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

UNICEF has reported that 54 children have been recruited in northeast Kivu. Moreover, there are reports that in the west, there has been “forced recruitment of all males over the age of 15.”  The United Nations believes that more than 1,000 children have been recruited into the militia.

Female children are usually recruited to serve as sex slaves. In this capacity, young girls are often raped, tortured, mutilated or murdered by militants. The male children primarily serve as fighters. Males are taught from an early age to murder, maim, and rape. Recruitment also puts young children at risk of measles and cholera because they are living with spontaneous groups of people in poor living conditions without parental authority. Children who try to escape from the militant gangs are ultimately recruited by rival forces in the eastern part of Congo.

More than 80,000 children have been separated from the militia. Many of these children end up participating in petty crime or fall prey to other gangs.  Moreover, children become alienated from their former communities. Furthermore, since these children lack educational skills, they often lack the proper skills to reintegrate into civilian life. Presently, 5,500 children face the threat of re integration into militia groups.

UNICEF is currently trying to provide sanitary conditions for children living in camps and makeshift shelters. The agency is presently providing vaccination, nutritional supplements, and purified water to victims of the violence.

For more information, please see:

Yahoo news – Congo warlord recruiting children – 19 September 2007

AllAfrica – Congo-Kinshasa: Fighting Exposes Children to Forced Recruitment, Exploitation – UN – 19 September 2007

Christian Science Monitor – Ranks of Child Soldiers Swell Again in Congo – 19 September 2007

Two school children and three others were killed in a bombing this past Sunday in the capital of Somalia. Nine people were also injured. Sunday is a school day for a majority in the majority of Muslim Horn of Africa nations. This region has endured significant fighting and is patrolled daily by government troops and Ethiopian allies.

Thousands have been killed this year because of the periodic gunfire and attacks of government officials and stations. Random attacks have been so frequent, that troops are more concentrated on their own safety than that of the people and city. However, in this attack no government troop was in the area. Witnesses reported that the bomb was planted near the school in south Mogadishu where hundreds of students attend.

Again, remnants of the Islamic court’s militias and those unhappy with the presence of Ethiopian troops have been blamed for the bombing. These groups have also been blamed for a grenade attack on police officers that killed one civilian and another grenade attack in the capital’s main market that killed one person and wounded five. In many attacks, civilians are the ones killed or injured. The tactics are widely viewed as “barbaric”.

For more information please see:

“5 Somalis killed in violence, nine hurt” Yahoo News: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070826/ap_on_re_af/somalia;_ylt=At07Xtk5twFyd3Q5smB5QCu96Q8F 26, Aug. 2007.

“Somalia: Roadside Bomb Explosion Kills 2 Students in Mogadishu” AllAfrica.com: http://allafrica.com/stories/200708260009.html 26, Aug. 2007.

“Fear Stalk Somalia’s Capital Once Again” BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6252359.stm 11, Jan. 2007.

Khartoum, Sudan – UN Secretary General Ban ki-Moon made a statement on Tuesday that he is deeply concerned about the recent escalation of violence in the Darfur region.  In his statement, he said that several hundred people have died in incidents including an August 1 attack on a police station and air strikes in South Darfur.  On Wednesday, the Sudanese government quickly rejected the statement, with the foreign ministry spokesman saying the statement was based on fabricated news stories.

The Secretary General is now planning a trip to the region, so that he can see for himself the conditions under which the UN-AU peacekeeping mission planned for Darfur will operate.  He is also looking to know firsthand the plight of the people in Darfur.

The trip is scheduled for September 3-6, and will be Ban’s first trip to Sudan as secretary general.   Mr. Ban has also laid out a three-point action plan for Darfur, focusing on peacekeeping efforts, humanitarian aid, and the search for a long-term political solution.  The joint UN-AU force, comprised of more than 25,000 military and police personnel, is one of the most complex operations the UN has ever undertaken.  The cooperation of Sudanese’s government is needed in order for the operation to be a success, and Ban is looking to get this support when he travels there next week and meets with President Omar al-Bashir.

After visiting Sudan, Ban will continue to meet with Libya’s leader Muammar Gaddafi, a key regional leader who will be useful in bringing some of the Darfur parties to the negotiations.  Ban will then continue on to Chad, where the Security Council indicated yesterday they would be willing to authorize a UN presence to support an EU force in the east of the country and in the Central African Republic, which have both had problems due to clashes between rebel and government forces and the spillover from Darfur.

Since the conflict began in the Darfur region in 2003, at least 200,000 people have died and more than two million have been displaced.

For more information, please see:

Voice of America – Sudan Rejects UN Statement Alleging Increased Darfur Violence – 29 August 2007

Voice of America – UN Chief to Visit Sudan Next Week – 28 August 2007

Independence Online (South Africa) – UN leader is banking on new plan for Darfur – 28 August 2007

AllAfrica.com – Ban ki-Moon to Visit Next Week to ‘Lock In’ Progress Towards Darfur Peace – 28 August 2007

Washington Times – UN’s Ban to visit Sudan’s Darfur region – 29 August 2007

President Kabba’s warning came as the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) issued a statement citing that supporters of the leading opposition party, the All People’s Congress (APC), had “brutally assaulted” SLPP supporters.

A statement by the APC said, “We all must, as a matter of duty, stop those who are threatening the state with brutal and murderous war and genocide.”

The rising threats make President Kabbah fear that election violence will cause civil unrest and chaos. Kabbah stated, “All those responsible for the violence and lawlessness should be prepared for the consequences.”

In Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, police had to use tear gas to end rioting between rival supporters who clashed on the streets on Sunday and Monday. Furthermore, in the diamond-rich town of Kono, several people were injured when police used tear gas in that region.

For more information, please see:

“Sierra Leone: President Threatens to Declare Emergency.” 28 August 2007. Allafrica.com http://allafrica.com/stories/200708280582.html

“Sierra Leone President threatens to impose state of emergency.” International Herald Tribune. 28 August 2007. http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/28/africa/AF-POL-Sierra-Leone.php

“Emergency threat in Sierra Leone.” 28 August 2007. BBC. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6966339.stm