* Africa. Action against the Media — Cameroon: In a letter to the Justice Minister (6 March), Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) expressed its concern following the arrest of Peter William Mandio, publications director of the weekly Le Front Indépendant who was arrested on 1 March in Yaounde. He was released on 4 March but ordered to remain accessible to the judiciary. Also, La Nouvelle Presse publications director, Jacques Blaise Mvié is currently being sought by the security forces. Congo RDC: In a memorandum (12 March) to the parties in the Inter-Congolese Dialogue, Amnesty International calls for a binding commitment that justice and human rights will be at the heart of all agreements reached. Egypt: On 6 March, RSF protested to the Egyptian government about the arrest on 5 March of two journalists from the Qatari TV station Al-Jazeera. Kenya: On 8 March, in a report on Kenya, Amnesty International said that the Kenyan government has failed in its human rights obligations towards one half of its citizens and should urgently reform its laws and practices to end the impunity of those who commit violence against women. Madagascar: On 5 March, the International Freedom of Expression (IFEX) reported that four radio stations have been attacked following an eruption of violence over the disputed presidential election results. Morocco: On 5 March, IFEX said that journalists in Morocco can still be thrown into jail for up to five years if they commit press offenses, and foreign publications can still be banned. Zambia: On 24 February, Thomas Nsama, a photographer working for the privately-owned Post newspaper, was beaten by ruling Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) supporters. Zimbabwe: On 6 March, it was reported that an International Federation of Journalists monitoring mission, has been blocked from the country. — On 11 March, RSF said it vigorously opposes the decision made by the authorities to deny journalists access to the country’s vote-counting sited. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 13 March 2002)

* Africa. Human rights — West Africa: On 8 March, a United Nations investigation into the sex-for-aid scandal headed for Sierra Leone, after visiting refugee camps in Guinea. The team from the UN‘s Refugee Agency, UNHCR, is trying to find out the extent of the abuse of women and children by aid-workers. A study by the UNHCR and a UK charity made public last month found that some aid agency employees were exchanging food and other supplies for sex. The leader of the UNHCR team said on 7 March that those named in the report would be moved, while in future more women would be hired. Central African Republic: In its Country Reports on Human Rights Practices released on 4 March, the US State Department says the CAR‘s poor human rights record worsened in some areas in 2001. Sudan: On 7 March,  Zenit reported that the Sudanese government has amputated a Christian’s right hand for alleged theft. Church and family sources have now affirmed that Anthony James Ladou Wani, a member of the Kakwa tribe from southern Sudan, had his right hand amputated on 24 January. He had been convicted and sentenced for allegedly stealing spare car parts. —In its Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, the US State Department says the Sudanese government’s record on human rights practices remained a serious concern last year. Tanzania: In its country report for 2001 on human rights practices, the US government has expressed disappointment at what it regards as a general deterioration of human rights in Tanzania, last year, despite notable government efforts to engage in dialogue with the Opposition. Tunisia: On 9 March, the Appeal Court in Tunis started hearing an appeal against prison terms imposed on a prominent opposition figure, Hamma Hammami and two colleagues. The men have been sentenced to over nine years for being members of the outlawed Tunisian Communist Workers Party. Zimbabwe: On 8 March, Human Rights Watch said that the fast track land reform programme in Zimbabwe has been accompanied by significant human rights abuses that harm the very people it was designed to assist. — On 12 March, Amnesty International demanded that the government immediately and unconditionally releases more than 1,400 people, most of them polling agents and civil society election observers. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 13 March 2002)

* Algeria. Suspected rebels kill six — Suspected Islamic militants have shot dead six people outside a town near Algiers. The six were killed at the entrance to El Affroun, 50 km south-west of the capital on 7 March, and the taxi they were travelling in set on fire, Algerian state radio reported. Security forces immediately began a major search for the attacker. Rebels from the Armed Islamic Group (GIA) have been active around El Affroun since Algeria’s bloody civil war erupted in 1992. Algerian officials said the six, whose identities have not been given, had been stopped at a bogus road block. (BBC News, UK, 8 March 2002)

* Algérie. Le berbère, langue nationale — Le 12 mars, dans un discours à la nation, le chef de l’Etat Abdelaziz Bouteflika a annoncé que la langue tamazight (berbère) deviendra langue nationale et officielle. Cela sera inscrit dans la Constitution. La reconnaissance du tamazight est l’une des principales revendications du mouvement de protestation kabyle. L’arabe est actuellement la seule langue officielle en Algérie. Le président Bouteflika a aussi annoncé des sanctions contre les gendarmes, accusés d’être responsables du déclenchement et de la répression des émeutes du printemps dernier en Kabylie, qui ont fait une soixantaine de morts et quelque 2.000 blessés, selon un bilan officiel (107 morts et 6.000  blessés selon la coordination des villages kabyles). Le 11 mars, des affrontements entre manifestants et forces de l’ordre avaient à nouveau éclaté à Tizi-Ouzou, la capitale de la Grande Kabylie. Et le 13 mars, ces affrontements ont repris à Tizi-Ouzou et à El Kseur. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 13 mars 2002)

* Algeria. Campaigning starts for parliamentary poll — 7 March: Algeria’s political parties have started their campaign for the parliamentary polls scheduled for 30 May. On the eve of Women’s Day on 8 March, several parties staged rallies in Algiers to mobilise their rank and files and gear them up for the forthcoming polls. The National Liberation Front (FLN) held a meeting presided over by its secretary general and Prime minister, Ali Benflis. The associations of women and female students turned out in great numbers in anticipation of the 8 March celebrations. Benflis said that his party has decided to increase women’s representation on its lists of candidates. None of the FLN‘s female candidate won a parliamentary seat during the last polls. Considered as a favourite of the upcoming polls, the FLN intends to follow the example of the National Democratic Rally (RND), currently holding the majority in parliament, which has decided that one of every five candidates on its lists will be a woman. 10 March: The Berber protest movement in Algeria has called for a boycott of the parliamentary elections. Leaders of Berber councils in Kabylie in the east of Algeria described the forthcoming elections as little more than a show of strength by the government; they would do nothing to improve daily life. The predominantly Berber region has been at the centre of anti-government protests for the last year. Later this week, the main political parties in the Berber region — the RCD and the FFS — will decide whether or not they too will boycott of the elections. 12 March: The language spoken by Algeria’s main ethnic minority, the Berbers of Kabylie, is finally to be given recognition by the state. Tamazight will be recognised as a national language, President Abdelaziz Bouteflika announces in a speech to the nation. «I have decided in total freedom and with total conviction to include Tamazight in the constitution as a national language,» he says. «The national character of Tamazight cannot be questioned, whether the issue relates to Tamazight as a language or to Tamazight as a culture.» (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 13 March 2002)

* Angola. Appel de l’Unita Renovada — Le 12 mars, l’Unita Renovada, la formation politique issue de l’Unita dont elle se détacha en 1998, a lancé un appel pour que soit organisé au plus vite un congrès pour élire de nouveaux dirigeants susceptibles de prendre les rênes de l’opposition en Angola. Il s’agit de la première déclaration officielle du parti depuis la mort du  leader historique Jonas Savimbi. La réorganisation de l’Unita semble en effet être un élément essentiel après le tournant que représente cette mort. Les modérés qui quittèrent le maquis il y a trois ans pour entrer au Parlement, pourront certainement contribuer à convaincre leurs anciens compagnons d’armes à choisir la voie de la négociation, estiment des observateurs. Par ailleurs, dans une dépêche du 14 mars, l’agence AFP informait que mercredi 13 le gouvernement angolais avait ordonné à l’armée de cesser le feu contre les rebelles de l’Unita et qu’il était prêt à décréter une amnistie en faveur des combattants et leaders de la rébellion. (Misna, Italie, et AFP, 13-14  mars 2002)

* Angola. A weakened UNITA may agree to cease hostilities — 6 March: The possible death of the new UNITA leader, General Antonio Dembo, could lead to a cessation of hostilities between the rebel movement and the government’s armed forces, UNITA spokesman Jaka Jamba has said. Dembo’s death so soon after that of longtime UNITA commander, Dr Jonas Savimbi in February, would further weaken UNITA remaining on the battlefield and could serve as a catalyst to the peace process. Jamba was speaking as a mission of the Angolan Armed Forces visited the eastern Moxico province to investigate a captured UNITA rebel’s claims that he had buried Dembo after he died from injuries in the same battle in which Savimbi was killed. The mission is expected back in Luanda on 7 March. 7 March: Oxfam International urges UNITA and the Angolan government to accept responsibility for providing for people in areas they control. 13 March: The Government has ordered its armed forces to halt all offensive action against UNITA. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 14 March 2002)

* Angola. Life after Savimbi — The words «Savimbi Jonas» are scratched roughly into the bark of a tree. Apart from that, there is nothing to indicate who lies beneath the fresh mound of earth in the cemetery on the edge of the town of Luena in eastern Angola. The graveyard has its own resident madman worthy of Hamlet, dressed in rags and hung about with crucifixes, who told me that Johannesburg is the capital of South Africa, and Nairobi is a city in Uganda. But there were also three young men hanging about who were able to give a more coherent account of events. «The coffin was closed when it arrived. But everybody wanted to see, so they took the lid off the coffin,» one eyewitness to the burial said. «It was Savimbi, we knew what he looked like, and it was Savimbi himself.» Many in the town are still convinced that the grave under the tree is empty, and that Savimbi’s body was secretly taken away lest the grave become a shrine for his followers. One thing is certain though: Luena has suddenly gone very quiet. A few months ago, the helicopter traffic above the town was almost constant as the Angolan armed forces flew  soldiers to the front, or brought displaced people into the town. Now only one or two aircraft go overhead each day. United Nations staff say the army now feels it has broken the back of the Unita rebels in Moxico, and is turning its attention to the northern Angolan province of Uige — the area which has the next highest concentration of Unita guerrillas. (BBC News, UK, 12 March 2002)

* Benin. Disabled get financial assistance — Benin’s minister of Family Affairs, Social Protection and Solidarity, Claire Houngan-Ayemona, has presented donations worth over US $23,000 to 100 disabled people. The package, which included 50 bicycles, 54 tricycles, a scooter, wheelchairs and an organ, is aimed at improving the living and working conditions of the disabled. «It is a good thing to have the means to move around, and it is a responsible attitude to maintain it,» the minister said at the ceremony. She added that the equipment, while facilitating the mobility of disabled people, would enable them to increase their autonomy and help them take an active part in the process of national development. (PANA, Senegal, 12 March 2002)

* Burkina Faso. Epidémie de méningite — Une poussée épidémique de méningite a tué 36 personnes entre le 4 et le 10 février, sur 201 cas diagnostiqués, a rapporté l’Organisation mondiale de la santé (OMS le 7 mars. Une campagne massive de vaccination a commencé dans le district de Dédougou. Le Burkina Faso se trouve dans la “ceinture de la méningite” en Afrique subsaharienne, qui s’étend de l’Ethiopie jusqu’au Sénégal. C’est l’un des pays de la “ceinture” les plus affectés, avec le Nigeria, le Mali, le Niger, le Tchad et le Cameroun. (IRIN, Abidjan, 8 mars 002)

* Burundi. Candidats au rapatriement — Une délégation de six personnes représentant les réfugiés burundais vivant dans des camps en Tanzanie, est arrivée le 9 mars dans la province de Makamba pour une visite qui s’inscrit dans le cadre des préparatifs de rapatriements massifs de ces réfugiés. La délégation a visité le site de transit du camp de Mabaro, près de Makamba. Elle s’est également entretenue avec les autorités, tant civiles que militaires, sur des questions relatives à la sécurité. Les six personnes ont ensuite passé la nuit dans leurs communes d’origine respectives. Cette visite intervient au moment où des réfugiés continuent à se rapatrier volontairement. Depuis janvier, la province de Makamba a déjà accueilli près de 900 personnes, en grande partie originaires de Nyanza-Lac. La province s’apprête à accueillir près de 64.000 rapatriés, et à réinstaller près de 102.000 déplacés. Par ailleurs, des rebelles s’infiltrent encore dans la région à partir du Congo. (Infoaza, Burundi, 11 mars 2002)

* Burundi. Refugees in Tanzania signing up to go home — Numbers of Burundi refugees who have signed up with the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to go home from camps in Tanzania have risen significantly, a UNHCR spokeswoman said on 11 March. Between the second week of February, when a new registration process was established, and 7 March, 16,000 people had signed up. By comparison, during the whole of 2001, only 2,700 refugees had been assisted to return, she added. «It is, however, important to differentiate between those who said that they are willing to return, and those who will actually go,» she cautioned. UNHCR attributes the upsurge in interest to a number of factors, including the three recent missions to Tanzania by representatives of the Burundi government to encourage the refugees to return, the «increased cross-border information exchange», the mounting pressure from the Tanzanian government on the refugees to return, and the «general atmosphere and media reports» in Tanzania making the refugees feel unwelcome. Apart from numbers wishing to return home, there had also been a marked drop in the numbers of Burundi arrivals at camps in western Tanzania (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 11 March 2002)

* Burundi. Combats près de Bujumbura — Au moins 17 personnes ont trouvé la mort dans des combats violents ces derniers jours dans la zone de Kanyosha, au sud de Bujumbura, où l’armée est aux prises avec des rebelles du Front national de libération (FNL), rapporte la presse le 12 mars. Selon la station privée locale, “Radio publique africaine”, les combats qui ont éclaté le 6 mars, auraient aussi contraint plus de 4.000 personnes à fuir cette localité à la périphérie immédiate de la capitale. La radio fait état de plusieurs militaires parmi les victimes. D’autre part, plus au nord-ouest, dans la province de Bubanza, l’administration locale a signalé des combats opposant l’armée régulière à l’autre mouvement rebelle des Forces de défense de la démocratie (FDD). - D’autre part, on apprenait que des hauts représentants de l’OUA et des diplomates gabonais et sud-africains s’efforcent de convaincre les groupes rebelles PALIPEHUTU/FNL    et CNDD-FDD  de participer au processus de paix. Divers contacts ont été pris. Le PALIPEHUTU/FLN se serait dit prêt à participer à un dialogue sous les auspices des médiateurs. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 13 mars 2002)

* Central Afr. Rep. UN launches a «culture of peace» campaign — The UN announces that a country-wide three-month campaign for engendering a «culture of peace» is being launched on 12 March in the Central African Republic (CAR). «Given the numerous resolutions adopted by the UN Security Council regarding the  Central African Republic with regard to the need for a culture of peace, national unity, and democracy and good governance, such a programme should be considered a priority among priorities,» the UN Mission in CAR said on 11 March. The campaign will begin in the capital, Bangui, with a four-day training seminar for the CAR military that will address such themes as the republican and apolitical nature of the military, and the primacy of political power over military power; the role of the armed forces in engendering peace and confidence; international humanitarian standards and respect for human rights; peace as a prerequisite for foreign investment and sustainable human development. On 16 March, a conference and debate will be held on «Tolerance and the Revival of Social Life in Bangui», in partnership with the Centre de Documentation, d’Information et de Formation pour le Developpement. The 24 March will see the launching of the «Regional Days for Engendering a Culture of Peace and for Consolidating Democratic Gains and National Unity», scheduled to be held in Sibut, Bambari, and Bouar, in cooperation with the Ministry of Parliamentary Relations. (IRIN, Kenya, 11 March 2002)

* Comores. Report des scrutins — Le samedi 9 mars, moins de 24 heures avant le début, dimanche, des élections primaires pour la présidence de l’Union des Comores et du référendum constitutionnel, les candidats, à l’exception du colonel Azali, ont appelé le peuple à empêcher la tenue de ces scrutins. Ils disent avoir révélé un certain nombre de points graves qui remettent en cause l’organisation des scrutins, ayant constaté des “fausses cartes électorales et des électeurs fantômes”. Le PNUD lui aussi aurait constaté des irrégularités. Dans la soirée, le Premier ministre a annoncé à la radio nationale le report des primaires par souci “d’apporter une atmosphère de sérénité au scrutin”. Ces primaires constituaient la première étape d’une série de scrutins prévus jusqu’à la mi-avril pour mettre en place les institutions de la nouvelle Union des Comores. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 10 mars 2002)

* Comoros. Opposition boycott postpones election — 10 March: Presidential primaries due to take place this weekend on the largest island of the Comoros off the south-east coast of Africa are reported to have been postponed because of a boycott by eight of the nine candidates. The Prime Minister, Hamada Madi Bolero, has been quoted as saying that the vote on Grande Comore was being delayed until 13 March to ensure the election took place in a calm atmosphere. Rival contenders to the outgoing military President, Colonel Azali Assoumani, say their decision to withdraw was motivated by electoral fraud, including the printing of duplicate voters’ cards and the enrolment of a large number of phantom voters. A referendum  to approve a new constitution for the Comoros on 10 March is also said to have been postponed until 13 March. But the referendum vote is going ahead on the other two islands, Moheli and Anjouan. 11 March: Following their referendum, Anjouan and Moheli are to become autonomous entities within the Comoroan Union. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 12 March 2002)

* Congo-Brazza. MSF intervention for Ebola outbreak extended — Médecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) has sent a second team to Congo-Brazzaville to assist with the Ebola intervention programme in the north of the country. A cargo shipment was sent on 28 February to the capital, Brazzaville, with an additional three expatriates. The shipment included Ebola kits and isolation facilities. MSF says: «Some of the staff will travel on to Mbomo [in the northeast], where two new cases of Ebola have been reported. Extra reinforcements are also coming from Goma in the [eastern] Congo RDC. Two MSF teams will work in the region of Mbomo, which will also be used as a base for monitoring the area around Kéllé. No new reports of Ebola have been received from Kéllé up to now. The team will specifically concentrate on sensitising the local population to the disease and available treatment. MSF teams will also set up quarantine facilities to treat and isolate new cases, noting that an additional problem is the inaccessibility of the region, which renders logistical access very difficult». (IRIN,  Kenya, 7 March 2002)

* Congo-Brazza. Election présidentielle — Le vendredi 8 mars, M. André Milongo, ancien président de l’Assemblée nationale, a annoncé le retrait de sa candidature à l’élection présidentielle de dimanche et a appelé à la boycotter, dénonçant son organisation et estimant que le scrutin est d’ores et déjà faussé. Il est le troisième candidat à se retirer. En tous cas, sans avoir voté, Brazzaville s’apprête déjà à introniser “Sassou III”, indiquent les journalistes sur place. L’ancien dictateur marxiste Sassou Nguesso, écarté du pouvoir par les urnes en 1992, avant de revenir les armes à la main en 1997, devrait enfin se doter de la “légitimité démocratique” qui lui a toujours fait défaut. - 10 mars. Les Congolais ont voté dans le calme pour une présidentielle sans réel enjeu après la défection d’André Milongo, considéré comme le principal adversaire du président sortant. Les six autres candidats n’ont aucune envergure nationale, alors que M. Nguesso est soutenu par une cinquantaine de partis et 250 associations. Le scrutin est toutefois considéré comme une étape importante sur la voie du retour à la paix, après la brève mais sanglante guerre civile de 1997. - 12 mars. Après le dépouillement de plus de 50% des bulletins de vote, le président sortant Denis Sassou Nguesso récoltait 80% des suffrages dans la capitale, ainsi que dans le nord et le  centre du pays. Dans le sud, région qui lui est moins favorable, il obtenait un score de près de 53%. Selon Radio Congo (publique), citant des sources proches de la Commission nationale d’organisation des élections, la participation a été très élevée, tournant entre 60 et 90%. La délégation des pays d’Afrique, des Caraïbes et du Pacifique (ACP) a apprécié favorablement le scrutin, qui “s’est tenu dans des conditons d’équité et de transparence requises, sauf pour certaines lacunes matérielles mineures notées par endroits”. - Le 13 mars, le ministre de l’Intérieur a annoncé que le président Nguesso est sorti vainqueur de l’élection avec 89,41% des suffrages. Le taux de participation a été de 74,7%. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 13 mars 2002)

* Congo-Brazza. Presidential election — 7 March: Congo’s National Commission for the Organisation of Elections (CONEL) has appealed to the country’s presidential candidates to commit themselves to peace to stop post-electoral violence. CONEL has suggested that candidates «should not resort to violence in case of defeat but to justice». Eight candidates, including current President Denis Sassou Nguesso, will seek the votes of the Congolese. The first round is due to be held on 10 March. 8 March: Two days before the presidential election, the main opposition candidate has withdrawn from the race. The candidate, André Milongo, a former parliamentary speaker, said the vote was being rigged. Seven other candidates are contesting the election, including the current military leader, General Sassou-Nguesso, who is widely expected to win. The vote will be the first since 1992, Brazzaville’s first multi-party election, when General Sassou was defeated by Pascal Lissouba. Mr Lissouba was later ousted during the civil war, which led to the cancellation of the next elections. 10 March: Voting gets off to a slow start in the presidential election which the sitting President, Denis Sassou-Nguesso looks certain to win. Two other candidates, in addition to André Milongo, have also pulled out of the election recently, leaving no credible challengers to the incumbent. 11 March: Denis Sassou Nguesso, is well ahead of his rivals in the country’s presidential election, according to early partial results. With under a third of ballots counted, Congo’s state television credited General Sassou Nguesso with support of at least 80% in several key areas. The general has been expected to win the 10 March election, after the main opposition candidate withdrew complaining of fraud and called for a boycott. 13 March: President Sassou Nguesso wins the presidency, taking nearly 90% of the vote. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 14 March 2002)