Africa: Albright Visit, 1/2, 12/17/97

UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA - AFRICAN STUDIES CENTER

Africa: Albright Visit, 1
Date distributed (ymd): 971217
Document reposted by APIC

+++++++++++++++++++++Document Profile+++++++++++++++++++++

Region: Continent-Wide
Issue Areas: +political/rights+ +economy/development+
+security/peace+ +US policy focus+
Summary Contents:
This posting and the next contain a speech by US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright in Addis Ababa and a briefing released before her 7-nation Africa trip by Human Rights Watch/Africa, as well as references to additional documentation on the trip.

+++++++++++++++++end profile++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright's visit to seven African countries (December 8-15) met with mixed reactions, from praise for the attention given to new African realities to criticism for her failure to highlight human rights abuses in several of the countries visited.Albright visited Ethiopia, Uganda, Rwanda, Angola, Congo (Kinshasa), Zimbabwe and South Africa.In one US press comment, The New York Times acknowledged that the new leaders of host countries such as Congo (Kinshasa), Uganda, and Rwanda were undoubtedly improvements on the previous regimes, but criticized the Secretary of State for "allowing some of her hosts to use her presence as an advertisement for American endorsement of their undemocratic regimes."

The Washington Post noted that "Africans who have seen U.S. initiatives come and go also may be forgiven for wondering how long this one will last. It's fine to talk about trade and investment, but many African economies start from so low that they can't get anywhere without some aid and debt relief.Yet world and U.S. aid to Africa's poorest nations has been dropping ... No sympathetic speech or diplomatic strategy can overcome that kind of failing."

Additional documentation on the trip, including US government documents and comments from selected African press, can be found at: http://www.africanews.org/usaf/albright97.html

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Albright's Remarks at the Economic Commission for Africa

December 9, 1997

Washington - Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright's Remarks at the Economic Commission for Africa December 9, 1997, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia As released by the Office of the Spokesman U.S. Department of State (As Delivered):

Good morning. Thank you, Dr. Amoako, for making this beautiful and historic hall available.

And thank you, Secretary-General Salim, for your introduction and for all you have done to make the Organization for African Unity a force for peace, democracy and development in Africa. I was glad to have the opportunity to greet the representatives of the Great Lakes states and of this sub-region earlier this morning. And I am pleased to have with me this morning Ambassador David Shinn, America's very capable ambassador to Ethiopia.

On my first visit to the continent as America's Secretary of State, I do not come with a ready-made sermon, a long list of requests or a sack full of promises. I come rather to open a dialogue with you, and with people from all parts of Africa --whether they are powerful or impoverished, high officials or refugees.

This is my first visit as Secretary, but it will not be my last. And our dialogue will reach new heights when President Clinton makes his planned trip to Africa.

I have come because it is time for the people of the United States to open a new chapter in our relations with the people of this continent.

It is time because Africa's best new leaders have brought a new spirit of hope and accomplishment to your countries--and that spirit is sweeping across the continent. They know that the greatest authority any leader can claim is the consent of the governed. They know that the greatest challenges to their plans are the twin threats of corruption and cynicism. And they know the value of cooperation--within their own societies, with their neighbors, across the continent and throughout the international community.

Africa's new leaders come from varied backgrounds. They are as diverse as the continent itself. But they share a common vision of empowerment--for all their citizens, for their nations, and for their continent. They share an energy, a self-reliance, and a determination to shape their own destinies.

They are moving boldly to change the way their countries work -- and the way we work with them. They are challenging the United States and the international community to get over the paternalism of the past; to stop thinking of its Africa policy as a none-too-successful rescue service; and to begin seizing opportunities to work with Africans to transform their continent.

The United States and the international community have not always worked together with Africa and Africans as well as we might. In my view, if we are all more ready to listen, if we all push ourselves to understand, and if we are ready to work as true partners, we can do better. And we must do better.

We must do better because Africa matters. And right now, no place matters more in Africa than the Great Lakes.

Achieving lasting peace in this region will be as difficult as implementing the Camp David agreement and as complex as sustaining the Dayton accords. Yet the rewards are surely as great--and success no less important to us.

The region's natural and human resources as well as its strategic location make it either a catalyst or a stumbling-block to African unity. Central Africa can steady or destabilize half a continent; it can inspire or retard economic growth from Kampala to Cape Town.

I have begun my trip here at the OAU because I want the people of Africa to know that the people of the United States care about what happens in Africa. We care because we have our own important interests--economic, political, humanitarian. And we care for the sake of Africans.

But we also care because Africa's leaders have embarked on one of the great projects of our time. Can viable democratic societies be built to withstand the challenges of our times, such as globalization, environmental degradation, overpopulation? That enterprise demands the ideas and energy of people everywhere.

I will travel to the Great Lakes region to say that building an enduring peace will require more than words of concern, and more than a few visits. We must make the effort to know each other well, to learn from each other and eventually to trust each other.

I will seek out the region's young people, in schools and hospitals, clubs and refugee camps, because Africa's youth have been for too long the victims of our failures. They must instead be the foundation of our success.

In the Great Lakes today, we have an opportunity, unprecedented since African states gained their independence, to build a true partnership. A successful effort will support peace and the rule of law; promote good governance and democracy; and encourage economic development and integration.

The United States is prepared to engage deeply in this shared effort--and to act as a catalyst to gain the support of others.

Together we must break the cycle of violence within and between societies. For decades, Central Africa has been the scene of multiple conflicts fueled by the tragic legacy of colonialism, by de-stabilizing Cold War rivalries, and by a recent history of international neglect.

In too many places, those conflicts continue--driven by ethnic rivalries, long-held grievances or simply lust for power.

We must put an end to the culture of impunity that has claimed so many lives and done so much to discredit legitimate authority throughout the region. To do our part in addressing this challenge, the United States hopes to work with leaders across the region in a Great Lakes Justice Initiative, to develop judicial systems that are impartial, credible and effective.

We are working to make $30 million available to support national initiatives to train court and police officials, re-build legal machinery where it has fallen into disrepair, and assist programs that promote reconciliation and healing after conflict.

But justice is only part of the answer in the Great Lakes. Although the states of the region are making important strides toward stability, we must also admit that Central Africa's peace is partial at best, and threatened both within and across borders--a situation none of us can afford to ignore.

Neither can we stand by when we have the opportunity to help Africans who are bringing new vigor and determination to the task of rebuilding their societies.

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the end of Mobutu's repressive reign has opened a historic opportunity for the Congolese people to achieve the democracy, prosperity and peace they have been so long been denied.

The new government, under President Kabila, has expressed a commitment to constitutional reform, democratic elections and economic recovery. The Kabila government has a great distance to travel to meet these goals and overcome justified skepticism. We want to do all we can to help. We all owe the Congolese people our support as they work toward those goals.

Clearly, there is no simple blueprint for success. Overcoming the distrust and fragmentation that are legacies of the Mobutu years is essential.

Securing the rule of law and the observance of human rights for all the country's inhabitants will be a critical step toward enabling them to transform their own lives and build better futures.

The Constitution Drafting Commission that President Kabila has established can, if it operates openly and inclusively, help create a government that works, that is representative, and that earns the respect of its citizens.

If fulfilled, President Kabila's commitment to holding elections will be a first step toward invigorating the democratic process; and his government's cooperation with the work of the UN human rights groups is a necessary step to end the culture of lawlessness under which the Congo's people have suffered for so long.

Unlocking the Congo's vast potential will be essential to any long-term strategy for peace and prosperity in the Great Lakes. As African leaders apply their energy and creativity to that challenge, the United States is prepared to make a substantial commitment to supporting them.

I am pleased to announce today that the United States will contribute $10 million dollars to the World Bank trust fund that the Friends of the Congo have pledged to establish. Through it, the international community will support reconstruction projects that reflect Congolese priorities.

I can also announce today that the United States intends to work with our Congress to enable us to expand our aid to the Congo significantly. Through financial and technical assistance programs in health, sanitation, finance, infrastructure and other areas, this money aids the Congolese people in their struggle to rebuild their lives and renew their country.

We are also looking at the possibility of debt relief: we encourage the Government of the Congo to work with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to develop an economic reform program. When an appropriate program is in place, the United States will cooperate with other creditors to provide relief.

But the cycle of violence will not be broken until citizens can pursue their goals more successfully with ballots than with bullets, and until investors replace insurgents as forces for social transformation.

The commitment of regional leaders to the social, political and economic empowerment of all their citizens is fundamental. It is through such empowerment that citizens gain a meaningful stake in their societies.

Those who would build democratic institutions and market-based economies in the Great Lakes face tremendous obstacles: societies weakened by protracted and brutal conflicts; devastated government institutions; and the legacies of authoritarian rule.

The process will be long. And there will be setbacks.

Democracy is always and everywhere a work in progress.

But in all its forms--and there are many--democracy has universal qualities that transcend institutional choices. The primacy of the will of the people. Respect for the rule of law.

Openness and transparency in government will also help release the region's economic potential. Some of the region's governments are already making important progress in reforming their economies--and their growth rates show it.

Through debt relief and President Clinton's Partnership for Economic Growth and Opportunity, we are committed to helping countries that undertake economic reforms find capital to develop their industries and markets to sell their products. A Presidential delegation of businesspeople, members of Congress and U.S. government officials was in Addis Ababa just yesterday, as the Secretary General mentioned looking at ways that this initiative can reinforce reforms already in place.

Whether economically, politically, or socially, we know that regional integration has worked wonders for peace around the world, from Europe to South America to Southeast Asia. None of us has all the answers. Could it be that, for peace to take hold in the Great Lakes, the barriers must come down and the region must open up--to free trade, to free travel, to free exchange of ideas?

In this and other areas, I want to work with the region's leaders to ask the right questions. And one subject on which you are asking very legitimate questions, and where we must help provide answers, is the responsibility of donor countries, international organizations and African nations to learn from our successes and failures:

to ensure that humanitarian aid is not used to sustain armed camps or to support genocidal killers; to find more effective ways of preventing conflict and reconciling former adversaries; to achieve justice and accountability in the aftermath of large-scale human right violations; and to resist the emergence of new tyrannies.

Let me be totally clear on where we stand. The United States has made a strong commitment to supervise our refugee assistance far more closely; and to work to keep humanitarian aid from falling into the wrong hands.

Prime Minister Meles and the OAU have taken an important step toward learning from past mistakes, by proposing that an international panel of eminent persons be convened to study the recent genocidal violence; to examine the international community's response; and to consider how such humanitarian disasters might be prevented in future.

The United States strongly supports your proposal. We will cooperate with you in every way possible to help such a commission do its work. Let me begin that process here today by acknowledging that we--the international community -- should have been more active in the early stages of the atrocities in Rwanda in 1994, and called them what they were -- genocide.

We also welcome the joint initiative the OAU and UNHCR have undertaken to promote respect for humanitarian principles.

In this as in so many other areas, the OAU is at the forefront of the search for African solutions to African problems.

But even more important than these steps toward a new chapter in our relations is the tone in which our partnership is conducted.

It must rest on shared responsibility, mutual respect, and mutual self-interest.

It must allow us to speak frankly and disagree openly, without putting into question the principles we share.

And it must contain a long-term commitment to meet formidable challenges--by promoting peace, building democracy and supporting economic growth.

Today we have a choice. We can pursue short-sighted rivalries, seek short-term gains, and make only commitments of short duration.

Or we can decide to move forward from the failures and recriminations of the past, and begin to forge pragmatic, enduring responses to the immense challenges we face.

We have reached a point in history when no nation need be left out of the global system, and every nation that seeks to participate and is willing to do all it can to aid itself will have America's help in finding the right path.

This view is not based on any illusions. Africa, and its friends, have seen far too much of poverty and suffering to indulge in sentimentalism. But we live in a world that has been enriched immeasurably by those who have emerged from the ravages of war to rebuild their lives, recreate their communities and renew the progress of their nations.

It is from the best efforts of those citizens that a new Africa can be built. It is my belief that we are seeing just that from Africa's ground-breaking leaders--and people. And we pledge our best efforts to nurturing a new partnership that will work to the benefit of Africans and Americans alike.
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Africa: Albright Trip, 2
Date distributed (ymd): 971217
Document reposted by APIC

+++++++++++++++++++++Document Profile+++++++++++++++++++++

Region: Continent-Wide
Issue Areas: +political/rights+ +economy/development+
+US policy focus+
Summary Contents:
This posting and the previous one contain a speech by US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright in Addis Ababa and a briefing released before her 7-nation Africa trip by Human Rights Watch/Africa, as well as references to additional documentation on the trip.

+++++++++++++++++end profile++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright's visit to seven African countries (December 8-15)met with mixed reactions,from praise for the attention given to new African realities to criticism for her failure to highlight human rights abuses in several of the countries visited.Albright visited Ethiopia, Uganda, Rwanda, Angola, Congo (Kinshasa), Zimbabwe and South Africa.In one US press comment, The New York Times acknowledged that the new leaders of host countries such as Congo (Kinshasa), Uganda, and Rwanda were undoubtedly improvements on the previous regimes, but criticized the Secretary of State for "allowing some of her hosts to use her presence as an advertisement for American endorsement of their undemocratic regimes."

Additional documentation on the trip, including US government documents and comments from selected African press, can be found at:
http://www.africanews.org/usaf/albright97.html

************************************************************

Human Rights Watch, 485 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10017-6104
TEL: 212/972-8400; FAX: 212/972-0905; E-mail: hrwnyc@hrw.org

1522 K Street, N.W., Washington D.C. 20005 TEL: 202/371-6592;
FAX: 202/371-0124 E-mail: hrwdc@hrw.org; Web site:
http://www.hrw.org

For Further Information Contact: Janet Fleischman (202)
371-6592 ext.114; Susan Osnos (212) 972-8400 ext.216; Alison
DesForges (716) 881-2758

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH BRIEFING PAPER FOR SECRETARY ALBRIGHT'S AFRICAN TOUR

(December 8, 1997)--In a briefing paper prepared for Secretary of StateMadeleine Albright before her African trip, Human Rights Watch urgedthe secretary to stress the United States' commitment to human rights,democracy and the rule of law as essential to breaking cycles ofviolence. Human Rights Watch stressed the human rights progress,within the region she will visit, of South Africa, Botswana, Malawi,and Namibia, as proof that Africa should be held to the same standardsas the rest of the world.

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH BRIEFING PAPERFOR UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF STATE MADELEINE ALBRIGHTDECEMBER 1997

The human rights situation on the African continent requires thesustained attention of the U.S. government, and Human Rights Watchhopes that Secretary Albright will underscore the importance that thisadministration attaches to respect for human rights in Africa.

This is a time of major political realignment in Africa, evident inmany of the countries on the itinerary, which present U.S. policy withimportant and difficult challenges. While it is encouraging that thenew leaders in these countries have all replaced extremely repressiveand brutal governments, they have also exhibited a troubling rejection of international human rights standards and lack tolerance for multiparty politics, often justifying their actions as necessary torebuild their devastated countries. At this precarious juncture, it isessential that the U.S. displays an unequivocal commitment to humanrights, democracy and the rule of law in Africa. Ultimately, U.S.efforts to ensure stability in Africa, particularly in central Africa,demand a firm stand on human rights in order to avoid future rounds ofmassive slaughter of civilians and the attendant political and economicdevastation.

The two vastly different parts of the continent on the scheduleinvolve different kinds of U.S. engagement: central Africa continuesto be a tinderbox, characterized by a series of interconnected crises,a history of genocide and massive loss of civilian life, and a loss ofinternational credibility; and southern Africa, source of many of the continent's most positive developments. South Africa's transformationto a democratic state and its generally positive engagement with itsneighbors continues to benefit the entire region. Despite clouds onthe horizon--notably the threat of violent crime and repressiveresponses, but also the failure of the government to deliver on manyof its pre-election promises--South Africa's progress is indeed impressive.

Unfortunately, in Uganda, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Rwanda, parts of southern Sudan, and in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC),leaders claim that the interests of stability require the restrictionof political rights. They contend that African states are not readyfor democracy and would become so only after the development of athriving economy and an established middle class. They advocatepolitical systems characterized by restrictive legal structures thatundercut core democratic freedoms, ensuring that opposition parties, civil society and the media cannot effectively challenge the party inpower. Despite claims to the contrary, the ideology appears to be areinstatement of one-party rule, with the difference that privateenterprise is encouraged. The international community has been eagerto overlook the repressive tendencies of the new leaders on thegrounds that, compared to the past, they bring the promise ofimprovements such as greater political stability, economic prosperity,and democratization. This relativist approach to human rights sets adisturbing pattern which has allowed for some African states to beheld to a different, and lesser, set of human rights standards.

Some voices in the Clinton administration advocate a robust newengagement with the new leaders in east and central Africa, arguingthat the age of Cold War paternalism is over and that the U.S. shouldtake the lead internationally in forging strategic alliances with thenew leaders. However, the U.S. should be careful not to simplyembrace the new leaders' agenda out of a sense of guilt over thefailures of the international community in the past; rather, the bestway to correct the mistakes of the past is by a change in politicaldirection. Accordingly, Human Rights Watch believes that U.S.credibility in the region will more likely be restored by firmness onhuman rights, which includes support for civil society and for themoderates, as well as an insistence on accountability for gross humanrights abuses as a step toward establishing the rule of law.Attempting to buy stability by unconditioned infusions of bilateraland multilateral aid will only encourage policies of repression andthe rule by force.

Finally, the theme of justice for all should be a cornerstone ofU.S. policy toward the region. International inaction at the time ofthe slaughter of civilians in DRC suggests that future massivekillings would also provoke no interference from abroad, aparticularly dangerous proposition given the current insurgency inRwanda, the ongoing civil war in Burundi, and the renewed combat ineastern DRC. The tardy and uncertain demand for justice in the DRCalso threatened to undermine the international effort to securejustice for the Rwandan genocide, which could now be viewed as amatter of convenience rather than principle. Failure to insist on justice for the victors in the DRC while prosecuting the genocidallosers of the Rwandan conflict risks sending the message that it wasnot violations of international law that were being punished butrather violations in defeat.

In order to ensure that the human rights issues figure prominentlyon the agenda, Human Rights Watch suggests that the following issuesin each country on the itinerary be raised:

THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

The DRC presents the Clinton administration with one of its toughest challenges in Africa. The fall of Mobutu has presented animportant opportunity to address the DRC's massive rehabilitation andhumanitarian needs while promoting long-term stability, a transitionto democracy, and respect for human rights and the rule of law.However, the DRC government has both violated basic human rights andhas hindered the U.N. investigation into the mass killing of civilians. Since May 1997, the Kinshasa authorities have successfullyresisted international pressure, including numerous interventions byU.S. Ambassador Bill Richardson and U.N. Secretary-General KofiAnnan, to let the U.N. investigation move forward. The sameauthorities deny the basic rights of Congolese and make littleprogress towards establishing a democratic state. In many parts ofthe country, they have engaged in brutal and arbitrary arrests of those whom they regard as political opponents and defenders of humanrights. They have banned political activity by parties other thanKabila's Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo(ADFL) and they named only ADFL members to a commission recentlycreated to draft the DRC's new constitution. They have restrictedfreedom of association and freedom of assembly, and have threatenedjournalists, human rights activists, and members of the politicalopposition. They have warned organizations of civilsociety--development NGOs, churches, human rights groups andothers--that they should expect to play only a limited role inreconstructing and redefining the new DRC, despite their Herculeanefforts over the past several years to serve the population of the decaying Zairian state.

Human Rights Watch urges the U.S. to make bilateral and multilateral assistance to the central government contingent upon: 1)demonstrable and tangible progress in the field investigative phase ofthe U.N. Investigative Mission and ultimately in bringing theperpetrators of the massacres to justice; and 2) improved respect forthe rule of law, human rights, and democratic principles by the DRCgovernment. The latter would include measures such as lifting the banon political activity; guaranteeing the participation of organizationsof the Congolese civil society in the reconstruction and redefining ofthe new DRC; ceasing harassment of independent voices among thepolitical opposition, media, and civil society; and a clear commitment to holding the military accountable for human rights abuses. Periodicevaluation and monitoring to ensure that benchmarks in these areas aremet will be essential to guarantee that financial aid is well spentand is not serving to reinforce repressive practices, as was the caseunder Mobutu. In order to discourage future rounds of massivecivilian slaughter in the region, it will be particularly important to progressively monitor the DRC government's cooperation with the U.N.investigation and subsequent efforts to bring to justice thoseimplicated in crimes against humanity. Further bilateral aid, such asbalance of payments support, should be contingent upon theprogressive implementation of institutional and legal reforms toguarantee respect for human rights.

ETHIOPIA

The government of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi continues to ignoreconstitutional rights by not tolerating pluralist party politics,cracking down on critical media reporting, and seeking to coopt civilsociety structures such as labor and professional associations. Itspolicy of ethnic federalism favored regional parties affiliated withthe ruling EPRDF and clamped down on opposition groups. Hundreds ofcivilians have been arbitrarily detained in remote regions wheredissident groups operated; torture and ill-treatment by members ofrural militias, attached to the governing coalition and other securityforces, are common. The trial of 72 top-ranking Derg officials isstill pending. In February, the special prosecutor stated that hisoffice had brought charges, mainly for genocide, against a total of5,198 people, 2,246 of whom had been in detention by that time for upto five years, while the remaining 2,952 were charged in absentia.The government has also been using criminal prosecutions to eliminatepolitical opponents. In the past three weeks, the government hasarrested the leaders of the newly established Human Rights League(HLR), and several other prominent leaders of Oromo communityorganizations, as part of a government crackdown against allegedsupporters of the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF).

Despite the government's restrictions on political parties, critical press reporting and independent associations, Ethiopiacontinues to benefit from a deferential attitude by the internationalcommunity. Ethiopia is the second largest recipient of U.S. aid insub-Saharan Africa, and the U.S. and the E.U. have increased their aidto Ethiopia, without using this financial leverage to secure humanrights improvements. The augmented U.S. aid included militaryassistance in the name of fighting Sudanese terrorism.

RWANDA

Rwanda continues to be plagued by insecurity in the northwest, withattacks by Hutu insurgents resulting in a brutal counterinsurgencycampaign by the government. By October, an estimated 3,500 unarmedcivilians had been killed by the government in the course of militaryoperations. In several particularly egregious cases of militaryabuses, the government has brought officers to trial, but in allexcept the most recent case, the accused have been acquitted of all serious charges and only punished lightly for lesser crimes.

Against the backdrop of increasing violence by both the governmentand the insurgents, the beginning of trials for genocide offered onesign of hope. The first trials failed to meet international standardsin several respects, most importantly because the accused had no legalrepresentation. The conduct of trials in a number of courts hasimproved in recent months, although not in all cases. Suchimprovements did not alleviate the persistent problem of threatsagainst defense witnesses, lawyers and judges which has marred the process since the beginning. With the massive return of Rwandans fromabroad, military and administrative offices once more began makingarrests without legal authority and without following legal procedure.They also began once more holding detainees in irregular places ofdetention. By October, more than 120,000 persons were held ininhumane conditions, crammed into prisons and communal jails.Soldiers and administrative officials have confined hundreds of civilians in military camps or facilities under military control afterhaving arrested them in cordon-and-search operations in conflict areasand in urban centers.

Rwandan troops crossed the border into eastern DRC in late 1996 toempty the camps that sheltered more than one million Rwandans. In themonths that followed, Rwandan troops and their Congolese allies chaseddown camp residents who fled west, killing thousands of noncombatantsas well as soldiers and militia accompanying them.

The international community persists in overlooking or excusingRwandan abuses as a cost of rebuilding a nation shattered by genocideor accepting without challenge official denials of responsibility.International actors rarely criticized abuses, whether victims wereRwandans or even citizens of their own nations. Condemnation of themurder of five staff members of the U.N. human rights field operation, for example, was so muted as to dishearten their colleagues.

UGANDA

President Museveni continues to implement his "no-party" politicalsystem and has placed increasingly severe restrictions on theactivities of political parties. The 1995 constitution had alreadyrestricted the functioning of political parties by prohibiting a widerange of political activities, and a bill currently underconsideration would further regulate their activities. Similarrestrictions have also been placed on civil society and the press.Massive human rights violations continue to be committed by the rebels fighting the Ugandan government and, to a lesser extent, by theUgandan army itself. In the north and west of Uganda, the governmenthas created "protected villages" where local residents are encouragedto move and where conditions are poor. Given the important leadershiprole that President Museveni plays in the region and the widespreadperception that he is the "darling" of many Western countries, it is especially important that the U.S. take a consistent stand on humanrights issues in Uganda.

Human Rights Watch/Africa

The Africa division of Human Rights Watch was established in 1988 to monitor and promote theobservance of internationally recognized human rights in sub-SaharanAfrica. Peter Takirambudde is the executive director; JanetFleischman is the Washington director; Suliman Ali Baldo is the senior researcher; Alex Vines is the research associate; Bronwen Manby andBinaifer Nowrojee are counsels; Ariana Pearlroth and Juliet Wilson areassociates; Alison DesForges is a consultant; and Peter Bouckaert isthe Orville Schell Fellow. William Carmichael is the chair of theadvisory committee.

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From: apic@igc.org Message-Id: <199712171821.KAA29069@igc3.igc.apc.org> Date: Wed, 17 Dec 1997 13:20:13 -0500 Subject: Africa: Albright Visit, 1/2

Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar

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