NAIROBI, 15 September 2007 (IRIN) - Central and East Africa: IRIN-CEA Weekly Round-up 398 for 8 - 14 September 2007

CONTENTS:

CAR: Civilians bear brunt of abuses in conflict - HRW DRC: Call to address sexual violence in the east DRC: Kabila urges rebel leader to agree on army integration DRC: Outbreak in Kasai Occidental confirmed as Ebola DRC: Ebola outbreak "contained" - Kabila DRC: Vaccination campaign for displaced in North Kivu DRC: Fresh clashes reported in North Kivu CONGO: Peace process to benefit from ex-rebel leader's presence in capital BURUNDI: Rebel activity displaces hundreds in Bubanza RWANDA: Heavy rains wreak havoc in northwest TANZANIA: Authorities urge residents to move from volcano area

See Also:

KENYA: Livelihoods hit as water hyacinth takes over Lake Victoria at: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74270

UGANDA: Residents cheer as first camp is officially closed at: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74251

KENYA: Trapped in Budalangi flood plain at: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74212

CAR: Civilians bear brunt of abuses in conflict - HRW

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has accused government troops in the Central African Republic (CAR) of killing hundreds of civilians and torching the homes of thousands in an operation against insurgents since 2005, in a report released on 14 September.

"Just across the border from Darfur [Sudan], the army of the Central African Republic has killed hundreds of innocent civilians and forced tens of thousands to flee their villages," Peter Takirambudde, Africa director at HRW, stated in the report, State of Anarchy: Rebellion and Abuses Against Civilians. Full report http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74296

DRC: Call to address sexual violence in the east

The international community must take urgent action to eliminate rampant sexual violence in war-torn eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Stephen Lewis, former UN special envoy for AIDS in Africa, has said.

"The contagion of sexual violence on the African continent is blood-chilling, and nowhere more so than in the eastern DRC," Lewis said at a press conference in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, on 13 September. "Despite this, there seems to be unwillingness among the international community to take action."

He noted that while the world focused, understandably, on the crisis in the western Sudanese region of Darfur, eastern DRC - which has suffered 10 to 20 times more casualties than Darfur over the course of its decade-long war - had fallen off the agenda. Full report http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74293

DRC: Kabila urges rebel leader to agree on army integration

President Joseph Kabila of the Democratic Republic of Congo has urged dissident General Laurent Nkunda to integrate his forces voluntarily into the national army or face force.

"We will continue to build up the army's capacity to force him to accept the integration into the army," Kabila said. "I have spoken on previous occasions about stick and carrot politics but it appears that they have eaten all our carrots and the only thing we have left is the stick.

"I won't allow anyone – whether an individual or a society – to have a militia. It's unacceptable," Kabila said.

Nkunda and his men launched hostilities more than two weeks ago in North Kivu province to fight the regular army, which had strengthened its presence in the area in a bid to force the rebels to integrate. Full report http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74295

DRC: Ebola outbreak "contained" - Kabila

Measures have been taken to prevent the spread of Ebola following the deaths of at least 160 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo's southern province of Kasai Occidental during the past two months, President Joseph Kabila said.

"The village of Kampungu [the worst affected] has been quarantined to prevent population movement towards Kananga," Kabila told reporters on 13 September. Kananga is the main town in the province.

"The situation is at the moment, I cannot say under control, but at least the problem has been contained very well in the area," he said. "There is no risk that the whole country will be affected," said Kabila. Full report http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74300

DRC: Vaccination campaign for displaced in North Kivu

A vaccination campaign targeting thousands of displaced children and pregnant women is to commence next week in a camp in North Kivu, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), health officials said.

"In seven days, at least 22,000 children between the ages of six months and 15 years will be vaccinated against measles," Stéphane Bateyi, the coordinator of the vaccination programme in Goma, the main town in the province, said. [Full report at: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74246]

DRC: Outbreak in Kasai Occidental confirmed as Ebola

Health authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have identified a fever outbreak that has claimed at least 167 lives in the southern province of Kasai Occidental as Ebola.

"The results from the referral laboratory in Franceville in Gabon and the CDC [Centers for Disease Control] in Atlanta in the United States confirmed the diagnosis of the haemorrhagic viral Ebola fever," health minister Victor Makwenge Kaput said on national television on 10 September. [Full report at: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74229]

DRC: Fresh clashes reported in North Kivu

Even before civilians who fled fighting between the national army and forces loyal to dissident General Laurent Nkunda in North Kivu province, in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, could return to their homes after a truce, another outbreak of violence was reported in the area.

Militias known as Mai Mai clashed with other armed groups on 9 September in the villages of Kitshanga and Bwila, about 100km northwest of Goma, the main town in North Kivu, according to Colonel Delphin Kahindi, the deputy commander of the Congolese army in the province. [Full report at: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74211]

CONGO: Peace process to benefit from ex-rebel leader's presence in capital

Congo's former rebel leader, Frédéric Bintsangou, alias Pastor Ntoumi, is to take up his position in the government and participate in efforts aimed at restoring stability.

"We've come to Madibou [a suburb of Brazzaville, the capital] with the reverend to speed things up. We left Kinkala district for Brazzaville this morning," said Anné-Philippe Bibi, Ntoumi's spokesperson and legal adviser. [Full report at: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74203]

BURUNDI: Rebel activity displaces hundreds in Bubanza

Residents of 700 households, or about 4,000 people, have fled their homes in the northwest Burundi province of Bubanza following raids by suspected members of the country's last active rebel group, a government official said.

"For the time being, security is not good at all. Some residents have been beaten, while others have had their property looted," the governor of Bubanza, Pascal Nyabenda, told IRIN. [Full report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74202]

RWANDA: Heavy rains wreak havoc in northwest

Torrential rainfall in northwestern Rwandan has left at least 15 people dead and damaged homes in three villages, leaving hundreds of people homeless, local leaders said.

At least 562 houses were destroyed by flash floods, most of them in the villages of Bigogwe and Mukamira in Nyabihu district.

Full report http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74297

TANZANIA: Authorities urge residents to move from volcano area

Tanzanian authorities are persuading people in villages near Ol Doinyo Lengai to move to safer areas after the volcano erupted.

Since July, areas around Ol Doinyo Lengai have been hit by earth tremors as a result of volcanic activity. The earthquakes caused panic in settled areas, including the Kenya capital, Nairobi.

The mountain has spewed smoke and discharged lava since the beginning of September. Full report http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74303

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