Det danske Fredsakademi
Kronologi over fredssagen og international politik 21. April 2006 / Time Line April 21, 2006
Version 3.020. April 2006, 22. April 2006
04/21/2006
GREAT LAKES: Ministers want illegal armed groups
sanctioned
[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United
Nations] BUJUMBURA, 21 April (IRIN) - Foreign ministers from four
of Africa's Great Lakes countries adopted on Friday a "working
document" that could result in sanctions being imposed on leaders
of illegal armed groups that continue to destabilise peace and
security in the region.
The ministers from Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC),
Rwanda and Uganda issued a communiqué at the end of their
two-day meeting in the Burundian capital, Bujumbura, saying they
would lobby the African Union and the United Nations to impose
sanctions on such groups.
The sanctions would include travel restrictions on the leaders of
these groups and their supporters, and denial of access to the
media, fundraising, political discussion and negotiation. Each
country would also "freeze assets of armed groups, their leaders
and supporters" and pursue their possible listing internationally
as terrorist groups.
They said their governments were committed to the disarmament of
the groups, including Burundi's Forces nationales de liberation
(FNL), Rwanda's Forces democratiques de liberation du Rwanda
(FDLR), Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) and several Congolese
militias.
The meeting was held under the "Tripartite Plus Joint Commission",
which was set up in 2004 with a mandate to boost peace and security
in the Great Lakes region. The communiqué was read out by
Antoinette Batumubwira, Burundi's foreign minister.
The ministers commended the UN Mission in the DRC, known as MONUC,
and the UN Mission in Burundi (ONUB) for their contribution in
promoting security in the region. They said they would boost
cooperation among the four governments to "neutralise" the illegal
armed groups in the region.
Batumubwira said the commission would continue setting up joint
border verification mechanisms to curb the movement of members of
these armed groups from one country to another. They also welcomed
an offer by ONUB "to share its experience of partnership between
the host government, the international community and the region, in
matters of transitional politics and peace keeping."
The DRC foreign minister, Ramazani Baya, said: "I am satisfied with
the commitment to track down armed groups wherever they are on the
national level and outside my country." However he said his country
was against a request by Uganda to be allowed to have its troops in
Congolese territory to track down Ugandan rebels operating from
eastern Congo.
"There are Ugandan rebels on Congolese territory and Congolese
rebels on the Ugandan territory," Baya said. He said LRA elements
had been moving to and from Sudan, Uganda and the DRC's Gahumba
Park in DRC. Nevertheless, he praised the recent arrest, by Uganda,
of a Congolese rebel leader who is scheduled to be handed over to
Congolese authorities. "The cooperation of Uganda-DRC-MONUC will
help dismantle elements of Ugandan militias," he added.
Uganda's deputy defence minister, Ruth Nankabirwa, said there had
been several positive changes in the region since the creation of
the joint commission. She said bilateral relations; the joint
commission and its verification mechanisms would "help to eliminate
whatever problems there are".
Batumubwira said Burundi still considers the FNL a negative force
because it had not changed its stand since it was declared a
terrorist group by heads of state at a summit held in Kampala,
Uganda. The FNL, whose stronghold in the province of Bujumbura
Rural, is Burundi's remaining active rebel movement. Other groups
have joined the government and transformed themselves into
political parties.
She said Burundi was collaborating with the DRC, which continues to
arrest FNL combatants found in Congolese territory. The Congolese
government on Wednesday handed over to Burundi 51 FNL combatants it
had arrested.
Sindi Courville of the United States, who chaired the two-day
meeting, said: "The four countries must be congratulated for the
enormous progress they have made, they have demonstrated their
political will to move forward," she said. "From the perspective of
the US, I think the Joint Tripartite Plus Commission has
demonstrated its ability not only for the subregion but also Africa
and globally, what nations can do together."
04/21/2006
Natural Resources and conflict under the legal spotlight, war
crimes trial of Gus Kouwenhoven to commence in The Hague
http://www.globalwitness.org/press_releases/display2.php?id=350
The critical role of the timber industry in helping to finance the
brutal wars in Liberia and Sierra Leone will be under the
international spotlight for the next three weeks. On 24th April
2006, Dutch timber baron Gus Kouwenhoven will go on trial in The
Hague on charges of committing war crimes against Liberians and
violating a United Nations (UN) arms embargo.
Kouwenhoven, a Dutch national, was General Manager of the Oriental
Timber Company (OTC), Liberia's biggest logging company during the
regime of former president Charles Taylor. Taylor is himself in the
dock charged by the Special Court for Sierra Leone with crimes
against humanity, war crimes and other serious violations of
international humanitarian law. Despite years of denials, in April
2003 President Taylor's spokesperson Vaani Paasewe admitted in an
interview that 'it was true that, as Global Witness said in its
report, revenues from Liberia's logging industry had been used to
import weapons recently despite the UN arms embargo.'(1) Taylor
referred to OTC as his 'pepperbush' - a Liberian expression
implying a personal interest, and a warning to people to leave the
company alone.
Kouwenhoven was arrested in Rotterdam on Monday 21 March 2005 by
the Dutch Police after an investigation into his activities was
launched following reports by Global Witness (2) and the UN Panel
of Experts on Liberia.
Despite international publicity between 2000-2003 linking Liberia's
timber industry to the wars in Liberia and Sierra Leone, where the
notorious Taylor-funded Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels
hacked the limbs from men, women and children, the European and
Chinese timber industries continued to buy Liberian timber.(3) Only
Global Witness' successful campaign to get the UN to impose timber
sanctions brought the trade to an end.
"This incredibly important case will highlight the devastating role
that the timber industry played in the destruction of Liberia in a
war that cost over 250,000 lives. The failure of the industry to
take a moral stand on this issue demonstrates the need for
international mechanisms to curb the trade in conflict resources",
said Natalie Ashworth, Campaigner, Global Witness.
Global Witness testified in the pre-trial hearing in this court
case after securing a groundbreaking right for NGOs to keep their
sources confidential, a privilege previously enjoyed only by
journalists. This right will be of immense benefit to NGOs
operating in oppressive environments as it will help protect
sources from intimidation including physical and other threats.
Notes:
(1) David Clarke, Liberia denies links to Ivory Coast rebels,"
Reuters, April 2003
(2) Global Witness is an investigative non-governmental
organisation that focuses on the links between natural resource
exploitation and conflict and was co-nominated for the 2003 Nobel
Peace Prize. For more information on Liberia, see other Global
Witness reports and briefing documents, available at
www.globalwitness.org
(3) "Logging Off" September 2002, Page 11, Taylor made - The
Pivotal role of Liberia's Forests in Regional Conflict", September
2001, Page 15
(4) For more information on Global Witness's work on Liberia see:
'An Architecture of Instability: How the critical link between
natural resources and conflict remains unbroken. A policy briefing
by Global Witness for the incoming Liberian Government, the UN
Security Council and international donors.' December 2005
'Timber, Taylor, Soldier, Spy': How Liberia's uncontrolled resource
exploitation, Charles Taylor's manipulation and the re-recruitment
of ex-combatants are threatening regional peace', June 2005
'A Time For Justice: Why the International Community, UN Security
Council and Nigeria should help facilitate Charles Taylor's
immediate extradition to the Special Court for Sierra Leone' June
2005 'Dangerous Liaisons: The ongoing relationship between
Liberia's natural resource industries, arms trafficking and
regional insecurity', December 2004;
'Resource Curse or Cure?: Reforming Liberia's governance and
logging industry', September 2004;
'Liberia: Back to the future-What is the future of Liberia's
forests and its effect on regional peace?' May 2004.
'The Usual Suspects: Liberia's weapons and mercenaries in Cote
d'Ivoire and Sierra Leone', Global Witness, March 2003;
'Logging Off: How the Liberian Timber Industry Fuels Liberia's
Humanitarian Disaster and Threatens Sierra Leone' September
2002;
'Taylor-made: The Pivotal Role of Liberia's Forests and Flag of
Convenience in Regional Conflict' September 2001.
 |
 |