Weekly Bulletin of IRIN Radio Service (July 4th, 2002)

UN SECRETARY-GENERAL URGES SOMALIS TO OVERCOME DIFFERENCES UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has urged the various sides in Somalia not to let their differences prevent the attainment of a peace settlement. In a report to the Security Council on Monday, Annan said the contending Somali groups and leaders were at risk of adopting inflexible positions on national reconciliation, so as to safeguard their own interests and weaken the influence of those Somalis who want peace. He noted that a national reconciliation conference, due be held in Nairobi in April, had not yet gone ahead. The environment of apparent suspicion, both among regional countries and inside Somalia, must be defused, he stressed. Annan also called for what he called consensus and coherence among the three frontline states of the IGAD regional authority, which is trying to broker a peace settlement. The three countries - Djibouti, Ethiopia and Kenya - have been trying to lay the groundwork for the conference, but disagreements between them have so far prevented this. OUTLOOK FOR PEACE IS NOT GOOD, SAYS NEW REPORT The prospects for successful reconciliation talks in Nairobi between the Transitional National Assembly and rival faction leaders are not good, say analysts of the London-based Economist group. The TNA objects to the presence of Ethiopia on the technical committee preparing the meeting, say the analysts in their latest report on Somalia. They say the Nairobi conference may not take place at all, because of allegations that Ethiopia has been supplying arms to factions opposing the TNA. In March, says the report, the opposition RRA created the State of Southwestern Somalia, further undermining the credibility of the TNA as Somalia’s legitimate government. This also illustrates the TNA’s lack of control over the country, say the analysts, which will make economic management impossible. SOMALI BANTU REFUGEES MOVE CAMP, EN ROUTE TO US The relocation of Somali Bantu refugees in Kenya resumed on Monday following a slight setback to the operation last week after clashes broke out in the refugee camp, reportedly over recruitment policies. Kenya’s East African Standard newspaper reported that hundreds of residents stormed the camp and pelted officials with stones, causing injuries and damage to property. But officials working in the camp told IRIN the situation was now calm and that the relocation had resumed without incident. A total of 11,800 refugees are due to be moved from Dadaab camp in eastern Kenya to Kakuma camp in the northwest of the country, on the first leg of a journey that will eventually take them to the US. The operation began last week and is expected to take four months, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). In 1999, the US agreed to resettle the Somali Bantus, who have complained of discrimination in Somalia. In Kakuma, the refugees will be interviewed by American immigration officials for resettlement in the US. INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT COMES INTO BEING The International Criminal Court, ICC, officially came into being on Monday, having received backing from more than the required 60 states. The ICC is a new and unprecedented instrument of international justice, to be based in The Hague, Netherlands. According to official sources, the ICC has now begun work to recruit its eighteen judges, a Prosecutor and staff. The new court will have international jurisdiction to try individuals for crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. Unlike the two existing international tribunals for Rwanda and former Yugoslavia, its mandate will not be limited in time and space. However, it can only try crimes committed after it came into existence on July 1st. Both a ratifying state and the UN Security Council can refer a situation to the ICC. The ICC Prosecutor can also start an investigation based on information received from victims, non-governmental organizations or any other reliable source. The court will rely on state cooperation for its investigation and prosecution of cases. So far, Somalia has neither signed nor ratified the ICC's founding treaty.