ANB-BIA - Av. Charles Woeste 184 - 1090 Bruxelles - Belgium
TEL **.32.2/420 34 36 fax /420 05 49 E-Mail: anb-bia@village.uunet.be
_____________________________________________________________
WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 28-09-2000

PART #4/4 - From SUDAN to ZIMBABWE

 * Soudan/Libye. Visite du président en Libye — Le 20 septembre au soir, le président somalien Sallat Hassan est arrivé à Syrte, pour une visite en Libye dont la durée n’a pas été précisée. Selon l’agence libyenne de presse Jana, le président a déclaré à son arrivée que son séjour vise à présenter les remerciements du peuple somalien au colonel Kadhafi pour la part qu’il a prise dans la réalisation de la réconciliation nationale en Somalie. Selon une source diplomatique, le nouveau président compterait beaucoup sur le soutien de Tripoli pour neutraliser les chefs de faction dont certains continuent de contester la légitimité de son élection. La plupart de ces chefs ont effectué des séjours en Libye dans le cadre de la médiation du colonel Kadhafi pour le règlement du conflit. (PANA, 21 septembre 2000)

* Soudan. Première sainte soudanaise — Joséphine Bakhita, la première sainte du Soudan, sera canonisée le 1er octobre. Née en 1869 à Olgossa, un petit village du Darfour, elle fut enlevée alors qu’elle était encore une enfant et réduite en esclavage à Khartoum. Après avoir changé plusieurs fois de patrons, elle arriva en Italie, où elle découvrit la foi chrétienne. Elle fut baptisée en 1890 et devint religieuse canossienne. Elle a surtout vécu à Schio, où tout le monde l’appelait affectueusement “la petite mère noire” (Madre moretta). Elle y est morte le 8 février 1947. Le pape l’a béatifiée en 1992. Pour Mgr Macram Max Gassis, évêque d’El Obeid, vivant lui-même en exil depuis 1990, Bakhita représente un espoir pour toutes les formes d’esclavage et est une sainte pour les émigrés. (D’après Fides, Rome, 22 septembre 2000)

* Sudan. Popular Congress members arrested — An opposition party, led by Sudan’s chief Islamic ideologue, Hassan al-Turabi, said dozens of its members were arrested after a newspaper editor was hit by a van earlier this week, a newspaper reported on 24 September. The independent al-Sahafa said Mohamed Taha, editor of al-Wifag daily, was struck by a van on 21 September as he was leaving the premises of the National Press Council in Khartoum. He was bruised and received treatment at Khartoum hospital, before being released the next day. «Dozens of members of the Popular Congress were detained in the early hours of 22 September,» Yassin Omar al-Imman, secretary-general of the Popular National Congress, was quoted as saying in Sahafa. Imman denied that his party was involved in an attack on Taha. (CNN, 23 September 2000)

* Soudan. Négociations — Les partis en conflit au Soudan ont décidé d’engager des négociations directes afin de restaurer la paix. Réunis à Asmara, à l’initiative du président érythréen, le chef d’Etat soudanais el-Béchir et son rival, Osman el Merghani, président de l’Alliance démocratique nationale (NDA), ont convenu, le 26 septembre, de mettre “rapidement” un terme aux conflits qui déchirent leur pays. Dans un communiqué conjoint, les deux parties se sont déclarées “déterminées à arrêter rapidement les hostilités et à créer les conditions favorables au retour de l’unité entre le nord et le sud”. La NDA regroupe les partis politiques du nord, arabe et musulman, et l’Armée populaire de libération du Soudan (SPLA) du colonel Garang, implantée dans le sud animiste et chrétien. Les participants aux entretiens d’Asmara considèrent qu’il s’agit d’une rencontre “exploratoire”. (PANA, 27 septembre 2000)

* Sudan. The Government talks to the Opposition — The President of Sudan held his first talks on 26 September, with an opposition group formed eight years ago. President al-Bashir says he agreed in his talks in neighbouring Eritrea with the leader of the opposition National Democratic Alliance (NDA), that dialogue not war is the way to resolve their differences. «The exploratory meeting we had was successful», the President said after his talks with NDA chairman, Mohamed Osman al-Mirghani. The talks took place in Asmara, Eritrea. The Sudanese government and the NDA say they have agreed for the first time to hold direct negotiations aimed at ending the civil war. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 27 September 2000)

* Soudan. Embargos contre le bétail soudanais — Les exportateurs soudanais se sont plaints de l’embargo imposé à leur pays par certains gouvernements arabes à cause de l’expansion de la fièvre de la Rift Valley en Arabie Saoudite et au Yémen qui, ont-ils dit, pourrait entraîner leur ruine. L’Arabie Saoudite et les Emirats arabes unis ont suspendu la semaine dernière les importations de bétail en provenance du Soudan et de plusieurs autres pays de l’Afrique de l’Est, suite à l’annonce de cas de fièvre de la Rift Valley. Plus de 50 citoyens saoudiens et yéménites seraient morts de cette épidémie. Le ministre soudanais des ressources animales affirme qu’aucune contamination à la fièvre de la Rift Valley n’a été notée dans le pays. “Il n’y a aucune indication de telles infections dans les annales de l’OMS et de l’Organisation internationale pour les épidémies”, a-t-il déclaré. En 1999, le Soudan avait exporté pour $131 millions de bétail et de viande. (PANA, 27 septembre 2000)

* Sudan. Parliamentary and presidential elections in December — Sudanese parliamentary and presidential elections will be held simultaneously between 11 December and 20 December, the independent al-Sahafi al-Douli newspaper quoted Sudan’s General Elections Commission as announcing on 27 September. The paper said prospective candidates would register for the polls from 13-16 November, after voting registers had been prepared. A list of candidates would be published on 25 November ahead of official campaigning which is to begin on 28 November. Results will be announced on 24 December. (CNN, 27 September 2000)

* Swaziland. Sanctions deadline draws nearer — Pressure is mounting on the government of Swaziland to amend restrictive labour laws or lose trade concessions from the United States. The South African daily, Business News, reported on 21 September, that Swaziland has until the end of the month to head off losing tariff preferences on its exports to the United States under Washington’s new Africa Growth and Opportunity Act and the Generalised System of Preferences. (IRIN, Southern Africa, 21 September 2000)

* Tanzania. Religious leaders in campaigns — Politics and religion are being fused for the 29 October general elections, thus violating Tanzania’s Constitution which specifies Tanzania is a secular state. The Civic United Front (CUF) has chosen Christopher Mtikila (Pastor), a self-appointed «Reverend» to sell the party’s policies for the coming elections. The ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CMM) has included Sheikh Kassim Mtopea as a possible parliamentary candidate. The Tanzania Labour Party (TLP) is using Bishop Zechariah Kakobe from the Full Gospel Bible Fellowship. (Titus Kaguo, ANB-BIA, Tanzania, 23 September 2000)

* Tanzanie. Viols parmi les réfugiées burundaises — De nombreuses réfugiées burundaises vivant dans des camps dans l’ouest de la Tanzanie sont victimes de viols et de violences domestiques, affirme Human Rights Watch dans un rapport publié le 26 septembre. L’organisation, qui a mené une enquête en 1998 et 1999 dans ces camps, affirme que les viols sont commis à la fois par des réfugiés burundais et par des Tanzaniens vivant dans les villages des environs. HRW cite le cas de 50 réfugiées violées par une centaine de Tanzaniens dans le district de Kasulu en mai 1999; seuls 11 hommes ont été arrêtés et sont en attente de jugement. HRW cite aussi un rapport de l’International Rescue Committee: à partir d’un sondage mené auprès de 3.800 femmes, ce rapport estime que 26% des jeunes filles et femmes de 12 à 45 ans ont subi des violences pendant leur fuite du Burundi ou dans les camps. (Agence burundaise de presse, 27 septembre 2000)

* Tanzania. HRW‘s report: «Seeking Protection» — The Tanzanian authorities have rejected allegations that sexual and domestic violence against Burundian women in refugee camps in Tanzania was rampant. A senior official at the department of refugees, Johnson Brahim, said that, with the exception of a few cases of crime, refugees live peacefully in most camps in Tanzania. The Tanzanian official said the report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) published on 26 September, was a grave exaggeration. The 151-page HRW report entitled: «Seeking Protection — Addressing sexual and domestic violence in Tanzania’s refugee camps», documents the UNHCR‘s and the Tanzanian host government’s failure to address violence against women refugees in a timely and effective manner, despite ample evidence that women’s lives were in danger in their homes and in the general camp community. The report can be found at: www.hrw.org/reports/2000/tanzania (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 27 September 2000)

* Togo/Niger. Avion présidentiel en feu — Le jeudi soir, 21 septembre, l’avion du président togolais Eyadéma, un Boeing 707, s’est posé en catastrophe sur l’aéroport de Niamey, alors qu’un incendie qui l’a presque totalement détruit s’était déclaré à bord, a-t-on appris auprès de la direction de l’aviation nigérienne. Ni le président Eyadéma ni aucune autre personnalité togolaise n’étaient dans l’appareil qui transportait 10 personnes, dont 8 membres d’équipage. L’accident a fait 2 blessés légers. (La Libre Belgique, 23 septembre 2000)

* Tunisie. Violences policières — Deux journalistes de France Inter, Daniel Mermet et Giv Anquetil, ainsi que deux opposants tunisiens, Sihem Bensedrine et Omar Mestiri, “ont été agressés par des hommes prétendant appartenir à la police tunisienne, lors d’un reportage sur le retour à Tunis du journaliste Taoufik Ben Brik le 9 septembre”, a affirmé France Inter le 25 septembre. Selon la direction de la radio, “huit policiers ont brutalement exigé les cassettes des reportages” effectués à cette occasion. L’équipe aurait tu cette agression car elle attendait le rapatriement des cassettes qu’elle avait pu placer en lieu sûr. En janvier déjà, le matériel de Mermet avait été saisi alors qu’il quittait la Tunisie. - D’autre part, dans un communiqué publié le 26 septembre, la Ligue tunisienne des droits de l’homme a dénoncé “la multiplication” des violences policières qui se sont soldées, depuis début août, par la mort d’au moins deux personnes suite à leur interpellation. La ligue s’inquiète de la multiplication des cas d’abus graves dans certaines prisons et postes de police ayant entraîné la mort de citoyens dans des circonstances suspectes. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 27 septembre 2000)

* Uganda/Rwanda. Talks on Congo RDCplain D — 22 September: The President of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni, has had a day of talks in Rwanda with President Paul Kagame. In a joint statement, they repeated their support for last year’s Lusaka peace accord, and said they would work together for its full implementation. Correspondents said the two leaders — formerly close allies — appeared keen to create an impression of renewed fraternity. (BBC News, 22 September 2000)

* Uganda. The LRA — a witness testifies — The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebel leader, Joseph Kony, has got 48 official wives and more than 50 children in Jebelen, his command base near Juba in southern Sudan. This was disclosed by one of the six former fighters repatriated on 22 September from Khartoum under the peace and reconciliation process. The boys, now between 12 and 26 years, arrived on 22 September at 9.00am at Entebbe Airport aboard Kenya Airways. Their names were not disclosed to the press for security reasons. Five girls (now mothers) were left with their five babies in Khartoum Islamic Mission, awaiting return. The boys, were received at Entebbe by UNICEF‘s chief communication co-ordinator, Keith Wright; the International Organisation for Migration’s chief-of-mission, Charles Kwenin; the gender ministry’s Sayyid Bukenya; and Owori Hama, a World Vision psycho-social support adviser. The boy, a former student of Minakulu Technical Institute, said Kony prevented them from returning. His left leg was amputated after he was shot in Jebelein when the SPLA attacked their camp. «I was abducted from Minakulu where I was doing carpentry in the early morning on July 21, 1996 and we were taken to southern Sudan,» the boy, walking on crutches, said. He said he spent one year in captivity before they were flown to Omdurman military hospital near Khartoum. «I have been in the hospital for one-and-half-year undergoing treatment. But because I was taken there by force, I escaped from the hospital at night with my colleagues to an Islamic mission in Kordofan, Khartoum,» he said. (The New Vision, Uganda, 23 September 2000)

* Ouganda/Angola. “Entente” sur la RDCplain D — Une délégation militaire angolaise conduite par le chef d’état-major, le général de Matos, s’est rendue cette semaine en Ouganda et a tenu des pourparlers avec le président Museveni et des officiers supérieurs. Selon une source ougandaise, ces consultations avaient pour but de rétablir la confiance entre les deux pays qui soutiennent des parties opposées dans le conflit au Congo-RDC. “Nous avons assuré la délégation angolaise que nous ne collaborons pas avec leurs ennemis”, a indiqué un haut responsable ougandais, “et nos explications les ont convaincus”. Il a ajouté que des projets étaient en cours pour développer une entente entre les trois pays “concernés par la sécurité en RDC”, à savoir l’Angola, l’Ouganda et le Rwanda. (IRIN, Nairobi, 27 septembre 2000)

* Zambia. State Proceedings Bill causes uproar — The ruling Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD), which takes prides in «having a human face with a human heart», has once again caused an uproar in the nation by passing yet another controversial Bill, the State Proceedings (Amendment) Bill. This Bill seeks to protect the government against being subject to a Judicial Review by any aggrieved party in the courts. The Judicial Review procedure is a tool whereby a citizen can put a stop to any government excesses. In typical MMD fashion, the controversial Bill sailed through all three stages and is only awaiting President Chiluba’s signature to become law. In the interlude before the President gives the Bill his «blessing», pressure against the Bill is mounting on all sides because people are fully aware that signing such a Bill is tantamount to signing away all future for Zambia. The Church of God in Zambia and Central Africa has taken a lead in expressing its disgust against such a Bill, saying that the MMD government has once again demonstrated its arrogance, in that it has no real interest in the people it is supposed to be serving. The Law Association of Zambia (LAZ) has also come into conflict with the Legal Affairs Minister, Mr. Vincent Malambo, who is the author of the Bill. The LAZ has described the State Proceedings Bill as «retrogressive because it takes away the rights of citizens, and it scares away investment in the country, as no serious investor can invest in a country where there is no security or adequate protection under the law». (Moses Chitendwe, ANB-BIA, Zambia, 13 September 2000)

* Zambia. Opposition leader wants to be king — A founder member of Zambia’s ruling Movement for Multi-Party Democracy (MMD) and now a leading opposition leader, Akashambatwa Mbikushita-Lewanika, has floated himself for the kingship of the Lozis, one of Zambia’s most influential tribes. The Lozi king Ilute Yeta IV died in July in a Lusaka hospital after a long illness. As leader of the opposition Agenda for Zambia (AZ), Lewanika has long been campaigning for the secession of the former Barotseland (Western Province) from the rest of Zambia and has vowed not to rest until a «total Barotse takeover» takes place. But his plans, announced in early September to political and government heads in Western Province at a meeting in the Barotse capital of Mongu, 600 kilometres west of Lusaka, has attracted mixed feelings from some quarters of the Barotse royal establishment and resentment from members of the ruling party. Opinion leaders believe that Lewanika’s bid to become king of the ethnic Lozis will be an uphill battle because the «powers-that-be» seem to be prepared to do all they can to lessening his chances of ruling the Lozis, one of the biggest and most influential of Zambia’s 73 tribes. Lewanika, who resigned from the MMD «on principle», said the Lozis should unite and take control of their land and end the continued exploitation that has doomed their province. According to an Amnesty International report, secessionists in the Western Province and Namibia’s Caprivi Strip are living in constant fear. «There is an unresolved dispute, dating back to independence in 1964, over the status of the former Barotseland Protectorate, now called Western Province,» the report said. «Lozi secessionists fighting in neighbouring Namibia’s Caprivi Strip last August, raised fears in Zambia of similar secessionist violence in Western Province,» Amnesty International added. (Africa Press Bureau, Johannesburg. 21 September 2000)

* Zimbabwe. Govt. promises squatter evictions — 21 September: The Zimbabwean government says it will step-up the eviction of illegal black settlers on white-owned farms, particularly those who had occupied land after the July launch of a government resettlement scheme. At the moment, hundreds of white-owned farms remain occupied by war veterans and their supporters, while the government has listed over 2,000 farms for compulsory acquisition. To date, only 100 farms have actually been redistributed to poor black peasants. Earlier this week, police for the second time evicted people who had occupied farms around Harare. The same day, it is reported that ZANU-PF party militants opened fire on a group of white farmers and their black workers. No one was hurt in the shooting near the farming town of Featherstone, about 110 kilometres south of Harare. 22 September: White farmers facing eviction from their land win a temporary reprieve when the Supreme Court rules the eviction notices illegal and says farmers shouldn’t be forced to leave before the year’s end. The Supreme Court says the Agriculture Ministry did not meet conditions of the land acquisition laws when it served about 100 farmers with 30-day eviction notices last month. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 25 September 2000)

* Zimbabwe. Indian business people under threat — ZANU-PF is now turning its attention to the Indians living in Zimbabwe. These constitute a very small percentage of the total population but in some areas form a powerful business community. In Bulawayo, the Bulawayo Chapter of the Affirmative Action Group (AAG) has issued a circular entitled: «Indiginisation versus Indians», which incites black Zimbabweans to rise against Indians, and calls on the authorities to investigate whether Indians are paying taxes, if their immigration papers are in order, and that they’re not over-charging black people for their rentals. The AAG also calls on the government to come up with a Building Acquisition Act just like the land act, to enable them to compulsorily acquire the buildings. The fact is, local people are trying to gain access to rented accommodation. (Tendai Madinah, ANB-BIA, Zimbabwe, 25 Sept. 2000)

* Zimbabwe. Court to rule in November on land seizures — Zimbabwe’s Supreme Court will rule in November on an application by white farmers challenging President Mugabe’s power to take their land without compensation. It also decided on 26 September that farmers whose properties have already been seized under the government’s fast-track land re-settlement program should be given 90 days’ notice to vacate their premises. A spokesman for the mainly white, 4,5000-member Commercial Farmers Union said this ruling offered a reprieve for farmers who had already been issued with 30-day eviction orders. (CNN, 27 September 2000)