[Prec. per data] [Succ. per data] [Prec. per argomento] [Succ. per argomento] [Indice per data] [Indice per argomento]

Weekly anb06051.txt #5

ANB-BIA - Av. Charles Woeste 184 - 1090 Bruxelles - Belg
TEL **.32.2/420 34 36 fax /420 05 49 E-Mail: editor at anb-bia.org
_____________________________________________________________
WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 05-06-2003      PART #1/5
* Afrique. Le statut de RSF à l'Onu - Reporters sans frontières (RSF) est menacé de perdre pour un an son statut de membre consultatif auprès de l'Onu, à la suite d'un vote du comité des Nations unies chargé des ONG. Ce vote, s'il était confirmé en juillet par le Conseil économique et social de l'Onu, priverait RSF du droit de participer, oralement ou par écrit, aux réunions de la commission des droits de l'homme. Le vote, intervenu à la suite d'une plainte de la délégation cubaine, a été endossé par 9 pays sur 19, dont la Chine, la Côte d'Ivoire et la Russie. (La Croix, France, 30 mai 2003)
* Afrique. La Facilité d'investissement - Le 2 juin, la Facilité d'investissement, nouvel instrument financier de l'Accord de Cotonou, a été lancé au Luxembourg au siège de la Banque européenne d'investissement (BEI). Doté d'une enveloppe de 2,2 milliards d'euros, la Facilité d'investissement est un nouvel instrument financier destiné à promouvoir le secteur privé dans les pays d'Afrique, des Caraïbes et du Pacifique (ACP). Afin de rapprocher des entrepreneurs africains, le BEI a créé trois bureaux permanents en Afrique, à Dakar, Pretoria et Nairobi. Grâce à des prêts, des garanties et divers instruments assortis d'un partage de risques, la Facilité permettra de financer des projets gérés selon des critères commerciaux aussi bien dans le secteur public que privé. Le BEI est l'institution financière qui accorde des prêts à des pays tiers ayant signé un accord de coopération avec l'Union européenne. (PANA, Sénégal, 3 juin 2003)
* Africa. Africa and the G8 Summit - 29 May: The British charity ActionAid describes the lack of progress by rich countries on implementing fair trade terms for Africa as a scandal. ActionAid says promises made at the last meeting of the world's rich nations had not been kept and Africa was again slipping off the agenda in favour of Iraq. The report by ActionAid is not a simple appeal for funds. In fact it welcomes an increase in development aid to Africa over the past year, but it says it is just as important, if not more so, that there should be a level playing field on trade so Africa can improve its lot without charity handouts. 1 June: First day of the summit. To be discussed is the issue of the world's water supply. Although Africa does not form part of the core G8, the continent is sending a delegate. This year it is President Omar Bongo of Gabon. 2 June: A group of African leaders who were guests at the G8 summit, have criticised their hosts' performance on debt relief for poor countries, most of them in Africa. -- Leaders of the world's richest countries have agreed to provide millions of dollars to help fight AIDS in Africa, but under present trade rules, much of the cash will go to multinational pharmaceutical companies. The leaders have failed to make any progress on new trade rules to allow poor countries to buy cheap, generic versions of new medicines, including the drugs that can help arrest AIDS. The leaders have agreed to step up the implementation of plans to create an African peacekeeping force. The move has been largely driven by France and Britain. The aim will be to provide funding and technical assistance. The peacekeeping force will be drawn from across the continent and will include civilians trained in policework as well as military personnel. 3 June: The G8 group of major industrial nations wind up their summit with a lukewarm statement of confidence in a global economic recovery. The final communique talks of "major downside risks" having receded and states confidently that "the conditions for a recovery are in place". But the G8 leaders leave vague when they believe this recovery is likely to occur and in which of the three major economic areas -- the US, the EU and Japan -- the recovery is likely to first occur. There is no mention in the final statement of exchange rates and the current sharp depreciation of the dollar against the euro. The G8 commit themselves to trying to unblock the stalled trade talks in the Doha round but concessions on agricultural subsidies are not formally made by any of the European countries, particularly France. One of the main successes of the two-day meeting at this lakeside resort is a commitment to give renewed impact to addressing development problems in Africa, described by President Chirac as the neglected continent. The G8 heard a detailed report from five African leaders on the problems of achieving progress on the Nepad initiative, which encourages African countries to improve their governance in return for increased investment and a "new partnership" in addressing development issues. An African peacekeeping force is now expected to be set up with G8 technical and financial assistance; and the EU has been pressed by President Chirac to match the billion dollar new annual commitment by the US to fund the fight against AIDS. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 3 June 2003)
* Afrique. Réunion du G8 - Le dimanche 1er juin, le club des grandes puissances, le G8, s'est réuni à Evian (France). Le président français, Jacques Chirac, a présenté son projet de création d'un Fonds mondial contre la faim, financé sur la taxation des ventes internationales d'armes. Le secrétaire général de l'Onu, Kofi Annan, présent à Evian, a appelé à de nouveaux efforts sur trois thèmes: l'allégement de la dette (qui doit être "plus important et plus rapide"), l'accès aux marchés, et l'aide publique au développement. Dans la soirée du dimanche, l'Afrique a été évoquée avec les dirigeants du Sénégal, de l'Afrique du Sud, du Nigeria, d'Algérie et d'Egypte, représentant les pays du Nouveau partenariat pour le développement de l'Afrique (NEPAD), lors d'un dîner. Les membres du G8 se sont engagés à renforcer leur partenariat avec l'Afrique. Ils se sont aussi engagés à soutenir la création d'ici 2010 d'une force inter-africaine de maintien de la paix, capable d'intervenir rapidement partout en Afrique. Le conseiller de M. Chirac pour l'Afrique, Michel Camdessus, a souligné l'importance accordée par le NEPAD aux problèmes de prévention et de règlement des conflits en Afrique, affirmant que ces points constituent le premier chapitre du nouveau partenariat, sans lequel il ne pourra y avoir d'investissements. - Par ailleurs, une manifestation "G8 illégal" a rassemblé au moins 50.000 personnes, formant deux cortèges partis de part et d'autre de la frontière franco-suisse qui devaient se rejoindre. Pendant ce temps, un "sommet des pauvres" (cfr. Mali) a débuté samedi au Mali dans le village de Siby, en présence de 400 délégués. Cette rencontre est organisée par la section nationale de Jubilé 2000, la campagne internationale pour l'annulation de la dette des pays pauvres. Les participants parleront notamment des subventions que les pays riches réservent à leur propre secteur agricole, entraînant une baisse de compétitivité des produits du tiers monde sur les marchés occidentaux. -- A la fin du sommet, le 3 juin, on devait constater que les pays du Sud sont repartis avec de belles promesses et peu d'engagements concrets. Le continent africain, pourtant invité d'honneur, n'aura obtenu finalement qu'une litanie de bonnes intentions. Les Etats-Unis ont campé sur le refus de donner au Sud la possibilité d'importer ou de fabriquer des médicaments génériques. L'allègement de la dette se perd dans un labyrinthe bureaucratique. Et les subventions agricoles occidentales à l'exportation, dont le dumping ruine les paysans du Sud, restent sept fois plus importantes que l'aide publique au développement. La solidarité promise est restée en grande partie lettre morte. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 4 juin 2003)
* Africa. Human rights abuses - Egypt: In a 28 May press release, the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR) expressed great concern over the detention of five anti-war activists who have been detained by the Egyptian authorities since the middle of April. They are: Mohammed Hassan Hassan (student), Wael Mohammed Tawfiq (journalist), Ramz Jihad (student), and Marwan Ahmad. Each of these individuals was detained under the Emergency Law in Bourg El-Arab Prison in Alexandria. In addition, Ashraf Ibrahim Marzouq (engineer) is currently in pre-trial detention in Tora prison, under case #809 (2003). He is charged with filming a demonstration and having certain publications in his possession. He will appear before the State Security Prosecution on 1 June 2003. EOHR confirms that all these individuals are currently enduring poor prison conditions and are being refused visitation rights. EOHR further confirms that Ashraf Marzouq is being detained along with some 40 other prisoners in a small cell of under 15 cubic metres. EOHR is particularly concerned that there has been no communication with any of these individuals. It is probable that they are being subjected to torture, something they were forced to endure immediately after being arrested and brought to the state security office in Lazoughly, Cairo. -- On 3 June, Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) protested the imprisonment of newspaper editor Mustapha Bakri and Mahmoud Bakri, his brother and fellow journalist, on 2 June 2003. They were both jailed after an Appeals Court upheld their conviction and one-year prison sentences for libel on 1 June. "We call for the immediate release of these journalists, who could be fined if they have broken the law, but should under no circumstances be sentenced to prison," RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard said. "At a time when Egypt wants to establish a human rights council and there is talk of doing away with state security courts, it does not serve the country's image to imprison journalists for press crimes," Ménard noted. Mustapha Bakri is editor of the weekly Al Ousbou. His brother Mahmoud is a journalist with the same paper. On 1 June, an Appeals Court upheld the one-year prison sentences they received three years ago. They are being held in Tora prison, south of Cairo. Mustapha and Mahmoud Bakri were convicted of libelling Mohammed Abdel Al, head of the opposition Social Justice Party and editor of the newspaper Al-Watan Al-Arabi, on the grounds that they accused him of corruption without offering any evidence. On 25 May, the State Security High Court sentenced Abdel Al to 10 years' imprisonment for taking bribes from businessmen in return for a promise never to criticise them in his newspaper. Malawi: On 4 June, the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) reported that on 2 June, the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (Macra) ordered community radio stations to stop airing news bulletins, saying the Communications Act forbade such stations from running news programmes. Macra Director General Evans Namanja spoke at a two-day international workshop on the promotion of community radio stations. "News is supposed to be for the general public and not a particular community. By broadcasting news, the community radio stations are hijacking the role of public broadcasters, such as the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) and Television Malawi (TVM)," said Namanja. Morocco: On 30 May, RSF voiced its mounting concern over the worsening condition of jailed newspaper editor Ali Lmrabet, the organisation's correspondent in Morocco, who was rushed from his prison cell to hospital on 26 May 2003. Lmrabet has been on hunger strike since 6 May and is now refusing even water. His lawyers yesterday described his state of health as "worrying." Lmrabet began serving a four-year prison sentence for "insulting the king"on 21 May. Tunisia: On 4 June, RSF called for the release of jailed cyber-dissident Zouhair Yahyaoui. The journalist marked the first anniversary of his arrest in an Internet café on 4 June 2003. Founder of the website Tunezine, Yahyaoui is serving a two-year prison sentence. He recently began another hunger strike. RSF also called for the release of journalist Hamadi Jebali, who has been imprisoned since 1991. Zimbabwe: On 4 June, the MISA said that on 2 June, two journalists from the Voice of the People Communications Trust (VOP) were detained, interrogated, beaten and had their mobile phones and recorders confiscated by ZANU-PF youths and war veterans. In a related incident, the home of VOP Coordinator John Masuku was searched and VOP administrative files and a computer used in programme production were confiscated. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 4 June 2003)
* Algérie. Nouvelles secousses - Une nouvelle secousse tellurique, d'une magnitude de 5,8 sur l'échelle de Richter, a été ressentie jeudi matin 29 mai à Alger. Son épicentre a été localisé dans le secteur de Zemmouri, à 70 km à l'est d'Alger. Cette secousse a été suivie de deux autres répliques. Le séisme qui a frappé Alger et sa région, le 21 mai, a fait 2.251 morts et 10.243 blessés, selon un nouveau bilan provisoire. - Le 31 mai, la France a annoncé l'octroi d'un prêt de "30 à 50 millions d'euros" à des "conditions privilégiées" à l'Algérie, pour l'aider à surmonter les conséquences du tremblement de terre. Selon un nouveau bilan, le séisme a fait 2.268 morts. - Deux nouvelles répliques ont encore été enregistrées le lundi 2 juin. Il y en a eu plus d'un millier depuis le séisme du 21 mai. - La Commission européenne a débloqué un million d'euros d'aide humanitaire pour les victimes du séisme. L'Union africaine fera un don de 200.000 dollars. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 3 juin 2003)
* Algérie. Les tueries continuent - Le mardi soir 3 juin, douze personnes ont été assassinées par "un groupe terroriste" (terme qui désigne les rebelles islamistes) sur une route près de Boumedefaa, dans la province d'Aïn Defla (ouest). D'autre part, le mercredi après-midi, neuf policiers ont été tuées et deux autres blessés dans une embuscade tendue par un groupe armé en Kabylie, à Beni Douala (120 km à l'est d'Alger). Depuis le début du mois de mai, plus de 100 personnes ont été tués par des "terroristes". (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 5 juin 2003) 

Weekly anb0605.txt - 1/5