* Africa. Perilous times for journalists in Africa — These are perilous times for journalists working in Africa, where press freedoms are steadily losing ground and the threat of arrest, deportation and even murder is on the rise. «Hardly a week goes by without a journalist being deported here...or threatened elsewhere,» said Herve Bourges, president of the International Union of the Francophone Press, in the Gabonese capital. Journalists working in Africa often come from countries «where democracy functions, where freedom of expression is guaranteed,» Bourges said, explaining why the wrongful imprisonment of journalists is particularly upsetting to the Western world. Demanding the immediate release of AFP correspondent Rodrigo Angue Nguema, who is still being held in Equatorial Guinea, the press organisation’s president was applauded by 160 worldwide representatives attending a conference of the Francophone press. Nguema was arrested in Malabo, and has remained in detention well beyond the 72-hour legal deadline for him either to be informed of the charges against him or be released. He was questioned last week in connection with an October 30 AFP report that quoted officials denying rumours of a foreign-backed coup attempt circulating in Malabo. Nguema’s arrest came less than two weeks after the murder of Radio France International (RFI) correspondent Jean Helene, killed in Côte d’Ivoire on October 21 by a bullet fired by an Abidjan police officer. (Mail & Guardian, South Africa, 11 November 2003)

* Afrique. Message chrétien pour le ramadan — Le 14 novembre, le Conseil pontifical pour le dialogue religieux a rendu public son message pour la fin du ramadan, intitulé “Construire la paix aujourd’hui”. Offrant ses meilleurs souhaits aux musulmans, Mgr Michael L. Fitzgerald, président du Conseil, centre ses réflexions sur la nécessité de construire la paix. Les quatre piliers sur lesquels repose la paix, selon l’encyclique Pacem in Terris de Jean XXIII, sont la vérité, la justice, l’amour et la liberté, rappelle-t-il, en y ajoutant la prière, dont le mois du ramadan est une période intense. Il souligne que “l’amour (...) rend capable de pardonner. Le pardon est esssentiel pour reconstruire la paix”. “Puisse le Dieu de bonté nous donner la force d’être de vrais constructeurs de paix”, conclut Mgr Fitzgerald, en offrant ses “meilleurs voeux pour une sainte fête”. (ANB-BIA, Bruxelles, 14 novembre 2003)

* Africa. Message for the End of Ramadan — In his Message for the End of Ramadan, entitled: «Constructing Peace Today», the President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald, recalled Peace on Earth, which was a letter addressed by the late Pope John XXIII in 1963 to all people of good will. In the letter, it was suggested that peace is an edifice resting on four pillars: Truth, Justice, Love and Freedom. Each of these values has to be present if there are to be good and harmonious relations between peoples and between nations. The Archbishop said: «To these four pillars  I would be inclined to add a fifth, namely prayer. For we know that, as human beings, we are weak. We find it hard to live up to these ideals. We need God’s help, and this we have to implore humbly. (...) The month of Ramadan is not only a time of fasting, but also a period of intense prayer. I wish to assure you, my Muslim friends, that we are united with you in prayer to the Almighty and Merciful God». (Vatican City, 14 November 2003)

* Africa. Diabetes killing children — Children who develop diabetes in sub-Saharan Africa are dying within a year for want of insulin, a drug which keeps hundreds of thousands of young people well in the UK, experts are warning. Supplies of the drug and the syringes needed for daily injections are erratic in many places in Africa and some families walk 250 miles to get the insulin their child needs. John Yudkin, director of the international health and medical education centre at University College London, said it was shocking that children were still dying. The International Insulin Foundation, which he heads with the project coordinator David Beran, has carried out a detailed study of the treatment available to children with type-1 diabetes in Mozambique and Zambia and concluded that better distribution of insulin and education of healthworkers, especially in rural areas, could cut the death toll. They hope the focus on the health needs of people in the poorest countries which has come out of the global campaign for access to drugs for HIV/AIDS may result in better care for those with diabetes and other diseases. «Improving the drug supply will impact not only diabetes, but all diseases,» said Mr Beran. Pressure from Aids activists has already caused the main insulin-producing drug company, Novo Nordisk, to rethink its policies towards poor states and slash insulin prices by more than half. In the western world, daily injections of insulin and careful monitoring mean that children who develop what is known as type-1 or insulin-dependent diabetes in their early teens — the form with a genetic origin — live normal, healthy lives. Type-2 diabetes, which is usually diagnosed in middle age, is linked with obesity, but can also be stabilised. The World Health Organisation this weekend warned that the number of people with diabetes in developing countries could more than double in 30 years, from 115 million to 284 million. About 90% of diabetes cases are type-2, but children die of type-1. In Mozambique, a child in a rural area will live for a year with diabetes, or four years if they live in a town with a hospital. «In parts of Zambia where paediatric clinics are quite well developed, life expectancy is better, but still precarious because of problems over insulin access and the transport situation and the economic circumstances of the parents,» said Mr Beran. Susan Zimba, a paediatrician at the University Teaching Hospital in Lusaka, said access to insulin was «a deep problem. There is usually not enough to go round». When the hospital runs out, those who can afford  it will buy the insulin from a private chemist, but a month’s supply of two types of insulin, at £24, will cost about two-thirds of an average salary. (The Guardian, UK, 17 November 2003)

* Afrique. Une Agence africaine de l’eau — Quelque 143 pays africains pendront part à la première Conférence panafricaine sur la mise en oeuvre et le partenariat dans le domaine de l’eau (PANAFCON) au cours de laquelle sera annoncé le lancement d’une Agence africaine de l’eau. En plus du lancement de l’agence, qui se veut un mécanisme de soutien à l’investissement pour la gestion des ressources en eau, la réunion d’Addis-Abeba sera aussi pour lancer le “Journal africain de l’eau” et le “Rapport africain sur la mise en valeur des ressources en eau”, publié tous les deux ans. Pour Josue Dione, directeur de la Division du développement durable de la Commission économique pour l’Afrique (CEA) et président du secrétariat du Groupe de l’eau-Afrique, «Cette conférence aidera à déterminer comment mettre en oeuvre, de manière collective, les actions spécifiées dans des instruments internationaux tels que la Vision africaine de l’eau pour 2025, les objectifs de développement du Millénaire et le programme eau du Nouveau partenariat pour le développement de l’Afrique (NEPAD)». (News Press, France, 17 novembre 2003)

* Africa. Action against the Media - 1  
— ALGERIA: On 14 November, Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) condemned the six-month prison sentence for libel against journalist Sid Ahmed Samiane, and said it is alarmed over the Government’s continuing harassment of the independent press. — On 17 November, RSF called for the immediate release of journalist Hassan Bourras, who was recently handed a two-year prison sentence for libel after reporting on corruption by local officials in the west. 
—BOTSWANA: On 18 November, MISA said that the government has suspended a segment of Radio Botswana‘s popular morning programme «Masa-a-sele» («Morning has broken»). The Communications, Science and Technology Minister says the suspension is indefinite. 
—CAMEROON: On 18 November, RSF condemned the government’s shutdown of Radio Veritas, a station founded and run by Cardinal Christian Tumi, a leading critic of President Paul Biya. «We do not understand how, in the space of a few weeks, some stations have been allotted frequencies while this one has been closed down,» said the organisation’s secretary-general, Robert Ménard. «Veritas and Freedom FM, set up by the Le Messager media group, have been banned because of their criticism, despite the government’s technical and legal explanations. We fear the situation will get worse as next year’s presidential election approaches,» Ménard added. Veritas, which went off the air on 15 November 2003, one day after being banned by the Communications Ministry, had been test-broadcasting in Douala, the country’s main city, for two weeks. Radio Freedom, founded by Le Messager‘s press  group director Pius Njawé, was banned in May.

* Africa. Action against the Media - 2
—ETHIOPIA: On 17 November, RSF said that the Ethiopian government has been urged to «stop harassing» the country’s private media. Ethiopia’s independent journalist association has been suspended. Robert Ménard, RSF‘s secretary-general also called on the Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi to lift the suspension. 
— NIGER: On 13 November, the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) issued an alert because that day, three staff members of the independent Anfani FM radio station were arrested by police authorities in Zinder, 890 kilometres from the capital, Niamey. Journalists Amadou Mamoudou and Harouna Mato and station director Ismael Moutari were arrested on the orders of Abba Malam Boukar, commissioner of the Zinder region. The journalists were accused of broadcasting information on a conflict between farmers and cattle breeders in Zinder, which resulted in some deaths. The two journalists were later released. However, the police detained the station director on grounds that he should disclose the source of the information. — On 14 November, Ishmael Moutari was released from prison custody. 
— SOUTH AFRICA: On 18 November, MISA said that lawyers for a Cape businessman have applied for an urgent interdict and have brought an Access to Information challenge against the Cape Argus newspaper to prevent it from publishing an article, which they allege is «defamatory» and «injures [their] client’s dignity.» George Hadjidakis, a major shareholder in the South African 7-Eleven chain and chairperson of the Premier Soccer League club Hellenic, plans to use the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) to try to force the paper to hand over a draft of an article for his personal perusal before it is published. The case is a landmark test for the fledgling PAIA in relation to balancing freedom of expression and media freedom, against the public’s right to access information from the state and private bodies.

* Africa. Action against the Media - 3
—SUDAN: On 12 November, in a Press Release, Human Rights Watch said that a prominent independent journalist has been forced to flee Sudan in the face of persecution by the Sudanese government. Nhial Bol, former managing editor and reporter at the Khartoum Monitor, Sudan’s only daily English-language newspaper, fled Sudan to Kenya in late October following repeated government actions against the Monitor, and arrests and threats against his life. The Monitor was shut down several times this year by the government, most recently in September. Human Rights Watch has repeatedly condemned the Sudanese government’s attacks on the independent media. — On 18 November, RSF called for the immediate reappearance of the Arabic-language daily newspaper Al-Ayam, which was suspended on 16 November, and has condemned the harassment of journalists by the security services. One of Sudan’s leading dailies, Al-Ayam, which last month marked its 50th anniversary,  has been suspended indefinitely on the order of the state prosecutor in charge of subversion crimes, Mohammed Farid Hassan, under Article 130 of the 1991 code of criminal procedure, paragraphs 1 and 3. The daily is accused of «threatening the security and stability» of the country. 
—TUNISIA: On 18 November, MISNA reported that the journalist Zouheir Yahyaoui, arrested on 4 June 2002 and sentenced to 2 years and 4 months in prison for diffusion of false news, has been released today, though conditionally. 
— ZAMBIA: On 13 November, MISA reported that on 11 November Omega TV, a privately-owned, free-to-air television station based in Lusaka, was ordered closed following the reversal of a High Court order allowing it to continue its test broadcasts. The closure of the station followed a successful appeal by Solicitor General Sunday Nkonde against a «stay of execution» granted to Omega TV on 19 September, which had allowed it to continue its test broadcasts. Nkonde argued that there was no legal basis for the stay of execution because the «construction permit», or temporary licence, that Omega TV was trying to protect had expired. 
—ZIMBABWE: On 13 November, Judge Mishrod Guvamombe ordered four directors of Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe (ANZ) which publishes The Daily News, to appear in court on February 6, 2004, for a routine hearing pending a trial date. The case against The Daily News —Zimbabwe’s largest independent daily and a frequent critic of President Robert Mugabe’s government — has thrown a spotlight on new media laws critics say are aimed at silencing Mugabe’s opponents. The directors had appealed against charges filed against them by the government after they published an issue on October 25 following a court ruling which said the state media commission erred in denying them a publishing licence. Police immediately closed the newspaper and arrested four of its directors, who were later freed on bail. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 18 November 2003)

* Afrique. Pauvreté et chômage en augmentation — Pauvreté et chômage augmentent en Afrique, selon un rapport de l’ONU préalable à la Conférence sur le travail d’Addis-Abeba. La 10e Conférence régionale africaine de l’agence de l’ONU sur le travail, qui se tiendra du 2 au 5 décembre à Addis-Abeba en Ethiopie, s’efforcera d’identifier des remèdes à la situation d’un continent où la pauvreté comme le chômage sont en augmentation. Contrastant avec la situation dans d’autres parties du monde, le niveau de la pauvreté en Afrique est élevé et s’accroît, souligne un communiqué de l’Organisation internationale du travail (OIT), publié aujourd’hui. Près de la moitié de la population du continent, soit quelque 300 millions de personnes, vit avec un dollar ou moins par jour. Le pourcentage de gens pauvres dans l’Afrique subsaharienne est près du double de la moyenne mondiale, qui est de l’ordre de 24%, précise le communiqué. «Les mandants tripartites de l’OIT en Afrique se  réunissent alors que les nations du continent mettent en place des institutions qui devraient enclencher un processus dynamique de développement basé sur leurs efforts collectifs», déclare le directeur général du BIT Juan Somavia dans un rapport préparé pour ces assises. Le lancement de l’Union africaine (UA) en 2002 et le Nouveau partenariat pour le développement de l’Afrique (NEPAD) en 2001 s’inscrivent dans cette nouvelle dynamique, indique le communiqué de l’OIT. (News Press, France, 18 novembre 2003)

* Afrique. Financer les opérations de paix — Le 17 novembre, les ministres européens des Affaires étrangères et du Développement ont décidé (sous réserve que les pays ACP entérinent cette approche à la fin du mois, ce qui semble acquis) que 1,5% des sommes consenties à chaque pays africain par le Fonds européen de développement (FED) seront consacrés au financement des opérations de paix. Il s’agira des seules opérations conduites sous l’autorité de l’Union africaine. La Commission répond ainsi aux chefs d’Etat de l’Union africaine qui, lors de leur sommet de Maputo en juillet, avaient souligné leur manque de ressources pour faire face aux conflits armés. La “facilité financière” sera dotée d’un budget provisoire de 250 millions d’euros. (Le Monde, France, 19 novembre 2003)

* Africa. Human testing for Ebola vaccine — Testing has begun on humans for an experimental vaccine against the deadly Ebola virus, US researchers have said. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases is administering the vaccine to 27 volunteers. In August, the institute said the same vaccine had worked to protect monkeys from the virus in a single shot. The virus for one of the world’s most lethal diseases originated in Africa and the US has expressed fears that it could be used as a biological weapon. The vaccine uses pieces of DNA from the virus to prime the immune system; it is similar to other trial vaccines that may be used to control malaria, Aids and various strains of hepatitis. As there is no known cure for the disease, preventing the spread of the virus is key to containing outbreaks. «An effective Ebola vaccine not only would provide a life-saving advance in countries where the disease occurs naturally, it also would provide a medical tool to discourage the use of Ebola virus as an agent of bio-terrorism,» Niaid Director Anthony Fauci said in a statement. Ebola spreads easily from person to person through direct contact with bodily fluids and causes illness quickly —leading to internal bleeding and shock. It kills 70% to 90% of the people it infects and, at present, there is no known cure. (BBC News, UK, 19 November 2003)

* Africa. UN appeals for «modest» $3bn to help 21 countries ruined by conflict and disaster — On 18 November, the UN secretary general, Kofi Annan, launched an appeal yesterday for $3bn  to help with what his organisation has described as 21 of the world’s forgotten crises, overlooked partly because of the focus on Iraq and Afghanistan. The UN said 17 of these 21 crises were in Africa. In a document produced by the UN and aid agencies to coincide with the launch of the appeal, Sudan was placed top of the list, and was described as a country in which «conflict and recurrent natural disasters have strained the coping mechanism of the most vulnerable, in some cases beyond their limit». (...) Mr Annan told a meeting of potential donors at the UN headquarters in New York: «As we have seen time and time again, people respond generously when they see on their television screens a hungry child, a dying mother, a desperate father. But let us not forget that many of the world’s most serious crises happen far from the cameras. Even when a crisis or conflict is over, countries continue to need support during the critical transition period leading to peace and development.» (The Guardian, UK, 19 November 2003)

* Afrique. ONU: appel humanitaire — Une fois par an, l’Onu présente un “appel consolidé” en faveur des populations les plus déshéritées. Il est dit “consolidé” parce qu’il émane de 136 agences onusiennes et organisations humanitaires en liaison avec les Nations unies. Cette année, M. Kofi Annan a demandé 3 milliards de dollars pour les populations de 21 pays frappés par la guerre, le chaos intérieur ou une catastrophe naturelle. Parmi les populations ayant d’urgence besoin d’aide, l’Onu a placé les Soudanais, les Erythréens, mais aussi les Tchétchènes et les Palestiniens. Le conflit le plus oublié est celui du nord de l’Ouganda, avec 1,3 million de personnes déplacées et 10.000 enfants enlevés, a-t-on indiqué. $3 milliards, la demande est modeste, estime l’Onu. “Si nous avons pu récolter 2 milliards de dollars uniquement pour l’Irak, nous pourrons sûrement trouver 3 milliards pour le reste du monde”, a souligné M. Annan. (D’après Le Monde, France, 20 novembre 2003)

* Southern Africa. Food aid to target HIV sufferers — The United Nations food relief agency is switching the focus of its humanitarian relief effort in Southern Africa away from emergency aid. The World Food Programme says it will concentrate on distributing nutritional supplements to HIV/AIDS sufferers. Millions of agricultural workers in Africa are dying from AIDS, in countries already struggling to become self-sufficient in food supplies. Good nutrition will help individuals remain healthy and productive. The programme, which will start in April, will run alongside the World Health Organisation’s campaign to get three million people in Africa onto retroviral therapy by 2005. WFP is planning to give HIV-positive individuals food supplements when they receive treatment. WFP head James Morris said he believed a long-term recovery strategy was now needed rather than just a short-term food supply operation. (BBC News, UK, 18 November 2003)

* Algérie. La candidature de Bouteflika — Le président algérien Abdelaziz Bouteflika continue d’entretenir le suspense sur ses intentions quant à sa candidature à l’élection présidentielle d’avril 2004. Dans un long entretien au quotidien régional l’Echo d’Oran, le premier qu’il accorde depuis son élection en avril 1999, le chef de l’Etat s’est abstenu de répondre à cette question, préférant évoquer son bilan. “Aujourd’hui, aucune menace ne pèse sur l’Etat; le terrorisme est vaincu; le pays renoue avec son élan de développement...”, a affirmé M. Bouteflika. Après avoir déclaré en 2002 qu’il souhaitait “continuer” son oeuvre à la tête de l’Etat, Bouteflika n’a jamais confirmé officiellement sa candidature à un nouveau mandat de cinq ans. Son principal rival est son ancien Premier ministre, Ali Benflis. (AP, 14 novembre 2003)

* Algérie. Journaliste condamné — Hassan Bourras, correspondant à El Bayadh (ouest algérien) de plusieurs quotidiens, a été condamné le 6 novembre par le tribunal de cette ville à deux ans de prison ferme et une interdiction d’exercer pendant cinq ans sa profession. Emprisonné depuis cette date, le journaliste est en grève de la faim depuis plusieurs jours. Une plainte déposée par le procureur d’El Bayadh contre deux articles parus dans El Djazaïri (journal régional d’Oran) sont à l’origine de cette sanction particulièrement sévère, la plus lourde depuis la présidence Bouteflika. Dans l’un, le journaliste révélait que l’épouse du procureur local avait falsifié un document administratif pour se faire embaucher. Dans un autre, il révélait le trafic foncier à El Bayadh impliquant des notables. Bourras a en sa possession toutes les preuves sur ces deux affaires. Hassan Bourras est le correspodant à El Bayadh de la Ligue algérienne de défense des droits de l’homme, qui a constitué un collectif de dix avocats pour le défendre lors de son procès en appel, dont la date n’est pas encore fixée. Reporters sans frontières a demandé sa libération immédiate. (NewsPress, 17 novembre 2003)

* Algérie. L’émir du GIA arrêté — L’émir national du Groupe islamique armé (GIA), Rachid Ouakli, alias Abou Tourab, a été arrêté par les forces de sécurité au domicile de ses parents à Saoula, dans une banlieue d’Alger, a-t-on appris le 20 novembre de source sûre. Ouakli, qui avait succédé à la tête de ce groupe terroriste à Antar Zouabri, abattu en 2002 par les forces de sécurité, aurait été blessé dans une opération à l’est d’Alger, ce qui l’aurait contraint à se cacher chez ses parents. Ces derniers jours, les forces de sécurité ont réussi à mettre hors d’état de nuire plusieurs terroristes dans différentes opérations de ratissage menées dans la banlieue algéroise. (PANA, Sénégal, 20 novembre 2003)

* Algeria/Morocco. Donkeys used for smuggling — Smugglers in Algeria have reportedly come up with  a novel way to get their contraband into Morocco - donkeys, with tape recorders on their backs. A taped message is repeated, saying «Err», Arabic for «walk», so that the donkeys do not stop as they follow the smugglers’ tracks unaccompanied. However, the customs service learnt of the ruse and has killed 200 of the donkeys, says the El Khabar newspaper. The border was closed 10 years ago after a bomb attack in Morocco. But the killing of donkeys have sparked protests by some villagers who say the action is criminal. They say that killing the animals would not put an end to smuggling. The trained donkeys leave Bab El-Assa in Algeria laden with goods for Morocco. When they reached Ahfir in Morocco, they are met by smugglers who unload their cargo. The animals are then sent on their return journey loaded with different goods bound for the Algerian market. (BBC News, UK, 13 November 2003)

* Botswana. Brain drain cripples war on AIDS — On 12 November, Botswana’s president, Festus G. Mogae, said that one of the biggest obstacles to a rapid expansion of treatment for people with AIDS in his country is not so much a lack of money or drugs as a dearth of doctors, nurses, pharmacists and other health workers. The nonprofit groups, foreign governments and international organizations that have come to help Botswana cope with its AIDS crisis have hired away many skilled health professionals in the country’s public health system with offers of better pay and benefits, he said. Mr. Mogae, who spoke at a day-long conference on the lessons of Botswana’s experience sponsored by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, a research organization in Washington, said this internal brain drain had been compounded by the departure of doctors and nurses for other countries. Britain alone has recruited more than 120 of Botswana’s nurses, Mr. Mogae said. Botswana, where more than a third of adults in their prime are infected with HIV, the virus the causes AIDS, has sought to counter the loss of talent by recruiting health professionals from poorer African countries, which have their own AIDS crises, as well as from India and Cuba. «We’ll be lucky if we get them,» Mr. Mogae said. The shortage of people and a slower-than-expected pace in building clinics, laboratories and drug warehouses have delayed the expansion of Botswana’s AIDS program. (New York Times, USA, 13 November 2003)