By Elizabeth Costner
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Africa

KHARTOUM, Sudan – After a two-month absence, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) have said they will rejoin the national unity government in Sudan.  In October, the SPLM withdrew amid accusations that President Bashir’s National Congress Party was failing to implement the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement which ended the 21-year civil war. 

The SPLM has agreed to end the boycott following a meeting between their leader, First Vice President Salva Kiir and Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir.  The parties agreed to funding for a census and a timetable to pull troops out of the north-south border.  The government will also move to the southern capital of Juba every three months.

Although there is still no agreement regarding the oil-rich Abyei region, SPLM’s Secretary General Pagan Amum said most issues had been resolved. Abyei “is a complicated question whose resolution requires a lot of efforts and we hope that it will be resolved by December 31 [or] that there will be an agreement on how to resolve it” said a member of Bashir’s National Congress Party. 

The Comprehensive Peace Agreement ended Africa’s longest running civil war that resulted in 2 million deaths and 4 million displaced.  It was largely between Khartoum’s Islamist government and Christian and animist rebels.  The agreement provides for a six-year transition period, which allows the south to retain autonomy and participate in the national government.  A national referendum is scheduled for 2011 on whether to create a separate southern state.

For more information, please see:

BBC News – Sudanese peace deal back on track – 12 December 2007

AFP – Former Sudanese rebels to rejoin unity cabinet – 12 December 2007

Reuters Africa – Sudan moves parliament south to heal rift – 12 December 2007

VOA News – Southern Ministers Set to Rejoin Sudan Government – 12 December 2007

MUSHAKE, DRC –  Reports confirm that the rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo have recaptured the strategic eastern town of Mushake, which they lost to the national army last week. A UN spokesman confirmed that “Nkunda’s troops have taken up positions around Mushake and Mushake itself. The regular army is no longer present there.”

Presently, United Nation forces in the town of Sake, are threatening force against the rebels if the rebels continue to fight. Government officials also fear that the rebels have captured the town of Karuba.

The Defense Minister of the National Army, says that the army is currently planning a counter attack to seize Mushake. Mushake is a strategic military point because it provides an outlook to a critical road in Eastern DRC. The Minister stated, “The insurgents launched a surprise attack. We pulled back and they retook Mushake and Karuba, but this won’t last.”

Observers believe that the recapture of Mushake is both a major set back for the army and for UN peacekeepers, who do not want to resort to methods of violence to end this conflict.

During this part of the conflict, DRC army has suffered heavy casualties. UN General Gaye stated that in an effort to protect civilians, “We can propose solutions to ensure the security of these people but they must also take responsibility and not put themselves in a situation where they endanger their lives.”

For more information, please see:

BBC – DR Congo rebels retake key town – 11 December 2007

All Africa – Congo-Kinshasa: Army Suffers Setback in Offensive Against Rebels  – 11 December 2007

RTE – UN Threatens to Take On DRC Rebels  – 11 December 2007

THE HAGUE, Netherlands – The special court trying former Liberian President Charles Taylor for war crimes held a final status conference today. The hearing lasted less than ten minutes, and the prosecution and defense both agreed they would be ready to begin hearing evidence on January 7.  The trial is expected to continue until mid-2009. 

Taylor was indicted by the Special Court for Sierra Leone, but is being tried in The Hague under fears that it would ignite violence if held in Freetown.  Taylor’s trial began in June, but it was postponed to allow Taylor’s new defense team more team to prepare.

For more information, please see:

AP – Taylor War Crimes Trial to Resume in Jan. – 11 December 2007

Jurist – Taylor defense set for January war crimes trial resumption – 11 December 2007

For more information on Charles Taylor, please see the following Impunity Watch reports: Charles Taylor Appointed New Lawyer; Charles Taylor Trial Delayed; Reactions to Beginning of Charles Taylor Trial; Thoughts on Charles Taylor Trial; Opening Day in Charles Taylor Trial

KIGALI, Rwanda – After the brutal beating and arrest of The New Times’s photographer, George Baryamwisaki (Barya) and staff colleague Ignatius Ssuuna, on Tuesday evening, other journalists have come forward with their accounts of assaults by the hands of Rwandan police.

While covering a story on hawkers being chased off the streets, a policeman turned his gun on Barya because he allegedly took his picture without his permission. Barya and Ssuuna were handcuffed and ordered to follow the officer to the police station. Along the way, the policeman allegedly punched and kicked Barya. The two journalists were detained for hours before being released. Upon release, Barya was admitted to the hospital.

The following day, the Commissioner General of Police, Andrew Rwigamba promised to investigate the allegations.

However many journalists are not hopeful the investigation will quell the tension between reporters and police officers. Three other reporters from The New Times and other newspapers came forward with similar stories of abuse.

In one incident, Daniel Sabiiti, reporter for The New Times, and Jean-Pierre Twizeyeyezu, reporter for Contact FM were arrested while covering a Garaca trial. According the reporters, the police officers tried to confiscate their identifications. When they refused, they were detained. When they were released, the reporters were forced to sign a paper stating that they had not been harassed or embarrassed. The reporters were then dropped off in the middle of the country “in the dead of night.”

Police spokesman, Inspector Willy Higiro, claims the reporters’ claims are “exaggerated” and that “[j]ournalists often believe they are above the law.”

For more information please see:

AllAfrica .com – Rwanda: Policemen used to beating Journalist – 10 December 2007

AllAfrica.com – Rwanda: Police Investigate Officer for Assaulting Journalist – 7 December 2007

By Elizabeth Costner
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Africa

LUANDA, Angola – On Wednesday, international humanitarian group Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) released a report that Angolan soldiers routinely and repeatedly rape Congolese women who have illegally crossed the border looking for work in the diamond fields.  The army in Angola explicitly denied the allegations, although they have said that they will investigate. 

MSF stated that over a two-week period in October they saw over 200 rape victims at a clinic in Western Kasai, a Congolese province bordering Angola.  The rape of Congolese women was described as “pervasive and systematic” and the report stated that some migrants have died as a result of the violence, while others have been exposed to HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.  “Women are systematically raped by several soldiers, some of them raped in front of their children.  The abhorrent practice continues and is repeated over several days as they are transported to the border.” 

MSF’s allegations follow similar reports by other human rights groups.  Angola’s government does not typically respond to criticism from Western rights groups, although it has described illegal immigration as a major problem.

Human rights activists in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) accused their government as well as Angola’s of turning a blind eye to the reports. Voice of the Voiceless, a DRC non-governmental organization, stated that “[t]he situation seems to be getting worse but the Angolan and Congolese authorities we have repeatedly approached show no political will to end the situation.”

UN figures estimate that 44,000 Congolese have been expelled from the diamond fields in Angola since January.  An estimated 400,000 DRC citizens continue to live in those areas despite the recurring problems.

For more information, please see:

Reuters – Angola army denies Congolese migrant rape charges – 8 December 2007

AllAfrica.com – Angola: UN Human Rights Chief Alarmed By Reports of Abuses of Congolese – 7 December 2007

AllAfrica.com – Congo-Kinshasa: Activists Denounce Political Apathy Towards Migrant Rape Victims – 7 December 2007

AP – Angolan Soldiers Accused of Mass Rape – 6 December 2007