Weekly anb05311.txt #8

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 31-05-2001      PART #1/8

* Amnesty International fête ses 40 ans  -  Ce 28 mai, l'organisation de 
défense des droits de l'homme, Amnesty International, fête à Londres le 40e 
anniversaire de sa fondation par l'avocat britannique Peter Benenson. Le 28 
mai 1961, celui-ci faisait paraître une tribune libre dans The Observer 
pour attirer l'attention sur le sort des "prisonniers oubliés". Benenson 
invente la méthode de demander au public de bombarder les gouvernements 
accusés de maltraiter les prisonniers politiques et religieux. Au fil des 
années s'y ajoutera le combat pour l'abolition de la peine de mort, contre 
la torture, pour la défense des défenseurs des droits de l'homme... En 40 
ans, AI, récompensée du prix Nobel de la paix en 1977, se targue de s'être 
mobilisée sur plus de 45.000 cas et d'avoir répondu à près de 17.000 appels 
urgents en faveur de personnes en danger. L'organisation couvre 
actuellement le monde entier, forte de plus d'un million d'adhérents et de 
donateurs. - Dans son rapport annuel publié à l'occasion de cet 
anniversaire, Amnesty dénonce les effets de la mondialisation, qui s'est 
traduite par "un appauvrissement et un accroissement des inégalités", et 
recense aussi les atteintes aux droits de l'homme dans 149 pays et 
territoires. Le rapport dénonce notamment la pratique de la torture, qui 
est devenue "quasi-routinière" dans nombre de pays africains, et appelle 
les Etats à ne plus "fermer les yeux".   (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 30 
mai 2001)

* Amnesty International. Human rights violations  -  "In a world where 
globalization is impacting upon every nation state and bringing poverty to 
the forefront of the human rights agenda, the challenge today is how to 
hold states accountable for the conduct", Amnesty International said as it 
released its annual report in the week of its 40th anniversary. 
"Globalization -- the spread of the free market economy and technological 
change -- has led to enormous economic expansion, but has been accompanied 
by debt, poverty and widening inequalities", the organization said. (...) 
The picture that emerges from Amnesty International's annual report on its 
40th anniversary is one of a world where the perpetrators of human rights 
violations in at least 149 countries are not only confined to government 
officials and state agents. The perpetrators are often family or community 
members of employers against whom governments fail to take action. Human 
rights abuses are also committed on a daily basis by armed opposition and 
paramilitary groups. (...) [To obtain a copy of the report, and/or regional 
summaries of Africa and other parts of the world, contact Amnesty 
International's press office in London, on 00 44 020 7413 5566. Web: 
http//www.amnesty.org]   (Amnesty International, 30 May 2001)

* Afrique. Paludisme  -  Le 23 mai, l'Organisation mondiale de la santé 
(OMS) a signé un accord avec le géant pharmaceutique Novartis sur un 
traitement anti-paludisme. Le laboratoire vendra à prix coûtant en Afrique 
son nouveau traitement antipaludéen, le Coartem. Le paludisme contamine 
chaque année 300 millions de personnes dans le monde et en tue un 
million.   (La Croix, France, 25 mai 2001)

* Afrique. L'Union africaine  -  Le 26 mai, l'Union africaine (UA), 
destinée à remplacer l'Organisation de l'unité africaine (OUA), est née 
dans la plus grande discrétion avec l'entrée en vigueur de son traité. L'UA 
a été proclamée le 2 mars dernier à Syrte (Libye), lors d'une session 
extraordinaire de l'OUA. L'acte constitutif avait été signé en juillet 2000 
à Lomé par 53 chefs d'Etat africains. Pour l'instant, sur les 53 
signataires, 41 l'ont ratifié. L'organisation entrera pleinement en action 
au mois de juillet, lors d'un sommet pan-africain dans la capitale 
zambienne Lusaka.   (D'après AFP, France, 26 mai 2001)

* Africa. African Union treaty comes into force  -  A new pan-African body, 
the African Union, formally came into existence on 26 May, replacing the 
Organisation for African Unity. The new body, loosely modelled on the 
European Union, is the brainchild of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi - but 
the idea harks back to pan-African aspirations of the 1950s. Pan-African 
Movement head Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem Kwame Nkrumah, who proclaimed Ghana 
independent in 1957, promoted pan-Africanism as a way for the continent to 
regain dignity and economic strength after being colonised. The Pan-African 
Movement says that the creation of the African Union brings Nkrumah's dream 
of a common African currency, foreign policy, defence structure and 
economic programme closer to reality. But even though nearly 40 of Africa's 
53 countries have signed the treaty bringing the African Union into 
existence, the outlines of the project are still unclear. Very little work 
has been done on how the African Union will operate in practice. It is 
expected to have an assembly made up of the continent's heads of state and 
an executive council of ministers. 26 May marked the beginning of a 
12-month transition period that sees the new union taking over the 
headquarters - and much of the administrative staff -of the OAU. OAU 
Secretary-General Dr Salim Ahmed Salim said the African Union would make a 
real difference to the lives of ordinary Africans.   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 26 
May 2001)

* Africa. ADB hit by protests  -  The African Development Bank (ADB), which 
works to reduce poverty and help struggling economies, has become a target 
of anti-capitalist protestors, despite its popularity amongst poor people 
in Africa. The demonstrations have come as a surprise to the continent's 
leading financial development institution which is meeting in Valencia in 
Spain on 29 May to find ways to end the plight of Africa's struggling 
economies. Officials believe the protestors confuse the ADB with the oft 
targeted World Bank Group which recently cancelled a poverty conference 
that had been due to be held in Barcelona next month. "These groups were 
looking for an opportunistic target after the World Bank conference was 
cancelled. They found a semblance of an excuse, because the African 
Development Bank has been erroneously referred to here in some reports as a 
subsidiary of the World Bank," a senior bank official said.   (BBC News, 
UK, 28 May 2001)

* Africa. The wrongs of slavery and colonialism  -  On 29 May, Mary 
Robinson, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, backed a call 
by African countries for an apology by the US and former colonial powers in 
Europe for the wrongs of slavery and colonialism. The US and UK oppose any 
apology which they fear could open the way for huge reparation claims. But 
Mrs Robinson said the UN conference on racism, to be held in South Africa 
in September, had to demonstrate "a collective recognition of the terrible 
exploitation and violations of human rights and crimes against humanity of 
the past. I see great merit in a willingness to have that recognition in 
the form of an apology," she said. How to deal with past slavery and 
colonialism has become one of the most bitter issues in difficult 
negotiations now under way in Geneva on a draft declaration and plan of 
action for the conference. African nations have proposed that the 
conference affirm the slave trade as a "unique tragedy" and an unparalleled 
"crime against humanity", while perpetrating states should "assume their 
moral, economic, political and legal responsibilities" including 
reparations to the victims. However, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, South Africa's 
foreign minister, said it was a question of recognising past injustice and 
seeking to close that chapter of history.   (Financial Times, UK, 29 May 2001)

* Africa. Action against the Media  -  Congo RDC: On 18 May, the 
secretary-general of the Ministry of Communications and Press, suspended 
the two cultural programmes from the private television stations Tropicana 
TV and Antenne A. Egypt: On 24 May, the International Freedom of Expression 
(IFEX) community urged the European Union to monitor attacks on freedom of 
expression in Egypt. Ethiopia: On 23 May, Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) 
called for the release of the three remaining journalists still in prison. 
Kenya: In a letter addressed to the Commissioner of Police (25 May), RSF 
protested against the assault on Chris Omollo, a photographer with the 
Daily Nation. Malawi: On 25 May, the International Press Institute 
condemned the recent decision of the police in Lilongwe, to arrest a 
newspaper vendor selling newspapers critical of the government. On 26 May, 
the owner of Karora printers, Kalera Mhango, and the editor of the 
independent Dispatch newspaper were charged with "publishing false 
information likely to cause public fear and alarm", an offence they have 
both denied having committed. Mali: On 22 May, the Committee to Protect 
Journalists (CPJ) reported that the head of Mali's public broadcasting 
service is serving 30 days in jail on a criminal defamation charge brought 
by the local union of judges. Namibia: On 30 May, President Nujoma stepped 
up his campaign against The Namibian newspaper, by banning all government 
offices from buying it. Swaziland: On 22 May, police raided the independent 
news magazine, the Nation. Tunisia: On 23 May, the CPJ urged the Tunisian 
government to bring to justice the perpetrators of last year's 
assassination attempt against Tunisian journalist Riad Ben Fadhel. Zambia: 
On 29 May, the Media Institute of Southern Africa said that the newly 
appointed Minister of Information and Broadcasting Services, Vernon 
Mwaanga, has dissolved the boards of the two state-owned newspapers (the 
Zambia Daily Mail and the Times of Zambia), the Zambia National 
Broadcasting Corporation, as well as a government-owned printing company, 
the Zambia Printing Company.   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 30 May 2001)

* Africa/USA. Colin Powell's tour  -  24 May: American Secretary of State 
Colin Powell has praised Mali's peacekeeping efforts. After visiting Malian 
troops being trained by United States soldiers Mr Powell said that he was 
"impressed by the commitment and dedication that the government of Mali 
puts into peacekeeping operations". Mr Powell is in Mali on the first leg 
of a four-nation African tour. He is focusing on regional security and 
health issues. This trip is being seen as a way to measure the importance 
of Africa to the new Bush administration. Speaking to journalists Mr Powell 
said that Africa is important but he admitted that there were differences 
of opinion within the Bush administration. He said these mostly revolve 
around the extent to which the United States should be involved in 
peacekeeping operations. 25 May: In South Africa, Colin Powell condemns 
Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe's president, for plunging his country into 
political and economic turmoil and calls for "fair and real elections" to 
be held soon. At the same time, he gives strong backing to South Africa's 
President Mbeki. 27 May: In Uganda, Colin Powell announces that Washington 
will give Uganda $50 million to fight AIDS.   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 28 May 2001)

* Afrique/USA. Tournée de Colin Powell  -  Le secrétaire d'Etat américain 
Colin Powell a effectué une tournée africaine, soulignant que "l'Afrique 
constitue une priorité de la nouvelle administration américaine". En 
compagnie de plusieurs de ses collaborateurs directs, il est arrivé le 23 
mai au Mali, où il s'est engagé à oeuvrer au renforcement des relations 
bilatérales entre les deux pays. Il y a aussi insisté sur le soutien aux 
efforts régionaux et sous-régionaux africains pour la stabilité du 
continent, qui est "un problème pour les Africains avec l'aide d'autres". - 
Seconde étape de sa tournée, il est arrivé au soir du 24 mai en Afrique du 
Sud. Avec le président Thabo Mbeki, il a évoqué les conflits régionaux et 
l'épidémie du sida. Il y a aussi critiqué le président du Zimbabwe, Robert 
Mugabe, qui "semble déterminé à rester au pouvoir", l'accusant d'être le 
premier responsable de la crise qui affecte ce pays. - Après un passage au 
Kenya, le 27 mai en Ouganda, M. Powell a félicité le président Museveni 
pour sa décision de commencer à retirer ses troupes du Congo-Kinshasa. Il a 
également annoncé l'octroi d'une nouvelle aide alimentaire américaine pour 
les victimes de la sécheresse au Soudan.   (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 
28 mai 2001)

* Africa/USA. Embassy bombers found guilty  -  29 May: Two men are 
convicted of murdering 224 people when the US embassies in Kenya and 
Tanzania were bombed three years ago, at the close of trial in New York 
that gave an unprecedented insight into the workings of the world's most 
feared sponsor of terrorism, Osama bin Laden. Another two men are found 
guilty of being part of a conspiracy, headed by the Saudi millionaire that 
culminated in the explosions. They were not accused of direct involvement 
in the attacks and face life in jail. 30 May: Hearings start today to 
decide whether the death penalty will be imposed on Rashed Daoud Al-Owhali 
and Khalfan Khamis Mohamed. It is likely to be a month before decisions are 
reached. Speaking for the prosecution, Patrick Fitzgerald tells the jury: 
"Each of you will be convinced that the only punishment that fits the crime 
is the death penalty".   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 31 May 2001)

* East Africa. French aid to benefit EAC States  -  Kenya, Uganda and 
Tanzania are among a group of African, Caribbean and Pacific countries 
(ACP) set to benefit from France's "Priority Area of Solidarity", a new 
initiative that seeks to strengthen French technical support in selected 
ACP member countries. The move will be a much needed consolation for Kenya, 
which in the recent past has found itself in the cold after being excluded 
from the EU's trade initiative dubbed "Everything But Arms" and the expiry 
of the Lome Conventions. The inclusion of the three EAC countries into this 
"select club" follows a joint declaration made early this year between 
France's Minister for International Co-operation, and the outgoing EAC 
Secretary-General, Mr Francis Muthaura, on future links between the 
two.   (The East African, Kenya, 14-20 May 2001)

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