ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo. Photo/FILE

Judges at the International Criminal Court at The Hague have authorized prosecutor Luis-Moreno Ocampo’s request to investigate Kenya’s post election violence.

More than 1000 people were killed and 650,000 displaced in the post-election mayhem that rocked the country.

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Photo: Judith Basutama/IRIN

A girl fetches water at Kukamakara peace village. Although the water tap (right) is funtioning, she cannot afford to buy the piped water

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BUJUMBURA,� – When the first “peace village” was set up in Burundi in 2003, it was meant to foster healing and reconciliation among the country’s three ethnic groups – Hutu, Tutsi and Twa – at the end of a prolonged civil war. Since then, 16 of these villages have been established across the country but some residents feel neglected and forgotten, enduring perennial water shortages and lack of land for cultivation.

Built on 10ha, Kukamakara peace village in Rugombo commune of Cibitoke province houses 301 families, comprising demobilised former combatants, former refugees who returned from Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, and families from the country’s minority Batwa community.

Separated only by a rice plantation is Rural, in Mugina commune, home to 30 families of returnees and formerly internally displaced persons (IDPs). Residents of both villages say they last had government relief aid in 2005.

Salthiere Gahungu, the head of Kukamakara, told IRIN some of the village’s residents arrived in 2005 while others came as recently as 2009. Each family has access to a 300 sqm plot, just enough to build a house and a toilet, leaving very little ground for cultivation.

“We were given houses but nothing to live on,” he said.

Japhet Ngendakumana, who returned from DRC in 2005 with his wife and 10 children, said his only means of livelihood was to look for casual labour in farms nearby.

“If I go with my wife and my eldest daughter, we can get 6,000 francs [US$6] per day, which we then use to buy food, soaps or medicines if there is somebody ill,” Ngendakumana said. “Sometimes we are paid 10,000 in advance to till a portion of land; then we can consider ourselves lucky.”

Photo: Judith Basutama/IRIN

Concilie Ntuwuhorahiriwe uses rain water for her chores at the Rural peace village in Mugina commune

Disputes

According to Gahungu, many of the returnees in Kukamakara fled the country in 1965 or 1972 and came back to find their original land occupied.

“We are sad to see that we are living like this while the occupants of our land are making a decent living from it,” Gahungu said. “If the land commission had enough strength, it should have stopped the occupants of our land from exploiting it.”

The Commission National Terres et Autres Biens, CNTB, the authority on land and other property, was set up in 2006 to handle all land disputes between returnees and those who stayed in Burundi and occupied the land left vacant.

On 26 March, the chairman, Abbot Ast�re Kana, told new commissioners that to date, 8,139 out of 15,000 land disputes registered had been settled.

More than 95 percent of the rest were amicably settled, he said.

Gahungu said he believed some residents of Kukamakara were considering going back to DRC “because there, they just tell you to go and dig wherever you want; but here, you need money even to rent a field for a season”.

Without land, residents of the peace village are left with few options to earn a livelihood, many complaining about the lack of assistance from the Ministry of National Solidarity, Repatriation of Refugees and Social Reintegration.

“We were once given rice, beans and maize flour; another time, they brought us kitchen utensils and clothes, since then nothing,” Gahungu said.

A similar situation prevails in Rural. Concilie Ntuwuhorahiriwe, 36, who returned from Rwanda in 2000, said they were given hoes and blankets when they settled at the village in 2007. “We have never seen anyone ever since,” she said.

Elie Harindavyi, the spokesman for the Ministry of National Solidarity, said it regularly assisted vulnerable people. However, he could not recall the last aid distribution in the two villages.

“Because they are hungry, they just give into despair thinking they are left out of the distribution circuit,” he said. “But, they have to remember they are not the only ones. There are more than 14 peace villages [across the country] and we regularly assist them with food and non-food items, but all depends on the availability of the assistance.”

Water

With only one water tap for 1,600 people, Kukamakara residents have difficulty accessing water.

Moreover, most residents cannot afford the daily cost, paying only for drinking water and resorting to the river or ponds for other needs.

Photo: IRIN

” We pay 10 francs [to the water and electricity company] for a 20l jerry can; we can use 5l a day but if we are washing we need more,” Ngendakumana said.

There is not a single water tap at Rural, where most residents fetch water from the nearby rice plantation for everything, including drinking. Those who can afford it travel at least 3km to the water tap in Nyesheza.

Harindavyi said peace villages had been planned with infrastructure such as a water supply, schools and health centres, but for “sites like Kukamakara, that absent infrastructure will be targeted as the major priorities to submit to any organization offering funding”.

He said the first peace village was built in 2003 at Kabo in Nyanzalac in the southern province of Makamba while others were built in 2005. The latest is under construction at Rumonge in the southern province of Bururi.

Poor healthcare

According to Gahungu, pregnant women are the most vulnerable as they have to travel long distances, through wetlands, to reach a health centre.

Parents with young children, he said, also struggled to access medical care for their children, most of whom often suffered waterborne diseases.

“The ministry had promised us insurance cards to access healthcare but we have not got them,” he said.

Harindavyi said the ministry paid for medical care for identified vulnerable persons but these health facilities were not accessible to people in provinces, only in the capital.

The ministry was planning a partnership with hospitals in provinces to offer medical care to vulnerable people, he said. “A team from the ministry toured the provinces last week to assess the situation for this future partnership.”

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Photo: Courtesy Mitch Mauricio

The eyes of a trafficking victim. The conflict in Mindanao has provided fertile ground for traffickers to work

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MANILA,� – Shahana [not her real name] was 14 when she took her first trip abroad – to work as a domestic helper in Kuwait.

Her documents were false, enabling her to leave the country as a minor. “The war made it impossible for my family to survive. We could no longer farm because we lost our land. Going abroad was our only hope.” Shahana is from Shariff Aguak, a municipality in the war-torn Philippine province of Mindanao.

The 2009 US State Department Report indicates that “there is an increasing number of women and children from Mindanao trafficked internally and trans-internationally for domestic work. Traffickers use land and sea transportation to transfer victims from island provinces to major cities. Muslim girls are trafficked by fellow Muslims.”

Sherryl Luceno, regional coordinator for the Zamboanga branch of the Visayan Forum Foundation (VFF), an NGO that rescues and intercepts trafficked people, told IRIN: “Extreme poverty is bad enough, but combined with the unstable peace and order situation, many are driven to desperation. Even if they are being recruited illegally, they take the risk.”

No end in sight

Almost four decades of armed conflict in Mindanao between government troops and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) fighting for autonomy has stunted growth in the mineral-rich province.

According to the UN Development Programme, seven out of 10 provinces ranked worst on the country’s human development ratings are in Mindanao.

Photo: Jason Gutierrez/IRIN

The conflict in Mindanao between government forces and the MILF has left hundreds dead and hundreds of thousands displaced

On a national average, the number of people living on less than US$2 a day is 45 percent, a figure estimated to be much higher in Mindanao.

In August 2008, renewed hostilities broke out when a memorandum that would have given the MILF control over land they claimed to be ancestral domain was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. Nearly 400 people were killed and 700,000 people displaced.

Data gathered by the Maguindanao Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office and the Mindanao Emergency Response Network showed that 174,370 persons were still displaced as of December 2009.

The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, estimates that tens of thousands are staying with host communities, but counting has reportedly been discontinued by the government.

Back-door exit

Zamboanga, a port city at the southern most part of the Philippines, is known as a back door out of the country, offering easy passage to Malaysia.

“A lot of girls are taken out of the country from private ports which do not fall under the jurisdiction of the Coast Guard, and taken to Malaysia. From there, they are transported to the Middle East,” says Luceno.

Movement from one island to another in the Philippines archipelago is common, making it easier for traffickers. “They just tell the port officials they are crossing over to Tawi-Tawi to see family so they are not asked for identification papers or passports.”

Based on the data compiled by the VFF from last May, they identified 98 victims as coming from war zone areas such as Basilan and Sulu.

Photo: David Swanson/IRIN

A young woman at the Notre Dame Dulawan evacuation centre in Datu Piang, where some 300 families are sheltering

Lucrative business

Although there is no official database to track the number of trafficked individuals per year, the US State Department reports that about 800,000 Filipinos are trafficked out of the country every year, mostly women.

An Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act was passed in 2003, but there have only been 13 convictions. Two were from Zamboanga. Another two cases from Zamboanga are awaiting a decision.

The dismal number of convictions has been attributed to factors endemic to the Philippine judicial system: corruption, a high turnover of judges and lack of proper evidence.

Darlene Pajarito, third Assistant City Prosecutor of Zamboanga, heads the Overseas Passenger Assist Center, which aims to investigate, intercept victims and prosecute traffickers at the point of departure.

“It is difficult to prosecute the traffickers at the point of departure because you need to prove that selling will actually take place,” says Pajarito.

“This law has not hindered traffickers. It is a lucrative business for traffickers, who make as much as $750 for each girl. You can just imagine how much they make for a group of 10 girls,” Pajarito adds.

The US State Department Trafficking in Persons Report 2009 downgraded the Philippines’ classification to Tier 2 Watch-list Status, citing “the government’s ability to effectively prosecute trafficking crimes as severely limited by an inefficient judicial system”.

A Tier 3 assessment could result in sanctions such as the withholding of non-humanitarian, non-trade-related foreign assistance.

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Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) and DUI arrests

Drunk Driving is considered a serious offense in all the States and the level of intoxication is determined by the level of alcohol in the blood, technically known as Blood Alcohol Content or BAC. This level directly depends on the number of drinks taken by a person before driving a vehicle, which starts showing its effects within a few minutes or an hour, depending on the absorption rate of the individual. Increasing levels of blood alcohol concentration impair a persons ability to drive properly, and also hampers his/her ability to be in charge of a motor vehicle, leading to a possibility of arrest for drunk driving. The allowed legal limit for BAC differs slightly from one state to the other, but each state has severe punishments for offenders.

What is the legal allowed limit for BAC?

All states have DUI laws which lay down the legal allowed limits of Blood Alcohol Levels, and anyone exceeding those limits is charged and arrested for drunk driving. Usually the allowed “per se” limit for BAC is set to less than 0.08% in most states and less than 0.04% for commercial drivers. All states follow a “Zero Tolerance” policy for under age drivers, those below the age of 21 years and any one found drunken is charged and arrested immediately. Similarly, there are harsher DUI laws for extremely high levels of BAC, such as those exceeding 0.15% and may be considered as Felony DUI in some states.

According to research and studies, 0.08% may still be a very high limit to be considered as “legally intoxicated” because the effects of alcohol vary from person to person. Some people may show signs of impairment with BAC levels as low as 0.02%, whereas others may show signs of impairment with BAC levels of 0.05% or 0.08%. Despite this, research shows that the probability of being involved in a crash or accident increases rapidly with BAC levels 0.02% or higher.

How is BAC measured?

Usually, when a person is stopped as a suspect for drunk driving, the police carry a breath test to determine the Blood Alcohol Concentration. A breathalyzer is used to do it, which is a battery-operated device that takes samples of the breath of the suspect and uses a chemical reaction involving alcohol to produce a colour change and give an estimate of BAC. A BAC Datamaster, Intoxylizer, Intoximeter or a PBT device may be used instead which are all devices to test the alcohol levels. The police may ask for a saliva, urine or blood sample, and the suspect is usually taken to the nearest hospital or to a DUI checkpoint nearby to take samples. A blood test is considered to be most accurate to determine the alcohol levels of a person and is carried out by a qualified medical professional.

The law enforcement official may use various field sobriety tests to check the reflexes of the suspect, but these tests are not used to check the level of alcohol in the blood. A Standardized Field Sobriety Test (SFST) consists of a series of three tests including the horizontal gaze nystagmus, the walk-and-turn and the one-leg stand. A person who fails a field sobriety test but passes the breathalyzer test may still be convicted and charged with a DUI offense.

How to ensure your BAC is under control?

You may be able to get an estimate of your Blood Alcohol Level based on the number of drinks you have taken, and by using tools such as a BAC Calculator. Usually, an average 170-pound man must have more than four drinks in an hour on an empty stomach to reach a 0.08% BAC. On the other hand, an average 137-pound woman will need to take three drinks in an hour on an empty stomach to reach and exceed the allowed legal limit of 0.08% BAC. However, the exact number varies from person to person, when other factors come into play, such as a persons metabolism, weight, and amount of food eaten with the drink and so on. So if you plan to party out and drive back home, your best bet would be not to drink and drive at all; and if you plan to take a drink or two, make sure you ask someone to drive you back home or hire a cab.

By Richard Jacobs

Photo: microbiologybytes

Vibrio cholerae: The number of people infected in Msambweni and Kwale districts has reached 250, according to to the Msambweni�s District Medical Officer (file photo)

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MSAMBWENI, 26 March 2010 (IRIN) – Up to 11,000 students from various schools in Msambweni and Kwale districts on Kenya’s coast have been forced to go home before the Easter holidays after an outbreak of cholera in the region.

Bridgide Wambua, the Msambweni District Education Officer, told IRIN the department decided to close down the schools to prevent more students from contracting cholera and other waterborne ailments that had also been reported.

“It is unfortunate, however, that one of the students from Vingunjini primary school recently succumbed to the disease,” she said, adding that nevertheless all others who were admitted to health facilities were responding well to treatment.

The latest closures were of Jomo Kenyatta and Karama primary schools, bringing the total to 18.

The number of people infected in the two districts has reached 250, according to Kevin Kinyua, Msambweni�s District Medical Officer.

“The patients, who include students, are being treated at Msambweni District hospital while others have been admitted to various dispensaries, including Vistangalaweni, Shimoni, Mwenza Mwenye and Chiranze.

“The spread of the disease both in the institutions and the general public at large is attributed to poor sanitation and the lack of clean drinking water,” Kinyua said.

We are urging the government to address the issue urgently since it is jeopardizing our learning as we plan to sit for our end of term and mock examinations

“The affected students could have taken contaminated water from boreholes in their institutions or water pans back at home. Many locals have been admitted with the same ailment.

“However, the government, in conjunction with NGOs, has embarked on distributing clean drinking water and medication to the local residents, as well as chlorinating all sources of water in the area,� he said.

“We are urging the government to address the issue urgently since it is jeopardizing our learning as we plan to sit for our end of term and mock examinations,” Michael Mwadzaro of Mwamzadi secondary school told IRIN.

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Photo: Jason Gutierrez/IRIN

Men haul scrap to burn as fuel and to rebuild their homes in a Manila slum that was destroyed by typhoons in 2009

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MANILA,� – Filipino authorities say the country has learned tough lessons in disaster risk management after the deadly storms last year, but warn that a �culture of disaster� still prevails.

Officials say the government has been working diligently to relocate thousands of families before this year’s typhoon season but raising awareness about disaster prevention and appropriating sufficient funds to head off potential problems remain major challenges.

According to the government’s Strategic National Action Plan, prepared with UN experts and released this month, the “commitment of a budget to DRR [disaster risk reduction] is not yet a practice” in this archipelago of more than 7,100 islands that is hit by an average 20 typhoons annually.

“Threats remain if the level of awareness about dealing with hazards is low and when little focus on risks is considered whenever one [has to] a make a decision,” the document, which spells out areas of vulnerability to strengthen institutional responses to disasters within the next 10 years, states.

“In the worst case, this behaviour may manifest a culture of disasters rather than a culture of prevention,” the study said, as it called on the government to step up funding for DRR. �The message is that risk awareness must penetrate all levels of government, and in households, firms and offices.�

It noted, however, that the current level of expenditure by government for disaster response was �nearly equal to the damage losses incurred during last year� at 0.31 percent of gross domestic product.

Poverty and vulnerability

Ida Mae Fernandez, regional programme officer of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), which helped to relocate those affected by typhoons last year, said all too often vulnerabilities arose because of poverty.

Photo: Jason Gutierrez/IRIN Children play precariously near a river in Manila where a sprawling slum has been rebuilt after a string of deadly typhoons

While there has been a sustained increase in government�s dealing with the donor community to create a culture of resilience, years of poor urban planning have led to certain problems.

�From IOM�s interventions for and interactions with the affected communities post-Ketsana, what is more stark is the current lack of options of dry places to live in,� Fernandez told IRIN.

�A number of families have been offered relocation alternatives; still a significant number have nowhere to go, as of yet.�

Tropical storm Ketsana dumped record rains when it struck in late September, covering 80 percent of Manila. A week later Typhoon Parma battered the northern part of Luzon island, triggering landslides and damaging agricultural land. A third typhoon, Mirinae, came in October.

The government said more than 10 million people were affected.

While many have returned to rebuild their homes, about 25,000 remain displaced and would likely be staying in shelters until the next typhoon season arrives towards the end of May or early June.

Ricardo Saludo, head of the Philippine reconstruction commission created after the disaster, said those living in slums along riverbanks and waterways in Manila and surrounding areas were still vulnerable.

As of March, he said more than 8,700 families or about 61,000 people had been relocated at a cost of more than US$22 million.

All in all, he said the reconstruction programme for the housing sector alone involved the relocation of an estimated 125,265 families, with a bill projected at $650 million in the next two years.

�The scale of the housing reconstruction programme and the concern for viability and sustainability of resettlement areas require inputs from various sectors,� Saludo told IRIN.

�The reconstruction and rehabilitation is focused on building back better structures, with disaster risk reduction incorporated in the design and construction of facilities,� he said.

Local government units have also been told to enhance planning programmes, and ensure that henceforth they �should take into consideration the vulnerabilities of the communities to disasters�.

This means locating houses away from waterways and finding the funds to relocate existing slums.

jg/ds/mw source.irinnews