having participated in “the progressive elimination of Hutu figures won over” by the RPF including Sendashonga, assassinated in Nairobi in 1998. “Without stature, nor well established within the RPF which he rejoined in 1990, Pasteur Bizimungu took on without discussion the tasks which were awaiting him that went along with the RPF stronghold on the country,” the sociologist added.
For the American historian and human rights activist Alison Des Forges, Bizimungu’s release was meant to please Western donors. “Having a former president sentenced and still in prison after a trial which was not fair looked bad. His release is a gesture to the international community,” she told AFP the day of the former president’s release. “There is a strong consensus in Rwanda that investors are needed (…) there were strong external pressures,” including possibly the United States, Mrs. Des Forges, also an expert witness for the ICTR, said.
The Belgian political scientist, Filip Reyntjens, was of the same opinion. “There has been for a long time a rather discrete pressure in this sense on the part of certain partners, specifically the United States, and it is perhaps nothing but that,” the Belgian professor stated. Reyntjens was meanwhile surprised that the former Minister of Transportation under Bizimungu, Charles Ntakirutinka “did not benefit from the same measure.”
President of Rwanda from 1994 until 2000, Bizimungu was placed in prison in 2002 after having attempted to start an opposition political party immediately accused by the regime of preaching ethnic hatred. Placed on trial, he was sentenced in June 2004 for criminal enterprise, embezzlement of public funds, and inciting civil disobedience. After his sentence, he refused to ask for a pardon from the head of state who nevertheless did so. Speaking on Radio Rwanda the day of his release on Friday, April 6, Pasteur Bizimungu said that he was tired and expressed his gratitude to President Kagame.
2 May 2007
The pardon given on April 6 by Rwandan President Paul Kagame to his predecessor Pasteur Bizimungu, sentenced to 15 years in prison for, among other crimes, inciting civil disobedience, was the result of a political calculus, several specialists interviewed by the Hirondelle Agency assessed.
For the French sociologist Andre Guichaoua, “Pasteur Bizimungu’s freedom is a purely political decision just as his sentence in 2004 was. The interest is in what it reveals on the political mores of the current regime in Kigali.” The French academic, author of numerous publications on Rwanda and an expert witness close to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), assessed that even if the former President thus had the luck to have his life spared, he is “now permanently condemned to silence.”
Guichaoua who was, for many years, a professor at the National University of Rwanda (UNR), meanwhile, sketched a less than flattering portrait of Bizimungu. He recalled that the former President is a “former member of the committees of public safety which set about the hunt for Tutsis in 1973, then a disgruntled official of the regime of (Juvenal) Habyarimana.” “Pasteur Bizimungu was chosen to occupy the post of the President of the Republic in July 1994 because this specifically permitted the real leader of the RPF (Rwandan Patriotic Front), Paul Kagame, to neutralize the primary figure in waiting, Seth Sendashonga, the grand intellectual and militant Hutu of the RFP.
Guichaoua accuses Bizimungu of having participated in “the progressive elimination of Hutu figures won over” by the RPF including Sendashonga, assassinated in Nairobi in 1998. “Without stature, nor well established within the RPF which he rejoined in 1990, Pasteur Bizimungu took on without discussion the tasks which were awaiting him that went along with the RPF stronghold on the country,” the sociologist added.
For the American historian and human rights activist Alison Des Forges, Bizimungu’s release was meant to please Western donors. “Having a former president sentenced and still in prison after a trial which was not fair looked bad. His release is a gesture to the international community,” she told AFP the day of the former president’s release. “There is a strong consensus in Rwanda that investors are needed (…) there were strong external pressures,” including possibly the United States, Mrs. Des Forges, also an expert witness for the ICTR, said.
The Belgian political scientist, Filip Reyntjens, was of the same opinion. “There has been for a long time a rather discrete pressure in this sense on the part of certain partners, specifically the United States, and it is perhaps nothing but that,” the Belgian professor stated. Reyntjens was meanwhile surprised that the former Minister of Transportation under Bizimungu, Charles Ntakirutinka “did not benefit from the same measure.”
President of Rwanda from 1994 until 2000, Bizimungu was placed in prison in 2002 after having attempted to start an opposition political party immediately accused by the regime of preaching ethnic hatred. Placed on trial, he was sentenced in June 2004 for criminal enterprise, embezzlement of public funds, and inciting civil disobedience. After his sentence, he refused to ask for a pardon from the head of state who nevertheless did so. Speaking on Radio Rwanda the day of his release on Friday, April 6, Pasteur Bizimungu said that he was tired and expressed his gratitude to President Kagame.
Ethiopia to Tender Blocks in Ogaden Basin.
The Reporter
2 May 2007
Editor's Note: This move is designed purposly to inflame the Ogaden rebel groups into increasing their attacks/abductions in order to give PM Zenawi an excuse to send in the troops to wipe them out once and for all.
The Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME) is to tender two oil exploration blocks in the Ogaden basin, in eastern Ethiopia.
The ministry will put up an international tender that will be inviting petroleum companies interested in engaging in oil exploration activity in the concession areas called Block 7 and 8. The blocks are found in the Ogaden basin in the Somali Regional State. There are about twenty blocks in the Ogaden basin and 16 of them were given to different companies.
Alemayehu Tegenu, Minister of MME, told that three companies had asked the ministry to be given block seven and eight. Alemayehu said since different companies had shown interest to acquire the blocks the ministry opted to float a tender. Alemayehu added that the ministry was preparing tender document to be soon put on an international tender.
Petronas, Pexco, Lundin and South West have concession areas in the Ogaden basin. The basin covers 350,000 sq km. of land. The Malaysian oil and gas company, Petronas, acquiredfour blocks in Genale, Kelafo, Warder and Ferfer localities covering 93,000 sq km of land. The agreement was signed in August 2005. Currently Petronas is undertaking a seismic survey in Genale locality.
Petronas has won the Calub and Hilala gasfield tender put up by the MME last April. The gasfields are located some 1,200 km east of Addis Ababa. Officials of Petronas and the Ministry have been negotiating on the gasfield development project. The two parties are expected to sign petroleum development and production sharing agreements in March. The agreements would enable Petronas to extract the natural gas reserves in Calub and Hilala localities found in the Ogaden basin.
Petronas has also asked to be given Block 11 and 15 near the Calub and Hilala gasfields. Officials of Petronas and MME have been negotiating on the two blocks.
"We have concluded talks on the acquisition of Block 11 and 15. We could give the blocks to Petronas together with Calub and Hilala," Alemayehu said.
Petronas has proposed to construct a gas processing plant and gas pipeline that stretches from the gasfields to the port of Djibouti. The company also proposed to drill additional wells in Calub and Hilala. So far ten wells in Calub and four in Hilala were drilled.
The gas reserve is estimated at 113.3 bn cm. Petronas will conduct a seismic survey in block 11 and 15 and will drill exploration well. The company has proposed to invest up to $ 1.9 bn for the gas development project. Petronas would pay $ 75 mm pre-development cost that the Ethiopian government spent on the Calub and Hilala gasfield.
2 May 2007
Editor's Note: This move is designed purposly to inflame the Ogaden rebel groups into increasing their attacks/abductions in order to give PM Zenawi an excuse to send in the troops to wipe them out once and for all.
The Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME) is to tender two oil exploration blocks in the Ogaden basin, in eastern Ethiopia.
The ministry will put up an international tender that will be inviting petroleum companies interested in engaging in oil exploration activity in the concession areas called Block 7 and 8. The blocks are found in the Ogaden basin in the Somali Regional State. There are about twenty blocks in the Ogaden basin and 16 of them were given to different companies.
Alemayehu Tegenu, Minister of MME, told that three companies had asked the ministry to be given block seven and eight. Alemayehu said since different companies had shown interest to acquire the blocks the ministry opted to float a tender. Alemayehu added that the ministry was preparing tender document to be soon put on an international tender.
Petronas, Pexco, Lundin and South West have concession areas in the Ogaden basin. The basin covers 350,000 sq km. of land. The Malaysian oil and gas company, Petronas, acquiredfour blocks in Genale, Kelafo, Warder and Ferfer localities covering 93,000 sq km of land. The agreement was signed in August 2005. Currently Petronas is undertaking a seismic survey in Genale locality.
Petronas has won the Calub and Hilala gasfield tender put up by the MME last April. The gasfields are located some 1,200 km east of Addis Ababa. Officials of Petronas and the Ministry have been negotiating on the gasfield development project. The two parties are expected to sign petroleum development and production sharing agreements in March. The agreements would enable Petronas to extract the natural gas reserves in Calub and Hilala localities found in the Ogaden basin.
Petronas has also asked to be given Block 11 and 15 near the Calub and Hilala gasfields. Officials of Petronas and MME have been negotiating on the two blocks.
"We have concluded talks on the acquisition of Block 11 and 15. We could give the blocks to Petronas together with Calub and Hilala," Alemayehu said.
Petronas has proposed to construct a gas processing plant and gas pipeline that stretches from the gasfields to the port of Djibouti. The company also proposed to drill additional wells in Calub and Hilala. So far ten wells in Calub and four in Hilala were drilled.
The gas reserve is estimated at 113.3 bn cm. Petronas will conduct a seismic survey in block 11 and 15 and will drill exploration well. The company has proposed to invest up to $ 1.9 bn for the gas development project. Petronas would pay $ 75 mm pre-development cost that the Ethiopian government spent on the Calub and Hilala gasfield.
Militants Frustrate West-African Gas Pipeline Project.
Vanguard
2 May 2007
The West African Gas Pipeline Project, designed to supply gas from Nigeria to Benin, Togo and Ghana and ultimately Ivory Coast, missed its December take-off date on account of the activities of militants in the Niger Delta who have repeatedly vandalised the Escravos pipeline.
Dr Edmund Daukoru, Nigeria's Minister of Energy, told at a joint meeting of the Committee of Ministers and personnel of the West African Pipeline Company (WAPCO) in Cotonou, Benin Republic that the project was supposed to have been completed 18 months from the date of the Final Investment Decision (FID) and that this should have been in December last year.
"But we are in February and it is not yet completed because of a whole variety of reasons. So this meeting is being held to review jointly with WAPCO which is a bulk supplier to the three countries, everything is coming out of Nigeria. WAPCO is the bulk supplier jointly between Chevron and Shell. We want to review the status of the project and be sure that we make up for lost time and be sure that further delay is mitigated as much as possible," he said.
He admitted that the project had largely been affected by the scenario in the Niger Delta, and urged the media to get the militants to appreciate the impact of their activities.
"I really don't want to go into the nitty gritty of the causes of the delay. But it is a whole collection of things, including also the vandalization of the Lagos-Escravos gas pipeline. At the end of the day, all of us in one form or the other are losers. I think if you can carry this message of persuasion, you will be doing the nation a very big service.”
"There is a clause called take or pay -- if buyer is ready before seller, seller is obligated to the buyer and if seller is ready before the buyer, the buyer is obligated somehow to the seller -- it is a take or pay clause to make sure the parties pursue the project in absolute good faith. We really have work to do and from what I am hearing, some of the issues are really serious and we look forward to jointly tackle them. I am hopeful that we will make progress," he said.
Dr Daukoru hinted that despite the setback, Nigeria would be able to meet its contractual obligation to supply gas to its neighbour customers, adding that aspects of the project would be ready before the end of the second quarter of the year.
"We have a shortcut option. We can supply gas without compression. It is called free gas. We can get gas from the three arms of supply -- one coming from Utorogu, the other arm coming from the Chevron-Escravos system. If both arms can be ready by then, it would be a little bit possible to achieve free flow. That will help to mitigate delays -- that is what we will be looking at," he said.
On commitments made by gas buyers, the minister said there were a number of private sector users ready for the product, adding that institutional customers in Ghana have committed to take 122 mm cf of gas per day, 22 mm cf of gas per day each in Benin and Togo.
On the planned visit of President Olusegun Obasanjo to signal the supply of 100 MW to the West African Power Pool (WAPP), the minister said arrangements between countries take a long gestation period.
"The fact that this is happening now when Nigeria is a little bit low on capacity is simply coincidental. As a responsible member of the international community, you cannot enter into an arrangement long before now and when the date comes you renege because of a temporary hitch," he said.
2 May 2007
The West African Gas Pipeline Project, designed to supply gas from Nigeria to Benin, Togo and Ghana and ultimately Ivory Coast, missed its December take-off date on account of the activities of militants in the Niger Delta who have repeatedly vandalised the Escravos pipeline.
Dr Edmund Daukoru, Nigeria's Minister of Energy, told at a joint meeting of the Committee of Ministers and personnel of the West African Pipeline Company (WAPCO) in Cotonou, Benin Republic that the project was supposed to have been completed 18 months from the date of the Final Investment Decision (FID) and that this should have been in December last year.
"But we are in February and it is not yet completed because of a whole variety of reasons. So this meeting is being held to review jointly with WAPCO which is a bulk supplier to the three countries, everything is coming out of Nigeria. WAPCO is the bulk supplier jointly between Chevron and Shell. We want to review the status of the project and be sure that we make up for lost time and be sure that further delay is mitigated as much as possible," he said.
He admitted that the project had largely been affected by the scenario in the Niger Delta, and urged the media to get the militants to appreciate the impact of their activities.
"I really don't want to go into the nitty gritty of the causes of the delay. But it is a whole collection of things, including also the vandalization of the Lagos-Escravos gas pipeline. At the end of the day, all of us in one form or the other are losers. I think if you can carry this message of persuasion, you will be doing the nation a very big service.”
"There is a clause called take or pay -- if buyer is ready before seller, seller is obligated to the buyer and if seller is ready before the buyer, the buyer is obligated somehow to the seller -- it is a take or pay clause to make sure the parties pursue the project in absolute good faith. We really have work to do and from what I am hearing, some of the issues are really serious and we look forward to jointly tackle them. I am hopeful that we will make progress," he said.
Dr Daukoru hinted that despite the setback, Nigeria would be able to meet its contractual obligation to supply gas to its neighbour customers, adding that aspects of the project would be ready before the end of the second quarter of the year.
"We have a shortcut option. We can supply gas without compression. It is called free gas. We can get gas from the three arms of supply -- one coming from Utorogu, the other arm coming from the Chevron-Escravos system. If both arms can be ready by then, it would be a little bit possible to achieve free flow. That will help to mitigate delays -- that is what we will be looking at," he said.
On commitments made by gas buyers, the minister said there were a number of private sector users ready for the product, adding that institutional customers in Ghana have committed to take 122 mm cf of gas per day, 22 mm cf of gas per day each in Benin and Togo.
On the planned visit of President Olusegun Obasanjo to signal the supply of 100 MW to the West African Power Pool (WAPP), the minister said arrangements between countries take a long gestation period.
"The fact that this is happening now when Nigeria is a little bit low on capacity is simply coincidental. As a responsible member of the international community, you cannot enter into an arrangement long before now and when the date comes you renege because of a temporary hitch," he said.
Somaliland Leader Rules Out Reunion With Somalia.
Reuters.
Guled Mohamed.
2 May 2007
The leader of the self-declared breakaway enclave of Somaliland ruled out reuniting with battle-scarred Somalia and said the interim government's claim of victory over insurgents in Mogadishu was premature.
President Dahir Rayale Kahin also expressed hopes of greater international recognition for Somaliland after Sweden said in February it would treat the enclave as a self-governing area with regard to development aid.
Kahin's comments to reporters late on Tuesday came days after the Somali government declared victory in Mogadishu after a war against Islamist gunmen, foreign jihadists and a group of disgruntled clansmen.
Mogadishu's worst fighting in 16 years has killed at least 1 300 people in recent weeks and sparked a massive exodus from the city, with some fleeing to Somaliland's capital, Hargeisa.
"It is too quick to say the TFG [transitional federal government] has captured Mogadishu or they are governing Mogadishu," Kahin said.
"Time will tell. They will not get far if they try to ... rule the people by force," he added.
Kahin also warned Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf against any belligerent moves towards the Gulf of Aden enclave.
"Abdullahi Yusuf cannot come here. It is a day dream that Abdullahi Yusuf is coming and that he will govern Hargeisa."
A former British protectorate, Somaliland declared independence from Somalia in 1991 when clan warlords toppled dictator Mohamed Siad Barre, carving the Horn of Africa country into personal fiefdoms.
Somaliland officials say the territory has maintained relative peace and stability while Mogadishu has descended into violence and chaos.
"We cannot be one government anymore. We made our decision in 1991 not to be part of that failed union," Kahin said in his heavily fortified presidential compound.
No foreign governments have recognised Somaliland and there has long been reluctance in Africa to support independence bids for fear of opening the floodgates to a host of secessionist claims.
But Kahin said hopes were boosted by Swedish moves.
"The Swedish have taken one step forward. They said we will treat Somaliland as a separate government entity," he said.
Katarina Zinn, a counsellor at the Swedish Embassy in Nairobi, said Stockholm's guidelines on aid to Somalia recognised Somaliland as a self-governing area for development issues.
"What we have said is that we will work in Somaliland with development, but we have not recognised Somaliland as an independent state," Zinn told Reuters.
Kahin said Somaliland had secured a deal with Germany to build a cement factory in the coastal city of Berbera, 130km north-east of Hargeisa.
He said he hoped the creation of more jobs would boost the economy. Opposition figures have accused him of not doing enough to improve the livelihoods of people living in Somaliland.
Editor's Note: This should come as no surprise. With Somalia in shambles and reports of Al-Qaida abound, the oil companies interested in Somaliland may have a hard time developing their assets. If Somaliland is autonomous, they are able to attract more investors and could decide to give up the concessions without the approval of the cental government.
Guled Mohamed.
2 May 2007
The leader of the self-declared breakaway enclave of Somaliland ruled out reuniting with battle-scarred Somalia and said the interim government's claim of victory over insurgents in Mogadishu was premature.
President Dahir Rayale Kahin also expressed hopes of greater international recognition for Somaliland after Sweden said in February it would treat the enclave as a self-governing area with regard to development aid.
Kahin's comments to reporters late on Tuesday came days after the Somali government declared victory in Mogadishu after a war against Islamist gunmen, foreign jihadists and a group of disgruntled clansmen.
Mogadishu's worst fighting in 16 years has killed at least 1 300 people in recent weeks and sparked a massive exodus from the city, with some fleeing to Somaliland's capital, Hargeisa.
"It is too quick to say the TFG [transitional federal government] has captured Mogadishu or they are governing Mogadishu," Kahin said.
"Time will tell. They will not get far if they try to ... rule the people by force," he added.
Kahin also warned Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf against any belligerent moves towards the Gulf of Aden enclave.
"Abdullahi Yusuf cannot come here. It is a day dream that Abdullahi Yusuf is coming and that he will govern Hargeisa."
A former British protectorate, Somaliland declared independence from Somalia in 1991 when clan warlords toppled dictator Mohamed Siad Barre, carving the Horn of Africa country into personal fiefdoms.
Somaliland officials say the territory has maintained relative peace and stability while Mogadishu has descended into violence and chaos.
"We cannot be one government anymore. We made our decision in 1991 not to be part of that failed union," Kahin said in his heavily fortified presidential compound.
No foreign governments have recognised Somaliland and there has long been reluctance in Africa to support independence bids for fear of opening the floodgates to a host of secessionist claims.
But Kahin said hopes were boosted by Swedish moves.
"The Swedish have taken one step forward. They said we will treat Somaliland as a separate government entity," he said.
Katarina Zinn, a counsellor at the Swedish Embassy in Nairobi, said Stockholm's guidelines on aid to Somalia recognised Somaliland as a self-governing area for development issues.
"What we have said is that we will work in Somaliland with development, but we have not recognised Somaliland as an independent state," Zinn told Reuters.
Kahin said Somaliland had secured a deal with Germany to build a cement factory in the coastal city of Berbera, 130km north-east of Hargeisa.
He said he hoped the creation of more jobs would boost the economy. Opposition figures have accused him of not doing enough to improve the livelihoods of people living in Somaliland.
Editor's Note: This should come as no surprise. With Somalia in shambles and reports of Al-Qaida abound, the oil companies interested in Somaliland may have a hard time developing their assets. If Somaliland is autonomous, they are able to attract more investors and could decide to give up the concessions without the approval of the cental government.
General Bizimungu Denies a Role in the Genocide.
Hirondelle News Agency
2 May 2007
General Augustin Bizimungu, aged 55 years, former Chief of the General Staff of the former Rwandan Armed Forces (RAF) during the genocide opened his defense Monday before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) denying any responsibility in this tragedy.
“The weight of these horrors that others have committed should not rest on Bizimungu,” his defense lawyer, Mr. Ronnie MacDonald said. “General Bizimungu asks you for justice,” his Canadian lawyer continued, introducing defense witnesses. According to him, his client who was Chief of the General Staff from April to July 1994 acted like “a soldier who did nothing but defend his country.”
Co-accused with three other officers in a trial called “Military II,” Bizimungu is charged with genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. He has pleaded not guilty. This trial started in September 2004. The prosecution has presented 71 witnesses.
Mr. MacDonald declared that Bizimungu should not logically defend himself considering the “mediocrity” and the “unbelievable nature” of the prosecution evidence but that he had decided to do it “because of the nature of the historic trial into which he has been thrust.”
The lawyer indicated that the only worry of the accused was to bring out the truth. “Until very recently, only the complacent and simplistic version of the Rwandan tragedy used by the victors“ endorsed by a part of the international community appears to have held interest, he regretted.
Mr. MacDonald specifically praised “the meticulous investigation” by the French Judge Jean-Louis Bruguiere who accuses the former Rwandan rebel group of having taken down the President’s plane, setting off the genocide.
Bizimungu’s defense has promised to call “objective” witnesses, suggesting that those of the prosecutor came from “laboratories where depositions are systematically made,” in Rwanda.
Mr. MacDonald ridiculed the prosecution’s preliminary brief at the beginning of the process in September 2004, stating that it had never served the “gastronomic menu”
promised.
“The prosecution promised you caviar, but all you were left with were dry sardines. He promised you champagne, but all you got was hot lemonade,” the lawyer joked.
Brushing aside with one stroke all the allegations, Mr. MacDonald presented his client as a “man of heart,” and a respected officer “whom all armies of the world would love to have in their ranks.”
Bizimungu was arrested in Angola in 2002, officially in a rebel camp which was waiting for their integration in the country’s army.
His lawyer declared that as the Chief of the General Staff, Bizimungu inherited a difficult situation and that he spent his time trying to contain the advance of the rebels. The latter, he said, refused numerous offers for a cease-fire, “because they were behind this cynical situation.”
Bizimnugu’s lawyer affirmed that the rebel’s strategy was to “create chaos in Rwanda, to disrupt the ethnic order and to prevent any remedy to the crisis situation.” The Rwandan general stated that “it was impossible in the Rwandan army and police units engaged in combats to turn their backs on the enemy to fulfil another mission,” like civil protection.
The first defense witness was Silas Gatambiye, a former RAF solder who escaped to Brazaville.
2 May 2007
General Augustin Bizimungu, aged 55 years, former Chief of the General Staff of the former Rwandan Armed Forces (RAF) during the genocide opened his defense Monday before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) denying any responsibility in this tragedy.
“The weight of these horrors that others have committed should not rest on Bizimungu,” his defense lawyer, Mr. Ronnie MacDonald said. “General Bizimungu asks you for justice,” his Canadian lawyer continued, introducing defense witnesses. According to him, his client who was Chief of the General Staff from April to July 1994 acted like “a soldier who did nothing but defend his country.”
Co-accused with three other officers in a trial called “Military II,” Bizimungu is charged with genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. He has pleaded not guilty. This trial started in September 2004. The prosecution has presented 71 witnesses.
Mr. MacDonald declared that Bizimungu should not logically defend himself considering the “mediocrity” and the “unbelievable nature” of the prosecution evidence but that he had decided to do it “because of the nature of the historic trial into which he has been thrust.”
The lawyer indicated that the only worry of the accused was to bring out the truth. “Until very recently, only the complacent and simplistic version of the Rwandan tragedy used by the victors“ endorsed by a part of the international community appears to have held interest, he regretted.
Mr. MacDonald specifically praised “the meticulous investigation” by the French Judge Jean-Louis Bruguiere who accuses the former Rwandan rebel group of having taken down the President’s plane, setting off the genocide.
Bizimungu’s defense has promised to call “objective” witnesses, suggesting that those of the prosecutor came from “laboratories where depositions are systematically made,” in Rwanda.
Mr. MacDonald ridiculed the prosecution’s preliminary brief at the beginning of the process in September 2004, stating that it had never served the “gastronomic menu”
promised.
“The prosecution promised you caviar, but all you were left with were dry sardines. He promised you champagne, but all you got was hot lemonade,” the lawyer joked.
Brushing aside with one stroke all the allegations, Mr. MacDonald presented his client as a “man of heart,” and a respected officer “whom all armies of the world would love to have in their ranks.”
Bizimungu was arrested in Angola in 2002, officially in a rebel camp which was waiting for their integration in the country’s army.
His lawyer declared that as the Chief of the General Staff, Bizimungu inherited a difficult situation and that he spent his time trying to contain the advance of the rebels. The latter, he said, refused numerous offers for a cease-fire, “because they were behind this cynical situation.”
Bizimnugu’s lawyer affirmed that the rebel’s strategy was to “create chaos in Rwanda, to disrupt the ethnic order and to prevent any remedy to the crisis situation.” The Rwandan general stated that “it was impossible in the Rwandan army and police units engaged in combats to turn their backs on the enemy to fulfil another mission,” like civil protection.
The first defense witness was Silas Gatambiye, a former RAF solder who escaped to Brazaville.
Acquitted by the ICTR but Unwelcome in Belgium.
Hirondelle News Agency.
Brussels, 30 April 2007 (FH) - More than three years after having been acquitted by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), Emmanuel Bagambiki, aged 59, prefect of Cyangugu during the genocide of 1994, is still a pariah for the Belgian state which refuses to admit him, even after having naturalised his wife and children.
With two other former Rwandan leaders also acquitted he is sharing a house in Arusha, rented by the Tribunal, which continues to safeguard their security and future life. Every day they go to the library of the tribunal to check for mails. Their only contacts with the outside world are made on the premises of the United Nations.
On 25 February 2004 the former prefect thought that the nightmare he had been living before, like Andre Ntagerura, former minister of transports, was over. But his hopes were soon dampened. The demonstrations in Rwanda which followed the acquittals engendered the mistrust of the ICTR: at the prosecutor’s request both men were kept under the control of the Tribunal. In unanimously confirming the acquittals on 8 February 2006, the Appeal Chamber definitively cleared the men of any suspicion.
Since then their situation has not improved at all. Bagambiki’s situation seemed to be a better one: his wife and their three children obtained the Belgian nationality and a family reunion seemed to be self-evident for everybody. Except for the Belgian state.
With the agreement of the Tribunal, which refused the prosecutor’s claim for a prolonged detention, in March Bagambiki applied for a visa to join his family in Belgium. The Tribunal simply asked the receiving country to guarantee his stay during the judgement in appeal. But the revision of his file by different ministries has been dragging on for a long time since.
According to Mr. Vincent Lurquin, Bagambiki’s lawyer, the Rwandan ministry of foreign affairs, in contact with the Belgian embassy in Kigali, has tried to convince the Belgian authorities to oppose the family reunion right from the filling of the request. In answering on numerous requests of Laurette Onkelinx, Belgian minister of justice, the general prosecutor of Kigali finally wrote that “an investigation would possibly be opened against Mr. Bagambiki”. According to the lawyer the file in question comprised nothing else than a vague note without any relevance.
When in November 2004 still nothing had happened on the part of the Immigration office, responsible for a decision on the matter, Mr. Lurquin addressed himself to the Security Council of the United Nations in order to lift the blockade and to persuade Adama Dieng, registrar of the ICTR, to organise a meeting in Belgium between the minister of the interior, the minister of foreign affairs and the minister of justice.
Just the announcement of this meeting seems to have accelerated the Belgian administration’s proceedings: they rejected his demand on the ground of a possible breach of the public order, without any other justification. The meeting did not take place.
A motion of appeal was entered before the Supreme Administrative Court of Belgium, which is empowered to adjudicate on appeals of decisions rendered by the Immigration Office, in order to obtain a arrest of judgement. The plaintiff had to prove a serious and irreparable prejudice. The Court declared the rejection unlawful and held that there was no risk of breach of the public order.
The Belgian administration nevertheless decided not to follow this decision, referring to the appeal of the acquittal filed before the ICTR. If it should be confirmed, the administration will change its position, it assured. In the meantime Kigali has issued an international warrant of arrest against Bagambiki based on facts that had not been taken into account in their judgement by the ICTR. The latter however decided not to react and signed an agreement with Tanzania to prevent his arrest and extradition.
Today, an action concerning the annulment of the decision of the Immigration Office is still pending with the Supreme Administrative Court. According to Mr. Lurquin, this second appeal should normally be completed with new elements that had not been looked into by the Belgian administration.
Nevertheless the acquittal has been confirmed before and Mr. Lurquin does not understand why the Court spends so much time today to deal with the dossier. A second visit of Adama Dieng was supposed to take place in Belgium but the minister of justice refused to receive him. “I suspect a lack of courage of the Belgian authorities to oppose Kigali’s will to prosecute Bagambiki”, the lawyer claims and adds that Belgium does not recognize the work already carried out by the international justice.
According to Mr. Lurquin, the demonstrations which took place in Bugesera and Cyangugu after the announcement of the acquittal and the visit of President Kagame in Belgium seem to have determined Belgium’s refusal. “I am afraid that, in the end, the states choose to accept persons judged by the ICTR ‘a la carte’, whether they are convicted or not”, he confides.
The situation of Emmanuel Bagambiki has, in any way, to be sorted out in 2008 when the ICTR is closing its gates. The lawyer reminds that Belgium, which is currently holding a seat in the Security Council, has played a pioneer role with its law on universal jurisdiction, and affirms that Emmanuel Bagambiki, aged 59, has no longer any intention to start a political debate whatsoever. But he assures that he will go on right to the end of the proceedings.
Brussels, 30 April 2007 (FH) - More than three years after having been acquitted by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), Emmanuel Bagambiki, aged 59, prefect of Cyangugu during the genocide of 1994, is still a pariah for the Belgian state which refuses to admit him, even after having naturalised his wife and children.
With two other former Rwandan leaders also acquitted he is sharing a house in Arusha, rented by the Tribunal, which continues to safeguard their security and future life. Every day they go to the library of the tribunal to check for mails. Their only contacts with the outside world are made on the premises of the United Nations.
On 25 February 2004 the former prefect thought that the nightmare he had been living before, like Andre Ntagerura, former minister of transports, was over. But his hopes were soon dampened. The demonstrations in Rwanda which followed the acquittals engendered the mistrust of the ICTR: at the prosecutor’s request both men were kept under the control of the Tribunal. In unanimously confirming the acquittals on 8 February 2006, the Appeal Chamber definitively cleared the men of any suspicion.
Since then their situation has not improved at all. Bagambiki’s situation seemed to be a better one: his wife and their three children obtained the Belgian nationality and a family reunion seemed to be self-evident for everybody. Except for the Belgian state.
With the agreement of the Tribunal, which refused the prosecutor’s claim for a prolonged detention, in March Bagambiki applied for a visa to join his family in Belgium. The Tribunal simply asked the receiving country to guarantee his stay during the judgement in appeal. But the revision of his file by different ministries has been dragging on for a long time since.
According to Mr. Vincent Lurquin, Bagambiki’s lawyer, the Rwandan ministry of foreign affairs, in contact with the Belgian embassy in Kigali, has tried to convince the Belgian authorities to oppose the family reunion right from the filling of the request. In answering on numerous requests of Laurette Onkelinx, Belgian minister of justice, the general prosecutor of Kigali finally wrote that “an investigation would possibly be opened against Mr. Bagambiki”. According to the lawyer the file in question comprised nothing else than a vague note without any relevance.
When in November 2004 still nothing had happened on the part of the Immigration office, responsible for a decision on the matter, Mr. Lurquin addressed himself to the Security Council of the United Nations in order to lift the blockade and to persuade Adama Dieng, registrar of the ICTR, to organise a meeting in Belgium between the minister of the interior, the minister of foreign affairs and the minister of justice.
Just the announcement of this meeting seems to have accelerated the Belgian administration’s proceedings: they rejected his demand on the ground of a possible breach of the public order, without any other justification. The meeting did not take place.
A motion of appeal was entered before the Supreme Administrative Court of Belgium, which is empowered to adjudicate on appeals of decisions rendered by the Immigration Office, in order to obtain a arrest of judgement. The plaintiff had to prove a serious and irreparable prejudice. The Court declared the rejection unlawful and held that there was no risk of breach of the public order.
The Belgian administration nevertheless decided not to follow this decision, referring to the appeal of the acquittal filed before the ICTR. If it should be confirmed, the administration will change its position, it assured. In the meantime Kigali has issued an international warrant of arrest against Bagambiki based on facts that had not been taken into account in their judgement by the ICTR. The latter however decided not to react and signed an agreement with Tanzania to prevent his arrest and extradition.
Today, an action concerning the annulment of the decision of the Immigration Office is still pending with the Supreme Administrative Court. According to Mr. Lurquin, this second appeal should normally be completed with new elements that had not been looked into by the Belgian administration.
Nevertheless the acquittal has been confirmed before and Mr. Lurquin does not understand why the Court spends so much time today to deal with the dossier. A second visit of Adama Dieng was supposed to take place in Belgium but the minister of justice refused to receive him. “I suspect a lack of courage of the Belgian authorities to oppose Kigali’s will to prosecute Bagambiki”, the lawyer claims and adds that Belgium does not recognize the work already carried out by the international justice.
According to Mr. Lurquin, the demonstrations which took place in Bugesera and Cyangugu after the announcement of the acquittal and the visit of President Kagame in Belgium seem to have determined Belgium’s refusal. “I am afraid that, in the end, the states choose to accept persons judged by the ICTR ‘a la carte’, whether they are convicted or not”, he confides.
The situation of Emmanuel Bagambiki has, in any way, to be sorted out in 2008 when the ICTR is closing its gates. The lawyer reminds that Belgium, which is currently holding a seat in the Security Council, has played a pioneer role with its law on universal jurisdiction, and affirms that Emmanuel Bagambiki, aged 59, has no longer any intention to start a political debate whatsoever. But he assures that he will go on right to the end of the proceedings.
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