Weekly anb06137.txt #7

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

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 13-06-2002      PART #7/7

* Swaziland. Lawyers sue king's regime  -  6 June: Lawyers in Swaziland 
have lodged a complaint with the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) 
against the human rights record of King Mswati's regime. "The government 
should prepare itself to go and explain... why there is blatant disregard 
for the basic and fundamental rights of citizens," a representative for the 
lawyers said. On 5 May, King Mswati put forward a bill suppressing 
political opposition in a country where political parties are banned and 
the king rules by decree. The bill, which is certain to be passed, with no 
opposition in parliament, states that any person carrying the banner of a 
political formation will be fined 2,000 lilangeni ($206) or jailed for two 
years. The Lawyers for Human Rights in Swaziland (LHRS), who waited until 6 
June to announce that they had taken legal action against the authorities 
on 3 May, might have been prompted by the announcement of the Internal 
Security Bill. The secretary general of the LHRS, Thulani Maseko, said that 
his organisation had approached the OAU after Swazi police rejected court 
orders to promote rights.   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 6 June 2002)

* Swaziland. Concern over Internal Security Bill  -  There is some concern 
in Swaziland that the gazetting of a bill aimed at silencing pro-democracy 
groups could jeopardise much needed trade and investment. The Internal 
Security Bill, which seeks to reinforce a royal ban on opposition political 
activity, has also offered ammunition to the very pro-democracy groups it 
seeks to neutralise. In a section certain to inflame pro-democracy labour 
unions, the bill would allow members of the public who suffer property 
damage during a march or demonstration, regardless of who is responsible, 
to sue the organisers of the march. Two years ago, in an industrial 
relations act, a similar measure was included by palace counsellors to King 
Mswati III in an effort to stop the pro-democracy Swaziland Federation of 
Trade Unions from calling workers' stayaways to press for democratic 
reform.   (IRIN, 10 June 2002)

* Tunisie. Rapport sur les droits de l'homme  -  Le harcèlement d'opposants 
au régime tunisien et le nombre de décès dans les prisons est augmenté en 
2001, indique un rapport publié par l'unique organisation de défense des 
droits de l'homme autorisée dans le pays, la Ligue tunisienne pour la 
défense des droits de l'homme (LTDDH). Le régime du président Ben Ali a 
souvent fait l'objet de critiques en Tunisie et à l'étranger, mais c'est la 
première fois depuis 1994 qu'un tel rapport est publié en Tunisie. D'après 
LTDDH, la police a renforcé la répression, physique et verbale, contre les 
militants et les opposants en 2001. "Cette répression s'est traduite par 
des actes de violence, de procès et de condamnations iniques", indique le 
rapport. "La presse demeure ligotée et les journalistes muselés", ajoute 
encore la Ligue. Par ailleurs, "les prisons se caractérisent par leur 
encombrement. Ces conditions carcérales engendrent des conditions 
sanitaires lamentables. (...) Le développement du nombre de décès dans les 
prisons est le résultat de traitements cruels, de violences et de tortures 
exercées sur les détenus ou le résultat de négligences de manque de soins". 
La Ligue a enregistré au moins neuf décès de prisonniers en 
2001.   (Reuters, 6 juin 2002)

* Uganda. Uganda's success in Sudan  -  6 June: Uganda says it has killed 
66 rebels in a battle inside southern Sudan, in a continuing offensive 
against a rebel group operating there. The Ugandan army is trying to wipe 
out the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) -- a shadowy rebel group that has been 
fighting the government of President Yoweri Museveni for 15 years. The LRA 
says it wants to rule Uganda according to the Biblical Ten Commandments but 
has abducted thousands of children, who are used as fighters and sex 
slaves. An army spokesman told reporters that the battle took place on 5 
June in the Imotong Hills region, about 48 kilometres from Sudan's border 
with Uganda. Uganda and Sudan have an agreement allowing Uganda to attack 
LRA's bases inside Sudan. The agreement expires at the end of 
June.   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 6 June 2002)

* Ouganda/Soudan. Combats contre la LRA  -  66 rebelles de la LRA (Armée de 
résistance du Seigneur) ont été tués lors de la dernière bataille avec les 
troupes régulières de Kampala. D'après le quotidien The Monitor, un dur 
accrochage s'est déroulé le 5 juin à la hauteur de Owiny Kibul, à une 
trentaine de km de la frontière séparant l'Ouganda du Soudan. Environ 150 
rebelles descendus des montagnes d'Imotong pour prélever des armes et des 
munitions, sont tombés dans une embuscade tendue par les soldats de 
Kampala. Parmi les tués se trouvait Otim Okello, un important commandant de 
la LRA, le mouvement rebelle basé au Soudan et qui depuis des années 
terrorise la population civile dans la province nord de l'Ouganda. Les 
affrontements ont transformé la zone frontalière en un immense champ de 
bataille. Depuis mars dernier, les troupes ougandaises sont autorisées par 
le Soudan à opérer sur son territoire pour mettre fin aux incursions des 
rebelles. Actuellement, le leader de la LRA, Joseph Kony, et un millier de 
ses hommes se trouveraient encerclés dans leur bastion sur les montagnes 
Imotong, selon une source militaire ougandaise.   (Misna, Italie, 6 juin 2002)

* Uganda. Lake tragedy kills 35  -  8 June: More than 35 people are feared 
dead after a boat capsized on Lake Victoria, Ugandan police say. The 12 
metre boat was ferrying people and goods between islands when it capsized 
during a storm. Police said the vessel was probably overloaded at the time. 
The accident follows a similar disaster last month, when about 30 people 
drowned after a boat capsized on the same lake. In the latest tragedy, the 
boat was believed to have been carrying about 50 passengers when it 
capsized at 1am local time (2200 GMT). Eight people have been rescued, but 
only four bodies have so far been recovered. The accident took place about 
130 kilometres south of Uganda's capital Kampala, police spokesman Asuman 
Mugenyi said. The boat was on its way from the mainland to Bukasa island, 
one of many that dot the lake near the Ugandan shore. Police say accidents 
happen quite frequently on the lake, which has shores in Kenya and Tanzania 
as well as Uganda. The high fatality rates are often blamed on unsafe 
practices by boat owners, such as overloading and failing to provide life 
jackets.   (BBC News, UK, 8 June 2002)

* Ouganda. Naufrage sur le lac Victoria  -  Le 7 juin, près de 40 personnes 
ont été portées disparues après le naufrage d'un bateau en bois de 12 
mètres sur le lac Victoria, qui a fait au moins quatre morts, a annoncé la 
police. Selon le porte-parole, le bateau transportait environ 50 passagers 
lorsqu'il a coulé. Huit personnes ont pu être secourues et quatre cadavres, 
dont ceux de deux enfants, ont été retrouvés. L'embarcation transportait 
aussi du frêt d'île en île dans la partie ouest du lac le plus vaste 
d'Afrique. Lors du naufrage, il se trouvait à environ 130 km au sud de 
Kampala. On ne savait pas dans un premier temps ce qui a causé le naufrage, 
mais la surcharge est souvent à l'origine des fréquents drames que connaît 
cette étendue d'eau, trop vaste pour que la sécurité puisse y être assurée 
correctement, a ajouté le porte-parole. (Ndlr - Une dépêche du 11 juin fait 
état de 70 morts).   (AP, USA, 8 juin 2002)

* Uganda. World Bank inspectors attack dam  -  A controversial 
hydro-electric dam in Uganda backed by the World Bank could damage the 
environment and lead to unfeasibly high electricity prices, according to 
the bank's own inspectors. The proposed $550m Bujagali dam, which would be 
East Africa's largest single foreign direct investment project, has pitted 
domestic and international environmental campaigners against Yoweri 
Museveni, Uganda's president, and the World Bank for several years. The 
report is likely to prove an embarrassment for the bank, further 
questioning its ability to fund large infrastructure projects in poor 
countries. The bank's management has proposed backing the construction of 
the dam -- to be undertaken by the US company AES -- with $250m in 
political risk insurance from the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency, 
its private risk mitigation arm. A planned recent meeting of the bank's 
board to consider this was postponed until next week. The bank has already 
authorised $115m in partial risk guarantees for the project. But the 
confidential independent inspection panel report, seen by the Financial 
Times, says bank staff have failed to assess sufficiently the viability of 
the project, its likely impact on the environment and the possibility of 
alternatives. The report praised the technical competence of the bank's 
proposal, but said that several key elements were missing. Alternatives, 
including geothermal power, had not been adequately considered. It said the 
projections for electricity generation had failed to account for potential 
problems with Uganda's power distribution system. Macroeconomic shocks such 
as a currency depreciation could also jeopardise affordable power and 
endanger the project's viability.   (Financial Times, UK, 11 June 2002)

* Zambia. Anglo American pull-out angers Zambia  -  A dispute between Anglo 
American, the global mining company, and the Zambian government over the 
company's withdrawal from its copper investments on the Copperbelt erupted 
on 6 May at a forum designed to bring African countries and international 
capital closer. Levy Mwanawasa, the Zambian president, accused Anglo 
American at a World Economic Forum summit in Durban of exploiting a 
loophole in its ownership of Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) to avoid paying 
compensation to cover environmental and social costs resulting from the 
mines' closure. "We want foreign investment to come to our country. But 
when foreign investment comes it should show public and corporate 
responsibility. We have been bitten once [by Anglo American]. Next time we 
are going to be shy," said Mr Mwanawasa. "A wrong has been done to Zambia." 
Anglo American announced earlier this year that it would quit Konkola as 
part of a restructuring of its poorly performing base metals division. The 
group blamed the low copper price and said it had underestimated the cost 
of mining the large copper reserve. "Africa must pay its own way. Vision 
and commitment won't take you beyond projects with unviable profitability," 
said Michael Spicer, Anglo American's executive vice-president for 
corporate affairs. KCM produces more than half Zambia's copper, the 
country's top foreign currency earner and the largest employer. After eight 
months of negotiations Anglo American has agreed to pay $30m, but the 
government thinks the company should pay more than $200m. The government is 
in talks with three international mining companies to buy the KCM assets. 
But analysts think Anglo American's decision not to develop the project's 
large copper reserves would make raising finance from banking institutions 
almost impossible for smaller mining companies.   (Financial Times, UK, 7 
June 2002)

* Zimbabwe. Accident: 36 morts  -  Dans la nuit du 9 au 10 juin, au moins 
36 étudiants sont morts brûlés vifs dans un accident de bus à une 
cinquantaine de kilomètres de Masvingo (sud-est du Zimbabwe). 35 autres, 
dont plusieurs se trouvent dans un état critique, ont survécu à l'accident 
et ont été hospitalisés. Le bus des étudiants, qui revenaient d'une 
compétition sportive, est entré en collision avec un camion et a pris feu. 
Les équipes de secours ont travaillé pendant près de douze heures pour 
dégager les corps. Il s'agit du plus grave accident de la route qu'ait 
connu le Zimbabwe.   (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 11 juin 2002)

* Zimbabwe. Road accidents  -  26 May: A senior member of the government, 
the Defence Minister, Moven Mahachi, has been killed in a car crash. State 
television said he died in a head-on collision. He is the second minister 
to die in a road accident in Zimbabwe recently, after Youth and Employment 
Minister Border Gezi was killed late in April. 10 June: 37 trainee teachers 
are burnt to death after their bus collides with a truck near the town of 
Masvingo. 35 students survive and are being treated in Masvingo's hospital. 
The students were returning from a sports tournament in Harare when their 
bus collided with a lorry carrying bags of maize at around midnight local 
time. 11 June: Eleven people are killed in a bus crash in central Zimbabwe. 
The crash occurred near the town of Chivi, not far from Masvingo, the scene 
of the yesterday's tragedy, which was declared a state of national 
disaster. The bus was carrying mainly cross-border traders returning to the 
central town of Gweru from South Africa.   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 11 June 2002)

* Zimbabwe. Le Danemark ferme son ambassade  -  Le Danemark a annoncé la 
fermeture de son ambassade au Zimbabwe suite aux interminables conflits 
politiques qui l'opposent au gouvernement de ce pays. Les relations entre 
Copenhague et Harare se sont détériorées au cours des dernières années, les 
Danois accusant le gouvernement du président Mugabe de graves violations 
des droits de l'homme dans le cadre de l'application de sa politique 
foncière très controversée. Pour leur part, les autorités zimbabwéennes 
accusent le gouvernement danois de s'immiscer dans les affaires internes du 
Zimbabwe, notamment en finançant des partis politiques, une accusation 
rejetée par le Danemark. "Nous avons reconnu que nos relations avec le 
gouvernement zimbabwéen n'ont pas toujours été des meilleures. Nous n'avons 
observé aucune volonté de dialogue et nous ne croyons pas que nous aurions 
pu faire plus pour améliorer la situation dans le pays", a affirmé 
l'ambassadeur du Danemark à Harare.   (PANA, Sénégal, 11 juin 2002)

* Zimbabwe. Journalist on trial  -  12 June: An American journalist working 
for a British newspaper is due to appear in court in Zimbabwe, today, 
charged with publishing falsehoods. If found guilty, Andrew Meldrum, the 
resident correspondent for the Guardian newspaper, could face up to two 
years in jail. The case is a pivotal one for journalists in Zimbabwe -- he 
is the first reporter to be tried under Zimbabwe's draconian and 
internationally condemned press law, the Access to Information and 
Protection of Privacy Act. Since the disputed presidential elections in 
March which saw President Robert Mugabe win, 11 other journalists have been 
charged and are in custody awaiting trial under the law.   (ANB-BIA, 
Brussels, 12 June 2002)


Weekly News - anb06137.txt - #7/7 - THE END


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Un homme meurt chaque fois que l'un d'entre nous se tait devant la tyrannie 
(W. Soyinka, Prix Nobel litterature)
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Everytime somebody keep silent when faced with tyranny, someone else dies 
(Wole Syinka, Nobel Prize for Literature) *
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