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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 12-09-2002

PART #4/4 - From SOUTH AFRICA to  ZIMBABWE

* South Africa. Summit boosts car market — A burst of new car sales in South Africa could lead to a further rise in the country’s interest rates. Economists believe South Africa’s central bank could put up rates for the fourth time this year when it meets next week. Their view was bolstered by new car sales figures for August which showed robust consumer demand despite price rises. Sales of new cars in August rose to 30,525, up from 29,777 in the same month last year, figures from the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (Naamsa) showed. It pointed to a «relatively resilient» demand and extra sales to car rental firms ahead of the World Development Summit which recently took place in Johannesburg. Rental firms beefed up their fleets to make sure they were able to ferry the 50,000 or so delegates, lobbyists and journalists around town. Monthly car sales in  August actually fell compared to July, but this was mainly because the World Summit provided an even bigger boost to car sales earlier in the summer. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 5 September 2002)

* Afrique du Sud. Mandela accuse les USA — Dans une interview publiée le 11 septembre par l’hebdomadaire Newsweek, l’ancien président sud-africain Nelson Mandela a déclaré que les Etats-Unis et la Grande-Bretagne méprisent les Nations unies et qu’il existe un élément racial dans leur comportement. Répondant aux accusations selon lesquelles l’Iraq accumulerait des armes de destruction de masse, Mandela a fait valoir que ni George Bush ni Tony Blair n’ont fourni la moindre preuve de l’existence de ce genre d’armes. “Ce dont nous sommes certains, c’est qu’Israël détient des armes de destruction de masse. Mais personne n’en parle”. Selon Mandela, les Etats-Unis sont une menace pour la paix mondiale. Il a indiqué que les Etats-Unis avaient commis de graves erreurs dans la gestion de leur politique extérieure, erreurs dont les conséquences malheureuses se font sentir longtemps après la prise des décisions. Pour l’Iraq, Mandela propose que les Etats-Unis et la Grande-Bretagne s’en remettent aux Nations unies. “Si les Etats-Unis et la Grande-Bretagne saisissent les Nations unies, et si les Nations unies affirment que nous possédons des preuves de l’existence de ces armes, et si nous considérons que nous devons faire quelque chose à ce sujet, alors nous soutiendrons tous cette décision”, a-t-il affirmé. (PANA, Sénégal, 11 septembre 2002)

* Sudan. Bishops want non-Muslims exempted from Sharia — At their recent plenary assembly, Sudan’s Catholic bishops expressed concern over the imposition of the Sharia and said that it must not be applied in the north of the country to non-Muslims. The bishops said the way to promote the country’s well-being is to base a future Constitution and legislation on the dignity of the human person. They warned that national unity would be endangered if Sharia were made the source of law. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 5 September 2002)

* Sudan. US in sanctions threat if Sudan peace deal fails — The US Congress looks set to approve legislation that would impose sanctions against the government of Sudan unless a firm peace agreement is reached with southern rebels over the next six months. But supporters of the bill, known as the Sudan Peace Act, have agreed to drop a controversial provision that would have prevented foreign oil companies that operate in Sudan from raising funds in US capital markets. The pending congressional action comes at a delicate time in Sudan, with negotiations suspended between the government in Khartoum and rebels of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) in the south. The two sides reached the outlines of a peace agreement at the Kenyan town of Machakos  in July, but Khartoum halted talks this week following a rebel capture of the government-held town of Torit. The congressional move is aimed at strengthening the US hand in efforts by the administration of President George W. Bush to facilitate a lasting agreement. «Congress is playing the bad cop here,» said one congressional aide. The Sudan Peace Act has been stalled in Congress since last year, when the House of Representatives voted 422-2 in favour of the measure, which included capital markets sanctions. The Senate passed a milder version after strong opposition from the Bush administration and Wall Street lobbyists, but the two bills have not been reconciled. (Financial Times, UK, 6 September 2002)

* Soudan. Enfants-soldats démobilisés — Dans le sud du Soudan, 562 enfants-soldats ont été démobilisés au cours du mois d’août et ramenés au domicile familial grâce à un nouveau programme conduit par l’organisation internationale Save the Children-Suède. La plupart d’entre eux, libérés dans l’Etat de Jonglei, faisaient partie d’un groupe de défense civile. Selon le responsable du programme, d’autres démobilisations devraient avoir lieu dans les prochains mois. Save the Children annonce avoir identifié et listé 1.210 enfants enrôlés dans les rangs de l’Armée populaire de libération du Soudan (SPLA). Les jeunes démobilisés seront réintégrés dans leurs communautés et retourneront à l’école. (JA/L’Intelligent, France, 9 septembre 2002)

* Soudan. Reprise des pourparlers de paix? — 5 septembre. Le gouvernement soudanais s’est engagé à reprendre les pourparlers de paix avec la rébellion au Kenya, suspendus le 2 septembre, a indiqué le président kényan Daniel arap Moi. Les pourparlers avaient été interrompus après de violents combats au Sud-Soudan. — 9 septembre. Le Soudan ne reprendra pas les négociations de Machakos (Kenya) tant que les forces rebelles sudistes ne se seront pas retirées des zones qu’elles occupent, dont la zone de Torit, a déclaré, lundi à Tripoli, le conseiller politique du président soudanais. D’autre part, la veille, le ministre de la Justice a déclaré que le Soudan ne cèderait pas aux menaces du Congrès américain qui prévoient des sanctions économiques si Khartoum ne reprend pas les négociations de paix au bout de six mois. “Le Soudan ne cèdera à aucune menace. Il retournera à la table de négociations en position de force et quand l’autre partie sera convaincue que la guerre ne peut résoudre les problèmes”, a-t-il affirmé. — 10 septembre. Depuis quelques jours, la province de l’Equateur Oriental est le théâtre de vastes mouvements de troupes. Les soldats gouvernementaux sont transportés par avion de Khartoum à Juba, où se regroupent les forces régulières et les volontaires de mouvements paramilitaires; mais on signale également des colonnes de rebelles de la SPLA en provenance de tous les coins de l’Equatoria. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 10 septembre  2002)

* Sudan. Fighting delays Sudanese reconstruction — 4 September: The collapse of Sudanese peace talks has delayed efforts by Arab states to fund the reconstruction of the war-ravaged southern part of the country. The Sudanese government suspended the talks in Kenya on 2 August after rebels seized the key garrison town of Torit in the far south. A meeting of Arab League foreign ministers in Cairo, Egypt, was expected to discuss Sudan’s economic rehabilitation as well as US military threats against Iraq and Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories. — Kofi Annan urges both sides to resume the peace talks. 5 September: Hundreds of government supporters have been out on the streets of Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, to protest against the rebel capture of Torit. Addressing the crowds, President Omar al-Bashir vows that the garrison town of Torit will be retaken by government forces. 9 September: The SPLA says it is ready to fight off a government attack on Torit. — The SPLA denies recent media reports that it is intending to attack and seize Juba. The Sudanese army has been mobilising forces, including recently recruited militiamen, in Juba ready to attack Torit. — Bishop Paride Taban of Torit says that government forces have bombed Torit. Speaking from Nairobi, the bishop said that regular bombing from the air has been taking place «since the time that the town was taken». (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 10 September 2002)

* Swaziland. Opposition leaders hold defiant assembly — Leaders of Swaziland’s banned opposition parties held their largest assembly in nearly two years on 8 September, vowing to end the rule of sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, King Mswati III. «Tinkhundla (Swaziland’s royal government) can never be reformed. Our duty is to wipe it out completely,» Mario Masuku, head of the People’s United Democratic Movement told 200 supporters in Manzini, 35 km east of the capital Mbabane. Masuku spent a year in a maximum security prison before the High Court of Swaziland acquitted him August 22 of charges of defaming Mswati at a rally in Mbabane in November 2000. Public political demonstrations and opposition political parties are banned by royal decree in the nation with a population of around 1 million. All Cabinet ministers are appointed by Mswati, who is also the chancellor of the University of Swaziland. «The law does not bar us from speaking out. It is our right,» said Jan Sithole, secretary general of the Swaziland Federation of Trade Unions. The gathering at a church in Manzini observed a prayer vigil. Former Prime Minister Obed Dlamini, now president of the opposition political party Ngwane National Liberatory Congress, condemned what he called police state tactics used by royal authorities against opponents. «The situation is sinful. The police are trained to harass people by taking orders from superiors who are not concerned with keeping law and order,» he said. (CNN, USA, 8 September 2002)

* Tanzania. Train crash aftermath — 5 September: About 200 families of victims of the June train crash in Tanzania are to receive some $700 each, the government has announced. A much smaller amount —about $140 — would also be paid to those injured, said government minister William Lukuvi. It is thought almost 300 were killed in the crash near Dodoma, but the government said payment would only be made on behalf of the 206 people officially identified and confirmed as victims. Many of the bodies were so badly disfigured they were not identified and they were buried together in a mass ceremony in Dodoma. Tanzania’s worst-ever train crash happened when a passenger train broke down on a steep hill. Its brakes failed, and the carriages rolled back at high speed into the path of a following freight train. The train was carrying more than 1,000 passengers and President Benjamin Mkapa promised an official inquiry at the time. 10 September: The train disaster, which killed almost 300 people and injured hundreds more, was caused by human error and driver negligence, an official investigation has concluded. The crash occurred in June this year. «The basic reason why the train raced backward was a result of human error due to the driver’s inexperience,» the report said. Survivors said that the driver, Godfrey Chiwelesa, who has been on bail since the accident, jumped out of the train as it began rolling backwards. He suffered minor injuries in the disaster, but has not been charged so far. The government report also found that the train’s third class compartments were overloaded and had no partitioning which made them collapse easily. The investigative team has recommended that the Tanzanian Government form a national disaster unit to cope with such disasters. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 11 September 2002)

* Togo. Appel aux législatives — Les sept juges du collège électoral du Togo, établi en mai pour remplacer la Commission électorale nationale, ont annoncé, le 6 septembre, que les élections législatives pourraient avoir lieu vers la fin de l’année. Il n’y a pas encore de date retenue, ont indiqué les juges, ajoutant qu’elle sera fixée une fois que l’équipement et le matériel nécessaires à une organisation satisfaisante des élections auront été reçus. Le communiqué a suscité des réactions mitigées des groupes d’opposition. Deux coalitions ont fait savoir qu’elles ne participeront pas au scrutin, tandis que le Front de l’opposition républicaine (FOR) a annoncé qu’il y participera si les élections sont libres et justes. (IRIN, Abidjan, 9 septembre 2002)

* Tunisie. Hammani continue son action — Le 6 septembre, deux jours à peine après sa libération sous condition, l’opposant tunisien Hamma Hammani a déclaré qu’il entendait militer pour obtenir la reconnaissance de sa formation politique, le Parti ouvrier  communiste tunisien (POCT, interdit). Selon lui, l’action qu’il compte entreprendre ne se limitera pas à son parti, mais s’étendra “à tous les mouvements et toutes les organisations qui réclament leur reconnaissance”. (AP, USA, 6 septembre 2002)

* Tunisia. Dissidents under pressure — 5 September: The head of Tunisia’s banned Communist Workers’ Party says he will continue his political activity despite the threat of returning to jail. Hamma Hammami was released from jail on 4 August on health grounds just two days after losing his appeal against a three-year prison sentence. He was accused of belonging to an illegal organisation and inciting rebellion. President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali keeps a tight reign on his country and routinely wins elections with 99.9% of the vote. In May, he won a referendum changing the constitution so he could stand for a fourth term as president. Human rights groups led a vigorous campaign for Mr Hammami’s release, which included a 38-day hunger strike by his wife. 6 September: Despite Hamma Hammami’s release from prison, many others remain incarcerated. Amnesty International estimates that up to 1,000 political prisoners are currently in detention. Internet journalist Zouhair Yahyaoui was jailed in June, for what human rights campaigners believe was making fun of President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali on his web-site, www.tunezine.com. Press freedom watchdog Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) says that the Tunisian Government censors the internet more tightly than any other country in the world, with the possible exception of China. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 6 September 2002)

* Tunisie. Privatisations — Depuis le lancement d’un programme de privatisation en 1987, le gouvernement tunisien a cédé 162 entreprises publiques ou semi-publiques, selon un bilan officiel arrêté à la mi-2002 et publié le 11 septembre. Ces opérations, qui s’inscrivent dans le cadre de “la politique de désengagement de l’Etat des secteurs concurrentiels d’activités”, ont rapporté au gouvernement 1,6 milliard d’euros. Le secteur du tourisme a été le plus concerné, suivi par les industries chimiques, électriques et mécaniques. (La Croix, France, 12 septembre 2002)

* Ouganda. Nouvelles attaques rebelles — La tension ne cesse de monter dans le nord de l’Ouganda, suite à des attaques des rebelles de l’Armée de résistance du Seigneur (LRA). Le 6 septembre, sur la route reliant Kampala à Gulu, un autobus a été criblé de balles, faisant 2 morts. D’autre part, dans une nouvelle embuscade, les rebelles ont tué dix soldats sur la route reliant Kampala à Lira, selon des sources locales. Des sources militaires ont confirmé l’embuscade, mais selon elles, il n’y aurait eu que 3 soldats tués et 4 blessés. Par ailleurs, le 8 septembre, les rebelles ont attaqué deux villages, pillant des magasins et des habitations et  enlevant 80 civils. Dans de tels cas, affirme un habitant, la majorité des otages est libérée quelques heures plus tard; ces gens sont utilisés comme porteurs, mais les rebelles gardent les plus jeunes pour les entraîner au combat. (D’après Misna, Italie, 7-9 septembre 2002)

* Uganda. Horrendous situation in northern Uganda — 5 September: Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels have attacked a mission hospital in northern Uganda and stolen medicines, according to the Ugandan army. The raid, in which the rebels also attacked a police station, took place at Kolongo, 50 km south of Kitgum, and comes 10 days after the LRA declared a unilateral ceasefire. Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni said he would only accept a ceasefire with the rebels if they gathered at designated assembly points in northern Uganda and southern Sudan. Contacts are continuing between religious leaders and the rebels as a step towards ending 14 years of war in northern Uganda, in which thousands have been killed and thousands more abducted by the rebels. But the government has been continuing its offensive in northern Uganda and the rebels are unwilling to accept its ceasefire terms. This is not the first reported breaking of the ceasefire by the LRA. On 25 August, the rebels attacked the town of Bobi and the army reported that two majors were killed in an ambush at the beginning of September. 9 September: Unrelenting attacks by the LRA have created a «horrendous» humanitarian situation and stretched local resources in northern Uganda beyond their limits, according to a UN report. The situation in northern Uganda has degenerated to emergency levels. — Recently, the LRA has killed three soldiers and abducted dozens of civilians in attacks in northern Uganda. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 10 September 2002)

* Zambie. Envoyé humanitaire de l’Onu — James Morris, envoyé spécial des Nations unies chargé de la crise humanitaire en Afrique australe, est arrivé le dimanche 8 septembre en Zambie pour faire une estimation des besoins des populations rurales, suite à la rareté des pluies qui a débouché sur la famine. Il devra notamment aborder la question du maïs transgénique avec les responsables du gouvernement, qui ont refusé la céréale en dépit du fait que des millions de personnes sont confrontées à la famine dans le pays. Selon une estimation du PAM, 13 millions de personnes en Afrique australe (dont plus de 2 millions en Zambie) sont confrontées à une grave famine qui devrait empirer au cours des six prochains mois. (PANA, Sénégal, 8 septembre 2002)

* Zambia. No GM food for refugees — 8 September: A report from the World Food Programme (WFP) says that the WFP will now be allowed to start distributing genetically modified (GM) food aid to refugees. It will be used to feed about 130,000 refugees from Angola and Congo RDC.  11 September: Zambia denies reports from the WFP that it is allowing GM food into the country for refugees. The Home Affairs Minister says that the position of the government rejecting GM food is a national one which applies to all categories of people living in Zambia. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 11 September 2002)

* Zimbabwe. Mugabe defends his nation’s land reform policies — In a rare interview with foreign journalists, Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe defended his country’s controversial land redistribution program and denied that seizing white-owned commercial farms was contributing to his nation’s hunger crisis. «It’s absolute nonsense,» he said, describing his program to redistribute the land to blacks as an effort to uplift the poor. «If anything, it’s the only way you can empower people to produce, not just enough for subsistence, but more. To enable them to enjoy life.» The President said on 5 September he had no intention of leaving anyone landless. White farmers, some of whom own several large farms, would be allowed to keep one farm of an «appropriate size.» «We have said and sworn that no one should go without land, but they want much more, greedy, greedy, greedy colonialists. We cannot satisfy their greed at the expense of the rest of the people. We want to distribute land fairly and justly,» he said. However, many of those being evicted only owned one farm, and many of those farms were relatively small, said Jenni Williams, spokeswoman for Justice for Agriculture, a farmers’ support group. Critics also have charged that the best seized land has gone to politicians, military and police officers and Mugabe supporters instead of the poor. Mugabe dismissed the farmers’ criticism, accusing them of using «Blair tactics,» a swipe at British Prime Minister Tony Blair, leader of the former colonial power here, who calls Mugabe a despot. «What the farmers are saying to the world is that they are being evicted. We are not evicting them from the land that we allow them to stay (on),» Mugabe said. (CNN, USA, 5 September 2002)

* Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe accepts GM food — The World Food Programme says Zimbabwe has dropped objections to accepting genetically-modified grain so that urgently-needed food aid can be delivered. The executive director of the World Food Programme, James Morris, said Zimbabwe’s decision would be a very important signal to other countries in the region which have refused food aid because it might contain GM grain. Mr Morris announced the reversal of policy after talks in Harare with the Zimbabwean President, Robert Mugabe. Correspondents says Zimbabwe had refused to accept the GM grain, fearing it would contaminate native crops and threaten agriculture exports to Europe. Another country threatened with starvation, Zambia, says it will conduct its own scientific tests to investigate whether such foods were safe. (BBC News, UK, 6 September 2002)

* Zimbabwe. Maïs génétiquement modifié — Le directeur exécutif du PAM a annoncé, le 6 septembre, avoir conclu un accord avec le gouvernement de Harare sur la livraison de maïs génétiquement modifié, que le Zimbabwe avait jusqu’à présent refusé d’accepter. Le président Mugabe avait été le premier dirigeant africain à refuser l’aide de centaines de milliers de tonnes de céréales modifiées produites aux Etats-Unis. Ce refus avait servi d’exemple à d’autres pays, tels que la Zambie, le Mozambique et le Malawi. Certains de ces pays ont cependant accepté l’aide après de longues discussions. Aujourd’hui, le Zimbabwe a également changé d’avis, à condition toutefois que tout le maïs qui entrera dans le pays sans certification “GM-free” devra être moulu. Cette clause défendra les céréales du Zimbabwe, point fort de ses exportations. La mouture évitera que la céréale distribuée par le PAM ne soit plantée et cultivée. — D’autre part, les évêques catholiques du Zimbabwe, dans une lettre pastorale, ont lancé un appel pour une distribution équitable des aides alimentaires. “Il est nécessaire que le gouvernement cesse immédiatement de mêler la politique à l’approvisionnement et la distribution des aides alimentaires”, ont-ils affirmé. Suite à cet appel, ll semble que dans certaines zones du Matabeleland, les dirigeants du ZANU-PF, le parti de Mugabe, distribuent les secours sans écarter les habitants contraires à la ligne politique du gouvernement. (Misna, Italie, 6-11 septembre 2002)

* Zimbabwe. Deadline prompts exodus — 8 September: Dozens of white farmers in Zimbabwe have been leaving their properties after receiving a new government ultimatum to get off their land. One eyewitness counted more than 100 farmers’ lorries piled high with furniture and household goods leaving the fertile area north-west of the capital, Harare. Justice for Agriculture (JAG), a farmers’ lobby group, says the authorities told scores of farmers to leave today or face arrest for resisting the land redistribution programme. JAG is advising them to stay put and take the eviction orders to court, saying the deadline has been imposed by local administrators not the central government. However, it seems many white farmers are taking these latest threats seriously and are leaving with whatever they can take. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 8 September 2002)

* Zimbabwe. Ultimatum aux fermiers — Les expulsions des fermiers blancs pourraient reprendre au Zimbabwe. Le samedi 7 septembre, le gouvernement de Mugabe leur a en effet adressé un nouvel ultimatum, leur donnant jusqu’à dimanche midi pour quitter leur exploitation. 2.900 fermiers, sur les 4.500 que compte la minorité blanche, sont concernés. Plus de la moitié d’entre eux avait refusé d’obtempérer au premier ultimatum, fixé au 8 août, et la police avait procédé les jours suivants à l’arrestation de plus de 300 fermiers, remis en liberté depuis. La semaine dernière, un tribunal a prononcé  des jugements en faveur de 54 de ces fermiers, estimant que leur ordre d’expulsion n’était pas valide. En février 2000, le président Mugabe a lancé une réforme agraire visant à redistribuer la quasi-totalité des terres des fermiers blancs à la majorité noire, soit quelque 10 millions d’hectares. (Ndlr.: A l’expiration de cette nouvelle échéance, la plupart des fermiers blancs du Mashonaland occidental, le grenier du pays au nord de Harare, ont quitté leurs propriétés). (Libération, France, 9 septembre 2002)

* Zimbabwe. Queues give lie to Mugabe’s claims — Long queues for bread and sugar at Zimbabwe’s shops, emptying supermarket shelves and «No Diesel» signs at petrol stations contrast starkly with President Robert Mugabe’s extravagant claims of economic resilience. The rhetoric and the reality could not be farther apart. Shortly before he resigned last month, Simba Makoni, the former finance minister, gloomily forecast a record 11 per cent slide in gross domestic product this year, taking the total decline since Mr Mugabe launched his «fast-track» land resettlement programme to more than 23 per cent. With the eviction of white commercial farmers from their properties, an estimated 250,000 jobs have been lost — 18 per cent of the employed work force. Inflation has averaged 117 per cent this year, exports have fallen 40 per cent from their 1996 peak and by the end of the year, the country will have foreign payments arrears in the region of US $1.8bn (_1.8bn, £1.2bn) — more than a third of GDP. Maize production has collapsed over the past two seasons, from 1.5m tonnes in 2000 to less than 500,000 tonnes. The collapse is partly because of drought but is also the result of the chaotic nature of the land reform programme. Mealie-meal, the staple food, has disappeared from the shelves. The country needs to import 1.8m tonnes of food over the next year. (Financial Times, UK, 11 September 2002)

* Zimbabwe. “Violence d’Etat” — Le 11 septembre, Amnesty International a condamné “la violence d’Etat et l’intimidation” au Zimbabwe, qui s’exercent sur les opposants, avérés ou soupçonnés, au président Robert Mugabe à l’occasion d’élections locales prévues les 28 et 29 septembre. La campagne a ainsi été marquée par le retrait de 698 candidats du Mouvement pour le changement démocratique (MDC, opposition) — sur un total de 1.397 présentés —pour cause de “menaces, pressions et violences de la part des autorités gouvernementales ou de milices soutenues par l’Etat”, a indiqué Amnesty dans un communiqué. Le 5 septembre, date limite pour le dépôt des candidatures aux élections locales, un membre de la section des jeunes du MDC avait été assassiné par deux hommes en uniformes de l’armée, selon Amnesty. (La Libre Belgique, 12 septembre 2002)