UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA - AFRICAN STUDIES CENTER
IRIN Update 474 for 28 May [19990529]

IRIN Update 474 for 28 May [19990529]


U N I T E D N A T I O N S Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Integrated Regional Information Network for West Africa

Tel: +225 21 73 54 Fax: +225 21 63 35 e-mail: irin-wa@ocha.unon.org

IRIN-WA Update 474 of events in West Africa (Friday 28 May)

LIBERIA: Monrovia's denials fail to convince ECOMOG

ABIDJAN, 28 May (IRIN) - Liberia's denial of accusations that it plans to attack Sierra Leone appears not to have convinced the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) force backing the Freetown government.

ECOMOG's spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Chris Olukulade, told IRIN on Friday that "intelligence reports indicated a massing of Liberian troops at the border with Sierra Leone near Zimmi and we believe the troops are still there".

Earlier in the week, Liberia's Defence Ministry had expressed "shock and dismay" at allegations by the ECOMOG (ECOWAS peace monitoring group) force commander that it planned to attack its neighbour, Star Radio reported on Wednesday in Monrovia.

[See separate item: irin-english- headlined " Monrovia's denials fail to convince ECOMOG"]

SIERRA LEONE: Two sides agree on the "principle of freeing Sankoh"

The Sierra Leone government and the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) have agreed in principle to the release of rebel leader Foday Sankoh, news organisation reported.

"The principle of the release of Foday Sankoh has been accepted by the two parties," Togo's Foreign Minister, Joseph Kokou Koffigoh, announced on Thursday at a news conference in Lome, Togo. He said that the details of his release needed to be worked out in order for them to comply with Sierra Leonean laws, news organisations reported.

"We are very happy, progress has been made and is being made," Reuters reported Omrie Golley, the RUF's legal adviser, as saying.

However conference sources told Reuters that they did not expect an outright announcement on his freedom. One source said "I expect his freedom might well have some conditionalities, something like, you do this, I do that".

The unconditional release of Sankoh, who was sentenced to death last October on treason charges but was temporarily released to attend the Lome talks, has always been a key demand of the rebels.

Meanwhile after a long debate over proceedure the two sides agreed to start direct negotiations by tackling the contentious issue of an interim government for Sierra Leone, Reuters reported. During internal consultations prior to talks with the government, the RUF had demanded the provision of a four-year transitional government.

President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah is opposed to his elected government giving way to an interim administration that would include rebels blamed for a "reign of terror," Reuters said.

WFP "ready to roll"

The World Food Programme (WFP) said on Thursday that it was still waiting for clearance to deliver badly needed supplies to previously inaccessible areas, AFP reported.

"We are ready to roll. We've prepared a food convoy but we're still in a holding pattern," Paul Ares, regional manager for WFP in Abidjan, told AFP.

For the last four months, food deliveries have been severely constrained by the closure of the main road linking the capital to the southern towns of Bo and Kenema, according to a WFP press release. Last month, food stocks completely ran out in Kenema, some 250 km southeast of Freetown.

"As a result, 51,000 displaced people in the town and nearby Blama received a two-week food ration in April instead of the usual one- month ration," Ares said. In Bo, some 80 km west of Kenema, where WFP is feeding some 10,000 displaced people, food stocks will be exhausted by the end of the month, the press release said.

UNOMSIL team received by president

President Tejan Kabbah received in audience on Wednesday a two-man planning team from the Mission Planning Service, according to a press release from the UN Observer Mission in Sierra Leone (UNOMSIL).

The planning team will work with the UNOMSIL Chief Military Observer in Sierra Leone, Brigadier General Subhash Joshi, to prepare recommendations for a revision of UNOMSIL's military mandate. UN plans to support the peace initiative include the progressive deployment of military observers with the improvement of the security situation.

WEST AFRICA: Sierra Leone absent from Mano River Meeting

A three-day meeting held in Monrovia to discuss the creation of a parliamentary body for the Mano River Union (MRU)continued Friday in the absence of one of the three member countries of the MRU, according to news organisations.

Sierra Leone was absent from the meeting of the MRU, set up in 1973 to promote economic integration and cooperation in trade between Liberia and Sierra Leone, PANA reported. Guinea joined five years later.

In recent weeks, member states have been accusing one another of supporting dissident activities and, according to PANA, a Malian parliamentary delegation was attending the Thursday-Saturday meeting as intermediary.

NIGERIA: Keeping the military in check

ABUJA, 28 May (IRIN) - Civil society leaders are demanding a radical restructuring of Nigeria by the new civilian administration.

They are also calling for a national sovereign conference to chart that transformation, and for accountability from the military for the corruption and human rights abuses that has characterised recent regimes.

This is an agenda, analysts say, that is not viewed favourably by Nigeria's top brass.

[See separate item: irin-english- headlined "Keeping the military in check"]

Flood of demands from rights groups

Various human rights heralded the advent of a new civilian administration with a series of demands.

Constitutional Rights Projects (CRP) called for the abrogation of all military and special tribunals established by the military including the miscellaneous offences tribunal, robbery tribunal and failed bank tribunal.

In a special report released on Thursday and titled "Military Tribunals and Due Process in Nigeria", CRP called for the transfer of the functions of such tribunals to the country's civil courts.

CRP also called for increased budgetary allocation to the judiciary to enable the regular court system to carry out a programme of reform and general improvement.

At least two international rights groups have also highlighted abuses in Nigeria in the past few days.

Human Rights Watch released a report titled "Crackdown in the Delta" in which it draws attention to the crisis among Nigeria's oil communities where, it says, serious violations have continued.

[The report is available on the Human Rights Watch website at http://www.hrw.org/reports/1999/nigeria2/>]

The other group, Article 19, expressed concern in a report it published on Thursday about "the continuing lack of safeguards for human rights in the country".

It, too, referred to the "explosive situation in the Niger Delta region, where local communities continue to struggle for recognition of their basic rights and to have their say in the face of official harassment and censorship.

"The crisis in the Delta Region is a microcosm of the continuing struggle of Nigerians to make their voices heard," Andrew Puddephatt, Executive Director of ARTICLE 19, said. "If the new civilian government fails to hear such voices, peaceful democratic development could be under serious threat.

"ARTICLE 19 will be urging President Obasanjo to show the will required to set Nigeria on course for a better future."

In the report,"Censorship and Democratic Transition in Nigeria", ARTICLE 19 says recent abuses of power by the authorities, including politically-motivated arrests of journalists and trade union activists, and awards of lucrative oil contracts to military officers, illustrate how far there is to go before there is honest, just and democratic governance in Nigeria.

[The report is available on the ARTICLE 19 website at <http://www.gn.apc.org/article19/>]

COTE D'IVOIRE: National Commission against Chemical Warfare formed

A National Commission against Chemical Warfare was officially launched in Cote d'Ivoire on Thursday. The Commmission, which falls within the portfolio of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has been created to enable Cote d'Ivoire to adopt the provisions of the Convention on Chemical Warfare.

Abidjan, 28 May 1999, 20:02 GMT

[ENDS]

[IRIN-WA: Tel: +225 217366 Fax: +225 216335 e-mail: irin-wa@ocha.unon.org ]

Item: irin-english-916

[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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