IRIN-CEA Weekly Round-up 47 covering the period 18 - 24 November 2000

CONTENTS DRC: New foreign minister in cabinet reshuffle DRC: Civilians flee fighting DRC: Bunia leadership wrangles continue DRC: Newspaper declared “enemy of the people” CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: Security and shelter concerns for refugees REPUBLIC OF CONGO: US $14 million post-conflict credit approved RWANDA: Government threatens legal action over adopted children RWANDA: UN told to break “self-imposed silence” on militias BURUNDI: Rebels given more time BURUNDI: Rebels ready to meet authorities as “goodwill gesture” BURUNDI: Violence on the increase KENYA: Ebola alert in Nairobi KENYA: Poverty link in lethal brew deaths TANZANIA: Food security still precarious for 1.3 million

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DRC: New foreign minister in cabinet reshuffle President Laurent-Desire Kabila has reshuffled his cabinet, replacing his controversial foreign minister, Yerodia Abdoulaye Ndombasi. In a decree, read out over DRC state television on Monday, the new foreign minister was named as Leonard She Okitundu, the former human rights minister. Yerodia remains in the government as minister of state for national education. New ministers were also been appointed to head the finance, oil, transportation and communication, and public works ministries. The reshuffle was announced in the same week as the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague held public hearings on an international arrest warrant for Yerodia issued by Belgium. Analysts said the timing of the reshuffle was important, noting also that it took place in the wake of a visit to the DRC by the Belgian deputy foreign minister, Annemie Neyts, which may have influenced the decision. At the ICJ, the DRC called for the immediate revocation of the warrant against Yerodia on charges of inciting ethnic hatred. Yerodia became the subject of the Belgian extradition request after referring to the Tutsi ethnic group as “vermin that must be methodically eliminated” on state radio in 1998. For full story, see separate IRIN item of 22 November headlined DRC: Foreign minister replaced as court hearings held According to diplomatic sources, the new foreign minister, Leonard She Okitundu - respected during his tenure of the human rights portfolio until this appointment - is expected to take a much more conciliatory tone than Yerodia. On the other hand, Minister Delegate for Defence Godefroid Tchamlesso - in this capacity replacing President Kabila, who has himself held the defence portfolio until now - was regarded as a tough proposition, they added. DRC: Civilians flee fighting in DRC Fighting in the DRC is sending a new flow of refugees into neighbouring countries, UNHCR has said. The agency’s spokesman, Kris Janowski, told journalists in Geneva that the agency recently registered 762 new Congolese arrivals in Zambia, bringing the total number of civilians who had recently fled the country to about 1,000. UNHCR plans to send the refugees to Kala camp, which was opened some three months ago and is currently housing 2,350 people. Meanwhile, in the Republic of Congo (RoC), UNHCR is deploying an emergency team to border areas with improved security to help an estimated 25,000 refugees from the DRC who are residing there, Janowski added. The agency further estimates that there are about 100,000 DRC refugees scattered along an 800 km stretch of the Ubangi river. “Supplying them with aid - be it by boat or by road - has been extremely difficult because of logistics and continued fighting along the river, which occasionally spills over to the RoC side,” he added. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s Special Representative to the DRC, Kamel Morjane, on Wednesday denounced recent ceasefire violations in the country, and said they did not help continuing efforts to end the conflict. “At a moment when political and diplomatic initiatives are being made at all levels for the deployment of a UN military observer force, the ceasefire violations in the north of Katanga [province] are a cause of great concern,” Morjane’s spokesman Amadou Toure said in a statement issued in the DRC capital Kinshasa. The current situation - on which he did not expand, but which has seen Rwandan-backed rebels of the Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD) recapture the town of Pepa, close to Lake Tanganyika - complicated the roles of both Morjane and Annan, the spokesman added. The current fighting in Katanga was “useless”, and comprised a threat to regional stability, according to Morjane. DRC: Bunia leadership wrangles continue The leadership wrangles in the ruling movement based in the northeastern city of Bunia appear to be widening, with a rival faction vowing to dislodge the embattled leader, Professor Ernest Wamba dia Wamba. Over the last two weeks, Bunia has been rocked by fighting, pitting Wamba, who leads the Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie-Mouvement de liberation (RCD-ML), against his former deputies, Mbusa Nyamwisi and Tibasiima Ateenyi, who are seeking to oust him. At least 40 people have been killed in the violence. The two say “it is finished” for Wamba, and his leadership of the movement is “history”, a notion which Uganda’s presidential adviser on Congo, Colonel Kahinda Otafiire, termed as “nonsense”. “We shall see,” he told IRIN on Wednesday. Uganda is attempting to broker a meeting in Kampala between the rival factions, and Nyamwisi told IRIN his presence in the Ugandan capital was to “help pull Wamba out of Bunia”. For full story, see separate IRIN item of 22 November headlined DRC: Cracks widen in Bunia-based group. DRC: Newspaper declared “enemy of the people” The daily ‘Le Phare’ was last week declared “an enemy of the Congolese people” in a government-approved editorial by the state Radiotelevision nationale congolaise (RTNC), the Kinshasa-based NGO, Journaliste en danger (JED), reported on Wednesday. The RTNC editorial said ‘Le Phare’ had two choices: “to support the government of national security in its policy of national reconstruction, or to place itself in the ranks of enemies of the people”, JED stated. The night before the broadcasts, the paper had published an article critical of recent economic measures taken by the government, it said. ‘Le Phare’ itself expressed the fear that the RTNC broadcast was “a call to murder”, and to be called “an enemy of the people” could be a prelude to repression by the security forces, the JED statement added. For further details, go to http://congonline.com/JED/. CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: Security and shelter concerns for refugees The state of over 400 refugees from the DRC languishing in Batalimo in the Central African Republic (CAR) is giving cause for concern, although the general refugee situation is reported to be relatively stable, humanitarian sources said on Thursday. They were now living in “deplorable sanitary conditions” and at least 36 of them had died, mostly from malaria and meningitis. The security situation was also worrying due to the uncontrolled movement of refugees and the growing risk of illegal weapons circulating. However, the representative of the Italian NGO, COOPI, in Bangui, Claudio Pachi, told IRIN from the CAR capital that generally, refugees were receiving nutritional and sanitary assistance. He said there were now a total of 7,249 Congolese refugees in the CAR, down from the 10,000 originally registered in the country. For full story, see separate IRIN item of 24 November headlined CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: Security and shelter concerns for refugees REPUBLIC OF CONGO: US $14 million post-conflict credit approved The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on 17 November approved a credit equivalent to about US $14 million to support the government’s post-conflict reconstruction and recovery programme after the 1997-99 civil wars. The credit would be available immediately, the IMF stated. Acting Chairman Eduardo Aninat said the Congolese authorities were to be commended “for the rapid progress they made in implementing the measures necessary for political normalisation and economic recovery”. Security had been largely restored, emergency relief was reaching those in need and a start had been made with rehabilitating basic infrastructure, but serious difficulties remained and support would be needed from the international community to close financing gaps, Aninat said. The country’s peace process had been “mainly initiated and managed by the Congolese themselves, and is enjoying the broad support of society”, which was an encouraging sign of their preparedness to implement the 14 million post-conflict programme, he added. RWANDA: Government threatens legal action over adopted children The Rwandan government has said it may have no option but to take legal action to secure the return of 59 Rwandan children who were evacuated to Europe during the 1994 genocide. According to a government press release, received by IRIN on Tuesday, Foreign Minister Andre Bumaya told diplomats and journalists his government was “determined to reunite these children with their relatives”. Most of the children had been adopted by Italian families “without the consent of their living parents and relatives”, Bumaya said. “We will take legal action if Italy continues holding these children without the consent of their families or living relatives.” He urged the diplomatic community to help Rwanda in the repatriation of the children. Rwanda’s minister of state for social affairs, Dr Odette Nyiramirimo, told the gathering that the vast majority of Rwandan children sent to Europe had since been reunited with their natural families. “We therefore do not see why the Italians should not return the children,” she said. “The children should not be denied the fundamental right to live with their biological parents, regardless of their socioeconomic status.” RWANDA: UN told to break “self-imposed silence” on militias A Security Council debate on the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) this week heard that the faster the Interahamwe militia and ex-FAR (former Rwandan army) members were turned over to the tribunal, the easier it would be to resolve the stalemate in the DRC. The US representative, James Cunningham, said the Lusaka peace process was at a “dangerous impasse, a core issue of which was the continued presence of units of the ex-FAR/Interahamwe fighting in the DRC”. Recalling that the Council had called for the withdrawal of all foreign forces from the DRC, he said “frank discussion” of the Interahamwe and ex-FAR would speed up that process. “The faster the leadership of the ex-FAR/Interahamwe is turned over to the tribunal, and the faster the rank-and-file soldiers are demobilised, reintegrated and resettled, the faster it will be to resolve the issue,” he stated. He went on to say there had been “reluctance” by some Council members “to allow mention of the words ‘ex-FAR/Interahamwe’ in any official document”. “That erodes the Council’s credibility and diminishes its effectiveness,” he said. “If we yield to political sensitivities and omit reference to the architects of the 1994 Rwanda genocide, we do ourselves a disservice.” He urged the Council to break its “self-imposed silence” on that issue. BURUNDI: Rebels given more time The peace process mediator, Nelson Mandela, has given the armed rebel groups more time to reconsider their positions and accept a ceasefire, according to the Internews press service. He extended the offer during separate talks in South Africa last week with CNDD-FDD leader Jean-Bosco Ndayikengurukiye and PALIPEHUTU-FNL chief Cossan Kabura. He asked them to go back to their supporters and hold further discussions on suspending hostilities in the war against the Burundian army. Internews quoted the head of the facilitation team, Judge Mark Bomani, as saying Mandela was optimistic of a breakthrough. The rebel leaders are due to return to South Africa after a meeting of the 19 signatories to the Arusha peace accord in the northern Tanzanian town on 25 November. Internews said this was expected to be the last Arusha session before the process moved to Bujumbura. The session is due to discuss pending issues such as the transitional leadership, implementation timetable, return of refugees and ceasefire arrangements. It will also establish the Implementation Monitoring Committee (IMC) which will oversee the peace deal. BURUNDI: Rebels ready to meet authorities as “goodwill gesture” The rebel CNDD-FDD organisation has said that “as a gesture of goodwill”, it is ready to hold talks with the authorities in Bujumbura. The purpose of the talks will be to explain the movement’s preconditions for an official face-to-face meeting aimed at agreeing on a ceasefire. In a statement, received by IRIN, the CNDD-FDD recalled that its two preconditions included the total dismantlement of the regroupment camps and the release of political prisoners. “The CNDD-FDD will not go any farther than this as long as Major Buyoya’s putschist regime has not fulfilled these preconditions,” the statement said. “Furthermore, the CNDD-FDD will not start these direct contacts unless these come within the framework of consultations between the warring sides under the auspices of an unbiased mediation which is not implicated in the conflict.” In addition, both sides must agree on the mediation, the statement said. BURUNDI: Violence on the increase There has been an upsurge of violence in the capital, Bujumbura, and in southern parts of the country, local news agencies reported. The Agence burundaise de presse (ABP) said two people were wounded and five houses damaged on Sunday in a rebel attack on Musaga, on the outskirts of the capital. It said rebel forces shelled the area from the surrounding hills. In the city itself, shots were reportedly fired in the direction of the presidential palace on the night of 18 November, the private Azania news agency reported. Government forces responded, and no casualties were reported. In the southern province of Makamba, rebels launched an attack in the commune of Kibago, the private Netpress news agency said. It gave no details of casualties, but claimed rebel groups had gathered at Mukwara on the border in neighbouring Tanzania’s Kigoma District, where they had allegedly been supplied with weapons and ammunition. KENYA: Ebola alert in Nairobi Fifty Ugandans are being held in a Nairobi hotel undergoing screening for possible Ebola fever. Local press reports said the Ugandans, from the Ebola-hit Gulu district of northern Uganda, “slipped” into Nairobi. “We have not detected any signs of the deadly virus but the monitoring exercise is being carried out just to verify that everything is alright,” the permanent secretary in the health ministry, Julius Meme, said. The aim of the exercise was to discover whether any of the Ugandans had interacted with Ebola victims back home in Gulu. Meanwhile, seven Kenyans detained at a border hospital in Busia for Ebola virus check-ups have been declared free from infection, the Ugandan health ministry announced. Results of their blood samples tested negative at the World Health Organisation’s Ebola screening laboratory unit in Gulu, where the first case of the outbreak was reported in mid September, Sam Okware, the country’s Commissioner of Community Health, said. KENYA: Poverty link in lethal brew deaths Kenyan political leaders are now calling on the government to take a lead from its other East African counterparts and legalise the production and distribution of traditional brews as part of its poverty eradication policy. Their call comes in the wake of a highly publicised incident in Nairobi’s sprawling Mukuru slums last week in which an adulterated concoction left 140 people dead, tens blinded and more than 500 hospitalised with complications. Parliament on Wednesday said the lives of poor Kenyans could be saved and alcoholism reduced if traditional brews were legalised, as is the case in Uganda and Tanzania. Most African countries have legalised traditional brews such as chang’aa. Teetotaller President Daniel arap Moi, however, disagreed. Speaking during a visit to the city’s extensive Korogocho slums, where chang’aa brewing is commonplace, he reiterated that “factories manufacturing illicit brews will be closed down” to rid the country of “doomsday” drinks. He blamed the brew deaths on opposition MPs and the clergy who campaigned for the repeal of the notorious ‘Chiefs Act’, which empowered local chiefs to raid chang’aa and busaa distilleries and drinking houses. TANZANIA: Food security still precarious for 1.3 million In October, over half of some 20,000 mt of maize released by the government for drought alleviation purposes was sold to 1.3 million highly insecure people at a subsidised price of 50 Tanzania shillings per kg, or between 44 percent and 61 percent lower than market prices, according to an update report from the USAID’s Famine Early Warning System (FEWS). The government was monitoring the distributions - mostly to poor households in central, southeastern Lake Victoria and northern parts of the country - to see if people could afford to buy the maize, but “previous assessments and informal reports... suggest that the majority of poor and food-insecure people have already depleted their incomes and are not likely to benefit from the low price of maize”, it said. The areas targeted for subsidised food distributions included: Arusha, Dodoma, Iringa, Kilimanjaro, Mara, Morogoro, Mwanza, Shinyanga, Singida, Tabora and Tonga, FEWS reported.