| UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA - AFRICAN STUDIES CENTER |
Tel: +225 21-63-35
Fax: +225 21-63-35
e-mail: irin-wa@africaonline.co.ci
IRIN-WA Update 93-97 of Events in West Africa, (Friday) 28 Nov.1997
[As a supplement to its weekly round-ups of main events in West Africa, IRIN-WA will produce a daily synopsis of reports on the region. IRIN issues these reports for the benefit of the humanitarian community but accepts no responsibility as to the accuracy of the original source.]
SIERRA LEONE: Peace Accord timeline delayed
Thursday's impasse in the talks to restore civilian rule to Sierra Leone is expected to affect the timeline for disarmament, which was scheduled to commence next week. Deployment of peacekeepers to Sierra Leone, scheduled to have taken place two weeks ago, has already been delayed. Talks between the UN, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and Sierra Leone's military government who were meeting in Freetown hit a stalemate on 26 November, the same day they opened. Officials involved in the talks said a number of key issues remain unresolved including the future role of Nigerian peacekeepers, the disarming of Sierra Leonean troops and the release of Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebel leader Foday Sankoh. The RUF leader remains in Nigeria under detention. Agreement was reached on a meeting, to be held some time next week, of the three committees dealing with humanitarian assistance, ceasefire violations and disarmament.
Looters face firing squad
Some 50 persons detained on charges of looting could face execution. A decree released on Friday by the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council and backdated to 28 May warned that persons found guilty of looting would be sentenced to death by firing squad, reported AFP. This includes those receiving looted property. The new decree also provides for the establishment of an anti-looting squad, to be staffed by military and police officers. A similar squad operating some months ago sparked condemnation from human rights groups.
LIBERIA: Future security uncertain
Liberian refugees in the US should be granted a one-year extension in asylum, the US Committee for Refugees has recommended. The government committee raised concerns over Liberia's future security after the scheduled February 1998 withdrawal of the West African peacekeeping force, ECOMOG. The report said international observers agreed that the warring factions all retained weapons caches. It noted that President Charles Taylor had recently refuted ECOMOG's mandate to restructure the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) and that he has reportedly rearmed former factional fighters to patrol border areas. The committee said that uncertainty about Liberia's future warranted an extension.
Nimba County plagued by tension
Former fighters from Taylor's rebel group, the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL), are reportedly linked to several civilian deaths in towns along the Liberian-Guinean border. According to returning refugees quoted by the 'National' newspaper, the ex-fighters habitually cross into Guinea near Gbapah, Nimba County, "terrorizing" civilians. A member of the UN Observer Mission in Liberia said there was a high level of banditry in the area, but did not attribute it to any specific faction.
Tension in Nimba County has been further strained by the refusal of local residents to allow returning Mandingo refugees to reoccupy their homes. Some of the squatters told the 'Nation' that they would not allow Mandingoes to resettle in the area as members of the ethnic group had fought alongside the AFL during the war. A humanitarian source told IRIN, some Mandingo refugees were experiencing difficulties in returning not only to Nimba, but to Lofa County as well. He said Mandingoes, who generally comprise the bulk of the merchant class and cash crop farmers in the area, were unpopular because of their economic success. He said the humanitarian community is aware of the problem faced by returnees and is discussing possible involvement in conflict resolution. NGOs recently complained that the bulk of humanitarian aid was being targeted mainly to refugees with not enough emphasis being placed on aiding the community.
MALI: Human rights abuses, says AI
Amnesty International (AI) charged the Mali government of violating basic human rights, in a report released on Thursday. AI claimed opposition members and journalists had been arrested without due cause and "beaten and tortured with the sole aim of intimidating opposition parties or the press." Moreover, despite recent pardons at least twenty people were still being held without trial. The Malian government denied the accusations on Friday. The Minister of Justice told AFP, AI should have come to Mali to undertake proper investigations instead of writing a report from outside based on "erroneous" information. In 1997, Mali experienced several electoral events marred by opposition protests and incidents of violence, some leading to the deaths of both civilians and police officers. President Alpha Oumar Konare recently pardoned several opposition leaders who were being detained over the death of a police officer in early August. Several local sources claim the opposition intentionally sought to sabotage the electoral process from the beginning, knowing they could not compete financially or in popularity with Konare.
SENEGAL: Three more deaths
Casamance rebels are believed to be responsible for the killing of three civilians on Thursday in Senegal's troubled southern province. Suspected members the Mouvement des Forces Democratiques de la Casamance (MFDC) opened fire in Efok, 50 km southwest of the regional capital Ziguinchor, killing three villagers and wounding two others. The army responded with tank fire resulting in an unknown number of deaths and casualties, reported Reuters. Twenty-seven rebels were killed in clashes earlier this week.
NIGERIA: Still no government
Twelve days after the sacking of the government, Nigerians are still waiting for the full list of new ministers. Three ministers have already been reappointed, including Foreign Affairs Minister Tom Ikimi. Sources told PANA at least seven more members of the previous 36-member Cabinet are expected to make a comeback. Similar to the list of detainees to be pardoned, military Head-of-State General Sani Abacha is keeping the new government a close secret generating much speculation. As part of the government restructuring, Abacha may also assume the title of "President", reported the NewsReport Journal.
New economic plan
Abacha announced a 39-member council on Thursday to oversee the implementation of the Vision 2010 economic plan presented last September. Abacha will preside over the council. The 250-member Vision 2010 committee met for one year to develop a new economic policy for Nigeria. Details of the plan, which reportedly emphasizes private sector development and possible privatization plans, were released on Thursday, reported BBC News.
Prosecute or release them
The Nigerian Guild of Editors has urged the government to either prosecute or release detained journalists. It said the current wave of arrests were counter-productive to the transition programme. Six journalists have been arrested in the last three weeks, reported the "Nigerian News du Jour".
CHAD:Appeal made not to extradite
A Chadian opposition party has appealed to the Cameroonian government to refuse extraditition of three Chadian rebels arrested in Cameroon on Wednesday. In a statement sent to AFP, the leader of the Conseil Democratique Revolutionnaire (CDR) said the rebels faced summary execution if they were returned to Chad. He claimed the Forces Armees pour une Republique Federale (FARF) rebels were fleeing "massacres" in Moundou, Southern Chad, and requested they be allowed to leave Cameroon for a country of their choice. According to contradictory reports between 40-42 rebels, 2-4 soldiers and 0-52 civilians were killed in an altercation between FARF rebels and soldiers in Moundou on 30 October. The appeal not to extradite the three was also echoed by Ngarlejy Yorongar, a Chadian Deputy and head of the human rights agency Fondation Pour le Respect des Lois et des Libertes (FORELLI). A peace accord was signed between the Chadian government and the FARF in April 1997 which called for the integration of FARF members into the army.
CAMEROON: Still no government
Almost a month after elections, Cameroonians are still waiting for the ruling party to form a new government. According to local papers the ruling Rassemblement Democratique du Peuple Camerounais (RDPC), which won a landslide victory, is still trying to woo the opposition. The government has reportedly approached opposition parties, which boycotted the 3 November elections, with an invitation to help form the government. The leader of the anglophone party Social Democratic Front, John Fru Ndi, in an interview with Radio France International said his party remained firm in its resolve not to join the government. He also commended two other parties for their similar resolve. However, some parties are reportedly considering the offer. Ndi said the government wanted to keep up democratic appearances so they can obtain much needed financing from international financial institutes.
Abidjan, 28 November 1997
[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, 28 Nov 1997 18:09:12 +0000 (GMT) From: UN IRIN - West Africa <irin-wa@wa.dha.unon.org> Subject: IRIN-WA Update 93-97 of Events in West Africa, 28 Nov. 1997 Message-Id: <Pine.LNX.3.95.971128174650.648B-100000@wa.dha.unon.org>
Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar
| Previous Menu | Home Page | What's New | Search | Country Specific |