Friday, July 04, 2003

Rwanda Sets Dates for First Polls Since Genocide 04 Jul 03 KIGALI. The Rwandan government has set dates for presidential and parliamentary elections in a move that marks an end to a nine-year transition to democracy after a 1994 genocide killed 800,000 people. The central African country's government said late on Thursday the country's first presidential vote since the massacre would be held on August 25, with parliamentary elections following a month later on September 29. [Reuters via Financial Times] 6:16:44 PM  Google It!

Liberia: No Immunity for Taylor 03 Jul 03 If U.S. troops are sent to Liberia, they should not make any deals that involve a withdrawal of the indictment of President Charles Taylor by the Special Court for Sierra Leone, Human Rights Watch said today... The Special Court for Sierra Leone recently indicted Taylor as one of those 'bearing the greatest responsibility' for war crimes (including murder and taking hostages); crimes against humanity (rape, murder, extermination, sexual slavery); and other serious violations of international humanitarian law (use of child soldiers) committed in Sierra Leone. The indictment charges that Taylor actively supported the rebel Revolutionary United Front in Sierra Leone's ten-year civil war. The indictment was announced on June 4, 2003 while Taylor was in Ghana attending peace talks on the recently intensified Liberian conflict. News reports today suggest that the United States is considering sending peacekeepers to Liberia. [Human Rights Watch] 12:41:45 AM  Google It!