UN Radio

UN and Africa
Programme Number: 143
Week of: Sunday, 11th March, 2007
Recording Date: Thursday, 15th March, 2007
Topical Issue(s):
" • A team recently sent by the UN Council to Darfur says gross violations of human rights continue in that region. The mission will present its report to the Council on Friday. UN Radio’s Diane Bailey discussed the findings of the report with the head of the team, Nobel Prize winner Jody Williams.

• The political and economic crisis in Zimbabwe has been under the international media spotlight after the Zimbabwean riot police used force to break up a prayer meeting of the opposition last Sunday. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has condemned the clampdown.

• Insecurity in Mogadishu remains the biggest problem as the transitional government begins to relocate there from Baidoa. The UN Special Representative for Somalia Francois Lonseny Fall, says despite the difficulties, Somalia can return to stability if efforts to promote reconciliation and democratic participation succeed.

Producer/presenter: Derrick Mbatha
Editor/co-producer: Ransford Cline-Thomas
Production Assistants: Charles Appel
Studio Engineer: Pete Kurisko
Duration: 15’00”

RESENTER: This is United Nations Radio in New York.

*** SIG TUNE *** (Please, play briefly, dip upon wave, and hold under narr.)
PRESENTER:

Hello and welcome to UN and Africa. I’m Derrick Mbatha.

*** SIG TUNE ***: (Bring Sig Tune up briefly, dip and hold under)

PRESENTER:

In today’s programme, the head of a high-level human rights mission to Sudan, Jody Williams, says gross violations of human rights continue in Darfur.
CLIP 1: JODY WILLIAMS
“The international community has not demonstrated unified political will to pressure Khartoum to protect the people of Darfur. And since it can’t do it itself, it should accept the UN forces that it said it would accept and allow them to deploy in Darfur to protect the people.”

PRESENTER:

Also in this programme the United Nations Secretary-General calls on the Zimbabwean government to stop its violent suppression of leaders and supporters of the opposition.
CLIP 2: MICHELLE MONTAS

“The Secretary-General condemns the reported beating of those leaders in police custody. Such actions violate the basic democratic rights of citizens to engage in peaceful assembly.”

PRESENTER:

That was Michelle Montas the spokesperson for Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. And later in the programme insecurity remains a problem in the Somali capital of Mogadishu.
So stay tuned to UN and Africa.
*** SIG TUNE *** (Bring up briefly, dip and hold under until first sentence.)

Head of Human Rights Team Says Violations Continue in Darfur

PRESENTER;

A team recently sent by the United Nations Human Rights Council to investigate violations of human rights in Darfur has prepared its report and will present it to the Council in Geneva on Friday. The team was denied visas by the Sudanese authorities to go to Khartoum and Darfur but was able to get testimonies from refugees, rebel commanders and aid workers in neighbouring Chad and the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa. The Sudanese government has dismissed the mission’s report as questionable and accused the leader of the team, Nobel Prize winner Jody Williams of being hostile to Sudan. UN Radio’s Diane Bailey called Jody Williams to find out about the findings of the Mission to Darfur.
WILLIAMS: The findings are not really different from what agencies—the AU itself, its AMIS mission, human rights organizations—have been saying since the war started, that Sudan and its ally Janjaweed militia are, you know, guilty of the majority of the gross violations of human rights and international humanitarian law. The framing of the report, I think, is quite different in that it looks at the evidence in terms of the failure of the responsibility to protect, both by the Sudanese government and to, somewhat a lesser degree but not much, the international community.

DIANE: Was there anything that you heard from the rebel commanders, from refugees, from aid workers, that surprised you?

WILLIAMS: The information from the rebels was what we have been hearing since the DPA was signed, that it did not address the needs of the majority of the rebels, and in their view therefore not the majority of the people of Darfur. So unless and until there were open negotiations again to address those needs the war would continue. They were very adamant about that, as were some of the refugees, in fact, in the camp.

DIANE: And what, specifically, are those needs?

WILLIAMS: Compensation for, you know, all of the huge losses that the people who have been driven in IDP camps or over the border into refugee camps, power-sharing and wealth-sharing. They did not feel like it was adequately or equitably addressed in the negotiations. The other thing that was not surprising but really confirming of what we’ve heard about the use of rape as a tool of war, the widespread rape across all of Darfur, was being with a group of 30 women refugees for just an hour. Within the space of an hour, five women talked about their gang rape. Four of them had been raped in Darfur from different villages, different circumstances, all by Janjaweed forces. The fifth had been raped when she went outside of the refugee camp in Chad to get firewood by four Chadian men. Another woman in that group had been beaten mercilessly while two young women she was with were raped. And the then oldest women of the group of four that were isolated from other people during the attack on the village was thrown into a fire and burned to death.

DIANE: Now there has been a lot of information about the rapes, about the violence against the people in Darfur and there has been a lot of mobilization by individuals and organizations yet nothing has changed. What do you think is missing in order to get things moving?

WILLIAMS: Political will, as the oft used term. The international community has not demonstrated unified political will to pressure Khartoum to protect the people of Darfur. And since it can’t do it itself, it should accept the UN forces that it said it would accept and allow them to deploy in Darfur to protect the people. The other things that across the board everybody said they needed, more than food, more than water, was protection and security so they could be in Darfur. And unless and until that’s really addressed, I think that trying to have peace negotiations that include the voices of the people who have been, you know, just brutalized by this war, and I think their voices need to be included, it will be really difficult. The rebels have, certainly, a major role to play in negotiations, but I think most of the time the people are left out, and they should not be because they’re the ones who suffer.

PRESENTER:

That was Jody Williams who lead a team that recently went to investigate human rights violations in Darfur. She was interviewed by UN Radio’s Diane Bailey.
STING/JINGLE: UN AND AFRICA THEME
UN Officials Criticize Clampdown on Peaceful Demonstration in Zimbabwe

PRESENTER:

The political and economic crisis in Zimbabwe has been under the media spotlight since the beginning of this week after the Zimbabwean riot police used force to break up a prayer meeting convened by the opposition in Harare last Sunday. Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of the Movement for Democratic Change and other members of the opposition were arrested and assaulted. UN Radio’s Ransford Cline-Thomas reports.
NARRATOR:
Morgan Tsvangirai appeared in court on Tuesday with a swollen face and his head was partly shaven around a deep wound which one reporter said required ten stitches. Now the problem started on Sunday when riot police broke up what the opposition called a prayer meeting for the political and economic crisis in Zimbabwe. One person was shot dead during the confrontation. Mr. Tsvangirai and other leaders and supporters of the opposition were detained. The government said the meeting was in violation of a ban on political parties and that supporters of the opposition beat up the police. At United Nations headquarters in New York, the Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon expressed deep concern about the violent suppression of the opposition, as we hear from his spokesperson, Michelle Montas.
CUT 1: MICHELLE MONTAS
The Secretary-General condemns the reported beating of those leaders in police custody. Such actions violate the basic democratic rights of citizens to engage in peaceful assembly. He calls on the authorities to allow peaceful assembly and to provide a space for the exercise of legitimate political rights.

NARRATOR:

The Secretary-General also called for the release of the detained leaders. And, as you heard earlier, they were released, but not before being beaten up, and appearing in court. This followed the order of the High Court for the release Morgan Tsvangirai and his colleagues. Meanwhile, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva welcomed the order of the High Court. Spokesman Jose Diaz says the High Commissioner issued a statement calling for the immediate provision of all necessary medical treatment to Mr. Tsvangirai and his colleagues.
CUT 2: JOSE DIAZ
The High Commissioner says she welcomes the speed and firmness with which Zimbabwe’s Courts has acted in the face of shocking reports of police abuse. She goes on to say that this form of repression and intimidation of a peaceful assembly is unacceptable and the loss of life – one person is reported to have been killed – makes this even more disturbing.

NARRATOR:

The High Commissioner for Human Rights also expressed concern about the plight of other people at the rally who were assaulted, detained and denied access to legal representation.
CUT 3: JOSE DIAZ
She urges the Zimbabwean authorities to ensure an immediate, impartial and comprehensive investigation into these events. She goes on to encourage the courts to continue to discharge their responsibilities as guardians of the rights of all Zimbabweans.

NARRATOR:

At the United Nations the President of the Security Council for this month, Ambassador Dumisani Khumalo of South Africa was asked whether, in the light of all that is happening in Zimbabwe, it wasn’t time to place the issue before the Council.
CUT 4: DUMISANI KHUMALO
We truly regret what is happening in Zimbabwe and we truly regret the detentions and what have you. As somebody who was once detained myself, I can tell you that that’s a very very painful process to go through. But having said all that, Zimbabwe does not belong here. It doesn’t belong in the Security Council.

NARRATOR:

And why should Zimbabwe not belong to the Security Council? According to Ambassador Khumalo, what is happening in Zimbabwe is not a matter of international peace and security. In other words, it’s only when the gravity of a situation gets to that level that the Security Council must be very concerned, be ready to discuss it and possibly take action. Reporting for UN Radio, I am Ransford Cline-Thomas.
PRESENTER:

UN Envoy Says Security Situation Remains Big Problem in Mogadishu

PRESENTER:

Insecurity in the Somali capital of Mogadishu remains the biggest problem as the transitional government begins to relocate there from Baidoa, following a decision taken by members of parliament on Monday. Following a briefing by the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Somalia, Ambassador Francois Lonseny Fall, on Tuesday, the Security Council deplored the worsening of the security situation in Somalia. This is all happening as the African Union is beginning to deploy peacekeepers for the mission in Somalia, known as AMISOM. So when I caught up with Mr. Fall afterwards, I asked him first to give me a real sense of the security situation in Mogadishu.
FALL: Frankly speaking I can say the situation of security in Mogadishu is not good. In the last weeks we have seen a lot of mortar attacks, assassinations and AMISOM has started the deployment of its forces through the Ugandan forces. They have about 1,500 Ugandan troops on the ground now. We are expecting more troops in the coming days or coming weeks. When we are encouraging the deployment of AMISOM we are also at the same time encouraging the government to create a conducive atmosphere for those troops coming from African countries.

MBATHA: What’s the attitude of the people of Somalia towards Ethiopian troops given their past animosities?

FALL: The Somalis are divided on that issue. There are some who are in favour because they are considering that those people who are on the ground are there to help them to secure the city, and those who are not happy with the presence of the foreign troops on their soil. We are working now to encourage the deployment of African troops and that will allow the Ethiopians, as the Prime Minister, Meles Zenawi indicated and already started to pull out all the Ethiopian troops from Somalia.

MBATHA: And what is happening on the political front? You say that you are encouraging the Somali authorities to open dialogue with all the parties in Somalia, including the Islamists.

FALL: You know President Abdullahi Yusuf made the announcement during the last African Union summit in Addis Ababa that his intention is to organize the National Reconciliation Conference on 16 April in Mogadishu and that they will call about 3,000 Somali people, including some members of the Diaspora to take part in this conference. And we are encouraging the government on the criteria of selection of the members of this congress and encourage also the government to open the door to all the stakeholders, including the businessmen, the civil society representatives, the women’s group representatives, the youth, including the moderate elements of ICU.

MBATHA: The other day I listened to United Nations humanitarian workers and they were saying that it is about time now that they relocate from Nairobi to Mogadishu. Do you sense that this is the same thinking among the government officials who have been based in Baidoa?

FALL: The parliament has taken the decision to relocate the government in Mogadishu, and the president arrived in Mogadishu. That means that the government will be relocated now in Mogadishu. The parliament will remain in Baidoa. Regarding the UN presence, depending on the security situation in Somalia, we are thinking to send more UN presence in Somalia.

MBATHA: My final question, for a long time Somalia seemed hopeless. Do you think that the situation there is likely to improve in the immediate future?

FALL: Of course, today we can say that there is an opportunity. And this window of hope exists today. We have the government inside Somalia. The parliament is inside Somalia. We have the troops, African Union troops on the ground and we have to encourage the process of reconciliation. Something must be done. That’s why today we presented a situation of a roadmap to the Security Council. The key problem of the roadmap today is the outcome of the next National Congress for Reconciliation and also the reinforcement of AMISOM troops on the ground. And I think if we succeed to cross these two steps, we can say that we can go easily and at the end of the transition in 2009.

PRESENTER:
That was Ambassador Francoise Lonseny Fall, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Somalia.
SIG TUNE ((Bring up briefly, dip and hold under)
PRESENTER:
And that’s all for this edition of UN and Africa. Our Production Assistant was Charles Appel and our sound engineer was Pete Kurisko. And from me Derrick Mbatha, please join us for another edition of UN and Africa next week. Until then, bye bye.

*** CLOSING MUSIC ***