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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 21-12-2000

PART #3/4 - From LIBERIA- SIERRA LEONE

* Liberia. Main hospital shuts down — Liberia’s crisis-ridden hospital, John F Kennedy, has closed down due to a lack of drugs and equipment. Speaking on condition of anonymity, an official at the hospital confirmed the closure, saying even emergency cases had been stopped. «The closure will remain in effect until all necessary conditions are met,» said a bone surgeon, as the government appealed for help from Taiwan, which has reportedly offered the hospital a cash boost. The hospital has been plagued with drugs and equipment shortages since President Charles Taylor took power in Liberia three years ago. Two months ago, staff at the hospital began a go-slow to protest at the poor conditions under which they were working. As a result of the closure, all patients have been forced to leave, including some 150 Liberian soldiers who were wounded in a recent conflict with dissidents in northern Lofa county. The Tubman National Institute of Medical Arts (TNIMA) — the training arm of the hospital — has also been closed down. And even the hospital’s mortuary has shut. Until recently, it was used mainly to preserve bodies brought in by the government. But a senior official said: «In the absence of regular power supply, we cannot run the mortuary effectively.» The situation at the hospital poses a serious embarrassment to the government of President Taylor. Taiwan has reportedly offered about $2m to meet the hospital’s emergency needs and to finance renovation of the hospital’s 600-bed complex. The problem at the hospital, commonly referred to as JFK, is more than just lack of basic drugs and equipment. There is a serious management problem, with doctors and nurses complaining of severe delays in the payment of their salaries and incentives. Recently the United Nations reportedly gave the hospital $34,900 for services it rendered to UN troops who had been released from captivity in Sierra Leone. But a source at the hospital said that, instead of spending the money on the hospital’s pressing needs, some senior managers and a few doctors had distributed it amongst themselves. (BBC News, 18 December 2000)

* Liberia. Liberia slammed over diamond trade — The United Nations says Liberia is systematically breaking arms and diamond embargoes on Sierra Leone, and is directly fuelling the conflict there. The strong condemnation of Liberia is contained in a new report on  sanctions violations throughout West Africa, a draft summary of which has been obtained by the BBC. The report, by a UN panel of experts, calls for a complete ban on diamond exports from Liberia and say importing countries in the West must do much more to clarify exactly where their diamonds are coming from. According to the report, the current certification system for Sierra Leone’s diamonds is largely ineffective because so many of them are being smuggled out through Liberia. The money is going straight into the pockets of the rebel Revolutionary United Front, who use it to buy arms and fuel. Liberia and its president, Charles Taylor, are named as the chief culprits when it comes to sanctions violations. The report says that Liberian-registered aircraft are being used by unscrupulous arms dealers from around the world to stoke the fires of conflict in West Africa. It suggests that Mr Taylor and his officials should be subject to an international travel ban. The report calls for importing countries to be far more vigilant about where their diamonds were originally mined -since they may have come through a third country. Burkina Faso also comes in for criticism because of its alleged role in supplying arms to Sierra Leone. (BBC News, 19 December 2000)

* Malawi. Un prêtre défie la hiérarchie — L’Eglise catholique du Malawi a condamné les enseignements d’un prêtre rebelle qui a fondé son propre ordre après son exclusion de l’Eglise l’année dernière. Mgr. T. Zizaya, président de la Conférence épiscopale, a déclaré que les enseignements et les pratiques du père Mark Kambalazaza étaient contraires aux préceptes de l’Eglise et a menacé ses adeptes de refus des sacrements et d’excommunication. Ceux-ci cependant accusent l’Eglise d’être trop conservatrice. (PANA, 18 décembre 2000)

* Mali. Sommet de la CEDEAOplain D — Le 15 décembre s’est ouvert à Bamako le 24e sommet des chefs d’Etat de la Communauté économique des Etats de l’Afrique de l’Ouest. La nécessité de “la préservation de la paix” a marqué le discours d’ouverture du chef d’Etat malien, Alpha Oumar Konaré, également président en exercice de l’organisation. Le sommet a pris fin le 16 décembre. L’une des grandes décisions a été le déploiement d’une force d’interposition le long de la frontière entre la Guinée, le Libéria et la Sierra Leone. Au plan économique, le sommet a aussi jeté les bases d’une intégration par la monnaie. La création d’une zone monétaire entre six pays doit préfigurer la naissance d’une monnaie unique ouest-africaine en 2004. (Le Monde, France, 17 décembre 2000)

* Nigeria. General attacks Obasanjo «vendetta» — Nigeria’s former army chief under dictator General Sani Abacha has accused the government of pursuing an ethnic vendetta in its investigations of human rights abuses in the country. Petitioning the human rights commission in Lagos, Lieutenant-General Ishaya Bamaiyi, said there was  one law for ethnic-Yorubas and another for ethnic-Hausas. And he said President Olusegun Obasanjo, himself a Yoruba, was avenging wrongs committed against Yorubas during the rule of the former military leader, General Abacha. He cited the case of the Yoruba militia leader, Frederick Fasehun, who was last month acquitted of murder after police failed to substantiate the charges. Mr Fasehun was involved in ethnic clashes in which more than 100 people died. General Bamaiyi and some other former army officers face criminal charges over acts of state terrorism. Some northern Hausa politicians say President Obasanjo is targeting aides of General Abacha in his anti-corruption drive and human rights crusade to avenge his own arrest and imprisonment in 1985 for alleged coup plotting. But President Obasanjo told the commission when he appeared before them in early November that he had forgiven all those responsible for his three years in detention. Correspondents say that circumstances make the government an easy target to accusations of ethnic bias because nearly all the security personnel around General Abacha were northerners, whilst most of the victims of alleged state terrorism were Yoruba people from the south-west. (BBC News, 14 December 2000)

* Nigeria. No human rights progress in Niger Delta — In a backgrounder released on 14 December, Human Rights Watch says the restoration of civilian rule in Nigeria has not seen a reduction of human rights violations in the country’s oil producing regions. Soldiers, naval personnel, and paramilitary Mobile Police deployed across the Niger Delta carry out summary executions, assaults and other abuses on an on-going basis. Nor have security forces been punished for the deeds of the past. (Human Rights Watch, 14 December 2000)

* Nigeria. Chevron wins Nigeria prize — Chevron, the large US oil company, won the prize oil block in Nigeria’s deep offshore waters in a long-awaited round of exploration licensing announced on 19 December. Eight oil blocks on and offshore have been divided among 14 companies including existing multinational operators in Nigeria, Exxon-Mobil, Royal Dutch Shell, Chevron and Agip, said Rilwanu Lukman, Opec secretary-general and President Olusegun Obasanjo’s petroleum adviser. «Based on the estimates of premium payments expected from the companies to which the offers are made, a total of about $900m is expected to accrue to government,» he said, adding that separate contracts for the development of the blocks were still to be negotiated. Malaysia’s Petronas and Brazil’s Petrobras were among successful bidders entering the Nigerian industry for the first time. Among other winners were a mixture of both established and hitherto little-known indigenous companies. Africa’s leading oil producer aims to increase its reserves from 25bn to 40bn barrels in the next few years, with production targets rising from 2.2m to 4m b/d. The expansion  programme has been helped by technological advances. Companies are able to move deeper into West Africa’s oil-rich offshore waters where drilling was previously unprofitable, and away from the swamps of the Niger delta where community unrest and crime have hampered development. The awards were made following a competitive bidding process intended to mark a break with murky past practices in which former ruling generals farmed out licences to themselves and cronies on a discretionary basis. But among oil industry officials on 19 December, there were allegations of continuing political interference as well as some unease at the manner in which separate bidders had been lumped together in joint ventures. (Financial Times, UK, 19 December 2000)

* Rwanda/Kenya. La veuve Sendashonga accuse — La veuve de l’ancien ministre rwandais, Seth Sendashonga, a accusé l’actuel gouvenement rwandais d’être impliqué dans l’assassinat de son mari, a informé l’agence Hirondelle le 18 décembre. Mme Sendashonga avait témoigné devant la cour de justice de Nairobi sur l’affaire du meurtre de son mari, tué par balles en mai 1998 dans la capitale kényane. A l’époque, M. Sendashonga avait été autorisé à témoigner auprès du TPIR en tant que témoin de la défense et, selon les avocats qui avaient parlé avec lui, il se préparait à dénoncer une “manipulation” des témoins à charge. Mme Sendashonga a affirmé devant la Cour que son mari, membre du FPR, avait été remercié du gouvernement de Kagamé après avoir exprimé son mécontentement pour les meurtres commis par les militaires à l’encontre de civils. Sendashonga avait quitté ses fonctions et le Rwanda en août 1995, après avoir accusé les troupes du FPR d’avoir préparé un “second génocide” et être tombé dans le “piège de la revanche”. Mme Sendashonga a rejeté l’hypothèse que son mari avait été tué après un différend financier qui aurait tourné mal. (IRIN, Nairobi, 19 décembre 2000)

* Rwanda. Elucider la mort d’Habyarimana — Le 20 décembre, pour la première fois, le gouvernement rwandais s’est déclaré prêt à collaborer à une enquête sur l’assassinat du président Juvénal Habyarimana, qui déclencha le génocide de 1994. Son avion fut abattu en vol lors de son approche de la capitale Kigali. Un ancien enquêteur du Tribunal pénal international a affirmé que l’actuel président rwandais Kagamé et son armée, le Front patriotique rwandais (FPR), étaient impliqués dans cet attentat. Le porte-parole de Kagamé, Nicholas Shalita, a dit que le gouvernement colloborerait à l’enquête pour prouver l’innocence de Kagamé et du FPR. (D’après De Standaard, Belgique, 21 décembre 2000)

* Sahara occ. Le Polisario libère des prisonniers — Le 14 décembre à Tindouf (sud-ouest algérien), 201 prisonniers de guerre marocains ont été libérés par le Front Polisario, à titre humanitaire, à l’occasion du mois du ramadan. La plupart d’entre eux étaient aux  mains du  Polisario depuis plus de 20 ans. Remis à la Croix-Rouge (CICR) ils ont regagné, dans l’après-midi, la base militaire d’Inzegane, près d’Agadir (sud du Maroc). Le CICR considère ce rapatriement comme “une étape vers la libération de tous les prisonniers” détenus par le Polisario, estimés à 1.500. Un communiqué du Polisario rappelle que plus de 800 captifs marocains ont été libérés ces six dernières années, alors que 150 combattants du Polisario et 207 prisonniers politiques sahraouis sont encore détenus au Maroc. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 15 décembre 2000)

* Senegal. Talks with separatists — 16 December: The Government is to hold peace talks, today, to consolidate a ceasefire with separatists rebels in the southern province of Casamance. The government delegation has already arrived in the provincial capital, Ziguinchor, where the talks are scheduled to take place with the Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance (MFDC). (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 16 December 2000)

* Sénégal. Négociations en Casamance — Le 14 décembre, à la veille de l’ouverture de négociations de paix en Casamance, le pouvoir sénégalais réduit la presse au silence. Deux journalistes du quotidien dakarois le Populaire ont été placés en garde à vue, à la suite de la publication d’un dossier sur la province sécessionnsite du sud. Il semble que la publication de la plate-forme de revendication du Mouvement des forces démocratiques de Casamance (MFDC, indépendantiste) soit à l’origine de l’interpellation. Le 15 décembre, une délégation gouvernementale a eu des entretiens préliminaires à Ziguinchor, capitale régionale de la Casamance, avec des dirigeants de la rébellion. Le 16 décembre à Ziguinchor, lors d’une séance courte et solennelle, le gouvernement et la rébellion ont officialisé la relance de leurs discussions. Il s’agit de la première rencontre officielle entre le MFDC et le cabinet du président Wade, élu en mars. Le même jour, les deux journalistes du Populaire ont été libérés. (D’après Libération, France, 16-18 décembre 2000)

* Senegal. Government and rebels seek agreement — A preliminary meeting was held on 16 December in Ziguinchor (Senegal) between delegations of the government of Dakar and the Casamance rebels, in an attempt to end the separatist rebellion that has devastated southern Senegal for the past 18 years. According to Senegalese civil society sources contacted by MISNA in Ziguinchor, Casamance’s administrative centre, the three-hour talks had a preliminary function. The same sources stressed that no official decision has been announced on whether or not hostilities will cease between government troops and rebels during the negotiations. Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade however commented the  initiative positively, inviting everyone to seek a «peaceful, just and lasting solution». Observers suggested cautious optimism regarding the opening of new peace talks, given that it is not the first time. (MISNA, Italy, 18 December 2000)

* Sierra Leone. «Sankoh must be freed» — 14 December: The rebel Revolutionary United Front (RUF) says it will not allow the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) to enter areas under its control until its detained leader, Foday Sankoh, is freed. «Effective immediately, I am ordering that the UNAMSIL observers be barred from entering RUF fields of operation until certain conditions have been met», RUF’s interim leader, General Issa Sesay, says in a statement dated 13 December. The conditions described as non-negotiable, include the release of Sankoh, and his «safe escort to a location to be mutually agreed upon in advance». (CNN, 14 December 2000)