VOA news for Thursday, January 23rd, 2014 From Washington This is VOA news. A U.N. Commission is to investigate human rights violations in the CAR, Egypt not invited to a US-Africa summit in August. I'm Victor Beattie reporting from Washington. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon has named a 3-member international commission to investigate reports of human rights violations in the Central African Republic Those appointed to the commission include former Mexican foreign minister, Jorge Castaneda, Mauritanian human rights lawyer, Fatimata Mbaye and Bernard Acho Muna, a lawyer from Cameroon and Deputy Chief Prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda who will chair the panel. Meanwhile, in the capital, Bangui, Wednesday, French and African peacekeepers engaged in crowd control as people protested the presence of Seleka fighters in an army barracks. One of the protesters, Bernard Desire Mariano, complained that members of Seleka fighters continue to attack neighborhoods at night and steal. Where can we go, he says, to find peace. The United Nations estimates that more than 2000 have been killed in sectiarian violence and hundreds of thousands displaced in CAR between the fighting between the mostly Muslim Seleka and Christian anti-Balaka militia. Officials in South Sudan of have accused antigovernment forces of killing nearly 130 hospital patients in the town of Bor, a town in Jonglei State, the capital that is, that has changed hands several times since fighting erupted in mid-December. The government Wednesday said the patients were killed during an attack last month by forces loyal to former vice president Riek Machar. An opposition representative however denied the accusations and saying the government has been issuing propaganda and making inciting statements that are divisive. His comments came from Ethiopia, where an African regional bloc known as IGAD has been trying to broker a cease-fire between the two sides. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the army coupled with U.N. soldiers has conducted operations against Ugandan rebel group operating in the east. VOAs Gabe Joselow reports the action is aimed at members of the Allied Democratic forces known as ADF, which got underway last Friday The Islamist group began it's rebellion in neighbouring Uganda in the mid 1990's with the aim of overthrowing the government there. The Ugandan military operation pushed the group into eastern Congo where it attacked civilian populations and driven tens of thousands from their homes. The United Nations estimates the group has about five hundred members. These latest operations follow the successful campaign by Congolese soldiers and the U.N. intervention force against the M23 rebel group. The M23 rebellion flared in late two thousand twelve with an attack on Congo's main eastern city of Goma and caused hundreds of thousands of people to flee until the group was stopped late last year. A lack of state authority and mismanagement of local resources in eastern Congo continue to plague the region by providing the conditions for armed groups to wreak havoc. Gabe Joselow, VOA news, Nairobi. The White House says President Obama will invite leaders of nearly fifty African governments to an August summit in Washington. An assistant press secretary said Mr Obama will include all African heads of state or governments with the exception of those who are not in good standing with Washington or under African Union suspension and that includes, what said White House spokesman Jay Carney, Egypt. Egypt has not been invited because it is suspended from the African Union and that's the reason why Egypt was not invited. Concerned that is a missed opportunity-- I think we have regular discussions with Egyptian leaders and authorities focused on the bilateral relationship, on security matters, but also on developments in Egypt and our belief that Egypt needs to transition to a civilian led government in a process that is inclusive-- where Egyptians from all walks of life get to express their views and be heard. The White House says the summit will be used to strengthen US trade and investment ties with the continent. The White House says among the invitees; Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali, Nigeria and South Sudan. In Libya an abducted South Korean trade official Han Seok-Woo been freed by security forces after being kidnapped by four unidentified men last weekend. A Foreign Ministry spokesman said he's in good shape. Some of the kidnappers have been arrested. The motive for the abduction was not ideological or political. There was no claim of responsibility. I'm Victor Beattie, VOA news. More can be found on the internet at Voanews.com

• published: 23 Jan 2014
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