Weekly anb09196.txt #7

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

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 19-09-2002      PART #6/7

* Rwanda. Rapatriement de réfugiés  -  Le 12 septembre, indique l'agence 
PANA, le délégué du HCR au Rwanda, M. Kalunga Lutato, a récusé les rapports 
antérieurs de ses services faisant état de rapatriement forcé des réfugiés 
congolais installés dans deux camps dans les provinces de Kibuye et Byumba. 
Au cours d'une conférence de presse tenue conjointement avec la secrétaire 
d'Etat rwandaise aux Affaires sociales, il a déclaré que les nouvelles 
selon lesquelles le Rwanda contraindrait les réfugiés à retourner chez eux, 
résultent de manoeuvres d'une infime minorité de salariés dans les camps. 
"La décision de retourner est libre et volontaire, et est prise par chaque 
réfugié sans force ni intimidation", indique un communiqué, qui ajoute que 
les réfugiés qui décideront de rester au Rwanda, continueront de bénéficier 
du soutien concerté du HCR et du gouvernement rwandais. -- Malgré cela, 
selon l'AFP, le HCR à Genève a dénoncé à nouveau, le 17 septembre, les 
pressions exercées par les autorités rwandaises sur les nombreux Congolais 
tutsi dans les camps au Rwanda pour qu'ils retournent au Nord-Kivu. Il a 
aussi déploré les conditions déplorables dans lesquelles ils arrivent. Au 
cours des deux dernières semaines, 8.000 Tutsi congolais sont retournés au 
Nord-Kivu.   (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 17 septembre 2002)

* Rwanda. Withdrawing from Congo RDC  -  14 September: Rwanda has announced 
it is to start withdrawing its troops from Congo RDC next week after four 
years of war. President Paul Kagame reportedly made the announcement on 13 
September at a UN Security Council meeting in New York. His army chief of 
staff, Major General James Kabarebe, says the withdrawal would start in 
three of four days' time from the eastern Congo town of Kindu. 17 
September: The first Rwandan troops ready to withdraw from Congo RDC have 
started assembling at Kindu airport. 18 September: The Rwandan army has now 
brought tanks and other equipment back to Kigali from Congo.   (ANB-BIA, 
Belgium, 18 September 2002)

* Sénégal. Paix entre leaders du MFDC  -  Le 11 septembre à Ziguinchor, 
l'abbé Diamacoune Senghor et Sidy Badji, les deux responsables principaux 
du Mouvement des forces démocratiques de Casamance (MFDC), ont scellé la 
paix entre eux. Un conflit de leadership les opposait depuis plus d'un an. 
Ils ont demandé "à tous de s'unir comme eux et derrière eux pour que les 
négociations soient engagées rapidement avec le gouvernement sénégalais en 
vue du retour d'une paix définitive en Casamance". D'autre part, M. 
Abdoulaye Faye, désigné par le président sénégalais pour diriger la 
commission gouvernementale pour de futurs pourparlers de paix à Bissau, a 
rencontré les deux hommes séparément pour préparer la rencontre de la 
capitale bissau-guinéenne.   (PANA, Sénégal, 12 septembre 2002)

* Sierra Leone. Annan suggests scaling down UNAMSIL  -  United Nations 
Secretary-General Kofi Annan has proposed that the UN Mission in Sierra 
Leone (UNAMSIL) be extended by six months and gradually down-sized before 
an eventual handover of security and other responsibilities to the 
government. In his latest report to the UN Security Council, Annan 
recommended that UNAMSIL's military component be reduced from the current 
level 17,000 peacekeepers to about 5,000 troops by late 2004, before 
settling on 2,000 troops "depending on need at that time". Annan suggested 
that the overall civilian presence should also be reduced, but that the 
number of civilian police be increased to about 185, mostly to help train 
Sierra Leone's police force. Sierra Leonean President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, 
in a letter dated 8 August, asked the UN to extend UNAMSIL's mandate by 
several months beyond a 30 September deadline, before commencing a gradual 
withdrawal, because of the threat to regional stability posed by continuing 
conflict in Liberia. Annan said Sierra Leone was making "steady and 
remarkable" progress in a number of important areas. He commended the 
government for taking steps to deploy its police and army, and to hold 
general elections. He also praised the Sierra Leonean authorities' efforts 
to establish both a truth and reconciliation commission and a special war 
crimes court to address past human rights abuses. These encouraging 
developments, along with a steady improvement in the security situation in 
Sierra Leone, had created new circumstances in the country that made it 
possible to consider beginning the gradual draw-down of UNAMSIL.   (IRIN, 
Kenya, 12 September 2002)

* Sierra Leone. Retrait des casques bleus  -  La sécurité en Sierra Leone 
s'est améliorée au point que les Nations unies vont pouvoir entamer le 
retrait de leurs forces de maintien de la paix, après une décennie de 
guerre civile, a déclaré M. Kofi Annan. Dans un rapport au Conseil de 
sécurité (publié le 12 septembre) M. Annan estime que la mission de 17.400 
hommes, la plus importante opération de maintien de la paix de l'Onu, 
pourra être réduite de 600 hommes d'ici à la fin de l'année et, si tout va 
bien, ramenée à 2.000 militaires d'ici à la fin 2004. Le pays a tenu en mai 
des élections présidentielle et législatives, après une opération conduite 
sous l'égide de l'Onu pour désarmer les milices gouvernementales et les 
rebelles.   (Reuters, 13 septembre 2002)

* Somalie. Négociations de paix en octobre  -  Les négociations pour 
restaurer la paix en Somalie sous les auspices des six nations de 
l'Autorité intergouvernementale pour le développement (IGAD) reprendront le 
15 octobre dans la ville kényane d'Eldoret, a-t-on appris le 11 septembre 
de source officielle à Nairobi. 300 délégués représentant toutes les 
franges de la société somalienne assisteront à la première phase des 
négociations qui devraient durer plusieurs semaines. Cette réunion tentera 
d'élaborer un cadre pour un Etat viable pour la Somalie qui n'a plus de 
gouvernement central depuis 1991. L'IGAD recommandera aux délégués de 
former des commissions pour se pencher sur des questions cruciales telles 
que la structure constitutionnelle et le degré de centralisation. Ils 
délibéreront aussi sur la propriété des terres et la démobilisation des 
milices armées.   (PANA, Sénégal, 12 septembre 2002)

* South Africa. Row clouds Biko anniversary  -  12 September: "They had to 
kill him to prolong the life of apartheid," Nelson Mandela has said of 
Steve Biko. Biko, a leader of the black consciousness movement in South 
Africa, died of major head injuries in South African police custody 25 
years ago on 12 September 1977. His contribution to the black fight for 
freedom from apartheid is often placed as second only to that of former 
President Nelson Mandela. Steve Biko was never a member of the ANC and was 
active politically in the late 1960s and 1970s when the ANC was banned. At 
the time young black activists moved away from the ANC's stress on 
non-racial ideology towards one that emphasised black empowerment and 
consciousness. The arguments today in South Africa are about whether the 
ANC has taken on board his ideas and become an heir to his struggle for 
black rights or whether it is just appropriating his name when it suits 
them. ANC supporters and those who claim to be the heirs of black 
consciousness argue over whether he would have joined the ANC had he lived 
and whether he would have supported the policies of the ANC government. In 
a tribute to him, Nelson Mandela wrote that just before his death, Steve 
Biko was arranging a secret meeting with ANC leaders and was killed to 
prevent him joining forces with them. But the Azanian People's Organisation 
(Azapo), who still profess his black consciousness views, accuse the ANC of 
appropriating and corrupting his legacy. "Biko was not a neutral, 
apolitical and mythical icon that today he is scandalously made out to be 
in order to legitimise a black majority government that is weak,", Azapo 
said.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 12 September 2002)

* South Africa. Black and white unite against steel giant  -  Poor black 
and white communities in Vanderbijlpark, south-west of Johannesburg, have 
joined hands in a struggle against Africa's largest steel producer, Iscor. 
Residents of Steel Valley claim that for the last 40 years, the industrial 
giant has polluted their water, degraded their environment and brought 
sickness and suffering to their families. The communities are now embarking 
on a new course of action as 16 families take the company to court to 
demand compensation for their suffering. Iscor (the Iron and Steel 
Corporation of South Africa), started out as a state agency, a creation of 
the white minority apartheid regime and was privatised in 1994 with the 
advent of democracy in South Africa. Today the company ranks as the biggest 
producer of flat steel products in Africa. Last year, it boasted operating 
profits of more than 820 million rand ($77.5m), with the Vanderbijlpark 
plant producing more than 2.7 million tons of steel. A High Court ruling 
obtained by Iscor earlier this year prevents the company and the applicants 
in the court case from talking directly to the media about the situation. 
However Samson Mokoena, chairman of the Steel Valley Crisis Committee and 
spokesperson for the residents revealed why they were taking action. "We 
believe we've been fighting for sustainable development for more than 40 
years. Most people have lost their properties here, they've lost their 
animals. We've been fighting and fighting and to us it's a continuous 
thing," he said.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 12 September 2002)

* South Africa. Church leaders have much to contribute to African 
unity  -  "Promoting church and ecumenical leadership is an essential part 
of reconstructing Africa. African leaders themselves recognise that the 
unity of the Churches is an essential part of the search for African 
unity", says World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary, Rev. Dr. 
Konrad Raiser. The planners of a pan-African conference called "Journey of 
Hope in Africa Continued", are in full agreement. Nearly 100 church 
educators, church and ecumenical leaders from over 25 countries, will be 
meeting in Johannesburg 16-23 September for a "critical evaluation of 
theological education and ecumenical formation". This is the first 
pan-African conference of its kind.   (WCC, 12 September 2002)

* South Africa. Land reform  -  South Africa plans to redistribute about 30 
percent of land currently owned by white commercial farmers by 2015 and 
will expropriate farms where necessary, a financial daily reported on 15 
September. The Business Report quoted land affairs director general 
Gilingwe Mayende as saying the government would not apply the 
willing-seller, willing-buyer concept in its drive to address the problem 
of landlessness among the black majority. "We do have a target of 
redistributing 30 percent of all agricultural land in the country by the 
year 2015," Mayende said in an interview with the newspaper. The government 
is under pressure to speed up the land redistribution programme, since 
militants in neighbouring Zimbabwe, including veterans of the country's 
liberation war, started driving white farmers off their land in 2000. South 
Africa has repeatedly said it will not tolerate illegal land grabs. But 
fears of Zimbabwe-style land seizures have helped pressure the rand in the 
foreign exchange market. Unlike Zimbabwe, where the government has ordered 
some 2,900 white farmers to quit their land without compensation, South 
Africa is buying white-owned land for its redistribution scheme. Mayende 
said white farmers were being cooperative, but added that they could do 
more to help speed up the process. "As you can imagine the events from 
across our borders probably have played a role here. There is still a sense 
that many have this instinct of wanting to resist...," he said. "If the 
process of negotiations fail irrevocably, then we have the option of 
invoking the right of the state to expropriate land in the public 
interest." The government has so far avoided taking the expropriation 
route, with only one known case since 1994. More than 3.5 million blacks 
were driven from their homes, many at gunpoint during the 46 years of white 
apartheid rule that ended with Nelson Mandela's election as president in 
1994. "Property rights are protected by our constitution, but the 
constitution says these property rights must be balanced against the public 
interest and the nation's commitment to land reform," said Mayende. He said 
while the legacy of apartheid had to be reversed swiftly, there was no case 
for Zimbabwe-style land grabs.   (CNN, USA, 15 September 2002)

* Afrique du Sud. Complot d'extrême droite  -  Le 14 septembre, la police 
sud-africaine s'est emparée d'un camion chargé de munitions, d'armes et 
d'explosifs, appartenant à des extrémistes blancs nostalgiques de 
l'apartheid. A l'invitation d'une "autorité intérimaire de la république 
Boers", des Afrikaners devaient se rassembler à Lichtenburg pour renverser 
le gouvernement. A la suite d'une enquête discrète étalée sur un an, la 
police a investi les domiciles de plusieurs suspects. Pour l'instant, dix 
personnes ont été arrêtées, parmi lesquelles trois éléments des forces 
armées. La police accuse une organisation d'extrême droite baptisée 
"Boermag" (Force du Boer) d'avoir organisé l'opération afin de prendre le 
pouvoir et chasser les Noirs du pays. Un document a été saisi, donnant des 
précisions sur les préparatifs d'un projet visant la mise sur pied d'un 
nouveau gouvernement avec l'aide de quelque 3.700 membres de l'armée 
sud-africaine.   (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 16 septembre 2002)

* South Africa. The Billion Dollar Summit  -  The recently ended world 
summit in Johannesburg earned $1 billion and created 18,040 jobs. A report 
from South Africa's tourism ministry says that $8 billion was earned 
through increased economic activity and $2.6 billion from spending by 
delegates. The South African government spent $45 million on summit 
arrangements, while international sponsors of the conference, donor 
agencies and private companies put in $62 million. A survey commissioned by 
the tourism ministry involving 400 of the delegates, indicated that those 
who attended spent, on average, between $2,700 and $3,900 each.   (ANB-BIA, 
Belgium, 16 September 2002)

* South Africa. HIV puppet on Sesame Street  -  17 September: The South 
African version of the children's educational programme Sesame Street has 
introduced an HIV positive character. The programme, aimed at very young 
children, wants to show that those living with HIV are no different to 
others and should be treated as such. About one in nine South Africans have 
the virus, with thousands of children having become orphans because of the 
AIDS epidemic. The provision of drugs to treat the disease has become a 
controversial political issue, with AIDS campaigners taking legal action to 
force the government to provide anti-retroviral drugs. The name of the 
latest addition to Takalani Sesame is Kami. She is five, she likes playing, 
reading and telling stories. The character has been introduced to the 
programme, with the HIV infection rate on the increase and with one in five 
South Africans now living with the virus. The idea is to teach children 
that people can live normal lives with HIV.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 17 
September 2002)

* Afrique du Sud. Marée noire  -  15 septembre. La marée noire menace la 
réserve naturelle de Saint Lucia, sur la côte est de l'Afrique du Sud, 
l'une des plus belles réserves d'animaux du continent. Des équipes de 
secours intensifient leurs efforts, notamment avec des barrières 
flottantes, pour tenter de contenir l'avancée d'une nappe de fioul et de 
gazole qui se dégage d'un cargo italien le Jolly Rubino, en proie à un 
incendie depuis le 10 septembre et échoué à 200 mètres de la côte. Les 22 
hommes d'équipage ont pu être évacués. La nappe d'hydrocarbures menace de 
remonter les embouchures de la rivière Saint Lucia et du fleuve Umfolozi. 
La réserve marine menacée, inscrite au patrimoine mondial de l'Unesco, est 
l'habitat de 115 espèces différentes d'oiseaux, mais aussi d'hippopatames 
et de crocodiles. -- 17 septembre. De nouvelles fissures ont été repérées 
dans le cargo, forçant les sauveteurs à donner priorité au pompage des 800 
tonnes de carburant restant dans les cuves, plutôt qu'au renflouage. Selon 
le scénario le plus optimiste, le pompage pourrait être achevé le 19 au 
soir. Pour l'instant, on assure que le carburant n'a pas pénétré dans les 
estuaires donnant accès à la réserve; seul le littoral a été souillé sur 
une distance de 1 à 2 km.   (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 17 septembre 2002)

Weekly anb0919.txt - #6/7