Reuters (1 Mar 2001) African heads of state at a two-day summit in held in Sirte, Libya proclaimed the birth of the African Union, a continental confederation loosely modeled on the European Union ... Togo President Gnassingbe Eyadema told an Organization of African Unity (OAU) extraordinary summit that 46 of the OAU 53 member states had signed the founding act of the union. The union, which reforms the 1963 OAU founding charter, falls short of creating an entity modeled on the United States, with a president and a Congress, as first advocated by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, who promoted the idea at an OAU summit in Lome, Togo, last year. Instead, it sees a continent steered by a Council of Heads of State, with a pan-African parliament and Court of Justice. The plan, which will need to be ratified by national parliaments, reaffirms the inviolability of Africa's post-colonial borders but empowers members to intervene in a fellow state threatened by civil war or genocide.

PANA - (Mar 2, 2001) Former South African President Nelson Mandela, the facilitator of the Burundi Peace process, said Thursday in Sirte, Libya, that Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa have agreed to contribute armed troops under UN auspices for deployment to Burundi. -- PANA - (Mar 3, 2001) After two days of deliberations on the way forward for their marginalised continent, African leaders took the bull by the horns in an historic Sirte II Declaration of the African Union at the Libyan city of Sirte on Friday. "The Assembly of Heads of State and government proudly declares the African Union by a unanimous decision," OAU Secretary General Salim Ahmed Salim said at the end of the continental body's 5th Extra-ordinary Summit. For his part, President Frederick Chiluba welcomed African leaders to Lusaka in July to consummate the Union, which becomes operational 30 days after 36 or two-thirds of OAU members have ratified the Constitutive Act. Thirty-two countries ratified the Act at Sirte II, while 53 countries signed up, remaining Morocco, which has suspended its membership of the OAU over Western Sahara territorial dispute.

Algeria

BBC (27 Feb 2001) Dissident Algerian soldiers, members of the Algerian Movement for Free Officers MAOL, have accused the army of killing forty-seven officers serving jail terms. The group accuses the Algerian high command of carrying out killings which are often attributed to Islamic rebels.

Middle East News Online 10 Mar 2001 63 Killed in Algeria, Army Continues Crack Down on Rebels ALGIERS, Algeria: Fifty Algerian rebels were killed on Friday, including 12 top commanders of the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC). According to local Algerian media, clashes between the army and the rebels in the last 72 hours have left 63 people dead and many injured. The daily Le Jeune Independent reported Saturday that the killing of 50 rebels and commanders in the region of Setif (190 miles east of the capital Algiers) was the conclusion of a two-week operation launched by the army. GSPC rebels were holding a high-level meeting when Algerian troops surrounded the area and opened fire, according to the same source. The rebels who refused to surrender and resorted to a nearby cave were "annihilated" as the army bombed and destroyed their hideout. The news reports didn't mention any army casualties during the clashes. Another Algerian newspaper, El Watan said Saturday, that eight other rebels were killed in separate clashes in the Bouria region (220 miles east of the capital Algiers) on Thursday. On the other hands, rebels suspected to belong to GSPC conducted several assassinations and random killings in past days, according to the Algerian press. Last Friday, the Tirat region witnessed the killing of two people. Earlier in the same area, two soldiers were found dead, one headless, according to newspapers reports. A senior cleric was also assassinated Wednesday by an armed group in Bordj, only 7 miles east of Algiers. Recent weeks were a stage for this year's bloodiest violence in Algeria. Most news reports however are increasingly referring to high death toll among rebels, affiliated with the GSPC, who maintains its refusal for the government's conditional amnesty. The army crack downs on rebels are perceived as a fundamental shift in the Algerian government policy toward the rebels who are mainly centered in the south and eastern parts of the country. Algeria's civil war was ignited by the army's rejection of the second round of general elections' results in which Islamic parties won by a landslide.

Angola

AFP 29 Mar 2001 More than 600 Angolan civilians, 33 soldiers flee into Zambia LUSAKA, More than 600 civilians from war-ravaged Angola have fled fighting and entered Zambia to seek refuge, a UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) spokesman here said Thursday. Zambian security sources said that 33 Angolan government soldiers also fled into Zambia after UNITA rebels launched an attack against them in the Moxico Province of Angola. "We have received about 657 Angolan refugees since Monday. They are currently in various transit camps where they are waiting to be moved to the established refugee settlement," UNHCR spokesman here Kelvin Shimo told AFP. The refugees are in scattered in different towns in Zambia's North-Western Province that borders Angola's Moxico Province, Shimo said, adding that two heavy-duty trucks have already been sent to provide transport for the Angolans. Security sources said they have disarmed 33 Angolan soldiers who fled into Zambia together with the refugees on Monday after rebels of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) stepped up attacks. "We are discussing with the Angolan authorities to see how these soldiers can be repatriated back to their country," a Zambian intelligence official told AFP. Zambia currently shelters more than 250,000 refugees, mainly from neighbouring Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

AFP (2 Mar 2001) Twenty people died and 27 were seriously injured when their truck hit an anti-tank mine on a road in southern Angola this week... Seven government soldiers who were accompanying the civilians aboard the truck were among the injured. AFP (2 Mar 2001) The Angolan army said it killed 200 rebels and captured four bases during a recent operation to wipe out UNITA insurgents from provinces in the south of the country. The Angolan government issued an arrest warrant for Savimbi in 1998 after parliament declared him a war criminal. The rebel movement is under UN sanctions, which includes a diamond trade embargo and travel restrictions on its leaders.

Botswana

PANA - (Mar 3, 2001) The number of Zimbabwean illegal immigrants killed in a road accident in Botswana has risen to 15 after one more died on Friday. The Botswana immigration truck collided with a trailer leaving 13 people dead on the spot. Nearly 98 percent of illegal immigrants repatriated from Botswana every year are Zimbabwean nationals. The dead bodies of 18 Zimbabwean illegal immigrants were found in October 1998 near Tlokweng border-post, between Botswana and South Africa. The Zimbabweans who were on their way to South Africa suffocated to death in a container truck that was transporting them.

Burundi

AP (2 Mar 2001) Residents in the northern part of Burundi's capital Bujumbura braced Thursday for more shelling from rebel positions. Spokesman for the National Liberation Forces (FNL), claimed responsibility for the barrage but denied that rebels had shelled any homes. An army spokesman said Wednesday that 23 rebels, six soldiers and eight civilians had died in the five days of clashes in the city. The fighting has forced as many as 50,000 civilians to flee their homes.

Cote d'Ivoire

BBC (2 Mar 2001) A controversial treason trial in Ivory Coast has seen a new twist with one of the military judges, General Oumar Ndaw who hails from the north, refusing to hear the case. The two jailed officers are alleged to be close to ethnic northern politicians opposed to the current civilian government of President Laurent Gbagbo who hails from the south.

DR Congo

AFP 7 Mar 2001 -- Kabila says DR Congolese victims of "genocide" BRUSSELS,The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) President Joseph Kabila said his country's people were victims of a "genocide", in an interview published Wednesday by the Belgian newspaper Le Soir. Kabila said 2.5 million civilians have been killed in the DRC in a war that has torn the country apart since August 1998. The conflict has pit Rwandan and Ugandan troops backing rebels against the government, whose army is supported by Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia. "Such a massive number is not the result of chance: there has been intent to kill the population," Kabila told the newspaper, without specifying whom he believes is responsible. "This too is a genocide, against the Congolese this time, but no one cares," said Kabila, in reference to the 1994 Rwandan genocide, which left up to 800,000 people dead. "It's true that in the forests in the east of the country, there are no CNN cameras," the president added. Kabila criticised other African heads of state, whom he said "refuse to clearly recognise the aggression" by Rwanda and Uganda against the DRC. He said the withdrawal of Rwandan and Ugandan troops from DRC territory should not be linked to dialogue between rebels and the government. "Elections must take place in the entire country. That is precisely why the aggressors must get out of the Congo," said Kabila. Hopes for peace in the DRC received a boost when Kabila was sworn in as president in January following the assassination of his father Laurent Kabila by a bodyguard. In a report released last year, the US-based aid organisation, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) said that from August 1998 until May 2000, the war in eastern DRC directly or indirectly caused more than 1.7 million deaths. Of the 1.7 million, the IRC said 200,000 deaths were attributable to acts of violence. The vast majority was due to the war-related collapse of the regions health infrastructure and delivery of health and nutrition services, the organisation said. The report was based on a series of mortality studies conducted by medical and health professionals.

IRIN (2 Mar 2000) The situation in DRC's northeastern Ituri Province is characterised by fear and tension and rumours of the CLF-brokered peace treaty and spectacular reconciliation gestures between 156 traditional chiefs in Bunia [on 17-18 February] have not yet reached areas beyond the town's suburbs. The Ituri region has been wracked by ethnic fighting between the Hema and Lendu communities, leaving thousands of people dead over an 18-month period.

Gambia

Banjul News Agency (3 Mar 2000) Reports from Ziguinchor indicate seven civilians were killed by people presumed to be rebels. The victims were killed in Belaye about 50 Km north of Ziguinchor following an ambush of vehicles Friday morning. On the 16th of February, thirteen civilians were also killed in similar circumstances about 70 km north of Ziguinchor. The passengers were maltreated and their belongings confiscated by their attackers who later opened fire on them. -- The Independent (2 Feb 2001) When the government announced its rejection of the findings and recommendations of the commission of inquiry and the coroner's inquest into the causes and consequences of the violent student riots on April 10 and 11, 2000, the reaction of the general public was quite swift. Muhammed Lamin Sillah, coordinator of the Coalition of Human Rights Defenders: I was shocked and saddened by the statement by the government on the reports. It was cruel and callous and it is encouraging impunity in this country. [On April 10, 2000 Gambia Student Union members attempted to hold a peaceful demonstration to protest the alleged mishandling of the investigation into the death of a student while in the custody of fire officers. The students also were protesting the alleged rape of a 13-year old school girl by an unidentified man in uniform. When police attempted to stop the demonstration, the student demonstrators burned tires and threw stones. In response security forces used live ammunition against the students, killing and injuring many students and arrested hundreds of students ]

Ghana

Accra Mail (1 Mar 2001) For the first time in the history of Ghana, senior members of a government's security apparatus have had to come out openly to try to defend themselves against the serious charge of torture.

Kenya

The EastAfrican ( 11 Feb 2001) Since the infamous fight in Parliament in 1980... fisticuffs among Members of Parliament have become a common feature in the recent years. The latest in these ugly incidents in which Rongo MP Ochillo Ayacko reportedly ambushed and assaulted his Rangwe counterpart Shem Ochuodho, more than a week ago, raises serious questions about the level of civility in society and MPs' sense of responsibility. . Says the Alego Usonga MP: "The concern of the commission was the proliferation of violence among MPs which we condemned as a negation of the culture of debate and discussion. Says Mr Aringo: "Those who organise thuggery and violence have no moral basis to condemn political assassinations, genocide and ethnic cleansing because they are only one step away from murder." Mr Aringo observes that fights among MPs are a reflection of how violent the society has become.

Nigeria

Vanguard Daily (Lagos) 15 Mar 2001 Hausa Leader Laments Failed Moves To Reconcile Ethnic Groups In Ifelodun/Ajeromi By Olasunkanmi Akoni Lagos Seriki Hausa Ifelodun/Ajeromi local government area, Alhaji Shehu Katako, has raised fresh alarm before Justice Victor Famakinwa tribunal of inquiry into Lagos State civil disturbances, saying tension is still high in the community following series of failed moves to reconcile with the council chairman, Prince Rabin Oluwa. He made the allegation just as a petitioner, Mr. Kamuru Yusuf from Ajegunle testified before the panel how he narrowly escaped being killed by suspected Hausa men during the last mayhem in which no fewer than 13 persons were allegedly slaughtered in his presence, with several other corpses lying the scene said to be the house of Seriki Hausawa, Alhaji Katako. The petitioner, Mr. Yusuf also claimed the total sum of N5 million as compensation from the state government for damage done to him. During cross-examination, Alhaji Katako told the tribunal that normal peace has not yet returned to the area because series of attempts through council boss to reach a mutual agreement between the aggrieved parties have met brick walls and moreso, one Hausa man was last week shot and wounded by unknown person(s). He also accused the council boss of treating the Hausa community with disdain and often left them out of scheme of things in the area. Speaking through an interpreter, Alhaji Katako said: "I have gone out of my ways since the crisis ended to meet the council chairman on the need to keep the peace but each time, I was told he was not around hence the strained relationship could not be reconciled up till now. "I will, therefore, appeal to this honourable panel to prevail on the council boss to provide an avenue to foster peace and tranquility between the various ethnic groups that make up the community," he said. However, earlier in his testimony, Mr. Kamuru Yusuf recounted how he was almost lynched by some Hausa men on the day of the mayhem while he was coming back from office. "About 13 other persons were slaughtered in my presence but I managed to escape from their hands because their weapon could not piece through my body. "The Hausas were saying 'Yorubawa dan bansa, meaning 'Yorubas are bastards', and all kind of derogatory words against Yoruba. "As I was running away, they pursued me, but I was saved by a police patrol team that showed up from nowhere. on sighting police van, they now retreated, by this time I was soaked with blood all over me. "I was later taken to a nearby hospital where I was treated for two days. "Therefore, I will like to pray the panel to compensate me with the sum of N5 million to enable me undergo adequate medical attention which I cannot afford and also emotional trauma experienced during the attack." Mr. Yusuf also alleged that the killings were done at the compound of the Seriki Hausawa, Alhaji Katako. His words: "Alhaji Katako is not a good leader. He could have pacified his men and prevented the unnecessary mayhem experienced. He personally incited his men to go to war with the Yorubas." However, Justice Famakinwa urged the Seriki to go back and have a memorandum of understanding with the council boss on the need to find a lasting solution to the seemingly intractable dispute between the groups. His words: "we are worried about your case because his excellency, Governor of Lagos State, Senator Bola Tinubu, is very much interested in the safety and well-being of all ethnic groups that make up the state. "Whether we like it or not, we must live together in peace, harmony and tranquility. I will also want to implore you as a way forward to recognize the constituted authority of the council boss as this, we noticed, is one of the reasons why the crisis deteriorated to that level."

Vanguard (Lagos) March 26, 2001 Ohaneze Raises Alarm On Plot to Incite Nigerians Against Igbo Emeka Mamah Enugu THE Pan-Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohaneze Ndigbo spoke, yesterday of what it called a grand design to endanger the lives of Ndigbo in the country. In a statement entitled, "A new frame-up against Ndigbo," at the end of a meeting of its council of elders and general meetings in Enugu, the organisation deplored attempt to defame and slander the Igbo nationality over the activities of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB). Ohaneze in a statement signed by its Secretary-General, Prof. Ben Nwabueze said: "We alert Ndigbo and the general public about the possibility of the manufacture of a new grand design to incite the rest of Nigeria against Igbo citizen. The new design bears all the familiar marks of frame-up, vilification and vicious stereotyping, preparatory to a new wave of ethnic cleansing. According to the imaginary plot, some Igbo presumed to be MASSOB members wearing Biafran army uniform have been undergoing military training. It is also said that there is a network of paramilitary Igbo terrorising the civil community. We therefore deplore this attempt to defame and slander the Igbo nationality. It is highly instructive that the new anti-Igbo incitement is being let loose, at a time, when a strong corporate voice of Ndigbo asserting our right to the Presidency in the next dispensation has hit the right chord with the Nigerian political community. "Also any attempt to search for every flimsy excuse to impose state of emergency on any part of Igbo land will definitely not augur well for the future of Nigeria."

Rwanda

IRIN (3 Mar 2001) The Ruhengeri court has sentenced five people to death on charges related to acts of genocide and crimes against humanity in Gipuri and Nyamutera communes, Ruhengeri Prefecture, during the 1994 genocide.

PANA (1 Mar 2001) Arusha - Judges at the Trial Chamber III of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda today adjourned the trial of three genocide suspects in the "Cyangugu Trial" until 2 May. In the trial, three former top officials of Cyangugu Prefecture (southwestern Rwanda) are charged with genocide and other crimes against humanity. The three are Andre Ntagerura, a former minister of transport; Emmanuel Bagambiki, a former governor of Cyangugu; and Samuel Imanishimwe, a former commander of the Cyangugu military barracks. Meanwhile the trial of Laurent Semanza, a former mayor of the Bicumbi commune in Kigali, resumes before Judges Ostrovsky (presiding), Williams and Dolenc on 6 March The trial was adjourned on 12 December 2000 for the annual judicial recess. Semanza, 60, was arrested in Cameroon in March 1996. He made his first appearance at the Tribunal in February 1998. Semanza is charged with 14 counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. He allegedly committed the offenses in Bicumbi during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.

South Africa

BBC (2 Mar 2001) Former South African President Nelson Mandela has condemned "arrogant" members of the country's African majority who have suggested that minority groups have no role to play in South Africa. Mr Mandela said he was concerned about increasing racial polarisation, in particular a "widening of the gap" between Africans and Indians. The Indian Community," Madela said, "has fought hard for transformation, fought against white supremacy. There are a host of Indian leaders who have played an important role in the struggle for liberation and from whom we have all learnt lessons."

Tanzania

PANA (2 Mar 2001) The speaker of the Tanzanian parliament Pius Msekwa has warned that 15 Zanzibari MPs from the opposition Civic United would lose their seats if they missed another parliamentary seating. Section 71 (1) (C) of the Tanzanian constitution declares an MP who misses three consecutive sessions without the speaker's permission to have voluntarily relinquished his or her seat. The 15, some of whom have fled to Mombasa, Kenya as refugees, have been on a boycott of the Union parliament as well as the House of Representatives in Zanzibar to protest the results of the island's 2000 elections, which were widely discredited. Tension has been exacerbated by the government's refusal to order a re-run of the entire poll as suggested by international election monitors. The controversy snow-balled in January when CUF organised mass protests across the country to press the government to order a re-run resulting in the killing of at least 30 civilians and the displacement of hundreds others as refugees in Kenya.

Uganda

Xinhua (1 Mar 2001) Seven people were shot dead and four others injured in an ambush launched by the Lord Resistance Army (LRA) rebels in the northern Ugandan district of Gulu on Thursday afternoon, Radio Uganda reported. Uganda - - PANA (3 Mar 2001) Uganda Religious leaders in Uganda on Saturday organised peace marches in different parts of the country to dencounce the growing incidences of violence and intimidation ahead of the presidential elections now re-scheduled for 12 March. " At least over 100 cases of violence and 10 deaths have been reported to the police in the last two months of a highly-charged presidential election campaign. Six presidential aspirants are contesting, including the incumbent, Yoweri Museveni and Col. Besigye, who are seen as the front runners.

Zambia

Post of Zambia (Lusaka) OPINION March 26, 2001 Political Watch: Crimes Against Humanity Muleya Mweelwa Lusaka It is public knowledge that Lusaka independent member of parliament Dipak Patel and Agriculture, food and fisheries minister Suresh Desai, have recently suffered racial abuse. Racism could be described as distinctions, exclusions, restrictions and preferences based on race or colour of human beings. Racism or racial discrimination is worldwide recognised as one of the oldest crimes against humanity. It constitutes the most barbaric form of human rights violations that mankind has so far endured. As a result, as early as 1963, mounting international concern over racial discrimination jolted the United Nations General Assembly to take steps of adopting the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. The following are some of the points outlined by the Declaration: I. Any doctrine of racial differentiation or superiority is scientifically false, morally condemnable, socially unjust and dangerous and has no justification in theory and practice; II. Racial discrimination-and more so, government policies based on racial superiority or hatred- violate fundamental human rights, endanger friendly relations among peoples, cooperation among nations, and international peace and security; III. Racial discrimination harms not only those who are its objects but also those who practice it. The Declaration was adopted as an International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination in 1965 and came into force in 1969. By 1990, 128 states-more than three quarters of the members of UN (including Zambia), had ratified it. The Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination has in the past observed that racial discrimination remains a stumbling block to the full realisation of human rights and "continue to create and embitter conflict, and cause untold suffering and loss of life." This is the situation today in Zambia. The racial slur against Messrs Patel and Desai is a result of their decision to defend the provision of the Republican Constitution. This has threatened some people's interest to have President Chiluba rule for at least 15 years as President, for reasons exclusively beneficial to themselves. Zambia is not coming from a political background of racism. She has a political background of a one party era. That is why in the preamble of the Republican Constitution it is stated that... "Zambia shall forever remain a... multi-party and democratic sovereign state". Otherwise if Zambia had a political background of South Africa, somewhere the constitution could have acknowledged the fact that she is a multi-racial society. Therefore, the racial attacks on Dipak and Desai should be seen as "political racism", which is just an iceberg of a broader repressive regime against anyone against doctoring President Chiluba's constitutional rule of 10 years .The xenophobia against the two prominent leaders could have attracted the attention of the majority because it smacks of outright racism. However, many other Zambians could have suffered or are yet to suffer similar or same injustices based on other forms of discrimination by those basking in the power of power, its glory and privileges. But it is extremely important for those who may be irrational or have deliberately chosen to be racists to realise the consequences of their utterances. For God's sake, it is recognised the world over that racial discrimination, like any other form of discrimination, prevents society from using the intellectual potential of a great number of people who could contribute to national development! To many honest Zambians, Patel today stands out as someone with great intellectual potential which developing countries such as Zambia needs for sustainable development. Genuine journalists will recall, for instance, that the only time the public media headed for democratic reforms was when Dipak was Minister of Information and Broadcasting Services. Unfortunately, all efforts to redeem the public media from political monopoly of the ruling class seem to have been wasted with his reshuffle to the Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry. He resigned in protest against the imposition of the discriminatory constitutional amendments in 1996. Racism is condemned as a virus to any form of development because it deprives society of the skills, abilities and experiences of those who belong to minority groups who could contribute to progress. It alienates some citizens from active public life that could otherwise make a substantial contribution to social, economic, political and humanitarian development. It deprives people of human dignity. You can imagine minister Desai being racially assaulted at the International Airport in full view of the public! At a larger scale, racism sparks strife among nations, resulting in time, energy and resources being senselessly wasted on resolving conflicts and restoring stability. Racial passions, like tribal feelings, are deep-seated and when stirred up, have potential to cause untold havoc before they settle down. It is in this respect that inciting racial passions or indignation should be avoided, at all cost. Of course the racial attack on Dipak and Desai could be a political ploy usually used by authoritarian regimes to weaken their opponents. But the effects of such a strategy go beyond a mere discriminatory political goal. The effect is one form of violation of human rights called racism. As expected, our government is conspicuously silent over the racial abuse some of its citizens are suffering. It may soon be heard trying in vain to rebut foreign reports about racism in Zambia. But never, never to denounce "political racism", all in the quest for President Chiluba's monopoly leadership! Fortunately, any process based on exclusiveness or discrimination can only be a passing phase, though a painful and even fatal one. It is not only a tall order, but retrogressive to embark on any form of discrimination in this era and age of human civilisation.

Zimbabwe

BBC 9 Mar 2001 Murdered Zimbabwe farmer is buried Farmers fear renewed attacks from Mugabe supporters Hundreds of people have attended a funeral service in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, for Gloria Olds, the 72-year-old widow who was murdered on her farm last Sunday. Her son, Martin, was shot dead on his farm less than a year ago, and opposition leaders believe both killings were politically motivated. Daughter-in-law Kathy Olds doubts she will ever return She was the eighth member of Zimbabwe's white farming community to be killed since ruling party militants and veterans of the country's independence war began occupying white-owned farms last year with the backing of President Robert Mugabe and his government. In all more than 30 opposition supporters and officials have been killed. When men need semiautomatic weapons to murder a 72-year-old woman, they are not men, they are scum, they are cowards Minister Paul Andrianatos Farmers' leaders say they are afraid a new campaign of political violence may be starting against white land owners. Mrs Olds' friends and neighbours, many of them white farmers, packed the small Presbyterian church in Bulawayo, shocked by the brutality of her murder. 'Strong-willed' Mrs Olds died in a hail of bullets as men with automatic weapons opened fire as she came to her gate. She attempted to crawl to safety but the gunmen forced the gate and fired more shots at her where she lay. She had refused to give the farm up even after the murder of her son, Martin. But his widow, Kathy Olds, did and now lives in Britain. The minister, Paul Andrianatos, described her as a strong-willed, no-fuss, independent person. Farm occupations were backed by the government "When men need semiautomatic weapons to murder a 72-year-old woman, they are not men, they are scum, they are cowards," he said. Mr Andrianatos also officiated at Martin Olds' funeral, where he described Mr Mugabe as a criminal and a murderer. The minister has now had his work permit cancelled and is due to leave Zimbabwe on Sunday.

Financial Gazette (Harare) (1 Mar2001) Gestapo-Style night raids on journalists and government foes by men in cars with fake number plates and mysterious bombings of newspapers have left a trail which human rights bodies and security and political analysts this week said heavily implicated the government's spy Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) and the army. While in the past the government's refusal to prosecute its supporters accused of crimes against the opposition had uderscored the authorities' complicity in lawlessness, tactics have changed. There are increasing reports of violence by state security organs under the direct charge of President Robert Mugabe and his Cabinet, human rights watchers and analysts said. "The modus operandi has changed from war veterans perpetrating violence to more and more the CIO, the army and other state security organs," said Tony Reeler, director of Amani Trust, a local non-governmental organisation at the forefront of research into political violence and human rights abuses in Zimbabwe. Mugabe and his trusted lieutenants have simultaneously cracked down on the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and growing dissension within ZANU PF. Five of the ruling party's provincial executives are being dismissed under the guise of a restructuring programme but insiders say the executives are being punished for not toeing the line. Human rights organisations and observers told the Financial Gazette that some aspects very peculiar to some of the most recent acts of violence against the opposition and individuals perceived as anti-ZANU PF could only point to state security organs. Eighty-four people, most of them members of the opposition, have since the beginning of last year been murdered in political violence, according to Angela Cheater, who has researched political violence on behalf of the Non- governmental Organisations Forum. -- WP (3 Mar 2001) While South Africa and many of Zimbabwe's other neighbors are busy building the democratic institutions that were neglected or suppressed during decades of white minority rule, this country of 12 million -- once considered a model of what Africans could achieve when freed from colonial intrusion -- is deconstructing a democratic infrastructure assembled in the years since its first all-races election in 1980. "We're in the endgame now," said a Western diplomat here. "These are the last desperate measures of an imploding regime. It's Mugabe's last stand." The government plans to replace all five members of the Supreme Court and nearly a third of the judges sitting on the nation's next-highest bench, the High Court. "They want to create a puppet judiciary," said the MDC's Ncube. "They are desperate to stay in power, and they don't care how much damage they do to this country." Mugabe has blamed the country's economic woes on its white citizens, who account for less than 1 percent of the population but own 70 percent of the arable land, which has made land reform Zimbabwe's hot-button political issue for decades. And he has repeatedly characterized anyone who criticizes his government as either white racists or their black pawns.

Americas

Argentina

BBC 24 Mar 2001 Dirty War - more than a memory Mothers of those killed march around the square every week By James Reynolds in Buenos Aires Argentina is marking the 25th anniversary of the military coup which brought in seven years of military rule. The coup was the start of Argentina's Dirty War - a war by any means against those opposed to the regime. For my grandson, it was a great shock to find out the truth: that he was adopted by a military family, that his real mother had been killed Rosa Roisinblit Human rights organisations say more than 30,000 people were killed during the dictatorship. Different events will be held across the country in memory of the victims of the Dirty War, including a march from Congress to the central Plaza de Mayo. The Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo - mothers of those killed during Argentina's years of military rule - have held similar demonstrations every week for more than 20 years. The 1976 coup marked the start of the dirty war Their demand: Truth and justice. Most are now in their 70s or 80s. They are the last campaigners of their generation. They are joined in the human rights movement by another group, the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo. The Grandmothers have one aim: to find their missing grandchildren. Coming to terms Many have stories like Rosa Roisinblit's. Her daughter Patricia was kidnapped in 1978. Patricia was eight months pregnant at the time. She was never seen alive again. For 22 years Rosa tried to track down her grandson. Last year, following an anonymous tip-off, she found him. Seventy missing grandchildren have been found so far "For my grandson, it was a great shock to find out the truth: that he was adopted by a military family, that his real mother had been killed. "Now he's having to come to terms with it, it's very difficult for him." Rosa's grandson is one of 70 missing grandchildren who have now been found. The Grandmothers are looking for hundreds more. They and other campaigners are looking to put those responsible for human rights abuses during the dictatorship on trial. So far two amnesty laws have prevented any trials from going ahead. But that may now change. The country's courts have now begun to ignore the amnesty laws. Justice possible For campaigners like Horacio Verbitsky it is a sign of a new era in Argentina. The Mothers want the perpetrators of abuses to be tried "I believe that justice is possible in Argentina. It is not an easy task but there is a strong social support for justice to be done," says. "We are very confident that new trials will succeed and that those responsible for the worst crimes against humanity will be punished." On the eve of the anniversary, a concert was held in memory of those killed during the dictatorship. Thousands of people gathered in a stadium in the rain. Photos of those who disappeared were flashed onto a giant screen. The audience was mostly young. Many weren't even born when the coup took place. But some have joined the human rights movement. In the next few years those under the rain in the stadium may find themselves taking over the campaign from the last of the Mothers and the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo.

BBC 21 Mar 2001 Germans accuse Argentine junta of genocide The families of Germans who disappeared in Argentina during the military regime have lodged a formal complaint against it with the German Justice Ministry. The human rights umbrella group Coalition Against Impunity, which is representing the families, is accusing the junta of genocide and human rights abuse. An Argentine lawyer working with the coalition, Radolfo Yanzon, says around a-hundred people of German nationality or origin disappeared between 1976 and 1983. He said the relatives felt they had no option but to pursue the case abroad, because the Argentine authorities hadn't broken down what he called a wall of impunity. The Argentine Nobel prize winner, Adolfo Perez Esquivel, was among those who backed the petition. Human rights groups say thirty-thousand people disappeared during the period of military rule in Argentina.

Lutheran World Information 22 Mar 1999 ecunet.org Germany's president asked to intervene for Argentine families -- From (FRANK IMHOFF) Date 22 Mar 1999 12:57:05 Lutheran church leader wants archives in Germany, Buenos Aires opened BUENOS AIRES, Argentina/GENEVA, 22 March 1999 (lwi) Visiting president of the Federal Republic of Germany Roman Herzog, has been asked for a "personal commitment to make the archives in Buenos Aires or Germany accessible" to facilitate investigations into human rights violations against persons of German origin by Argentina's military dictatorship. The request was made by the president of the Evangelical Church of the River Plate (IERP), Rev Juan Pedro Schaad, during a meeting the German statesman held with relatives of people of German origin who disappeared during Argentina's military dictatorship between 1976 and 1983. According to an IERP press statement, the Lutheran pastor also requested the visiting president to clarify whether or not "the German Embassy in Buenos Aires had been in close but dangerous collaboration" with the military dictatorship. Schaad, who was the only religious representative present during an interview Mr. Herzog held with relatives of the disappeared victims, stressed in his request that "only the truth makes us free and credible." The IERP press statement notes that in discussions with the German president, Schaad expressed the need for a "clean and transparent trial" which would be very significant for a society, which although living in a democratic state, suffers from acts of impunity. Schaad explained to Mr. Herzog that his church has "from the beginning accompanied family members who were looking for disappeared relatives." He also gave the visiting German leader a document containing the pastor's position regarding trials of those who were responsible for disappeared persons during the military dictatorship. According to the German Protestant press service, epd, the German "Coalition against Impunity", says one such case involves Elisabeth Kasemann, the daughter of the late Protestant theologian Prof. Ernst Kasemann, who was abducted from her apartment in Buenos Aires in March 1977, then tortured and killed in May of the same year. The "Coalition against Impunity" has appealed to the German president to urge that human rights violations against Germans during the Argentinean dictatorship be investigated. He was also asked to insist on an investigation of the role of the German embassy in Buenos Aires and the German Foreign Office during the military dictatorship. The latter request has to do with recent disclosures concerning an Argentinean officer, who during the dictatorship was the liaison person between the German embassy and the Argentinean government. Under the name "Major Peirano" he met with relatives of disappeared Germans but misused their confidences to pass on information to the military, according to epd. The IERP is a member church of the Lutheran World Federation. With 47,000 members, it has congregations not only in Argentina but also in Paraguay and Uruguay. * * * FRANK_IMHOFF.parti@ecunet.org [See also http://www.desaparecidos.org/arg/coalicion/index.html Coalicion contra la Impunidad AND http://www.derechos.org/diml/ Centro de Documentación e Información sobre Derechos Humanos en América Latina DIML: Dokumentations und Informationszentrum Menschenrechte in Lateinamerika. November 17, 1998 Human rights investigator Esteban Cuya was attacked yesterday after a day of searching for evidence in the cases of dozens of German citizens who were "disappeared" during Argentina's military dictatorship. Mr. Cuya, an investigator with the Nuremberg Human Rights Center, is also the Coordinator of the Coalition Against Impunity, a group dedicated to determining the fate of Germans disappeared in Argentina and bringing those responsible to justice. Mr. Cuya was forced to flee Peru under threat of persecution. After meeting with Nobel Laureate Adolfo Perez Esquivel and having dinner, Mr. Cuya entered a cab on his way to a friend's house. The taxi driver asked Mr. Cuya what he had done during the day and then two cars blocked the taxi. Three men entered the taxi. Mr. Cuya was beaten and searched for information. The men took documents from Mr. Cuya's briefcase that were part of his investigation into the disappearance of German citizens from 1976 to 1983. The taxi stopped in a darkened alley and Mr. Cuya was thrown out with his empty briefcase, passport and bank card.It begins on March 8, 1977, when Austin's friend, Elisabeth Kaesemann, was "disappeared." Kaesemann's body - shot execution-style - was exhumed from a mass grave on June 10, 1977, and returned to Germany for burial the next day. Austin also was "disappeared," but she was released, for reasons she doesn't completely understand now. Of the 85 Germans who were "disappeared" and executed by the Argentinean military, Kaesemann is the only one whose body has been recovered. About half of the dead are Jewish. When Austin "disappeared," she was interrogated and beaten for 14 hours in the room next to where Elisabeth was being tortured. She thinks now that the basement torture chamber - which smelled of sweat and burning flesh - was inside the First Army Command in Palermo. Released in the custody of four officers, she was then taken back to her apartment, raped repeatedly over two days and nights, then ordered out of the country. The PC(USA) and the National Council of Churches of Christ (NCC) bought Austin's airline ticket to New York, where she was hospitalized, and where she, Robert McAfee Brown and Dorothee Soelle of Union Seminary, and Kaesemann's father, Ernst, a prominent theologian in Germany, worked frantically for Elisabeth's release. ]

Colombia

Miami Herald 29 Mar 2001 Bloody paramilitary's support grows - Rightist group becomes a major force in Colombian war BY JUAN O. TAMAYO jtamayo@herald.com BOGOTA, Colombia -- They are Colombia's worst killers, right-wing paramilitary gunmen who regularly massacre villagers suspected of aiding leftist guerrillas, often in public executions to terrorize their audiences. Their cold-blooded carnage, which has drawn U.S. warnings that aid to Bogotá will be at risk unless the government cracks down on them, has repeatedly disrupted government peace contacts with two leftist rebel groups. Yet the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, known as AUC, are also the country's fastest-growing armed group, financed by drug traffickers and wealthy landowners but increasingly supported by middle-class Colombians angry over the armed forces' failure to protect them from guerrilla depredations. ``If the state cannot stop the guerrilla kidnappings, extortions and murders, pragmatic people will look to the AUC as their saviors,'' said Fernando Vargas, a lawyer who has defended several accused AUC members. Founded in 1981 to defend cattle ranchers, the paramilitaries have now blossomed into a key player in Colombia's decades-old war -- an independent army, heavily armed and determined to drive rebels out of their redoubts by blood and bullets. Human rights organizations blame the ``paras'' for 50 to 70 percent of the estimated 3,600 political murders that occur in Colombia each year, more than any other group. Their brutal but effective actions have put U.S. government officials in a quandary, with some pushing President Andrés Pastrana to suppress the AUC by all means even as others urge him to negotiate with it. ``The issue that most worries [the U.S. government] is the paramilitaries. They are terrified of how the phenomenon is growing,'' said Colombia's ambassador in Washington, Luis Alberto Moreno. ``I don't see any formula that can work . . . without negotiating with the paramilitaries,'' said Peter Romero, acting assistant secretary of state for western hemisphere affairs. ``Sooner or later, it must be done.'' The paramilitaries' growth has been explosive: From 850 fighters in 1992, the AUC now has 8,000, making it Colombia's second largest illegal armed group behind the 17,000-member Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as FARC, and ahead of the 3,500-member National Liberation Army, or ELN. With its growth came more AUC killings of unarmed civilians -- from 30 in 1997 to 640 last year, according to a lengthy Defense Ministry report on the paramilitaries issued in December. Human rights groups say last year's AUC toll was far higher, closer to 1,000. Its fighters now operate in 26 of the country's 32 states, and in the past year wrested control of two major coca-producing regions from the FARC and ELN -- Putumayo in the south and Catatumbo in the north -- with massacres, selective assassinations and, increasingly, set-piece battles. ``We run Putumayo, not the army, not the FARC,'' boasted Enrique, pseudonym for the head of the AUC's 800-man Southern Bloc, financed by the same ``taxes'' on local cocaine traffickers once collected by the FARC. The drug money has allowed the AUC to hire scores of discharged army veterans and even FARC and ELN defectors enticed by the $200-a-month salary for new recruits, Enrique said. Active cooperation between the military and AUC has been reported in many regions, especially those contested by the paramilitaries and rebels, according to U.S. and Colombian human rights groups that follow the issue. ``In some barracks there are sympathies for the `paras,' but in others there are officers who hate them, so you can't say there's an institutional link between army and paras,'' retired Army Gen. Jorge Salcedo said. Said one army major in Putumayo: ``If I have only one bullet, don't you think I will use it on the guerrilla who's shooting at me, rather than on the guy who's also shooting at the guerrilla?'' Today, the AUC is on the march, pushing into the southwestern state of Cauca, home to large opium poppy fields, and vowing to move in force soon into Bogotá to attack rebel supply lines and political supporters. Perhaps more important, they have gained increasing backing from Colombians frustrated with the rising guerrilla violence and lack of progress in Pastrana's 2-year-old peace negotiations with the FARC. ``A significant number of Colombians are betting on the paramilitaries as an alternative in the face of the intransigence and fear imposed by the guerrillas,'' said a recent editorial in the daily El Tiempo. ``The `paras' are the only ones fighting those thugs,'' said taxi driver Gerardo Anzoítegui, indignantly waving a newspaper report that the National Police has no presence at all in 200 of Colombia's 1,096 municipalities The Colombian military, with 146,000 troops in a country seven times the size of Florida, has 0.13 soldiers per square kilometer, compared to El Salvador's 2.37 soldiers -- 18 times more -- at the end of its civil war in 1991. But it's the AUC's ruthlessness, not its numbers, that makes its fighters so effective. ``They kill two, three people on a list of suspected guerrillas and they know they control the rest through fear. It is well-thought-out terrorism,'' Salcedo said. AUC leader Carlos Castaño denies the massacres -- he prefers to call them ``multiple military targets'' -- are indiscriminate. ``These are guerrillas without uniforms,'' he said. But human rights groups say the AUC goes after anyone even faintly suspect -- human rights workers, labor activists, journalists, municipal officials in guerrilla areas, even shopkeepers who sell to the rebels. The paramilitaries were founded in 1981 by cattle ranchers and army officers in the Middle Magdalena Valley in northcentral Colombia, to counter FARC units then moving into the area, kidnapping ranchers or forcing them to pay fat protection fees known as vacunas, or vaccines. Castaño and his older brother Fidel, now dead, organized one of the earliest units, Death to Kidnappers, after the FARC kidnapped and killed their father. By 1986, the paramilitaries had killed at least 1,000 peasants in the Middle Magdalena, but FARC kidnappings had fallen from hundreds to a handful a year and the rebel columns had largely retreated from the region, Salcedo recalled. But then the coca boom hit Colombia, and drug lords began providing the paramilitaries with assault rifles and radios to protect their operations and drive peasants off lands they wanted for coca plantations. ``That's when they began turning into the totally destabilizing elements they are today, and for three reasons -- the state's failure to provide security, the narco-money and the growing FARC abuses,'' Salcedo said. Castaño, who unified the dozens of small units into the AUC in 1997, has admitted that 70 percent of that AUC's finances now come from ``taxes'' paid by narcotics traffickers, but denied any direct AUC involvement in cocaine or heroin processing. DEA chief Donnie R. Marshall told Congress last month, however, that the AUC ``appears to be directly involved in processing cocaine, [and] at least one of these paramilitary groups appears to be involved in exporting cocaine.'' Pastrana has tried to crack down on the AUC, creating a special brigade of accountants to go after their finances last year and reviving a long-dormant multiagency Center for the Fight Against Self-Defense Forces. His government fired five army generals suspected of links to the paramilitaries, and a civilian court earlier this year convicted a colonel of failing to stop an AUC massacre of some 30 people in 1997. But that has not stopped Castaño from morphing himself from a criminal -- with a $500,000 reward on his head and 20 arrest warrants against him -- into a political force to be reckoned with. He has blocked Pastrana's attempts to give the ELN control of a patch of territory in the Middle Magdalena as a site for peace talks, and repeatedly attacked the president's 1998 decision to give the FARC a far larger territory in the south

Costa Rica

Tico Times 2 Mar 2001 C.R. Leads as Refugee Host By Tim Rogers Tico Times Staff For 105 years, the Statue of Liberty has been recognized as a beacon of freedom to millions of people around the world chasing the elusive promise of a better life in the U.S. While there is no similar monument in the Port of Limón to welcome the tired, the poor and the huddled masses yearning to breath free, Costa Rica during the last 20 years has also become identified as a leading host country for refugees and immigrants fleeing their native countries due to war, natural disasters or lack of economic opportunity. "During the Central American wars in the 1980s and 1990s, Costa Rica received a majority of the refugees that fled Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala," Giovanni Monge, a public relations officer with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Costa Rica (UNHCR), told The Tico Times this week. "Following the various peace plans in the early 1990s, many refugees here began to repatriate their native countries as political situations began to normalize. "However," he added, "when these people returned home, they found that the economic and social situations in their countries had deteriorated greatly, ushering in a new phase of emigration to Costa Rica motivated by economic necessity." According to the 2001 annual report released by UNHCR, the number of refugees in Costa Rica has dropped substantially since 1989 — from 278,800 to 5,519. However, an estimated 450,000 immigrants—mostly Nicaraguans—currently live in Costa Rica in response to levels of extreme poverty in their home countries, which have been exacerbated in recent years by the devastation caused by Hurricane Mitch. Of the 5,519 people now living here under temporary refugee status, 2,715 are Nicaraguans, 971 are Cubans, 793 are Salvadorans, 515 are Colombians and 223 are Peruvians, according to Jamie Ruiz, UNHCR mission chief. Meanwhile, Monge added, tens of thousands of other Central American refugees living here have been granted amnesty and become legal residents or naturalized Costa Ricans, resulting in the notable statistical decrease in recent years. Despite the sharp decline in the number of official refugees here, Costa Rica still ranks number one in Central America, and number two in Latin America — behind Mexico — as a destination country for people escaping persecution in their native lands. According to Article 1 of the 1951 United Nations Convention on Refugees, a refugee is any person living outside his or her country of birth and unable to return home due to "fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, social affiliation, or political opinion." Omitted from the list is the concept of "economic persecution," and as a result, people who come here out of financial necessity qualify as immigrants, not refugees. While most Latin Americans migrating here are Nicaraguans in search of work, "Most people soliciting refugee status in Costa Rica are Colombians who are fleeing the very difficult situation in their own country," explained Monge. "Growing violence and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Colombia has resulted in an increase in the number of Colombians seeking asylum in Costa Rica," according to the UNHCR report. In addition to the 515 Colombian refugees here, Monge explained, an additional 954 cases are pending, as the number of Colombians applying for refugee status has steadily increased during the last year by an average of 100 each month. However, most Colombians flocking to Costa Rica do so under legal immigrant status. According to immigration officials, 2, 831 Colombians emigrated here in 1999 and some 4,000 emigrated last year. Asked whether the growing numbers have anything to do with the controversial U.S.-authored war plan dubbed "Plan Colombia," Monge said it is too soon to draw that conclusion. "The increase in the number of Colombians soliciting refugee status here began before the Plan Colombia was implemented [last August]," he said. "At this point, it can’t be blamed as a push factor." Monge said his staff here does not have the capacity to adequately deal with the dramatic increase of Colombian refugee requests, and they expect that the number will continue to grow in the coming months. The 2001 annual report by the UNHCR marks the 50th year of the organization’s work with refugees. Originally created in 1951 as a three-year mission to deal with the problem of repatriating 1,000,000 refugees displaced by World War II, 50 years later the UNHCR operates in 120 different countries and works with more than 22.3 million refugees worldwide. "The 50th anniversary of UNHCR is no cause for celebration," said outgoing Commissioner Sadako Ogata. "Instead, the longevity of the project reflects the failure of the international community to prevent prejudice, persecution, poverty and other causes that result in war and the displacement of people. "If the disparity between rich and poor countries continues to grow," she added,"the number of people looking for a new life in the rich countries of the world will also continue to grow." Two Stories: Refugees Flee Hunger, Horror The Tico Times this week had the chance to speak with a Nicaraguan woman and a Colombian man, both of whom had to leave their home countries and seek refugee status in Costa Rica. Neither wanted his/her full name or photo used in the story. María, a 45-year-old native of the north Pacific coast town of Corinto, Nicaragua, left her country in 1980 following the July 1979 victory of the Sandinista Revolution, which ousted dictator Anastasio Somoza. She was forced to leave Nicaragua for political reasons. Ultimately benefiting from a 1993 amnesty that granted her naturalized citizenship, Maria and her two sons, ages 24 and 11, have lived here ever since. Carlos, a 50-year-old artist from Bogotá, Colombia, has been living here as a political refugee for slightly more than two years, following repeated death threats from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). After 15 months of paying ransom to the FARC for the kidnapping of his brother, a successful Bogotá businessman, the money ran out and Carlos was unable to continue with the ransom payments. When he notified FARC leaders that he was no longer going to make payments, Carlos was marked for death by FARC hit men. Escaping the country "with the help of God," Carlos fled to Costa Rica, leaving his brother’s life in the hands of his kidnappers. Several months later, a family member in Bogotá sent him a local newspaper that included his brother’s obituary. He had been killed by his captors because ransom payments had not been met. * * * "For a couple of years, I worked in Corinto as a kitchen helper for Somoza’s National Guard because I needed the work," María said. "But when the Sandinistas came to power, they came looking for us and we all had to go into hiding. "After spending two months in hiding, and without work, I left by bus for Costa Rica with a passport I had been issued during the Somoza government but had never used before. "I lived here for four years, until I had to apply for official refugee status from the UN. Then in 1986, I got a job working as cleaning lady for a local language school, where I have worked ever since. "I have gone back to Nicaragua many times to visit my family, but I can’t stay there because there is no work. And the situation continues to get worse. "In the 1980s, many Nicaraguans came here to avoid the war and because they were persecuted by the government. For example, my brother fled in 1985 to avoid the military draft, and emigrated illegally to the U.S. He still lives and works there, and sends money home to Corinto to subsidize my father’s pension and support my two sisters. "Now that the war is over, people continue to come here because of the economic situation in Nicaragua. This is practically a form of economic persecution. "During the Sandinista government and the U.S. embargo, things were very difficult in Nicaragua. You couldn’t find food or medicines. Hospitals didn’t have syringes to give injections or aspirins for fevers. "Today in Nicaragua, you can find all sorts of nice American food products, clothes and medicines. But the problem now is there is no work. "Many Nicaraguans living in Costa Rica want to return home, but can’t because of the high levels of unemployment there. If the Nicaraguan government did something to create jobs, people could go back and reunite with their families. But two administrations since the war have done nothing to change the situation. "My oldest son has now lived here for eight years and doesn’t want to go back. His life is here now. He is a Saprissa soccer fan. "My youngest son was born here and knows Nicaragua only from vacations. He wants to move there because he saw the children of Corinto playing in the streets and houses with the front doors open. But he is just starting sixth grade, and doesn’t know what life is like there." * * * "I was always outspoken in my denunciation of the FARC activities and government corruption," Carlos told The Tico Times. "And this is one of the biggest crimes you can commit in Colombia. "I am not against the FARC, or the government, but I am against corruption, kidnappings, bombings and misery that narcotrafficking and the war have brought to my country. "First the FARC kidnapped my brother’s son for economic reasons. My brother had to make payments for almost 12 months until he was finally able to see him again. Then they kidnapped my brother, and it was up to me and his son to make payments. "However, while my brother was in the FARC’s custody, his businesses went under. He was unable to pay his employees and unable to pay taxes. The bank repossessed much of his land, and the money began to run out. We were unable to make any more payments. "I met with leaders of the FARC and told them we would not pay any more, so they threatened my life. They made a hit on my brother’s son, and he was shot six times with a 9-mm pistol. By God’s miracle, he didn’t die. No one believes me when I tell that story, but it is true. "The FARC has to make public examples of people. When they tell you have to pay, then you have to pay. It is how they exercise their power, by keeping their word and creating panic among the people. "When you stop your car at a red light, you don’t know who is in the car next to you. When you get on a bus, you don’t know who is sitting next to you. "One day, they came to my house and were waiting outside for me. We remained inside and prayed, thinking that there was no way we were going to survive. But by the luck of God, we escaped and left the country. "The crime and delinquency in Colombia are terrible. But it is not as bad as the government corruption. That is crime within the legal system, and it is always worse than crime outside the legal system. "The whole country, except for the guerrillas, wants the U.S. to intervene. That is the only force that the FARC fears, and that is the only way to save the country. "Four or five years ago, I was against U.S. foreign policy. But now I don’t care about politics. The only way to save the situation is for the U.S. to intervene, end the guerrilla movement and, at the same time, change the way the Colombian government operates. The Plan Colombia is fabulous. This is part of the solution. "It is with great sadness and suffering that I left Colombia. I had to abandon everything: my life, my house, my business, my family and my friends. But I can’t go back, or they will kill me. "I arrived here without knowing anybody and without knowing where to go. Luckily, I had enough savings to survive until I could start a small business to generate some income. But for other people coming here, it is an almost impossible situation. "I hope to someday have an art exhibition here to raise money to create a foundation to help other Colombians who come here as refugees."

Ecuador

AFP 31 Mar 2001 -- Some 2,500 Colombians fled to Ecuador since January 2000 QUITO, March 31 (AFP) - In the past 14 months, Ecuador received asylum petitions from 2,495 Colombians who fled violence between armed groups in their war-torn country, the Foreign Ministry said Saturday. Human Rights office director Alfonso Lopez said that from January 2000 to February 2001, 2,495 Colombians requested asylum in Ecuador. Of those, 1,217 petitions were accepted, 289 were rejected and 989 were still being processed. Most of the refugees entered the Amazonian province of Sucumbios, fleeing violence between leftist rebels and right-wing paramilitaries across the border in Colombia's Putumayo department, he said. Guayaquil's El Universo newspaper said that based on its own count, an estimated 12,000 Colombians were using Ecuadoran land as "temporary housing" at the end of last year, when violence between armed groups in Putumayo intensified. Most of the Colombians eventually returned home, although to areas less affected by the war, which has left 130,000 dead in 37 years. Those who stay in Ecuador generally get involved in agriculture or commerce, the paper said.

Reuters (2 Mar 2001) Ecuadorean Foreign Minister Heinz Moeller said on Friday that without additional U.S assistance, it would be impossible to stop Colombia's drug war from spreading to Ecuador and other neighboring nations. Moeller said that partly as a result of the so-called Plan Colombia, a $7.5 billion plan to destroy coca fields in the world's largest cocaine producer, the Andean nation's guerrilla conflict was becoming regionalized. Refugees from the civil conflict in Colombia's coca-growing Putumayo region have also been spilling over into Ecuador's provinces around the shared 370-mile (600 km) border.

Peru

BBC 29 Mar 2001 Peru reopens death squad inquiry A 1995 amnesty protected the military from prosecution Peru's Supreme Court has ordered a fresh investigation into the 1991 massacre of 15 people by a paramilitary death squad with links to the armed forces. Peruvian human rights groups believe the attackers were hired by the former intelligence chief, Vladimiro Montesinos, to quash the left-wing rebel Shining Path movement. Those suspected of killing the 15 party-goers, apparently mistaken for guerrillas, have been protected by a police and military amnesty passed by the ousted President Alberto Fujimori in 1995. That pardon was revoked last week by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in Costa Rica, the legal arm of the Organisation of American States. The announcement of a new investigation follows the arrests last weekend of two former intelligence generals alleged to have been linked to the killings. 111 bullets General Juan Rivera, former head of the now extinct National Intelligence Service, and General Julio Salazar Monroe, head of the Army's Intelligence Service, are accused of having links to the death squad known as the Colina group. Montesinos is said to have formed the death squads Earlier this week, special attorney Ronald Gamarra announced that 13 arrests warrants against suspected members of the group had been issued. In the November 1991 attack, at least six masked gunmen burst into a small apartment in the Barrios Altos district of Lima, a poor neighbourhood close to the presidential palace, and made a group of party-goers lie face down on the floor. Using pistols and automatic weapons fitted with silencers, they fired into the group, killing 15 people and injuring four. Police said they found 111 bullet shells in the apartment after the attack. Incompatible amnesty Local media reported at the time that the death squad mistook the party for a secret meeting of Shining Path rebels. Some members of the Colina group were later imprisoned for the assassination of nine students and a teacher at La Cantuta University in 1992. Their convictions were quashed and they were released from prison under the 1995 amnesty, which protected police and the military from prosecution. Following the Inter-American tribunal's ruling that the amnesty is incompatible with the American Convention on Human Rights, the case will now be re-opened.

BBC 25 Mar 2001, Peruvian generals arrested Two former intelligence generals have been arrested in Peru accused of involvement in the massacre of fifteen suspected left-wing rebels in 1991. The generals, Juan Rivera and Julio Salazar, are accused of links to the Colina group -- a death squad formed to quash the Peruvian Shining Path guerrilla movement in the nineties. In 1995 an amnesty law gave immunity to the Peruvian army in cases of human rights abuses -- but last week the Inter-American Court of Human Rights part of the Organisation of American States ruled that this law broke international conventions. Human rights organisations have welcomed the arrests; they said moves to negate the amnesty in Peru could have an impact in several other Latin American countries with similar laws.

Japan Times (3 Mar. 2001) The newly appointed Peruvian ambassador to Japan Luis Machiavello Amoroz has urged deposed Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori to return to Lima to answer accusations leveled at him following his decision to resign as president last year from Tokyo. "It is incumbent upon Fujimori as a former president to explain to the Peruvian people the circumstances (under which he decided to announce his resignation in Tokyo)."

Asia-Pacific

Afghanistan

UNESCO (1 Mar 2001) Paris, March 1 (No.2001-30) -Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura said today he was shocked at the announcement that the destruction of statues had begun in Afghanistan, despite various initiatives undertaken since Monday to convince the Taliban to reverse their decision. Mr Matsuura declared: “In Afghanistan, they are destroying statues that the entire world considers to be masterpieces. And this is being done in the name of an interpretation of the Muslim faith that is not recognised anywhere else in the world. This iconoclastic determination shocks me, as it shocks all those who have a distinct vision of the dignity, respect and tolerance of man and religion. In committing these acts of vandalism, the Taliban are not helping either Afghanistan or Islam to make progress.” The Director-General added: “Yesterday, I asked the Ambassador of Pakistan, one of the few countries that has maintained direct contact with the Taliban, to do everything possible to rally Islamabad’s support for our efforts to stop this destruction. I have also contacted representatives from other Islamic countries - Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Iran and Tajikistan - as well as the President and the Secretary of the Organization of the Islamic Conference. They have all expressed their unconditional support and have pledged to do all that they can to put a stop to these destructions. Today, I have convened a meeting of the Permanent Delegates to UNESCO from the 54 Member States that belong to the Islamic Conference, to take place later this afternoon. It is urgent that we reach agreement on a solution. I cannot believe that we will fail.”

BBC (1 Mar 2001) There has been a worldwide outcry over the launch of a campaign in Afghanistan to destroy the country's centuries-old heritage of statues, including many ancient effigies of Buddha. Troops are reported to be using rocket-launchers and tanks to smash the largest sculptures, which include two giant Buddhas carved into the mountainside at Bamiyan. The supreme leader of the governing Taleban, Mullah Mohammed Omar, ordered the destruction in an edict on Monday saying the images were idolatrous and offensive to Islam.

BBC (2 Mar 2001) Taleban spokesman in the United States, Sayed Rahmatullah Hashmi, told the BBC the statues were being destroyed to retaliate for the 1992 demolition of the ancient mosque at Ayodhya in India by Hindu activists. Afghanistan was a Buddhist centre before the arrival of Islam in the Ninth Century. But some mullahs believe, mistakenly, that Buddhists worship the Buddha and that the statues are therefore idols. Kabul museum contains priceless Buddha statues There are also a number of Hindu shrines in Bakhtiar province.

AFP (3 Mar 2001) The director-general of UNESCO Koichiro Matsuura has sent a special envoy to Afghanistan in a bid to persuade the Taliban authorities to stop the destruction of pre-Islamic statuary, he announced Friday. Without naming the envoy, he said he was "a personality who is well-known and respected in the region, and an expert on Middle Eastern and central Asian matters." "Words fail me to describe adequately my feelings of consternation and powerlessness as I see the reports of the irreversible damage that is being done to Afghanistan's exceptional cultural heritage," Matsuura said. The Buddha statues in central Bamiyan province have been under a barrage of rocket and tank shells from the ruling Taliban militia, official and opposition sources said. They said Taliban fighters were attacking the two giant stone Buddhas, estimated to have been built between the second and fifth centuries AD, with rockets, tank shells and even automatic rifles. Supreme Leader Mulla Mohammad Omar said the decision was in line with a fatwa from local Islamic clerics designed to prevent the worshipping of "false idols." Minister of Information and Culture Qudratullah Jamal said historic statues in the Kabul museum and elsewhere in the provinces of Ghazni, Herat, Jalalabad and Kandahar were also being destroyed. The militia had started accumulating explosives around the two Buddha statues, a report said Friday, but it now appears local commanders were taking matters into their own hands.

BBC 21 Mar 2001 Taleban ban Persian New Year The Taleban authorities in Afghanistan have banned celebrations of the traditional New Year, or Nowruz, and warned that people who do celebrate it will be branded infidels. Many people across West Asia mark the day, which coincides with the spring equinox on Wednesday. But the Minister for Fostering Virtue and Suppressing Vice, Mohammad Salim Haqqani, said celebrating Nowruz was linked to non-believers, and good Muslims should hate it. Nowruz has its roots in Zoroastrianism - the ancient religion of pre-Islamic Persia. Earlier this month, the Taleban attracted international criticism for destroying two huge statues of Buddha. Afghanistan has a large Persian-speaking minority, and Nowruz was part of the official calendar until the Taleban took Kabul in 1996.

AI 28 March 2001 Afghanistan: Massacre in Yakaolang Amnesty International today issued a report on January's massacre of over 300 unarmed men and a number of civilian women and children by Taleban forces in Yakaolang, in Bamiyan province. According to eyewitness accounts, Taleban forces began to arrest and execute Hazara people over several days after recapturing Yakaolang district from Hezb-e Wahdat armed forces on 7 January. Eyewitnesses also reported the deliberate killing of dozens of civilians hiding in a mosque. One person said: "Some people in Kata Khana ran to the mosque thinking the Taleban would respect the sanctity of the mosque, but they were wrong." They said they saw Taleban soldiers fire rockets at the mosque where some 73 women, children and elderly men had taken shelter. No one was allowed access to the mosque for three days and only two young children survived. Taleban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar has denied the massacres took place and banned journalists from visiting the district. Witnesses also told Amnesty International that Hezb-e Wahdat forces carried out at least four summary executions during the several days they were in control of Yakaolang in late December 2000. http://www.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/africa/03/28/algeria.violence.reut/index.html

China

March 8 (Reuters) China calls for Afghan statues to be protected BEIJING, - China deplored the destruction of Afghanistan's famed Bamiyan Buddhist statues by the ruling Taliban movement, saying on Thursday that all countries should preserve their cultural heritage. In the government's first comment on the issue, foreign ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao said the statues were world famous. "This is the creation of human civilisation and I think it is the shared responsibility of all countries to protect and preserve the cultural heritage," Zhu told a news conference. The Taliban have used mortars and cannon to try to destroy the statues after a ruling by their leader Mullah Mohammad Omar that all statues in Afghanistan should be destroyed as un-Islamic. The statues were hewn into a cliff at least 1,500 years ago in the central province of Bamiyan. The two Budhhas, which tower 175 feet (53 m) and 120 feet (37 m), are the first known examples of massive Buddha images and the style later spread through Asia. Wakil Ahmad Muttawakil, the Taliban foreign minister, told Reuters on Thursday the Taliban would complete the destruction of every statue in Afghanistan, saying any alternative would fail to satisfy Islamic law. China's state-run Buddhist Association of China called on the Taliban on Sunday to halt the destruction immediately, saying it deeply offended the feelings of Buddhists. The Buddhist heritage of China and the Chinese-controlled region of Tibet suffered widespread destruction during the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution, when Mao Zedong's fanatical followers tried to obliterate all traces of ancient culture.

East Timor

NYT (1 Mar 2001 Sexual Violence as Tool of War: Pattern Emerging in East Timor-- Investigators say it has become clear that the crimes of the Indonesian military and the local militias it commanded — opponents of independence — include not only massacres, widespread destruction and mass deportations but also rape and sexual slavery on a wide and possibly systematic scale. The report says militia members and soldiers connived "to abduct women or share them like chattel, or in some cases forcibly taking women across the border into West Timor where the women were raped daily and made to perform household chores." It is only recently that rape has been recognized as a war crime and as a crime against humanity. the victims have often become outcasts. Ms. Alves said it was possible that the rapes were part of the destruction of East Timor that investigators are now piecing together as an orchestrated scorched-earth policy commanded by Indonesia's military. "They had a plan to destroy all of East Timor," she said. "Rape is one way to ruin a people too.

India

BBC 21 Mar 2001 Anniversary of Sikh massacre Hundreds of Sikhs have gathered in Indian-administered Kashmir to mark the first anniversary of the massacre of thirty-five Sikhs. A prayer service passed off peacefully at the local Sikh temple in the village of Chhatisinghpora, south of the state's summer capital, Srinagar, where the massacre took place a year ago. Gunmen entered the Sikh-dominated village, separated the men and killed thirty-five of them. It was the first such attack on the minority Sikh community in the state in more than fifty years. The authorities in India blamed Pakistani-backed Muslim separatist militants, but this was denied by the militants and Islamabad. From the newsroom of the BBC World Service http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/south_asia/newsid_1233000/1233661.stm

BBC (2 Mar 2001) At least 16 policemen have been killed and nine others injured in an attack by militants in Indian-administered Kashmir. A team of heavily-armed men aimed grenades, rockets and automatic gunfire at the police patrol in the mountainous district of Rajouri. It is the biggest strike against the security forces since an Indian ceasefire began last November.

Indonesia

BBC 4 Mar 2001 Dayaks have warned Madurese not to return By Richard Galpin in central Kalimantan
It was probably the tenth checkpoint we had been through that day. The makeshift barricades, made from felled trees, oil drums and burning tyres, had been set up on almost every road in the heart of this province. Men armed with an array of traditional weapons were checking all vehicles to ensure there were no migrants from Madura on board. If so they would have been dragged out and killed without a moment's hesitation. On most occasions the indigenous Dayak people manning the barricades had smiled and given us the thumbs-up when they realised we were foreign journalists. They were both excited and proud of what they were doing here - killing and driving out the migrant community. Many wanted to shake our hands. But at this particular checkpoint on a dirt track approaching a town called Perenggean, they were more suspicious. As usual we wound down the windows to show who we were and wish them good day. One man with glazed eyes and a machete in his hand began talking to me in Indonesian. Dayaks have been looting migrants' property He gesticulated - linking his little-fingers together - muttering something I did not fully understand. Out of habit I simply nodded - pretending I knew exactly what he meant. But as I did so he became more animated - repeating what he had just said. Salutary lesson I kept on nodding politely until one of my colleagues - who is fluent in Indonesian - finally realised what was happening and quickly intervened. We were allowed through the checkpoint and drove away at speed. Madurese are desperate to get on boats out of Borneo Our driver smiled at me and explained that the man at the checkpoint was about to kill me. He had been asking if I was friendly with the Madurese people.It was a salutary lesson - and not just in the dangers of having only a little knowledge of a foreign language. It is clear the desire to kill is consuming the Dayaks in this province. Hunt Even now as I write this there are probably hundreds of armed men searching the jungle - hunting down the Madurese who have been in hiding since the attacks began two weeks ago. And there is no doubting what their fate will be if they are caught - they will be stabbed and hacked to death with machetes and spears. The desire to kill is consuming the Dayaks Neither women, children nor babies will be spared.Some will be decapitated - the heads kept as trophies - as is the custom of the Dayak people. Officially it is now known that in total more than 400 people have been killed so far in this outburst of ethnic violence. But many more bodies may be lying in the jungle, which will never be found. Indelible image Of all the images I shall take away with me of what has happened in central Kalimantan over the past few days, there is one which will never fade from my memory.It is from the day we arrived in the province and managed to reach the town of Sampit, where the killings began. We had gone to a run-down hotel which had become the unofficial headquarters of the Dayak fighters. The government sent more troops to the region There were rumours many heads were being kept inside this building. The atmosphere was hostile. But we were allowed through to the entrance, as we said we wanted to interview a Dayak leader. A man called Andung Rachmat duly appeared, describing himself as the guest relations officer. With a smile - which at any other time would have been charming - he freely admitted that the Dayaks would continue the slaughter until all the migrants from Madura had been forced out of this province. Severed head And at that moment - almost precisely on cue - a pick-up truck full of Dayak fighters came round the corner towards the hotel.They were making the traditional war cry. Just as the truck passed us, one of the fighters inside bent down to pick something up and hold it aloft for us all to see. It was a freshly-severed head - the skin turned grey in death.Madurese refugees crowd on to trucks. There are many other horrific scenes I could describe - not least the aftermath of the massacre in the town of Perenggean, where almost 120 people, the majority women, were butchered at night on a football field. But the more pressing issue right now is how all this can be stopped. Troops The government certainly does not have any real answers. All it has done so far is to send more and more troops and police to the region - who have failed to intervene to stop the violence. Instead for the most part they have stood by and watched. The only substantial role they have played to date has been to protect the 20,000 or so refugees in Sampit from further attack. They have also helped escort some migrants from their hiding-places in the jungle to the camps. Ships So it seems the authorities are prepared to accept this particularly brutal and successful campaign of ethnic cleansing. They are after all providing the ships which are transporting thousands of migrants away from Kalimantan altogether. And as the migrants leave, the Dayaks are burning down their houses and shops - to eradicate permanently all traces of their community from this province.Now Dayaks in other parts of Kalimantan must be wondering if they too could achieve what has been done in this central province.

Reuters 22 Mar 2001 -- Ten Die in Ethnic Riots in Indonesia's Borneo JAKARTA (Reuters) - At least 10 people were killed in the latest round of ethnic riots in Indonesia's central Kalimantan province where hundreds died in sectarian violence last month, the official news agency Antara reported on Thursday. The fighting between the indigenous Dayaks and settlers from the island of Madura broke out near the town of Kuala Kapuas, some 550 miles northeast of Jakarta, early on Thursday. It was not clear what caused the clashes. Antara said tension still gripped several areas near the town as machete-wielding mobs set fire to several homes. Central Kalimantan was the site of one of Indonesia's worst bouts of ethnic violence last month in which hundreds of people, mostly Madurese, were butchered by rampaging Dayak mobs. Tens of thousands were forced to flee. The violence underlines the tensions racking multi-ethnic Indonesia. Simmering tensions between the two groups -- often over land disputes and job opportunities -- have periodically flared and hundreds have died in the last two years. ]

AFP 31 Mar 2001 -- Indonesian government rejects Timor atrocity trial in United States JAKARTA, The Indonesian government has rejected as unacceptable the trial in the United States of an Indonesian general accused of gross human rights abuses in East Timor in 1999. A foreign ministry press statement issued late Friday rejected the trial in Washington of General Johnny Lumintang because it contravened the "lex locus delecti" principle, under which a trial should be held in the same place as the crime occurred. "The application of US law for a crime that took place in a different country and filed by a non-US citizen will be difficult to accept by the international community," the statement said. "It must be through an Indonesia ad-hoc human rights court which has been approved by the UN human rights commission." "The process to formulate the ad-hoc court for human rights cases in Indonesia is proceeding at this moment after the commission was approved last year," the statement said. It added that the training of prosecutors and judges to stage the court would commence in the near future with the support and technical assistance from the UN high commissioner for human rights. However Lumintang, who is remains on active service, has already been declared innocent of the charges by the Indonesian Attorney Generals Office. The office examined more than 20 dossiers filed by the Komnas-HAM (National Commission on Human Rights) fact-finding team who investigated rights violations in East Timor, the ministry said. The general was brought to trial in absentia in Washington DC earlier this week. He was charged with monitoring and supervising East Timor's pro-Jakarta militiamen to rape, kill, burn and forcibly evacuate East Timorese to neighbouring Indonesian West Timor. Summing up the case in the US District Court on Thursday, lawyer Steven Schneebaum called for a large damages award against Lumintang to send a signal that no-one could escape judgment for crimes against humanity. Lumintang was vice chief of staff of the army at the time of the 1999 East Timor vote for independence from Indonesia, which triggered a rampage by pro-Jakarta militias that launched massacres, forced tens of thousands from their homes and burnt the capital, Dili, to the ground. The case was brought under US legislation which allows American jurisdiction over acts of torture committed outside the country. A lawsuit can only proceed if defendants are served with legal papers while in the United States. Lumintang was presented with the civil suit during a visit to the US in March 2000. A judgment is expected in the next few months.

Deutsche Presse Agentur (2 Mar 2001) Bangkok - United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson on Friday urged Asian government to express their concerns to the Indonesian government over recent massacres in Kalimantan, Borneo, where at least 469 have died in two weeks of clashes. "I hope the governments of the region, of ASEAN, will speak out more of their concerns, to encourage the government of Indonesia to do more to protect its citizens," Robinson told a press conference.

Japan

Japan Tokyo Broadcasting System (2 Mar 2001) Controversial History Textbook to be OK'd after Amendment. It is found out that those who compiled a controversial history textbook had accepted considerable amendments from Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.The textbook, for use in junior high schools from 2002 academic year, was compiled by a party named ''Group to Create New History Textbook'' that has repeatedly said that current history textbooks used at schools in Japan are ''self-denigrating.'' The textbook that has drawn criticism from overseas is now likely to be authorized as early as end of March. South Korea's National Assembly adopted Wednesday (February 28) at a full assembly session a resolution urging the Japanese government to ensure to remedy the draft of the textbook in the screening process.

Malaysia

BBC 20 Mar 2001 Five held for Malaysian 'racial killings' The violence, rare in the country, caused shock waves Malaysian police said on Tuesday that they are holding five men on charges of murder during bloody ethnic clashes in a Kuala Lumpur suburb earlier this month. Also on Tuesday, ethnic Indians staged protests outside parliament, and called for an independent public inquiry into the killings. Police are investigating whether the five, including two teenagers, were involved in the death of a 24-year-old ethnic Indian man. "We are investigating to see if they are also linked to other killings," the inspector-general of police, Norian Mai, was quoted as saying in The Star newspaper. Six people were killed, four of them ethnic Indians, and 30 people hospitalised with broken bones and stab wounds after clashes between ethnic Malays and Indians. The violence was triggered by a petty neighbourhood quarrel, but has sent shock waves in a country of simmering ethnic tensions. A total of 75 people, including five soldiers, have been charged with various offences, including unlawful assembly and possession of weapons. Protest by parliament On Tuesday, about 200 people, most of them members of non-governmental organisations, staged a protest near parliament. Holding banners reading "We are also Malaysians" they called for the lot of ethnic Indians, who are among the poorest in the country, to be improved, saying the community felt "alienated and deprived" compared to Malays. "Our nation needs to wake up to the problem of racism," they said in a memorandum later handed to an opposition MP. The protesters hold Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who was not at parliament, responsible for the violence. Indian community leaders have said the police failed to give them adequate protection from their Malay attackers, with some reports saying that police stood by as Indians were beaten. The government has moved to contain the tension following the clashes, arresting those they accuse of adding to the tension. Ethnic Indians, mostly descendants of labourers brought to work on rubber plantations by the British during colonial rule, make up 8% of the population, while Malays make up just over half and ethnic Chinese make up most of the remainder.

BBC 16 Mar 2001 Malaysian courts tackle ethnic unrest Police have threatened to detain "rumour mongers" By Simon Ingram Dozens of people arrested during Malaysia's worst ethnic clashes in decades have appeared in court amid a growing war of words between the government and opposition over the origins and implications of the violence. Nearly 150 people were remanded in custody following three days of street battles involving gangs of Malay and ethnic Indian youths on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur. Charges of illegal possession of weapons and unlawful assembly have already been brought against more than 30 defendants. There is a semblance of normality in the area after the worst clashes in decades Five off-duty soldiers and a fireman were among 32 people charged with illegal possession of weapons and other offences during a first day of court hearings on Thursday. It is not clear whether the police have identified suspects for the killings of six people during the clashes. While calm has now returned to the rundown mixed-race neighbourhoods where the violence erupted, the political fall-out continues unabated. The Malaysian authorities are eager to be seen taking a tough line against the individuals held responsible for the country's most serious outburst of ethnically-related violence since the 1960s. After initially dismissing the affair as sporadic incidents related to drugs and other criminal activities, the government now appears bent on seizing the opportunity to embarrass its critics. Cover-up claims The Prime Minister, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, has weighed into the argument, accusing opposition parties of deliberately trying to stir up racial discontent among the majority Malay and minority Indian communities with the aim of toppling his government. Suggestions by some opposition leaders of a cover-up over the extent of the casualties resulting from the clashes has given the authorities ammunition for legal proceedings. Among those being investigated on possible charges of sedition are Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, the wife of the jailed former deputy prime minister, Anwar Ibrahim, and Nasharuddin Mat Isa, the secretary-general of the main Islamist opposition party, PAS

BBC 13 Mar 2001, Malaysia clampdown after ethnic unrest Police presence is high in the suburb where trouble broke out Malaysia has moved to contain the tension following bloody ethnic clashes over the weekend at a poor Kuala Lumpur suburb, placing a ban on all public gatherings in a central state and arresting a total of nearly 200 people. It is not a racial conflict ... and I do not regard it as a prelude to a bigger security problem Defence Minister The clashes between ethnic Malays and Indians at Kampung Medan - in which six people were killed and dozens injured - were triggered by a petty neighbourhood quarrel. Amid rising tension in the city, the worst in decades, police arrested two men for spreading rumours. State police chief Deputy Commissioner Datuk Nik Ismail Nik Yusof warned the authorities viewed such activity very seriously and said security forces had investigated 30 rumours. Police have also seized scores of weapons used in the sporadic fighting over the past few days, including home-made bombs, machetes, knives, swords, steel pipes and axes. Ethnic Indians are among the poorest in the country The clashes, which are rare, have sent shockwaves in this country of simmering ethnic tensions. Fears of racial riots still remain following bloody ethnic clashes in the capital in 1969 in which hundreds were killed. The government has called for tolerance and moved to play down the racial element, stressing that misunderstandings between residents were to blame. "It is not a racial conflict ... and I do not regard it as a prelude to a bigger security problem," Defence Minister Najib Tun Razak said. Poverty Observers have highlighted that the squatter settlement in which the violence took place is beset with socio-economic problems. The Star newspaper said some villagers had complained for years about the lack of amenities, including water and electricity, as well as rubbish-strewn streets and clogged drains. It said some districts had become notorious for criminal gangs and other violence and drug addiction. Relations between ethnic Muslim Malays and Chinese and Indians is a sensitive issue "Kampung Medan should not be a flashpoint," The Star said. Opposition Democratic Action Party secretary-general Kerk Kim Hock has called for multi-party talks to halt tension and the "fragility of ethnic relations." Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has also called for people not to allow hearsay to whip up emotions. "Check first whenever you hear such rumours. Call the police, even if it is the 1,000th time you are calling them," he was quoted as saying in The Star. Malays make up just over half the population, ethnic Chinese a third and Indians eight percent among the country's 22 million people. The Indian community, mostly descendants of labourers brought in to work on rubber plantations during Colonial rule, is among the poorest in the country.

Palestine Authority

Al Quds 1 Mar 2001 (MEMRI) Intellectuals demonstrating double standards Palestinian writer Zakariya Muhammad criticizes Palestinian intellectuals for not denouncing Palestinian crimes while criticizing the Israeli peace camp. "These days, Palestinian intellectuals tend to blame the Israeli intellectuals who used to present themselves as peaceniks, for abandoning justice and peace in favor of the [Israeli] consensus that describes the Palestinians as aggressors and as a danger to Israel instead of opposing the occupation and demonstrating their understanding for the Palestinians' revolt. "The gentlest thing that Palestinian intellectuals have to say about Israeli intellectuals is that they are hypocrites, that the peace they spoke of was lip-service, and that deep inside - when the moment of truth came - they stood by the occupation. "In fact, these accusations are correct with regard to most of the intellectuals in the so-called [Israeli] peace camp: they have displayed a nationalist tendency and have had a role in Sharon's rise to power. "However, this claim by Palestinian intellectuals is weakened by their profound fear of dealing with the bad deeds that have occurred on the Palestinian side. "None of them have denounced the criminal acts of murder that have been carried out by the Palestinian side. Although many of them denounce these acts in private, none have clearly written against them or published even a single statement condemning them. "This position serves the hypocrite peaceniks among the Israeli intellectuals, who use it [as an excuse] to join their national consensus. As long as the Palestinians have a consensus of their own and as long as their intellectuals abandon the scales of justice, the Israelis have no reason not to do the same thing. "I cannot understand the attitude of the Palestinian intellectuals toward the abominable murder of the two [Israeli] captive soldiers in Ramallah. "Nor can I understand the humiliating silence on the murder of two innocent Israeli citizens in Tulkaram after they were pulled out of a restaurant. "They were killed only because they were Jews, in total contradiction to the Arab values of hospitality as well as human morals. "In addition, I cannot accept the silence over the murder of the youth from Ashdod through the Internet... "If the Palestinian intellectuals cannot denounce these acts of murder out of fear of their public or because they accept the widespread logic that we act as [the Israelis] act - then we have come to a point where we use their crimes to justify our own. If this is indeed the case - then these [Palestinian] intellectuals have no right to denounce the hypocrites among the Israeli intellectuals. "Justice is one and cannot be divided. You cannot use the part that serves you and cast off the other part, because in so doing you destroy the very essence of justice, which is supposed to be the intellectual's principle weapon. "The truth is that if we want to flog the hypocritical Israeli intellectuals, the only instrument we can use is adherence to the scales of justice; we cannot abandon or break them. By adhering to the scales of justice, we can make them walk on sword- blades and injure their feet, [undermine] their morals, and expose their hypocrisy. "There is no doubt that we are the oppressed. We are the persecuted and we are in the right, generally speaking. However, the oppressed and the persecuted are [also responsible] for sins and heinous acts. We must not be silent about these sins and crimes, even if it turns people's anger against us. "Because justice is our demand, it is the roof that shades our heads, and without it we will stand naked like Amos Oz, A.B. Yehoshua and others, who, at the end of the day, justify murder and occupation and feel comfortable in the shade of their national consensus - the shade of the government of the murderer Sharon." The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), an independent, non-profit organization.

Europe

Bosnia

BBC 28 Mar 2001 Bosnian Croats desert en masse S-For denies threatening to use force against Croats A large number of ethnic Croat troops are reported to have deserted from the Bosnian army. Correspondents say the walk-outs from barracks in Mostar and Vitez may be in support of a campaign to create a separate Croat state. Jelavic planned an autonomous Croat state The desertions follow an order to disband given by an organisation representing Croat nationalists, the Croat National Assembly. The assembly, which has been declared illegal by the international community, claims the international peacekeepers of S-For have threatened to use force against ethnic Croats. The peacekeepers deny the allegations. The Croat representative on Bosnia's rotating presidency, Ante Jelavic, was dismissed earlier this month for planning to establish an autonomous Croat state. Earlier on Tuesday, two members of Bosnia's reformist multi-ethnic governing coalition were nominated to replace Mr Jelavic and fill the vacant seat left by his Muslim counterpart Alija Izetbegovic, who retired last year. This is the first time that nationalists from Bosnia's three ethnic groups have lost control of the presidency since independence nearly 10 years ago. Weapons secure BBC correspondent Alex Krueger says the once powerful institution has been in limbo since Mr Jelavic's removal. The late Franjo Tudjman: Face of HDZ nationalism Mr Jelavic is also leader of the Croat National Union (HDZ), which helped to found the Croat National Assembly. Initial reports said that 1,900 soldiers had responded to the assembly's call in the central town of Vitez. In the Croat heartland city of Mostar the main barracks was said to be deserted. However, an S-For spokesman said that the peacekeepers did not anticipate any security problems. Weapons storage sites are being kept under close supervision but have so far remained untouched, he said. Croats marginalised For several months the HDZ have been saying that Croats within Bosnia are losing their political rights and are threatened with extermination. Anonymous sources within the HDZ have been speaking to local media about setting up a council of majority Croat areas, an illegal move which could force the international community to ban the HDZ from politics. Under the 1995 Dayton accord, Bosnia is divided into two entities - the Serb Republic and the Muslim-Croat federation. Any move to create a separate state within Bosnia would violate the accord.

IWPR (2 Mar 2001) Bosnian Croat nationalists meeting this weekend in Mostar could announce the creation of a separate Croat entity, just days after the establishment of moderate governments at Federation and state level. On March 1, Ante Jelavic, the Bosnian Croat representative on the Bosnian tripartite presidency, denounced the current Federation authorities as "illegal". He was speaking at a rally in Busovaca in support of Dario Kordic, a Bosnian Croat war-time leader recently jailed for 25 years by The Hague war crimes tribunal.

Croatia

BBC (2 Mar 2001) The Hague has issued indictments against Serb and Montenegrin soldiers over the attacks on the beautiful Croatian port city of Dubrovnik. [The charges include] murder, cruel treatment, attacks on civilians, devastation not justified by military necessity. The ancient walled city, known as the Pearl of the Adriatic is a United Nations World Heritage Site and seemed to have little military value. The shelling of Dubrovnik was "wanton destruction"

BBC (2 Mar 2001) The UN War Crimes Tribunal has issued indictments against the Serb and Montenegrin soldiers allegedly responsible for the destruction of Dubrovnik. This beautiful Croatian city is designated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, Unesco, as a World Heritage Site. The destruction of Buddha images has offended religious sensibilities At the same time, the head of Unesco is attempting to intervene and stop the destruction of ancient Buddhist statues in Afghanistan by the Taleban authorities. Behind Unesco's activities lies a fundamental idea that some things in this world are so beautiful, so significant, that they form part of the heritage of all mankind. ICTY On Thursday 22 February 2001, the Prosecutor, Ms Carla Del Ponte, issued an indictment related to the 1991 attacks on the city and surrounding areas of Dubrovnik, Croatia. At this time neither the names of the accused nor the text of the indictment will be released to the public. However, it is possible to say at this stage that several individuals have been charged with grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and with violations of the laws or customs of war arising from attacks made by the Yugoslav Peoples’ Army on the Dubrovnik region between 1 October and 31 December 1991. The specific offences charged in the 16-count indictment include murder, cruel treatment, attacks on civilians, devastation not justified by military necessity, unlawful attacks on civilian objects, destruction of historic monuments, wanton destruction of villages, and plunder of public and private property.

France

WP (2 Mar 2001) A French court sentenced Nazi war criminal Alois Brunner to life in prison, convicting him in absentia Friday of crimes against humanity for his role in deporting hundreds of children to death camps during World War II.The Austrian-born Brunner, who sent thousands of Jews to their death during the Holocaust, fled to Syria and has not been seen alive in years. The deportations took place while Brunner was in command of the Drancy transit camp, north of Paris, where Jews were held and stripped of their assets before being sent to Auschwitz. Before arriving in France, Brunner also helped wipe out the Jewish communities of Vienna and Salonica, Greece. French Nazi hunter Serge Klarsfeld led the fight to bring Brunner to trial for the deportation of nearly 350 children in July 1944. Of those, 284 died in gas chambers on July 31, the day of their arrival.

Estonia

BBC 10 Mar 2001 Russian-language publisher murdered The publisher of the leading Russian-language newspaper in Estonia, Vitaliy Khaytov, has been found shot dead. His body, with two bullet wounds to the head, was found in his car in the capital, Tallinn. Mr Khaytov -- a retired Soviet naval officer with numerous decorations -- was director-general of the Vesti publishing house, which is responsible for a number of Russian-language publications, including the Estoniya newspaper. Mr Khaytov's son, Marian, was killed in a similar attack last year. No-one has been charged with the murder.

Italy

BBC 26 Mar 2001 Nazi massacre on island idyll A German eyewitness left a grim account of the massacre on Cephalonia Italian and German newspapers have been publishing grim eyewitness accounts of a massacre of thousands of Italian soldiers by German troops on the Greek island of Cephalonia during World War II. The German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung published extracts last week from the diary of a German soldier who witnessed the scene of one massacre. Italian newspapers published translations of the diary - by corporal Alfred Richter of the German Alpine Regiment - over the weekend. The Italian occupation of the island and the massacre by their former German allies form the historical background to Louis de Berniere's novel Captain Corelli's Mandolin. Louis de Berniere set his novel on the island The Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera said recently that 9,436 Italian soldiers out of 11,700 were killed on the island after Italy signed an armistice with the allied powers in 1943. Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi - in a ceremony earlier this month on the island - said their "conscious decision was the first act of resistance by an Italy freed from fascism." "They preferred to fight and die for their fatherland," he said. Shot in head Corporal Richter describes coming across the scene of one execution when they were following a battalion of the 98th Regiment. "When we go past the high point of the mountain pass, we come across the bodies of fallen Italians," he writes. The screams can be heard as far as inside the Greek house Corporal Richter's diary "They are lying in heaps, all shot in the head, so we can see they have been shot by the 98th Regiment soldiers after surrendering. Some of the 98th are removing any usable shoes from the bodies." Corporal Richter said many Italians had surrendered, thinking they would be safe. "In groups they are taken into nearby quarries and walled gardens just outside the village (of Frangata) and mown down by the machine guns of the 98th. Screams "We have been in the village for two hours and during this time the machine guns and machine pistols have been firing continuously and the screams can be heard as far as inside the Greek houses." He described how a group of Bavarian soldiers tried to stop the killing, but they were "immediately silenced by an officer who threatens to put them against a wall too." Those who fell on Cephalonia could not enter the Pantheon of the Resistance Italian commentator Indro Montanelli Corporal Richter said they had been told the order to kill all the Italians had come from Hitler, but he doubted it. "I believe it was the commanders who were intoxicated with vainglory, for whom the life of an individual is no more than a statistic," he wrote. Political correctness One of Italy's most respected columnists, Indro Montanelli, has blamed political correctness for the fact that in the years since the massacre, it had rarely been spoken of and then almost as an "embarrassment". "The soldiers who fought in uniform, beneath the banners of the Royal Army, out of loyalty to an oath and to their country, did not have the credentials of the partisans who fought against these values," Montanelli told Corriere della Sera. "That is why those who fell on Cephalonia could not enter the Pantheon of the Resistance," he said.

Kosovo

BBC 21 Mar 2001 The Kosovo legacy US troops are stepping up controls near the border By Jonathan Eyal Theoretically, the armed incidents of the past few months - when Albanian fighters were responsible for a rising level of violence in Serbia's Presevo valley, in northern Kosovo, and in north-western Macedonia - are unrelated. Ethnic Albanian rebels want Kosovo status clarified In practice, however, all these incidents are the product of the same sense of frustration among ethnic Albanians about their nebulous legal status, coupled with their growing fear that, for the third time in a century, the West is about to sacrifice their interests in order to accommodate the Serbs. Nato's military intervention in Kosovo was and remains contradictory. The Alliance repeatedly claimed that it was not fighting on behalf of the Albanians, despite the fact that the only beneficiaries of the 1999 operation were the Albanians. Nato loudly condemned Albanian terrorism but somehow managed to bomb only Yugoslav military targets. The war was also supposed to protect the multi-ethnic character of Kosovo, but Nato was ultimately unable to prevent the exodus of hundreds of thousands of ethnic Serbs and Roma from the province. They [ethnic Albanians] guessed correctly Kosovo would be a pure Albanian territory regardless of the West's love for "multi-ethnicity" Finally, the Alliance remained committed to the maintenance of Yugoslav sovereignty over Kosovo, although no Western leader ever specified how the province could ever be returned to Belgrade's rule if the majority of its population remained against this idea. The ethnic Albanians of the province were initially unperturbed by such contradictions. But they did not reckon with two surprises - a political change in Belgrade, their main enemy, accompanied by one in Washington, hitherto their chief ally. The overthrow of Slobodan Milosevic's regime in Yugoslavia allowed the West to normalise relations with the country; the return of Kosovo to Yugoslav sovereignty, until recently just a theoretical question, suddenly looked perfectly possible. The change in Washington came as a surprise And the election of a new US administration, ostensibly committed to a withdrawal of US troops from Kosovo, merely added to the Albanians' sense of unease. Despite the Western rush to re-establish relations with Belgrade, the idea that Kosovo will be forced to return to Yugoslav control remains far-fetched. And statements by President Bush's close advisers, suggesting the imminent withdrawal of US troops from the province, should not be taken too seriously either. This is the political background to the current wave of violence. But, instead of bending to these pressures, Nato has decided to teach the Albanian guerrillas a lesson - that they cannot achieve border changes through terrorist attacks. Nato's quandary Although the moves carry high risks, they also provide new political opportunities. Vulnerable and poor, Macedonia's independence was contested by many of the country's neighbours. The Yugoslav military is co-operating with Nato The Greeks, who originally refused to recognise the republic, are now among Macedonia's biggest supporters. And the Bulgarians, who had their own historic disputes with Macedonia, are also offering support. Just as significantly, the relationship between Yugoslavia and the West have been revamped as a result of this confrontation. The Yugoslav military is yet again co-operating with Nato, while the government in Belgrade has put forward sensible political proposals for the autonomy of its ethnic Albanians. In the long run, however, Nato remains in a bind. Even if Western governments were willing to grant Kosovo its independence, this would require a change in the terms of the UN mandate, something which both the Russians and the Chinese are sure to veto. Nor can Nato contemplate withdrawal from the region. So the Alliance is stuck in an unwinnable position, seeking to defend the Albanians' entitlement to govern themselves, but denying them the right to be completely self-governing. The current crisis is containable. But the reasons for the Albanians' frustrations will remain, and will fuel further violence. -- Jonathan Eyal is Director of Studies at the Royal United Services Institute, London

Macedonia

BBC 24 Mar 2001 Double vision in Macedonia- People have very different views of the killing of two ethnic Albanians John Sweeney in Macedonia reflects on how the tensions are affecting everyday life: This is a very funny kind of war. The banging is loud enough and the tanks are real enough and the hatreds are intense enough and yet total war it most definitely is not. In the capital of Macedonia, Skopje, Slav beauties still sip their cappuccinos and pout grumpily at their bored boyfriends. It could be the King's Road in London's Chelsea, were it not for the high speed gabbling of the television announcers as Macedonian television shows fuzzy pictures of two Albanian terrorists being shot dead, hand grenades in their hands. Three quarters of an hour away in Tetovo, Albanian men sip their Turkish coffee in the cafes and talk about the war, their misery at the repression of the Macedonians and how much they support the rebels in the hills. Every now and then the Macedonian army let rip with a machine-gun at the hills where the rebels are hiding. Then the men in the café listen to the gunfire, and shake their heads. But do they take up arms? No, they sip more coffee. 'Marriage made in hell' Macedonia is a country made of two peoples who are barely speaking to each other. It is like a marriage made in hell. The Macedonians are Orthodox Slavs, kith and kin of the Serbs, martial, tough, some might say a little humourless. The Albanians are mainly Muslim, clever, witty, some might say a little, well, sly. The Macedonians form the majority of the population, the Albanians a mere 23%, say the Macedonians. "Oh, no, they don't," say the Albanians - the Macedonians are the majority, but the Albanians will soon be the more numerous. Political and military power And yet the Macedonians hog real political and military power. "Oh no we don't," argue the Macedonians - it is like an awful British pantomime. Every fact of Macedonian life is open to two different interpretations. To report from here, you have to see in double vision - it makes for bad headaches. The killing of the two Albanians in Tetovo illustrates the surreal strangeness of the war, and the difficulty of covering it. Divided opinion For the Macedonians the two Albanians were terrorists who tried to kill their soldiers and deserved to be shot. But the word in the Albanian cafes was that it was not a hand grenade, but a mobile phone in a man's hand that caused him to be killed. I walked to the site of the killings. The Macedonian police were there, and a crowd of Macedonian civilians. They talked of terrorists. The two dead men lay in the dust, around 200 metres away, a pathetic sight. Many ethnic Albanians support the rebels We tried to get closer but the Macedonian crowd didn't want us to get closer. One foreign journalist said exactly the wrong thing: "ska problem", "no problem" in Albanian. Hearing the wrong language, the Macedonians pushed him and the rest of us back, and any hope of seeing something of what happened for ourselves was lost. But television is a wonderful thing. In an Albanian bar, I watched Macedonian TV showing the killings. Sensitive issue The pictures were poor and you couldn't make out the objects in the men's hands. A soldier looked as though he was executing two men. It looked very, very bad. Knowing the sensitivity of the issue, I went to a BBC office and looked at the television footage of the shooting on a BBC monitor at extremely slow speed. This time the picture was clear. The Albanians had hand grenades. They did throw them at the Macedonians who shot them, not in cold blood, but in a frenzy of fear because they were under attack. The British Army would have done the same in Northern Ireland. Perhaps the killings will help the Albanian moderates to argue the case for peace and patience more strongly with their own people.

Russia

BBC (2 Mar 2001) The number of bodies found in a mass grave that was unearthed near the Chechen capital of Grozny on Sunday has risen to 48, the Russian news agency Interfax reports. The grave was found in wasteland, one kilometre from the Russian base at Khankala, on the outskirts of the capital Grozny. Previous estimates had put the number of dead at 28. "Most of them had gunshot wounds and bandages". "The majority of the dead were probably rebels," he added, saying that this was indicated by the internationally made camouflage and Turkish underwear that many were wearing. Eyewitness accounts quoted by the Russian human rights group Memorial claim that the bodies found in the grave were those of civilians, not separatist fighters. --

AFP (2 Mar 2001) Moscow has attacked Washington's human rights record and dismissed as "American propaganda" a U.S. State Department rights [annual] report which was widely critical of Russia's rights record. "The report contains material which has clearly been invented concerning freedom of the press and religion, actions of the security forces and the situation in the republic of Chechnya," Russia's foreign ministry said in a statement issued Thursday. "We cannot tolerate the pious tone or the unfounded accusations which come from a state where the cases of arbitrary policing, violence, antisemitism and racism, ignorance of fundamental rights and constitutional liberties are nothing unusual and remain unpunished," the statement continued. "The authors of this report are clearly suffering from blurred vision: They present an almost unsullied image of the situation in Estonia and Latvia with scarcely a word on the discrimination against the Russian-speaking population" in the former Soviet republics, Moscow said. The statement called for "more objectivity" in future State Department reports under the new administration of George W. Bush.

BBC (3 Mar 2001) Chechen rebel backs Taleban campaign: Support for the Taleban campaign to destroy the Buddhist statues has come from a senior figure in the Chechen rebel movement - Yusuf Ibrahim, an influential editor at the Kavkaz-Tsentr news agency. The following are excerpts from his Kavkaz-Tsentr article on Saturday 3 March: The heathen world is upset. The so-called world community, which is personified by the Judeo-Christian heathen alliance, has kicked up a real fuss over the decision by the leadership of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan to destroy stone idols in its country. .. The international outcry over the fate of the stone statues and the joyous silence over the mass killings of Muslims in Chechnya, Palestine, Kashmir, the Philippines and other countries once again demonstrate the true essence of Kufr (lack of faith). Those Muslims who are still being deceived regarding the so-called world community must finally understand that there will be no peace, security and justice, while violence and true obscurantism prevail on the face of the Earth, as long as our entire religion and law fail to belong to our Creator, the Lord of the Worlds, the Great God (the Most High) who is the only One who sets laws and the only One worthy of worship.

BBC 23 Mar 2001 Violent deaths in Chechen capital Reports from Chechnya say six Russian soldiers were killed and four others injured in the capital, Grozny, when an explosion destroyed their armoured personnel carrier. A lieutenant-colonel was reported to be among the dead. The vehicle is said to have altered its pre-planned route for reasons that are not known. In a separate incident in Groznyy, six ethnic Russians are reported to have been found dead. Five were shot in the head and another was knifed. Two ethnic Chechens were also killed.

Spain

BBC 21 Mar 2001 'Ethnic cleansing' in Spain The Spanish papers all lead on the third attack by the Basque separatist organization ETA in as many days. Froilan Elespe, a socialist local councillor, was shot dead by a gunman near San Sebastian on Tuesday as he had a pre-lunch glass of wine in a bar. El Pais says the latest murder is an example of "ethnic and ideological cleansing" timed to coincide with the beginning of the regional election campaign in the Basque region. The daily believes "the strategists of terror" are trying to "to intimidate and sway the public" and that what is at stake at the ballot-box are "first and foremost the lives and freedom of the ever growing number of Basques who cannot defend their ideas in equal conditions". For El Mundo, the killing shows the elections "cannot be as free as in a normal democracy". It agrees with the Madrid parties that "there can be no higher political priority than ending this anomaly by defeating the terrorists and their active and passive accomplices". Diario 16 thinks the attack makes clear that "ETA is the only enemy". "What is at stake in the Basque country is democracy and freedom," the paper says. "While they are still to be guaranteed, it is absurd to focus the debate on nationalism versus constitutionalism. When thinking freely and having your own opinions has a price, the struggle for democracy must come before anything else."

United Kingdom

BBC 24 Mar 2001 Hate crime raids lead to 103 arrests Police target racism, homophobia and domestic violence Police have arrested 103 people on suspicion of "hate crimes" in dawn raids across London. Scotland Yard said those suspected of racist, homophobic or domestic violence offences were detained in swoops on a dozen addresses, including one in Brighton. Alleged offences include racially aggravated death threats, harassment, the publication of racist or homophobic material, and assault. Robust At least one of the arrests was for alleged rape, say police. "Hate crime will not be tolerated in London," said Detective Chief Superintendent John Godsave. "Today's arrests are another example of the Met's commitment to show that hate crime will be robustly dealt with." Earlier this month the Metropolitan Police launched a campaign against hate crimes. As well as distributing leaflets and posters, officers have visited schools to discuss hate crimes with pupils. Bollywood cinemas in campaign A cinema campaign is also running urging young Londoners in particular to report hate crime. The month-long promotion dubbed March Against Hate will screen alongside films such as Proof of Life, The Gift and The Watcher. It is running in 300 cinemas including those specialising in Bollywood films.

BBC 22 Mar 2001 UK cities 'becoming racially segregated' Report commissioned in the wake of Lawrence inquiry British cities are becoming segregated into poor, ethnic minority neighbourhoods and prosperous, white middle-class suburbs, according to a study. The Birmingham Stephen Lawrence Commission looked at how organisations in the city should respond to Sir William Macpherson's report into the murder of Stephen Lawrence. The commission - a group that includes a judge, a bishop, a university academic and a head teacher - found that institutions and their leaders are failing to tackle racism and racial inequality. Its report warns that this is potentially disastrous for Birmingham. We must not perpetuate the problem of black ethnic minority youngsters unable to get work because of their colour It says it will lead to a split city, which will be mirrored around the country, where ethnic minorities are socially excluded and geographically segregated in deprived inner-city neighbourhoods like Handsworth. One of report's authors, Ray Singh of the Commission for Racial Equality said it was "an alarm call" to all UK cities with large ethnic minority communities. In Birmingham ethnic minority communities lived in a "doughnut" surrounded by white middle-classes in the very city centre and outer suburbs. He said the segregation was not caused by white racists moving out but by the high unemployment and consequent poverty of ethnic minorities who could not afford to live in affluent areas. Ghettos "We're not getting to the stage you read about of the ghettos in America," he said. "But we must not perpetuate the problem of black ethnic minority youngsters unable to get work because of their colour." Birmingham City Council, which commissioned the 15-month study, has responded by promising to produce an action plan within three months. Chief executive Sir Michael Lyons said: "It is certainly not news that deprivation, poverty, unemployment is particularly intensive in the black and ethnic minority communities." 'Commitment' The council had tried to tackle racism in the city, he said, "but we haven't done enough". "It's a sign of our commitment that we commissioned the report in the first place." The report was commissioned in the wake of the Macpherson inquiry into the murder of Stephen Lawrence. No one has ever been convicted of the teenager's killing in Eltham, south east London, in 1993. A report of the inquiry's findings, published in February 1999, strongly criticised the police investigation and found racism played its part. It labelled London's police force "institutionally racist" and condemned officers for committing "fundamental errors".

Yugoslavia

BBC (2 Mar 2001) Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica has said he does not have the power to prevent his predecessor, Slobodan Milosevic, from being tried by the War Crimes Tribunal in the Hague. Mr Kostunica, who is opposed to Mr Milosevic's extradition, said he had his political views on the matter but it was up to the courts to decide what to do with the former president. Mr Milosevic tops the list of persons indicted by the Hague Tribunal in connection with the Kosovo conflict. About 50 of his supporters have been standing guard outside Mr Milosevic's villa in Belgrade to try to prevent his arrest on corruption charges. Officials in Switzerland have confirmed that gold worth $1.1m was transferred from the Yugoslav state mining company in Belgrade to a Swiss firm between 21 September and 2 November last year. Investigators are also keen to find evidence linking Mr Milosevic to political assassinations, abductions and the attempted murder of the leading opposition figure, Vuk Draskovic. They had hoped former head of the secret service Rade Markovic, who was arrested last Friday, would provide evidence. But the Serbian interior minister said Mr Markovic was not co-operating so far.

World

PANA 27 Mar 2001 -- UN stresses conflict prevention in global security strategy New York, UN - UN under-secretary general, Ibrahim Gambari Monday said the global body is working towards making conflict prevention the pillar of its efforts in maintaining international peace and security in the 21st Century. In an address in London, at a seminar on Conflict Prevention in Africa organised by the UK Department for International Development, Gambari explained that the goal of the new approach is to turn the UN away from reliance on peacekeeping to a culture of preventing conflicts. The decision to make conflict prevention the core of UN peace efforts was born three years ago when a commission on preventing conflict issued a report, Gambari said. At the presentation of the report, Secretary General Kofi Annan declared that the highest goal for the UN was to prevent conflict as a way of protecting lives and promoting human development. Moving along this line, the former Nigerian ambassador to the UN said UN organs, such as the General Assembly and the Security Council have held debates aimed at developing a consensus on the strategies for conflict prevention. Gambari said the emerging consensus so far is that conflict prevention involves short term and long term measures at the political, diplomatic, developmental and humanitarian levels. Short-term measures, he said, include preventive diplomacy, preventive deployment and preventive disarmament, all aimed at preventing volatile situations from exploding into armed conflicts. On the other hand, he explained that long-term measures involve peace building activities that address the root causes of conflicts and incorporate political, institutional, developmental and humanitarian activities. Some of the long-term measures, he noted, are implemented after a conflict to ensure that a newly restored peace is sustained. Gambari said the Secretary General has taken some steps to strengthen the UN capacity for conflict prevention, such as the establishment of a prevention team in the department of political affairs whose responsibility is to meet regularly to identify situations that need UN action. The UN secretariat has also established an inter- departmental framework to coordinate conflict prevention. It has also launched a training course to develop expertise on early warning system as well as a framework for cooperation with regional organisations on conflict prevention and peace building. Among recent examples of UN preventive initiatives, Gambari cited the use of inter-agency missions to potential conflict areas in West African and the establishment of peace building support offices in Liberia, Guinea-Bissau, Central African Republic and Tajikistan. Pointing out that the Secretary General would be coming out with a report on conflict prevention in May, Gambari said among the underlying elements of the UN's approach to conflict prevention is the fact that any such initiative must conform to the UN charter. For conflict prevention initiatives to succeed, he said, they must be undertaken with the full cooperation of UN member states, with national actors accepting primary responsibility for conflict prevention. The UN's role would just be to support national efforts, he said. The UN official said the global body's approach also involves working with regional and sub-regional organisations that may have deeper understanding of the conflicts. For all conflict prevention efforts to succeed, Gambari said, there was need for the international community to provide financial and political support.

FAO (1 Mar 2001) Some 60 million people in 33 countries are facing food emergencies of varying intensity caused by natural disasters and civil strife according to a report released today by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. A total of 7 countries and territories named in the report (Angola Burundi, Chechnya, DRCongo, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone) face food emergencies caused entirely by ongoing or recent civil strife and population displacement. An additional 6 countries (Afghanistan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda) civil strife combined with drought to cause exceptional food emegenices.