ANB-BIA - Av. Charles Woeste 184 - 1090 Bruxelles - Belg TEL **.32.2/420 34 36 fax /420 05 49 E-Mail: anb-bia@village.uunet.be _____________________________________________________________ WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 10-02-2000-PART #3/3 (Rwanda -> Zimbabwe) ====> (From Africa to Congo-RDC see 10a_02_2k) ====> (From Côte d'Ivoire to Nigeria see 10b_02_2k) * Rwanda. Murder of the innocents - 7 February: Lt. Col. Tharcisse Luvunyi is remembered in the city of Butare for one crime above all. On 30 April 19994 -- many of Rwanda's Tutsis had already been murdered and the hunt was underway for survivors of the genocide -- the colonel allegedly sent his men to dispose of a group of witnesses. They were 25 Tutsi children who had seen their parents murdered days earlier, after they sought sanctuary in a convent. Nuns hid the children in the convent in the hope that they would remain unnoticed. But, it is alleged, Lt. Col. Muvunyi knew they were there. He sent one of his lieutenants, Idlefonse Hatiegimamam with a warrant to search the convent and take the children away. The nuns trued to shield the children, but they were led out and driven into the forest. There they were butchered with machetes or shot. Their bodies were tipped into a mass grave. Muvunyi is wanted by the International Tribunal for Rwanda and was arrested in south London, UK on 5 February. Appearing in court, today, he is remanded in custody. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 7 February 2000) * Rwanda. Centenaire de l'evangelisation - Le 8 fevrier, ont commence a Save (diocese de Butare, au sud du Rwanda) les celebrations au Rwanda du grand jubile de l'annee 2000 et du centenaire de l'evangelisation. C'est le 8 fevrier 1900, en effet, qu'un groupe de Peres Blancs s'est installe sur la colline de Save. Ce centenaire sera celebre sur fond des souffrances qu'a connues le pays. Le superieur general des Peres Blancs, le pere Francois Richard, present a Save, a declare: "L'Eglise au Rwanda a beaucoup souffert. Prions pour qu'elle retrouve la paix et une force nouvelle pour celebrer ce centenaire". (D'apres Fides, Rome, 8 fevrier 2000) * Rwanda. Le general Rusatira accuse le procureur - Le general Leonidas Rusatira, notoirement connu pour avoir abrite de nombreux civils pendant le genocide de 1994, alors qu'il commandait l'ecole superieure militaire a Kigali, a diffuse la lettre qu'il a envoyee le 8 fevrier au procureur general pres la Cour supreme de Kigali au sujet d'une nouvelle liste de suspects du genocide publiee par ce dernier. Cette nouvelle liste, qui serait due a l'existence d"erreurs" dans les precedentes selon le procureur, reprend de maniere inattendue le nom du general Rusatira. Ce dernier accuse: "A vos yeux, tout le monde est criminel sauf les inconditionnels du regime ou ceux qui ne sont pas susceptibles de le gener". Le general, qui fut integre en 1995 a l'armee du nouveau regime en raison de son comportement exemplaire, a, depuis, quitte le Rwanda et exprime a de nombreuses reprises son opposition aux abus du regime. (La Libre Belgique, 9 fevrier 2000) * Rwanda. Genocide suspect faces trial - A former Rwandan minister wanted by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), has lost his final appeal in France against extradition on genocide charges. Jean de Dieu Kamuhanda, 46, who was minister for culture and education, was arrested in Bourges where he had been staying since March 19998. He was detained in Paris on charges that he participated in the 1994 genocide. (BBC News, 9 February 2000) * Sahara occidental. Le Polisario s'insurge - Mohamed Abdelaziz, secretaire general du Front Polisario, qui lutte pour l'independance du Sahara occidental depuis 25 ans, a declare a New- York que l'ONU devait organiser le referendum d'autodetermination avant la fin 2000 ou bien mettre fin a sa mission au Sahara (Minurso): "Jamais nous ne pourrons accepter cette date de 2002", a insiste M. Abdelaziz. Ce referendum est deja prevu depuis 1992, mais a sans cesse ete ajourne, et dernierement, sous pression du Maroc, l'Onu s'est dit prete a le repousser a 2002. Mohamed Sidat, ministre conseiller du Polisario, a precise que "les propos de M. Abdelaziz ne sont pas un ultimatum. Mais si la Minurso se limite a superviser un cessez-le-feu "a la chypriote", qu'elle reconnaisse son echec et quitte la region". (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 10 fevrier 2000) * Senegal/Tchad. Habre inculpe - Le 3 fevrier, un tribunal senegalais a inculpe de complicite de torture l'ancien dictateur tchadien Hissene Habre, en exil au Senegal, et l'a place en residence surveillee. Le juge Demba Kandji a decide l'inculpation apres avoir recueilli les temoignages de six victimes, ainsi que des informations faisant etat de plusieurs centaines d'autres crimes. Le proces pourrait avoir lieu dans le courant de l'annee, mais aucune date n'a ete fixee. C'est la premiere fois qu'un ancien chef d'Etat africain est inculpe par une cour etrangere pour des crimes en rapport avec les droits de l'homme. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 4 fevrier 2000) * Senegal. Campagne pour la presidentielle - La campagne pour l'election presidentielle du 27 fevrier a commence le 6 fevrier. Le chef de l'Etat Abdou Diouf, au pouvoir depuis 1980, se presente pour la quatrieme fois. Il a lance sa campagne sous le slogan "Ensemble, changeons le Senegal". Le 5 fevrier, une coalition de vingt partis d'opposition a appele le president a ouvrir des discussions pour un scrutin transparent et a demande le deploiement rapide d'observateurs etrangers. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 8 fevrier 2000) * Senegal. 13 organisations to monitor elections - 4 February: 13 international organisations, involved in electoral issues, have been invited as observers in the 27 February presidential election. President Abdou Diouf tells the nation that this is to ensure a "transparent and sincere" election. He says that he has "taken the initiative to invite international observers to come and freely and impartially monitor the vote". 6 February: The official campaign period has now been launched but already there are allegations of fraud. An opposition alliance (FRTE), grouping about 20 parties, has accused the Socialists, who have governed the country since independence forty years ago, of preparing to massage the results through the use of doctored voting cards. They've also charged the interior minister with tampering with the electoral list. 7 February: Political parties have been urged to refrain from resorting to violence during the campaign. The appeal has come from the Senegalese branch of the West African Movement Against Light Weapons. 8 candidates in the presidential election make their first radio-television broadcasts. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 8 February 2000) * Senegal. Campagne electorale: derive islamiste? - Au second jour de la campagne electorale (21 jours) de la presidentielle senegalaise, prevue pour le 27 fevrier prochain, une "derive islamiste" est constatee par maints observateurs. Ils ont en effet releve que, sur huit concurrents, quatre se signalent par un discours aux tres nombreuses references islamiques, sans que cela ne semble emouvoir ni ebranler les autorites chargees de superviser les elections. Un candidat s'est meme fait representer en train de prier dans une mosquee. Or, malgre une majorite musulmane (quelque 90%), le Senegal est une republique laique et sa Constitution interdit des partis formes sur une base religieuse. Il faut savoir que, au Senegal, le vote religieux, notamment celui des confreries mourides (particulierement influentes) et tidianes a toujours ete et demeure d'un impact particulier, et par consequent tres courtise. De la a penser que la laicite est menacee, il n'y a qu'un pas vite franchi par un grand hebdomadaire local, qui n'a pas hesite a creer, pour la circonstance, un neologisme: l'"Allahcite"... (Alain Agboton, Senegal, 9 fevrier 2000) * Sierra Leone. Pharmaceutical company helps out - The inadequacy of medical equipment and drugs in hospitals in Freetown, means that doctors have to work under strenuous conditions. Many patients cannot be treated because of the lack of essential items in the hospitals. The government, on the other hand, is cash-strapped, and therefore cannot come to the hospitals' rescue. In mid-January this year, a local company, Karisatu Pharmaceuticals, owned by a prominent businessman, Mohammed Jalloh, donated one hundred cartons of assorted fluids worth approximately US $5,000 to the Ministry of Health and Sanitation, Dr. Ibrahim Tejan Jalloh. The minister said: "These fluids will compliment the efforts of the ministry to provide effective health services for the people". He also said the gift comes at a time when it is greatly needed. In 1997, Karisatu Pharmaceuticals had already donated drugs for suffering refugees from Guinea. (Al. R. Jalloh, ANB-BIA, Sierra Leone, 28 January 2000) * Sierra Leone. Renforts de l'Onu - Le 7 fevrier, le Conseil de securite de l'Onu a vote le renforcement de sa force en Sierra Leone, en portant ses effectifs de 6.000 a 11.000 hommes, pour y consolider une paix fragile. Cependant, bien des observateurs se demandent si ces troupes seront capables d'etablir leur autorite dans le pays apres le depart des soldats nigerians. Le mois dernier, des soldats de la paix kenyans et guineens ont ete attaque trois fois par des guerilleros du RUF et se sont laisses depouiller de leurs armes sans offrir de resistance, selon leurs instructions. Selon le directeur de la CIA, dans une declaration au Congres americain le 3 fevrier, les rebelles seraient sur le point de rompre la treve et de reprendre leur campagne de terreur. (ANB- BIA, de sources diverses, 8 fevrier 2000) * Somalie. Plan de paix - Le president djiboutien Ismael Omar Guelleh a presente un plan de paix pour la Somalie, qui a ete discute le 7 fevrier par son gouvernement et des representants occidentaux. L'initiative, la premiere depuis la signature en decembre 1997 d'un accord qui est reste lettre morte, prevoit les etapes suivantes: en fevrier, des symposiums de la societe civile somalienne; en mars, rencontre entre le president Guelleh et un comite de sages; du 15 au 18 avril, une conference de paix pour approuver une structure de transition et designer une assemblee; en mai, cette assemblee elirait un president et un Premier ministre; finalement, avant deux ans, des elections seront organisees. Ce plan a recu le soutien de l'Onu et de plusieurs pays voisins, mais de nombreux chefs de guerre somaliens ont exprime leur scepticisme. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 8 fevrier 2000) * South Africa. Schoolchildren to be tested for HIV - 5 February: South Africa's Department of Health said it plans to start testing schoolchildren for HIV in an effort to gauge how quickly the disease is spreading. The tests would be voluntary and require parental permission. Nearly 10% of the country's 42 million people are estimated to be infected with the AIDS virus. But so far, HIV surveys have tested only pregnant women, giving an incomplete picture of the epidemic. (CNN, 5 February 2000) * South Africa. Mbeki talks tough on unions - 4 February: Opening a new session of Parliament, President Thabo Mbeki pledges to act against poverty, and signals a tougher stance against trade unions. He also praises South Africa's achievements since the release of political prisoners and the unbanning of the African National Congress (ANC) a decade ago. The President's speech suggests the government is distancing itself from the demands of the unions, even though the Congress of South African Trade Unions remains formally allied with the ANC. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 5 February 2000) * Afrique du Sud. Inondations meurtrieres - Au moins 27 personnes sont mortes a la suite d'inondations en Afrique du Sud. Des fortes pluies touchent les provinces du Nord et du Mpumalanga ou se trouve notamment le tres touristique parc Kruger, une des plus importantes reserves animales du pays. (Liberation, France, 9 fevrier 2000) * South Africa. Child Prostitution - The Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for health and welfare in the Northern Province, Mr Sello Moloto, is set to act on child prostitution and intends to visit the area around Messina where child prostitution is known to be on the rampage. (MEC's are like provincial ministers, as South Africa has nine provinces and Messina is an area around the Beit Bridge border post linking South Africa with Zimbabwe.) Mr Moloto confirmed that his ministry is aware of prostitution in the area, and has tried to introduce education programmes to teach sex workers about safe sex. "The situation is worse, now that it involves children. This means we will not have a future generation," said Mr Moloto. The poverty-stricken Northern Province is amongst the poorest in the country, with a high unemployment rate, lack of infrastructures and other inhibiting factors, all contributing to its sad situation. As a result, children as young as nine are trading as sex workers so as to be able to support themselves and their families. Truck drivers who stop at the Beit Bridge border post linking South Africa and Zimbabwe, are very much involved in this trade. (Maqu Makhaye, ANB-BIA, South Africa, 9 February 2000) * Chad. Sudan-Sahara grouping - 5 February: The executive council which prepared today's summit of the Sudan-Saharan Community (COMESSA) in N'djamena, has recommended that Senegal, Djibouti and The Gambia be invited to join the regional grouping. It also called on the summit leaders to adopt the statutes of the proposed African Bank of Development and Commerce, prepared during a ministerial meeting in Benghazi, Libya, last November. The council also urged the summit to determine the first mandate of the chairman of the board of directors of the bank, whose headquarters will be in Libya. The summit ended with the adoption of a wide-ranging security charter, and the admission of the three new countries. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 8 February 2000) * Sudan. Oil production row - 4 February: Canada is considering sanctions on an oil firm involved in Sudan while the UK is promoting export opportunities there for British firms. British ministers faced new criticism yesterday, after The Independent revealed that the Government had urged firms to invest in Sudanese oilfields at the centre of a civil war. Thousands of people have been driven from their homes nearby and some of the oil proceeds have been used to fund the war, say human rights groups. Two British firms, Weir Pumps of Glasgow, and Allen Diesel of Bedford have won contracts to build pumping stations on the pipeline to the Red Sea, part of which have already been bombed. Canadian ministers are considering a critical report on Talisman, Canada's biggest international oil producer in Sudan. The Canadian government has revealed that an airstrip on one of Talisman's concessions, has been used as a staging-point for military operations against rebel forces. (Frans Abrams, The Independent, UK, 4 February 2000) * Sudan. Machar resigns - 5 February: Riek Machar, an assistant to President El-Bashir, has resigned from his post in protest of what he termed as violations to a peace accord he and several other former southern rebels leaders had signed with the Khartoum government. In a resignation letter submitted to the President on 31 December 1999, Machar said he was resigning his offices as Assistant President and Chairman of the Co-Ordination Council of Southern Sudan because "the government has continued to violate the terms of the Khartoum Peace Accord. These violations culminated in the recent appointment of governors for the Southern Sudanese states without referring to the Co-Ordination Council, as stipulated by the peace accord". (Yahya el Hassan, PANA, 5 February 2000) * Sudan. Aid flights suspended - 7 February: The United Nations has suspended aid flights in the Upper Nile region of southern Sudan because of rapidly increasing insecurity. Four people from a UN light aircraft are facing their fifth night in captivity having been seized by pro-government militia on 3 February. Flights have been suspended because, in the words of one UN official, "we don't know who'll be in charge when we land". (BBC News, 7 February 2000) * Uganda. "Uganda keeping peace in Congo" - 4 February: The Ugandan Government says its soldiers are intervening to try and prevent ethnic clashes in the north-east of Congo RDC. Fighting between the Hema and Lendu communities over the past seven months has led to an estimated 2,000 deaths and considerable numbers of people leaving their homes. The Ituri province which is home to the communities, is under the nominal control of rebels allied to Uganda in the civil war. Video footage taken by an aid agency of mutilated bodies and injured people, prompted a statement by President Museveni (Uganda), saying that Ugandan troops had intervened when asked to do so by local authorities, and that the situation is now quiet. (BBC News, 4 February 2000) * Uganda. Landmines planted in northern Uganda - Army Commander, Maj. Gen. Jeje Odongo, has said land mines planted in northern Uganda by Joseph Kony's Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) are from Russia, Italy, Belgium and Iran. "It is true the mines are manufactured in those countries but they may not be supplying the LRA directly. We know there are arms dealers who do that," he said. On 2 February, Odongo was addressing a press conference in Gulu barracks. He accused the LRA of ignoring conventional rules when using land mines. "Conventionally, when you plant mines you are supposed to mark them ...the LRA just throw them anyhow," he said. The Uganda Peoples Defence Force (UPDF) 4th Division Intelligence Officer, Maj. Wycliff Mwesigwa, said the rebels are still holding at least 20 land mines which they brought from Sudan when they entered Uganda on 23 December 1999. The UPDF has since recovered up to 25 anti-personnel and anti-tank mines. The Army Commander warned that the army is now deployed within two hours walking distance from every rebel camp. He urged the insurgents to take advantage of the Amnesty Act or risk being wiped out. (The Monitor, Uganda, 5 February 2000) * Zambia. Plight of the refugees - The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for refugees, Sadako Ogata, when visiting Zambia in January, urged warring factions in Africa to stop fighting and to end the suffering. She says innocent people in Africa have suffered long enough. How long will this go on?" After touring refugee camps in the northern and western parts of Zambia on 27 January, she said: "I have seen for myself that refugees live in deplorable conditions and we have to immediately improve this situation". According to the local UNHCR office, Zambia hosts about 250,000 refugees from Angola and Congo RDC. Ogata says: "It is sad that Africa is producing the laresgt number of refugees in the world. This is a huge task for the UNHCR which has limited resources". (Editor's update -- 8 Feb: The UNHCR has started providing assistance to an estimated 8,000 Angolan refugees in a remote southwest corner of Zambia near the point where the country's borders converge with those of Angola and Namibia's Caprivi Strip). (Gideon Thole, ANB-BIA, Zambia, 1 February 2000) * Zambia. Bishops condemn on-going intolerance - In their Pastoral Letter for the Jubilee Year 2000, Zambia's Catholic Bishops have condemned the growing spirit of intolerance. They wrote: "We urge all Catholics, in families, small communities and lay movements; we call upon Catholic professionals, those in public office, and the decision-making bodies, to disassociate themselves from the conspiracy of silence and apathy in the face of injustice, violation of human rights and rampant corruption which have reached epidemic proportions and which endanger the very fabric of our society". The Bishops also dismissed allegations that the aborted Religious Sisters' demonstration on 28 January 2000, was in support of the dismissed junior doctors and was "donor funded". The Bishops wrote: "Records show that the Catholic Church has consistently spoken out on behalf of the poor silent majority". (8 Feb: Editor's update. President Chiluba says he intends to meet with the Catholic Bishops to discuss their worries about the way the country is being run.) (Albert Sinayobye, ANB-BIA, Zambia 4 February 2000) * Zambia. Voter registration to begin this year - The Electoral Commission will this year commence a continuous voter registration exercise and delimitation of all districts in the country, Vice- President Tembo has said. He stated in Parliament that the Commission is operating under very difficult conditions, hence it needs adequate funding. he said the delimitation and voter registration will commence, subject to funding. (The Post of Zambia, 7 February 2000) * Zambia. This year's Budget - On 28 January, Dr Katele Kalumba, Zambia's Economic and Development Minister, presented the country's annual budget. He announced a reduction of Excise Duty on soft drinks by 15%, resulting in an 11% reduction on the retail price of soft drinks. The tourism sector will also profit from the budget, with tourists enjoying such zero-rated activities as boat cruising, helicopter tours and walking safaris. The Government has also waived visa fees -- prospective tourists were put off coming to Zambia because of these fees -- instead, they made for neighbouring Zimbabwe where such a fee is not charged. (Albert Sinayobye, ANB- BIA, Zambia, 1 February 2000) * Zambia. Parliament debates Kaunda's pension - Parliament has been debating a proposal to withhold the $100,000 pension granted to the former President, Kenneth Kaunda, on the grounds that he has not fully retired from politics. MPs from the ruling Movement for Multiparty Democracy accused Mr Kaunda of conduct unworthy of a former head of state. One MP, Chrisford Ngulube, said Mr Kaunda spent his time in foreign capitals insulting the government which was taking care of him. Another MP, David Kapangalwendo, described Mr Kaunda as a "ghost worker" and said: "We cannot continue paying a ghost". (BBC News, 9 February 2000) * Zimbabwe. Referendum on the Constitution - President Robert Mugabe has gazetted the Referendum Act, enabling the constitutional referendum to be held on 12-13 February 2000. Battle lines now seem to be drawn between the state-run media and the independent press, with the former calling for a "yes" vote and the latter a "no" vote. According to Media Update, a weekly bulletin covering major events in Zimbabwe and published by the Media Monitoring Project, Zimbabwe, the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (state-controlled), the only broadcasting station in the country, has continued to ignore a High Court Order, compelling it to air the National Constitutional Assembly's (NCA) advertisements and other material within 48 hours from 14 January 2000. The NCA is a grouping of civic organisations, opposition political parties and individuals. The NCA is working on a parallel draft Constitution. The NCA says: "Once again, the ZBC/TV has made it clear that it has no respect for the rights of the people of Zimbabwe to information". (Simba Chabarika, Zimbabwe, 5 February 2000) * Zimbabwe. Violence before the vote - Several recent incidents indicate that President Mugabe's supporters have been beating up and threatening those working to reject the draft Constitution in the referendum. Police are accused of failing to take action against those responsible for the attacks. On 5 March, a woman distributing pamphlets opposing the draft Constitution in the Mabvuku township in Harare was beaten by thugs suspected to be ZANU-PF supporters. On 6 February an opposition supporter, Diamond Karanda, was badly beaten in Harare's Highfield township. He claimed a group of ZANU-PF supporters had threatened him. he said armed police then took him to identify some party supporters -- but he was beaten again, while officers stood by. (The Guardian, UK, 9 February 2000) * Zimbabwe. Elections -- a tough test for Mugabe - Likely to give President Mugabe a headache in the April-May 2000 general elections is the labour-backed Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). Technically, Mugabe's presidency is safeguarded by the old Lancaster House Constitution which empowers him to be in office from 1996-2002. The draft of the new Constitution also empowers a new President to begin his term of office in the year 2003, hence leaving Mugabe unchallenged up to the end of the year 2002. To- date, Zimbabwe has more than 15 political parties but the introduction of the MDC, led by Morgan Tsvangirai and Gibson Sibanda, has seen the rise of a strong organised challenge to the ruling ZANU-PF. Also, the birth of the National Convention for Change (NCC), an umbrella body for the opposition parties, has forged a bond of unity among the generally divided opposition parties. (Editor's update: 4 February -- Bishop Peter Hatendi, chairman of the Electoral Supervisory Commission has resigned, in protest at the government's reluctance to amend the country's flawed electoral laws). (Augustine Deke, ANB-BIA, Zimbabwe, 26 January 2000) * Zimbabwe. La tension monte. - La tension monte, au Zimbabwe, a l'approche du referendum sur le projet de la nouvelle Constitution, prevu pour ce week-end. Plusieurs incidents ont eu lieu et plusieurs arrestations sont intervenues a cause des violences. Le ministre de l'Interieur a averti, mardi 6 fevrier, que la police interviendrait pour reprimer energiquement toute violence politique avant ou pendant ce referendum ou les legislatives prevues pour avril prochain. Le gouvernement accuse le Mouvement pour le changement democratique (MDC, oppostion) d'etre a l'origine de ces violences. Mais des observateurs independants pointent le doigt contre le parti du president Mugabe, l'Union nationale africaine du Zimbabwe-Front patriotique (ZANU-PF). Des membres de Zimrights, mouvement pour la defense des droits de l'homme, ont ete agresses et blesses, lundi, par des jeunes du ZANU-PF. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 9 fevrier 2000) * Zimbabwe. AIDS deaths overwhelm cemeteries - According to government figures, 340 people die every day in Harare, 240 of them from AIDS-related illnesses. Zimbabwe, which has a population of about 13 million, has the most shocking AIDS statistics in the world: the UN's most conservative estimate puts the HIV infection rate at 25% of working-age adults. Life expectancy peaked in 1990 at 61. It is now 49. The orphan population is growing by the day, with an increasing number of households being headed either by teenagers or geriatrics. Four-fifths of the country's scarce hospital beds are occupied by AIDS patients. This year alone, 70,000 Zimbabweans are expected to die from AIDS, bringing the cumulative total to more than half a million in the last 14 years. Eladino Zimbwa, curator of cemeteries for Harare, said the government had launched a campaign to encourage cremation. "We are running out of space in the graveyards. At the moment in our two open cemeteries (the five others are full), we have two burials per hour, every hour, between 10am and 3pm, seven days a week. (The Independent, UK, 10 February 2000) END OF PART #3/3 (Rwanda -> Zimbabwe) ====> (From Africa to Congo-RDC see 10a_02_2k) ====> (From Côte d'Ivoire to Nigeria see 10b_02_2k)