Weekly anb03231.txt #7

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 23-03-2000      PART #1/7
  

* Africa. Action against the Media  -  Angola: The trial of free- lance journalist, Rafael Marques, which was adjourned on 10 March, and resumed on 21 March, has now been re-adjourned to 23 March. Congo RDC: On 11 March, the private radio station Kin Malebo was requisitioned by the State. Kenya: On 15 March, Reporters sans Frontieres (RSF) sent a letter to the Attorney-General, calling for the release of Sam Aola, correspondent of the Agence France-Presse news agency, and a journalist with the private daily The People. He has been charged with "putting out an alarmist report". Liberia: On 16 March, the USA protested against the closure of two independent radio stations, Radio Veritas and Star Radio on 15 March. A State Department spokesman said the authorities should also return equipment confiscated from the broadcasters. On 21 March, the independent media decided to boycott government functions until Friday 24 March, in protest at the closure of the radio stations. The government has now lifted its ban on the radio stations. Sierra Leone: In its annual report, the Committee To Protect Journalists cites Sierra Leone as the deadliest assignment for journalists in 1999. Somalia: On 22 March, RSF called for the release of Mohamed Salad Ali, a journalist with the private daily Qaran. He had been arrested on 14 March and taken to the Hariryale Islamic court jail in south Mogadishu.   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 23 March 2000)

* Africa/Water. Everyone's concern  -  22 March: The Second World Water Forum held in The Netherlands comes to a conclusion today, World Water Day. Over 4,000 participants came together to discuss the global water crisis, but there are reservations as to whether the proposals put forwards at the Forum will provide effective solutions to the world's water problems. World Water Day will see governments pledge their commitment to water security in the 21st century. As the final touches are put to The Hague Declaration: The former Soviet president, Mikhail Gorbachev, wants water conflict resolution to be a priority; Mozambique wants reassurance from a flood prevention programme; the World Commission on Dams wants an end to the impasse between dam builders and opponents; some small island states who feel marginalised, want their funding needs addressed within six months. As background to World Water Day, international aid agencies in Ethiopia, Somalia, Djibouti and Kenya say years of low rainfall have lead to a severe drought, wiping out livestock and damaging crops. An OXFAM official says the situation is especially bad in south-eastern Ethiopia, where children and elderly people are already reported to be dying. Forum Conclusions: The Forum ends in confusion after ministers are accused of failing to follow through key demands from delegates. Prince Willem- Alexander, chairman of the Forum, said the overwhelming majority of 4,6000 participants wanted recognition of water as basic human right enshrined in the ministerial declaration that closed the event. But when the statement came, it acknowledged only that access to safe and sufficient water was a basic need.   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 23 March 2000)

* Monde. Forum mondial de l'eau  -  Le 17 mars, s'est ouvert a La Haye (Pays-Bas) le 2e Forum mondial de l'eau, qui reunit quelque 3.000 participants, acteurs publics et prives du secteur, gouvernements, agences de l'Onu, bailleurs de fonds et ONG de tous genres, qui debattront durant six jours. Le Forum vise a sensibiliser l'opinion publique et les dirigeants de la planete a la penurie croissante d'eau au 21e siecle. En Afrique, les vingt dernieres annees, plus de 50 millions d'hectares de forets tropicales ont ete detruits. D'ici a 2025, 26 pays seront confrontes d'une facon ou de l'autre a des problemes d'eau. - 22 mars. Le Forum s'est cloture sans pouvoir definir une strategie mondiale pour faire face a la penurie grandissante d'eau dans les pays pauvres. Dans une "declaration sur la securite de l'eau au 21e siecle", quelque 150 pays ont cependant reconnu que "l'acces de l'eau potable en quantite suffisante et l'assainissement sont des besoins humains de base", mais le document ne contient aucun engagement. Certains estiment toutefois que le simple fait que cette reunion ait eu lieu et permis un echange sur toutes les facettes du probleme est deja important. -- (Ndlr.: La revue 'Vivant Univers' - chaussee de Dinant 115, B-5000 Namur, Belgique -  a consacre son numero 446, de mars-avril 2000, au theme de L'eau douce).   (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 23 mars 2000)

* Africa. Census time  -  Rwanda: Rwanda has started preparing for its first population census since the 1994 genocide. The exercise, scheduled to take place in July, is expected to cost $7 million to be defrayed by the EU, the UN Fund for Population Acctivities and the Dutch government. Uganda: A national population and housing census supposed to be held this year has been put off for at least two years because the Uganda government has no money to fund it. An official from the Ministry of Fiance, Planning and Economic Development, says: "This year we have the referendum, the referendum campaigns, and the national halth and emographic survey, all of which are going to cost a lot of money, so we cannot also have the census."   (The East African, Kenya, 20-26 March 2000)

* Algeria. Israel to aid in terrorism battle  -  On 16 March, Israeli officials said the government would provide technical and military expertise to help Algeria build a counter-terrorism unit, in what is seen as a significant strategic move by Israel to improve ties with the Arab state. The agreement was forged last week during a secret meeting in Italy between Danny Yatom, chief political advisor to Ehud Baraka, Israeli prime minister, and emissaries of Algerian President Bouteflika.   (Financial Times, UK, 17 Match 2000)

* Algerie. Nouvel appel du president  -  Les massacres continuent. Le 16 mars, onze personnes ont ete tuees a Chaiba (40 km a l'ouest d'Alger) par un groupe arme. Certains ont ete tues par balles, d'autres egorges. L'intervention de civils armes a empeche que ce massacre fasse plus de victimes, parmi lesquelles figurent six enfants et une jeune fille. Le 17 mars, seize islamistes armes ont ete tues par les forces de securite et un repenti a ete assassine par ses anciens compagnons. Pres de 430 personnes, dont plus d'une centaine d'islamistes armes, ont ainsi ete tuees en Algerie depuis la fin de l'application de la loi sur la concorde civile, le 13 janvier. - Le 20 mars, ouvrant un seminaire reunissant des oulemas d'une trentaine de pays sur le theme "Islam et democratie", le president Bouteflika a lance un appel, declarant que les islamistes toujours en lutte contre le regime pouvaient encore deposer les armes. Selon les autorites algeriennes, 80% des islamistes armes ont profite de l'offre d'amnistie qui a pris fin il y a deux mois, mais celle-ci a ete rejetee par les radicaux du GIA et le groupe dissident de Hassan Hattab.   (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 22 mars 2000)

* Angola/Namibia. Human rights abuses in the border area  -  In March 2000, Amnesty International published a Report stating that since December 19999, reports of human rights violations and abuses along the border between Angola and Namibia have markedly increased. In December, the Namibian government permitted the Angolan army to mount attacks from northern Namibia into Angola against the UNITA forces. The human rights violations committed by both Angolan and Namibian government forces in dealing with the security situation, as well as abuses by UNITA, have contributed to the violence. This is a volatile area where the borders of Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe almost meet, where certain groups are seeking autonomy, where families and ethnic communities are divided by frontiers and where refugees fleeing from conflict and economic hardship, cross from one country to another. On 22 March, Amnesty International published a Press Release in which is stated that the spilling over of the Angolan civil war into Namibia has led to a marked escalation of human rights abuses in the volatile border area.   (Amnesty International, March 2000)

* Angola/South Africa. Names of UNITA collaborators released  -  The South African government has revealed the names of nine influential residents who allegedly flouted United Nations sanctions by engaging in illicit trade with the rebel National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA). This comes in the wake of a report which gives a comprehensive look at how the rebel Angolan group has been successfully circumventing UN sanctions by buying weapons, mainly from Bulgaria. These were then shipped to friendly African countries and paid for with funds from diamonds obtained from Unita controlled areas in Angola. In an address to Parliament, Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad said that although the explosive UN report cleared the South African government of any involvement in supporting UNITA, several of the people who were all fingered in the report include South African diamond dealers. The men have been identified as Joe de Decker, Johannes Pereira, Piet Hand, Victor Bout, Ronnie Decker, David and Maurice Zollman, Hennie Steyn and Dennis Coghlan. Pahad said some of the men are accused of smuggling diamonds between Angola, South Africa and Europe's main diamond centre in Antwerp, Belgium where about 80 percent of the world's trade in rough diamonds passes. The deputy minister warned that South Africa would deal harshly with people it found breaking the sanctions, although he failed to specify what action would be taken against the men named in the report. The report, which was compiled by the Angola sanctions committee of the UN Security Council, also found that Lanseria airport outside Johannesburg is still used for smuggling activity which benefits UNITA. "Typically, flights will leave from Lanseria declaring Zambia or the Democratic Republic of Congo as their destination. Once they cross into Zambian airspace, the planes divert to locations in UNITA-controlled territory," said the report. The document named three companies known to have been involved in smuggling from Lanseria airport as Interstate Airways, Air Cess and Air Pass.   (PANA, Dakar, 16 March 2000)


weekly news anb0323 - End of Part 1/7