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: 12-12-2001

PART #4/4 - From RWANDA to  ZIMBABWE

* Rwanda. Genocide convicts sent to Mali — The first six prisoners to have been convicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda have arrived in Mali where they will be serving out their sentences. Amongst the six former senior officials are Jean Kambanda, the former prime minister and head of the Rwandan Government and Jean-Paul Akayesu, former mayor of the Rwandan town of Taba. All of the convicts lost their appeals and will serve their sentences in a specially modified jail in the Malian capital, Bamako. The prisoners will complete their terms in the west African country and, while they will be held under Malian law, the International Criminal Tribunal will supervise the sentences. According to Kingsley Moghalu, spokesman for the UN tribunal, the security situation and standards of jails in Rwanda meant that the convicted could not serve their sentences in the country where the crimes were committed. However, he did not rule out the possibility of future convicts being sent back to Rwanda. The tribunal has been criticised in the past for its lengthy and costly system of trying those accused of crimes against humanity in Rwanda. However, Mr Moghalu said this latest move represented a new phase that will see those that took part in the 1994 genocide punished for their acts. He felt that this was a historic move in the creation of a culture of accountability amongst those in Africa that, up until now, had considered themselves untouchable. (BBC News, UK, 10 December 2001)

* Sénégal. Les évêques et la Casamance — Les évêques de la Conférence épiscopale du Sénégal, de la Guinée-Bissau, du Cap Vert et de la Mauritanie ont tenu leur première session pastorale à Sindone en Casamance. Par le choix de ce lieu, ils ont voulu donner un signal aux autorités sénégalaises et aux responsables du Mouvement (séparatiste) des forces démocratiques de Casamance (MFDC) en vue d’encourager les deux parties à parler vraiment de paix. Dans leur communiqué, les évêques ont lancé un appel aux deux parties pour qu’elles se retrouvent autour d’une table de négociation en vue d’un dialogue et d’une écoute réciproque. Ils ont aussi invité l’abbé Diamacoune à quitter le mouvement rebelle, estimant que la place d’un prêtre n’était pas dans un mouvement utilisant la lutte armée. Pour sa part, l’abbé Diamacoune a indiqué que son retrait brusque causerait plus de mal que de bien. (D’après Fides, Rome, 7 décembre 2001)

* Sierra Leone. Annulation de dette — Le Club de Paris a accepté de restructurer la dette publique extérieure de la Sierra Leone en annulant environ 72 millions de dollars au titre de celle-ci. “Nous espérons que l’accord entrera en vigueur au début de l’an prochain”, a indiqué le ministère des Finances le 6 décembre. La restructuration devra aussi réduire de près de $180 millions à environ $45 millions les paiements de service de la dette aux créanciers du Club de Paris entre le 1er octobre 2001 et le 30 septembre 2004. Le but est de permettre au pays d’allouer plus d’argent aux secteurs prioritaires comme la santé, l’éducation et l’agriculture. La Sierra Leone émerge lentement de dix années d’une guerre brutale entre rebelles et forces gouvernementales, qui a laissé son infrastructure économique, politique et sociale en lambeaux. (IRIN, Abidjan, 6 décembre 2001)

* Sierra Leone. Re-building a nation — 3 December: The head of the UN mission in Sierra Leone calls for more international assistance to support the reintegration and rehabilitation of former fighters. 4 December: The German Development Agency (GTZ), has opened a technical skills centre for former fighters in northern Kambia District. 5 December: The Independent Media Commission has scrutinised the country’s 60 newspapers and approved the publication of twenty-one of them. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 6 December 2001)

* Somalie. Vers une catastrophe humanitaire — Depuis quatre ans, le sud-ouest de la Somalie n’a connu que des pluies dérisoires. Les cultures ont séché sur pied et la moitié du bétail serait mort. 800.000 personnes basculent dans la disette. Les nomades aux troupeaux décimés ont quitté leurs villages pour s’entasser à Lugh, où se trouvent quelques rares centres nutritionnels. La sécheresse n’explique pas seule l’hécatombe. Le gouvernement national de transition, mis en place à Mogadiscio à l’été 2000, n’a jamais reçu de la communauté internationale plus que des encouragements. Il s’est trouvé acculé, pour survivre, à inonder le pays de shillings fraîchement imprimés, entraînant une dévaluation qui a divisé par trois la valeur de la monnaie en l’espace d’un an, et d’autant le pouvoir d’achat des nomades dans les pays voisins. Enfin, l’opprobre jeté sur la Somalie par les Etats-Unis, qui accusent des groupuscules islamistes d’être les complices de Ben Laden, a fini par précipiter le pays dans l’abîme. Le gel des avoirs de la compagnie Al-Barakaat par les autorités américaines, a mis fin à son activité de transferts de fonds de la diaspora vers la Somalie, estimés à près d’un milliard d’euros par an. (D’après Le Monde, France, 9 décembre 2001)

* Somalia. US military in talks with Somali rebels — US military personnel have visited Somalia for the first time since their ill-fated peace keeping  operation ended seven years ago, to investigate possible targets in the wider war on terrorism. According to UN sources, the nine-man US team held talks on 9 December with opposition warlords in Baidoa, south-western Somalia, focusing on the activities of al-Itihaad al-Islamiya (Islamic Unity), a Somali group listed by Washington as a foreign terrorist organisation. US intelligence is convinced that al-Qaida camps in Somalia are still active and that the country is a prime destination for any of Bin Laden’s followers able to escape from Afghanistan along the mule trails of southern Pakistan. An intelligence source said: «They are still active there. We’re looking very hard at the islands off the coast near the Kenyan border, for example, and the Indian Ocean off that coast is being intensively patrolled, mostly by German ships» (The same day, IRIN reports that fears of an imminent American air strike is gripping Somalia). (The Guardian, UK, 11 December 2001)

* Somalie. Cible de l’antiterrorisme — L’Italie pourrait envoyer des troupes en Somalie, s’il s’avère que son ancienne colonie héberge des cellules terroristes liées à Oussama Ben Laden, indique Le Figaro le 7 décembre. Des agents des services secrets italiens se trouveraient déjà en Somalie aux côtés de leurs homologues américains et français, et l’Italie s’apprêterait à lancer en janvier une opération aéronavale visant à “neutraliser” des cellules et des camps d’entraînement de Ben Laden en Somalie. -La Somalie pourrait être une des prochaines cibles des Etats-Unis, note le même journal le 11 décembre. Le paria de la Corne de l’Afrique retient particulièrement l’attention de Washington. Diplomatiquement, c’est probablement la cible la plus facile pour les Etats-Unis: le gouvernement y est embryonnaire et peu de pays sont prêts à le soutenir pour protester contre une intervention. Les services de renseignements américains auraient identifié des camps d’entraînement terroristes dans le sud du pays, à la frontière du Kenya. Des navires de guerre américains patrouillent déjà au large des côtes somaliennes pour intercepter des responsables d’Al Qaida qui parviendraient à s’échapper d’Afghanistan. - Selon la presse de Nairobi, les forces alliées engagées dans la lutte contre le terrorisme international ont demandé à pouvoir utiliser les bases militaires du territoire kényan pour poursuivre en Somalie, et peut-être au Soudan, la chasse aux hommes d’Al Qaida, rapporte l’agence Misna le 12 décembre. Le gouvernement kényan aurait garanti sa collaboration, mais uniquement en échange de financements plus importants de la part des organismes internationaux (FMI et Banque mondiale). (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 12 décembre 2001)

* Somalia. Warlords snub talks — 13 December: Some key Somali faction leaders have announced they will boycott peace talks due to start in Kenya, today, unless the interim administration renounces its claims of being the legitimate government. The warlords are part of the Somali Reconciliation and Reconstruction Council, SRRC, a group that is supported by Ethiopia. But the Somali prime minister after a visit to Addis Ababa recently, said that his Ethiopian counterpart had promised to ensure that militia leaders opposed to the interim administration attend the reconciliation meeting. This meeting comes in the wake of a visit to Baidoa in southern Somalia by a military delegation from the United States. Ethiopia has consistently accused Somalia of supporting al-Itihad al-Islamia, an armed fundamentalist Islamic group, which operates inside Ethiopia and which the United States says has links to Osama Bin Laden’s al-Qaeda network. The interim government has always denied the claims. A senior US official now in South Africa says Washington is working with Somalia’s neighbours to identify potential terrorist networks. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 13 December 2001)

* Afrique du Sud. Le rand en chute libre — Le rand sud-africain, en chute libre depuis le 11 septembre, ne cesse de battre des records à la baisse face aux devises des pays industrialisés, en dépit de fondamentaux économiques jugés sains par les spécialistes. En un an, la monnaie sud-africaine a perdu plus de 30% de sa valeur face au dollar. Le 6 décembre, il a touché un nouveau plancher à 11,28 rands pour un dollar, contre 7,64 début 2001. (Le Figaro, France, 7 décembre 2001)

* Afrique du Sud. Arrestation de l’assassin de Marike De Klerk — Un agent d’une compagnie de sécurité a avoué le meurtre, sans en préciser le mobile, de Marike De Klerk, 64 ans, l’ex-épouse du dernier président blanc de l’apartheid Frederik De Klerk. Celui-ci a appelé à une campagne contre la criminalité galopante en Afrique du Sud. Il était rentré précipitamment au Cap, le 6 décembre, de Norvège, où il participait au centième anniversaire du prix Nobel. (Le Figaro, France, 8 décembre 2001)

* South Africa. Events following the murder of Marike de Klerk — 6 December: The police in South Africa say they have arrested a security guard in connection with the murder of the ex-wife of former South African President FW de Klerk. Marike de Klerk, 64, was stabbed and strangled in her luxury Cape Town flat. A spokesman for her ex-husband said that the suspect, who is being detained for questioning, was not known to the late Mrs De Klerk. Mr De Klerk, who divorced his wife after 39 years of marriage in 1998, returned home early from Stockholm, where he was to have attended a Nobel Peace Prize function. He shared the 1993 prize with Nelson Mandela. He told reporters on his return that he could not immediately comment on the arrest until he was «fully briefed». 7 December: The 21-year old security guard has confessed to Mrs de Klerk’s murder. He worked at the beach complex where Mrs de Klerk has lived since her divorce in 1998 from former president F.W. de Klerk. The guard has insisted he did not act alone. 10 December: Luyanda Mboniswa, a security guard, appears in court in Cape Town, to be charged with Mrs de Klerk’s murder. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 10 December 2001)

* South Africa. Mbeki in China for trade talks — 9 December: President Thabo Mbeki has begun a three-day visit to China aimed at boosting economic ties. He arrived in Beijing along with a delegation of government ministers and top businessmen. Mr Mbeki, who welcomed Chinese President Jiang Zemin last year on his historic first visit to South Africa, comes to China as it enters the World Trade Organisation. The two countries are already strong trading partners but South Africa is looking to expand. «We are looking at China as both a market and as an investor,» South African Foreign Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said. The South African president has brought with him his ministers for trade and industry, agriculture, tourism, foreign affairs, defence and technology, as well as business leaders. China was South Africa’s 10th most important export market last year and South Africa aims to become the chief entry point for Chinese goods entering the continent. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 10 December 2001)

* Afrique du Sud. Thabo Mbeki en Chine — Le 9 décembre, le président Thabo Mbeki, accompagné du ministre des Affaires étrangères et d’une importante délégation gouvernementale, s’est envolé vers la Chine pour une visite officielle de quatre jours, suite à celle effectuée par le président chinois, Jiang Zemin, à Pretoria en avril 2000. M. Mbeki compte renforcer les relations sino-africaines et discuter avec son hôte de l’importance du Nouveau partenariat pour le développement en Afrique. La coopération entre la Chine et l’Afrique a connu un net renforcement. Depuis le début des années 1990, les échanges commerciaux se sont multiplés par dix, avec notamment l’Afrique du Sud qui compte pour 28% dans le volume de ces transactions. (PANA, Sénégal, 10 décembre 2001)

* South Africa. Asbestos miners in battle for compensation — The dust cover of the billiard table at Koegas mine club still lies draped over the green felt, 22 years after the asbestos mine was closed. Across the swollen Orange River, piles of geologists’ notebooks in the deserted mine manager’s office mark out the deposits of the purest «blue» asbestos in the surrounding hills. Koegas was the largest asbestos mine in South Africa’s Northern Cape. Its owner, UK-based Cape Plc, provided employment for thousands of local people, who unknowingly stamped and crushed the poisonous fibres used as insulating and building material. At the weekend, covers of a different kind were laid over the body of a Cornelius Taaibosch in nearby Prieska, the town where asbestos was milled. He worked at Koegas mine for 10 years as an underground crusher. His family says he never recovered his health and died suffering from the chronic respiratory difficulties that characterise asbestosis. Mr Taaibosch, 55, was one of about 7,300 people claiming compensation from Cape. He was also the 40th person to die of asbestosis in Prieska this year. Three hundred people have died of asbestos-linked illnesses since 1997 and the numbers are increasing at a rate of about one death a week. Mr Taaibosch was buried the day after a South African government delegation returned from talks with Cape in London in an attempt to reach an out-of-court settlement. (Financial Times, UK, 11 December 2001)

* South Africa. Baby rape shocks the country — 11 December: Two men are due to appear at a court in Johannesburg, today, accused of raping a five-month-old girl who was discovered covered in blood and in tears. It is the latest in a series of rapes of baby girls — some of them involving children less than one year-old, which has left South Africans reeling with horror. Every day the newspapers bring awful revelations: a nine-month-old girl gang-raped by six men; an eight-month-old raped and left by the roadside. Outside the central Johannesburg magistrates’ court, 200 demonstrators gathered carrying banners with slogans like «child rapists are not human». Yet many protesters seem unable to understand why the rapes are happening. Rape statistics from South Africa are so shocking as to be almost unbelievable — women’s rights activists say one South African is raped every 26 seconds. It is the young who are particularly vulnerable, with the police saying that more teenagers are raped than any other age group. But even in a country numbed to horrific events, these cases are bewildering to South Africans, and making them question where their society is heading. «Actually it’s not a new phenomenon, it’s been something that you hide, you regard it as an embarrassment within the family. But now people have started to talk, they’ve decided that they’ve had enough,» said a woman protester. (BBC News, UK, 11 December 2001)

* Soudan. Le gouvernement réarmerait le LRA — Les forces armées soudanaises forment et fournissent des armes aux nouvelles recrues des rebelles de l’Armée de résistance du Seigneur (LRA), la formation guérilla qui a semé la mort et la terreur pendant des années dans le nord de l’Ouganda, affirme le porte-parole du SPLA. Le camp d’entraînement se trouverait à Heilu, dans la zone de Torit, à une soixantaine de km de la frontière ougandaise. Khartoum et Kampala s’accusent réciproquement depuis des années de soutenir et de financer les formations rebelles actives sur leurs territoires. Il y a quelques mois, ils ont rétabli leurs rapports diplomatiques après six ans de rupture. (Misna, Italie, 7 décembre 2001)

* Swaziland. Concern for jailed Swazi leader — Relatives of the jailed Swaziland opposition  leader, Mario Masuku, say they are worried about his deteriorating health. Mr Masuku is losing weight at an alarming rate and has been diagnosed as suffering from hypertension and diabetes, they say. The president of the Peoples United Democratic Movement, Pudemo, was arrested in early October for defying his bail conditions following a charge of sedition a year ago. No date has been set for his trial and there is little prospect of one before about February, according to officials. Pudemo said Mr Masuku had spent more than a month sleeping on the floor of a crowded jail cell with two old blankets, although he had been given a bed and more blankets. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 12 December 2001)

* Tunisie. Opposants empêchés de communiquer — Dans une lettre adressée au président Ben Ali, Reporters sans frontières a protesté contre le blocage, depuis la Tunisie, de nombreux numéros de téléphone à l’étranger et contre les coupures des lignes de téléphone de nombreux opposants. Par ailleurs, l’accès à Internet est devenu extrêmement difficile et de nombreux sites d’information (comme celui de Libération et d’organisations des droits de l’homme) sont totalement bloqués. De plus, le courrier traditionnel n’échappe pas au contrôle, il n’arrive pas toujours à destination ou sinon ouvert. (RSF, France, 10 décembre 2001)

* Uganda. Fuel fire kills 50 — Up to 50 people have been burnt to death when they tried to collect fuel spilled from a broken-down fuel tanker in the eastern Ugandan district of Iganga, according to police.The incident occurred in Busesa, a densely populated village, 100 kilometres east of Kampala, the Ugandan capital. The police say they are investigating reports that the fire was deliberately started by the driver of the tanker after the villagers defied his order not to get close to his vehicle. It is not yet known whether the driver and crew on the fuel tanker are among the victims. Among those killed are passengers of a minibus whose driver reportedly attempted to drive through the flames. The Police Commander in Iganga District, Elisam Mugisha, who was at the scene of the accident, said he feared as many as 50 people may have died on the spot. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 6 December 2001)

* Zambia. Election date challenged — On 6 December, human rights and church groups questioned the legitimacy of this month’s presidential elections, saying the timing of the poll date will disenfranchise many voters. Zambia goes to the polls on 27 December, two days after Christmas Day, to elect a new president, parliament and civic leaders. But the umbrella Oasis Forum — made up of lawyers, NGOs and Churches — has sharply criticised the election date, which will come at the height of the festivity and of the rainy season. (Financial Times, UK, 7 December 2001)

* Zimbabwe. Neighbours refuse to turn on Zimbabwe — On 10 December, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) rejected the use of sanctions to bring Zimbabwe to heel. This was made clear by Lillian Patel, Malawi’s foreign minister, who is chairing a meeting of ministers and officials from Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania, South Africa and Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe ministers were angry and alarmed at the prospect the five SADC ministers representing South Africa, Malawi, Tanzania, Mozambique and Botswana who had met in Pretoria on 9 December would agree on a hostile common position before confronting President Robert Mugabe. Mr Mugabe himself did not attend the meeting. He was instead chairing a politburo meeting of his ruling Zanu-PF party ahead of its national congress on Thursday at which he will launch his campaign for re-election. Stan Mudenge, Zimbabwe’s foreign minister, who led his country’s SADC delegation, accused Britain of trying to «turn our friends against us». But Zimbabwe would not reverse its land resettlement programme designed to take back land «pillaged» by colonialists. Harare was aware there would be consequences as a result of its principled policies, he said, adding that Britain and the US believed that «might is right». (Financial Times, UK, 11 December 2001)

* Zimbabwe. Présidentielle en mars — Le 11 décembre, le président Mugabe a annoncé que la prochaine élection présidentielle aura lieu au mois de mars 2002, sans toutefois donner de date précise. En vertu de la Constitution, le mandat présidentiel de six ans de M. Mugabe expire le 1er avril et le scrutin doit avoir lieu en mars au plus tard. Cette annonce met fin aux spéculations selon lesquelles il aurait été tenté d’appeler à des élections anticipées afin d’éviter l’écueil des hausses de prix alimentaires en début d’année. Au pouvoir depuis l’indépendance en 1980, Robert Mugabe devrait être opposé à Morgan Tsvangirai, président du Mouvement pour le changement démocratique (MDC) qui a été à la pointe du combat politique. Par ailleurs, le gouvernement entend refuser la présence d’observateurs étrangers venant des Etats-Unis ou de l’UE lors du scrutin, préférant des scrutateurs originaires d’Afrique, d’Asie, des Caraïbes et du Commonwealth. (AP, 11 décembre 2001)

* Zimbabwe. Election month named — 12 December: President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe has said presidential elections will be held in March next year, though he did not give a specific date. Mr Mugabe told a group of ministers from the Southern Africa Development Community meeting in Harare to discuss the land and current political crisis that a date would be announced «in due course». Zimbabwe is by law required to hold its election no later than April next year. The run up to the presidential poll, in which the opposition Movement for Democratic Change threatens the stiffest challenge yet to Mr Mugabe’s 21-year rule, has been marked by violence and  claims of government supported intimidation. 13 December: Thousands of delegates from Zimbabwe’s ruling Zanu-PF party are gathering in the resort town of Victoria Falls for their annual conference, which starts today. President Robert Mugabe is expected to use the event to launch his campaign for the presidential election in March. With political tension mounting, Zimbabwe’s neighbours are concerned that the situation there should not slip out of control. Zimbabwe’s big neighbour, South Africa, has most to lose should the crisis deepen in the coming weeks. Already hundreds of jobless Zimbabweans are trying to cross into South Africa every day, and the dramatic fall in South Africa’s currency is partially due to a loss of confidence because of the Zimbabwean upheavals. Other, smaller neighbours, have similar concerns. Both Malawi and Mozambique fear that thousands of migrant workers could return home from Zimbabwe if they lose their jobs. In public, African leaders are reluctant to criticise. The governments of Angola and Congo — military allies in the Congolese war — will not break ranks with President Mugabe. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 13 December 2001)