Weekly anb02076.txt #6

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 07-02-2002      PART #6/6

* Tunisia. Anger at Tunis court arrests  -  Human rights groups have 
protested to the Tunisian president after four leaders of the outlawed 
Communist Workers Party were dragged from a courtroom within hours of 
emerging from years of hiding. They included the party leader, Hamma 
Hammami. About 30 policemen manhandled Mr Hammami and his comrades from the 
court in Tunis on 2 February, as their appeal against previously imposed 
prison sentences was being heard. Mr Hammami's young daughter was injured 
as she tried to hold on to him. Lawyers described the police action as an 
abduction and have declared a strike in protest at the police action, to 
begin on 7 February. A group of 11 European-based human rights groups has 
sent a letter to the Tunisian President, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, 
expressing their outrage at the proceedings. The letter, from groups 
including Reporters sans Frontières; the Swiss Rights League and the Bar 
Council of England and Wales Human Rights Committee, said the court hearing 
was marked by grave violations of the rule of law and violence against 
members of the press. It said security in the court should have been 
guaranteed by the judge alone, without the intervention of police. The 
groups also condemned action taken against the media and demanded that 
material taken from three French television stations be returned.   (BBC 
News, UK, 3 February 2002)

* Tunisie. De la clandestinité à la prison  -  Le 2 février, Hamma Mammami 
et trois autres opposants, sortis de quatre ans de clandestinité pour être 
rejugés, ont été emprisonnés pour leur appartenance au Parti communiste 
ouvrier tunisien (PCOT), un parti d'extrême gauche interdit. En 1999, ils 
avaient été condamnés par défaut à 9 ans et 3 mois de prison chacun. La 
législation tunisienne stipule qu'un nouveau procès doit être organisé si 
des personnes jugées précédemment par contumace se présentent 
volontairement devant la justice. Mais de nouveau procès, il n'y en eut 
pas. Sans débat, le juge est seulement venu confirmer les peines de 1999. 
Les télévisions étrangères ont été malmenées, leurs films confisqués. Les 
avocats, qui se sont retirés pour protester contre l'arrestation musclée, 
ont annoncé une grève générale du barreau pour le 7 février. Une dizaine 
d'associations humanitaires ont dénoncé "une série de graves violations des 
règles du droit". Le 5 février, Amnesty International a demandé la 
libération immédiate des quatre hommes, qu'elle considère comme des 
prisonniers de conscience.   (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 5 février 2002)

* Western Sahara. Legal dispute  -  A legal opinion from UN lawyers to the 
president of the Security Council has failed to resolve a dispute over 
whether foreign oil companies can operate offshore the disputed Western 
Sahara with licences issued by Morocco. The opinion from Hans Correll, 
undersecretary for legal affairs at the UN, shifts the argument from one of 
rights of access to mineral resources to one of representation of the 
Sahrawis. Late last year Morocco, which has controlled much of the Western 
Sahara since Spain withdrew in 1975, issued one year "reconnaisance" 
licences to TotalFinaElf of France and Kerr-McGee of the US. The 
independence movement, Polisario, said the licences were illegal and in 
November the UN presidency asked for a legal opinion. Mr Correll's reply 
said the contracts were not illegal because they did not breach the 
principle that exploitation of resources in non-self-governing territories 
must be for the benefit of the people of the territories. But this is 
because no benefits have yet accrued. Further exploration and production 
activity "in disregard of the interests and wishes of the people of the 
Western Sahara" would be illegal. Determining the wishes of Sahrawis is the 
nub of the Western Sahara question. Morocco claims the territory as its own 
while Polisario demands an independent state. Last year, decade-old UN 
attempts to organise a referendum on self-determination for the Sahrawis, 
many of whom live in refugee camps in southern Algeria, ground to a halt 
because the parties were unable to agree on the electoral roll. Minurso, 
the UN observer mission, has been pared down and its mandate may be allowed 
to expire in coming weeks.   (Financial Times, UK, 6 February 2002)

* Zambia. Election observers question poll result  -  The European Union 
(EU) and the Carter Centre this week expressed grave doubts about the 
authenticity of the official results of Zambia's general elections held in 
December, and called for a speedy judicial review of the results to ease 
lingering political tensions. The two organisations had earlier expressed 
concern at pre-voting manipulation of the process, and widespread chaos on 
polling day which saw thousands of people disenfranchised. They said in 
separate statements that further investigations had revealed that the 
election results did not reflect the will of the electorate. "In view of 
the administrative failures on polling day, the serious flaws in the 
counting and tabulation procedures, together with the close outcome of the 
elections, we are not confident that the declared results represent the 
wishes of the Zambian people on polling day," EU Chief Observer Michael 
Meadowcroft told reporters on 5 February. "We cannot avoid the conclusion 
that the official published results, which contain such substantial 
unexplained anomalies, are unsafe. We strongly recommend that the Electoral 
Commission of Zambia publishes the voting figures from each polling station 
as an important contribution towards transparency. We hope that the courts 
will deal speedily with the election petitions".   (IRIN, 5 February 2002)

* Zambie. L'UE conteste les résultats des élections  -  Le 6 février, 
l'Union européenne a contesté les résultats des élections générales du 27 
décembre dernier, dont la présidentielle remportée d'une courte tête par le 
candidat du pouvoir, Levy Mwanawasa, affirmant qu'ils ne représentent pas 
les "voeux" des électeurs. "Nous ne pouvons pas éviter la conclusion que 
les résultats officiels publiés, qui contiennent tant d'anomalies 
inexpliquées, ne sont pas fiables"; précise le rapport final des 
observateurs de l'UE présents aux élections.   (Le Figaro, France, 7 
février 2002)

* Zimbabwe. Towards the elections  -  31 January: The official Zimbabwe 
media says the decision on 30 january not to suspend it from the 
Commonwealth was a humiliating defeat for the "mighty British empire". In 
an editorial, The Herald said Britain had been "slapped in the face" and 
with its record of colonialism, was in no position to lecture anyone about 
respecting human rights. But the Commonwealth's secretary-general denied 
the decision by Commonwealth foreign ministers was "a moral victory" for 
President Robert Mugabe. Zimbabwe's parliament is again due to debate a 
controversial media law after reports that it has been altered to take 
account of criticism from within Mr Mugabe's ZANU-PF party. Zimbabwe's 
foreign minister has also reacted for the first time to the European 
Union's threat to impose sanctions, accusing it of trying to "perpetuate an 
archaic colonial relationship". -- Parliament presses ahead with the 
passage of a highly restrictive press bill. The Access to Information Bill 
gives the government the right to ban newspapers and prevent reporters from 
working. -- President Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai file their nomination 
papers for the presidential election. Five candidates have filed their 
papers. 4 February: The opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, stands up to 
senior military leaders who have threatened a coup of he wins the 
presidential elections, by sating he will sack them. Last month, the army 
high command said it would not recognise any government that did not adhere 
to the aims of the "revolution". -- The European Union will this week send 
an advance team to Zimbabwe to prepare logistics and infrastructure for the 
150-strong team of observers that EU member states intend to send ahead of 
the elections. 5 February: Former Nigerian head of state Abdulsalami 
Abubakar is to lead a Commonwealth mission to Zimbabwe to monitor the 
forthcoming presidential elections. The announcement came as an advance 
party of Commonwealth officials arrived in Zimbabwe on 5 February to pave 
the way for the main group. Last week, the 54-nation Commonwealth rejected 
British calls to suspend Zimbabwe from the organisation, but decided to 
send monitors to oversee the elections. Don McKinnon, Commonwealth 
Secretary General Commonwealth Secretary General Don McKinnon said the 
first observers would arrive in Zimbabwe later this week, followed by a 
main group of about 40 monitors later this month. General Abubakar, who was 
Nigerian head of state until 1999, previously led a Commonwealth mission 
which oversaw parliamentary elections in Zimbabwe in June, 
2000.   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 6 February 2002)

* Zimbabwe. Campagne électorale  -  31 janvier. Le président Mugabe a 
officiellement lancé la campagne pour l'élection présidentielle des 9 et 10 
mars. Il a fait enregister sa candidature, tout comme le chef de 
l'opposition, Morgan Tsvangirai, ainsi que trois autres: Shakespeare Maya, 
leader de l'Alliance nationale pour la bonne gouvernance, et les leaders de 
deux petits partis qui ont été obligés de se présenter comme candidats 
indépendants, Wilson Kumbula (de la ZANU) et Paul Siwela (de la ZAPU). 
-D'autre part, les députés du parti au pouvoir ont voté (après 
d'innombrables ajournements et amendements) des lois imposant des 
restrictions drastiques à la liberté de presse. La loi donne au ministre de 
l'Information tous pouvoirs sur les permis de travail des journalistes et 
autorisations des organes de presse. Une commission disciplinaire est mise 
sur pied, chargée de retirer les permis de travail, de confisquer les 
matériels et de prononcer des condamnations pouvant aller jusqu'à deux ans 
de prison. La loi interdit aussi aux journalistes étrangers de diriger les 
bureaux au Zimbabwe de tout organe de la presse étrangère, ces bureaux 
devant être sous la responsabilité de citoyens zimbabwéens. Selon 
l'opposition, qui a qualifié cette législation de "fasciste", ces lois 
visent à museler toute critique pendant la campagne électorale. De nombreux 
dirigeants européens et américains ont condamné l'adoption de ces mesures. 
Le Danemark a décidé de supprimer son aide au Zimbabwe. - Le 4 février, la 
Commission européenne a estimé que des sanctions n'étaient pas en vue "pour 
l'instant", dans la mesure où le pouvoir à Harare ne s'est pas opposé au 
déploiement des premiers observateurs européens pour les élections 
présidentielles. Les ministres des Affaires étrangères des Quinze avaient 
averti que l'UE imposerait des sanctions si cette mission ne pouvait pas se 
déployer à partir du 3 février. -5 février. La première mission 
d'observateurs du Commonwealth est arrivée à Harare. Le Commonwealth 
devient ainsi la première organisation à détacher des observateurs pour le 
scrutin électoral. Sa mission d'observation sera dirigée par l'ancien chef 
d'Etat du Nigeria, le général Abdulsalami Abubakar. Par ailleurs, les 
autorités zimbabwéennes ont invité un groupe d'organisations régionales et 
internationales, dont l'OUA et l'Union européenne, à envoyer des 
observateurs. Mais elles ont spécifiquement exclu les ressortissants 
britanniques, car, disent-elles, Londres est de parti pris en faveur des 
partis de l'opposition.   (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 6 février 2002)

* Zimbabwe. Prominent reporter arrested  -  5 February: A British 
newspaper, The Independent, says its correspondent in Zimbabwe has been 
arrested for allegedly violating strict new security laws. Basildon Peta, 
who is also the secretary general of the Zimbabwean Union of Journalists, 
was charged with failing to notify authorities about a demonstration 
against the new measures, the paper said. Mr Peta is the first journalist 
for the international media to be detained under the Public Order and 
Security Act, just days after it came into effect. The Independent said Mr 
Peta would appear in court in the capital, Harare, today. If convicted, he 
could be sentenced to two years in jail, the newspaper said. Having been 
held overnight in Harare Central Jail, he is released.   (ANB-BIA, 
Brussels, 6 February 2002)

* Zimbabwe. Un journaliste libéré  -  Le 5 février, Basildon Peta, 
secrétaire général du Syndicat des journalistes du Zimbabwe et 
correspondant du quotidien britannique The Independent, a été arrêté puis 
relâché, à Harare. Il était accusé d'avoir organisé une manifestation 
illégale la semaine dernière. Le bureau du procureur général a refusé de le 
poursuivre, affirmant que la loi permettait les manifestations des 
organisations professionnelles sans l'autorisation préalable de la 
police.   (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 6 février 2002)

Weekly anb0207.txt - #6/6

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Un homme meurt chaque fois que l'un d'entre nous se tait devant la tyrannie 
(W. Soyinka, Prix Nobel litterature)
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Everytime somebody keep silent when faced with tyranny, someone else dies 
(Wole Syinka, Nobel Prize for Literature) *
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