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----- Original Message -----
From: "anb-bia" <anb-bia at village.uunet.be>
To: <anb-weekly at ntlist.online.be>
Sent: Thursday, February 20, 2003 6:11 PM
Subject: Weekly anb02206.txt #7


> _____________________________________________________________
> WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 20-02-2003      PART #6/7
>
> * Rwanda. Avant-projet de Constitution  -  Le 18 février, le président de
> la Commission juridique et constitutionnelle, Tito Rutaremara, a remis au
> président Kagame l'avant-projet de la future Constitution pour examen et
> adoption en conseil des ministres avant sa transmission au Parlement, qui
> se fera d'ici à la fin de mars. Deux mois seront ensuite nécessaires pour
> vulgariser le projet adopté, avant de le soumettre au référendum qui est
> prévu en mai, a déclaré M. Rutaremara. Le texte prévoit un régime
> semi-présidentiel, un Parlement bicaméral, l'existence d'un Etat de droit,
> la gestion consensuelle du pouvoir. Il affirme des droits fondamentaux et
> l'égalité de tous les citoyens devant la loi. Le mandat présidentiel
serait
> de 7 ans, renouvelable une fois. Cet avant-projet a nécessité deux ans de
> préparation.   (PANA, Sénégal, 18 février 2003)
>
> * Rwanda. Rwandan pastor on trial  -  19 February: A verdict on the
> landmark case of a Rwandan clergyman and his son who are charged with
> committing genocide is expected today. The United Nations tribunal for
> Rwanda in Arusha, Tanzania, will decide whether Pastor Elizaphan
> Ntakirutmana is guilty of slaughtering Tutsis in 1994. A local leader of
> the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Kibuye district, western Rwanda, he
> pleaded not guilty to all charges. Prosecutors contend that Pastor
> Ntakirutmana and his son actively participated in the mass slaughter in
> western Rwanda. In one notorious incident, Tutsis who had taken shelter in
> a church and hospital complex sent a letter to the pastor. It begged him
as
> a man of God to help. "We wish to inform you", the letter said, that
> tomorrow, "we will be killed with our families." Mr Ntakirutmana's
response
> allegedly was that the unarmed men, women and children should prepare for
> death. Soon after, Hutu militias attacked -- accompanied, it is alleged,
by
> the pastor and his son. Of the hundreds who had sought shelter, only a few
> survived. The pastor himself fled to the United States after the genocide.
> After an extended legal battle, he was eventually extradited to Arusha. He
> and his son deny all the charges. -- Later in the day, Pastor Ntakirutmana
> and his son are both convicted of genocide, complicity in genocide and
> crimes against humanity. The Pastor is sentenced to ten years in prison
and
> his son to twenty-five years. They will appeal.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 19
> February 2003)
>
> * Rwanda. 2 condamnations au TPIR  -  Le 19 février à Arusha, le Tribunal
> pénal international pour le Rwanda (TPIR) a condamné un pasteur adventiste
> rwandais et son fils à 10 et 25 ans de prison pour leur participation au
> génocide de 1994. Elizaphan Ntakirutimana, 78 ans, et son fils Gérard, un
> médecin de 45 ans, ont été reconnus coupables d'avoir "participé à des
> tueries et des attaques et d'avoir causé de graves blessures physiques et
> morales à un grand nombre d'hommes, de femmes et d'enfants qui avaient
> tenté de se réfugier dans les locaux de l'Eglise adventiste du septième
> jour à Mugonero, ainsi que dans la zone de Bisesero", dans l'ouest du
> Rwanda. Depuis sa création, le TPIR n'a rendu que onze verdicts. Son
quartier
> pénitentiaire abrite 54 personnes, dont 22 seulement sont en cours de
> procès.   (Libération, France, 20 février 2003)
>
> * South Africa. Wind changes for South Africa's black brokers  -  The
> Johannesburg Securities Exchange dominates the African continent and is a
> glittering, high-technology symbol of South Africa's economic maturity.
Yet
> of the country's 550 stockbrokers, only 10 are black. After eight years of
> majority rule, the country's financial sector remains dominated by whites,
> prompting the government to pursue the tack taken in the mining sector:
> legislative intervention is necessary to encourage or even force change.
> The financial services empowerment charter, expected by mid-year, will set
> down the rules for the sector. Debate has already started and is likely to
> be heated but those in the industry hope it will create less controversy
> than the much-debated mining charter, which was preceded by a sell-off of
> mining stocks by overseas investors. "We are tired of waiting and it is
> clear that goodwill alone is not enough," says Emmanuel Lediga, founder
and
> chief executive of Legae Securities, the oldest black-owned stockbroking
> firm. "The charter offers hope. An enforcement mechanism is needed, with
> specific ownership quotas and precise timeframes. Now is the time to act
> decisively because there is a new momentum for change". "The sector will
> have to be more innovative because BEE (Black Economic Empowerment) has
> become a key strategic issue," says Mark Anderson, director of African
> Harvest Capital. "There will be interesting developments this
> year."   (Financial Times, UK, 17 February 2003)
>
> * South Africa. Catholic Bishops reply to President's State of the Nation
> Speech  -  On 17 February, the Southern African Catholic Bishops
Conference
> (SACB) congratulated President Mbeki on his firm stand in favour of a
> peaceful solution to the Iraqi crisis. However, the Bishops expressed
their
> disappointment with the President's treatment of two issues of vital
> consequence for South and Southern Africa: the AIDS pandemic and the
> Zimbabwe crisis. On both counts, the SACB pleads with the State President
> that he take the nation into his confidence in an effort to formulate and
> implement clear and open policies, so that all sectors of society may
> become engaged in seeking just and equitable solutions.   (SACB, 17
> February 2003)
>
> * South Africa. Arms experts being sent to Iraq  -  A team of South
African
> experts on weapons disarmament will travel to Iraq by the end of the week
> to assist the country, South African President Thabo Mbeki said on 18
> February. The group will "inform and advise" Iraqi President Saddam
Hussein
> about how South Africa dismantled its nuclear weapons program in the early
> 1990s, he said. The group of seven men includes scientists and a member of
> a government office focusing on peace initiatives. "Between them they will
> be able to address all matters that relate to nuclear, chemical and
> biological weapons of mass destruction, missile systems, nonproliferation
> and disarmament," Mbeki told a session of Parliament in Cape Town. They
> have worked with the UN Conference on Disarmament and other international
> bodies responsible for the enforcement of the nuclear nonproliferation
> treaty and chemical and biological weapons conventions, he said. The UN's
> chief weapons inspector, Hans Blix, mentioned in his report to the
Security
> Council on 14 February that Baghdad had accepted the South African offer
of
> disarmament consultation. @CITA_1 = (CNN, USA, 18 February 2003)
>
> * South Africa, At centre of child sex trade  -  South Africa has become a
> market for children sold into prostitution from Africa, Europe and the Far
> East, a report to the UN commission on human rights said. Children from
> Angola, Mozambique, Senegal, Kenya, Ethiopia and Uganda, Eastern Europe,
> Thailand and China are being either lured or kidnapped to the country to
> become prostitutes on the streets of Johannesburg and Cape Town, a report
> by experts to the commission said. Angolan, Congolese and Nigerian
criminal
> rings are responsible for much of the trafficking, but criminal elements
> from Bulgaria, Thailand, China and Russia are also said to be involved.
The
> report was compiled by UN officials who visited South Africa last year to
> investigate the high incidents of abuse, rape and child prostitution. The
> hunger crisis in southern Africa, which is affecting about 15 million
> people, is contributing to an increase in trafficking of children, the
> report said. It also found that lack of public freedoms and equality under
> apartheid was often among the causes of abuse. "The traditional relations
> of family harmony were seriously damaged by decades of oppression and
> contempt, and their present manifestations in devious forms are shocking,"
> the report said. Some parents sell their own children into prostitution.
> Many who have been orphaned by Aids sell their bodies for sex in order to
> survive. Last year the South African human rights commission found that
> almost one-third of children in the country had been sexually abused.
> However, UN investigators found there was no framework for children who
> have been abused or are in need of treatment for Aids.   (The Guardian,
UK,
> 19 February 2003)
>
> * South Africa. Moves on black ownership  -  On 18 February, the South
> African government said it would push ahead with reforms to widen black
> ownership of the economy in spite of investor doubts about how best it can
> be achieved. Alec Erwin, minister of trade and industry, told mining
> companies and international investors at an annual mining conference that
> his government had taken the first steps to transform South Africa's
> formerly white-dominated economy, but that more were needed to reverse the
> effects of apartheid. "We cannot see an economy that can grow or be stable
> over time if there is one racial group not benefiting from that economy.
We
> are not going to bring out a process that would detract from growth, but
we
> are not going to do nothing about it [white dominance]." Bringing South
> Africa's black majority into the mainstream economy is essential for the
> country's long-term stability. But analysts fear that South African
> companies will lose value by having to sell assets off cheaply to achieve
> empowerment targets. Confidence in the South African mining sector was
> rocked last year by fears that the government wanted to take an
aggressive,
> fast-track approach to boosting black participation in the sector. A draft
> mining charter proposing ambitious empowerment targets unnerved investors
> and sent local mining stocks spiralling downward. Confidence has since
been
> restored by agreement between the government and mining companies on less
> ambitious equity ownership targets and a broad empowerment agenda covering
> employment equity, training and corporate social
> responsibility.   (Financial Times, UK, 19 February 2003)
>
> * Soudan. Prisonniers politiques libérés  -  Un nombre non précisé de
> prisonniers politiques soudanais a été libéré à l'occasion de la fête
> musulmane de l'Aïd el Kébir, a-t-on appris à Khartoum dans la presse du
> samedi 15 février. Parmi eux figure Ibrahim Sanoussi, ancien gouverneur de
> l'Etat de Nord-Kordufan, une personnalité de premier plan du Parti
> populaire du Congrès national (PNCP) de Hassan el Tourabi. Deux autres
> personnalités du PNCP et trois leaders du mouvement étudiant du parti ont
> aussi retrouvé la liberté, mais onze de leurs militants sont encore
> derrière les barreaux. Le gouvernement a également libéré des militants
> d'autres partis de l'opposition. La détention sans procès a occupé une
> place importante dans les discussions avec une délégation d'Amnesty
> International qui était en visite au Soudan au début du mois de
> février.   (PANA, Sénégal, 15 février 2003)
>
> * Sudan. Can Africa bring peace to Sudan>  -  In a Press Statement, Sudan
> Focal Point-Africa (SFP-A), an ecumenical peace and advocacy ministry of
> Sudanese and international Churches, said: "Following the recent visit to
> Khartoum by the South African Foreign Minister, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma,
> as Chair of the African Union, the Churches of both Sudan and South Africa
> will take a keen interest in the role of the African Union and the South
> African government in supporting the Sudanese peace process. The Churches
> and their international partners are holding the annual Assembly of the
> Sudan Ecumenical Forum in South Africa from 23-27 February, shortly before
> the Sudan peace negotiations resume in Nairobi. The Church has been the
> only consistent voice of Sudanese civil society at both the local and
> international level during the long-running conflict in Sudan. As more
> breaches of the cease-fire by the government of Sudan come to light, and
as
> the international community focuses its attention on another potential war
> in Iraq, it is more important than ever that Africa should not forget the
> suffering Sudanese people. The theme of the Assembly is "The Role of the
> Church in the Peace-Building Process in Sudan". Amongst other topics, the
> delegates will reflect on post-conflict reconciliation, and relations
> between Christianity and Islam, in the light of the South African
> experience. On Sunday 23 February 2003 the Assembly will begin with a
> public ecumenical service in St Alban's Anglican Cathedral in Pretoria at
6
> pm. On 27 February the Assembly will conclude with a press conference and
> public briefing at the Methodist Central Church in Johannesburg at 10
> am.   (SFP-A, South Africa, 19 February 2003)
>
> * Tanzania. Government seeks Chinese aid to modernise railway  -  Tanzania
> is seeking Chinese aid to modernise the 1,860.5-km Tazara railway linking
> Tanzania to landlocked Zambia at New Kapiri Mposhi, the New China News
> Agency, Xinhua, has reported. Xinhua, which is the official Chinese news
> agency, said on 11 February that Tanzanian Communication and Transport
> Minister Mark Mwandosya had expressed "the hope" while welcoming the
> chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political
> Consultative Conference, Li Ruihuan, at Tazara's Dar es Salaam terminus.
> "We seek your support in further strengthening the infrastructure,
> modernising the locomotive fleet, re-equipping workshops and strengthening
> the Tazara centre in Mpika," the agency quoted Mwandosya as saying. China,
> it said, had helped with the feasibility studies, design and construction
> of the Arusha-Musoma railway line, which Mwandosya said was conducive to
> the peace and economic growth of the Great Lakes region. Tazara, or the
> Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority, was completed and opened to traffic in
> July 1975, after five years of construction by Chinese, Tanzanian and
> Zambian engineers and workers. With 977.3 km of the line in Tanzania and
> 883.2 km in Zambia, it was built as an alternate lifeline to Zambia during
> the eras of apartheid in South Africa and the illegal minority government
> in Rhodesia, now independent Zimbabwe.   (IRIN, Kenya, 12 February 2003)
>
> * Tunisie. Gréviste de la faim en danger  -  L'état de santé d'un opposant
> tunisien islamiste emprisonné, Hammadi Jebali, "s'est considérablement
> dégradé, après plus d'un mois de grève de la faim", s'alarme l'Association
> internationale de soutien aux prisonniers politiques. Selon l'AISPP (non
> autorisée à Tunis), Jebali a dû être transféré le 12 février aux urgences
> d'un hôpital de Bizerte, information démentie de source officielle.
Jebali,
> 54 ans, a été condamné à plus de 17 ans de prison, en 1991 et 1992, pour
> appartenance au mouvement islamiste Ennadha (interdit), dont il était l'un
> des dirigeants.   (Libération, France, 17 février 2003)
>
> * Ouganda. Menace de famine dans le nord  -  L'Onu a lancé un cri d'alarme
> attirant l'attention sur la situation qui prévaut au nord de l'Ouganda où
> plus d'un million de personnes risque de manquer de nourriture et d'aide
> alimentaire en raison des hostilités persistantes entre les forces
> gouvernementales et les rebelles de l'Armée de résistance du Seigneur
> (LRA). La situation dans le nord est aggravée par les mauvaises récoltes
> entraînant une baisse des stocks alimentaires des ménages. Les combats ont
> également rendu difficile l'accès des personnes déplacées à leurs maisons
> et fermes afin de s'adonner à la culture durant la saison agricole qui
doit
> commencer le mois prochain. La population est presque totalement isolée du
> reste du pays. Et le Programme alimentaire mondial (PAM) a dû réduire ses
> activités de 50%.   (PANA, Sénégal, 13 février 2003)
>
> Weekly anb0220.txt - #6/7
>
>
>