Weekly anb03275.txt #6

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

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 27-03-2002      PART #5/6

* Rwanda. "One Hundred Days"  -  A Rwandan feature film -- a love story set 
against the background of the genocide in 1994 -- has been shown amid 
emotional scenes in the capital, Kigali. The film, "One Hundred Days" was 
directed by a Briton, Nick Hughes, who witnessed the massacres first-hand 
while working as a television cameraman. He describes the film as a 
testimony to the survivors of the three-month period in which an estimated 
800,000 minority Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed by Hutu extremists. 
It was produced by a Rwandan, Eric Kabera. "One Hundred Days" has already 
been shown at film festivals around the world following its premier at the 
Toronto film festival.   (BBC News, UK, 24 March 2002)

* Rwanda. Tribunal international  -  Le 21 mars, un nouvel homme d'Eglise 
rwandais, le prêtre catholique Hormidas Nsengimana, a été arrêté au 
Cameroun pour génocide, a annoncé le Tribunal pénal international pour le 
Rwanda (TPIR). Sont déjà détenus sous l'autorité du TPIR, indique l'agence 
Hirondelle: l'évêque anglican Samuel Musabyimana, le pasteur adventiste 
Elizaphan Ntakirutimana, et les prêtres catholiques Emmanuel Rukundo et 
Athanase Seromba. Hormidas Nsengimana, 48 ans, était directeur du collège 
du Christ-Roi à Nyanza en 1994. Il aurait joué un grand rôle dans les 
massacres de Tutsi dans la région de Butare. Il est le dixième Rwandais 
arrêté au Cameroun à la demande du TPIR. - D'autre part, à partir du 2 
avril, quatre anciens hauts responsables militaires rwandais comparaîtront 
devant le TPIR, qui les accuse d'avoir participé à l'organisation du 
génocide en 1994. Parmi eux figure l'ancien directeur de cabinet du 
ministère de la Défense, l'ex-colonel Théoneste Bagosora, 61 ans, accusé 
d'avoir joué un rôle central dans le génocide anti-tutsi et les massacres 
de Hutu modérés, entre avril et juillet 1994.   (ANB-BIA, de sources 
diverses, 26 mars 2002)

* Rwanda. Election des délégués administratifs  -  Le lundi matin 25 mars, 
les Rwandais se sont mobilisés en masse pour participer à l'élection des 
comités exécutifs de cellules, le plus petit échelon administratif du pays, 
a constaté l'AFP à Kigali. Les électeurs, en majorité des femmes et des 
jeunes, se sont rassemblés dès 8h dans les écoles, bâtiments administratifs 
et terrains de jeux, transformés pour l'occasion en centres de vote. 
Dimanche soir, dans un message à la Nation diffusé par les médias 
nationaux, le président Kagame avait exhorté ses concitoyens à participer 
massivement au scrutin et à "choisir des candidats méritants" qui devront 
"s'acquitter de leur mission dans la transparence et la vérité". Le Rwanda 
compte 1.545 secteurs administratifs totalisant 9.189 cellules. Les 
électeurs votent sur tout le territoire pour désigner leurs représentants 
au comité de cellule. Les élus, dix par cellule, désigneront mardi en leur 
sein les représentants au niveau des secteurs administratifs.   (La Libre 
Belgique, 26 mars 2002)

* Sahara occidental. Liberté de mouvement pour l'Onu  -  Le Front Polisario 
a décidé de rétablir la liberté de mouvement des observateurs militaires de 
l'Onu dans la région, a annoncé le 25 mars la Minurso, basée à El-Ayoun. 
Selon une source diplomatique à Rabat, le Polisario interdisait depuis 
janvier 2001 aux militaires des Nations unies de continuer à contrôler les 
positions de ses forces militaires.   (Le Monde, France, 27 mars 2002)

* Sao Tome e Principe. Supreme Court confirms election results  -  19 
March: The Supreme Court declares the final results of the 3 March 
legislative elections. No party has got an absolute majority but the Sao 
Tome and Principe Liberation Movement (MLSTP) wins the poll with 39.6 
percent of the votes cast, obtaining 24 seats in the 55 member assembly. 
The declaration opens the way for the formation of a new government. The 
MLSTP has agreed to form a coalition government with two other political 
groups, the Democratic Movement Force for Change/Party of Democratic 
Governance (MDFM/PCD) whose coalition won 23 seats (39.4 percent), and the 
Ue-Kedadji coalition that won eight seats (16.2 percent). The coalition has 
already begun negotiations with President Fradique de Menezes, a 
behind-the-scene patron of the MDFM/PCD, to select a prime minister from 
the MLSTP.   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 20 March 2002)

* Sénégal. Attaque séparatiste en Casamance  -  Dans la nuit du 25 au 26 
mars, une attaque attribuée aux indépendantistes a fait cinq morts et 
quatre blessés dans une station balnéaire de Casamance, zone du sud du 
Sénégal en proie depuis vingt ans à une rébellion. Selon une source 
militaire sénégalaise à Ziguinchor, 200 guérilleros du Mouvement des forces 
démocratiques de Casamance (MFDC, indépendantiste) ont fait irruption vers 
minuit à Kafountine, localité située sur la côte atlantique. Pendant quatre 
heures, ils ont pillé boutiques, concessions, campements touristiques et 
hôtels, avant de s'enfuir, surprenant par leur nombre le détachement 
militaire local. Durant l'attaque, cinq civils sénégalais ont été tués et 
trois autres blessés, ainsi qu'un Français installé dans la 
région.   (Libération, France, 27 mars 2002)

* Sierra Leone. Rebels face UN court  -  21 March: Sierra Leone rebels who 
violated international humanitarian law during the 10-year civil war will 
be prosecuted in a special court, the United Nations Security Council has 
said. The first judges and prosecutors could be appointed within the next 
few weeks. The UN said that the special court could be functioning by the 
third quarter of this year, with the first indictments handed down by the 
end of the year.   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 21 March 2002)

* Sierra Leone. Diamond struggle  -  Sierra Leone has virtually no control 
over the illicit mining of diamonds in its country, according to the 
country's finance minister, despite international efforts to clamp down on 
so-called conflict or "blood" diamonds. "We can't control it, they're mined 
everywhere," Sierra Leone's finance minister Peter Kuyembeh has said. "I 
sometimes find myself defeated when I want to find an answer to the diamond 
problem." The admission came as an international conference in Canada to 
establish controls over the diamonds trade again failed to reach an 
agreement. The three-day meeting was part of the Kimberley Process set up 
two years ago to end the trade in diamonds in war-torn countries like 
Angola and Sierra Leone, where rebel forces use the proceeds to buy 
weapons.   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 22 March 2002)

* Sierra Leone. Improving the quality of governance  -  For ministers in 
the world's wealthy nations, improving the quality of governance in poor 
countries is a technical consideration in disbursing aid. For Kadi Sesay, 
development minister of Sierra Leone, it means ensuring that her house is 
never again ransacked by armed thugs during a military coup. Her lucid and 
intense contributions at last week's United Nations aid conference in 
Monterrey, Mexico, established her as one of the meeting's more weighty 
figures, giving strongly felt critiques of the consensus on aid. In 1996, 
Sierra Leoneans elected a new government, despite the barbaric civil war 
raging in much of the country in which atrocities against civilians were 
widespread. Ms Sesay was in Ghana in her role as head of Sierra Leone's 
Commission for Democracy and Human Rights in 1997 when a military coup 
ousted the government. Soldiers raided her house and took everything 
movable, threatening her mother and son. She left, first going to London 
and then to Ghana, where she joined the government in exile. It was there 
that she saw the importance of international support in helping a country 
establish democracy. Now, having returned to Sierra Leone as development 
minister, she struggles with the difficulties of bringing together a 
shattered country. The daily challenge is to draw former rebel soldiers 
into civilian life. "We are being very careful to retain the balance 
between the reintegration available to ex-combatants and making sure that 
the victims of the war also have services," she says. "If we don't retain 
that balance, it will look in the eyes of the victims as though we are 
rewarding the perpetrators, and punishing further the 
victims."   (Financial Times, UK, 25 March 2002)

* Sierra Leone. Sankoh toujours vivant  -  Le 22 mars, le gouvernement 
sierra-léonais a vivement démenti les rumeurs faisant état de la mort du 
leader du Front révolutionnaire uni (RUF), le caporal Foday Sankoh. "Sankoh 
est en pleine forme", a déclaré à la presse à Freetown le ministre de la 
Justice et procureur général, Solomon Berewa. La réaction de M. Berewa fait 
suite aux rumeurs persistantes véhiculées dans la ville de Freetown par des 
personnels de l'administration carcérale et quelques membres des forces de 
sécurité sur le décès en prison du leader rebelle. Les tentatives de PANA, 
pour joindre le porte-parole du RUF en vue d'avoir sa version sur ces 
rumeurs, ont été vaines. - 26 mars. Le procès contre Sankoh et 49 anciens 
rebelles pour le massacre de 21 personnes en mai 2000, a été ajourné au 2 
avril, à la demande du procureur général M. Berewa, parce qu'on ne trouve 
pas d'avocats pour défendre la cause des anciens rebelles. Foday Sankoh est 
défendu par un avocat nigérian, Edo Akanya, qui a dû s'inscrire 
temporairement à l'ordre des avocats local.   (PANA et Misna, 22-26 mars 2002)

* Sierra Leone. Sankoh declares innocence  -  Sierra Leone's former rebel 
leader, Foday Sankoh, has told a Freetown court that he is innocent of 
murder. But the trial of Mr Sankoh and 49 other members of the 
Revolutionary United Front (RUF) was postponed as the government cannot 
find a lawyer to represent them. The RUF was responsible for widespread 
atrocities during the country's long civil war. But these will be dealt 
with by a special United Nations war crimes tribunal. The on-going murder 
trial relates to an incident in May 2000, when Mr Sankoh's supporters 
allegedly killed 21 protesters after a peace deal had been signed. The 
charges were brought earlier this month, after a state of emergency was 
lifted, meaning the government could not otherwise extend Mr Sankoh's 
22-month detention. "I am totally innocent of all the charges and I am 
asking the court to get me out of here," said Mr Sankoh said, dressed in 
dark green prison clothes. He has not yet been formally asked to plead but 
was answering a question from presiding judge Mange Deen Tarawallie.   (BBC 
News, UK, 25 March 2002)

* Somalie. Des milices manifestent contre une nouvelle armée  -  Le 25 
mars, des milliers de miliciens ont défilé à bord de véhicules blindés dans 
les rues de Mogadiscio pour s'opposer à la création d'une nouvelle armée 
par le gouvernement national de transition (GNT). L'un des chefs de faction 
opposés au GNT les a appelés à "montrer leur force et leur unité".   (La 
Croix, France, 26 mars 2002)

* Somalia. Pentagon withdraws Afghan-Somali claim  -  The US has retracted 
its claim that a positioning device found in an Afghanistan cave provided 
evidence of the links between al-Qaeda forces in Afghanistan and Islamic 
extremists in Somalia. The Pentagon said it had been wrong in its initial 
claim on Wednesday that the global positioning system (GPS) unit had once 
belonged to Sergeant Gary Gordon, a US soldier who was killed in Mogadishu 
during a failed military action in 1993. It now believes the unit, which 
bore the name "G. Gordon", belonged to a US pilot who had served in 
Afghanistan. This pilot gave the GPS system to another pilot, who 
subsequently lost it during a skirmish in the recent two-week military 
campaign in south-western Afghanistan. It is not clear why the Pentagon 
went public with speculation about how the GPS unit might have ended up in 
an Afghan cave but the claimed Somalia link would clearly have bolstered 
the US argument about the global nature of its foe.   (Financial Times, UK, 
22 March 2002)

* Somalia. RAF jets deployed in surveillance over Somalia  -  British Royal 
Air Force aircraft are to begin aerial surveillance of Somalia to check for 
terrorist activity in the latest British contribution to the US-led war on 
terror. Ministry of Defence officials said on 22 March that two Canberra 
PR9 aircraft were being deployed to the Kenyan port of Mombasa. The mission 
will involve some 140 personnel. Reuters news agency reported from Mombasa 
that an Antonov aircraft chartered by the RAF and carrying military 
equipment landed there on 22 March. The PR9 aircraft carry modern 
high-resolution cameras that take pictures of the ground both vertically 
and from oblique angles. Officials said no specific evidence of terrorist 
activity had prompted the move. But defence experts see parallels between 
Afghanistan, where al-Qaeda flourished in a failed state, and Somalia, 
where a transitional government has a tenuous hold on power and does not 
control parts of the country.   (Financial Times, UK, 23 March 2002)

* Somalia. UN discusses Somalia arms embargo  -  23 March: The United 
Nations Security Council is considering draft proposals aimed at enforcing 
an arms embargo against Somalia, set up 10 years ago. The proposals, by the 
Norwegian delegation, want the UN to set up a panel of experts to monitor 
violations by land, air and sea. Panels that have been set up to review 
other states under sanctions have issued reports naming countries and 
individuals who violate embargoes. Norway also wants the UN to re-engage in 
Somalia's search for peace and try to end factional fighting. The proposals 
reflect fears that Somalia might become a terrorist haven.   (ANB-BIA, 
Brussels, 23 March 2002)

* South Africa. Courts back anti-HIV drug  -  A South African court has 
upheld a ruling that the government must make more widely available a drug 
which reduces the risk of HIV-positive women passing on the virus to their 
children. This is another setback for the government, which has argued that 
the drug, Nevirapine, is expensive to distribute and potentially dangerous. 
South Africa, with an estimated one in nine people HIV-positive, has the 
largest infected population in the world. Aids activists want all pregnant 
women to have access to the drug, which is thought to reduce by half the 
risk of passing on the virus to an unborn child. The high court in Pretoria 
ruled that state hospitals with the necessary capacity must provide 
Nevirapine, and that they should not wait for the results of the 
government's next appeal. This issue will probably go before South Africa's 
highest court, the constitutional court, in May. In the meantime the 
arguments surrounding Nevirapine are once again on the front pages of South 
Africa's newspapers.   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 25 March 2002)

* South Africa/Zimbabwe. Tutu condemns S. Africa stance on 
Zimbabwe  -  South African Nobel peace laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu has 
criticised his country's decision to recognise the result of Zimbabwe's 
recent controversial presidential elections. Archbishop Tutu said he was 
"deeply, deeply, deeply distressed and deeply disappointed" after South 
Africa declared the elections to have been free and fair. Despite 
sanctioning the outcome, South Africa backed a Commonwealth decision to 
suspend Zimbabwe from the organisation for a year. Speaking on South 
African public television, the archbishop said: "I think we do ourselves a 
very bad turn to claim that we hold to the ideals of democracy, freedom... 
freedom of speech and then to endorse, as seems to have been done, 
something that was so clearly flawed. When democracy is not being upheld, 
we ought, for our own sakes, to say it is not so," said Archbishop Tutu. He 
said he supported the decision to impose sanctions against Zimbabwe "with a 
very heavy heart, hoping that President Mugabe and his government elected 
in a flawed election will draw back from the edge of the precipice".   (BBC 
News, UK, 24 March 2002)


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