CEA: IRIN-CEA Weekly Round-up 388 for 23 - 29 June 2007
Source: IRIN
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NAIROBI, 29 June 2007 (IRIN) -
CONTENTS: CAR: Armed actors exploiting vacuum in north, says Amnesty International
CAR: Rebel defections may boost aid work in northwest
CONGO: First-round polls marred by poor organisation
DRC:
NGO suspends operations amid increased displacement in the east
GLOBAL: Protect rights of minorities to avoid conflict, NGO urges
TANZANIA: Drug abuse, trafficking on the rise, warns president TANZANIA: Private-public partnership boosts healthcare CAR: Armed actors exploiting vacuum in north, says Amnesty International Violence in Sudan and Chad has placed at risk hundreds of thousands
of civilians in northern neighbouring Central African Republic (CAR), Amnesty International has warned. "The northern areas [of CAR] have become a free-for-all - a hunting ground for the
region's various armed opposition forces, government troops, and even armed bandits - some of whom come from as far away as West Africa to kidnap and loot in local villages," the human
rights watchdog said in a statement on 26 June. In these areas, it noted, armed CAR opposition forces kill civilians who do not support or refuse to join them, while government troops kill civilians
they accuse of colluding with the armed groups and burn down entire villages during reprisal attacks.
Full report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72933 CAR: Rebel defections may
boost aid work in northwest Two months after the government of the Central African Republic concluded a peace agreement with a rebel group in the northeast, some fighters belonging to another
insurgent group in the northwest have abandoned rebellion, sources said. The move, observers said, could boost ongoing efforts to resume humanitarian work in the volatile region where the killing of
a Médecins Sans Frontières worker on 11 June prompted agencies to suspend operations. The International Medical Corps has decided to resume operations in Vakaga Province, an area beset by
rebellion, rampant banditry and the spill over of conflicts in Chad and Sudan.
Full report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72946 CONGO: First-round polls marred by poor
organisation With ballot counting under way after the first round of legislative elections in the Republic of Congo, the widespread chaos and malpractices during voting could cast doubt on the final
outcome, observers and residents in the capital Brazzaville said. Polling stations opened late and voter registers and ballot papers were not available in many polling stations, observers from the
African Union and Economic Community of Central African States said in a statement. According to local observers, the polls were marred by poor organisation and most polling stations opened long
after 7am.
Full report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72970 DRC: NGO suspends operations amid increased displacement in the east Violence in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo
has forced non-governmental organisations to limit operations in some areas in North and South Kivu, officials said, even as more people are displaced. On 25 June, armed men wearing military
uniforms attacked two vehicles belonging to Solidarité Internationale in Kisharo in the Rutshuru territory of North Kivu. A vehicle was looted. Kemal Saiki, spokesman for the UN Mission in
Congo, said the incident followed a similar one several days earlier in the same area. Attacks against humanitarian actors had also occurred in South Kivu where an NGO storehouse in Uvira was
plundered on 20 June.
Full report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72972 GLOBAL: Protect rights of minorities to avoid conflict, NGO urges The violation of minority rights is often a
first sign of an approaching conflict, which could be prevented by protecting minority communities at an early stage, Minority Rights Group International (MRG) has stated in a new report. "There is no 'one-size-fits-all' model for conflict prevention but consideration of minority rights can help offer solutions," MRG said in Minority Rights: The Key to Conflict
Prevention, issued on 26 June. The report cites conflicts in Sudan's Darfur region, Chechnya, Kashmir, Kosovo and Sri Lanka as some of the world's most bitter, which were "all fuelled
and fought over ethnic, linguistic, religious or cultural issues".
Full report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72951 TANZANIA: Drug abuse, trafficking on the rise, warns
president Drug trafficking and abuse are increasing in Tanzania and concerted efforts must be made to check this trend, President Jakaya Kikwete has said. "Tanzania used to be a transit point
for drugs, but now the number of users is escalating very fast," Kikwete said at public rally to mark international anti-narcotics day on 26 June in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania's commercial capital. He urged the police, other law enforcement bodies, parents and activists to step up the war against narcotics, saying trafficking and use of drugs had reached alarming levels. He said the problem was
especially serious in Dar es Salaam, the semi-autonomous island of Zanzibar and in the northern towns of Arusha, Mwanza and Tanga.
Full report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72953 TANZANIA: Private-public partnership boosts healthcare Residents of Tanzania's northern regions of Arusha, Kilimanjaro and Manyara will benefit from improved diagnostic services after the
installation of an ultra-modern laboratory at the Mt Meru Hospital in Arusha town. "The hospital can now provide automated testing crucial for the diagnosis and continued monitoring of HIV/AIDS
and many other diseases," Health Minister David Mwakyusa said on 27 June during the inauguration ceremony.
Full report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72969
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