Weekly anb02148.txt #8

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

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 14-02-2002      PART #8/8

* Tchad/UE. Nouvel accord de coopération  -  Le 11 février, l'Union 
européenne et le Tchad ont signé un accord de coopération portant sur la 
période 2002-2007 pour un montant de 202 millions d'euros. Le nouvel accord 
vise à appuyer les efforts du gouvernement tchadien dans la mise en oeuvre 
de sa politique globale de réduction de la pauvreté. Les crédits non 
remboursables accordés dans le cadre de cet accord sont destinés à la 
réalisation de plusieurs objectifs dans le secteur routier et l'eau, 
l'appui à la société civile, au programme d'appui à la bonne gouvernance et 
à l'Etat de droit. L'aide financière servira aussi d'appui au secteur 
macro-économique afin d'assurer la compensation de la diminution des 
recettes d'exportation du Tchad après l'abandon du système de stabilisation 
des recettes d'exportations agricoles (Stabex).   (PANA, Sénégal, 11 
février 2002)

* Tunisie. Grève massive des avocats  -  La parodie de procès qui a abouti 
à la condamnation à neuf ans de prison de l'opposant Hamma Hammani, le 2 
février, a eu de sévères répercussions pour le régime de Zine Ben Ali. Le 7 
février, les avocats tunisiens ont, selon leur conseil de l'ordre, 
"massivement" observé la grève décidée pour protester contre les conditions 
de ce procès, au cours duquel la police a fait brutalement irruption pour 
arrêter les prévenus. Sur plus de 2.000 inscrits dans le Grand Tunis, 24 
avocats seulement n'ont pas suivi le mouvement. La grève aurait en outre 
été suivie à 100% dans les villes de Beja, de Gabès et de Sfax. Les 
autorités ont qualifié ce mouvement d'"illégal" et annoncé un recours en 
justice contre la grève.   (Libération, France, 8 février 2002)

* Tunisie. Référendum constitutionnel  -  Le mercredi soir, 13 février, le 
président Ben Ali a annoncé, dans une déclaration radio-télévisée, 
l'organisation prochaine d'un référendum sur la réforme de la Constitution, 
qu'il avait initiée le 7 novembre dernier, date marquant l'anniversaire de 
son accession au pouvoir en 1987. M. Ben Ali a assuré que la réforme 
envisagée "confère aux libertés et aux droits de l'homme une place 
privilégiée". Il s'agira notamment de renforcer les garanties judiciaires. 
Au plan législatif, il est prévu d'instituer un système bicaméral. Mais 
l'axe important de l'amendement proposé est celui relatif aux élections 
présidentielles, où serait introduit un scrutin à deux tours. La réforme 
stipule aussi "la possibilité de renouvellement de la candidature à la 
présidence de la République, tout en maintenant la clause de l'âge maximum 
pour l'égilibilté", à savoir 70 ans. M. Ben Ali aura 68 ans à la date des 
prochaines élections présidentielles, prévues en 2004. Il aura alors achevé 
son troisième et dernier mandat selon les dispositions actuelles de la 
Constitution.   (D'après AP, 14 février 2002)

* Uganda. The Bujagali Dam  -  The two American groups opposed to the 
construction of the Bujagali Dam say that the groundbreaking for the 
project on 24 January does not mark the end of their campaign. "We'll 
follow the impact of the project and we'll hold the funders accountable for 
the promises they made to the local people," says Ms Carol Welch, acting 
director of international programmes for Friends of the Earth. Ms Lori 
Pottinger, Africa programmes director for the International Rivers Network, 
says the group will monitor construction of the dam and its eventual 
operation. Ugandan officials say the dam will generate 10,000 jobs and 
alleviate chronic energy shortages that are said to cost the country 90 
working days per year.   (The East African, Kenya, 4-10 February 2002)

* Uganda. Uganda blamed for on-going war in Congo RDC  -  7 February: The 
United Nations has blamed Uganda for the ongoing war in a north-eastern 
province of the Democratic Republic of Congo. UN Congo representative Amos 
Namanga Ngongi said Uganda had failed to contain clashes in Ituri province, 
which is under its control. Mr Ngongi told a news conference in Kinshasa 
that it was up to Uganda to restore peace in the area, where a power 
struggle between two Ugandan-backed rebel factions has led to violent 
ethnic clashes in the past few weeks. Two weeks ago, troops loyal to Jean 
Pierre Bemba captured the town of Isiro and the gold mine of Bafwasende -- 
some 350 kilometres west of the Ugandan border - from another rebel group. 
Both groups have been armed and trained by the Ugandan army.   (ANB-BIA, 
Brussels, 8 February 2002)

* Zambia. Newspaper editor arrested  -  The editor of Zambia's only 
privately owned newspaper has been briefly detained by police and charged 
with defaming President Levy Mwanawasa. The arrest of Fred M'membe, editor 
of The Post, followed the publication last week of a story which quoted an 
opposition lawmaker as saying Mr Mwanawasa was a "cabbage." The police have 
also issued a summons for Dipak Patel, the opposition lawmaker quoted in 
the Post article. The description of the president became commonplace among 
opposition leaders during the run up to December's elections, which they 
say were rigged. The president is prone to verbal slip-ups and suffered 
from poor health following a road accident 10 years ago. The Post reported 
that Mr M'membe told the arresting officer that the charge was a "sheer 
waste of his time. Such a stupid charge can only be originated by senseless 
people with nothing, or very little, to do," he was quoted as 
saying.   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 12 February 2002)

* Zimbabwe. MPs tortured in new wave of terror  -  Three Zimbabwean 
opposition MPs campaigning for next month's elections have been abducted, 
beaten and tortured for two days by supporters of President Robert Mugabe 
in a remote town, according to the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). 
The three were paraded, injured and bleeding, wearing handcuffs in front of 
the police station in Nkayi yesterday while 37 other opposition party 
officials and supporters were also held, the MDC says. The attack marks an 
escalation of political violence in the run-up to the poll. Until now, the 
ruling Zanu-PF's militia has reserved its attacks for less prominent 
opponents. The MDC also says at least four party supporters have been 
beaten to death this week, and a new wave of political terror is sweeping 
through Matabeleland in southern Zimbabwe, a key area of opposition 
support. The three politicians -- Abednico Bhebhe, MP for Nkayi, Peter 
Nyoni, MP for Victoria Falls, and Joel Gabuza, MP for Binga -- led a convoy 
to distribute leaflets for Morgan Tsvangirai, the MDC leader who is 
challenging Mr Mugabe in the presidential poll on March 9 and 10. The tires 
of their cars were shot at by soldiers and they were attacked by Mr 
Mugabe's youth militia working with the army, according to local residents. 
Mr Bhebhe was among those seriously injured, said the residents. The MPs 
and other MDC officials were eventually taken to the Nkayi police station 
where they were interrogated and held overnight on Wednesday. Some of the 
MDC members were taken to the local hospital yesterday and returned to the 
police station, say the residents.   (The Guardian, UK, 8 February 2002)

* Zimbabwe. Vers la présidentielle  -  10 février. L'Union européenne a 
placé le Zimbabwe devant le fait accompli en envoyant à Harare M. Pierre 
Schori, le chef suédois de ses observateurs à la présidentielle des 9 et 10 
mars, malgré le veto du président Mugabe à la présence d'observateurs de la 
Suède, de la Finlande, du Danemark, de la Grande-Bretagne, d'Allemagne et 
des Pays-Bas, pays accusés de soutenir l'opposition. M. Schori est arrivé 
le dimanche soir, 10 février, mais n'a pas été accrédité par les autorités. 
Si Harare décidait d'expulser l'envoyé suédois, les Quinze pourraient 
décider d'imposer les "sanctions ciblées" dont ils menacent depuis fin 
janvier le régime de Mugabe. -11 février. Le lundi matin, des cocktails 
Molotov ont été lancés sur un bureau provincial du seul quotidien privé 
zimbabwéen, le Daily News, et sur les locaux d'une entreprise qui a imprimé 
du matériel de campagne de l'opposition. Il n'y a pas eu de victimes. - Le 
12 février, le président Mugabe a déclaré à Gutu (sud) son intention de se 
retirer du pouvoir après avoir distribué les terres aux paysans noirs. Il a 
dit avoir changé ses projets de départ à la retraite pour assurer aux Noirs 
sans terres des moyens économiques. Le vieux leader (78 ans dans une 
semaine) n'a pas précisé la date de son départ.   (ANB-BIA, de sources 
diverses, 13 février 2002)

* Zimbabwe. Lead-up to poll  -  11 February: The head of a team of European 
Union election monitors has arrived in Zimbabwe despite warnings from the 
government there that he could be barred from observing next month's vote. 
Pierre Schori, a former Swedish Government minister, flew into Harare after 
Zimbabwe's announcement last week that it would not accept observers from 
six EU countries, including Sweden. The EU has threatened sanctions against 
Zimbabwe if its monitors are not granted full access to the elections. Mr 
Schori arrived saying he expected to carry out his work despite the 
objections from President Robert Mugabe's government. "I intend to do my 
job properly, together with my team here, which is highly professional and 
will work in an unbiased manner," Mr Schori said. His first task will be to 
seek accreditation from the authorities. If he is denied that, or if he or 
his team are barred access to parts of the country or parts of the 
campaign, the EU has said it will impose sanctions. 12 February: A team of 
30 election observers from the European Union is due in Zimbabwe, today, 
but it is still not clear if they will have a role to play. Nine European 
countries had been told they could come to observe the presidential 
election next month, but only in an individual capacity. 13 February: The 
much-hyped confrontation between the Zimbabwe government and the European 
Union observer mission seems destined to end in a soggy compromise. 
Zimbabwe government officials were yesterday holding fast to their demand 
that delegates from six "hostile" EU countries be barred from the mission. 
In theory, this includes Pierre Schori, the chairman, a former Swedish 
government minister who is already in the country but who has not yet 
managed to accredit himself with the authorities. After a day of what an EU 
spokesman called "intense contacts" with the Zimbabwe government, the EU 
appeared to be in retreat. On 11 February, Mr Schori had insisted that 
composition of the EU observer mission was not negotiable. But on 12 
February, the unofficial word was that with the exception of Mr Schori 
himself, none of the 30 long-term observers would come from the six 
"biased" countries -- the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden and 
Finland. -- The head of the Commonwealth observer mission for the 
elections, Nigeria's Abdusalami Abubakar, says his mission is there to 
assist Zimbabwe, not to tell it what to do. --The Zimbabwe Congress of 
Trade Unions has joined other civic bodies in condemning the violence that 
has gripped the country in the run-up to the general elections. 14 
February: A significant number of white Zimbabweans are receiving letters 
from the registrar-general telling them they cannot vote in the 
presidential elections because they have renounced their citizenship. The 
most high profile casualty is Garfield Todd, the 93-year-old former prime 
minister of Southern Rhodesia in the 1950s.   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 14 
February 2002)

* Zimbabwe. Harare reporter accused of lying  -  The following report 
appeared in "The Guardian" on 12 February: "Africa's leading press freedom 
organisation has accused The Independent's correspondent in Zimbabwe of 
fabricating an account of a "terrifying" night in a police cell after his 
arrest last week under the country's draconian new security laws. Basildon 
Peta's story generated international protests and prompted the British 
foreign secretary, Jack Straw, to warn it could trigger sanctions against 
Harare. But the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) says Peta did not 
spend a night in the cells and that his account in The Independent was 
false. Yesterday, Peta admitted he was allowed home for several hours on 
the night he was detained, but said he was still in custody for more than 
12 hours and that he withheld his temporary release from his account in 
order to protect the policemen involved. MISA said it has drawn attention 
to irregularities in Peta's account because Harare uses untruthful stories 
to justify media curbs. "In our struggle, it is of utter importance that we 
remain truthful and faithful so that we do not open ourselves to 
unnecessary criticism and give grounds and justification for further 
repression," it said. Peta, who chairs the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists 
(ZUJ), was questioned by police after he led a protest by journalists 
against new curbs on the media. Under the new security law, police must 
have four days' notice before a public gathering. In The Independent, he 
described what the paper called his "terrifying" night in a cell. (...) 
MISA said Peta was not held in the cells at all, but arrived voluntarily at 
the police station at 2pm where his lawyer argued that the ZUJ had not 
needed permission for the journalists' demonstration. MISA says Peta was 
released at around 7pm. The next day, Peta and his lawyer visited the 
attorney general, who said he would not be pressing charges. MISA spokesman 
Raashweat Mukundu said: "We wanted to correct a misrepresentation because 
it was becoming the subject of a lot of other issues. The EU, Jack Straw, 
were deciding policy based on this. If there is to be any policy toward the 
government, it must be on the basis of the truth." (...) The Independent's 
foreign editor, Leonard Doyle, yesterday defended Peta's account". On 13 
February, "The Independent" replied with an article by Basildon Peta 
asserting that basically, his account of what happened to him when 
arrested, was true.: "The last thing I expected in my fight for press 
freedom in Zimbabwe was to trigger a media meltdown in London that would 
hand ammunition to the Harare government for its persecution of independent 
journalists". Peta goes on to explain that he had persuaded the detectives 
assigned to his case to take him home so that he could pick up medication 
he needed for his stomach ulcers. At their request he agreed not to 
disclose that they had accompanied him home. He was back at the police 
station at 3.a.m. "I do not need either to exaggerate or fabricate anything 
about the sorry state of affairs in Zimbabwe, about the difficult 
circumstances within which the press in my country is operating, or indeed 
about my own situation".   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 13 February 2002)

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