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IRIN-WA Update 465 of events in West Africa (Monday
17 May)
SIERRA LEONE: Human rights group reveal further atrocities
Even as their leaders held internal discussions on proposed peace talks, Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels committed "scores of atrocities" against civilians, according to a press release sent out on Monday by Human Rights Watch (HRW).
The international human rights organisation based its charge on the testimonies of survivors who described decapitations, amputations of hands, mouths and ears and scores of abductions of women and children by the RUF in the regions of Port Loko and Masiaka, some 50 km northeast of Freetown.
HRW said it had testimonies from residents of the villages of Madigba, Masimra, Ropart, Mangarma, Msumana and Magbany. One man, for example, described an attack on Madigba on 11 May in which 12 people, including seven of his own children, were hacked to death.
Peter Takirambudde, Executive Director for Africa at Human Rights Watch, said HRW was compiling a full report on the atrocities.
The organisation said that while the abuses were the most serious since the rebel invasion of Freetown in January, they were consistent with a longstanding pattern of human rights violations against civilians by rebels as well as government forces and their surrogates.
All the witnesses interviewed described widespread looting of property and burning of houses by the RUF during the attacks on villages, the HRW statement said. It added that people whose villages had been occupied by rebels also described a pattern of forced labour and intimidation.
"Human rights has to be at the top of the agenda when the parties begin their peace talks," Takirambudde said in the press statement. He urged the international community to put pressure on rebel and government negotiators to stop the crimes against humanity.
Golley says RUF setting up commission to look into atrocities
Meanwhile, Omrie Golley, the RUF's legal spokesman, told IRIN on Monday from Lome that the rebel group was setting up an independent commission to investigate the reports of atrocities.
In response to the HRW statement, Golley said he recognised that abuses were being perpetrated by all sides in conflict but that there was still no real evidence that the RUF was guilty of committing such acts. He added that if the allegations were proven true then the RUF would "atone and account for its actions".
RUF says it is ready to negotiate unconditionally
Golley also told IRIN the unconditional release of rebel leader Foday Sankoh was no longer a precondition for peace negotiations. "We are determined to enter into talks with the government and let the whole world know that we want lasting peace in Sierra Leone," he said.
His announcement followed a weekend meeting between Sankoh and Togolese President Gnassingbe Eyadema, according to news reports.
After holding internal talks in Lome, the RUF had conditioned its participation in negotiations with President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah's government on Sankoh's release. However after the meeting with Eyadema, Sankoh told reporters in Lome that he was determined to negotiate and "not constitute an obstacle", news organisations reported. He reiterated the RUF's intentions to declare a ceasefire as long as the Freetown government took the same decision, Reuters reported on Monday.
When asked if the RUF could give any guarantees that a ceasefire would hold, Golley told IRIN the RUF had always been very positive to the idea of a ceasefire and "will honour any ceasefire agreement involving all other parties involved in the conflict".
Sankoh faces a death sentence after being found guilty of treason for his part in the 1997 coup which ousted Kabbah from power. The Sierra Leone authorities released him provisionally from prison to allow him to consult with his field commanders in Lome prior to peace talks with the government.
The peace talks had been expected this week but have been postponed to 24 May, Reuters reported, quoting a senior diplomat in Freetown. The official said they were delayed partly because of logistical reasons, such as the need for more time to put security measures in place, and partly because the government needed time to study a set of demands which the RUF presented to Eyadema last Tuesday.
NIGERIA: Constitution unveiled
Nigeria's new constitution, unveiled by its outgoing military government, mirrors much of its 1979 charter, news reports said. However, according to the BBC, it goes "some way" towards meeting the demands of communities in the oil-rich but volatile Niger Delta.
The document, which AFP said was released in an extraordinary official gazette, reportedly gives Nigeria's 36 states a greater share of the national income, with each receiving at least 13 percent of all wealth they produce - up from the current 10 percent.
The charter also provides for the voluntary establishment of Sharia courts in the predominantly Muslim north of the country, a long- standing demand.
Militants threaten to seize land in Niger Delta
Ijaw militants in Nigeria's oil-rich Niger Delta region warned foreigners to leave by Monday and threatened to seize land before the incoming civilian government takes power on 29 May, news reports said.
Ijaw youths in the area have for months been restive over the activity of oil companies, accusing them of degrading the environment and, thereby, their livelihood. The youths have seized oil flow stations and periodically kidnapped oil workers. They have also condemned the government for lack of development in the area, which produces about 90 percent of the country's wealth.
General Abdulsalami Abubakar's government has agreed that the delta has been long neglected by various administrations. Even the location of local-government seats, which is linked to the control of local revenue, has spurred inter-communal clashes.
Recently, there has been fighting between Ijaw and Itsekiri communities in the delta over the location of a municipality. In April, Abubakar said his government would not create any new local governments. This incensed Ijaw youths and led to clashes early May in an area close to Warri in which some 25 people were killed.
Meanwhile, a member of the African Environment Action Network (EANET-Africa) has described environmental problems in the Niger Delta as a national security issue, 'The Guardian' newspaper said on Monday.
EANET-Africa member Victor Fodeke said that for most Nigerians, security threats meant protection from disease, hunger, unemployment, crime, social conflict and environmental hazards. In this respect, he pointed out that fishing, farming and other economic activities in the Niger Delta continued to be hampered by environmental degradation. Ijaw fishermen, he said, no longer pulled in heavy catches as before.
Fodeke said a survey by EANET-Africa had shown that the crisis in the delta had been triggered by degradation in oil-producing areas, the inadequate treatment and disposal of waste from oil exploration, the continued pollution of rivers, ground water and natural resources and, consequently, the disruption of social and economic activities.
He said the incoming civilian government should shift policy away from the present dependence on oil and gas to an agriculture-based economy, and create a Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources.
Obasanjo pledges justice, peace for all
President-elect Olusegun Obasanjo - who in 12 days begins his first four-year term as Nigeria's head of state, has said he will ensure justice, peace and prosperity for all Nigerians and make the nation proud, the Nigerian Television Authority reported.
Obasanjo made the comments on Saturday at a rally in the north-eastern town of Yola. Speaking later in the central city of Jos, he said his administration would review some abandoned projects and perhaps revive those which were viable, the Nigerian newspaper, `Post Express', reported on Sunday. Obasanjo vowed to undertake only those projects that could improve the lives of the general public, the paper added.
NADECO to act as check on new civilian government
Meanwhile, Nigeria's National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), a civil rights lobby, says it will organise to serve as a watchdog over the incoming civilian government, `The Guardian' reported on Monday. It quoted NADECO's Frederick Fasehun, who attended a meeting of the coalition in Washington D.C. last week, as saying that NADECO would ensure there was justice, fair play and equity in the country.
GUINEA: OAU gives Guinea US $250,000 in emergency aid
Africa's foremost political body, the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), has given Guinea US $250,000 for emergency projects, PANA reported at the weekend.
OAU Secretary-General Salim Ahmed Salim presented the donation to Guinean Ambassador Mamadi Diawara in Addis Ababa, saying the gift was "a practical symbol of Africans expressing concern and solidarity" for each other in times of need. Diawara said Guinea would use the money to dig wells and for tree-planting projects.
GUINEA BISSAU: Interim president sworn in
Malam Becai Sanha was on Friday sworn as Guinea Bissau's interim president, Lusa reported. The 52-year-old Sanha, who until his appointment was speaker of the national assembly, is the country's first Muslim president and third head of state. He replaces Joao Bernardo Vieira, ousted after an 11-month revolt.
In his inaugural speech, Sanha pledged to hold presidential and legislative elections on 28 November as scheduled. He appealed for national reconciliation, Lusa reported, and promised to respect the rights of the deposed Vieira, who remained in the Portuguese Embassy in Bissau while a diplomatic tussle continued over his fate.
The Military Junta that overthrew Vieira wants him tried
for crimes against the state, but Portugal has said
it has granted him political asylum and will not hand
him over against his will.
LIBERIA: Sacked cabinet minister asks Taylor for forgiveness
Former Justice Minister Eddington Varmah has asked President Charles Taylor for forgiveness following his dismissal last week, the independent Star Radio reported on Monday.
Varmah was one of 11 ministers sacked by Taylor on Friday for not attending a prayer meeting he had called to mark the end of a three-day session of fasting and prayers for God's blessing for the nation. Varmah said he was appealing for compassion on behalf of all the sacked ministers since this was their first mistake.
Taylor -who reinstated some of the ministers on Saturday- said people who did not believe in God would not serve in his government. Leaders of several public corporations were also dismissed, Star Radio said. Star Radio reported that Taylor had instructed Vice President Enoch Dogolea to evaluate the excuses of his ministers and present his findings on Monday (today).
Abidjan, 17 May 1999, 19:05 GMT
[ENDS]
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Item: irin-english-837
[This item is delivered in the "irin-english" service of the UN's IRIN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations. For further information or free subscriptions, or to change your keywords, contact e-mail: irin@ocha.unon.org or fax: +254 2 622129 or Web: http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN . If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer.]
Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 1999
Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar
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