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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 10-05-2001

PART #1/4 - From AFRICA to BURUNDI

* Africa. Slavery and racism talks in Austria — From 28-30 April, delegates from more than one hundred NGOs around the world met in Vienna (Austria) to prepare for the United Nations World Conference Against Racism (UNWCAR) to be held in Durban, South Africa, from 28 August-7 September this year. The choice of venue was no surprise. According to delegates, Vienna’s historic image at the heart of Europe, made it a suitable venue for the gathering. To outside observers, the Vienna Conference represented a continuation of those discussions, concerns and issues tabled at other conferences around the world. Participants in the Vienna NGO meeting, emphasized the central position taken by Black people’s culture, experiences, concerns and perspectives in the UNWCAR Agenda, a fact that they say «has traditionally been ignored by the International Community, as recently as the Strasbourg and Geneva Preparatory Conferences.» The «Triangular Slave Trade» was another focus point. Participants agreed that it involved the largest forced migration in world history, and the death of tens of millions of Africans should be recognized and declared to be a Crime Against Humanity. Also, compensation and reparation measures should be implemented to address the ongoing legacy of depopulation, underdevelopment, exclusion, marginalization and exploitation inherited by Africans and people of African Descent. This meeting was a meeting of Africans and descendants of Africans. (Issa A. Mansary, ANB-BIA, Sierra Leone, 2 May 2001)

* Africa. Plan to tackle sleeping sickness epidemic — The World Health Organisation (WHO) and Aventis Pharma on 3 May launched a five-year programme to combat a spreading epidemic of sleeping sickness in Africa, in the latest public-private initiative aimed at improving access to life-saving drugs in poor countries. Frankfurt-based Aventis Pharma is giving $25m over five years to the WHO‘s African Trypanosomiasis or sleeping sickness programme. Half of this will go on donations of three drugs — pentamidine, melarsoprol and eflornithine — essential for treating the disease at different stages. The remainder will go on bolstering surveillance and control activities and further drug research and development. Bernard Pecoul of Medecins sans Frontières, the medical humanitarian group that will distribute the drugs, said that the 3 May agreement was «a major step in the struggle to control sleeping sickness». Up to 500,000 people are estimated to be suffering from the disease, spread by the bite of the tsetse fly, which attacks the central nervous system and is fatal without treatment. However, only about 10 per cent of victims receive treatment and the disease, focused in remote rural areas of sub-Saharan Africa, is on the increase after its near-elimination in the early 1960s. (Financial Times, UK, 4 May 2001)

* Africa. Media violations — South Africa fared very well in a report on the state of media freedom in Southern Africa, where Zimbabwe led the charts with the highest number of violations. 3 May was World Press Freedom Day, and the Media Institute of Southern Africa (Misa) released its report on the Southern African region titled «So This Is Democracy». The report said media freedom in the region was dealt a massive blow with the death of editor Carlos Cardoso in Mozambique. There was an increase in violations against the media in the past 12 months, with 46 of the 182 incidents recorded by Misa occurring in Zimbabwe. This was followed by Zambia with 31 incidents, Angola 24, Swaziland and Namibia 18 and Malawi with 16. The lowest number of media violations in Southern Africa occurred in Lesotho with only two incidents. In the past year, compared to 1999, more journalists were assaulted. Zimbabwe once again had the highest number of assaults with six in the past year, Zambia two and Angola one. Media institutions were bombed in Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Misa recorded 26 detentions of journalists, with nine in Zimbabwe, four in Tanzania, four in Botswana, three in Angola, two in Malawi, two in Zambia and two in Swaziland. «What put the media in Zimbabwe under siege and what pushed the country to the top of the charts for media freedom violations was the violent parliamentary election held in June 2000,» the Misa report says. (Mail & Guardian, South Africa, 4 May 2001)

* Afrique. 35 pays débattent de la sécurité — Du 8 au 10 mai, des diplomates et des militaires de haut rang venus de 35 pays se réunissent à Dar es-Salaam (Tanzanie) pour examiner les modalités du programme français Recamp. Celui-ci vise, sous l’égide de l’Onu et en accord avec l’OUA, à aider au renforcement des capacités militaires des pays africains à mener par eux-mêmes des opérations de maintien de la paix sur le continent. Ce programme porte sur la formation, l’entraînement et l’équipement de forces régionales spécialisées. Le bilan de la réflexion sera soumis aux instances de l’Union européenne. Un exercice d’état-major aura lieu à l’automne 2001, suivi par une manoeuvre de grande ampleur, prévue pour février 2002. (Le Monde, France, 8 mai 2001)

* Africa. Pesticide waste endangers millions in poor nations — Last month, FAO officials accompanied by a Reuters correspondent, visited Ethiopia, where they found metal drums leaking toxic waste at obsolete pesticide dumps located in residential areas. Ethiopian and FAO officials said the build-up, dating back to 30 years or more, was due to bad management of pesticide deliveries by the government and donors, and unscrupulous marketing by the chemicals industry, of pesticides that often were not needed. In a new report entitled: «Baseline study on the problem of obsolete pesticide stocks», the FAO said that the build-up of toxic pesticides that have been banned or expired, is dramatically higher than previous estimates of around 100,000 tonnes. (Reuters, 10 May 2001)

* Afrique centrale. Association de journalistes — Des journalistes de huit pays d’Afrique centrale, présents à la clôture de la conférence sur la liberté de presse à Windhoek, ont annoncé la création d’une association dénommée Organisation des médias d’Afrique centrale (OMAC). L’organisation devrait oeuvrer à la promotion et à la défense de la liberté de la presse, notamment à travers la création d’un mécanisme d’alerte sous-régional. Elle devrait également aider au développement économique et technique des entreprises de presse, et à la formation des journalistes. Bujumbura, la capitale burundaise, devrait servir de siège temporaire à l’organisation. Les pays membres de l’OMAC sont le Burundi, le Cameroun, le Gabon, la Guinée équatoriale, la RCA, la RDC, le Rwanda et le Tchad. (PANA, Sénégal, 6 mai 2001)

* Algeria. Crackdown on Berbers — 3 May: Thousands of anti-government demonstrators take to the streets of Algiers in protest against a violent police crackdown in the Berber region of Kabylia in which more than 40 people have been killed. The march organized by the main opposition party, the Socialist Forces Front (FFS), was the biggest in the North African capital in four years. Organizers said it drew about 25,000 people, while police put the turnout at 10,000. Chanting «government, terrorist,» the protesters called for an international inquiry into the killing by security forces of at least 41 young rioters last week in Kabylia. There were no reports of incidents at the march. «We’re here to pay homage to the victims of the repression in Kabylie and to make sure it never happens again,» one student said. Berber militants have long demanded official recognition of the Berber language. However, residents in Kabylie, a traditional hotbed of opposition to central rule, say the unrest goes far beyond the issue of regional identity and culture and includes wider social demands like access to jobs and better housing. 4 May: Human Rights Watch says that President Bouteflika’s investigation into the clashes must be truly independent. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 5 May 2001)

* Algérie. Kabylie: calme relatif — Si le retour au calme se confirme en Kabylie, la tension n’est toujours pas retombée autour de cette région où les récentes émeutes ont fait plusieurs dizaines de morts. Le 3 mai, quelque 25.000 personnes ont défilé dans les rues d’Alger contre la répression des deux dernières semaines en Kabylie. La manifestation, organisée par le Front des forces socialistes (FFS), dénonçait le “terrorisme” du gouvernement et réclamait une enquête internationale. Elle s’est déroulée sans incident et s’est dispersée dans le calme. Le 7 mai, le Mouvement culturel berbère a appelé à son tour à une marche populaire de solidarité pour jeudi prochain à Alger. De son côté, le président de la commission nationale d’enquête sur les émeutes de Kabylie poursuit ses contacts pour en choisir les membres; voulant s’entourer d’une composante de qualité, il reconnaît la difficulté à joindre les personnalités pressenties dans des délais aussi courts. Pendant ce temps, en Kabylie, la vie reprend doucement. Les villes et les villages de la région vivent au rythme des communiqués et des appels à la grève des différentes associations et comités locaux. - Le 9 mai à Madrid, le ministre algérien des Affaires étrangères, Abdelaziz Belkhadem, a rejeté une demande des socialistes européens pour la création d’une commission d’enquête internationale sur les récentes émeutes en Kabylie. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 10 mai 2001)

* Angola. President challenges rebel leader to peace dialogue — Angolan president Jos Eduardo dos Santos has signalled new willingness to find a political solution to a long-running civil war by challenging Unita rebel leader Jonas Savimbi to explain possible ways to find peace. «It is now necessary for him to say when he is going to finish the war and how he is going to fulfil the terms of the Lusaka protocol,» Mr dos Santos said in a speech at the start of a conference on peace and democracy in Luanda. «This way, a road to peace will open up.» Since the collapse in late 1998 of the Lusaka peace agreement, the MPLA government had steadfastly refused to speak to Mr Savimbi, saying he cannot be trusted. However, despite significant army successes, the government has failed in its declared aim of capturing or killing him, or forcing his surrender. Diplomats in Luanda say emphasis on a military solution is now being tempered. «There seems to be a definite shift here the speech reflects an effort to start something new to find a way to peace that does not rely on military action,» one said. «It is an opening, though not necessarily an olive branch. The next step is Savimbi’s to take.» (Financial Times, UK, 3 May 2001)

* Angola. UN fears disease epidemic — Floods that have killed about 48 people and forced some 50,000 from their homes across Angola could spawn disease epidemics, the United Nations health unit warned on 7 May. «The concern now is about the spread of diseases,» a World Health Organization (WHO) spokeswoman told Reuters. «We need to be particularly alert to the possibility of cholera,» Nsala Domingos said. «Thousands of homes have been levelled...and living conditions in the areas where people are resettling are precarious,» Domingos said. Heavier than usual rains this season have also ruined thousands of hectares (acres) of crop land, punishing a population already weary from a 26-year civil war. (CNN, USA, 7 May 2001)

* Angola. Offensive de l’Unita — Le 7 mai, les rebelles de l’Unita ont attaqué la ville de Uije, à 350 km de Luanda. Selon la radio privée catholique Ecclesia, de nombreux habitants des bidonvilles ont fui vers le centre-ville sous les feux des mitrailleuses et des obus. Une intervention de l’armée gouvernementale aurait mis les combattants de l’Unita en déroute. Au cours de ces dernières semaines, les opérations de la rébellion se sont multipliées dans tout le pays. Une attaque contre Caxito, à 60 km de la capitale, a fait une centaine de morts et autant de disparus, le 5 mai, selon un bilan donné par la télévision publique. Le 8 mai, les Nations unies ont exigé la libération de 60 enfants, âgés de 10 à 18 ans, que l’Unita a enlevé près de Caxito. L’Onu déplore aussi la mort de quatre agents angolais d’organisations humanitaires. (Libération, France, 8-9 mai 2001)

* Angola. Setting up an election fund — The Angolan government says it has set up an election fund worth thirty-million dollars. The Finance Minister, Julio Bessa, told the state newspaper — the Jornal de Angola —that the National Assembly had approved the measure. Mr Bessa said the fund would provide for general elections scheduled for next year. He said details on the measure would be given soon. Two years ago, President Jose Eduardo dos Santos announced elections would take place this year, but he later put them back to 2002. He now insists they won’t be held until UNITA rebels agree to end the country’s long-running civil war. UNITA rejected the outcome of Angola’s first multi-party elections in 1992. (BBC News, UK, 10 May 2001)

* Angola. Unita «lying» over abducted children — The aid official in charge of the Angolan school where 60 children were seized at the weekend has angrily rejected a statement by the rebel movement Unita, which tried to deny that the children had been abducted. There is still no information about the whereabouts of the children, taken from a school at the town of Caxito less than 80km from the capital, Luanda. On 8 May, a Unita spokesman based in Portugal told the BBC that the children had not been abducted, but that Unita fighters had returned the children to their families in areas under Unita control. But Rikke Viholm, chair of People to People Development Aid (DPPA), said she was shocked by what the Unita spokesman had said. «It’s awful how many lies can be told in this world,» she said. Ms Viholm said Unita forces had committed a crime, which the spokesman was now trying to deny. (BBC News, UK, 10 May 2001)

* Bénin. Nouveau gouvernement — Le 7 mai, le chef de l’Etat béninois M. Kérékou a formé un nouveau gouvernement de 21 membres. Treize des 19 anciens membres ont été maintenus. Parmi les 9 nouveaux, deux femmes et deux membres de la société civile qui ont pris une part active dans le déroulement pacifique de la dernière présidentielle. Investi depuis le 6 avril pour un ultime mandat de cinq ans, le président Kérékou avait d’abord maintenu en fonction son ancienne équipe, ce qui avait suscité beaucoup de polémiques. (PANA, Sénégal, 7 mai 2001)

* Burundi. Consultations de paix — Le 3 mai, une délégation de 22 membres, composée notamment de dix officiers supérieurs, de trois responsables religieux, dont l’évêque de Bujumbura Mgr Ngoyagoye et du représentant légal de la communauté islamique du Burundi, ainsi que des anciens Premiers ministres Nzambimana, Nduwayo et Ndimira, a quitté Bujumbura pour Pretoria (Afrique du Sud) pour une rencontre avec le médiateur dans le conflit burundais, Nelson Mandela. Ils parleront de l’état actuel et des perspectives du processus de paix. (Agence burundaise de presse, 3 mai 2001)

* Burundi. Risque d’un “retour total à la guerre” — Tandis que les initiatives de paix suscitent une grande attention au Congo RDC, la “situation explosive” dans le Burundi voisin est largement ignorée, ont mis en garde les analystes régionaux le 4 mai. Jan van Eck, l’analyste du Burundi du Center for International Policy Studies à Pretoria, brosse un tableau plutôt sombre des perspectives de paix dans ce pays, soulignant que l’accord de paix d’Arusha est sur le point de s’effondrer. Il explique qu’une alliance régionale anti-tutsi commence à prendre forme. Les rebelles burundais et d’autres rébellions hutu stationnées en RDC transféreraient leurs bases au Burundi et en Tanzanie dans le but de renverser les gouvernements du Burundi, du Rwanda et de l’Ouganda. Lorsque le gouvernement burundais (perçu comme le plus faible des trois) serait renversé, le pays pourrait alors être utilisé pour lancer des attaques contre les deux autres. Il a indiqué que le Rwanda, très préoccupé par cette situation, a averti qu’il ne resterait pas dans l’expectative si ses frontières étaient menacées. (IRIN, Nairobi, 4 mai 2001)

* Burundi. Décès de Mgr Nterere — Mgr Jean-Berchmans Nterere, évêque de Muyinga, est décédé le soir du 5 mai à Muyinga. Il revenait de Burasira, où il avait participé au jubilé d’or du séminaire. Il aurait encore essayé d’appeler à l’aide les religieuses de l’évêché, mais celles-ci l’ont trouvé mort chez lui, probablement à cause d’un arrêt cardiaque. Né en 1942, Mgr Nterere avait été ordonné prêtre en 1970. Après un doctorat en théologie, il passa six ans avec les réfugiés burundais en Tanzanie (1972-78). Recteur du grand séminaire de Bujumbura (de 1980 à 1986), puis évêque auxiliaire, il fut nommé évêque de Muyinga en 1994. Mgr Nterere a toujours été connu comme un grand défenseur de la justice et de la paix. Il était un des membres du comité de suivi de l’application de l’accord d’Arusha. (ANB-BIA, Bruxelles, 6 mai 2001)

* Burundi. La difficile transition — Le 6 mai, le président Buyoya est rentré d’Afrique du Sud. Dans un point de presse, il a indiqué qu’il était allé sensibiliser le médiateur sur la gravité des violences qui secouent actuellement le Burundi. Selon lui, si l’escalade actuelle de la guerre se poursuit, on ne parlera plus d’accord de paix. Il a discuté avec les responsables sud-africains des voies et moyens de sortir de cette situation. Au sujet du leadership de la transition, M. Buyoya a dit qu’il avait sollicité l’intervention de Nelson Mandela pour le règlement de cette question. Il a encore déclaré que la mise en place des institutions de la transition, telle que prévue par Arusha, est impossible, compte tenu des réalités du terrain. Et de proposer que cette question soit réglée de la manière suivante: une pré-transition avec les signataires qui le veulent et qui le peuvent, et une transition proprement dite avec tous les signataires. Le médiateur lui aurait recommandé de s’asseoir avec tous les autres signataires afin de lui présenter une solution consensuelle. En réaction, les politiciens burundais n’ont pas caché leur confusion. Ainsi, selon le vice-président du Parena, il s’agirait d’une grave violation de l’accord d’Arusha. “Ce serait un gouvernement de bricolage de plus par des gens qui veulent s’éterniser au pouvoir”. (Ndlr.: Le 7 mai, pratiquement tous les partis d’opposition hutu et tutsi ont rejeté cette mise en place d’une période de “pré-transition”.) (Net Press, Burundi, 6 mai 2001)

* Burundi. Death of Bishop Nterere — Bishop Jean-Berchmans Nterere, Bishop of the diocese of Muyinga (Burundi), died on 5 May. The bishop who was born on 1 September 1942 in Nkuna (diocese of Bujumbura), died at the age of 59. He was widely appreciated for his apostolic zealous and great personal dedication to peace in his country. He was ordained priest on the 11th of October 1970 and later completed a doctorate in Theology at the University of Lovanio. Having dedicated six years to assisting the Burundian refugees in Tanzania, in 1978 he became parish priest of Muyinga. He was rector of the seminary of Bujumbura from 1980 to 1986 and later headed the office of evangelisation. He was consecrated Bishop in 1992. According to church sources contacted by MISNA in Burundi, it seems that Bishop Nterere died of a heart attack at around 9:30 in the evening (local time). The prelate had spent the day in Burasira, where he attended the celebrations for the 20 years of the foundation of the local seminary. After returning to his residence in Muyinga (around 210km from the capital), the prelate died in his room. Bishop Nterere leaves a great void in the Burundian Church that he served with profound dedication, also participating as its representatives in the Arusha (Tanzania) peace talks. (MISNA, Italy, 6 May 2001)

* Burundi. New taxes to finance war — 4 May: With the focus on peace moves in Congo RDC, an «explosive situation» in Burundi is being largely ignored, regional analysts warned. The Arusha peace accord is on the verge of collapse and there is a real prospect of Burundi returning to full-scale war. A regional anti-Tutsi alliance is developing, as Burundian rebels and other Hutu rebellions based in Congo RDC are now moving their bases to Burundi and Tanzania with the ultimate objectives of toppling the governments in Burundi, rwanda and Uganda. 6 May: Reports from Burundi say the government has imposed new taxes on luxury items such as tobacco and alcohol to help finance its war against Hutu rebels. Official radio said that taxes of about 20% would be slapped on alcoholic drinks and 11% on tobacco, and this would be paid into a fund jointly managed by the defence and finance ministries. The main Hutu rebel groups, which are boycotting the internationally-mediated peace negotiations, have stepped up their attacks this year to demonstrate that no peace can be made without their agreement. President Buyoya says that Burundi could solve the transition problem in two phases if the signatories of the peace agreement so desired. According to Buyoya, the country is still negotiating how the transitional instruments will work. Buyoya’s two-phase transition comprises a «pre-transition with all the signatories who are currently there and those who can enter the institutions». The second phase would be a transition which included «everyone». Buyoya has just returned from South Africa where he held talks with the mediator, Nelson Mandela, and South Africa’s President Mbeki. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 8 May 2001)

* Burundi. Attaque d’un camp militaire — Le 9 mai au matin, selon une source militaire, cinq rebelles et un civil ont été tués au cours d’une attaque de la rébellion des Forces nationales de libération (FNL) contre un camp militaire à Gatumba, à une dizaine de km au nord-ouest de Bujumbura et à 5 km de la frontière avec le Congo. Quatre soldats et une jeune fille ont été blessés. Selon le FNL, le but de l’attaque était de s’emparer d’armes et de munitions. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 10 mai 2001)

* Burundi. Rebels attack military base — Burundi rebels have attacked a military camp just 10 km from the capital Bujumbura. A military spokesman told the BBC six rebels were killed and four soldiers wounded during the attack on the Gatumba camp. A spokesman from the rebel Hutu-dominated National Liberation Forces (FNL) said that attack was part of an ongoing campaign to weaken the government. The BBC correspondent in Burundi said there was no obvious signs of the attack at the camp as it took place in an open area. He said that a few hours after the attack life in Gatumba town was returning to normal except that pupils could not go to school. (BBC News, UK, 10 May 2001)