Weekly anb11291.txt #7

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

ANB-BIA - Av. Charles Woeste 184 - 1090 Bruxelles - Belg
TEL **.32.2/420 34 36 fax /420 05 49 E-Mail: anb-bia@village.uunet.be
_____________________________________________________________
WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 29-11-2001      PART #1/7

* Africa. Experts warn of sleeping sickness growth  -  Health experts from 
seven central African countries have called for coordinated action against 
sleeping sickness, warning that the disease is on the rise in the region. 
The experts -- from Angola, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Congo, 
the Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Chad -- said during 
a meeting in the Central African Republic that up to 300,000 people are 
infected by the disease every year in the region. They say that not enough 
has been done in the last decade to combat the tsetse fly, which carries 
the parasite responsible for sleeping sickness. Ministers from the seven 
countries are expected to sign an agreement on ways of cooperating to fight 
the disease.   (BBC News, UK, 22 November 2001)

* Africa. The Kimberley Process  -  Global Witness says that industrialized 
countries have two standards where terrorism is concerned: one for 
themselves and another for Africa. That is the concern of NGOs that have 
been participating in the inter-governmental "Kimberley Process", initiated 
by the South African Government 18 months ago, in an attempt to end 
diamond-fuelled wars in Angola, Sierra Leone and Congo RDC. The Kimberley 
Process was mandated by a UN General Assembly resolution to give "urgent 
and careful consideration to devising effective and pragmatic measures to 
address the problem of conflict diamonds". After ten meetings in Africa and 
Europe, attended by as many as 38 governments, diamond industry executives 
and NGOs, the Kimberley Process could fail to meet its obligations as 
mandated by the UN resolution. There are still disagreements with key 
provisions by key governments in spite of an agreement "in principle" on 
general statements of intent. (Editor's note: On 25 November, 
representatives from African diamond-producing countries and the diamond 
industry began gathering Botswana to begin discussing proposals to end the 
trade in conflict diamonds.)   (Global Witness, UK, 23 November 2001)

* Africa. Human Rights  -  22 November: Human Rights Watch calls on the 
Southern African Development Community to speak out strongly on the need to 
ensure that the rule of law is respected in Zimbabwe. 25 November: Genocide 
survivors from across the globe gather in Rwanda to open a conference to 
share traumas and commemorate massacres they now must never be allowed to 
happen again. Rwandans, Armenians, Jews, Cambodians and Bosnians are among 
those invited to the "Life After Death" conference, where some 250 
participants will discuss coping with post-genocide life. 27 November: 
Amnesty International has called on Togo's president, Gnassingbe Eyadema, 
to release two prominent political prisoners. They were detained after 
publicly criticising the authorities there. It also urged the French 
authorities to exert pressure over their release, during Mr Eyadema's 
week-long visit to France. Amnesty said the imprisonment of the two 
political activists, an opposition party leader, Yawovi Agboyibo, and a 
Togolese student union leader, Hounjo Mawudzuro, were just two in a long 
line of human rights violations committed by Togolese authorities over the 
past 30 years. Mr Mawudzuro was jailed in November for publicly denouncing 
paramilitary police who are alleged to have tortured him during a brief 
detention in September. Mr Agboyibo who is also a lawyer and a past 
president of the country's bar association is appealing a six month jail 
sentence for allegedly libelling Togo's prime minister by linking him to 
election violence which erupted in 1998.   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 28 November 
2001)

* Africa. Action against the Media  -  Egypt: On 24 November, The Egyptian 
Organisation for Human Rights expressed its deep concern about the 
detention of Shohdy Nagib Soror, at the El Sayeda Zenab police station. 
Ethiopia: The Ethiopian Free Press Journalists' Association reported on 22 
November, that Tsegaye Ayalew, editor-in-chief of Genanaw, and Robel 
Mitiku, editor-in-chief of Gohe, were among several editors-in-chief or 
private newspapers who were ordered to report to the Central Investigation 
Department in Addis Ababa the week of 19-26 November. The Gambia: In a 
letter to the Minister of Justice (23 November), Reporters sans Frontières 
(RSF) called for the immediate release of Alhagie Mbye, a journalist from 
The Independent, and correspondent for the London-based magazine West 
Africa. He has been detained since 21 November after denouncing electoral 
fraud. Liberia: In a letter addressed to the Minister of Finances on 22 
November, RSF called for the release of Wilson Tarpeh, chairman of the 
board of directors of the daily The News and the re-opening of this 
newspaper and of the Monrovia Guardian. Morocco: Reporters sans Frontières 
(RSF) protested on 22 November, the sentencing of Ali Lmrabet, publications 
director of Demain Magazine, and RSF's correspondent in Morocco, to four 
months' imprisonment and a fine. Tunisia: In a letter to the Minister of 
the Interior, RSF urges the minister to put an end to the acts of 
intimidation against the journalist, Taufik Ben Brik's family. Sudan: On 22 
November, the Sudanese authorities were reported to have detained 30 
journalists and other employees of the daily Al-Watan. Zimbabwe: The 
Government has approved the Public Order and Security Bill, which will 
replace the Law and Order Maintenance Act. The new bill has draconian 
provisions that will curtail the operations of the Media and the free flow 
of information. -- On 23 November, the Zimbabwean government described six 
Harare-based journalists as "terrorists who had filed false reports on the 
violence sweeping the country". The same day, the international Federation 
of Journalists accused President Mugabe's Government of a "hysterical and 
hateful campaign" against press Freedom. -- On 24 November, police raided 
the offices of Econet Wireless in search of information on the personal 
subscriber and communication information, of opposition Movement for 
Democratic Change officials. On 26 November, the International Federation 
of Journalists protested to President Mugabe over the accusation by a 
spokesman of the Government, that a number of named journalists are 
supporting "terrorists. The same day, the International Press Institute 
also issued a similar protest.   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 28 November 2001)

* Africa. A striking end for Air Afrique  -  Even its glory days, when it 
ran an impressive network of flights around the region, Air Afrique had the 
occasional wobble. The French flag carrier is taking over both the name and 
routes of Air Afrique, once a proud symbol of African independence. But 
ground staff providing services such as cleaning and catering at airports 
throughout French-speaking West Africa want a better deal when the airline 
goes into liquidation. Six planes have now been repossessed for 
non-payment, and hotel reception desks in the region, instead of referring 
you to the timetable, stick up little hand-written notices to announce that 
Air Afrique might be planning to run a flight to Paris on 
Friday.   ANB-BIA, Brussels, 27 November 2001)

* Afrique. Congrégation pour l'évangélisation  -  Au Vatican, le nouveau 
secrétaire de la Congrégation pour l'évangélisation des peuples (la 
"Propaganda Fide") est un Africain: Mgr Robert Sarah, archevêque de 
Conakry. Il succède dans ses nouvelles fonctions à Mgr Marcello Zago. Mgr 
Sarah, 56 ans, a été ordonné prêtre en 1961 et évêque en 1979. Il est 
considéré comme un évêque proche du laïcat et des nouvelles communautés. Le 
préfet qui dirige la Congrégation depuis avril 2001 est le cardinal 
Crescenzio Sepe, un Italien.   (DIA, Kinshasa, 28 novembre 2001)

* Africa. Tourism  -  Hundreds of African tourism officials meet in 
Cameroon to discuss prospects for US tourism to the continent following the 
11 September attacks. Tourism is a major foreign income earner for many 
African countries, despite under investment in the sector. Following the US 
attacks "they did not get many cancellations from groups and people who 
were travelling," said the Africa Travel Association (ATA) s' executive 
director, Mira Berman. "The bookings for next year and the year after are 
what is in question," she said. The World Tourism Organisation (WTO) and 
the ATA have been "pounding at the governments" to stress importance of 
investment in tourism, she said. "The problem is convincing the 
international investors that there is a potential in Cameroon, there is a 
touristic potential which can bring tourists, so that they are not afraid 
when they are investing their money," Many tourists have been deterred from 
visiting Africa by domestic security fears. Recent troubles in Zimbabwe 
have seen the number of visitors plunge from an estimated 1.4 million 
visitors in 1999 to a quarter of that last year. Mira Berman points out 
that it is possible for African countries that experience trouble to woo 
tourists again. "Tanzania, although they had the embassy bombing, came 
right back and stayed as the number one destination for east Africa,". The 
week-long conference has been organised by the Africa Travel Association, a 
body funded by the industry and African governments.   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 
28 November 2001)

* Afrique. Durban: toujours pas de conclusion  -  Près de trois mois après 
la fin de la conférence de l'Onu sur le racisme à Durban, les pays 
participants n'ont toujours pas adopté de déclaration finale, faute 
d'accord sur la façon de mentionner l'un de ses principaux thèmes, 
l'esclavage. Ainsi, les documents finaux n'ont pas pu être présentés à 
l'Assemblée générale de l'Onu.   (Libération, France, 28 novembre 2001)

* Afrique. Sida  -  A trois jours de la Journée mondiale de lutte contre le 
sida, célébrée le 1er décembre, Onusida et l'OMS ont rendu public le 
rapport 2001, faisant le point région par région sur l'épidémie qui ne 
cesse de gagner du terrain. C'est toujours l'Afrique subsaharienne qui 
détient le triste record avec 28,1 millions d'habitants vivant à ce jour 
avec le virus du sida. L'Onusida met en garde contre le fait que si les 
Africains touchés par le virus "ne disposent pas d'un traitement et d'une 
prise en charge appropriés, la plupart d'entre eux ne survivront pas à la 
décennie". Il y a cependant des améliorations radicales dans des pays comme 
l'Ouganda et la Zambie. Par contre, dans des pays jusqu'ici moins touchés, 
l'épidémie s'étend de manière catastrophique: au Burkina Faso, Cameroun, 
Côte d'Ivoire, Nigeria et Togo la prévalence chez les adultes a dépassé les 
5%. Elle s'étend plus lentement, mais de façon marquée en Afrique du 
Nord.   (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 29 novembre 2001)

* Africa. Africa devastated by AIDS  -  AIDS is the biggest threat to the 
continent's development, according to the United Nations, because of the 
large numbers of people in key roles who are dying: teachers; farmers; 
health-workers; civil servants and young professionals. "AIDS Epidemic 
Update" -- released ahead of World AIDS Day on 1 December -- makes 
extremely depressing reading. It says there were 3.4 million new HIV 
infections in Africa in 2001, almost 70% of the global total. This brings 
to 28.1 million the number of Africans now living with HIV/AIDS. Within the 
continent, Southern Africa is hardest-hit, with life-expectancy shrinking 
rapidly. In Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique and Swaziland, the average person 
now dies before their 40th birthday. Without AIDS, they would live until at 
least 60. The one bright spot is the experience of Uganda, which through 
widespread public information, has managed to turn the tide. HIV prevalence 
in pregnant women in urban areas has fallen for eight consecutive years -- 
from 29.5% in 1995 to 11.25% in 2000. But elsewhere, ignorance is still the 
norm. Unicef says that more than 70% of young girls in Somalia and more 
than 40% in Guinea-Bissau and Sierra Leone have not heard of the 
disease.   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 29 November 2001)

* Afrique. Message pour la fin du ramadan  -  Le 29 novembre a été rendu 
public le message du Cardinal Arinze, président du Conseil pontifical pour 
le dialogue interreligieux, pour la fin du ramadan. Rappelant "les 
événements dramatiques que notre monde connaît", le message affirme que 
"les fidèles qui adorent le Dieu unique sont appelés à être dans le monde 
des artisans d'une civilisation fondée sur les valeurs impérissables de la 
paix et de la justice, de l'unité et de l'amour, du dialogue et de la 
liberté, de la coopération et de fraternité entre les personnes et entre 
les peuples". Et il conclut en disant: "L'action commune à laquelle nous 
sommes invités concerne l'humanité tout entière, considérée comme une 
grande famille, ayant en Dieu son origine et sa fin. La référence à Dieu et 
la recherche constante de sa volonté sont d'une importance fondamentale 
dans nos efforts pour promouvoir les valeurs humaines".   (ANB-BIA, 
Bruxelles, 29 novembre 2001)

* Africa. Message to Muslims for the end of Ramadam  -  In his Message to 
Muslims for the end of Ramadam, Cardinal Francis Arinze, President of the 
Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, said: "I cannot forget in 
the first place, the dramatic events which our world is experiencing, 
events which affect in a particular way the hearts of believers belonging 
to the monotheistic religions...May expressions of solidarity and 
fraternity among believers and all people of good will, lead society along 
new paths, in full respect for human values and in the promotion of these 
values". The Cardinal then dwelt of the theme of human values and their 
promotion in an era marked by great technological progress: transport, 
communications, information, medicine, genetics, etc. "The most exciting 
and at the same time controversial field of technology is genetics which 
touches human nature directly...Another area is that of information 
technology, which through the Internet, makes possible widespread and paid 
communication". Cardinal Arinze concluded his Message by pointing out it is 
through dialogue, that human values are protected and promoted. "And this 
could lead naturally to collaboration in the fields already 
mentioned".   (Vatican City, 29 November 2001)

Weekly anb1129.txt - End of #1/7