NAIROBI, 3 August 2007 (IRIN) - IRIN-Central & Eastern Africa Weekly Round-up 392 for 28 July - 3 August 2007

CONTENTS:

RWANDA: Economic inequalities affecting poverty reduction efforts RWANDA: New law brings hope for extradition of genocide suspects CONGO: Prison system criticised for ill-treatment DRC: Government seeks help for 75,000 IDPs DRC: Calm returns after anti-Banyamulenge demo - UN CAR: Civilians in northwest still afraid of going home UGANDA: National task force formed to tackle Marburg fever alert KENYA: Water cuts leave slum residents 'at risk' KENYA: Displaced farmers pay for police escorts

See Also: KENYA: Climate change and malaria in Nairobi http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73501

DRC: 'Pendulum displacement' in the Kivus http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73524

RWANDA: Economic inequalities affecting poverty reduction efforts

Rwanda has progressed in education, gender equality and democratic governance, but a concentration of wealth within the top income bracket is affecting overall poverty reduction efforts, a United Nations report said.

"Soaring inequality is threatening poverty reduction and economic growth," the National Human Development Report 2007 noted, adding that Rwanda's high growth rates have hidden large and growing inequalities between social classes, geographic regions and gender. Full report http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73483

RWANDA: New law brings hope for extradition of genocide suspects

Rwanda's Justice Minister Tharcisse Karugarama has expressed optimism that countries hosting genocide suspects would soon expedite their transfer to Kigali now the death penalty has been abolished.

"We have already signed extradition agreements with many countries in Africa, Europe and in North America," he said on 2 August in the capital, Kigali. "We are hoping that those countries will cooperate to bring to trial all genocide suspects, or to extradite their cases before Rwandan justice."

Before the legal reforms, which came into force on 25 July, countries such as Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Netherlands and Switzerland had refused to extradite suspects linked to the 1994 genocide over fears they would be executed after trial in Rwanda. Full repoort http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73561

CONGO: Prison system criticised for ill-treatment

Congo's legal system has come under fire for delaying trials and keeping remand prisoners in jail for long periods in poor conditions.

The director of Brazzaville's central prison, Colonel Sédar Oben, told IRIN: "Some are detained for six months, others for more than a year before they go to trial and most of them are detained for minor crimes. Full report http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73503

DRC: Government seeks help for 75,000 IDPs

The Democratic Republic of Congo's Humanitarian Affairs Minister Jean-Claude Muyambo has said there were 75,000 homeless people in the two biggest cities, adding to a growing number of internally displaced people countrywide.

His ministry released a documentary film showing that armed conflicts, natural catastrophes and the destruction by government officials of informal settlements have displaced 10,000 families (50,000 people) in Kinshasa and another 5,000 families (25,000 people) in the economic capital Lubumbashi. Full report http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73506

DRC: Calm returns after anti-Banyamulenge demo – UN

Calm has returned to the town of Moba in Katanga Province, southern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a day after demonstrators assaulted and wounded four United Nations military observers and destroyed several offices belonging to the UN and non-governmental organisations, an official said.

"After a day of looting, stone-throwing and break-ins into offices, the town is now calm and the last group of UN staff being evacuated is at the airport," Eusebe Hounsokou, the head of the UN Refugee Agency in DRC, said on 2 August from Lubumbashi, the provincial capital. Full report http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73549

CAR: Civilians in northwest still afraid of going home

Thousands of people who fled their homes in northwestern Central African Republic are reluctant to return despite improved security conditions, the International Committee of the Red Cross said.

The 18-month conflict between government forces and the rebel Army for the Restoration of the Republic and Democracy has displaced tens of thousands of people, especially around the towns of Kaga Bandoro and Paoua, according to aid workers.

Many villages have been burnt down, and possessions, crops and livestock stolen – prompting those displaced to seek shelter mostly in forests, close to their fields.

Full report http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73544

UGANDA: National task force formed to tackle Marburg fever alert

Ugandan health officials on 1 August issued an alert after three suspected cases of Marburg haemorrhagic fever were reported in a remote district near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Preliminary medical tests on two of the cases suggested they had contracted the deadly disease, officials said. One of them died in Kamwenge District, western Uganda.

"A national task force has been set up, tracing all potential contacts of the cases for further investigations and tests," the Ministry of Health said in a statement. Full report http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73527

KENYA: Water cuts leave slum residents 'at risk'

Residents took to the streets of Nairobi's second largest slum, Mathare, on 31 July after five days without water left them facing serious disease outbreaks, they said.

"The public toilets are polluted and sick people are using the toilets as well, so we are afraid that diseases will break out soon. We have not had drinking water for a couple of days, only dirty water is left," one resident said. Full report http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73510

KENYA: Displaced farmers pay for police escorts

Ongoing clashes that have displaced more than 100,000 people in Mt Elgon District near the Kenya-Uganda border have disrupted farming and trading activities, sources said.

"Those who had planted potatoes on their farms need to pay police escorts to go to their farms and to go to the market to sell the produce," Sokwony Laikong, a teacher in the affected areas, said. Full report http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73546

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