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IRIN-WA Update 212 of Events in West Africa, (Thursday) 21 May 1998
SIERRA LEONE: ECOMOG in control, says spokesman
A spokesman for ECOMOG has said the Nigerian-led West African intervention force was now in "effective control" of major towns in Sierra Leone, AFP reported on Wednesday. But news organisations said rebels loyal to the ousted Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) military regime and its Revolutionary United Front (RUF) allies had continued their spate of killings, maiming, amputating limbs and burning homes. A BBC correspondent reported on Wednesday that the central town of Koidu had been "completely destroyed".
"Every single structure -- and I mean every single structure -- everything, from chicken coops to hotels, has been reduced to rubble by the RUF/AFRC forces as they withdrew ahead of the Nigerian-led advance. They burned down every single building," a correspondent told the BBC. In a related development, AFP reported that six people had been admitted to hospital in the capital, Freetown, after their eyes were gouged out by rebels operating near the northern town of Kabala. The ECOMOG spokesman said that despite the latest atrocities, "it is just a matter of time before the final chapter of the war is fought and genuine peace returns to the country."
Security Council condemns atrocities
In New York, the UN Security Council condemned the recent atrocities in Sierra Leone as "gross violations of human rights" and expressed its "grave concern" about reports of military assistance reaching the AFRC and RUF. In a statement on Wednesday, the Security Council called on neighbouring states, which it did not identify, to "observe strictly" the provisions of resolutions on Sierra Leone, and "avoid any action which might further destabilise the situation" and provide all the "technical and logistical" support necessary to help ECOMOG bring an end to the atrocities.
Amnesty International condemns atrocities
Meanwhile, two Amnesty International delegates visiting Sierra Leone told AFP on Thursday that the atrocities committed by forces loyal to the ousted junta were "the worst of their kind in Africa". The delegates, Tessa Kordeczka and Stephen Ellis, are conducting an investigation of the human rights situation in Sierra Leone.
NIGERIA: Former leader criticises military rule
General Ibrahim Babangida, Nigeria's former strongman, has attacked military rule as "unfashionable, authoritarian and without appeal", Reuters reported on Thursday. In what were described as his first public remarks since he relinquished power in 1993, Babangida, who ruled the country for eight years, made no direct mention of the current Nigerian leader, General Sani Abacha, the successor who seized power and who is widely expected to stand as the sole candidate in presidential elections later this year.
Speaking at a lecture in the central town of Jos, Babangida said: "Personalisation of state power, abuse of human rights, violation of the rule of law, failure to exhibit accountability and transparency, and the inability to meet the welfare and basic needs of the people are now seen as undemocratic and are also regarded as bad governance."
Abacha was adopted last month by all five registered parties as their sole candidate for the Presidency. He has yet to say whether he will run. The adoption triggered several court actions, and anti-Abacha protests in which at least seven people have died. Reuters said more demonstrations were planned.
High Court fines government
The Federal High Court in Lagos has ordered the Nigerian government to pay 1 million naira (12,000 U.S. dollars) damages to an opposition official whose reception last year for the outgoing American ambassador was broken up by security agents. PANA reported on Thursday that Ayo Adebanjo, an official of the opposition National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), had been awarded the damages after agents broke into his home and disrupted a reception for the former American ambassador, Walter Carrington.
PANA quoted Judge Dan Abutu as saying in his ruling: "The court frowns at the arbitrary repression and illegal executive action." The incident at the time served to aggravate strained relations with the United States.
Politician says Abacha should follow Suharto example
An opposition politician said on Thursday that General Abacha should follow the example of Indonesian President Suharto and resign, AFP reported. The politician, Alhaji Muhammadu Dikko Yusufu, a former Nigerian police chief, is suing his own Grassroots Democratic Party (GDP) for nominating Abacha instead of himself as a presidential candidate.
"No government, whatever its degree of brutality and insensibility, can resist the collective will of the people," he was quoted as saying. "There are many such examples in history showing the fall of such governments is inevitable. I stand firmly for non-violent forms of protest."
GAMBIA: Opposition leader released
The leader of the opposition United Democratic Party (UDP), Ousainou Darbo, has been released after being detained for several hours on Wednesday, AFP reported. In a brief dispatch, it quoted him as saying he had been held on suspicion of carrying weapons in his car. He said police asked him about the UDP congress scheduled for the end of the month. He attributed his arrest, and the arrests on Sunday of a Muslim cleric and as eight party activists to government nervousness about the congress. The cleric, Alhaji Karamo Touray, it said, was held on charges of demolishing a Mosque wall built with funds provided by the wife of President Yahya Jammeh. It was not clear whether they were still in detention.
BURKINA FASO: Japanese aid
Japan has granted Burkina Faso more than 1 million dollars to improve the quality of its drinking water and help eradicate guinea worm, AFP reported Thursday. It said the money would go towards drilling an estimated 300 wells in areas affected by the water-borne parasite.
SENEGAL: Gearing up for parliamentary elections
Ousmane Tanor Dieng, first secretary of the governing Parti Socialiste (PS) in Senegal, said on Thursday he expects the party to win at least 100 seats of the 140 seats being contested in the 24 May parliamentary election. In an interview published by the daily, 'Sud Quotidien', Dieng said faith in party, which has ruled Senegal since independence in 1960, "remains high", even among young people whom he had noticed attending party rallies in "large numbers".
Once the election was over, and assuming the PS won again, he said there was no reason why President Abdou Diouf would not invite the leaders of defeated opposition parties into his cabinet in keeping with tradition.
Security tightened
Meanwhile, AFP reported that the interior ministry, which is organising the election, announced the deployment of 6,000 police in and around the capital Dakar to ensure security in the run-up to Sunday's election. The official campaign started on 3 May and will end on Friday.
Special Report
This update is accompanied by an IRIN special report
on the parliamentary election in Senegal. It looks
at the issues, the personalities and the parties involved.
Abidjan, 21 May 1998, 1900 gmt
[ends]
[The material contained in this communication comes to you via IRIN West Africa, a UN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. UN IRIN-WA Tel: +225 21 73 66 Fax: +225 21 63 35 e-mail: irin-wa@africaonline.co.ci for more information or subscription. If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this report, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Quotations or extracts should include attribution to the original sources. IRIN reports are archived on the Web at: http://www.reliefweb.int/emergenc or can be retrieved automatically by sending e-mail to archive@dha.unon.org . Mailing list: irin-wa-updates]
Date: Fri, 22 May 1998 13:14:49 +0000 (GMT) From: UN IRIN - West Africa <irin-wa@wa.dha.unon.org> Subject: IRIN-West Africa Update 212, 98.5.21 Message-Id: <Pine.LNX.3.95.980522131212.7708A-100000@wa.dha.unon.org>
Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar
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