Weekly anb08301.txt #8

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 30-08-2001      PART #1/8

* Africa. Action against the Media  -  Angola: On 24 August, MISNA reported 
that the union of journalists of Angola has denounced the "gross 
violations" of press freedom. The union affirmed that despite denials by 
the government that journalists are being persecuted, facts clearly 
demonstrate that the violations do exist and are continuous. Cameroon: In a 
letter to the chief representative of the national police, Reporters sans 
Frontières (RSF) protested the assault on Rémy Ngono, a journalist from the 
RTS radio station (Radio Silantou), and the detention of Georges Baongla, a 
journalist from the weekly Le Démenti. Ethiopia: On 24 August, the 
International Chair of the Writers in prison Committee of International 
Pen, wrote to Prime Minister Zenawi, calling for an immediate end to the 
practice of imprisoning writers on the grounds of their work and for the 
immediate release of Tamrat Zuma (editor-in-chief of Atkurot) who has been 
in prison since May. Kenya: On 22 August, the High Court in Nairobi barred 
the Nation Media Group from publishing reports on President Moi's son, 
Jonathan Toroitich, arising from the sittings of a parliamentary watchdog 
committee. Liberia: On 23 August, in a letter the Minister of Justice, RSF 
protested the arrest of Sam.O.Dean, editor of the Monrovia Guardian. 
Senegal: On 24 August, the World Association of Newspapers wrote to 
President Wade, expressing serious concern at the prosecution of journalist 
Alioune Fall on charges of publishing false information. Tunisia/UK: RSF 
says the Tunisian government is using the British courts to muzzle 
criticism of its human rights violations. Zimbabwe: On 23 August, the World 
Association of Newspapers wrote to President Mugabe, expressing serious 
concern at the detention of six journalists from the Daily News in the 
past. On 24 August, the Independent said that there has been an ominous 
development concerning police action vis à vis journalists when, on 23 
August, Vice-President Simon Muzenda had told a police parade that "errant 
journalists" -- those who portrayed the army, the police and the secret 
service as "barbaric and morally decadent", would face the full wrath of 
the law.   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 29 August 2001)

* Afrique. Amnesty élargit son mandat  -  Lors de la clôture de sa 
conférence internationale, qui s'est tenue à Dakar du 17 au 25 août, 
Amnesty International a formellement annoncé l'élargissement de son champ 
d'action. "Dorénavant, nous allons travailler (...) contre toutes les 
formes de discrimination, qu'elles touchent aux droits politiques et 
civils, ou aux droits économiques, sociaux et culturels", a déclaré Irene 
Kahn, la nouvelle secrétaire générale. La décision avait provoqué d'âpres 
débats entre les 500 délégués venus du monde entier. Lors du 40e 
anniversaire de l'ONG en mai dernier, le secrétaire général sortant, Pierre 
Sané, avait déjà afirmé que "le plus grand défi du prochain millénaire 
était le combat en faveur des droits socio-économiques, car la 
mondialisation doit être humanisée".   (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 29 
août 2001)

* Africa. Hunger threatens sub-Saharan Africa  -  Sub-Saharan Africa is 
likely to face hunger and malnutrition for years because of lack of action 
by its countries' leaders, according to a report published on 29 August by 
the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). The report, which 
analyses global food security up to 2020, concludes the prospects of 
widespread malnutrition in the region are far greater than elsewhere in the 
world. "Sub-Saharan Africa cannot afford to fall further behind in 
overcoming threats to the health and well-being of its children, but its 
leaders have shown little sense of urgency and commitment to the challenge 
of rural development to date," said IFPRI, a respected Washington-based 
institute. Deteriorating natural resources, stagnant technologies and 
rising population densities were common features of the rural landscape 
through much of sub-Saharan Africa, the report said. These would be 
alleviated only by transforming economies from subsistence agriculture to a 
commercialised and highly productive agricultural economy capable of 
supporting a growing urban population.   (Financial Times, UK, 29 August 2001)

* Afrique. Vers la Conférence contre le racisme  -  26 août. A Castel 
Gandolfo, le pape a encouragé la communauté internationale à se mobiliser 
avant la conférence mondiale des Nations unies contre la discrimination 
raciale, qui aura lieu du 31 août au 7 septembre à Durban en Afrique du 
Sud. Le racisme, le nationalisme agressif, la violence ethnique constituent 
un attentat contre la famille humaine et une grave offense contre Dieu, a 
affirmé Jean-Paul II, qui a précisé que le Conseil pontifical Justice et 
Paix élaborait une nouvelle édition du document publié à sa demande en 
1988, intitulé "L'Eglise face au racisme. Pour une société plus 
fraternelle". - 27 août. Selon le Washington Post, le secrétaire d'Etat 
américain Colin Powell a décidé de ne pas participer à la conférence 
mondiale, les Etats-Unis désapprouvant le caractère anti-israélien de 
certains documents. Mais il est toujours possible que les Etats-Unis y 
envoient une délégation de rang inférieur. -28 août. Mary Robinson, 
haut-commissaire de l'Onu aux droits de l'homme et secrétaire générale de 
la conférence, a cherché à apaiser la querelle. "Je tiens à souligner que 
nous avons clairement éliminé la formule sionisme égale racisme", a-t-elle 
déclaré. Les pays arabes et musulmans auraient accepté de retirer des 
textes en discussion toutes formules assimilant le sionisme à une forme de 
racisme. Une délégation américaine de haut niveau composée de 50 membres du 
Black Leadership Forum est déjà arrivée à Durban. D'autre part, Human 
Rights Watch a dénoncé le caractère xénophobe des violences en Côte 
d'Ivoire à l'automne 2000, dans un nouveau rapport intitulé "Le nouveau 
racisme: la manipulation politique de l'ethnicité en Côte d'Ivoire". - 29 
août. Selon l'agence de presse sénégalaise, le secrétaire général de l'OUA 
Amara Essy s'est déclaré favorable à la réparation des crimes de la traite 
négrière et de la colonisation.   (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 29 août 2001)

* Africa. Run-up to Durban Conference  -  23 August: After more than 300 
years of colonialism and 40 years of a race policy that gave the world one 
of it ugliest words, apartheid, South Africa is an apt venue for the UN 
conference against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related 
intolerance. Even with the creation of a new, black-majority democracy, an 
integrating society and a constitution that condemns all forms of 
discrimination, South Africans are still struggling with a lingering legacy 
of racial intolerance. And even before the UN conference begins in Durban 
on 31 August, it is clear that on a global level, the issue of racism finds 
more controversy than accord. After months of wrangling, South African and 
UN officials were in Geneva last week, battling with representatives from 
participant countries -- up to 194 are expected -- to achieve consensus on 
the meeting agenda. 26 August: The South African government appeals to the 
country's largest trade union federation not to mar this week's United 
Nations Conference Against Racism with anti-privatisation strike action. In 
advertisements placed in newspapers, the government asked Cosatu members 
not to undermine South Africa's international showcase event with 
nationwide protests against the restructuring of state assets. "Why try to 
hold a paralysing strike on the eve of the World Conference on Racism, when 
delegations are arriving? The conference is being held in Africa for the 
first time. It will be discussing issues at the core of our own society's 
transformation. The strike against privatisation is not necessary," it 
said. Cosatu has called a two-day strike of its 2m members on 29-30 August. 
The conference opens in Durban on 31 August. 27 August: Human Rights Watch 
says that it expects the Durban Conference to lead to concrete programmes 
to combat racial discrimination around the world. 28 August: Colin Powell, 
US secretary of state, will not attend the conference, in protest against 
efforts to portray the Israeli government as racist. However, the US 
administration has said it is still considering what level of 
representation to send to the conference, suggesting it might stop short of 
a full boycott. Richard Boucher, State Department spokesman, says: "The 
elements that most concerned us and bothered us at this point are the 
offensive language about Israel and the singling out of Israel in many of 
the conference documents. We've worked very hard to get rid of this, but we 
have not at this point been able to do that." -- Cosatu confirms it is to 
proceed with a two-day national strike to protest against the government's 
strategy of privatising state assets. 29 August: The US is sending 
officials on a last-ditch mission to influence the agenda of the 
conference.   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 30 August 2001)

* Africa. The Church and Archbishop Milingo  -  22 August: The Zambian 
authorities summon the representative of the Holy See in Lusaka, to explain 
the controversy surrounding one of its nationals, the former Archbishop of 
Lusaka, Emmanuel Milingo. The state-run Times of Zambia says the Vatican 
had not told the government what was happening to one of its nationals. 
Zambia's foreign minister says: "We are following up the matter seriously. 
Our concerns are that we have not been appraised of what was going on". He 
says the government is addressing the issue diplomatically as it does with 
issues affecting Zambians living in other countries. 27 August: Maria Sung 
says she has written to Pope John Paul II asking to see her husband again. 
In an open letter published in Italian newspapers, she says she had married 
Milingo before God and the world and had made promises she would never go 
back on. "But if he (Milingo) intends to renounce everything he promised, 
let him sit down with me and tell me to my face. let him explain everything 
with his heart on his sleeve, like the free and responsible man that he 
is". After an audience with the Pope, Milingo vanished from public view for 
more than two weeks before appearing on prime television time on 24 August 
to say he was returning to the Church. During his 16-day absence, Sung 
declared a hunger strike and said she would not eat until she saw him 
face-to-face. Italian news agencies have reported that Sung had sent a 
second letter to the Pope asking again to see Milingo. -- Milingo confirms 
his desire to return to the Church. He also expresses the wish to meet with 
Maria Sung to explain his decision. 29 August: Milingo meets Maria Sung to 
inform her of his decision in person.   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 30 August 2001)

* West Africa. West Africans agree to expel rebels  -  23 August: Foreign 
Ministers from Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea have ended a meeting in 
Freetown and said all rebel groups should be apprehended and returned to 
their country of origin. They also discussed a possible summit between the 
Presidents of the three countries, which make up the Mano River Union, a 
body aimed at promoting sub-regional cooperation   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 24 
August 2001)

* Algérie. Nouveaux massacres  -  Le 22 août au soir, vingt personnes ont 
été tuées, cinq blessées et deux adolescentes enlevées, à un faux barrage 
dressé par un groupe armé sur la route entre Hacine et Mohammédia (350 km 
au sud-ouest d'Alger), selon un nouveau bilan fourni le 25 août par le 
quotidien Le Matin. Le 12 août, 17 personnes avaient été assassinées à un 
autre faux barrage dans la même zone. Ce nouveau massacre porte à au moins 
67 le nombre de morts depuis le début du mois d'août dans des actions liées 
à l'activité de groupes armés, selon un décompte établi à partir de bilans 
de presse. - Le dimanche soir, 26 août, sept personnes ont encore été 
assassinées et une blessée, lors d'une attaque attribuée à un groupe 
islamiste contre le hameau d'El-Houala, dans la région de Mascara (360 km à 
l'ouest d'Alger). Les forces de sécurité ont lancé une vaste opération dans 
la région. - D'autre part, selon l'agence PANA du 26 août, la ville côtière 
de Jijel (450 km à l'est d'Alger) vit une véritable psychose des attentats 
à la bombe. En l'espace d'une semaine, les forces de sécurité ont désamorcé 
trois bombes contenant plusieurs kilogrammes de TNT. La préfecture de Jijel 
a été, rappelle-t-on, le fief et le quartier général de l'Armée islamique 
du salut (AIS) qui a déposé les armes. La nouvelle psychose intervient à un 
moment où plusieurs communes de Jijel connaissent des mouvements de 
protestation à caractère social, dont le dernier a eu lieu le 25 août à 
El-Mil. - Le 28 août, deux militaires ont été tués et trois autres blessés 
dans une embuscade tendue par un groupe armé dans la région montagneuse de 
Hamza, près de Jijel.   (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 29 août 2001)

* Algérie. Attentat dans la Casbah d'Alger  -  Le 29 août en fin de 
matinée, 34 personnes ont été blessées, dont 5 grièvement, dans l'explosion 
d'une bombe à la Casbah, la vieille ville d'Alger, selon un bilan de source 
hospitalière. La bombe, dissimulée dans un sac de plastique, a explosé dans 
une artère très commerçante et très fréquentée à cette heure. Aucun engin 
explosif n'avait été signalé à Alger depuis près de deux ans. Le soir, 
personne n'avait encore revendiqué l'attentat.   (ANB-BIA, de sources 
diverses, 30 août 2001)

Weekly news anb0830.txt End of #1/8