Ebola outbreak coming to an end in Uganda, continues in Congo

While Ebola continues to kill in the Democratic Republic of Congo, an outbreak of the virus in neighboring Uganda appears to be coming to an end, the World Health Organization said Monday, reporting that no new cases of the deadly virus had been confirmed in Uganda for a month.

Since the Ugandan outbreak began, 24 people are believed to have suffered from the virus, including 17 who died, the United Nations agency said. The last person confirmed to be stricken recovered from the virus and was discharged more than a week ago.

“All contacts of probable and confirmed cases have been followed up daily and have completed the recommended 21 days of monitoring for any possible signs or symptoms of Ebola,” the WHO said in a statement Monday. Ebola isolation facilities remain on standby.

The Ugandan outbreak was first declared by its health ministry in late July, spurring health officials and the president to warn Ugandans against handling dead animals and burying those who might have died from the virus. Many of the recent cases have been tied back to the funeral of a baby girl whose mother was also sick, Doctors Without Borders said last month.

While the outbreak in Uganda has waned, the neighboring Congo is still grappling with a separate outbreak of the virus. As of late August, the Congo outbreak had sickened 24 people and killed 11 more in the northeastern region of Province Orientale.

The two outbreaks were caused by different kinds of Ebola and “are not epidemiologically linked,” the WHO said. The highly infectious virus, which has no known treatment or vaccine, has caused more than 1,200 deaths since it was discovered, according to the U.N. agency.

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Photo: A handout photograph released by Doctors Without Borders shows its staff launching an emergency intervention against an Ebolaoutbreak at the Kagadi hospital in western Uganda on July 31. Credit: Agus Morales / Doctors Without Borders / European Pressphoto Agency 

More athletes disappear from London Olympics

A Congolese judoka and other sporting officials sent to the London Olympics have  disappeared as the Games came to a close, just days after seven Cameroonian athletes went missing.

Two coaches, judoka Cedric Mandembo and the national technical director of athletics from the Democratic Republic of the Congo vanished from the Olympic Village over the weekend, the United Nations-sponsored Radio Okapi station reported.

The four could not be reached on their cellphones and had left with their luggage, according to the station. A search for the delegates was launched Sunday.  Agence France-Presse also reported the disappearance, citing an anonymous official in the Congolese sports ministry.

The disappearances follow those of the Cameroonian athletes, some of whom have since told British media that they want to stay in the country after being threatened by national athletics officials. Boxer Blaise Yepmou Mendouo told the BBC that Cameroonian officials asked for their passports when they lost bouts. Cameroon Olympic delegation chief David Ojong denied their claims.

The defections were seen sympathetically by some countrymen. “Admittedly not all of them are going to succeed, but those who are a bit lucky will be able to train one day under good conditions, will be paid correctly, which is currently very far from being the case for athletes engaged in Cameroon,” Cameroonian journalist Jean-Bruno Tagne told Radio Netherlands Worldwide after the disappearances.

Athletes have used international sporting events in the past as an opportunity to defect for political or economic reasons. State media in Cameroon, reflecting on the new round of disappearances, said that nation's defecting athletes in years past had been lured away by scouts and often ended up frustrated with their decision.

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Photo: Judoka Cedric Mandembo, right, with training partner Rigen Bintu during July preparations for the 2012 Olympic Games. Credit: Junior D. Kannah / Agence France-Presse

Clinton calls to 'rid the world' of Kony as attacks rise

The notorious militia headed by Joseph Kony that has kidnapped hundreds of children and forced them to fight and serve as sex slaves must be stopped, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Friday in Uganda.

But refugee and activist groups say the Lord’s Resistance Army has only stepped up its attacks in recent months, underscoring the difficulties faced by the forces trying to capture Kony in central Africa. The U.S. sent military advisers to the region in October to assist regional armies in stopping the group.

“We have to put our heads together to find out what additional equipment and support you need to lead this effort to rid the world of this terrible man and his criminal behavior,” Clinton was quoted as saying Friday by the Associated Press while visiting a Ugandan military base.

Reported attacks have more than doubled from January to June compared to the previous six months, according to the advocacy groups Invisible Children, the San Diego-based nonprofit that created an explosively viral video about the militia earlier this year, and Resolve. In a new report, the two groups say 311 people were abducted and 38 were killed in 190 attacks.

Former Congo warlord sentenced to 14 years over child soldiers

Former Congolese warlord Thomas Lubanga was ordered to spend 14 years in prison Tuesday for enlisting children as soldiers, the first sentence handed down by the decade-old International Criminal Court.

The “vulnerability of children mean that they need to be afforded particular protection,” presiding judge Adrian Fulford said as Lubanga listened, grave-faced, to his fate.

Lubanga was convicted in March after a three-year trial that centered on enlisting children to fight during a civil war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo nearly a decade ago. Human rights groups have also said his forces committed rapes, torture and killings, accusations that were not put before the court.

Prosecutors had sought 30 years in prison for Lubanga. The court handed him a lesser sentence after weighing “the lack of any aggravating circumstances” and his cooperation with the court. Lubanga, who was seen in videos alongside child soldiers, did not mean to recruit children but “was aware that in the ordinary course of events this would occur,” Fulford said Tuesday.

Six years will be deducted from Lubanga's sentence to cover the time since he first surrendered to the court, aggravating critics who called the sentence too light.

"Lubanga will serve less time than the [court] has been open!" Northwestern University international law professor Eugene Kontorovich lamented on Twitter.

20 children reportedly slain in recent eastern Congo violence

Twenty children are believed to have lost their lives in recent outbreaks of violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, including two burned alive in their own home, UNICEF said Tuesday.

UNICEF condemned the reported killings in North and South Kivu, eastern stretches of the country that are roiled by rebels. The guerrillas include a Rwandan group and former soldiers who defected last month along with Gen. Bosco Ntaganda, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court. He is accused of coercing scores more children to join his forces.

Congolese forces began attacking the armed groups in February. In return, the rebels have stepped up their attacks on civilians, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

UNICEF recounted several attacks that had reportedly killed children, nine of whom were reported slain in a massacre of 37 people in Kamananga. It did not address who committed the attacks, though news reports have widely attributed several of the listed killings to rebel groups.

Report: Congo mutineer forces 149 more boys, young men to fight

A general who defected from the Congolese army last month has forced at least 149 boys and young men to join his mutinying forces, repeating the alleged acts for which he has long been wanted by the International Criminal Court, according to a new report from Human Rights Watch. At least 48 were under 18.

"They tied my hands with a rope. All of us were tied up. Then they marched us to the hill," a 17-year-old student told the human rights group, recounting an episode in which at least 32 high school students were rounded up. "They told us we would fight for Bosco."

Bosco Ntaganda has been wanted by the International Criminal Court for recruiting and using child soldiers while commanding a rebel group during Congo's civil war. Yet after the war ended, Ntaganda was brought into the army and ultimately promoted to general.

The long-standing calls to apprehend Ntaganda grew louder after the international court convicted former Congolese warlord Thomas Lubanga in March for using child soldiers, its first-ever verdict.

After Ntaganda defected from the army last month, taking hundreds of soldiers with him, his forces abducted children and young men to join them, witnesses and children told Human Rights Watch. Youths told the group they had been beaten and forced to walk in front carrying weapons and ammunition, putting them first in the line of fire if they were ambushed.

Fighters trying to stop boys from fleeing "put grenades on us and told us that if we moved, they would explode," a 16-year-old told Human Rights Watch.

Kony video sequel tries to tackle some of the criticisms

 

The makers of an explosively popular video that spotlighted the brutality of a Ugandan guerrilla leader have released a second video that redoubles their calls to stop Joseph Kony and grapples with some of the criticisms aimed at their controversial campaign.

Last month the San Diego-based nonprofit Invisible Children released a viral video urging the world to stop Kony, whose militia has terrorized northern Uganda and surrounding countries, kidnapping children and forcing them to fight as soldiers and serve as sex slaves.

Its goal was to make Kony so infamous that the world would demand his capture, it said. While Kony was already reviled, the campaign immediately became a flashpoint of debate. Critics said the video dangerously oversimplified the dilemma and made Western activists the stars.

The half-hour film met with frustration from many Ugandans who felt it gave a dated and inaccurate picture of their country. A series of screenings in northern Uganda spurred outrage by viewers. But other Ugandans praised it for the attention it gave to the grotesque horrors inflicted by Kony and his militia.

The new video, titled "Kony 2012: Part II -- Beyond Famous," is focused more heavily on Africans telling their stories. It emphasizes that the warlord's Lord's Resistance Army is now in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic and South Sudan -- not Uganda, a fact that was alluded to briefly in the first video.

Kony militia steps up attacks in Congo, Central African Republic

A militia that has terrorized Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo has stepped up its attacks this year, displacing more than 4,200 people, the United Nations' refugee agency said Friday.

The Lord’s Resistance Army and its infamous leader, Joseph Kony, gained new attention this year through a viral video urging Kony's capture. The militia has kidnapped children to be soldiers and sex slaves, and has grotesquely mutilated its victims.

Long a terrifying force in Uganda, the militia moved to neighboring countries years ago. In the Central African Republic, attacks have resumed after a nearly yearlong lull, with 11 this year, U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees spokeswoman Melissa Fleming told reporters in Geneva.

In Congo, 13 attacks have been carried out in just three weeks in March, she said, resulting in two deaths and 13 abductions. Over time, attacks by the Lord’s Resistance Army have displaced or made refugees of 440,000 people in Congo, Central African Republic and South Sudan, the U.N. agency said.

The three countries that have suffered recent attacks teamed up with Uganda to launch a joint military task force to pursue Kony and his militia. The effort has been backed by the U.N. and the African Union. The United States also has sent special forces to help stop the group.

Fleming said the refugee agency welcomed the "unprecedented" initiative to end the atrocities in the region and urged all involved to respect human rights and minimize any risk to civilians.

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Photo: Members of the Lord's Resistance Army wait during a meeting between their leader, Joseph Kony, and a delegation of Ugandan officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo near the Sudanese border in 2006. Credit: Associated Press

Israel seeks to return refugees to South Sudan

REPORTING FROM JERUSALEM--Israel doesn't need celebrity activists to call its attention to troubles in Africa. After years of being on the receiving end of a steady stream of work migrants and asylum seekers, the country knows this first-hand.

Civil war, tribal troubles and economic hardship in African countries have sent tens of thousands on the dangerous journey across the desert to try their luck in Israel, which they have entered through the country's sprawling, largely open border with Egypt.

In 2006, there were 300 asylum seekers from Sudan in Israel. By April 2011, Israel was the reluctant home to 35,000 asylum seekers, mostly from Sudan and Eritrea, as well as a few thousand from the Ivory Coast and Congo. People hailing from Sudan and Eritrea received group protection from Israeli authorities, a status requiring renewal every few months.

A few years ago, Israel's Interior Ministry took over the Refugee Status Determination process (RSD) from the United Nation's refugee agency, UNHCR. Despite the review of thousands of cases, relatively few have been granted refugee status by Israel.

The asylum seekers are part of a larger issue for Israel. Between caretakers, nursing aides, construction workers and farm hands outstaying their work permits by years and settling in Israel, and the influx of African migrants infiltrating its southern border, the country has an uninvited foreign community estimated in the hundreds of thousands.

Israel's immigration policy is tangled up with religion, demographics and politics and years of Band-Aid solutions, resulting in a situation many in Israel consider a threat to security, society and economy.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government is expediting work on a fence along its border with Egypt, taking legal measures against employers and others assisting illegal immigrants and is constructing a large holding facility for infiltrators who enter illegally but cannot be sent back to strife-torn countries. Most Israelis agree on the need for a secure border, with the consensus growing since last year's revolution in Egypt. Other measures are widely criticized by rights organizations.

Israel was swift to recognize the new state of South Sudan in July 2011. Following the formation of the state, Israel ended collective protection for those from South Sudan and wants asylum seekers to leave the country. The window for voluntary departure and a $1,300 incentive closes March 31; those still in Israel would be deported after that.  

Another group of about 2,000 people from the Ivory Coast may also face deportation after the sweeping protection ended last month.

Currently, the Israeli foreign ministry maintains South Sudan is safe to return to and, according to rights organizations, Israel intends to deport 700 people, among them 400 children. The United Nations has expressed grave concern over the current situation in South Sudan, still plagued by violence and hunger. 

Orit Marom, of Aid Organization for Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Israel, warn South Sudan is far from safe. A recent report by the research and information department of Israel's parliament also concluded South Sudan remains acutely dangerous and in fierce humanitarian crisis "yet the government of Israel thinks this is the right time to send them back," Marom told Israel radio.

According to Marom, most arrived in Israel between 2006 and 2008 and formed a community with families. Many had been on the road for years, some leaving as long as 20 years ago. The younger ones have never been in Sudan, she says.

Rights organizations are lobbying for a stay, high schoolers are rallying to keep their classmates, citizens have demonstrated in Tel Aviv and 400 prominent public figures have signed a letter to Netanyahu asking how a state in which most residents were once refugees could turn its back on refugees.

At least on one occasion, Israel returned a consenting group of asylum seekers to Sudan, with the discreet aid of a third party. This was before South Sudan gained independence. 

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Photo: South Sudanese refugees protest Israel's deportation policy in Tel Aviv on March 17. Credit: Oliver Weiken / EPA

Scarce drinking water -- and who's guzzling around the globe

Thursday is World Water Day. The event, a brainchild of the United Nations, was first celebrated nearly two decades ago and is meant to focus attention on the need for fresh water around the globe.

Safe water isn't available everywhere: This World Health Organization map shows the percentage of people in each country with access to an improved source of drinking water, such as a household connection or protected well, as of 2010. In some parts of Africa, less than half of people have access to safe drinking water.

Booming populations and shifting diets mean that water is expected to be in growing demand. More meat, for instance, means more water will be needed to support animals raised for slaughter. The United Nations predicts that 1.8 billion people will be living in areas where water is scarce by 2025.

Shortfalls have been especially severe in the Horn of Africa. In Somalia, less than a third of people have access to an improved source of drinking water, according to the most recent World Bank data.

Some countries use more water than others, partly because of differing diets: Each person in the United States consumed an average of 2,842 cubic meters of water annually between 1996 and 2005, more than five times as much as someone in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to a recent UNESCO report.

Other countries with high water usage per person include Niger, Portugal, Spain, Serbia and Bolivia. You might be surprised to see developing countries such as Niger and Bolivia alongside wealthy countries such as Spain and the United States: The report explained that water consumption is high in those two countries because much more water is used to produce meat in Bolivia and cereals in Niger compared with elsewhere.

Want to figure out how much water you use? The nonprofit Water Footprint Network provides an online calculator to estimate your usage, based on how often you shower, what you eat and other choices.

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Image: Map of water access around the world, measured as the percentage of people with access to an improved source of drinking water as of 2010. Credit: World Health Organization.