Weekly anb06081.txt #6

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ANB-BIA - Av. Charles Woeste 184 - 1090 Bruxelles - Belg
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_____________________________________________________________
WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 08-06-2000      

******>  DOCUMENT DISPONIBLE SUR DEMANDE  <*********
On vient de recevoir la version francaise du document de Amnesty
International: "Rwanda - Le cours perturbe de la justice". Ce
document avait paru fin avril en anglais, avec le titre: "The
troubled course of justice" - cfr Weekly News du 27 avril, a la
voix: "* Rwanda. The course of justice".
La versione francaise (traduite et diffusee par le Service des
Coordinations de la section francaise de Amnesty International) est
disponible et vous pouvez la demander chez nous avec la reference
suivante:
	======>   < \AI\RWANDA\JUST-FR.EXE >   <=======

Merci de ne pas utiliser la commande "REPLY" pour demander le document
      ========
et de ne mettre que la reference dans votre message
   ================

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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: 08-06-2000      PART #1/6

* Africa. Action against the Media  -  Morocco: On 6 June, the
Committee to Protect Journalists said that so far this year, the
Moroccan Government has taken a number of punitive measures against
the Media. Mozambique: The Media Institute of Southern Africa
reports that the Mozambican Attorney-General's office has made an
attempt to force the independent newsheet Metical to reveal the
name of one of its sources. The editor, Carlos Cardosa, received a
summons on 30 May from the Attorney-General's office demanding his
presence to make a statement. Zimbabwe: The trial of three newsmen
from the Standard has closed in the Harare Magistrate's Court, with
judgement expected to be passed on 16 June. They faced charges of
criminal defamation. On 6 June, Chenjerai Hunzvi, chairman of the
Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans' Association, gave what
he called, a "last warning" to the independent daily The Daily
News, to desist from publishing articles that tarnished his image
and that of his organisation.   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 8 June 2000)

* Africa. River Blindness  -  Scientists say they have made a major
breakthrough in the battle against River Blindness, a disease
affecting 17 million people. Antibiotics could be a cheap, safe and
effective way of wiping out the disease, which is caused by a
parasitic worm. Scientists from the UK, Cameroon and Germany, say
their experiments show that using antibiotics to kill bacteria
living on the parasite, also kills the parasite itself. River
Blindness, or Onchocerciasis, causes severe itching, disfiguring
lesions and lesions of the eye that can cause blindness. It is most
prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa, though the World Health
Organisation says it will have stamped out the disease in West
Africa by 2002.   (BBC News, 7 June 2000)

* Afrique. Rapport de la Banque mondiale  -  "L'Afrique peut-elle
revendiquer le 21e siecle?", c'est le titre d'un rapport de la
Banque mondiale, rendu public le 31 mai, et qui passe en revue sans
complaisance les handicaps africains. L'Afrique est confrontee a
une dramatique recession economique. Le revenu par habitant est
aujourd'hui inferieur a celui de la fin des annees 1960 et pres de
la moitie de la population vit sous le seuil de la pauvrete. Le
cout de la corruption est extremement grave: 30 milliards de
dollars d'aide internationale auraient ete detournes en Afrique. Le
rapport voit neanmoins nombre de raisons qui pourraient favoriser
l'emergence des 49 pays africains sur la scene economique et
financiere. Le moteur en est la croissance mondiale, que tous les
economistes voient vigoureuse et durable pour la decennie qui
vient. Toutefois, "l'aide doit changer", note le document. Elle
doit etre plus selective dans le choix de ses beneficiaires; elle
doit etre preparee avec le concours de ses beneficiaires
potentiels; enfin, les beneficiaires doivent etre rendus totalement
responsables de son utilisation.   (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses,
5 juin 2000)

* Afrique. Esperance de vie?  -  L'Organisation mondiale de la
sante a publie un classement de l'esperance de vie "saine", base
sur un nouveau systeme de calcul. Nouvel indicateur cree par les
scientifiques, le DALE (Disability Adjusted Life Expectancy, soit
l'esperance de vie ajustee aux infirmites) represente le nombre
escompte d'annees de vie en bonne sante. En tete se trouvent les
Japonais avec 74,5 ans, en derniere position les Sierra-Leonais
avec 26 ans. Au plus bas du classement se trouvent les pays
d'Afrique subsaharienne, qui ont connu ces dix dernieres annees une
chute considerable de l'esperance de vie totale en raison du sida,
devenu la premiere cause de deces dans cette region. De 51,1 ans,
cette esperance de vie est tombee a 46,3 ans pour les filles et de
47,3 ans a 44,8 ans pour les garcons. Dans les cinq annees a venir,
elle devrait passer sous la barre des 40 ans dans pas moins de 32
pays d'Afrique.   (D'apres Liberation, France, 6 juin 2000)

* Afrique. Le sida menace le monde du travail  -  Ce jeudi 8 juin,
la 88e session de la Conference internationale du travail examinera
a Geneve un rapport sur un etude commandee par le BIT mettant en
garde contre une "catastrophe" previsible pour les travailleurs et
les employeurs: l'impact du sida. Selon cette etude, la maladie va
provoquer un "declin spectaculaire en taille et en qualite de la
main-d'oeuvre dans un certain nombre de pays au cours des 20
prochaines annees". L'Afrique subsaharienne est la region la plus
touchee. Dans 8 pays ayant un taux de prevalence du VIH superieur
a 10% de la population adulte, la main-d'oeuvre en l'an 2020 sera
jusqu'a 21% inferieure a ce qu'elle aurait ete sans le sida. Dans
les pays les plus touches, le sida va induire un accroissement du
travail des enfants et annuler les efforts de promotion de la
femme.   (La Libre Belgique, 8 juin 2000)

* Algerie. Recrudescence d'attentats  -  L'ouest algerien, ou opere
le Groupe islamique arme d'Antar Zouabri, connait ces derniers
jours une recrudescence d'attentats. Le 2 juin, sept personnes ont
ete tuees par des islamistes dans deux attentats a Hassi Ben Okba,
une localite proche d'Oran. D'autre part, le quotidien El Watan
rapportait le 5 juin que 14 elements d'un groupe arme ont ete tues
dans la region de Sidi Daoud (70 km a l'est d'Alger) lors d'une
importante operation de l'armee declenchee il y a une semaine.
Cette offensive a ete lancee au lendemain d'une attaque contre un
poste de l'armee dans la region, qui avait fait 2 morts et 6
blesses dans les rangs des militaires.   (ANB-BIA, de sources
diverses, 6 juin 2000)

* Botswana. Havoc in Game Reserve  -  Wildlife authorities in
Botswana have said that illegal immigrants from South Africa and
Zimbabwe are at the centre of poaching activities in one of the
country's game reserves. As a result of this the anti-poaching unit
at the Tati reserve which is located at the Tuli block in the
central district has raised concern over the high number of illegal
immigrants from the two countries entering Botswana at un-gazetted
border crossings in the area for poaching purposes. Game-wardens
say that every weekend over 100 illegal immigrants are arrested in
the area. Apart from poaching the illegal immigrants rob the anti-
poaching officials of personal belongings. Members of the anti-
poaching unit have therefore appealed for guns to protect
themselves against the poachers, wild animals like elephants,
tigers and lions. They say that effort to eradicate poaching in the
area and control crime has been hampered by the fact that the game
reserve's management does not allow the arrest of the poachers some
of whom cross by boats from South Africa. At the same time some of
the game-reserve workers are not helping the situation by allowing
illegal foreigners to live with them at their camps.   (PANA,
Dakar, 5 June 2000)

* Burkina Faso. Slaying gives life to Opposition  -  Norbert Zongo,
this country's most popular journalist, playwright and human rights
activist, knew a lot about political murders, and he apparently
paid for that knowledge with his life. Now the continuing public
outcry over his assassination 18 months ago is threatening to bring
down one of the most durable and secretive governments in West
Africa. "They made a mistake in killing Zongo," said Jean Claude
Meda, president of the Journalists Association here. "They thought
it would be like other murders and that it would instill fear, but
the opposite happened. People lost their fear, started a whole
movement and began to question authority, forcing the government to
take small steps toward democracy. That is Norbert Zongo's legacy."
Zongo investigated allegations of murder ordered from within
President Blaise Compaore's inner circle, and he was assassinated
in December 1998, allegedly by members of the elite Presidential
Guard. For the past 15 months Compaore's government has faced an
unprecedented wave of strikes, student unrest and opposition
demands for justice in the Zongo case, forcing the government to
loosen its once-iron grip on political activities. International
aid from Europe and the United States has been lost over the case
and a coalition of 57 unions, human rights organizations and
opposition political parties have pushed the limits of political
expression far beyond what previously had been allowed. Using the
slogan "Enough is Enough," the coalition, called the Collective of
Mass Democratic Organizations and Political Parties, has kept up
pressure for an investigation that many believe would lead to the
presidential palace. The coalition says it has documented 91
political killings carried out by the Compaore government, but in
the past public reaction was always muted and fragmented. "Zongo's
death led to the birth of our coalition," said Chrysogone Zougmore,
secretary general of the Burkinabe Movement for Human Rights, a
coalition leader. "We are not after political power, we are
fighting against impunity.... It was one death too many."   (The
Washington Post, 4 June 2000)

* Burkina Faso. Deces du cardinal Zoungrana  -  Le cardinal Paul
Zoungrana, archeveque emerite de Ouagadougou, est decede le
dimanche 4 juin vers midi. Les funerailles solennelles, presidees
par le cardinal Tomko, seront celebrees le 10 juin dans la
cathedrale de Ouagadougou, suivies de l'inhumation. Le cardinal
Zoungrana est ne a Ouagadougou le 3 septembre 1917. Il avait ete
ordonne pretre en 1942. Apres son entree dans la Societe des
Missionnaires d'Afrique (Peres Blancs) il fut nomme archeveque de
Ouagadougou en 1960. En tant que jeune eveque, il a participe aux
travaux du concile Vatican II, dont il a ete le fidele temoin dans
tout le continent. Il avait ete designe cardinal en 1965. Avec son
depart, l'Eglise perd un grand acteur de l'epoque de la
decolonisation et de l'inculturation post-conciliaire.   (D'apres
Fides, Rome, 5 juin 2000)

* Burkina Faso. Cardinal Paul Zoungrana  -  Cardinal Paul
Zoungrana, a member of the Society of Missionaries of Africa and
for decades, a leading voice of the Catholic Church in Africa, died
on 4 June. he was 82. The Cardinal retired five years ago as
Archbishop of Ouagadougou (remaining Emeritus Archbishop of
Ouagadougou). In a condolence message, Pope John Paul II praised
the Cardinal as "a zealous and faithful servant of the Church and
an eminent son of Burkina Faso and Africa". He was ordained bishop
by Pope John XXIII in 1960 and appointed Cardinal by Pope Paul VI
in 1965. He spoke out frequently on the plight of Africa and the
impoverished sub-Saharan region, and said the Church and the world
must not neglect the suffering.   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 6 June 2000)

Weekly News anb0608.txt - End of part 1/6