NAIROBI, 24 May 2007 (IRIN) - Human rights violations, by states as well as other groups, continued unabated in several countries in the Horn and Eastern Africa, Amnesty International (AI) states in its annual report.

The report, launched on 23 May, details abuses, including arbitrary detention of government critics, religious persecution, disappearances, murder and torture.

In Somalia, civilians continue to suffer from factional violence as rival groups compete for political power. Drought ravaged many areas and humanitarian access was impeded by insecurity and threats to staff.

International reconstruction aid was also delayed due to the absence of a united and effective government in Somalia since the state institutions collapsed in 1991. Conditions for 400,000 internally displaced people remained poor, and discrimination and violence against minorities was widespread, with little protection from government or justice institutions.

"There was no rule of law or justice system consistent with international standards in the central and southern regions of Somalia," Amnesty said.

Traditional justice 'unfair'

On Rwanda, Amnesty said it was concerned over the fairness of the traditional justice system, known as 'gacaca', which was being used to try suspected perpetrators of the 1994 genocide. "Poorly qualified, ill-trained and corrupt gacaca judges in certain districts fuelled widespread distrust of the system," according to AI.

The London-based watchdog said the government maintained tight control over civil society groups, whose work was carried out in an atmosphere of fear and suspicion. Several thousand detainees were held in long-term detention without trial in harsh conditions and about 600 people remained on death row.

Rwanda, however, rejected the report. A statement carried by the official Rwanda News Agency (RNA) said some of the issues raised by Amnesty had been resolved, adding that thousands of detainees had been freed recently. Both the cabinet and parliament had ratified legislation scrapping the death penalty, one of the issues raised by Amnesty, according to RNA.

RNA pointed out that Pasteur Bizimungu, former president of Rwanda, who had been sentenced to 15 years in jail in 2005 on charges of inciting civil disobedience, associating with criminal elements and embezzlement of state funds, had been released in a presidential pardon in April.

On Eritrea, Amnesty said thousands of prisoners of conscience remained in jail and minority religious groups, including more than 35 evangelical churches and Jehovah's Witnesses, were not allowed to profess their faith.

The government had also expelled several international NGOs that were providing humanitarian aid and 18 journalists remained in detention, 10 since 2001. Military conscription remained compulsory and could be extended indefinitely for all men aged between 18 and 40, although women were reportedly allowed to leave at the age of 27, Amnesty said.

Eritrean authorities were not immediately available to comment on the report.

Amnesty said Kenya's human rights record had not improved under the present government. Most people were living in fear of organised terror gangs while police officers harassed those fleeing from criminals. The report said the government had evicted more than 10,000 families from informal settlements in 2006, while the fate of 70 Kenyans extradited to Somalia and Guantánamo Bay on terror charges was unclear.

Ethiopia under fire

In Ethiopia, Amnesty highlighted the arrests and political trials of opposition party leaders, journalists and human rights defenders, and the deaths of civilians at the hands of security forces. Ethiopia, which also sent troops to Somalia in December to prop up the government there, rejected the findings.

"[In Mogadishu, the Somali capital] people have begun to return to their houses in significant numbers; there has been substantial progress in disarmament, with over 150 businesses handing over weapons," a Foreign Ministry statement said. "Most of Mogadishu is now beginning to return, if gradually, to relative normality."

Saying Amnesty was biased against Ethiopia, the statement noted: "We are not trying to conceal errors; we are certainly aware that human rights in Ethiopia is 'a work in progress', but we would point out that it is actually 'in progress'."

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