wfn.org | All Africa News Agency December 15 2003 Features

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AANA Bulletin			Bulletin APTA
  Editor -Elly Wamari		Editor - Silvie Alemba

AANA BULLETIN No. 49/03 December 15, 2003 Features

FEATURES  SECTION

Taking Stock Of Sierra Leone's Truth Commission

Sierra Leone's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which started its 
operations eight months ago, is now drafting a report of its public 
hearings.  As this continues, political analysts are taking stock of its 
achievements and shortcomings so far.  Our writer, Janet Adongo, reports.

At the start of public hearings of Sierra Leone's Truth and Reconciliation 
Commission (TRC) on April 14 this year, President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah, said 
that the most important accomplishment of the commission would be "the 
reconciling of our population, and ensuring that Sierra Leone shall never 
again experience the evils of the past 11 years."

And facing a barrage of questions fringing on reparations, the commission's 
chairman, Rt Rev Dr Joseph Christian Humper, calmly explained time and time 
again during the initial stages of the hearings, that "guidelines for 
reparation and measures aiming at preventing the recurrence of the abuses 
would be included in the TRC's final report in the form of recommendations 
to the government, and to other bodies".

"A special committee will be set up after the TRC, to monitor their 
effective implementation by all concerned," he clarified then.

The commission, which was conceived in July 1999 at the signing of the Lome 
Peace Agreement, was established by an Act of Parliament in February 2000 
to create an impartial record of violations of human rights during the 
1991-1999 civil war, to promote healing and reconciliation.  Its ultimate 
aim is to prevent a repetition of the heinous acts committed during the 
war.  It was commissioned to last 18 months, and just recently, it 
completed its first stage, which involved listening to testimonies and 
statements by members of the public.

As it now sits down to compile a report of the public hearings, reactions 
concerning the work done so far, are beginning to emerge.

Those who generally view the commission's work as a success, base their 
opinions on the number of people who turned up to record statements, and 
also the commission's ability to reach deep corners of the country to hear 
testimonies.

Edie Vandy, a Sierra Leone national and political analyst, says of the 
TRC's hearings stage: "For the victims, it provided a forum to speak out 
and to be heard... and by speaking out, there was an innate healing power 
behind it all, regardless of any material or physical compensation that 
might be provided at the end of the day."

He adds: "One critical element that ushered in the war, and which was 
re-echoed throughout the deliberations, was the denial of justice, or the 
lack of it."

A suggestion was made that the TRC be transformed into a "People's Court", 
manned by councilors, where civilians can take their cases, complaints and 
grievances for fast and quick remedial action.

Vandy explains this suggestion: "The people of this nation have lost trust 
and faith in the court systems, and much needs to be done to win [their] 
confidence. Perhaps the TRC will provide that answer."

The Sierra Leone TRC, unlike its South African counterpart, does not have 
an arm that looks into justice. Instead, the country has a special court, 
established jointly by the government and the United Nations (UN), which 
will try those who bear the greatest responsibility for the abuses.

But Vandy feels that the real purpose and essence for which the Special 
Court of Sierra Leone (SCSL) was established has been lost.

Says he: "The main players are either dead or on the run like Johnny Paul 
Koroma.  And people who fought for peace like the Civil Defense Force 
leader, Sam Hinga, have been indicted.	At the same time, Charles Taylor is 
in Nigeria, and no one knows if he will be handed over to the court, 
following his indictment (in June)."

Taylor, immediate former president of Liberia, has been accused of having 
played a major role in fanning the war between rebels belonging to 
Revolutionary United Front of Sierra Leone (RUF/SL) and the government.

Vandy's sentiments on this matter are echoed by Kenneth Conteh, a lawyer 
with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

"It is a very complicated situation, which will only be understood as it 
unfolds.  The accused are dead, on the run or in exile, and Sierra Leoneans 
do not know for sure whether this is a good or bad thing," observes Conteh.

He says that the general feeling among nationals at the grassroots level is 
that the rebels are being treated better than the common man who suffered 
the atrocities the rebels committed.

"The perpetrators have been disarmed, rehabilitated and reintegrated. Some 
have been absorbed into the army, while others have been taken for training 
in basic skills that they can use to earn a living," he says, but poses: 
"What has been done for the amputees? What has been done for those who lost 
breadwinners, for the orphans, for those whose properties were destroyed?"

Currently, a large number of Sierra Leone's amputees, the living testimony 
to the extent of cruelty meted on civilians, depend on UN agencies for 
their survival, and that of their families.  According to Conteh, it is 
vital that their needs are considered by the TRC before tables turn.

"Understandably, there is a lot of bitterness flowing among those who 
believe they suffered and are not being helped. These are people who... 
just want something to be done that puts them into the picture," says the 
legal expert.

According to President Kabbah, "it is difficult and expensive to repair the 
physical damage done during the rebel war.  It is more difficult to heal 
the physical wounds inflicted on the thousands of victims who survived the 
onslaughts. Even more difficult still is the healing of the trauma and 
removal of the emotional scars of that unnecessary armed conflict".

Could These Be Signs Of Return To War In Ituri?

Peacekeeping in Bunia town and its environs in Ituri district, in 
north-eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), is turning out to be a 
tricky affair. Despite the presence of peacekeeping forces aligned to the 
United Nations Organisation Mission in DRC (MONUC) in the region, the 
security situation has been slowly deteriorating from mid October.  AANA 
Correspondent, Sisko M. Tshikala reports.

S
ounds of gunshots, which had become rare in Bunia, have resumed. Cases of 
assassinations, banditry and settlements of old scores have been reported.

On the night of October 30, gunshots were heard around the city.  Two 
Uruguayan soldiers working under MONUC were killed, according the locals, 
and the information kept secret.  A businesswoman had been gunned down two 
days earlier.

In early November, a UN security staff, and a pastor with the Chrisco 
Church, were killed at night, the pastor having been shot in his house.

On December 4, General Kisembo of the Union des Patriotes Congolais (UPC), 
a militia group operating in the region, staged an internal coup to oust 
their long-time leader, Thomas Lubanga, whose movement had been restrained 
by the DRC's transitional government.

This resulted in an exchange of gunfire between partisans of the disputed 
UPC leadership, adding fear to an already tense situation around Bunia 
town, caused by increasing incidences of lawlessness perpetrated by armed 
rebel fighters.

Mr Blaise Kabongo, political analyst and project co-ordinator for the 
Africa Initiative Programme in Bunia, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) 
involved in peace-building activities in the region, compares the current 
situation to the period that preceded the outbreak of violence in May 2003.

Kabongo explains that the Nyakasanza Bridge near Bunia town is now known as 
one of the most insecure places after 6.00 PM.	Some youths, reportedly 
members of UPC, rob people of their belongings at gunpoint.

In some parts of Bunia, such as Lembado, Simbilyabo and Muzi Pela, UPC 
militia forces still carry arms in the open, prompting speculation that 
control of Bunia could be slowly drifting into their hands.

With this kind of scenario, some observers note, the region could easily 
fall back into full-scale war. Reports indicate sporadic skirmishes between 
UPC fighters and troops belonging to the Front des Nationalistes et 
Intigristes (FNI).

In addition, the towns of Shari and Chomia have witnessed occasional 
fighting between militia forces of the UPC and Parti pour l'Union et la 
Sauvergarde de l'Intigriti Territoriale du Congo (PUSIC).

Ituri district has been the centre of DRC's bloody violence since 
1999.  Bunia became the heart of ethnic cleansing, its control shifting 
from the Hema (UPC) and Lendu (FNI) tribal militias.

The situation continued until June 2003, before the first deployment of a 
European Union peacekeeping mission, with a broad mandate allowing them to 
use necessary force to ensure protection of civilians.

The French-led operation, known as Artimis, lasted three months, before 
Pakistani troops took over the peace mision in September, under MONUC 
mandate. The Pakistanis operation seemed efficient, despite the language 
barrier they encountered in dealing with local communities, particularly 
when collecting intelligence information for the purpose of securing the 
town and its surroundings.

There have also been Uruguayan peacekeepers, who have been operating before 
and after the Artimis mission, but under a different mandate focussing on 
the protection of UN peace observers.

In October, additional troops from Nepal and Bangladesh were deployed in 
the region.  But despite these efforts, Ituri residents are reportedly 
afraid of a possible outbreak of violence. Numerous reports state that the 
presence of Rwandan "mercenaries" backing UPC only aggravates an already 
tense situation.

Ambassador William Swing, head of MONUC, had to recently reassure the local 
population that MONUC was in-charge.  He was attending the police officers 
graduation ceremony in Bunia, when he announced MONUC's support for the 
training of up to 1,200 law enforcement officers.

However, analysts say that the transitional government must now step in to 
"take up its responsibility", pointing out that the national integrated 
army would be the most effective in ensuring the government's control of 
the volatile region.

Says Kabongo: "The central government and the MONUC needs to revise their 
approach in the demobilisation process of the armed groups. So far, giving 
money to group leaders to induce them to contain their men has proved 
ineffective. A proper monitoring mechanism and facilities should be put in 
place as well."

He continues: "Most importantly, the Ituri Interim Special Administration 
needs to be seriously supported and reinforced, both by the Kinshasa 
government and the MONUC, in order to gain more credibility from the local 
residents, hence, progressively creating conditions for peace building and 
eventually restoring the state authority all over this troubled 
north-eastern district of Ituri."

This is indeed a challenge to the new government, headed by 32-year-old 
President Joseph Kabila. The youthful president took over leadership of the 
country after his father, Laurent Desire Kabila, was allegedly assassinated 
over grudges emanating from conflict of interests in the troubled region -- 
Ituri.

The transition government that he is heading is the product of an extensive 
peace process which reached its climax on April 2 this year, with the 
signing of an agreement in South Africa. The power-sharing agreement 
encompassed a constitution for a two year transition period, before general 
elections can be held to return the country onto the path of democracy.

Under the power-sharing deal, two of the four vice-presidents are leaders 
of the main rebel groups.  They are Azarias Ruberwa for the Rassemblement 
Congolais pour la Dimocratie (RCD-Goma) and Jean-Pierre Bemba, for the 
Mouvement pour la Libiration du Congo (MLC).

The others are Abdoulaye Ndombasi and Arthur Z'ahidi Ngoma, representing 
the government and political opposition parties respectively.

A parliament of two chambers (a 500-seat national assembly headed by M. 
Olivier Kamitatu Etsu, and a 120-seat senate headed by Bishop Marini) was 
set up on August 22.

The exclusion of the militia groups in this arrangement, failure to disarm 
them fully, and persistent interference by Rwanda and Uganda, are 
considered by political observers as posing the greatest challenge to 
Kabila's administration.

Opinions Split Over Zimbabwe's C'wealth Decision

Even though many Zimbabweans have generally reacted with anger to President 
Robert Mugabe's announcement last week that the government was withdrawing 
from the Commonwealth, there is a clique behind him. The president made 
this statement at the end of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 
in Abuja, Nigeria, after it became apparent that the country's suspension 
from the club last year, would be extended further. Our writer, Bhekisipho 
Nyathi, reports

M
  ugabe's Cabinet, drawn from his ruling Zimbabwe African National Union - 
Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF), last Tuesday endorsed the country's withdrawal 
from the Commonwealth.

"This is Zimbabwe's final decision, and the Cabinet has endorsed the 
decision and confirmed it. It is now a government decision, following the 
Cabinet's endorsement," stressed Zimbabwe's foreign affairs minister, Dr 
Stan Mudenge.

Reacting to the government's pronouncements,  the main opposition party, 
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), which Mugabe's main opponent, Morgan 
Tsvangirai, heads, said Mugabe's decision was an indication of his 
determination to persist with authoritarian rule.

"Mugabe has shown his determination to maintain his vicious dictatorship," 
said MDC Secretary-General, Welshman Ncube.

Civic activist, Lovemore Madhuku, who chairs the militant reform movement, 
National Constitutional Assembly, said that the move provided clear 
evidence that Mugabe was a "rigid dictator". "It is Zimbabweans who will 
suffer as a result," he pointed out.

Human rights and pro-democracy groups in Zimbabwe said they were concerned 
that the president's decision to pull the country out of the Commonwealth 
had dashed hopes of dialogue between the government and the main opposition 
party, prolonging the country's political crisis.

Top Church leaders have been engaging in efforts to bring President Mugabe 
and Morgan Tsvangirai to one table, to resolve the country's detrimental 
political conflict between the two.

"It is disappointing and it is distressing. It means that Zimbabwe is now 
out of an organisation that had the potential to resolve the current 
political crisis," Tawanda Hondora of Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, an 
umbrella body of non-governmental organisations  in the country, said.

He continued: "From Mugabe's perspective, it is a great Houdini Act, 
stifling international criticism."

Mugabe said on December 7, that he would not accept a decision by 
Commonwealth leaders to reaffirm Zimbabwe's suspension, stating that the 
country would leave the 54-member group with immediate effect. He described 
the Commonwealth's position, promoted mainly by Britain and Australia, as 
"pure racism".

The Commonwealth groups mainly former British colonies, and its mission 
involves addressing issues of democracy, human rights, sustainable 
development, and gender, among several other matters of welfare development.

Zimbabwe was suspended from the council of Commonwealth after Mugabe's 
controversial re-election in 2002, where he was accused of having rigged 
the polls to deprive his key opponent, Tsvangirai, of certain victory.	A 
conclusion by a Commonwealth observer mission that the polls were neither 
free nor fair, prompted the action, which has been sustained to date.

A six-member panel, formed in Abuja to deliberate on Zimbabwe's 
reinstatement during the latest Commonwealth meeting from December 5 to 8, 
ruled that not enough progress had been made on issues of governance, and 
concluded that the suspension should accordingly be maintained.

This irked Zimbabwe's president, who angrily posed if it was worthwhile for 
the country to stay as a member of the Commonwealth and lose its 
sovereignty, or pull out completely and keep its sovereign power.  He 
settled for the second option.

As a result, "we are moving to a very, very serious stage of isolationism. 
We are at a dangerous stage where [the government] does not think it is now 
accountable to the international community, or that it can be judged by 
those norms and standards," said Phil Matsheza, director of the 
Harare-based Human Rights Trust of Southern Africa.

Matsheza commented that there was little prospect at the moment, for any 
meaningful dialogue between the ruling ZANU-PF and MDC.

"Talks are going to be a casualty (of Zimbabwe's withdrawal).  Human rights 
and the rule of law are going to be a casualty. Definitely, there is going 
to be less conciliation and more nationalism, with the government 
portraying itself as a victim of racism," he is reported to have said.

Mugabe stated that a proposed Commonwealth mission to Zimbabwe to promote 
national reconciliation would not be welcome.

Despite the general uproar over President Mugabe's decision, there is a 
clique of sympathisers at home, as well as abroad.

Political analyst and newspaper publisher, Ibbo Mandaza, is quoted to have 
said that the Commonwealth had left Zimbabwe with no other option but to
quit.

"There is a question mark over democracy in almost all countries of the 
Commonwealth, including the host (of the summit), Nigeria. It is 
hypocrisy.  The Harare Declaration (the Commonwealth's principles on good 
governance) is a subterfuge to be used by the white Commonwealth (members) 
when it is convenient," Mandaza told IRIN.

"The real issue is not about democracy, but regime change, and the issue of 
land," he charged, referring to Mugabe's land redistribution policy 
conceived in 2000, during which large-scale white farmers, most of them 
British settlers, were forced to leave their large tracts of land for 
redistribution to land-less indigenous Zimbabweans.

The same thought was reflected by Zimbabwean Information Minister, Jonathan 
Moyo, who said: "These racist leaders are using the Commonwealth to try to 
punish us for taking over land from their white kith and kin..."

Southern African Development Community (SADC) leaders have also come 
strongly behind Mugabe, and have accuse the Commonwealth of taking a 
unilateral decision, noting that there was a clear absence of consensus on 
the matter.

The 14 member block said in strong statement released last week, that the 
move to continue Zimbabwe's suspension from the Commonwealth was prejudged, 
considering the fact that announcements to that effect were made by some 
members before the issue was finalised.