NAIROBI, 30 November 2007 (IRIN) - CONTENTS:

UGANDA: Ebola outbreak kills 16  KENYA-SUDAN: UN agency to repatriate 3,000 Sudanese by December KENYA: More deaths, displacement reported in Mt Elgon DRC: Campaign against sexual violence in South Kivu DRC: Curfew imposed in Equateur to stem worsening insecurity CONGO: Human rights groups urge legal protection for indigenous communities

See Also: UGANDA-SUDAN: Worries over Otti's whereabouts cast shadow on talks 

http://www.irinnews.org/PrintReport.aspx?ReportId=75550 ] UGANDA-SUDAN: "We believe LRA deputy still alive" – South Sudan government http://www.irinnews.org/PrintReport.aspx?ReportId=75480 ]

DRC: "The blood keeps flowing" http://www.irinnews.org/PrintReport.aspx?ReportId=75524 ]

UGANDA: Ebola outbreak kills 16

An outbreak of Ebola haemorrhagic fever in the western Uganda district of Bundibugyo has killed 16 of 51 people infected over the past three weeks, a senior health official said.

"We have been on the ground and we are deploying more people to manage the situation," Sam Zaramba, director of health services at the ministry of health, told IRIN on 30 November. "This morning, more experts were sent to the region to further study the situation," he added.

Blood samples analysed for the highly contagious Ebola virus at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, United States, had tested positive, Zaramba said. Full report http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75606

KENYA-SUDAN: UN agency to repatriate 3,000 Sudanese by December

The UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, will repatriate at least 3,000 Sudanese from the Kakuma camp in northwestern Kenya by end-December, an official told IRIN.

"Two flights are scheduled to leave Kakuma today [29 November]; in fact, one has already left with 39 passengers for Rumbek [Southern Sudan]; the second one will leave later in the day with 42 passengers, also for Rumbek," Emmanuel Nyabera, the UNHCR spokesman, said.

He added that two other flights would leave Kakuma for Rumbek on 30 November, each with 40 passengers. The latest repatriation, which began on 21 November, brings the number of refugees assisted by UNHCR to return to Southern Sudan this year to 4,577, Nyabera said. [Full report: http://www.irinnews.org/PrintReport.aspx?ReportId=75575 ]

KENYA: More deaths, displacement reported in Mt Elgon

A conflict over by land ownership rights in the Mt Elgon district of western Kenya has claimed the lives of another four people and forced more people to flee their homes in an area where an estimated 45,000 people have been displaced since the feud erupted a year ago.

"The situation is deteriorating," said James Kisia, deputy secretary-general and head of operations at the Kenya Red Cross Society. "Four people were killed on Monday and 70 heads of cattle stolen in Chepkoya on Monday," he said.

The incidents forced dozens of people to flee to the towns of Kitale, Chepkitale and Kimilili, where the Kenya Red Cross Soceity and its partner agencies have been distributing food, shelter material and providing health services to people who have sought refuge there. [Full report: http://www.irinnews.org/PrintReport.aspx?ReportId=75526 ]

DRC: Campaign against sexual violence in South Kivu

A campaign to combat gender violence is under way in South Kivu, in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, a province that has become notorious for the high incidence of rape and other sexual violations.

Activities ranging from conferences to marches have been taking place since 23 November to educate victims and the rest of the population under the theme: Stop the rape of our most precious resource: Power to women and girls in the DRC. The campaign is part of a global drive running from the UN's International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on 25 November to Human Rights Day on 10 December. [Full report: http://www.irinnews.org/PrintReport.aspx?ReportId=75580 ] [See also: Rising food prices add to misery in the east http://www.irinnews.org/PrintReport.aspx?ReportId=75502 ]

DRC: Curfew imposed in Equateur to stem worsening insecurity

Authorities in the northwestern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) province of Equateur have imposed a nighttime curfew in the area until further notice in a bid to curb insecurity, including murder and extortion by armed men.

"We want to stop rising incidents of insecurity," the governor of the province, Jose Makila, who announced the curfew on 27 November, told IRIN.

The curfew between 11pm and 5am will apply mostly in Equateur's capital, Mbadaka, and other areas of the province where cases of murder and extortion have been on the rise, he said. [Full report: http://www.irinnews.org/PrintReport.aspx?ReportId=75551 ]

CONGO: Human rights groups urge legal protection for indigenous communities

NGOs in the Republic of Congo have urged the country's president to adopt a draft law aimed at protecting indigenous people, who, they say, are often discriminated against and whose rights are violated.

The appeal was made at news conference on 27 November by the Congolese human rights watchdog Observatoire Congolais des Droits de l'Homme (OCDH) and its partners, a few days after the launch of an international petition to the president to initiate a process of adopting legislation on the rights of indigenous people. [Full report: http://www.irinnews.org/PrintReport.aspx?ReportId=75553 ]

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