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October 15, 2003

UNDP, World Bank Say Iraq Needs $36 Billion To Rebuild

UNITED NATIONS - Iraq will need at least $35 billion - above the $20 billion promised by the United States - over the next four to five years if it is to restore key services, the U.N. Development Program and the World Bank said yesterday in a joint Needs Assessment released ahead of next week's donors' conference in Madrid.

Julia Taft, UNDP's director for crisis prevention and recovery, said the assessment is meant to identify "the real needs of the Iraqi people to restore services to acceptable levels." The report lists priorities in 14 areas, she said, including health, education, agriculture, water, food security, mine action, macroeconomics, banking, electricity, employment and rule of law. Two key sectors - oil and security - were not analyzed by the report, she said, since they are under the authority of the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA).

Nicholas Krafft, the World Bank's program coordinator for Iraq, said the $36 billion is in addition to the $20 billion sought by U.S. President George W. Bush to rebuild the country. Taft and Krafft said a new trust fund for Iraq would be established for donors wishing to bypass the U.S.-controlled Development Fund for Iraq.

Additionally, Krafft said oil revenue would eventually start augmenting the reconstruction effort. The funding will be "spread out over a considerable length of time, during which we would expect oil revenues would start increasing quite rapidly so that the amount of money available to finance physical reconstruction would start to increase significantly," he said.

Krafft said the goal is to try to get Iraq's infrastructure back to 1980 levels, before the Persian Gulf War and the subsequent sanctions. Decades of "under-investment, decay and degeneration of most physical assets," as well as this year's war, he said, posed serious obstacles to achieving the twin goals of transitioning from a state to a market economy and rebuilding the country after "20 years of neglect." Taft said the report estimates $9.3 billion will be needed for the first year for all 14 sectors, but added it is likely only $5.2 billion of that could be effectively spent.

Following up on the assessment, Taft said the UNDP and World Bank hoped to have the final plans for a trust fund ready for next week's donors' conference in Madrid. "The donors wanted to have a non-DFI trust fund because they wanted to make sure there was a way to have a separate and transparent investment program without co-mingling the funds with the CPA," said Taft.

The Development Fund for Iraq was established under Resolution 1483, the same resolution that recognized the United States and United Kingdom as the occupying authority - the CPA - and laid out general responsibilities for the United Nations in Iraqi reconstruction. Taft said they would not be raising money at Madrid, only informing donors about the needs assessment and the trust fund.
On a related issue, Krafft said the CPA and the Iraqi Governing Council are projecting a balanced budget for 2004, taking into account the $20 billion and domestic revenue sources, such as oil sales. The U.N.-World Bank contributions do not figure into this accounting, he added.

By Jim Wurst
U.N. Wire

ADB to Strengthen Devolved Social Services for the Poor in Punjab Province, Pakistan

MANILA, PHILIPPINES (16 October 2003) - ADB will help the government of Punjab, Pakistan, prepare a program to strengthen and expand the devolved social services for the poor in the province, through a technical assistance (TA) grant approved for US$300,000.

The program will aim to boost the effectiveness, efficiency, and equitable distribution of social services to better target the poor in health, education, and water and sanitation. It will also offer support for related services such as poverty reduction, community participation, and gender in development.

From August 2001, Pakistan's social services were devolved to district and tehsil (subdistrict) governments under a radically new governance system that has left the services in heavy demand. Education and health services were devolved to the district governments, and water supply and sanitation to the tehsil municipal authority.

"Devolved social services at the district level and below are the best way to achieve results that impact people and increase community participation, accountability, and sustainability of basic social services," says William Loxley, ADB Principal Education Specialist.

"But health and education administration and planning require extensive and continuing capacity building and substantial leadership. The focus of the TA will therefore be on relatively low cost services that are easy to administer and will benefit many people, especially the poor."

About one third of Punjab's population lives in poverty, on less than $1 per day, and faces harsh conditions such as water shortages, unemployment, political turmoil, security problems, and, in some areas, feudal land tenure systems. One third of the people lack access to clean drinking water, one quarter of school age children do not attend primary school, and two thirds of rural children aged 12-23 months are not fully immunized.

Meanwhile, women not only lack assets, opportunities, and a social safety net, but are bound by traditions and practices that affect their welfare and sometimes make it difficult for them to attend schools and clinics. The maternal mortality ratio, like immunization and school enrolment an important Millennium Development Goal (MDG), has remained very high due to lack of family planning services despite high demand, and lack of midwives and emergency obstetric care. Malnutrition is a major public health problem affecting both women and children.

However, poor social indicators notwithstanding, there have been a number of recent positive developments in the region. Females are increasingly getting access to education and employment, while communities are organizing themselves to operate schools, clinics, and water schemes under devolution.

With ongoing ADB assistance, the government of Punjab has set ambitious targets for the social sector under its Poverty Reduction Strategy and Program toward the MDGs.

The Devolved Social Services Sector Development Program for Punjab is included in ADB's 2004 pipeline of assistance for $150 million, and follows a similar program for Sindh, which is in ADB's current year's assistance pipeline.

"Punjab already has an extensive network of schools and health care facilities, which when properly managed and functioning will provide major public health benefits to the poor," adds Marshuk Ali Shah, Country Director of ADB's Resident Mission in Pakistan.

"Activities in the upcoming project will aim at improving run-down facilities and supporting new initiatives, including public-private partnerships."

A flexible approach is followed to ensure that funding will be complementary to support of other donors and address the gaps that hamper effective delivery of social services.

The preparatory TA will promote discussions with stakeholders to recommend social sector policies that will help improve the efficiency of local governments in the delivery of social services. Then, activities will be designed to help the local governments improve the quality of the expanded social services.

"Priorities will mirror the MDGs in extending universal basic education, reducing dropout rates, improving gender balance, reducing maternal and child mortality, and increasing access to safe drinking water supply and sanitation," Mr. Shah adds.

The total cost of the TA, which is due to be completed by end-May 2004, is estimated at $400,000, of which the provincial government will contribute $100,000 equivalent. The Planning and Development Department of the government of Punjab will be the Executing Agency for the TA. A steering committee will be established to provide overall guidance.

Chile: U.S. Jury Finds Chilean Ex-Officer Liable for Abuses
Ruling Marks First U.S. Jury Verdict on Crimes Against Humanity

(Washington, D.C., October 16, 2003) -- In the first verdict handed down
by a U.S. jury for crimes against humanity, a federal jury in Miami
yesterday awarded $4 million in damages against a Chilean former army
officer, marking an important breakthrough for accountability, Human
Rights Watch said today.

In a ruling issued yesterday, the U.S. District Court for the Southern
District of Florida held Armando Fernandez Larios liable for the torture
and killing of Winston Cabello, a Chilean economist. The crime was
committed in Copiapo, Chile, one month after the September 1973 military
coup that brought to power Gen. Augusto Pinochet and extinguished
democracy in Chile for 17 years.

"This is a heartening verdict that will make former torturers think twice
before coming to the United States to escape justice," said Jose Miguel
Vivanco, executive director of the Americas Division of Human Rights
Watch.

Cabello, whose relatives live in the United States, was one of 13
political prisoners in Copiapo taken out of jail, tortured and murdered by
members of an army task force on October 17, 1973. Other members of the
squad, known as the "Caravan of Death," are on trial in Chile. The task
force was formed on the written orders of Pinochet, who was charged in
2001 with covering up the crimes, but was excused from trial in Chile on
grounds of mental health.

The civil action against Fernandez was brought under the Aliens Tort
Claims Act (ATCA) of 1789 and the Torture Victim Protection Act of 1991,
which allow foreign victims of serious human rights abuses committed
abroad to sue the perpetrators in U.S. courts. Since the landmark
Filartiga case of 1979, dozens of cases have been brought under the ATCA.
Under Attorney General John Ashcroft, however, the U.S. Department of
Justice has recently challenged its use in human rights cases.

"If ever there was a case to show the value of the ATCA, this is it," said
Vivanco.

Fernandez came to the United States in 1987 after reaching a plea
agreement with federal prosecutors in which he pleaded guilty to covering
up the 1976 assassination in Washington, D.C., of former Chilean foreign
minister Orlando Letelier and his assistant, U.S. citizen Ronni Moffitt.
Under the agreement, the U.S. justice authorities undertook not to extradite
him to Chile. After serving a five-month prison term, Fern ndez moved to
Miami as a free man.

An Argentine court is currently seeking the extradition of Fernandez from
the United States to try him for his alleged role in the September 1974
assassination in Buenos Aires of former Chilean army commander Gen. Carlos
Prats, and his wife Sofia Cuthbert. The extradition request, filed by
Argentina in December 2002, is currently under review by the U.S.
Department of Justice.

"Now that a U.S. court has found Fernandez liable for torture and murder,
the Justice Department should turn the extradition request over to a court
so that he can be extradited and finally brought to justice in Argentina,"
said Vivanco.

Fernandez, who served as a member of Pinochet's secret police, the DINA,
has been implicated in numerous other human rights crimes.

 

Security Council Expecting Approval Of Iraq Resolution

 

U.N. Security Council diplomats said the revised Iraq resolution under debate will likely get the nine votes required for adoption, despite a U.S. refusal to include a key demand by France, Russia and Germany.

The three countries dropped earlier calls for a quick handover to an Iraqi provisional government and that U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan handle the country's political transition, but made a new demand that the United States include in the resolution a timetable for the change in authority in Iraq, including provisions for elections and the enshrinement of a new constitution.

The United States refused and will go ahead with the original text that says the coalition will "return governing responsibilities and authorities to the people of Iraq as soon as practicable" (Edith Lederer, Associated Press/Yahoo! News, Oct. 15).

U.S. diplomats also addressed Annan's concerns that the situation in Iraq is too dangerous for U.N. workers to return. According to the resolution, Annan can delay returning U.N. personnel "until circumstances permit."

Annan expressed disappointment in the resolution overall, saying it does not create the conditions for a swift transfer of power, but he did say he could live with it (Colum Lynch, Washington Post, Oct. 15).

In Iraq, the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council said it already had a timetable for elections, the AP reported. When asked by reporters at a summit of Islamic leaders being held this week in Malaysia, Iyad Allawi, the president of the Governing Council, said, "Definitely, 2004" (AP/Yahoo! News I, Oct. 15).

Japan Pledges $1.5 Billion For Reconstruction

The Iraqi reconstruction process received a boost today when Japan announced it would contribute $1.5 billion to operations next year. The figure is below the expected $2 billion, but the country also promised to send noncombat troops despite concerns such a move could be in violation of its pacifist constitution.

Several weeks ago, U.S. President George W. Bush asked Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to support the rebuilding effort but only received promises of "cooperation" at the time (AP/Yahoo! News II, Oct. 15).

U.S. Captures Leader Of Extremist Group

In continuing operations, U.S. forces yesterday arrested Aso Hawleri, a senior member of Ansar al-Islam, a northern Iraq-based group suspected of having ties to al-Qaeda. Prior to the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Ansar al-Islam had taken control of a portion of Kurdish-controlled territory near the Iranian border. U.S. officials believe most of the group's fighters fled before the arrival of U.S. forces in March.

Hawleri is thought to be the third-ranking member of the group (AP/USA Today, Oct. 14).
Annan Urges Bolivia To Respect Rights Amid Violent Protests

The Bolivian government's response to protests over its decision to sell natural gas to the United States drew an exhortation yesterday from U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan to settle differences by peaceful means and with respect for human rights.

"There must be full respect for human rights, above all, the right to life," the secretary general said, urging the government to exercise "maximum restraint at this very dangerous time" (U.N. release, Oct. 14). Acting High Commissioner for Human Rights Bertrand Ramcharan today echoed Annan's concerns (U.N. release, Oct. 15).

According to rights groups cited by Reuters, 14 demonstrators were killed Monday in the capital city of La Paz and at least one person died yesterday in the latest clashes between police and protesters led by Bolivia's indigenous majority. Yesterday's casualty reportedly brought the death toll from recent weeks to 53.

Yesterday tanks circled the presidential palace as protesters chanted death threats against President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada, whose plan to export Bolivia's natural gas to the United States has further inflamed resentments over his free-market economics and failure to address poverty in a country where 60 percent of the population makes less than $2 a day.

Leaders of the indigenous majority say the government's U.S.-sponsored campaign to wipe out coca has further impoverished them. Protesters also fear profits from the export of natural gas will not benefit the general population (Rene Villegas, Reuters/Yahoo! News, Oct. 14).

Although initial protests focused on the role of Bolivia's historic rival Chile in the export of the gas - it will have to pass through a Chilean port that Bolivia lost in a war in 1879 - demonstrators have now turned their attention to the matter of export itself and are demanding the gas only be sold abroad once domestic demand is met.

Sanchez de Lozada said yesterday that he will postpone plans to build the gas pipeline (Latinamerica Press/Yahoo! News, Oct. 14). Meanwhile, Bolivia's military yesterday tried to quiet rumors of a coup by affirming its support of Sanchez de Lozada as protesters blocked routes into La Paz and food shortages worsened. Monday the vice president withdrew his support of the leader and four cabinet ministers resigned (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo! News, Oct. 15).

U.S. Vetoes Security Council Draft On Israeli Barrier

UNITED NATIONS - After a lengthy Security Council debate, the United States last night vetoed a draft resolution calling on Israel to dismantle the barrier it is building on the West Bank. This is the second U.S. veto in less than a month on a Middle East issue. U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte called the text "unbalanced" because it failed to condemn terrorist acts by specific Palestinian groups. Ambassador Dan Gillerman of Israel said the rejection of the resolution showed the council was not "a rubber stamp for Palestinian whims."

The Palestinian delegate, Nasser al-Kidwa, said he will take the issue to the General Assembly. Assembly resolutions cannot be vetoed, but unlike resolutions of the Security Council are not legally binding. The United States was the only country to vote against the draft. Bulgaria, Cameroon, Germany and the United Kingdom abstained.

The text, submitted by Syria on behalf of the Arab League, would have had the council decide that the construction "of a wall in the Occupied Territories" that diverts from the 1949 armistice line, also known as the Green Line, "is illegal under relevant provisions of international law and must be ceased and reversed." The draft would have also had the council reaffirm "its vision of a region where two states, Israel and Palestine, live side by side within secure and recognized borders" and would have condemned "all acts of violence, terror and destruction."

The United States proposed several changes to the text but the suggestions were rejected by the Arab states, which pressed for a vote. During the debate preceding the vote, al-Kidwa said, "The expansionist conquest wall … is illegal" and "a war crime." The construction violated the U.N. Charter, Security Council resolutions and the Fourth Geneva Protocol, he said. The barrier and settlements in the West Bank had to be stopped and reversed in order to save a two-state solution, he added.
He said the Israeli claim that it is a security measure to stop suicide bombings is "incredulous and illogical" since the wall could be built on the Green Line and not on Palestinian territory. "True, this would be a bad thing in terms of coexistence between the two sides, but no one could say that it is illegal," he added.

Gillerman said it was "distasteful" to have another council meeting "called to censure Israel for its measures to prevent terrorism, rather than address the terrorism itself." He added, "It is simply impossible to talk about Israeli security measures without addressing robustly, forcefully and with greater vigor, the Palestinian terrorist atrocities that have made such measures necessary."
"The fence has no political significance," said Gillerman. "The sole purpose of the fence is to protect the vital security of Israeli citizens targeted by Palestinian terrorism. It does not annex territories … nor does it change the status of the land." Contrary to Palestinian claims of isolating Palestinian residents of the West Bank, Gillerman said, Israel is consulting with affected civilians, building gates so farmers can reach their lands and opening new crossing points.

Speaking in the afternoon before the evening vote, Negroponte said, "We do not believe a Security Council resolution focused on the fence furthers the goals of peace and security in the region." He said the barrier "is not really consistent" with the goal of a two-state solution, but that "any resolution concerning the Middle East must take into account the larger picture, that of the current security situation, including the devastating suicide attacks that Israelis have had to endure over the past three years."

This is the third draft resolution in less than a month critical of Israel that failed to gain council support. On Sept. 17, the United States vetoed a draft resolution that would have criticized Israel for its decision that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat be removed. A Syrian draft critical of Israel's bombing of what Israel said was a terrorist training camp inside Syria earlier this month was debated but never acted on. In all three cases, the United States said the texts were unbalanced because there was not sufficiently strong language condemning terrorism. More than 40 speakers addressed the council yesterday. For the most part, delegates criticized the Israeli actions. For more on the debate, click here.

By Jim Wurst
U.N. Wire

Land Mine Accident Indicates Lurking Dangers In Sudan

NAIROBI - On Oct. 3, a truck belonging to Danish Church Aid ran over a land mine near the town of Kauda in Sudan's central Nuba Mountains, killing eight and injuring two - the highest known fatality count from a land mine accident in Sudan this year. The vehicle's left rear tire had run over the mine, which catapulted the vehicle approximately 13 meters into a tree.

One of those killed was a member of the Sudanese nongovernmental organization Operation Save Innocent Lives, which was created in 1996 to destroy land mines and unexploded ordnance in areas of Sudan held by the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army. The other seven were Sudanese civilians who were either in or near the vehicle.

The incident illustrates the dangers that ordinary civilians and aid workers in Sudan face, and the importance of conducting a thorough survey of land mines in Sudan, which has not been done because the country is still technically at war (a cessation of hostilities agreement between the government and rebels was signed in October 2002 and has been extended through next month). The estimated number of land mines buried in Sudan - 500,000 to 2 million, according to the U.N. Mine Action Service - make it one of the 10 worst-affected countries in the world.

According to an investigation of the incident, the device that caused the blast was determined to be an antitank mine - such devices were commonly used by the SPLA - and a large SPLA defensive position dating to early 2001 was discovered 50 meters from the explosion site. Ironically, the blast occurred on the so-called "Humanitarian Highway" that links the SPLA-held town of Kauda with the government-held town of Kadugli - a road the Joint Monitoring Commission that oversees the cease-fire that took effect January 2002 in Nuba Mountains has touted as a route relief groups could use more to conduct "cross-line" aid deliveries between government-controlled and rebel-controlled areas.

Currently almost all aid to Nuba Mountains and southern Sudan is delivered by air, at significant expense, but the World Food Program earlier this year conducted the first cross-line deliveries of aid by road from the government-held town of El Obeid, with two 10-truck convoys driving on the route where this blast occurred. The route has also been used daily by U.N., JMC and national and international NGO personnel.

The final report on the investigation, conducted by UNMAS and representatives of the government of Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (the political wing of the SPLA), noted that a project initiated in January by JMC to provide a route for vehicle access from Kauda to Kadugli included assessment of the threat of mines in the area, with participation by the government of Sudan, SPLA and UNMAS. "All partners concluded that the mine threat was extremely low in this area," the report said.

UNMAS technical adviser Steve Robinson says there is a mine accident in Sudan approximately every six weeks, some of which cause fatalities. From 1998 to June of this year, 2,667 casualties of land mines and unexploded ordnance were reported to Sudan's National Mine Action Office, according to the International Campaign to Ban Land Mines annual report, Land Mine Monitor.

If a peace agreement is reached between the government and rebels as observers expect, and aid and development work in the country increases, Robinson says, NGOs and U.N. agencies will need to start considering land mines and unexploded ordnance in their planning. In addition, he says, displaced persons and refugees are expected to return to their home areas if peace is declared, compounding the need for mine risk education.

A UNICEF mine risk education coordinator was deployed in the south about three months ago, Robinson says. "Part of her job is to give those people the skills to live safely in a contaminated environment," he says. Another coordinator has been working in the north for about 18 months, mostly with internally displaced persons currently living in northern areas. Complicating the situation, Robinson says, land mines in Sudan are generally not marked, unlike the case in most other countries where significant numbers of land mines are or were buried.

UNMAS officials say their program in Sudan is the only one being carried out in a conflict environment. "Some people say we've deployed too early," Robinson says. "I think the early deployment was helpful. So once there's peace, we're ready to go."

Sudan Government This Week Ratified Ottawa Convention

The Sudanese government Monday ratified the Ottawa Convention - also called the Mine Ban treaty - six years after signing the pact. The SPLA has twice signed the Geneva Call "Deed of Commitment," an agreement for nonstate actors pledging not to use land mines in any circumstances, and at a conference in southern Sudan held by Geneva Call last month, reaffirmed its commitment.
Despite these actions, mine experts warn that the government-backed militias that have played a significant role in Sudan's 20-year war will not necessarily abide by these agreements to halt mine use.
According to Jim Pansegrouw, senior technical adviser for the UNMAS program for Sudan, it is unclear whether mines are still being laid in Sudan. The report on this month's deadly accident says there is no evidence the mine was recently laid.

U.N., Land Mine Action Groups Seek $30 Million For Sudan Programs Next Year

The UNMAS program for Sudan, which covers the entire country and operates on the invitation of the Sudanese government and rebels, began operations in April 2002 and has three offices - the head office in Khartoum and sub-offices in Kadugli in the Nuba Mountains and Rumbek in southern Sudan. This year's budget is approximately $10,000.

For next year, the program is seeking approximately $30 million for mine action to be carried out by the United Nations and NGOs, both Sudanese and international. Beginning with the appeal for next year, proposals on land mine action for Sudan from all organizations will be joined in one lump sum, Pansegrouw said, "in order to present a full picture on the needs for Sudan."

UNMAS plans to train deminers to be surveyors in order to create a comprehensive survey of land mines in Sudan. "As soon as donors start producing money, we can train … and start deploying on the ground for clearing," Robinson says. "We're not looking at deploying hundreds and hundreds of clearers, but doing a very detailed, good survey and clearing the pockets that need to be cleared," he adds.

Unlike some other countries dealing with the legacy of land mines, Sudan does not have major tactical mine fields, but rather areas of mines laid by the government around garrison towns it controls in rebel areas and anti-tank mines laid in various locations by rebels. The Ugandan rebel group Lord's Resistance Army, which operates in part of southern Sudan, also uses land mines to conduct ambushes, Robinson says, adding to Sudan's land mine risks.

Another challenge in Sudan is that fear - sometimes unfounded - of land mines in many areas causes the local population to avoid certain areas unnecessarily and limits delivery of aid by road. "Even if there is suspicion of land mines, that land has to be proved clear," Robinson says. That requires a survey - including questioning residents about their knowledge of any explosions in an area, then using mine detectors, equipment or dogs to search for mines in suspected areas, and finally, conducting demining.

Robinson says the UNMAS plan for Sudan is to develop a system with the local nongovernmental mine action groups, then hand over implementation to them. "We don't want a U.N. presence here for the lifetime of the land mine problem," he says. "The land mine problem could be here 50 to 100 years. The idea is for us not to be here long-term. They just need us to put in the systems with their help."

By Angela Stephens
U.N. Wire