With Darfur set to be hit by a second wave of genocide, world leaders are shifting into diplomatic high gear. The government of Sudan flatly rejects deployment of a 22,000-strong U.N. force, knowing it would be much more effective than the African Union's, even if augmented by additional personnel as is now planned. Some 450,000 innocent human beings are already dead, and more than 2.5 million have fled their homes.

The Ugandan military has resumed operations in areas of war-affected northern Uganda, despite ongoing talks with the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) in Juba, southern Sudan, an army spokesman said. "We have sent squads to areas we withdrew from to make sure there are no [LRA] elements there that can cause trouble and these will establish whether there are still some LRA elements in the region," said Lt. Chris Magezi, the army spokesman for northern Uganda.

José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, has called on Sudan's president to allow African Union peacekeepers in the troubled Darfur region to transfer to a stronger United Nations mission by the end of the year. He also pledged more in European food and other aid. "What we want first of all is to avoid ... a Rwanda syndrome where the international community does not fulfil its responsibilities," Barroso warned on Monday in Addis Ababa, referring to the Rwanda genocide in 1994. "We support a stronger humanitarian and security presence in Darfur to avoid a tragedy," he said.

French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy has called for EU nations to adopt a common, tough standard in dealing with illegal immigration. "We can't all continue to have our own immigration policies," Mr Sarkozy said, ahead of talks in Madrid with EU members from southern Europe. Mr Sarkozy has accused Spain of causing a surge in illegal immigration by offering migrants an amnesty.

The Cape Town Anti-War Coalition notes that the City has made much in the media of the fact that it intends to house homeless people in shelters, and "rehabilitate" jobless people who take the initiative to work outdoors, such measures are not contained anywhere in the By-Law itself, which instead sets out a system of heavy fines, unaffordable for unemployed and homeless people and casual workers.

Thirteen members of Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA), arrested in Bulawayo on separate incidents in June 2004, will stand trial at the Western Commonage and Tredgold Provincial Magistrates Courts on 3 and 4 October 2006 respectively at 8:30am.The first trial on 3 October concerns four women arrested at Matshobana Hall on June 16 2004 while conducting meeting on Self-Help Projects. They face charges under the Public Order and Security Act.

Efforts to resettle internally displaced people (IDPs) in southern Sudan are continuing as the region recovers from a 19-year war that ended in 2005 when the Sudan People's Liberation Army/Movement (SPLA/M) signed an agreement with the government of Sudan. Most of those displaced are women and children, some of whom have known no other life apart from IDP camps.

A coalition of health experts have staged a protest parallel to the Intergovernmental Forum on Chemical Safety, expressing concern over a recent policy turn by the World Health Organisation (WHO) that calls for fighting malaria by spraying the controversial DDT chemical. The conference, which took place in Budapest in Hungary, brought together representatives from government bodies, industry groups, scientific associations and non-governmental organisations in an attempt to reach consensus over issues of global chemical safety.

Recently, the Ugandan government’s chief negotiator said that the government would continue to respect a landmark truce with the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) that expired Tuesday night (19 September 2006). Mohammed T. Yusuf argues that: “So far, both the government and the LRA have adhered to the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement. It is in that spirit that I add my voice to the call for peace, and I urge all peace lovers to join the Civil Society fraternity in their struggle for peace in northern Uganda.”

The civil war in northern Uganda has been going on for the past two decades, and has had far reaching consequences in the region. The Acholi people have been the most affected. They have been kidnapped, raped, tortured and displaced.

Be that as it may, the victims of this civil war have not received sympathy and international solidarity like the victims of other wars. The attempts in 2004 to declare the area a disaster zone did not bear fruit.

The government of Uganda has always taken the initiative when it comes to the resolution of this conflict. The present peace negotiations (the Juba Peace Talks) are a result of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement of Sudan and the leadership of southern Sudan. The Juba Peace Talks have brought the Lord Resistance Army/ movement (LRA/M) and the Government of Uganda to the negotiation table.

On the 30 August 2006, I attended two very important meetings in Kampala in support of the JUBA Peace Initiatives. The first was a Stakeholders Consultative Meeting on Juba Peace Talks, between the Government’s Peace Team and representatives from the Civil Society Organizations in Uganda.

The organizers (CSOPNU, UNAU, DENIVA and the MACOMBA Link Partnership) handled the issues with sensitivity and made sure that all stakeholders participated in the process.

One of these issues was the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) indictment of the five major commanders of the LRA, including Joseph Kony and his deputy Vincent Otti. This was seen as a stumbling block to the peace process.

On a recent KFM radio talk show, Vincent Otti pointed out that the only thing preventing him from being physically present in JUBA was the ICC’s indictment. He emphasised that as long as the ICC’s indictment remained valid, he would remain in hiding. Meanwhile, the people in northern Uganda have voiced their forgiveness to the entire LRA for the sake of peace in their region.

Otti admitted that he has done his fair share of wrong, and said in public that he is willing to go through the traditional conflict resolution court of the Acholi - the MOTOPUT - and ask for forgiveness if found guilty of any act.

According to Robert Kabushenga, the government is waiting for five major LRA commanders to submit proof that they will cease and desist from engaging in a destructive civil war. What makes Vincent Otti and the other four major commanders of the LRA nervous is what happened to Charles Taylor. Olusegun Obasanjo betrayed Taylor, and now that act of betrayal is indirectly affecting the Juba Peace Talks

The second issue discussed at the meeting was the role of women in the peace negotiations in Juba. It is clear that women play a great role in our societies as our mothers, and face many challenges in times of war or conflict. Therefore they should play a great role in peace making and building in this process. Women have made serious contributions in resolving conflicts in Africa and the world. The Honourable Betty Bigombe is one example of a woman who has attempted to resolve the civil war in northern Uganda.

There were continuous cautions against the presence of spoilers in the Juba Peace Initiatives, and the participants requested the chairperson of the government team to deal with them accordingly. Some of these spoilers are local people, but others from the international community. I am referring to people who pretend to love the country and the people of northern Uganda, but go behind our backs to support acts of violence.

The second meeting I attended was on Women and Conflict. This meeting brought together representatives from Women Organizations (UWONET, ISISWICCE), women refugees from Kampala, students and PADEAP partners like the Jesuit Refugee
Society, to discuss the role of women in conflict resolution.

The major issue here was the involvement of women in peace making and building. Women refugees requested that women’s groups like the UWONET, ISIS WICCE, AKINA MAMA W’AFRICA and others support them to handle better the role of peace building in their own communities.

The core of the discussion revolved around the issue of peace in the region. Participants were enthusiastic and encouraged each other to be committed to peace. I quote Bishop Baker Ochola, the Treasurer of the Acholi Religious Leaders Peace Initiative:

“…Government of Uganda wants peace, the LRA wants peace, the CSOs want peace, the international community wants peace, and all stakeholders want peace. And this peace shall prevail in northern Uganda, in the whole Uganda, the Great Lakes Region, on the continent and the world at large”.

The two parties in the JUBA negotiations were commended for signing the Declaration for Cessation of Hostilities on 26th August 2006, and were given an assurance that they would receive full support in their endeavours to search for peace. The UN Under Secretary for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief, Ian Eageland, also added his voice recently in support for these negotiations. He requested the Security Council to offer their full support to the JUBA Peace Talks in order to save this region from the cruel acts of war that have been going on for the past 20 years.

So far, both the government and the LRA have adhered to the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement. It is in that spirit that I add my voice to the call for peace, and I urge all peace lovers to join the Civil Society fraternity in their struggle for peace in northern Uganda. It through peace that socio-economic development can be attained in Uganda.

• Mohammed T. Yusuf is a researcher with the Centre for Democratic Research and a Political Assistant for the Pan African Movement Secretariat Kampala.
• Please send comments to or comment online at www.pambazuka.org

I am following up on the subject of small arms that was well debated in the article “The Role of Small Arms in African Civil Wars" This subject to me is at the center of whether or not Africa understands democracy and can successfully rule itself for prosperity.

Let me make my standpoint clear. I am of the belief that Africa should lead on matters of moral values and reduce tendencies towards a malcontented society.

There is an argument of convenience that asserts that religion is being used (there is no such phrase) to cushion resistance to, and acceptance for child soldiers. I find it hard to accept because even in the animal kingdom children are always protected under the wing of parental care. We cannot look at child soldier practices as merely exploitation. They are completely and totally below animal behaviour.

There are issues worth noting as they move hand in glove with tyrannical governments, such as the tendency to abuse human rights, and in particular the rights of young people. Armed Conflict sits on top of all priorities for a government disregarding human rights.

Many of our leaders are wayward characters from broken families or other strange historical backgrounds. They are shy to tell their childhood stories, aware that media would draw conclusions as to why they behave oddly. I am sorry to say we are forced to think that upper radicalism and hatred shown by many leaders in power comes from youthful backgrounds, which are either religious based or fundamentally atheistic and therefore animalism.

All the pictures we see of child soldiers give a clear indication that the government will be running away from good reasoning by cheating the young minds into savagery. The young are easy to instruct without causing a coup. The young do not plot subversive activities, which intrinsically and fundamentally come from lack of faith in leadership. More distressing is that young girls have been used as mistresses of top guys and this is done privately, but results in unwanted children and deaths through HIV/AIDS.

Ironically, to facilitate the agony of child exploitation, the government of the day must make sure that there is a definite collapse in the economy. This does not require too much intelligence apart from employing vanity and corruption.

It is these same rulers who, argue against freedom of the press and, seek to silence it so as to conceal their obscene deeds. Africa must make it a serious crime for anyone to do anything to a child. Africa must invoke tradition mixed with modernity in preserving the values of young persons.

If these values are less important to those we put in power, or to those who force themselves to power, the cry for morality among societies and communities will remain a cry in the wilderness. We have to look at our family concept and practices. We should revise these and then consider suitable leaders who will transmit these values without fear of being questioned on their moral standing. Africa needs to unite on child abuse, of any measure, as we aim to eradicate poverty. God bless Africa!

The town of Dutse in northern Nigeria was recovering on Tuesday (September 25) after 1,000 people fled their homes in the latest in a series of inter-communal flare-ups that analysts warn could escalate in the coming months. The violence that erupted in Dutse, capital of Jigawa state and close to the border with Niger, last week was sparked by rumours that a Christian market trader had blasphemed against the Prophet Mohammed.

President Olusegun Obasanjo yesterday (September 25) threatened to withdraw Nigerian troops from Darfur if the United Nations does not replace them within months. Other countries that contributed troops to the African Union (AU), Peace-keeping force in Sudan's Darfur region may also withdraw their contingents if the UN is not allowed in by December, the president said in New York yesterday.

Somalia's interim prime minister appealed to the international community for assistance to combat what he termed "terrorists" who are expanding inside the country. Premier Ali Muhammad Gedi's comments to the media came after Islamic Courts militias took over Kismayo, the last port city in southern Somalia that was previously outside their influence.

Burundian state hospitals routinely detain patients who are unable to pay their hospital bills, Human Rights Watch and the Burundian Association for the Protection of Human Rights and Detained Persons said in a new report released. The patients can be detained for weeks or even months in abysmal conditions.

With overmatched police giving them free rein, the gangs in Cape Town's poor neighborhoods have grown in brutality and sophistication since the end of South Africa's apartheid era. They're better armed, have moved into lucrative rackets such as drug dealing — and increasingly seek out children as members.

The ruling party of Cote d'Ivoire has called for the departure of French peacekeepers and the dissolution of a group of mediators ahead of a visit of South African President Thabo Mbeki on Monday (September 25). The Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) "demands the departure of all military French forces" monitoring the cease-fire between rebels in the north and government troops in the south, chairman Pascal Affi N'Guessan said in a statement read on state television late Friday.

The war crimes trial of former Liberian President Charles Taylor has been tentatively set for 2 April next year at The Hague. Trial Judge Julia Sebutinde said on Friday that it was necessary to have a fixed date for his trial to avoid continuous delays.

Despite the scarcity of information on the numbers, it is estimated that during 2005 more than 65% of the people displaced from their homes in the southern region of Casamance were able to return. This followed the signing in December 2004 of a peace agreement between the Senegalese government and the rebel group Mouvement des Forces Démocratiques de Casamance (MFDC) to end a conflict that started in 1982. However, increasing insecurity along the region's northwest border with the Gambia may have prevented some 12,400 other internally displaced people (IDPs) from going home.

Kenya may be forced to set up an additional refuge camp in Dadaab to cater for a new influx of Somali refugees as the instability in the neighbouring country starts to bite. In a conversation with The EastAfrican, the spokesman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Emmanuel Nyabera, said that although the camps had the capacity to handle the influx at 300 refugees per day being experienced currently, the situation was likely to worsen with the escalation of the conflict in the country.

Along with other agencies, UNHCR has on several occasions this year drawn attention to the poor conditions for the thousands of displaced people who have made their way to Bosaso in Somalia's Puntland region, and urged the authorities to take steps to improve things.