Weekly anb09204.txt #6

[anb-bia <anb-bia at village.uunet.be>]

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 20-09-2001      PART #4/ 6

* Guinée-Bissau. "Dérive dictatoriale"  -  Le 11 septembre, les avocats 
bissau-guinéens ont vigoureusement condamné l'attitude du chef de l'Etat 
Koumba Yalla, l'accusant de violer la Constitution, après le limogeage de 
trois juges conseillers de la Cour suprême. Ils ont soutenu les magistrats 
face à ce qu'ils appellent "la dérive dictatoriale du chef de l'Etat". Le 6 
septembre, le président Yalla avait limogé le procureur de la République, 
remplacé par l'ancien Premier ministre Caetano Ntchama. Les instances 
judiciaires sont à couteaux tirés avec le chef de l'Etat qui avait, le 30 
août, traité les magistrats de "menteurs, médiocres et corrompus". Un juge 
de Bissau a récemment cassé une décision du président interdisant une 
association islamique.   (PANA, Sénégal, 13 septembre 2001)

* Guinea-Bissau. Landmine clearance continues around Bissau  -  Work to 
clear landmines from the outskirts of Bissau being carried out by an NGO 
called HUMAID is continuing to the satisfaction of the people in charge of 
the operation. No person has been injured in the course of this dangerous 
work so far, John Blacken, the head of HUMAID, told PANA. He added: "We 
have already demined 1,600 landmines over an area of 111,000 square metres. 
We have been deactivating at least 25 landmines every 10 meters". Blacken 
expressed satisfaction with the work being carried out by a team of 
veterans who are paid 200,000 CFA francs monthly (280 US dollars). The mine 
clearers are from Angola, Mozambique or elsewhere in Africa, he said. "We 
are doing a humanitarian job," he added. Major Abel Nancassa, a 
Guinea-Bissau officer, said that the mine clearers were working without any 
guidance as to where the deadly weapons were planted. "There is no mine 
clearance map," he said, which the searchers could use to guide them. Some 
20,000 landmines were buried in Guinea-Bissau, especially around the 
capital, the scene of the fiercest fighting between rebel and government 
forces in June 1998. The mines were planted during the 11-month war which 
killed 2,500 people and left 3,000 houses destroyed, in addition to 
displacing 8,000 people.   (PANA, Senegal, 18 September 2001)

* Guinée-Bissau. Sauterelles  -  Dans le sud de la Guinée-Bissau, un essaim 
de sauterelles menace des centaines d'hectares de cultures et le cheptel de 
quelque 1.400 familles, a rapporté la télévision publique. Quelque 620 
champs de paddy à Catchaque et un millier d'hectares à Mato Faroba ont été 
envahis par les insectes. Le ministre de l'Agriculture a lancé un appel à 
l'aide internationale, soulignant que la Guinée-Bissau ne dispose pas des 
ressources nécessaires pour combattre le fléau.   (IRIN, Abidjan, 18 
septembre 2001)

* Kenya. High salaries for judges  -  The authorities in Kenya have awarded 
high salary rises to judges in what they say is move to help fight 
corruption. The rise which takes immediate effect is over 400 percent. The 
Chief Justice will now earn about two-thousand-five-hundred dollars a 
month. He will also be given transport allowance in addition to the vehicle 
which is provided for him by the government. Judges' salaries were last 
reviewed in 1996. However, magistrates and junior judiciary officers, who 
have not been awarded the increases, are likely to protest against the new 
salaries.   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 18 September 2001)

* Kenya. Rubbish piles hit Mombasa tourism  -  Tourists are being driven 
from Mombasa after striking refuse workers dumped mountains of rubbish in 
the Kenyan coastal city. Thousands of city council workers are on strike 
saying they are owed three months wages and there have been angry 
confrontations with police. Tour operators said they were staying away from 
central Mombasa to avoid clashes -- and the stench from the rubbish piles 
which has been made worse by the heat and humidity. "It is disgusting, we 
have called off the city tour and we have taken our clients shopping in a 
safer part of town," managing director of tour operator African Quest 
Tasneem Adamji said. On 18 September, the workers, involved in running 
battles with police since they went on strike last week, dumped a dead goat 
and piles of refuse inside Mombasa's city hall. They have vowed to continue 
littering the Indian Ocean resort until they receive arrears of 65 million 
shillings ($824,000) owed to them by the municipal council. "We shall not 
resume work until the mayor and his entire council are removed and a 
commission set up to run the council," one worker said.   (CNN, USA, 18 
September 2001)

* Kenya. Hijack attacks revive Kenya memories  -  Nairobi is thousands of 
miles from America, but in this corner of Africa, the news of terrorist 
attacks in New York City and Washington D.C. brought back painful memories 
for many Kenyans. In 1998, terrorist attacks on the American embassies here 
and in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania killed 231 people and injured thousands. A 
park was built where the rubble once lay and reconstruction continues. 
Kenyans joined Americans in mourning at a special prayer service, and 
warned that the emotional recovery can take "a lifetime." Charles Abiud, a 
Kenyan computer manager, said he once went to the top of the World Trade 
Centre, and "I was proud to see the world on top of that building, and now 
when I found it was collapsing, I got shocked. I personally felt I was 
sinking down with it, the way I was up there." Abiud's has advice for 
victims of the American attacks. Professional counselling he says, didn't 
help victims of the Nairobi bombing, as much as sharing their feelings with 
a group of people.   (CNN, USA, 18 September 2001)

* Kenya. Restructuration à la KANU  -  Le 18 septembre, le parti de la 
KANU, au pouvoir, a annoncé une profonde restructuration de sa hiérarchie, 
initiative considérée par les observateurs comme la dernière étape avant la 
concrétisation du projet de fusion avec le Parti du développement national 
(NDP) de l'opposition. Cinq nouveaux postes seront créés, dont celui d'un 
troisième vice-président, probablement réservé au leader du NDP, Raila 
Odinga. Le 16 septembre, le journal Standard avait publié un article qui 
prévoyait la dissolution du NDP dès le début du mois d'octobre.   (D'après 
PANA, Sénégal, 19 septembre 2001)

* Liberia. Archbishop attacks corruption  -  The Liberian Finance Minister, 
Nathaniel Barnes, has described accusations of corruption by an outspoken 
Roman Catholic Archbishop as unfounded. The Archbishop, Michael Francis, 
had said the finance minister was responsible for the alleged disappearance 
of large sums of money at the finance ministry. Mr Barnes called on the 
Archbishop to provide evidence to support his allegations. Correspondents 
say the row between the Minister and Archbishop reflects growing 
frustration with allegations of corruption in government circles.   (BBC 
News, UK, 14 September 2001)

* Malawi. Human rights violations rising  -  Political violence, ethnic 
intolerance and other forms of human rights violations are on the rise in 
Malawi, the country's Human Rights Commission has said. The commission said 
in a report that human rights violations in 2000 more than doubled those of 
1999, while figures for 2001 are projected to rise over 60 percent of last 
year's. The most serious violations circle around political violence where 
machete-wielding political activists fight each other in a bid to 
discourage voters from going to the polls to vote for other parties' 
candidates. The report noted that most of the political violence occurred 
during elections as parties desperately tried to retain or wrestle seats 
from opponents. Chairman of the Human Rights Commission, the Reverend 
Father Alfred Nsope of the Catholic Church, said other forms of human 
rights abuses included denial or delayed access to justice, unfair labour 
practices characterised by nepotism and unfair dismissals and denial to 
property rights, among others. "Our study shows that during elections the 
process is affected by violence due to political and ethnic intolerance," 
he said. Prisoners were also among the victims of human rights violations. 
According to Nsope, Malawian prisons were more like condemnatory 
institutions rather than reformatory ones. "Our visits to prisons indicated 
that there is a great need to improve and rehabilitate all prisons in our 
country in order to transform prisons into reformatory rather than 
condemnatory institutions they currently portray," he said. Another subtle 
form of human rights violations on the increase in Malawi is poverty. The 
report noted that there has been a widening gap between the rich and the 
poor in the country.   (PANA, Senegal, 17 September 2001)

* Malawi. Violations des droits humains  -  La violence politique, 
l'intolérance ethnique et les autres formes de violations des droits 
humains sont de plus en plus fréquentes au Malawi, estime la Commission 
nationale des droits de l'homme. La commission constate dans un rapport 
que, pour l'année 2000, les violations des droits humains ont plus que 
doublé par rapport à l'année précédente, tandis que déjà les projections 
pour 2001 laissent envisager une progression de 60% des chiffres de l'année 
dernière. Les violations les plus graves sont généralement constatées dans 
le domaine politique, avec des bagarres qui opposent des militants porteurs 
de machettes et motivés par le désir de décourager les électeurs de se 
rendre aux urnes. D'autres abus ont été relevés, notamment le déni de 
justice, les droits à la propriété, les pratiques abusives dans le domaine 
des relations du travail caractérisées par le népotisme et les 
licenciements abusifs. Les prisonniers font aussi partie des violations des 
droits humains, a observé le Rév. Alfred Nsope de l'Eglise catholique, 
président de la commission. Le rapport en appelle à des efforts concertés 
de la part du gouvernement, des partis politiques et des ONG pour renverser 
la tendance.   (PANA, Sénégal, 17 septembre 2001)

* Malawi. Tobacco growers ban child labour  -  The Tobacco Association of 
Malawi says it has formed a task force to eliminate child labour on tobacco 
farms. The association's vice-president Amin Mponda-Lungu said the practice 
was evil and had to stop. Malawi has been accused of being the worst 
offender in the region for exploiting child labour. The minimum working age 
in Malawi is fourteen, and those found breaking the law can be jailed for 
up to five years. Tobacco provides seventy-percent of Malawi's foreign 
exchange earnings.   (BBC News, UK, 18 September 2001)

* Malawi. Scrambling for livestock feed  -  On 18 September, there was 
shoving and pushing in Blantyre's main business district of Limbe, as 
desperate hungry people scrambled for maize bran normally sold for 
livestock feed. Some of these people came from as far as 200 km. They had 
not been able to buy the maize itself which is becoming increasingly scarce 
and very expensive for the average Malawian. President Muluzi has assured 
malawians that he will not allow them to starve. He says he has negotiated 
with South Africa -- the only country in the region to produce surplus 
maize -- to export some to Malawi.   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 19 September 2001)

* Mali. Flood situation  -  There has been criticism of the authorities in 
Mali following floods in the capital. Residents of Bamako say the National 
Energy Corporation failed to take the right precautions and opened floods 
gates on the Niger river. Thousands of people have fled their homes and are 
living in temporary shelter, after flood waters swept through their 
neighbourhoods. The authorities say rains, said to be the heaviest in 40 
years, caused the floods. Government officials have been touring affected 
areas to assess the damage.   (BBC News, UK, 14 September 2001)

* Maroc. Militants des droits de l'homme  -  Le procès en appel de 36 
militants de l'Association marocaine des droits de l'homme (AMDH, 
indépendante) condamnés à trois mois de prison en mai, a été reporté au 16 
octobre. La cour d'appel de Rabat a décidé de l'ajourner parce que trois 
prévenus n'étaient pas présents. Les prévenus restent en liberté 
provisoire. Ils avaient été condamnés le 16 mai dernier pour avoir organisé 
le 9 décembre 2000 une manifestation non autorisée à Rabat à l'occasion de 
la journée internationale des droits de l'homme. L'ouverture du procès en 
appel s'est déroulée en présence d'un collectif de défense d'une 
cinquantaine d'avocats ainsi que de nombreux observateurs étrangers.   (La 
Libre Belgique, 18 septembre 2001)

* Namibia. Land redistribution  -  Ministers from nine southern African 
countries are meeting in the Namibian capital, Windhoek, to try to find a 
solution to the problem of land redistribution in the region. Opening the 
three-day meeting of the South African Development Community (SADC), the 
Namibian President, Sam Nujoma, said lasting peace and development in 
southern Africa hinged on the land redistribution issue which had been one 
of the main aims of the liberation struggles in African countries. The 
meeting is being held against the background of the seizure of white-owned 
farms in Zimbabwe by supporters of President Robert Mugabe. The Zimbabwean 
government has said it will end the seizures in exchange for British 
funding for its land reform programme.   (BBC News, UK, 18 September 2001)

* Namibie. SADC: la réforme agraire  -  Le 18 septembre, les ministres de 
la Terre de la Communauté pour le développement de l'Afrique australe 
(SADC) ont entamé à Windhoek une réunion de concertation destinée à 
échanger leurs expériences sur la réforme agraire dans la sous-région. 
Ouvrant la rencontre, le président namibien Sam Nujoma a indiqué que des 
progrès significatifs doivent être faits en matière de réforme agraire dans 
son pays pour que celui-ci conserve sa stabilité politique et son harmonie 
raciale. Les fermiers blancs y détiennent 30,4 millions d'hectares contre 
2,2 millions pour les Noirs. Le programme de réinstallation est resté très 
modeste jusqu'ici: 30.000 personnes ont été réinstallées depuis 
l'indépendance. Selon M. Nujoma, la SADC a besoin de corriger les 
déséquilibres extraordinaires.   (D'après PANA, Sénégal, 19 septembre 2001)

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