UNITED NATIONS
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
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NIGERIA: Curfew in Benue to curb
protests following killings
A dusk-to-dawn curfew has been imposed on key towns in Nigeria's Benue State, central Nigeria, to curb violent protests that erupted on Wednesday over reports that soldiers had rampaged through four communities, leaving scores of people dead and many more displaced.
The 6 p.m to 6 a.m curfew, authorised by Benue Governor George Akume, covers the capital Makurdi and Gboko, the second biggest town in the state and came on the heels of a security meeting held on Wednesday. Earlier in the day thousands of people had marched through the two towns in protest at reports that soldiers had attacked the Tiv communities of Zaki-Biam, Anyiin, Vatse and Gbeji. Officials in Ukum local government, where the communities are located, said 219 people were killed by the soldiers on Monday and Tuesday. Many houses were destroyed during the attacks, including the country home of Nigeria's former chief of army staff, Lt-Gen Victor Malu, who is a Tiv. The attacks rendered thousands homeless.
Reprisal attacks for soldiers' deaths
The military campaign against the local communities in Benue is believed to be in retaliation for the killing of 19 soldiers by a local militia two weeks ago. The soldiers were among troops deployed by President Olusegun Obasanjo's federal government to the borders of Benue and Taraba states to end months of low level conflict between Tivs and their Jukun neighbours. A Tiv militia had reportedly ambushed and killed them on the suspicion that they were aiding their Jukun adversaries.
Nigerian military authorities have denied responsibility for the attacks. The army's spokesman, Colonel Felix Chukwumah, told journalists that soldiers in the area had strict instructions to retrieve weapons from militants and track down those who killed their colleagues but not to attack villagers.
Rights groups denounce attacks
Human rights groups have denounced the actions of the soldiers and have asked President Obasanjo to call them to order. The Civil Liberties Organisation in Lagos described the military attack on the settlements as "a crime against humanity". The London-based human rights organisation, Amnesty International (AI), has called for "a prompt, effective and impartial inquiry." AI called on the Nigerian government to "take immediate steps" to identify both those responsible for the murder of the 19 soldiers and the officers who ordered or took part in the "unlawful reprisal actions."
A similar incident took place in the town of Odi in the Niger Delta nearly two years ago when the army killed civilians and razed the town after soldiers were abducted and killed there.
NIGERIA: Rights organisation condemns woman's death sentence
The New York-based rights organisation, Human Rights Watch (HRW), has condemned a recent ruling by an Islamic court in northern Nigeria that sentenced a woman to death by stoning for having sex before marriage. The Islamic court in Gwadabawa, Sokoto State, found her guilty of having pre-marital sex, an offence punishable under the Muslim legal code known as Sharia. The woman, who is pregnant, has until 8 November to file an appeal, HRW said. The man she allegedly had sex with was set free by the same court after concluding that it lacked "sufficient evidence" to prosecute him for the alleged adultery, the organisation added.
WEST AFRICA: New steps against human trafficking
Experts from West African countries have agreed on an action plan against trafficking in human beings in the region following a two-day meeting in the Ghanaian capital, Accra, the UN information service in Vienna said on Thursday.
The plan of action calls for Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) countries to adopt laws criminalising trafficking in human beings. It also urges them to build the necessary administrative structures including working in cooperation with NGOs and other representatives of civil society, the setting up of new special police units and training for officials including judges, customs and immigration officials. The plan will be submitted through the ECOWAS Ministerial Meeting for adoption by ECOWAS heads of state at their annual summit in December.
The 23-24 October Meeting on Trafficking in Human Beings, was organised by ECOWAS in cooperation with the UN Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention.
GUINEA-BISSAU: Parliament votes no confidence in president
Members of Guinea-Bissau's parliament on Tuesday adopted a motion of no confidence against President Kumba Yala at the end of a two-day debate on the deepening political crisis in the country, a diplomatic source in the capital Bissau told IRIN on Wednesday. The special session of the National Assembly, attended by some 77 MPs, also accused Yala of violating the constitution and condemned recent decisions made by him, AFP reported.
Last weekend Yala said he would sack over half of the country's civil servants for corruption and embezzlement and replace them with members of his own political party. He also threatened violence against any politicians who try to use the army against him. Yala also recently dismissed members of the Supreme Court including its president. Since his election in January 2000, Yala has come into conflict with members of his own party, other political actors and members of the judiciary. Earier this month, the authorities in Guinea-Bissau denied rumours that sections of the military were preparing to overthrow the government.
In a statement issued on Monday by UN Security Council president, Richard Ryan, members expressed concern at recent developments in Guinea-Bissau and "called on all institutions of government to engage in dialogue, to respect the constitution and to promote national reconciliation in order to find a way out of the current difficulties."
This is the latest crisis to hit the West African country wracked by insecurity in the last few years. An 11-month war between forces loyal to then President Nino Vieira, supported by Senegalese and Guinean troops, and a self styled Military Junta, ended in May 1999 with Viera's ousting from power. The Junta, led by Brig-Gen Ansumane Mane (now late) co-governed Guinea-Bissau with civilians until Yala was sworn in.
THE GAMBIA: Rights groups demand release of activist
International and national human rights groups have demanded the release of an activist detained without charge by the Gambian authorities since Monday.
In a letter to Gambian President Yahya Jammeh, Amnesty International (AI)called for the "immediate and unconditional release" of the head of its Gambian section, Mohammed Lamin Sillah, and requested a meeting between the President and a delegation of the London office. AI said it considered Sillah a "prisoner of conscience", noting that he might have been arrested because of the "critical comments" he made in a BBC broadcast in which he spoke about the earlier arrests of opposition activists. Sillah, who was arrested on 22 October, was one of at least a dozen people, including opposition activists and journalists who were picked up following the 18 October presidential election which saw Jammeh elected for a second term.
The Gambia's Coalition of Human Rights Defenders, of which Sillah is coordinator, has also called for his release. In a statement on Wednesday the coalition challenged Jammeh to reflect his call for reconciliation "in action and not just in words". They called for a stop to unwarranted intimidation and harassment of citizens and human rights defenders. In a statement to the nation on Saturday following his election victory, Jammeh appealed to his political rivals, non-supporters and Gambians at large to put aside their "differences of political idealogy" and work together to pursue the development agenda set for the country.
Jammeh, of the Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC), was re-elected with 52.96 percent of the vote. His nearest rival, human rights lawyer Ousainou Darboe, conceded defeat with 32 percent.
GUINEA: UN team to assess floods
A UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) team arrived on 18 October in Conakry, Guinea, to assess the need of populations affected by recent floods in Haute Guinee (Eastern Guinea) and to coordinate international aid and assistance, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Friday. The team, with support from other UN agencies including WFP, UNICEF, FAO, UNDP and international NGOs, will focus on the flood's impact on the region's health, education, agriculture and food security sectors, as well as on local infrastructures, OCHA said. The floods, which occurred in August and September, affected some 220,000 people and destroyed over 20,000 hectares of farm land, OCHA said.
The mission will present its findings to the UN, donors and the Guinean government on Monday.
LIBERIA: UNOL mandate extended
The UN Security Council has extended by one year the mandate of the United Nations Office in Liberia (UNOL), a statement from the UN said on Monday. The office will thus operate until 31 December 2002. The Security Council's decision follows a recommendation by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. UNOL, an offspring of the former UN Observer Mission in Liberia (UNOMIL), has been "a useful political link between Liberia and the international community" and has contributed to promoting the rule of law, human rights, and peace and security in the country, the UN said.
COTE D'IVOIRE: Aide to former military strongman detained
The aide-de-camp of Cote d'Ivoire's former de facto ruler, General Robert Guei, and six other soldiers are being detained at the military prison in Abidjan after being charged on 18 October with threatening state security, local media reported. Fabien Coulibaly had arrived in Abidjan from Guei's home village of Guessesso, 600 km west of Abidjan, to prepare security arrangements for Guei's participation in Cote d'Ivoire's national reconciliation forum, which began earlier this month. Coulibaly's detention casts doubts on Guei's attendance of the forum, a two-month long initiative aimed at finding solutions to the country's political problems. Guei, who took power following a coup d'etat on 24 December 1999 and ousted from office the following October after presidential elections, has called for the release of the soldiers as a condition for attending the talks.
Meanwhile, Cote d'Ivoire will begin an 18-month compulsory military service in December in an effort to strengthen national security. Conscripts will have to be at least 18 years old, the media reported Defence Minister Moise Lida Kouassi as saying.
SIERRA LEONE: Sensitisation workshop held in Koinadugu
A day-long sensitisation workshop on Sierra Leone's proposed Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was held on Thursday at Kabala in northern Koinadugu district, the UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) said on Friday. The workshop, which examined the broad objectives and purpose of the TRC and the differences between the TRC and the proposed UN Special Court, was attended by more than 100 participants from 11 chiefdoms in the district, the release said. Other participants included the rebel Revolutionary United Front (RUF), the pro-government Civil Defence Forces (CDF), civil society organisations as well as members of the National Forum for Human Rights.
A draft legislation allowing for the establishment of a TRC, which is stipulated in the Lome Peace Accord signed in July 1999, was passed by Sierra Leone's Parliament in February 2000.
SIERRA LEONE: Children reunited with families
Some 95 child ex-combatants were on Thursday reunited with their families at a ceremony in Sierra Leone's northern town of Makeni, a statement from the UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) said. The children, three of them girls, were brought to Makeni from the NGO Caritas-Makeni's interim care centre in Lungi, in Port Loko district. The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in Sierra Leone, Oluyemi Adeniji, called on the families to welcome their children back "with open arms" and to give them "all the support they need to grow into normal children".
CHAD: Scores of health workers called on to resume work
Chad's government issued a statement on Wednesday in which it ordered scores of public health workers to resume their functions in hospitals in the capital area N'djamena. It was still not clear on Friday whether they had gone back to work, humanitarian sources told IRIN. On 15 October, public health workers went on strike across the country to press the government into paying salary arrears and other remunerations owed to them.
SENEGAL: US $60,000 for water project
Some 16 villages in the area of Louga, north of Senegal's capital Dakar, are now receiving drinking water under a US $60,000 project funded by the Japanese government and inaugurated on 17 October, an official of the Japanese embassy in Dakar told IRIN. Pumps and fountains have been installed in the villages enabling them to receive water from a local dam.
GHANA: World Bank grants US $220 million loan for road sector
The World Bank and the Ghanaian government on Wednesday signed an agreement worth US $220 million for the country's road sector development, an official from the World Bank office in the capital Accra, told IRIN. The money will be used for the rehabilitation and maintenance of urban and rural roads and for capacity building in the road sector.
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