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Weekly anb01175.txt #7
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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 17-01-2002 PART #5/7
* Nigeria. Heurts communautaires - Le 10 janvier, un responsable du
gouvernement local a annoncé qu'une centaine de personnes ont été tuées au
cours d'affrontements entre communautés se disputant l'exploitation des
ressources halieutiques d'un lac dans le centre du Nigeria. Les heurts ont
éclaté le vendredi 4 janvier et se sont poursuivis tout le week-end, mais
la situation est maintenant sous contrôle, a précisé un responsable de
l'information de l'Etat de Nassarawa. Les affrontements ont mis aux prises
les communautés Loku, Udege et Agutu, dans une zone proche de la capitale
de l'Etat, Lafia. - Le 13 janvier, des sources policières et hospitalières
ont annoncé que 36 personnes ont été tuées lors d'affrontements liés au
contrôle du trône de la ville d'Owo, dans le sud-ouest du Nigeria. Des
membres du groupe militant ethnique interdit Yorouba, le Congrès des peuple
d'Odua (OPC), se sont affrontés le 12 janvier avec des gardes du palais du
dirigeant traditionnel de la ville d'Owo. Ils revenaient des funérailles du
ministre de la Justice, Bolga Ige, assassiné le 23 décembre, et ont tenté
d'assaillir le palais du roi traditionnel local. Onze blessés sont décédés
la nuit. Un responsable de la police a déclaré que 25 personnes avaient été
tués durant les affrontements. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 14 janvier
2002)
* Nigeria. Factional fighting - 11 January: A clash between villagers in
central Nigeria has left up to 100 people dead and many more injured, with
eight villages in ruins. It appears the dispute was over fishing rights to
a local lake. Violent clashes are becoming increasingly common across the
country and almost always involve access to scarce resources such as land
or water. A local government spokesman, Ibrahim Shagaba, confirmed the
incident. It was, he said, between the inhabitants of a series of villages
about 90km east of Lafia, the Nasarawa state capital. By the time police
brought the fighting under control, at least eight villages had been
destroyed and thousands had fled their homes. Nasarawa state has seen
violence like this before, all too recently. Just six months ago hundreds
of people were killed in a dispute over access to farmland. And in
neighbouring Taraba state, at least 50 people were killed last week in a
dispute between indigenous farmers and those they perceive to be settlers
in the area. Across the country, similar scenes have been witnessed, with
many thousands dying over the past two years. There is well-founded
speculation that such outbreaks of violence are frequently exacerbated by
local political squabbles, and are likely to continue in the run-up to next
year's local and national elections. 13 January: At least 25 people have
died in factional fighting between members of a banned Yoruba militant
organisation and guards of the traditional ruler of the town of Owo in
Nigeria. The clashes, just the latest in a series of communal clashes
across Nigeria in recent weeks, took place on 12 January in Owo, which is
near Akure, about 150 kilometres north-east of Lagos. The violence
frequently appears to be linked to the political aspirations of local
leaders in the run-up to elections due to be held early next year. This
time two rival factions in the south-west have fought over the rights to a
royal throne. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 14 January 2002)
* Nigeria. Woman appeals death by stoning - 14 January: An Islamic court
in northern Nigeria is hearing an appeal, today, on behalf of a woman
sentenced to death by stoning. Safiya Husseini Tungar-Tuduwas convicted of
adultery by a Sharia or Islamic court in Sokoto state last year, a crime
which carries a mandatory death sentence. But her lawyers are now seeking
to overturn the conviction on the grounds that she was raped. Harsh
criminal punishments, such as death by stoning and amputation of limbs for
theft, have been introduced in many of Nigeria's majority Muslim northern
states over the past two years. But although amputations have been carried
out, no one has yet been stoned to death. Under Islamic law, she is free to
live with her family until she either wins her appeal or is taken away to
be stoned to death. Later on the same day, an Islamic court postpones the
appeal hearing, to give prosecution lawyers enough time to react to new
evidence that the baby in the centre of the case was fathered by her former
husband. The hearing will now take place on 18 March. (ANB-BIA, Brussels,
14 January 2002)
* Nigeria. Lapidation: procès en appel reporté - Le 14 janvier, le procès
en appel de la Nigériane, Safiya Husseini Tungar-Tudu, 35 ans, condamnée à
être lapidée "pour adultère" par un tribunal islamique de Sokoto, a été
ajourné jusqu'au 18 mars. Selon la défense, la jeune femme est revenue sur
ses déclarations de viol à la suite duquel une petite fille, Adama, est
née. Le père de cet enfant de 11 mois serait son dernier mari, dont elle a
divorcé, et non un voisin. Selon l'interprétation locale de la loi
islamique, Safiya ne peut être coupable d'adultère si elle accouche d'un
enfant dont le père est son ex-mari. La condamnation de Safiya a soulevé un
tollé international et les demandes de grâce s'accumulent sur le bureau du
président nigérian, Olusegun Obasanjo. Mais celui-ci, qui a déclaré dès
1999 que la charia (adoptée maintenant par une douzaine d'Etats du nord)
était "totalement anticonstitutionnelle, n'a pas osé jusqu'ici poser le
problème à la Cour suprême de peur de créer un débat qui a toutes les
chances de dégénérer en guerre civile religieuse. (ANB-BIA, de sources
diverses, 15 janvier 2002)
* Nigeria. Unions stand firm on strike - 16 January: Nigeria's collective
trade union body has launched a nationwide general strike, after failing to
reach a compromise in a dispute with the government over a recent rise is
the price of fuel. The government has declared the strike illegal, saying
the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) has not given the required 21 days'
advance written notice of the strike action. The NLC has rejected this
charge and says the strike will continue until the government backs down
and cancels the 18% increase in fuel prices. 17 January: Nigerian trade
union leaders have pledged to continue the strike for a second day despite
the arrest of a senior official. Nigerian Labour Congress leader Adams
Oshiomhole and about a dozen of his supporters were charged yesterday with
"unlawful assembly and inciting the general public against the government".
But Mr Oshiomhole, who was released on bail, said the country's workers
were still angry and would not be put off by the arrests. The strike
paralysed most of the country's main cities and brought commercial life to
a standstill. It has been declared illegal by a court in Abuja. Offices and
banks shut down, petrol stations closed and streets normally crammed with
traffic were empty because of the protests. There were outbreaks of
violence in parts of the commercial capital, Lagos, with clashes between
police and protesters trying to prevent civil servants going to work. In
Lagos, the streets were deserted and shops were closed. (ANB-BIA,
Brussels, 17 January 2002)
* Rwanda/Belgium. Belgian court rejects appeals of genocide convicts - On
9 January, Belgian's final court of appeal, the Cour de Cassation, rejected
the appeals for a retrial by a Rwandan businessman and two Rwandan nuns
sentenced to prison in Brussels on 8 June 2001 for war crimes committed
during the 1994 genocide. Lawyers for convicts had appealed claiming
irregularities in the original trial. However, the appeal court confirmed
the sentence of 20 years imprisonment for Alphonse Higaniro, 52, a former
minister and director of a match factory; 15 years for Consolata
Mukangango, 42, also known as Sister Gertrude; 12 years for Julienne
Mukabutera, 36, known as Sister Maria Kizito. Both nuns are from the
Benedictine convent in Sovu, Butare Prefecture, Rwanda. The fourth
convicted, Vincent Ntezimana, 39, is a former professor at Butare
University. He was given a 12-year sentence but did not appeal. The trial
of the "Butare Four" was described as "historic", because it was the first
under a 1993 law in which defendants were judged in Belgium courts for war
crimes and human rights violations committed by foreigners outside Belgium.
All four originate from Butare in southern Rwanda, where their crimes were
committed, and have been living in Belgium since the 1994 genocide, in
which at least 900,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were slaughtered. "It's a
fundamental judgement that makes the trial historic," one of the lawyers of
the victims said. "We are now waiting for other trials in Belgium and
elsewhere, for which investigations are continuing." Currently, a Belgian
investigative magistrate, Damien Vandermeersch, is in Rwanda in connection
with the killings of four Belgians in 1994. Three of the dead were aid
workers -- Olivier Dulieu, Christine Andre and Antoine Godfriaux -- slain
in Rambura (about 150 km from Kigali) on 7 April 1994. Their families
suspect that they were killed because they had been informed about funds
embezzled from the Belgian foreign aid office. (IRIN, 10 January 2002)
* Rwanda. Coalition politique en exil - Une nouvelle coalition en exil de
l'opposition politique rwandaise, l'Alliance démocratique rwandaise (ADR,
en kinyarwanda ADR-Isangano), vient de se former, regroupant le Congrès
démocratique africain (CDA) et le Mouvement pour la paix, la démocratie et
le développement (MPDD), selon un communiqué publié le 14 janvier à
Bruxelles. L'ADR a présenté ses objectifs dans un programme politique de 10
points, qui sera le "pivot de sa vision, son organisation et son action
politique" dans les domaines de l'économie, la gestion des affaires
publiques et la justice. Dans une réaction, un porte-parole du gouvernement
rwandais a indiqué que ces 10 points parlaient de programmes déjà en place.
Il a aussi déclaré que ces partis ne sont pas enregistrés juridiquement au
Rwanda et que toute activité menée par ces mouvements au Rwanda serait
illégale. (IRIN, Nairobi, 15 janvier 2002)
* Sao Tome e Principe. Last oil frontier becomes joint development
zone - Agreements to develop the last unexplored oil frontier in West
Africa were launched on 15 January by the presidents of Sao Tomé and
Príncipe and Nigeria. The launch took place in Abuja, the Nigerian capital.
The establishment of a Joint Development Zone could increase the importance
of the region as a major oil exporter and transform the economic fortunes
of Sao Tomé, a tiny island archipelago and hitherto one of the poorest
countries on the continent. The deal also represents a breakthrough in a
regional environment until now marked by sometimes bitter border disputes.
Under the terms of the Abuja agreement, the two countries have agreed to
put to one side a dispute over undemarcated maritime boundaries and jointly
to develop an area potentially rich in oil reserves and fisheries. The deal
offers a 60:40 split to Nigeria over Sao Tomé with respect to any oil that
may discovered in the area. In return, Nigeria is to offer technical
expertise and other forms of assistance to its partner. The two sides have
yet to agree on who should first hold the chairmanship of the Joint
Development Board that will manage the zone, although the composition of
board and a supervisory ministerial council have been settled. (Financial
Times, UK, 15 January 2002)
* Sénégal. Intempéries: 17 morts - 17 personnes sont mortes au Sénégal à
la suite des fortes pluies, accompagnées de vents froids qui se sont
abattues sur le pays les 9 et 10 janvier. Selon la préfecture de Podor, 13
personnes sont mortes par noyade, de froid ou dans l'effondrement de leurs
maisons, dans ce département au nord du pays. Quatre pêcheurs ont été
retrouvés morts et une trentaine d'autres sont toujours portés disparus, a
annoncé le ministère de la Pêche. 110 pêcheurs, surpris en mer par le
mauvais temps, avaient été retrouvés sains et saufs les 11 et 12 janvier,
dont certains en Gambie et en Mauritanie. A Podor, plus de 115 mm de pluie
sont tombés en 48 heures, alors que le département était balayé par un
froid glacial. Ces pluies très rares en cette période (le pays est en
pleine saison sèche) ont provoqué également de nombreux dégâts dans les
cultures. (AFP, France, 13 janvier 2002)
Weekly anb0117.txt - En of #5/7