By Elizabeth Costner
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Africa

KHARTOUM, Sudan – Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir warned Saturday that although the government does not want war, it will be ready for one if forced to fight.  This statement came at a rally marking the 18th anniversary of the Popular Defense Forces (PDF), a militia he created to fight in Sudan’s 22-year civil war.  Bashir called on the PDF “to open training camps and gather mujahadeen not for the sake of war but to be ready for anything.” 

Southerners have been increasingly accusing the government of violating the peace treaty that ended the civil war in 2005, leading to concerns of a return to war. Bashir announced that he will continue to refuse to budge “an inch” on the contested borders of the oil-rich Abyei region, a dispute that led to the SPLM pulling its ministers out of the government in October.

Bashir’s comments come at a very turbulent time for the Darfur region and ongoing peace efforts.  Darfur peace talks, brokered by the AU and UN have died out due to boycotts of insurgent groups.  The SPLM and rebel groups, who have responded that they are for peace and not for a return to war, have condemned Bashir’s comments and accused him of “threatening and calling for war.”

Bashir also reiterated his right to exclude Western troops from a 26,000 UN-AU joint peacekeeping force scheduled to start operating in Darfur next year. “The boots of those who blasphemed the prophet Muhammad would never trample on Sudanese land” Bashir told the crowd at the rally.   This statement was apparently in reference to countries whose newspapers carried caricatures of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad.  A Denmark newspaper first published the drawings in 2005 and several European countries later reprinted them. 

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stated in his latest report that several obstacles remain in the way of a speedy deployment of the troops, including the Sudanese government’s refusal to assign land for the hybrid force.   Sudan also has yet to approve a list of troop donor countries.

For more information, please see:

Reuters – Former rebels accuse Sudan president of threatening war – 18 November 2007

Sudan Tribune – Bashir says Sudan will not accept troops from four countries in Darfur – 18 November 2007

The Times (South Africa) – Beshir ups ante in Sudan – 18 November 2007

AP – Sudan Leader Says He’d Be Ready for War – 17 November 2007

For more information on the Sudan situation, please see the following Impunity Watch reports:Continued Delays in Deployment of Sudan Hybrid Force; Sudan Talks Falter; Upcoming Peace Talks in Sudan in Jeopardy; New Atrocities in Darfur; Ceasefire Ends in Sudan; African Union Peacekeepers Attacked in Darfur; Ongoing Conflict in Sudan; ICC Prosecutor Demands Arrests in Sudan; Secretary General Urges Sudan President to Commit to Ceasefire; Peace Talks on Darfur Scheduled for October 

KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of Congo – More than 200 child soldiers were freed from a pro-government militia according to the U.N. children’s agency UNICEF.  UNICEF announced that the release of 232 children, with an average age of 14, is part of a campaign against the recruitment and use of children by armed groups operating in East Congo.  While the Congo army no longer use children, militias continue to draft and recruit them.  The children are engaged in battle, and used as porters, cooks, and lookouts.

The children were released from the Mai Mai militia through the combined efforts of UNICEF, Save the Children, and the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.   Around 29,000 children have been demobilized so far, however it is believed that hundreds or even thousands of children are still working with the armed groups.

According to UNICEF, the children are “currently in transitory care facilities and awaiting family reunification…Once reunified, they will receive assistance to go back to school, undertake vocational training, or start small income generating activities.”

For more information, please see:

BBC News – Children released from DRC rebels – 17 November 2007

AP – Child Soldiers Released in Congo – 17 November 2007

Reuters – More than 200 Congo child soldiers freed – 17 November 2007

By Myriam Clerge
Impunity Watch Reporter, Eastern and Southern Africa

MOGADISHU, Somalia – Following the gruesome event last week in which the bodies of two Ethiopian soldiers were dragged through the streets of Mogadishu, the Ethiopian army underwent an intensive search for insurgents believed to be involved with the incident. For several days Ethiopian troops carried out operations against the al-Shabaab, the military group of the former Islamic government, which left nearly 80 people dead in the streets. The troops continue to patrol and conduct door-to-door searches for insurgents.

According to the Human Right Watch’s Africa director, Peter Takirambudde, the Ethiopian soldiers are not distinguishing civilians from insurgents. This is partly the explanation why more civilians are killed. In accord, Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf warned residents of the capital that if they do not assist the government in fighting the insurgents, they risk being caught in the crossfire.

Within a week about 24,000 people have fled the capital for fear of being injured or killed in the crossfire of insurgent or Ethiopian attacks. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), estimates that 114,000 residents of Mogadishu has fled the city, and some 850,000 Somali people have left the country.

Together with Ethiopian troops, the Somali transitional government has also taken actions to crack down on insurgents and their supporters. Three prominent radio stations have been taken off the air since Monday in Mogadishu. Along side Radio Shabelle, which was forcibly closed, Mayor Mohamed “Dheere” Omar Habeeb accused 2 more private radio stations, Radio Banadir and Radio Simba, of supporting insurgents and undermining the government. Four stations, HornAfrik Radio, Holy Quran Radio, Radio Somali Weyn, and Voice of Democracy, remain on the air but their content and reports have been censored.

In the meantime, the Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced that the deployment of UN peacekeeping forces is unrealistic given the dire conditions. Instead the UN is encouraging dialogue between the transitional government and insurgents with the aim of ending the incessant violence and strengthening the public institutions to the point which would allow Ethiopian troops to withdraw.

However, negotiations appear unrealistic. In an audio clip posted on a website yesterday, Somali insurgent leader Sheikh Aden Hashi Ayrow asked insurgent fighters to attack African Union soldiers in Somalia. The peacekeeper’s spokesman, Major Felix Kulaigye replied by saying that the soldiers would defend themselves if necessary.

For more information please see:

BBC- Somali Insurgent Target AU Force – 14 November 2007

Yahoo News- Somali government Cracking Down on Media – 13 November 2007

AllAfrica.com – Somalia: Two More Radio Stations Shut Down for “Coverage Undermining the Government” – 14 November 2007

United Nations – UN peacekeeping mission in Somalia not realistic or viable, says Ban Ki-moon – 12 November 2007

Reuters: Africa – Residents Flee Mogadishu as Government Battles Rebels – 12 November 2007

Reuters: Africa – Death Toll in Somali Capital Nears 60 – 10 November 2007

BBC- Hunt for Insurgents in Mogadishu – 12 November 2007

MOMBASA, Kenya – Yesterday, the surviving crew of the Taiwanese vessel, Ching Fong Hwa No. 168, shared their experience after being kidnapped by Somali rebels for roughly seven months. The vessel and its fourteen crew members were first seized by 15 armed Somali pirates in April. One crew member was shot in the back and another, 32-year old Chen Tao from China, was killed when negotiations with the ship owner halted. The body of the murdered crew member was placed in the ship’s freezer.

In the end, the ship was released by the pirates on Nov. 5th after an unspecified ransom was paid to the kidnappers in October. According to the captain of the ship, Xinshen Ling, the pirates demanded $1.5 million. When the pirates demanded more money, the US Navy intervened and pressured the release of the ship and its crew. Upon release, the vessel was escorted out of Somali waters and safely to Kenya. There, the crew received food and medical assistance for the injuries they suffered due to the occasional beatings by the pirates.

Somalia is one of the world’s most dangerous shipping lanes. Twenty-six ships have been seized by pirates off the coast of Somalia this year, although deaths are rare, according to the East Africa Seafarers’ Assistance Program. Only two ships, a cargo ship registered in Comoros and a Japanese-owned chemical tanker, remain under pirate control.

For more information please see:

Reuters: Africa- Taiwanese Ship Freed by Pirates Arrives in Kenya – 14 November 2007

Reuters: Africa- Somali Pirates Killed Chinese Sailor- Official  – 15 November 2007

Yahoo News (AP) – Survivors of Somali pirate attack speak – 15 November 2007

By Meryl White
Impunity Watch Reporter, Western and Central Africa

BAKASSI, Cameroon – Nigerian and Cameroonian officials are meeting in Abuja to determine who killed 21 Cameroonian soldiers in the Tuesday attack in the Bakassi peninsula. Presently, both the Nigerian Army and Nigerian militant groups from the Niger Delta are denying their involvement. Witnesses claim that the attackers were dressed in Nigerian Army uniforms.

Nigerian Army spokesman, Col Amu told the BBC’s Network Africa programme: “We are all abiding by the decisions of the court; we withdrew our troops in compliance with that decision and ever since the relationship between the two countries have been at an all time high.”

Simultaneously, a Nigerian armed group has blown up and ruptured a major oil pipeline in the Niger Delta. This has impacted two main crude oil export terminals. The bomb resulted in the spillage in a large volume of oil in the Forcados site.

The Nigerian government speculates that the attack could have been conducted by the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), the militant group that was thought to be responsible for earlier attacks on an Exxon Mobil oil terminal. The Exxon Mobile attack follows the five-month ceasefire against workers of the oil industry. The ceasefire was an attempt for armed groups in the area to abandon their weapons and seek discussion with the Nigerian government.

For more information, please see:

Impunity Watch – 20 Cameroonian soldiers attacked in Bakassi Peninsula – 13 November 2007

BBC – Delta Militants Deny Bakassi Raid – 15 November 2007

BBC – Nigeria and Cameroon Probe Attack  – 14 November 2007