Weekly anb06215.txt #8

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

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 21-06-2001      PART #5/8

* Malawi. Women press for legislation of marital rape  -  Women in Malawi 
are pressing for the enactment of a law that will make marital rape a 
criminal offence punishable by a jail sentence. The Malawi Chapter of Women 
In Law in Southern Africa (WILSA) this week held a Workshop at the 
lakeshore district of Mangochi in southern Malawi, where delegates among 
other things commenced drafting a proposed bill on the criminalisation of 
marital rape. WILSA's Executive Director for Malawi, Seodi White, said that 
their proposal on marital rape will reduce the occurrence of this form of 
domestic violence. Ms. White attributed the rampant incidence of marital 
rape, to the silence of Malawi's Laws on the issue. "Courts have generally 
viewed the of rape, as covered by the penal code, as not applying to 
married couples".   (Brian Ligomeka, ANB-BIA, Malawi, 11 June 2001)

* Mali. Exercices militaires conjoints  -  Les forces maliennes et 
américaines ont débuté des exercices militaires conjoints au Mali sur la 
préparation à la gestion des catastrophes et sur le maintien de la paix, a 
informé l'agence PANA le 18 juin. Les exercices ont commencé le 15 juin 
dans les garnisons de Kati, Sikasso et Bamako. Ils s'inscrivent dans le 
cadre de l'opération Flintlock, annuellement organisée par les Etats-Unis 
dans un pays africain. Les exercices qui concernent l'armée, la police et 
le service de défense civile, ainsi que les services de santé, doivent 
durer 12 jours.   (IRIN, Abidjan, 19 juin 2001)

* Mauritanie. Opposant condamné  -  Le 14 juin, la cour criminelle d'Aïoun 
a condamné l'opposant Chbih ould Cheick Malaïnine à cinq ans de prison pour 
"association de malfaiteurs en vue de commettre des actes de sabotage et de 
terrorisme" dans son pays. Le président du Front des partis d'opposition, 
qui regroupe une demi-douzaine de partis, a dénoncé le verdict et exigé la 
libération du responsable du Front populaire. Interpellé le 8 avril, ce 
dernier avait été accusé d'organiser une campagne terroriste pour prendre 
le pouvoir, en connivence avec la Libye.   (Le Monde, France, 16 juin 2001)

* Mauritanie. Révision des listes électorales  -  La révision des listes 
électorales en vue des élections parlementaires et communales d'octobre 
prochain en Mauritanie débutera mercredi, pour s'achever le 20 septembre, a 
annoncé le ministère de l'Intérieur cité mardi par le Journal Chaab. Cette 
révision se fera sur la base de la nouvelle "carte d'identité 
infalsifiable" dont la distribution est en cours. Selon les statistiques 
disponibles, près de la moitié de la population attend encore la nouvelle 
carte, mais on assure dans les administrations que "tout le monde sera 
servi avant la fin de la période de révision". Le nombre d'électeurs 
inscrits était jusqu'à présent d'environ 1,2 million, sur une population 
totale estimée à quelque 2,6 millions d'habitants. Les observateurs 
s'attendent généralement à ce que l'opposition radicale participe à ces 
élections, après plusieurs années de boycottage systématique observé pour 
protester contre la fraude qui, selon elle, entache la démocratie en 
Mauritanie.   (D'après AFP, France, 19 juin 2001)

* Mauritania. Jailing criticised  -  15 June: There has been condemnation 
by opposition parties in Mauritania and human rights groups of the 
conviction of an opposition leader on charges of organising a conspiracy 
against the state. The leader of the Popular Front, Chebih Cheikh Ould 
Malainine, was sentenced on 14 June to five years in prison after a trial 
lasting just over a week. Popular Front representatives criticised the 
proceedings as a show trial with no legal credibility, and described the 
jail term as very severe. Mr Malainine, a former government minister, is 
alleged to have formed a group with the aim of committing acts of sabotage 
and terrorism. Correspondents say he is a persistent and uncompromising 
critic of President Maaouya Ould Ahmed Taya. 19 June: Amnesty International 
calls for the unconditional release of prisoners of conscience in 
Mauritania.   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 19 June 2001)

* Namibia. Funds delay treason trial  -  A struggle to raise funds to 
finance the defence of the 126 men facing 275 charges in the Caprivi high 
treason case yesterday forced a further postponement of a month and a half 
in their matter. At the first appearance of the high treason accused in the 
High Court, sitting in Omulunga, Grootfontein, defence lawyers Izak Hohne 
and Chris van Sittert told Judge Peter Shivute that they would have to ask 
for the case to be postponed for about a month so that further attempts 
could be made to raise money to pay for the suspects' defence. According to 
Justice Minister Ngarikutuke Tjiriange, who also attended the proceedings, 
the State will not be able to provide legal aid to the suspects. The 
prosecution, however, is ready to start with the case, the leading State 
counsel in the case, Deputy Prosecutor-General Lourens Campher, told the 
court. The 126 are now set to make a second appearance in the High Court 
for a pre-trial conference on August 1, on the eve of the second 
anniversary of the secessionist attacks at Katima Mulilo on August 2 1999 
which led to the 126 being arrested and charged. In the meantime the 
defence could approach the High Court in an effort to overturn the 
Magistrate's Court ruling allowing the prosecution not to disclose to the 
suspects all the evidence against them, Van Sittert also indicated.   (The 
Namibian, Namibia, 19 June 2001)

* Niger. Campagne de sensibilisation au sida  -  Le Niger a lancé une 
campagne de sensibilisation aux effets du VIH/sida, en mettant l'accent sur 
les mesures de prévention et l'acceptation sociale des personnes vivant 
avec le virus, a indiqué PANA le 14 juin. La campagne, qui recommande la 
fidélité au sein des couples et des tests volontaires de dépistage du 
virus, est appuyée par l'Agence américaine pour le développement. Selon les 
estimations, il y aurait environ 65.000 personnes infectées par le virus du 
sida au Niger.   (IRIN, Abidjan, 15 juin 2001)

* Nigeria. IFC delays funding  -  The board of International Finance 
Corporation (IFC), the private sector lending arm of the World Bank, has 
postponed a decision on funding oil services companies in the Niger Delta 
following protests from environmental campaigners. IFC's board had been due 
on 14 June to approve a $15m revolving credit facility for subcontractors 
of Royal Dutch/Shell, the Anglo-Dutch oil group, through local Nigerian 
banks. However, an IFC official said the board had deferred the decision 
until next week after a complaint from Environmental Rights Action (Era), a 
Nigerian campaign group affiliated to Friends of the Earth. "We understand 
that the shareholders are concerned about this project and wanted more time 
to discuss this with management. They are concerned about IFC's reputation 
in working in an extremely high-risk environment," she said.   (Financial 
Times, UK, 15 June 2001)

* Nigeria. Refugee ship allowed to dock  -  The Nigerian Government says it 
will allow a vessel crowded with 186 Liberian refugees, including 79 
children, to dock at one of its ports. The Nigerian Foreign Minister, Sule 
Lamido, said his government was taking humanitarian action --following a 
request from the West African regional body, ECOWAS -- in order to prevent 
a tragedy. Some of the Liberian refugees are in poor health and the United 
Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has expressed concern over their plight. A 
journalist who boarded the ship off the Benin coast three days ago said 
that the captain complained that some of his passengers were suffering from 
diarrhoea and were vomiting. The ship, called the Alnar, has a Swedish 
captain and is believed to have left the Liberian capital Monrovia at the 
beginning of the month.   (BBC News, UK, 19 June 2001)

* Rwanda. UN tribunal calls for tighter rules for attorneys  -  The 
International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda has imposed stricter rules for 
defense attorneys and more thorough background questionnaires for defense 
investigators following reports of corruption and the arrest of a defense 
team member on genocide charges. Adama Dieng, the court's administrator, 
introduced the measures after a scathing audit by the UN Office of Internal 
Oversight Services. The February report found that some defense attorneys 
were splitting their fees with defendants and providing them with expensive 
gifts to keep from being fired. Supposedly indigent defendants were found 
to have expensive computers and audio and video equipment in their cells. 
"These were gifts provided by members of their defense teams," the report 
said. Defense attorneys can earn up to $230,000 a year. Legal assistants 
and defense investigators earn up to $30,000 a year, a huge sum by African 
standards. Dieng said defense teams would be thoroughly searched prior to 
meeting with suspects at the UN Detention Facility in Arusha, the town in 
northern Tanzania where the tribunal is located, to ensure they are not 
smuggling in valuables. Defense attorneys will also not be allowed to meet 
suspects who are not their clients. Defense team members will also be 
required to fill out more thorough background questionnaires to ensure that 
they are not related to their clients and that they did not participate in 
the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. The tribunal is prosecuting people believed 
responsible for the state-orchestrated massacres of more than 500,000 
people, most of them Tutsis or politically moderate Hutus.   (CNN, USA, 15 
June 2001)

* Rwanda. 9 condamnations à mort  -  Le 15 juin, neuf personnes ont été 
condamnées à mort par la justice rwandaise pour leur participation au 
génocide de 1994. Le procès de 126 personnes accusées de crimes contre 
l'humanité et de crimes de génocide par un tribunal de la province de 
Kigali rural s'est achevé par la condamnation à vie pour 30 autres accusés. 
62 accusés ont été condamnés à des peines allant de 20 ans à un an de 
prison, et 25 ont été acquittés. Les prévenus étaient jugés pour leur 
participation présumée aux massacres de Kanzenze.   (La Libre Belgique, 18 
juin 2001)

* Rwanda. Tentatives d'infiltrations  -  Dans la nuit du 14 au 15 juin, des 
combattants extrémistes hutu rwandais, venus du Congo-Kinshasa, ont à 
nouveau tenté de s'infiltrer au nord-ouest du Rwanda, a indiqué le chef 
d'état-major adjoint de l'armée, le général Kabarebe. Le 14 juin, une 
journaliste de la BBC avait été témoin d'accrochages entre les troupes de 
l'armée rwandaise et des infiltrés, sur les contreforts du volcan 
Karisimbi. Des accrochages quasi-quotidiens opposent depuis près d'une 
semaine l'armée rwandaise aux combattants Interahamwe et ex-FAR (soldats de 
l'ancien régime). Les combats ont lieu aux limites du parc naturel des 
Virungas, à la frontière entre le Rwanda et le Congo, mais également plus 
en profondeur dans le territoire rwandais, notamment dans les anciennes 
communes de Nyamutera et Giciye, à proximité de la forêt naturelle de 
Gishwati. 80 présumés extrémistes ont été tués ces derniers jours, a 
indiqué la radio nationale du 16 juin. - Selon l'agence IRIN du 19 juin, 
des responsables gouvernementaux se sont déclarés satisfaits de la sécurité 
dans les provinces de Ruhengeri et Gisenyi, jugées "sous contrôle" au 
lendemain des attaques. Les habitants ont joué un rôle déterminant dans la 
lutte contre les insurrections, a-t-on signalé.   (ANB-BIA, de sources 
diverses, 19 juin 2001)

Weekly anb0621.txt - #5/8