The Niger Delta holds all of Nigeria’s oil, and is responsible for 95% of hard currency earnings, although most of the people of the Delta live in poverty.  Corrupt officials take millions of dollars meant for basic services and development, and many are accused by civil rights groups of having involvement in the trade of crude oil stolen from pipelines across the region.  President Yar’Adua ordered an investigation last week into the alleged links between government officials in the Niger Delta and the violent criminal gangs.

For more information, please see:

BBC News – Nigerian Militants Call off Truce – 24 September 2007

USA Today – Nigerian militants vow further attacks – 23 September 2007

Reuters – Nigerian oil rebels threaten attacks after arrest – 23 September 2007

The Niger Delta holds all of Nigeria’s oil, and is responsible for 95% of hard currency earnings, although most of the people of the Delta live in poverty.  Corrupt officials take millions of dollars meant for basic services and development, and many are accused by civil rights groups of having involvement in the trade of crude oil stolen from pipelines across the region.  President Yar’Adua ordered an investigation last week into the alleged links between government officials in the Niger Delta and the violent criminal gangs.

For more information, please see:

BBC News – Nigerian Militants Call off Truce – 24 September 2007

USA Today – Nigerian militants vow further attacks – 23 September 2007

Reuters – Nigerian oil rebels threaten attacks after arrest – 23 September 2007

The report comes after the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) alleges violations of human rights by government military. The government has denied all allegations. The team visited three of the five zones in the Somali Regional State. According to the ONLF, the Fik and Warder zones are the areas where the worst atrocities were committed; the UN mission was only granted access to “routes approved by the regime.”

The report however did not comment on the claims of abuses. Yet, taking into account the deteriorating situation in the region and direct accounts of human rights abuses, the report does urgently recommend an independent investigation of those allegations.

Instead, the main focus of the report was the humanitarian and food situation. The OFLA has also accused the government of creating a man-made famine. The report expresses concerns of drastic food, drug and medical shortages that will likely reach emergency level very shortly. The region has long been extremely poor but the increased fighting between the ONLF and the government has worsened the conditions. Furthermore, the government commercial and livestock trade restrictions have only aggravated the situation. The price of food has nearly doubled.

The report calls for immediate and “impartial” food distribution to 600,000 people in the region for the next three months. The government has promised to ensure the needs of the people through its collaboration with the UN. The report further appeals to both sides to guarantee the food and medical aid reach those in need.

For more information please see:

BBC – UN Seeks Ethiopia Abuses Inquiry – 20 September 2007

Yahoo News (AFP) – UN Calls for Probe into Alleged Eastern Ethiopia Rights Abuses – 19 September 2007

AllAfrica.com – Ethiopia: UN Report Warn of Food Crisis in Ogaden – 20 September 2007

Both men are wanted by the ICC on 51 counts of crimes against humanity and war crimes.  Ahmed Haroun was a minister responsible for the Darfur portfolio in 2003 and 2004 and allegedly was responsible for organizing and funding the Janjaweed militia.  As the minister for humanitarian affairs, he currently has authority of the displaced persons camps and control over the flow of humanitarian aid.  Mr. Ocampo has said that “there can be no solution     to the crisis in Darfur while Mr. Haroun remained free.”  Ali Muhammad Ali Abad al-Rahman, also known as Ali Kushayb, is accused of ordering the torture and mass rape of civilians during attacks on villages in west Darfur.

Ministers from 26 countries have been invited to attend a meeting on Friday chaired by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and African Union Chairman Alpha Oumar Konare.  The meeting is intended to discuss mobilizing support for new political negotiations, deployment of a 26,000 UN-AU force, and expansion of humanitarian assistance.  Mr. Ocampo urged the international community to remind Sudan’s government of its duty to arrest those charged.  “I am concerned that silence by most states and international organizations on the subject of the arrest warrant has been understood in Khartoum as a weakening of international resolve in support of the law, and in support of the arrest…It is time to break the silence.”

Political talks are set to begin in Libya next month between the Sudanese government and Darfur rebels to discuss peace and to speed up deployment of peacekeepers to the region.   The arrest warrants are not on the agenda for those talks.

For more information, please see:

BBC News – Prosecutor demands Sudan arrests – 21 September 2007

AFP – ICC prosecutor presses for arrest of Darfur war crimes suspects – 21 September 2007

Sudan Tribune – ICC Prosecutor urges world to be on side of Darfur victims – 21 September 2007

The Canadian Press – Prosecutors want arrest of alleged war criminals atop Darfur agenda – 21 September 2007

The report comes after the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) alleges violations of human rights by government military. The government has denied all allegations. The team visited three of the five zones in the Somali Regional State. According to the ONLF, the Fik and Warder zones are the areas where the worst atrocities were committed; the UN mission was only granted access to “routes approved by the regime.”

The report however did not comment on the claims of abuses. Yet, taking into account the deteriorating situation in the region and direct accounts of human rights abuses, the report does urgently recommend an independent investigation of those allegations.

Instead, the main focus of the report was the humanitarian and food situation. The OFLA has also accused the government of creating a man-made famine. The report expresses concerns of drastic food, drug and medical shortages that will likely reach emergency level very shortly. The region has long been extremely poor but the increased fighting between the ONLF and the government has worsened the conditions. Furthermore, the government commercial and livestock trade restrictions have only aggravated the situation. The price of food has nearly doubled.

The report calls for immediate and “impartial” food distribution to 600,000 people in the region for the next three months. The government has promised to ensure the needs of the people through its collaboration with the UN. The report further appeals to both sides to guarantee the food and medical aid reach those in need.

For more information please see:

BBC – UN Seeks Ethiopia Abuses Inquiry – 20 September 2007

Yahoo News (AFP) – UN Calls for Probe into Alleged Eastern Ethiopia Rights Abuses – 19 September 2007

AllAfrica.com – Ethiopia: UN Report Warn of Food Crisis in Ogaden – 20 September 2007