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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 30-08-2001

PART #1/4 - From AFRICA to BURUNDI

* Afrique. Amnesty élargit son mandat — Lors de la clôture de sa conférence internationale, qui s’est tenue à Dakar du 17 au 25 août, Amnesty International a formellement annoncé l’élargissement de son champ d’action. “Dorénavant, nous allons travailler (...) contre toutes les formes de discrimination, qu’elles touchent aux droits politiques et civils, ou aux droits économiques, sociaux et culturels”, a déclaré Irene Kahn, la nouvelle secrétaire générale. La décision avait provoqué d’âpres débats entre les 500 délégués venus du monde entier. Lors du 40e anniversaire de l’ONG en mai dernier, le secrétaire général sortant, Pierre Sané, avait déjà affirmé que “le plus grand défi du prochain millénaire était le combat en faveur des droits socio-économiques, car la mondialisation doit être humanisée”. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 27 août 2001)

* Africa. Action against the Media — Angola: On 24 August, MISNA reported that the union of journalists of Angola has denounced the «gross violations» of press freedom. The union affirmed that despite denials by the government that journalists are being persecuted, facts clearly demonstrate that the violations do exist and are continuous. Cameroon: In a letter to the chief representative of the national police, Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) protested the assault on Rémy Ngono, a journalist from the RTS radio station (Radio Silantou), and the detention of Georges Baongla, a journalist from the weekly Le Démenti. Ethiopia: On 24 August, the International Chair of the Writers in prison Committee of International Pen, wrote to Prime Minister Zenawi, calling for an immediate end to the practice of imprisoning writers on the grounds of their work and for the immediate release of Tamrat Zuma (editor-in-chief of Atkurot) who has been in prison since May. Kenya: On 22 August, the High Court in Nairobi barred the Nation Media Group from publishing reports on President Moi’s son, Jonathan Toroitich, arising from the sittings of a parliamentary watchdog committee. Liberia: On 23 August, in a letter the Minister of Justice, RSF protested the arrest of Sam.O.Dean, editor of the Monrovia Guardian. Senegal: On 24 August, the World Association of Newspapers wrote to President Wade, expressing serious concern at the prosecution of journalist Alioune Fall on charges of publishing false information. Tunisia/UK: RSF says the Tunisian government is using the British courts to muzzle criticism of its human rights violations. Zimbabwe: On 23 August, the World Association of Newspapers wrote to President Mugabe, expressing serious concern at the detention of six journalists from the Daily News in the past. On 24 August, the Independent said that there has been an ominous development concerning police action vis à vis journalists when, on 23 August, Vice-President Simon Muzenda had told a police parade that «errant journalists» — those who portrayed the army, the police and the secret service as «barbaric and morally decadent», would face the full wrath of the law. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 29 August 2001)

* Africa. Hunger threatens sub-Saharan Africa — Sub-Saharan Africa is likely to face hunger and malnutrition for years because of lack of action by its countries’ leaders, according to a report published on 29 August by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). The report, which analyses global food security up to 2020, concludes the prospects of widespread malnutrition in the region are far greater than elsewhere in the world. «Sub-Saharan Africa cannot afford to fall further behind in overcoming threats to the health and well-being of its children, but its leaders have shown little sense of urgency and commitment to the challenge of rural development to date,» said IFPRI, a respected Washington-based institute. Deteriorating natural resources, stagnant technologies and rising population densities were common features of the rural landscape through much of sub-Saharan Africa, the report said. These would be alleviated only by transforming economies from subsistence agriculture to a commercialised and highly productive agricultural economy capable of supporting a growing urban population. (Financial Times, UK, 29 August 2001)

* Afrique. Vers la Conférence contre le racisme — 26 août. A Castel Gandolfo, le pape a encouragé la communauté internationale à se mobiliser avant la conférence mondiale des Nations unies contre la discrimination raciale, qui aura lieu du 31 août au 7 septembre à Durban en Afrique du Sud. Le racisme, le nationalisme agressif, la violence ethnique constituent un attentat contre la famille humaine et une grave offense contre Dieu, a affirmé Jean-Paul II, qui a précisé que le Conseil pontifical Justice et Paix élaborait une nouvelle édition du document publié à sa demande en 1988, intitulé “L’Eglise face au racisme. Pour une société plus fraternelle”. - 27 août. Selon le Washington Post, le secrétaire d’Etat américain Colin Powell a décidé de ne pas participer à la conférence mondiale, les Etats-Unis désapprouvant le caractère anti-israélien de certains documents. Mais il est toujours possible que les Etats-Unis y envoient une délégation de rang inférieur. -28 août. Mary Robinson, haut-commissaire de l’Onu aux droits de l’homme et secrétaire générale de la conférence, a cherché à apaiser la querelle. “Je tiens à souligner que nous avons clairement éliminé la formule sionisme égale racisme”, a-t-elle déclaré. Les pays arabes et musulmans auraient accepté de retirer des textes en discussion toutes formules assimilant le sionisme à une forme de racisme. Une délégation américaine de haut niveau composée de 50 membres du Black Leadership Forum est déjà arrivée à Durban. D’autre part, Human Rights Watch a dénoncé le caractère xénophobe des violences en Côte d’Ivoire à l’automne 2000, dans un nouveau rapport intitulé “Le nouveau racisme: la manipulation politique de l’ethnicité en Côte d’Ivoire”. - 29 août. Selon l’agence de presse sénégalaise, le secrétaire général de l’OUA Amara Essy s’est déclaré favorable à la réparation des crimes de la traite négrière et de la colonisation. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 29 août 2001)

* Africa. Run-up to Durban Conference — 23 August: After more than 300 years of colonialism and 40 years of a race policy that gave the world one of it ugliest words, apartheid, South Africa is an apt venue for the UN conference against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance. Even with the creation of a new, black-majority democracy, an integrating society and a constitution that condemns all forms of discrimination, South Africans are still struggling with a lingering legacy of racial intolerance. And even before the UN conference begins in Durban on 31 August, it is clear that on a global level, the issue of racism finds more controversy than accord. After months of wrangling, South African and UN officials were in Geneva last week, battling with representatives from participant countries — up to 194 are expected — to achieve consensus on the meeting agenda. 26 August: The South African government appeals to the country’s largest trade union federation not to mar this week’s United Nations Conference Against Racism with anti-privatisation strike action. In advertisements placed in newspapers, the government asked Cosatu members not to undermine South Africa’s international showcase event with nationwide protests against the restructuring of state assets. «Why try to hold a paralysing strike on the eve of the World Conference on Racism, when delegations are arriving? The conference is being held in Africa for the first time. It will be discussing issues at the core of our own society’s transformation. The strike against privatisation is not necessary,» it said. Cosatu has called a two-day strike of its 2m members on 29-30 August. The conference opens in Durban on 31 August. 27 August: Human Rights Watch says that it expects the Durban Conference to lead to concrete programmes to combat racial discrimination around the world. 28 August: Colin Powell, US secretary of state, will not attend the conference, in protest against efforts to portray the Israeli government as racist. However, the US administration has said it is still considering what level of representation to send to the conference, suggesting it might stop short of a full boycott. Richard Boucher, State Department spokesman, says: «The elements that most concerned us and bothered us at this point are the offensive language about Israel and the singling out of Israel in many of the conference documents. We’ve worked very hard to get rid of this, but we have not at this point been able to do that.» — Cosatu confirms it is to proceed with a two-day national strike to protest against the government’s strategy of privatising state assets. 29 August: The US is sending officials on a last-ditch mission to influence the agenda of the conference. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 30 August 2001)

* Africa. The Church and Archbishop Milingo — 22 August: The Zambian authorities summon the representative of the Holy See in Lusaka, to explain the controversy surrounding one of its nationals, the former Archbishop of Lusaka, Emmanuel Milingo. The state-run Times of Zambia says the Vatican had not told the government what was happening to one of its nationals. Zambia’s foreign minister says: «We are following up the matter seriously. Our concerns are that we have not been appraised of what was going on». He says the government is addressing the issue diplomatically as it does with issues affecting Zambians living in other countries. 27 August: Maria Sung says she has written to Pope John Paul II asking to see her husband again. In an open letter published in Italian newspapers, she says she had married Milingo before God and the world and had made promises she would never go back on. «But if he (Milingo) intends to renounce everything he promised, let him sit down with me and tell me to my face. let him explain everything with his heart on his sleeve, like the free and responsible man that he is». After an audience with the Pope, Milingo vanished from public view for more than two weeks before appearing on prime television time on 24 August to say he was returning to the Church. During his 16-day absence, Sung declared a hunger strike and said she would not eat until she saw him face-to-face. Italian news agencies have reported that Sung had sent a second letter to the Pope asking again to see Milingo. — Milingo confirms his desire to return to the Church. He also expresses the wish to meet with Maria Sung to explain his decision. 29 August: Milingo meets Maria Sung to inform her of his decision in person. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 30 August 2001)

* West Africa. West Africans agree to expel rebels — 23 August: Foreign Ministers from Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea have ended a meeting in Freetown and said all rebel groups should be apprehended and returned to their country of origin. They also discussed a possible summit between the Presidents of the three countries, which make up the Mano River Union, a body aimed at promoting sub-regional cooperation (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 24 August 2001)

* Algérie. Nouveaux massacres — Le 22 août au soir, vingt personnes ont été tuées, cinq blessées et deux adolescentes enlevées, à un faux barrage dressé par un groupe armé sur la route entre Hacine et Mohammédia (350 km au sud-ouest d’Alger), selon un nouveau bilan fourni le 25 août par le quotidien Le Matin. Le 12 août, 17 personnes avaient été assassinées à un autre faux barrage dans la même zone. Ce nouveau massacre porte à au moins 67 le nombre de morts depuis le début du mois d’août dans des actions liées à l’activité de groupes armés, selon un décompte établi à partir de bilans de presse. - Le dimanche soir, 26 août, sept personnes ont encore été assassinées et une blessée, lors d’une attaque attribuée à un groupe islamiste contre le hameau d’El-Houala, dans la région de Mascara (360 km à l’ouest d’Alger). Les forces de sécurité ont lancé une vaste opération dans la région. -D’autre part, selon l’agence PANA du 26 août, la ville côtière de Jijel (450 km à l’est d’Alger) vit une véritable psychose des attentats à la bombe. En l’espace d’une semaine, les forces de sécurité ont désamorcé trois bombes contenant plusieurs kilogrammes de TNT. La préfecture de Jijel a été, rappelle-t-on, le fief et le quartier général de l’Armée islamique du salut (AIS) qui a déposé les armes. La nouvelle psychose intervient à un moment où plusieurs communes de Jijel connaissent des mouvements de protestation à caractère social, dont le dernier a eu lieu le 25 août à El-Mil. - Le 28 août, deux militaires ont été tués et trois autres blessés dans une embuscade tendue par un groupe armé dans la région montagneuse de Hamza, près de Jijel. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 29 août 2001)

* Algérie. Attentat dans la Casbah d’Alger — Le 29 août en fin de matinée, 34 personnes ont été blessées, dont 5 grièvement, dans l’explosion d’une bombe à la Casbah, la vieille ville d’Alger, selon un bilan de source hospitalière. La bombe, dissimulée dans un sac de plastique, a explosé dans une artère très commerçante et très fréquentée à cette heure. Aucun engin explosif n’avait été signalé à Alger depuis près de deux ans. Le soir, personne n’avait encore revendiqué l’attentat. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 30 août 2001)

* Angola. Dos Santos n’est pas candidat — Le président Eduardo Dos Santos, 58 ans, ne briguera pas un nouveau mandat lors de l’élection présidentielle prévue l’an prochain. Son parti, le MPLA, l’a annoncé lors d’une conférence de presse à Luanda, quelques heures après une réunion de son comité directeur. On ignorait, le 23 août, les raisons pour lesquelles le président a décidé de jeter l’éponge. Selon un groupe de défense des droits de l’homme, cette décision pourrait contribuer à mettre fin à la guerre civile presque ininterrompue qui fait rage en Angola depuis son indépendance en 1975. M. Dos Santos est président de l’Angola depuis 1979. Son intransigeance face à la guérilla de l’Unita est battue en brèche par une opinion qui a commencé, depuis plusieurs mois, à exiger des négociations, soutenue en cela par l’Eglise catholique. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 24 août 2001)

* Angola. Dos Santos not standing for presidency — President José Eduardo dos Santos of Angola said on 23 August that he would not stand in future presidential elections in the oil-rich country. «Whether elections happen in 2002 or 2003, we will have [time] for this party to prepare its candidate for the electoral battle,» he said at the opening of a two-day meeting of the ruling MPLA party’s central committee in Luanda. «It is clear that the candidate, this time, will not be called José Eduardo dos Santos.» There has been widespread speculation in Angola about the president’s plans and much scepticism as to whether he really intends to stand down. An opposition politician in Luanda said he thought the move was a bold gamble aimed at bringing together a ruling party squabbling over how to stop a seemingly endless war against Jonas Savimbi’s Unita rebels. «With this, he will get people sympathetic to him.» Another observer said the surprise move would throw potential challengers in the MPLA off guard. «In my opinion he is not ready to give up. I think he wants the MPLA now to tell him ‘Please, no, don’t do that’, then he can change his mind and say the people begged him to stay.» (Financial Times, UK, 24 August 2001)

* Angola. De Beers is optimistic on Angolan deal — De Beers, the South African diamond company, walked out of Angola in a huff in May but now thinks it can do a deal with the Angolan government after all. On May 24 the company said it had decided «with immediate effect, to suspend its investments and prospecting operations in Angola». It said it had taken the decision «reluctantly» following an impasse in negotiations to clarify its legal rights. The company, which sells around two-thirds of the world’s rough diamonds, has no mines in Angola and closed all its buying offices there in late 1999, in response to United Nations worries about ‘conflict diamonds’ leaking out into the official market. But it had carried on prospecting for new deposits in partnership with Endiama, the Angolan state diamond company. Its negotiations have been designed to obtain favourable agreements in relation to any new mines the partnership develops. When De Beers called a halt to the negotiations in May, it complained that it had been unable to get anywhere in the 14 months since the government suspended all existing marketing agreements (including one with De Beers) and set up a new one with Ascorp, a joint venture between itself and Israeli businessman Lev Leviev. Its action surprised many observers, who said that the Angolan government had been doing its best to reach a compromise. The government itself expressed its deep regret at De Beers’ «public and unilateral» decision to walk out of talks and pull its employees out of Angola. Now De Beers seems to be on the verge of a U-turn. Gary Ralfe, De Beers’ managing director, said last week that the company hopes to be able to reach «a mutually satisfactory accommodation» with the Angolan authorities. He talked about getting «comfort and confidence» about the fiscal and marketing regime which would apply, and said the company had received «some pretty reasonable responses» from the authorities. (Financial Times, UK, 27 August 2001)

* Angola. UNITA attacks continue — 23 August: United Nations humanitarian organisations and various international NGO‘s intend to resume operations in northern Angola, in the area between Uije and the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo. Recently, a delegation which included representatives of the World Food Programme), UNHCR and of some NGOs went to the area. The aim was to establish whether or not current conditions will allow a resumption of humanitarian activities. 27 August: In Angola, reports are coming of a bus that was ambushed in the north of the country on 24 August. One report said 50 people had been killed. The attack happened exactly a week after Unita rebels ambushed a train, killing over two hundred people. But it is not clear who is behind this latest attack. About a hundred people were on board the bus which was attacked on 24 August near the town of Cacolo in Malange province, about 400 km east of Luanda. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 27 August 2001)

* Angola. Attaque d’un bus: 50 morts — Plus de 50 personnes ont été tuées en Angola lors d’une attaque perpétrée par des hommes armés, le 24 août, près de la localité de Cacolo (à 30 km de la ville de Malange, capitale de la province du même nom, à l’est de Luanda) contre un bus transportant une centaine de passagers, a annoncé l’agence portugaise Lusa. Une survivante de l’attaque a déclaré que le bus était tombé dans une embuscade et que le groupe armé avait incendié le véhicule en faisant feu sur les passagers qui tentaient de s’enfuir. (La Libre Belgique, 28 août 2001)

* Bénin. Programme quinquennal — Le 23 août, le chef de l’Etat béninois, M. Kérékou, a lancé le programme d’action de son quinquennat (2001-2006), qui veut consolider et amplifier des oeuvres de construction entamées depuis 1996. Il est axé autour de neuf objectifs, notamment la consolidation de la démocratie et de la bonne gouvernance, le renforcement des bases matérielles de l’économie, l’aménagement du territoire, la lutte contre la pauvreté et la promotion du rayonnement international du pays et de l’intégration africaine. (PANA, Sénégal, 23 août 2001)

* Botswana. Botswana denies wooing white Zimbabwean farmers — Local press reports in Botswana were this week awash with a denial by the authorities in Gaborone that the country was wooing white farmers in Zimbabwe, who are presently at odds with the seizure and redistribution of their farmland. In the privately owned Botswana Gazette, the Botswana Development Corporation (BDC) refuted allegations that it was secretly negotiating with the farmers to lease them some of its farms. «We are not financing any settlers,» BDC spokesman Batlang Mmualefe told the Botswana Gazette in the wake of reports that the corporation was trying to lease one of its farms at Talana, on the confluence of the Limpopo and Motloutse Rivers. (PANA, Senegal, 23 August 2001)

* Botswana. AIDS drug will be available to all who need it — The government of Botswana — a country with one of the highest HIV/AIDS infection rates in the world — is expected to announce next week that it would make anti-retroviral drugs widely available through its public health service. Banu Khan, head of the National Aids Co-ordination Agency, said a broad anti-retroviral therapy would be extended across the country within two months, alongside the government’s prevention campaign. She said: «It’s not a cure, but it does prolong life and gives a better quality of life.» The government in neighbouring South Africa has decided that it would not provide the costly drugs. In Botswana the drugs would be offered universally but the programme would begin with pregnant women and tuberculosis sufferers. The cost of individual drug treatment is estimated at $30 a month, though when monitoring and consultation are added, the cost rises to about $90 a person a month. An estimated 38.5 per cent of Botswana’s 1.5m population is infected with HIV/AIDS. The high mobility of the population is seen as the main reason for this. About 70 per cent of ward admissions in the country’s overstretched hospitals are HIV/AIDS patients. (Financial Times, UK, 24 August 2001)

* Botswana. Protests against UK diamond campaign — On 26 August, Botswana struck out at the British government for supporting a campaign against conflict diamonds that threatened to damage the economy of the most stable southern African country. Louis Nchindo, the head of Debswana, a joint venture between the Botswanan government and De Beers, the South African diamond group, said the UK government had set out to spoil the diamond market although the UK accounted for only a fraction of world demand. Its campaign was imperilling development and stability in Botswana, the world’s largest diamond producer, to put pressure on much smaller producers such as Angola and Sierra Leone, he said. Mr Nchindo blamed Peter Hain, the former minister for Africa, for latching on to the issue of diamonds used to fund conflict to add substance to the Labour government’s claim to have an ethical foreign policy. «The issue of conflict diamonds came along and they [the British government] grabbed it for their moral policy,» said he said. «If De Beers hadn’t been around, they would have had to invent one.» The diamond industry has come under pressure to screen out diamonds that originate from countries where long-running civil wars are supported from their revenues. Diamonds have been used to fund rebel movements in Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sierra Leone in brutal civil wars. De Beers has closed its buying operations in these countries and is considering introducing a mark of quality to assure jewellery consumers that its diamonds have not funded military operations in Africa. (Financial Times, UK, 27 August 2001)

* Burundi. Projet de nouvelle Constitution — Le ministre des réformes institutionnelles vient de rendre public des informations sur le projet de la nouvelle Constitution, préparée par une commission juridique et qui régira le Burundi durant la période de transition. Dans ses grandes lignes, le projet s’inspire largement de l’accord d’Arusha et de la Constitution de 1992. Quelques nouveautés consistent dans l’introduction d’un ombudsman, d’un conseil supérieur de la magistrature, ainsi que de l’acceptation de la formation de partis monarchiques. La nouvelle Constitution prévoit deux chambres: un Parlement et un Sénat. Un “Congrès” sera formé de ces deux chambres, qui se réuniront à des moments assez rares, notamment pour élire le président de la République à la fin de la période transitoire. La commission juridique a aussi élaboré un projet de loi réprimant le génocide et les crimes contre l’humanité, et un autre projet de loi portant sur une immunité provisoire de deux ans pour des crimes à mobile politique (devant protéger temporairement des hommes politiques qui décideraient de rentrer d’exil). (D’après l’agence Azania, Burundi, 27 août 2001)

* Burundi. Militaires chassés de l’armée — Le 24 août, plus de 320 soldats, qui avaient participé à la dernière tentative de coup d’Etat contre le régime du major Buyoya, ont été chassés de l’armée, ont indiqué plusiers sources militaires. Une tentative de coup d’Etat, conduite par 11 lieutenants, avait échoué dans la nuit du 23 juillet et s’était terminée près de Ngozi (nord du Burundi) où les mutins s’étaient finalement rendus. Les 11 officiers sont emprisonnés à Ngozi, où ils ont été rejoints par trois autres officiers, dont le commandant du Groupement pour la défense de la capitale, le lieutenant-colonel Joseph Ndayishimiye, arrêté le 10 août. (La Libre Belgique, 28 août 2001)

* Burundi. Soldiers discharged — The authorities in Burundi have discharged 200 soldiers for attempting to destabilise the country. Army spokesman Colonel Augustine Nzabampema said the group were relieved of their duties as part of a disciplinary measure following a failed coup in July. A group of about 100 others are expected to go on trial for the attempted takeover of the government of President Pierre Buyoya. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 28 August 2001)