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: 07-06-2001

PART #3/4 - From ETHIOPIA -RWANDA

* Ethiopia. Activists freed on bail — Two of Ethiopia’s leading human rights activists have been released from custody on bail after a fifth court appearance having spent four weeks in jail. Professor Mesfin Professor Mesfin-Wolde Mariam and Berhanu Nega have been charged with inciting university students to riot and of membership to an illegal political party. The detention of the two men was heavily criticised both in Ethiopia and internationally with many claiming that the government was trying to silence dissenting voices. The two men were arrested on 8 May after being accused by the government of instigating the recent student protests that resulted in the deaths of more than 30 people and damage worth millions of dollars. The tense atmosphere in the courtroom erupted into cheers as two men were told that could go home. Hundreds of friends, relatives and supporters who had packed into the small courtroom and gathered in the courtyard outside, ululated and cheered as presiding judge Ambacho Abate declared that the two prominent scholars should be released on bail. After a lengthy statement Judge Ambacho argued that according to Article 63 of the Ethiopian Procedural Law, the two defendants should be released from police custody until the date of the next hearing. (BBC News, UK, 5 June 2001)

* Ghana. Rawlings threatens government — A row has broken out in Ghana between the government and former president Jerry Rawlings over his first speech made since leaving office in January. In an address to celebrate Mr Rawlings’ 4 June coup, he criticised the government for waging a campaign of terror and intimidation against supporters of his NDC party. He warned that such acts could degenerate into hatred.Government spokeswoman Elizabeth Ohene said Ghana had examined the Rawlings legacy and had rejected it comprehensively in free and fair elections. Correspondents say other commentators have suggested that Mr Rawlings should concentrate on fighting malaria. (BBC News, UK, 5 June 2001)

* Guinea. UNHCR get figures wrong in Guinea — The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR), which earlier this year said Guinea faced the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, insists it has got its figures right even though it cannot account for over 200,000 refugees. Before the crisis, sparked in September last year by cross-border attacks by rebels based in Sierra Leone, the UNHCR said there were 466,000 refugees in the country. UNHCR refugee numbers 192,000 refugees 55,000 repatriated 30,000 gone home 277,000 total 466,000 original estimate Now it says it has access to just 192,000. A further 55,000 refugees have been repatriated, and, at a generous estimate, 30,000 have returned home by themselves. Yet the UNHCR is not raising the alarm about the 200,000 who have apparently gone missing. The discrepancy emerged after the UNHCR completed its four-month long relocation of almost 60,000 refugees from camps threatened by rebel attacks in the Parrot’s Beak and from other areas in south-east Guinea. (BBC News, UK, 4 June 2001)

* Guinea-Bissau. Fishing agreement signed with EU — An agreement was signed on 31 May in Brussels between the European Union and Guinea-Bissau covering fishing in Guinea-Bissau’s waters. The agreement will enter in vigour on June 16 and will be valid until the summer of 2006. Based on the accord, French, Greek, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese fishing boats will be able to fish off the coasts of Guinea-Bissau. Meanwhile, Guinea-Bissau’s parliament, on 30 May approved the 2001 budget, estimated at 94-billion CFA francs, around 2 billion CFA francs more than the previous year. (MISNA, Italy, 31 May 2001)

* Libéria. Interdits de voyage — Pour couper le soutien apporté par le Libéria à la rébellion sierra-léonaise du Front révolutionnaire uni (RUF), le Conseil de sécurité de l’Onu a publié une liste de quelque 150 dirigeants libériens interdits de voyage, a annoncé l’Onu le 5 juin. Parmi eux figurent le chef de l’Etat, Charles Taylor, ses principaux ministres et chefs militaires, ainsi que leurs épouses. Y figurent aussi notamment un chef du RUF, Sam Bockarie, et des “trafiquants d’armes”. La liste sera mise à jour régulièrement. La résolution de l’Onu demande aux Etats de refuser l’entrée ou le transit de ces personnes. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 7 juin 2001)

* Malawi. Heurts à Lilongwe — Le 5 juin, des incidents entre manifestants et policiers à Lilongwe ont fait une vingtaine de blessés, dont dix grièvement. Près d’un millier de manifestants ont protesté devant le Parlement, demandant au président Muluzi d’employer davantage de ressources de l’Etat en faveur du développement du pays. Selon des sources locales, le mécontentement contre l’actuel gouvernement s’empare de plus en plus des secteurs de la société civile. (Misna, Italie, 6 juin 2001)

* Malawi. Clashes leave 20 injured — There have been clashes between government and opposition supporters outside the parliament buildings in the Malawi capital, Lilongwe. The clashes occurred as parliament began its winter session. At least 20 people were injured, 10 of them seriously. Reports say the clashes continued for some 20 minutes before police restored order. Press photographers who tried to take pictures were attacked, and their cameras confiscated. The leader of the opposition National Democratic Alliance, Brown Mpinganjira, blamed the clashes on President Bakili Muluzi, alleging that the president had encouraged his supporters to use violence against the opposition. But the presidential affairs minister, Dumbo Lemani, denied this. Correspondents say that the clashes were the latest indication of rising political tension in Malawi in recent months. (BBC News, UK, 6 June 2001)

* Maroc. Grâces royales — Le roi Mohammed VI a accordé des mesures de grâce au profit de 780 détenus, dont 288 vont être libérés immédiatement à l’occasion de la fête musulmane de Mouloud, qui commémore l’anniversaire de la naissance du prophète Mahomet. Outre les 288 détenus graciés totalement, le souverain a accordé une remise de peine en faveur de 492 prisonniers. (La Figaro, France, 5 juin 2001)

* Morocco. King meets Amnesty head on rights issues — On 6 June, King Mohammed met Colm O’Cuanachain, chairman of London-based Amnesty International, to discuss human rights issues, the official news agency MAP reported. Since succeeding his late father King Hassan two years ago, the reform-minded Mohammed has released dozens of political prisoners, created a human rights advisory council to examine about 5,000 complaints and set up a multi-million dollar fund to compensate victims of human rights abuses. King Mohammed met O’Cuanachain at Rabat’s royal palace in the presence of Human Rights Minister Mohamed Aujjar and Amnesty representatives, MAP said without elaborating. It was the first meeting between the Moroccan monarch and Amnesty envoys since he ascended to the throne in mid-1999. (CNN, USA, 6 June 2001)

* Mozambique. Three million cases of Malaria in 2000 — Health units across Mozambique registered a total of three-million malaria cases out of a total population of around 17-million. According to a report issued by the Health Ministry, 1,637 of the malaria patients are known to have died of the disease. The document also reveals an increase in both cases and deaths in respect to the previous year. The Ministry also warned that the official figures of 2000 are undoubtedly an underestimate given the difficulties certain malaria patients have in reaching the nearest health units, and problems in monitoring the disease. The violent flooding has largely contributed to the spread of the disease. (MISNA, Italy 31 May 2001)

* Namibia. Border problems with South Africa — A pledge by Nelson Mandela, the former president of South Africa, to redraw part of his country’s northern border has led to a dispute with Namibia over how much of the Orange River it can lay claim to. Namibia claims its 400km southern border runs to the middle of the river; South Africa has traditionally regarded its territory as extending to the north bank. The dispute is intensifying as Namibia increasingly tries to assert its authority over mineral and water rights along its border. Particularly critical to the Namibians are newly discovered gas and diamond deposits whose ownership would be determined by an extension of the river boundary. Rich diamond deposits lie to either side of the Orange River. Diamond mining companies Alexkor, Trans Hex and Namdeb have rights adjacent to the border. A change of national boundary would affect mineral rights and potentially bring in huge tax revenues. South Africa’s borders with Namibia were redrawn when Walvis Bay, a former South African enclave on Namibia’s west coast, was returned in 1994. But the shifting of the southern border was left off the map in spite of remarks by Mr Mandela at the time that the border would be reconsidered. «We can’t say where it is at the moment,» Rudolf Isaks, the Namibian government’s mine surveyor, said. «It’s still to be negotiated.» (Financial Times, UK, 6 June 2001)

* Nigeria. Révision de la Constitution — Des chefs traditionnels et des personnalités politiques ont achevé, le 30 mai, une réunion de deux jours par un appel en vue de la tenue d’une conférence nationale pour rédiger une nouvelle Constitution. Plus d’une centaine de personnalités ont convenu de mettre en place un comité de trois membres de chacune des six principales zones politiques pour examiner les moyens d’organiser la réunion. Jusqu’à présent, le président Obasanjo a résisté à la demande des gouverneurs des Etats du sud de convoquer une conférence nationale. Il a en revanche organisé un débat public sur les amendements constitutionnels proposés par une commission présidentielle de révision de la Constitution. Le gouvernement espère présenter un projet de Constitution amendée vers la fin de l’année en cours. (IRIN, Abidjan, 31 mai 2001)

* Nigeria. Phone charges doubled — The Nigerian government has waved through plans by the state-owned telephone company, Nitel, to double the cost of ordinary telephone calls. Other phone charges will also rise. It’s likely to get a hostile reception from Nigerians from all walks of life - but they may get their own back when monopolistic Nitel faces competition later in the year. After decades of under-investment and poor service, Nigeria’s monopoly fixed-line operators’s business is in a pitiful state. Nigeria is one of the world’s most under-serviced telecoms markets. And Nitel has only around 700,000 telephones connected for a country of more than 120 million people. The monopoly company now faces competition from two mobile operators later this year following the successful auction of GSM licences. The two new operators are the South African company MTN and Zimbabwean Econet. There are also plans for a new fixed-line operator. (BBC News, UK, 4 June 2001)

* Nigeria. La sharia au Borno — Les chrétiens protestent contre l’introduction de la sharia au Borno. Dans cet Etat du nord du Nigeria, où la loi islamique est entrée en vigueur le 1er juin, la minorité chrétienne a décidé de “ne pas (lui) obéir dans toutes ses modalités”, a déclaré le père Philips Gwarma, président de la section locale de l’Association des chrétiens du Nigeria (CAN). (La Croix, France, 5 juin 2001)

* Nigeria. Abachas can challenge UK move to trace funds — The family of General Sani Abacha has been given the go-ahead for a court challenge over Britain’s decision to help trace more than $2bn allegedly looted from public funds before the former Nigerian ruler’s death in June 1998. Mohammed Abacha, the late dictator’s son, and Abubakar Bagudu, Mr Abacha’s London-based business partner, have won a judicial review into the decision by Jack Straw, home secretary [interior affairs minister], announced last month. Lawyers acting for the two men say their clients have repaid all the money involved in the Nigerian government inquiry and been granted immunity from further action over it. They also say Nigeria’s application for mutual legal assistance is flawed and that their clients have been denied access to the documents needed to make their case. «If Nigeria’s case is so good, it is hard to see why our clients cannot see what they say and why they do not simply issue civil proceedings which have a lower standard of proof,» said Dechert, the law firm representing the Abachas and Mr Bagudu. Nigeria has been asking for help in tracing the money transferred out of the country during Gen Abacha’s rule since July last year. Although little of the money is thought to remain in London, it wants UK bank accounts frozen and documents seized that would help recover the money. (Financial Times, UK, 6 June 2001)

* Nigeria. Police arrest suspected child-trafficker — Police in Nigeria have detained a woman on suspicion of trafficking in children after she was found to be travelling with more than a dozen youngsters. «We arrested a woman with 16 children crammed in a minibus under suspicious circumstances,» Emmanuel Adebayo, deputy commissioner of police for Lagos state, told Reuters on 6 June. The abuse of West African children as forced labour, often far from their homes, attracted international attention in April when United Nations officials found at least a dozen child slaves aboard a Nigerian-owned ship in Benin. Adebayo of the Lagos police said the five girls and 11 boys were being brought to the city from Kwara state in north central Nigeria on 5 June by a woman who said she ran a home for destitute children in a Lagos suburb. (CNN, USA, 6 June 2001)

* Rwanda. Tribunal pénal international — La cour d’appel du Tribunal pénal international pour le Rwanda (TPIR) a confirmé, le 1er juin à Arusha, les lourdes peines visant trois dignitaires accusés d’avoir participé au génocide de 1994. La prison à vie a été maintenue pour l’ancien maire de Taba, Jean-Paul Akayesu, et l’ancien gouverneur de Kibuye, Clément Kayishema. L’ancien homme d’affaires Obed Ruzindana purgera 25 ans d’emprisonnement. La cour d’appel du TPIR a également confirmé le jugement en première instance qui condamnait l’Italo-Belge Georges Ruggiu, animateur d’émissions de la radio du génocide RTLM, à 12 ans de prison. Ruggiu a demandé de purger sa peine en Italie et devrait vraisemblablement obtenir satisfaction. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 2 juin 2001)

* Rwanda. Bizimungu sanctionné — 30 mai. L’ancien président rwandais Pasteur Bizimungu a été placé en résidence surveillée à son domicile à Kigali, deux jours après le lancement d’un nouveau parti politique qu’il devait présider. Il avait organisé à son domicile une réunion pour présenter cette nouvelle formation politique, le Parti démocratique pour le renouveau (PDR). Une dizaine de militaires ont fait irruption; ils ont informé l’ancien chef de l’Etat qu’il n’était pas autorisé à faire de déclaration et l’ont placé en résidence surveillée chez lui, a confirmé à la presse le vice-président du parti, Charles Ntakarundinka, ancien ministre des Transports. - 3 juin. Le gouvernement a retiré tous ses privilèges d’ancien chef d’Etat à M. Bizimungu, sanctionné pour avoir tenté de créer un parti d’opposition. Cette mesure concerne notamment l’escadron de soldats assurant sa sécurité et la rente de 2.000 dollars par mois versée par l’Etat. Retenu brièvement chez lui, il est maintenant libre de ses mouvements, a-t-on appris de source autorisée. Membre de la communauté hutu et souvent présenté comme un symbole de la réconciliation inter-ethnique au Rwanda, Bizimungu avait démissionné de la présidence il y a 14 mois après avoir été désavoué par plusieurs hauts responsables du parti au pouvoir. Il a été remplacé par le général Kagamé. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 3 juin 2001)

* Rwanda. La communauté twa est inquiète — La communauté twa se dit inquiète à la veille du démarrage des juridictions traditionnelles gacaca conçues par le gouvernement pour accélérer les procès de génocide de 1994. “Quand on va entrer dans les juridictions gacaca, nous les Batwa on a peur”, a indiqué Zéphyrin Kalimba, coordinateur d’un collectif d’associations qui défendent les intérêts du groupe twa, apparenté aux pygmées d’Afrique centrale. Il estime à 20.000 le nombre de Batwa résidant actuellement au Rwanda, sur les 30.000 recensés avant le génocide. “10.000 Batwa ont été tués pendant le génocide. Ce ne sont pas les Batwa qui se sont entretués; ils ont été ballotés des deux côtés. Ils devraient être considérés comme des rescapés du génocide”, dit M. Kalimba. Un autre problème qu’il entrevoit pour les membres de sa communauté lors des procès, c’est le manque de témoins à décharge. “Lors des procès, les Batwa ne trouveront pas de témoins à décharge. Ils sont minoritaires. Au Rwanda, avec la force, vous pouvez trouver facilement des témoins”, souligne-t-il. (Agence Hirondelle, Arusha, 5 juin 2001)

* Rwanda. Army kills more than 100 Hutu rebels — Rwanda’s worst outbreak of fighting for years intensified Wednesday when the army killed more than 100 Hutu rebels in a fierce all-day battle, a senior army officer said. More than 1,000 rebels clashed with the army in some of the heaviest fighting since violence flared in mid-May when a group of militiamen crossed into Rwanda from the Democratic Republic of Congo, the officer said. «This is a serious blow to the insurgency which has been trying to launch attacks on Rwanda from Congo,» Brigadier General James Kabarebe, deputy chief of staff, told Reuters. He said the army had killed more than 400 rebels since the latest upsurge in fighting. The army suffered no casualties in Wednesday’s battle that began in the morning in Mutura commune in the northwestern Gisenyi province and raged all day, he said. «They tried to harass our helicopter with the 12.7 millimetre gun but had no chance,» Kabarebe said «More than 100 were killed in today’s fighting.» Kabarebe said the rebels were seeking shelter in a volcano range on the Congo-Rwanda border, fleeing bases in Congo due to increased pressure from the Rwandan army. The forested slopes of the Virunga volcanoes lie in a national park spanning the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Uganda, that is home to one of the world’s few remaining populations of mountain gorillas. Environmental groups say the gorillas are under threat after rebels killed two of the animals in recent days. (CNN, USA, 6 June 2001)

* Rwanda. Combats — Le 6 juin, les troupes rwandaises ont tué au moins 150 anciens miliciens et soldats hutu qui étaient passés dans le nord-ouest du Rwanda depuis le Congo-RDC, a annoncé le porte-parole de l’armée. Selon le colonel Kazura, un groupe d’au moins 300 membres des Interahamwe et ex-FAR s’étaient infiltrés le 5 juin dans la région de Mutura. Des habitants ont donné l’alerte. L’armée a envoyé de l’infanterie et des hélicoptères de combat. “En trois heures de combat, au moins 150 d’entre eux ont été tués et 24 autres capturés”, selon Kazura. - En 1994, miliciens et soldats hutu se sont réfugiés dans l’est de la RDC. Aujourd’hui, affaiblis et isolés, ils se regroupent à la frontière, laissant présager de nouvelles tentatives d’infiltration au nord-ouest du Rwanda. Ces dernières semaines, environ 2.000 hommes ont trouvé refuge dans la partie congolaise du parc des Virungas, a encore indiqué le colonel Kazura. Mardi, la veille de ces affrontements, la situation était parfaitement calme dans ce secteur, sur les contreforts du volcan Karisimbi, où l’armée rwandaise a déployé un important dispositif, a constaté sur place un journaliste de l’AFP. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 7 juin 2001)

* Rwanda/Belgium. The Brussels trial — 31 May: The defense lawyer for Alphonse Higaniro begins his case. He takes issue with the presiding judge for giving what was described as the judge’s «own personal view» on what the defense is saying. Higaniro is accused of being a member of a «hard core» of Hutu extremists connected with the Milles Collines Radio-TV station. 1 June: The defense lawyer for Sister Gertrude opens his case. He reacts against what has been previously stated concerning his client, especially the description by the prosecution of her «diabolical activities». 5 June: The defense lawyer for Sister Kizito, Serge Wahis, says that during the genocide, churches and religious houses could no longer be considered as safe havens. The military could at one moment be protectors and the next responsible for massacres. It must not be forgotten that church personnel were completely untrained to act in such eventualities, and were obliged to take decisions. It’s easy to be wise after the event. Lawyer Serge Wahis says that the whole story has not been told and many important witnesses have not appeared before the Court. He says that «The two nuns have been the victim of an enormous collective lie». Tomorrow, the jury expects to retire after the judge’s comments. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 7 June 2001)