U N I T E D N A T I O N S Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Integrated Regional Information Network
WEST AFRICA: IRIN-WA Weekly Round-up 324 covering 1-7 April 2006 CONTENTS: SIERRA LEONE: Taylor pleads not guilty to crimes in sister republic SIERRA LEONE: The Special Court one of many tool for a lasting peace GUINEA: Prime Minister Diallo sacked in possible power struggle BURKINA FASO: Bird flu confirmed but country unprepared BENIN: President Mathieu Kerekou leaves after 29 years COTE D IVOIRE: Disarmament talks on track at last LIBERIA: EU turning on the taps for Monrovia SIERRA LEONE: Taylor pleads not guilty to crimes in sister republic Charles Taylor pleaded not guilty to 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity on Monday at the Special Court for Sierra Leone, but said he did not recognise the Courts jurisdiction. Most definitely, your honour, I did not and could not have committed these acts against the sister republic of Sierra Leone, said Taylor in his first appearance before the court. The ex Liberian president, dressed in a dark suit with white shirt and red tie, added, I think that this is an attempt to continue to divide and rule the people of Liberia and Sierra Leone and so most definitely I am not guilty. The Court spent over 30 minutes reading the indictment, which includes responsibility for murder, mass rape and sexual slavery, mutilation and use of child soldiers in Sierra Leones 1991-2002 war. During the reading of the charges, a sombre-faced Taylor shifted around in his seat, repeatedly clasping his hands. In a statement on Monday Chief Prosecutor Desmond de Silva said, The people of Sierra Leone have been waiting patiently for three years to see the accused finally face the trial chamber." http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=52597&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=SIERRA_LEONE SIERRA LEONE: Transcript of Charles Taylors plea on first court appearance http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=52607&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=SIERRA_LEONE LIBERIA-SIERRA LEONE: Taylor trial could go to Europe http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=52525&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=LIBERIA-SIERRA_LEONE SIERRA LEONE: The Special Court one of many tool for a lasting peace After a decade of war 1991-2002, Sierra Leoneans asked the world for help in bringing to justice those responsible for crimes during the fighting, says a document explaining the Special Court for Sierra Leone. "The international community answered that call because they believed that only by holding people accountable will Sierra Leone truly know lasting peace." The UN-backed Court, set up in 2002, marked the first time a war crimes tribunal was to be held in the country where the atrocities were committed. In this case such crimes included systematic murder, rape and sexual slavery, and mutilation - namely the hacking off of limbs. Also unique was that the Court operated simultaneously with a Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which wrapped up its work in 2004, handing a series of recommendations to the Sierra Leone government. Debate lingers over whether running the two institutions parallel is the best approach to post-war peace and justice. Another key distinction was the Courts hybrid nature, with judges and staff from both in and outside Sierra Leone trying violations of both local and international law. Its 11 judges are appointed by both the United Nations and the Sierra Leone government. The current UN-appointed chief prosecutor is Desmond de Silva, a 67-year-old British lawyer who had been nominated by the Sierra Leone government in 2002 as deputy prosecutor. Seated in the capital Freetown in its own specially built premises, the Special Court was created in 2002 by an agreement between the UN and the Sierra Leonean government. In 2000, while the country was still in the throes of war, the Sierra Leonean government had asked the UN to establish a war crimes tribunal and the UN had passed a resolution authorising this in August 2000. The Special Court has been at work on three trials, concerning the three parties to the conflict the Civil Defence Forces (CDF), a militia fighting alongside the Sierra Leone army; the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels; and the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) rebels. http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=52591&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=SIERRA_LEONE GUINEA: Prime Minister Diallo sacked in possible power struggle In a sign of high-level institutional infighting in Guinea, ailing President Lansana Conte sacked reformist Prime Minister Cellou Dalein Diallo on Wednedsay, hours after overturning a decree which would have increased Diallos influence. Diallo was appointed to head the government only 17 months ago and was highly regarded by international donors and financial institutions. State radio announced twice on Tuesday evening that under a decree signed by Conte himself, Diallo would take control of key ministerial portfolios including the economy, finance, international cooperation and planning. Under the sweeping government reshuffle, seven of his allies would be appointed to the cabinet and 12 ministers were set to leave the government. But at 10 a.m. on Wednesday morning, state radio announced the decree had been withdrawn until further notice. The government is maintained as it was before 4th April, the radio said. Less than three hours later, the Prime Ministers top advisor Aboubacar Sidiki Coulibaly told IRIN that Diallo had been removed from government. "The president decrees that prime minister Diallo is dismissed from his position for serious misconduct," state radio said. The ruckus appeared to be due to infighting between two camps in the government, according to reliable sources in Conakry. http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=52631&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=GUINEA BURKINA FASO: Bird flu confirmed by country unprepared Burkina Faso has confirmed an outbreak of the killer H5N1 avian influenza virus, but international experts warn that the government is ill prepared to contain the crisis, posing a risk of further outbreak in the region. The Burkina Faso Minister of Animal Resources Toemoko Konate confirmed in a radio address late on Monday that three cases of the bird flu strain H5N1 have been identified on a poultry farm in the Saaba department of Kadiogo province, just 10 km from the capital Ouagadougou. Burkina Faso officially notified the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Organization for Animal Health (OIE) on Tuesday morning. For an epidemic to be contained control measures including disinfection, movement controls and widespread culling of poultry and wild birds should be enacted within 48 hours of the outbreak. Yet the stricken Kadiogo province alone covers roughly 3,000 square kilometres, and has 1 million inhabitants. And veterinary officials in neighbouring Ghana have also been put on alert following the discovery of the deadly virus in Burkina Faso. "The disease is a real threat. Before the threat was at our borders, now it is within the country. We must continue to be watchful both inside and at the borders," said Minister Konate. The government has ordered a three km isolation zone around the farm concerned and a cull of its poultry. Officially the poultry population of Burkina Faso numbers 32 million birds, 24 per cent of them from large-scale farms and 76 per cent reared traditionally. Konate also reported that although widespread poultry and wild bird deaths were recorded in February, specimens were only sent to WHO and FAO labs in Padua, Italy on 13 March 2006. http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=52614&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=BURKINA_FASO BURKINA FASO: Bird sales plummet but bird flu awareness poor http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=52656&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=BURKINA_FASO BENIN: President Mathieu Kerekou leaves after 29 years Bucking a regional trend towards constitutional revision and chaotic political successions, Benins long-serving ruler Mathieu Kerekou at midnight on Wednesday observed the constitutional age limit and ceded the presidency to Boni Yayi, in a bow to democracy. Since first seizing power in a military coup in 1972, Mathieu amassed 29 years as ruler of Benin. He converted first his military dictatorship into a one-party Leninist-Marxist state in 1975, but in 1990 pulled off Africas first successful transition from dictatorship to democracy. After losing an election and standing down in 1991, he won a free and fair presidential ballot in 1996, and was awarded a second term in 2001. Fittingly for a man who ran his country through different ideologies, Kerekous motto was the stick cannot break in the arms of a chameleon. His trademark swagger stick was emblazoned with a chameleon. Kerekous adherence to the constitution and his successful engineering of a peaceful succession is made all the more remarkable given the often less than democratic norm in the region. General Kerekou has not given in to temptation, which is remarkable in Africa, said a Cameroonian newspaper, referring to the fact that he actually stood down. This action has planted Benin firmly in the club of democracies and also opened the voice of political rejuvenation and perhaps even the style of governance. http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=52665&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=BENIN BENIN: President-to-be pledges change with Gods blessing http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=52571&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=BENIN COTE D IVOIRE: Disarmament talks on track at last Rebel and army chiefs completed a first full round of working talks on Tuesday in Cote d'Ivoire's rebel stronghold of Bouake in what was described by the government as a sign of progress in efforts to reach an agreement over disarmament. "The talks were fruitful and focused on the concerns of both forces and the establishment of a structural framework," said a joint statement issued by Ivorian chief of staff Philippe Mangou and rebel military leader Soumaila Bakayoko. The atmosphere was so joyful that it was difficult to imagine that there have been disagreements between the two forces," Ivorian Defence Minister Rene Aphing said after the talks. We have clearly turned the page." The five key political players of the conflict in Cote d'Ivoire agreed in March that regular talks between loyalist and rebel forces should resume as part of a new peace deal designed to reunite the war-divided nation and prepare for presidential elections planned for October. Analysts say that trust between both forces must be restored before the long-awaited disarmament process can begin. There has been no fighting since Ivorian planes broke the cease-fire agreement and bombed rebel targets in 2004, but neither has there been reconciliation. 42,000 ex combatants of the New Forces movement, 5000 members of the regular army, and 12,000 militia members loyal to President Laurent Gbagbo in the west of the country must all be disarmed. http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=52621&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=COTE_D_IVOIRE COTE D IVOIRE: Rebel, loyalist military chiefs resume talks http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=52593&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=COTE_D_IVOIRE LIBERIA: EU turning on the taps for Monrovia Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleafs government is on track to deliver piped water to some of the capital's one million residents within months, the European Union said this week, fulfilling a major election promise to rebuild essential services. After more than a decade of dry taps, the head of the EU office Geoffrey Rudd said work to restore piped water had begun. "We hope in the next few months - within the 150 days deliverables agenda of the government - you will see water supply in Monrovia, he said. "We have started repair works on the White Plains Water Treatment Plant already and the 16-inch pipe that was used to pump water from the plant into Monrovia, Rudd added on Tuesday. Liberias 14-year war knocked out utilities such as water and power, leaving even the capital Monrovia without mains electricity or running water. Residents currently rely on water trucked to distribution tanks dotted around the city, which were built by the EU. From there, unemployed youths lug jerry cans across the bridge into town to sell to residents. They sell a five-gallon (20 litre) jerry can for five Liberian dollars (10 US cents). Since each cart carries about 20 jerry-cans, this means a water carrier can make about US $2 per day. Johnson-Sirleaf has made the restoration of power and water a priority for her new government, pledging to supply mains electricity and piped water to parts of Monrovia by July under a quick impact programme known as the 150 days deliverables. The EU, which is also helping restore power, hoped that in up to three to four years, water would be supplied through stand pumps in most parts of Monrovia that would serve the various communities," Rudd said. Liberia's power system was knocked out in 1990, shortly after the conflict began. Two years later, battle damage stopped the flow of water from the city's taps as well, leaving most of Monrovia's inhabitants dependent on polluted wells, purified water delivered by tanker truck, or jerry-cans of water sold from handcarts in the street. http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=52651&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=LIBERIA [ENDS] This is non-reply e-mail. 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