Weekly anb01186.txt #8

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

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 18-01-2001      PART #6/8

* Mozambique. On road to recovery from floods devastation  -  Donor 
countries and agencies are providing Mozambique with 140 million US dollars 
for reconstruction work following the February/March 2000 floods that 
killed some 700 people and affected an estimated 4.5 million people in the 
country. The UN Development Programme said in a release that the amount 
represents 96 percent of the estimated 453 million dollars pledged at the 
May 2000 donors conference in Rome, organised by the UN agency in 
collaboration with the Italian government. It said there have been 
agreements and exchange of letters between the Mozambican government and 
donors firming up the 140 million dollars. More than 650,000 people were 
displaced from their homes, while massive destruction of property was 
reported throughout the flood-affected regions of Mozambique. A recent 
report by Mozambican Planning and Finance Minister Luisa Diogo, highlighted 
achievements so far and notes the work carried out in the areas of 
infrastructure, resettlement, disaster management and vulnerability, as 
well as in private sector development.   (Pana, Senegal, 16 January 2001)

* Mozambique. President meets opposition leader  -  The President of 
Mozambique, Joaquim Chissano, has been holding a second round of talks with 
the opposition leader, Afonso Dhlakama, in an attempt to ease tension. Last 
month, the two leaders agreed that opposition complaints of discrimination 
in state structures should be investigated. This first meeting followed 
violent anti-government protests and the deaths in prison of eighty-three 
opposition supporters arrested during the demonstrations. The opposition 
Renamo party charges that elections held slightly more than a year ago were 
rigged, although international observers declared the vote fair.   (BBC 
News, UK, 17 January 2001)

* Namibia. Army accused of running secret detention centre  -  Accusations 
that the Namibian army has set up a detention centre in West Caprivi for 
people suspected of collaborating with Unita continue to mount despite 
official denials. The latest allegations, mainly by members of the Kxoe 
community at Bagani in West Caprivi, follow the arrest last week of two men 
whom soldiers accused of being responsible for planting a landmine that 
killed three people. On 15 January Police released Liep Kamba and Riembi 
John at Katima Mulilo without laying charges after the two men were handed 
over to them by the army in Bagani on Friday. The Namibia Defence Force had 
held them for nearly three days. The army, which has attributed the 
landmine blast to Unita soldiers, accused Kamba and John of involvement in 
the attack. Defence Minister Erkki Nghimtina, on leave at his village home 
in Edundja in the Ohangwena region, yesterday dismissed suggestions that 
soldiers were running a detention centre or that they have been detaining 
suspects. "There is no truth in that," said Nghimtina. "There is a 
difference between detention and holding [people]. We have no powers of 
arrest but we can hold people for questioning."Namibia's Constitution 
states that suspects may be held for up to 48 hours before they are brought 
to court or released. "It is not contrary to the Constitution. We are 
trying to prevent people from getting killed. If we don't do it then we are 
here for ceremonial purposes," he said, speaking to The Namibian in 
Oshikwanyama.   (The Namibian, 17 January 2001))

* Niger. Programme de mini-barrages  -  Le 10 janvier, le président Tandja 
a lancé à Bankor, un hameau de culture de Tilla Reina (120 km à l'ouest de 
Niamey), son programme de construction de mini-barrages et de retenues 
d'eau, aux termes duquel il entend bâtir trois de ces ouvrages par an et 
par arrondissement. La mise en oeuvre de ce programme vise à réduire la 
pauvreté des populations par un accroissement de la production agricole. 
Par cette opération, le président a déclaré traduire en actes l'engagement 
pris devant le peuple nigérien d'alléger les souffrances de la population. 
Le monde rural est au coeur des préoccupations du gouvernement qui envisage 
de mettre en oeuvre un vaste programme de développement multisectoriel. La 
dernière campagne agricole au Niger s'est soldée par un déficit de quelque 
163.000 tonnes et a aggravé les conditions déjà précaires des 
populations.   (PANA, Sénégal, 11 janvier 2001)

* Nigeria. Eglises incendiées  -  Le 9 janvier, des centaines de jeunes 
musulmans ont brûlé plusieurs églises et débits de boisson, après avoir 
assisté à l'éclipse lunaire à Maiduguri, dans l'Etat de Borno. La foule, 
qui s'était réunie pour prier devant l'éclipse, est devenue incontrôlable 
et de nombreux non-musulmans se sont réfugiés dans les casernes et postes 
de police, avant que les policiers anti-émeutes ne dispersent les 
émeutiers. (Le Monde, France, 12 janvier 2001)

* Nigeria. Obasanjo is a failure, says Beko  -  Human rights activist and 
Executive Director of Centre for Constitutional Governance, Dr. Beko 
Ransome-Kuti has described the present administration of President Olusegun 
Obasanjo as a failure. He said the past 20 months of the leadership of 
President Obasanjo has been full of pains and agonies for Nigerians. He 
described the few months that the government has been in power as blood 
laden with several calamities unleashed on Nigerians. The activist claimed 
that there are no indications that things will be different this year. He 
lashed out at the president for woefully failing Nigerians adding that 
things would have been better if the country was being ruled by genuine 
democrats. Beko explained that the level of ethnic clashes in the past 20 
months is unprecedented in Nigeria's recent history. "Over 10,000 people 
died in Kano, Shagamu, Kaduna, Aba Owerri, Lagos, Minna, Zaria and Ibadan 
were ethnic clashes where predominant.... At present Nigeria is merely in a 
state of suspense", he stated.   (P.M. News Lagos, 12 january 2001)

* Nigeria. Canada worried about Sharia case  -  Canadian Foreign Minister, 
John Manley said he was worried by what he called the "appalling case" of a 
young Nigerian girl who has been sentenced to 180 lashes for having illegal 
sex. Bariya Magazu, 17 was convicted last September by a Sharia court of 
engaging in premarital sex. Magazu, who said she was coerced into having 
intercourse with three of her father's acquaintances, had a baby at the end 
of last year. A judge in the northern state of Zamfara has set the date for 
the punishment as January 27. Human rights groups say 180 lashes is 
tantamount to a death sentence. Canada's high commissioner to Nigeria has 
already lodged a formal protest about Magazu's sentence and Manley said the 
Nigerian high commissioner to Canada had been summoned to the foreign 
ministry in Ottawa this week. At least, one Canadian family has offered to 
adopt the girl in a bid to forestall the lashing.Nigeria has been sharply 
divided over the strict Sharia penal code since late 1999 when Zamfara 
State embraced it. Hundreds of people died in clashes between Christians 
and Muslims over plans to introduce Sharia in neighbouring Kaduna State 
last year. Non-Muslims oppose Sharia for its tough sanctions, such as 
stoning for adultery and the amputation of hands for theft.   (P.M. News 
Lagos, 12 january 2001)

* Nigeria. Girl's lashing sentence cut  -  The authorities in the northern 
Nigerian state of Zamfara say they have reduced the sentence against a 
teenage girl who was due to receive 180 lashes for having had sex before 
marriage. A senior official in Zamfara, which is now governed according to 
strict Islamic law, Sharia, said the girl would instead receive 100 lashes. 
The announcement is the latest development in a case which is attracting 
growing international attention. Bariya, who does not know her exact age, 
was sentenced to 180 lashes in September when it was discovered she was 
pregnant. This was according to the Sharia, or Islamic legal code, which 
predominantly Muslim Zamfara adopted last year. The father of her child has 
not been identified. The punishment was delayed because of her pregnancy, 
but her baby was born in December. After that, the young woman was given 45 
days to appeal against sentence. The case has been taken up by Amnesty 
International and has attracted particular attention in Canada, where last 
week the foreign minister described the sentence as appalling. The sentence 
now appears to have been postponed indefinitely. (BBC News, UK, 14 January 
2001)

* Rwanda. Aide financière  -  Au cours de la période 1995-2000, l'Union 
européenne a alloué au Rwanda 110 millions d'euros, annonce-t-on de source 
européenne le 11 janvier à Kigali. Ces ressources ont été investies dans 
les domaines de la promotion des droits de l'homme, des infrastructures 
comme la réfection de l'aéroport de Kigali ou la réhabilitation des routes, 
de l'éducation, de la santé et de la protection de l'environnement, a 
précisé le chef de la délégation de l'UE, M. Jeremy Hester. Le seul domaine 
de sécurité alimentaire a bénéficié d'une aide de 189,5 millions d'euros 
depuis 1994, et l'aide humanitaire d'urgence à 155,4 millions d'euros 
depuis le retour des réfugiés en 1996. -D'autre part, le même jour, un 
mouvement d'opposition basé aux Pays-Bas, le Rassemblement pour le retour 
des réfugiés et de la démocratie au Rwanda (RDR), a demandé à la communauté 
internationale de décréter un embargo sur les ventes d'armes au Rwanda. Le 
RDR accuse le gouvernement rwandais de "crimes contre l'humanité et de 
violations graves des droits de l'homme". Il accuse également le Rwanda 
d'organiser le pillage des richesses de la RD-Congo et d'apporter un 
soutien aux rebelles congolais. Le RDR estime que 60% du budget du Rwanda 
sont financés par l'aide internationale et demande aux pays donateurs de 
cesser toute aide non-humanitaire au Rwanda. Selon un rapport de l'Institut 
d'études stratégiques, basé à Londres, l'armée rwandaise compte 60.000 
hommes, dont le budget annuel s'élève à 62 millions de dollars.   (D'après 
PANA, Sénégal, 11 janvier 2001)

* Rwanda. Prosecution office and Rwandan indictees  -  The Prosecution 
Office of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) has 
declined to comment on rewards offered by the US government for a list of 
13 persons indicted by the Tribunal. Except for three cases, the names of 
the 13 persons indicted by the Tribunal and still at large have been 
unknown to the public and were thought to be "sealed indictments". When 
asked to confirm that the Prosecution had provided this list, the 
spokesperson for the Prosecutor, Florence Hartman declined to comment." I 
can neither confirm nor comment on this," Hartman said... We welcome this 
initiative but really it I cannot tell you anything about it, it is an 
independent undertaking of the (US) State Department... If they find people 
the Tribunal has primacy of jurisdiction, we think the initiative will help 
track those who have not yet been arrested but that's all I can tell 
you."   (Internews, Arusha Tanzania, 12 January, 2001)

* Rwanda/Belgium. Embargo on weapons  -  Rwanda's opposition Rally for the 
Return of Refugees and Democracy (RDR) based in the Netherlands, Thursday 
11 January urged the international community to impose an arms embargo on 
the Kigali government. RDR President Victoire Inagabire, accused the 
government of President Paul Kagame of "crimes against mankind and serious 
human rights violations, massacres and imprisonment of tens of thousands of 
Rwandan citizens." The movement also accused the Rwandan government of 
organising, what it called a "large-scale plundering of the riches of the 
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) such as diamond, gold and ivory." It 
also alleged that the Rwandan Patriotic Army (APR) was supporting rebels 
opposed to the government of President Laurent- Desire Kabila of the DRC. 
Inagabire, who claimed that 60 percent of Rwanda's budget were financed 
through international aid, urged the donor countries to suspend 
non-humanitarian assistance to the country.   (Pana, Senegal, 12 January 2001)

* Rwanda. Kigeri V veut rentrer  -  En exil depuis 1961, le roi du Rwanda, 
Kigeri V, sort de son silence. Il a adressé des voeux à ses compatriotes, 
et une tournée récente en Afrique centrale l'a mené, entre autres, à 
Kinshasa. Dans un entretien au quotidien belge Le Soir, il critique le 
régime actuel et affirme qu'il souhaiterait rentrer dans son pays, où 
devrait être organisé un référendum sur la restauration de la monarchie. Le 
roi, ou du moins la monarchie, compte de plus en plus de partisans au 
Rwanda: des Tutsi rescapés qui se sentent dépossédés de leur pays, des Hutu 
qui se rallient au roi pour affaiblir le président Kagamé, des militaires 
las de combattre au Congo, des intellectuels qui estiment que le pays doit 
renouer avec son passé pour pouvoir se réconcilier avec lui-même. Mais la 
faveur nostalgique dont jouit le roi est surtout le reflet des difficultés, 
sinon des échecs d'un régime qui vit toujours sur pied de guerre et qui est 
gagné par la corruption et les inégalités sociales.   (Le Soir, Belgique, 
15 janvier 2001)

* Rwanda. Réintégration des ex-FAR  -  Tous les soldats des ex-forces 
armées rwandaises (ex-FAR) qui se rendent ou sont capturés vivants, 
pourraient réintégrer l'armée gouvernementale à la condition qu'ils n'aient 
pas participé au génocide de 1994, indique-t- on à Kigali de source 
militaire. La réintégration a commencé depuis la fin de la guerre civile en 
1995 et des éléments des ex-FAR sont actuellement opérationnels au sein de 
l'armée, a indiqué le chef d'état-major le 15 janvier. Cette politique a 
été accélérée au début de l'année en cours. Plus de 1.000 de ces soldats 
sont passés au camp de rééducation "civique et morale" de Mudende, où les 
éléments reconnus aptes physiquement et moralement sont invités à rejoindre 
les rangs de l'armée nationale.   (PANA, 16 Sénégal, janvier 2001)

Weekly anb0118.txt - End of part 6/8