Zimbabwe’s government used ”torture by various methods” against its critics, and Ugandan rebels killed or abducted nearly 10 000 people last year, the United States State Department said in its annual report on human rights around the world.
The report, released on Wednesday, said the Lord’s Resistance Army in Uganda abducted some 6 800 children between January and June for use as fighters or sex slaves, cooks and porters. The group’s attacks killed about 3 000 people during the year, including children and internally displaced people, it said.
In Zimbabwe, the government continued ”a concerted campaign of violence, repression and intimidation” during the year, the State Department said.
”Torture by various methods is used against political opponents and human rights advocates,” the report said, adding that the government has targeted labour activists for harsh treatment.
Sudan made progress in peace negotiations with southern rebels, but a worsening conflict in western Sudan resulted in ”numerous human rights violations by government and government-supported militias,” the report said.
In Ethiopia, government security forces were implicated in the killing of 93 people in Gambella in December, according to the State Department.
The report also noted positive developments in several African countries.
Kenya’s new government established an autonomous national human rights commission and an anti-corruption authority, both with powers to investigate abuses, and a ministry of gender affairs. The government also dismissed 38 magistrates and transferred 40 others accused of corruption.
Burundi negotiated a future power-sharing agreement with the main rebel group, and a Hutu succeeded a Tutsi as president of the transitional government. Another rebel group in the decade-long war, however, continued to attack civilians and government forces.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the poor human rights situation improved slightly, the report said, although various armed groups continued to commit atrocities. The study called the transitional government, inaugurated after five years of war, ”a vital step in starting the country on a path toward democracy”.
Liberia reached a power-sharing agreement among civil society, former government forces and two rebel groups and has set elections for October 2005. The report noted, however, that sporadic fighting, looting and abuses continue in remote areas.
Rwanda adopted a new constitution and held its first presidential and legislative elections since the 1994 genocide.
In Côte d’Ivoire, a peace deal faltered after rebels pulled out of the government in October, but their representatives have agreed to attend the first government meeting in 2004.
Sierra Leone’s government continued efforts to stabilise the country after 11 years of civil war. A truth and reconciliation commission held public hearings, and a UN-backed special court indicted 13 persons. – Sapa-AP