Weekly anb02131.txt #7

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 13-02-2003      PART #1/7

* Africa. African women denounce genital cutting  -  On 5 February, some of 
the activists who gathered in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to combat the 
traditional practice of genital cutting, had had the procedure performed on 
them when they were girls. Others, before learning of the serious health 
risks, had allowed their daughters to undergo the painful rite, which is 
steeped in tradition and myth. But whether they knew the practice 
personally or not, the women from across Africa who attended an 
international conference on genital cutting said that far more had to be 
done to end what they consider female genital mutilation. To lend urgency 
to the campaign, the first ladies of Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Mali and Guinea 
all condemned the cutting of young girls, which is practised in 28 
countries in Africa and the Middle East. Chantal Campaoré, married to 
Burkina Faso's president, called female genital cutting "the most 
widespread and deadly of all violence victimizing women and girls in 
Africa." Participants urged governments in Africa, as well as those 
throughout the rest of the world, to put in place bans on the practice. 
Still, they acknowledged that ending the cutting will only come by 
educating communities --- young girls and boys, their parents and the local 
leaders who endorse the practice and carry it out.   (New York Times, USA, 
7 February 2003)

* Africa. The Media reflects on cricket's World Cup  -  With the Cricket 
World Cup getting under way this weekend, Media Watch looks at what 
newspapers in host countries South Africa, Kenya and Zimbabwe have been 
saying about the controversy which has engulfed the tournament. The 
long-running row between England and Zimbabwe has been compounded by New 
Zealand's continuing refusal to play in Nairobi against Kenya, and 
Australia's worries over travelling to Bulawayo. On the eve of the 
tournament's opening, leader-writers and commentators hope the spirit of 
the contest will overcome the controversies. The Kenya Times slams the New 
Zealand cricket team's decision to pull out of their first scheduled match 
in Kenya -- the Kiwis cited concerns over terrorism -as "whimsical and at 
best absurd". Kenya's leading Sunday paper, the Sunday Nation, says New 
Zealand would be no safer if they were playing at Lord's cricket ground in 
London where "they might need to worry that Osama [Bin Laden] could poison 
their soup." The Standard takes a similar line saying that terrorism can 
strike anywhere and any time. "Kenya is not the first country to experience 
terrorism and it is not going to be the last," it says. It argues that the 
best approach to tackle terrorism is "not to run away from it but to fight 
it". The Popular independent daily The Nation says that there is "some 
sympathy for England's predicament, though relatively little for New 
Zealand". An eve-of-tournament editorial in South Africa's The Star 
accentuates the positive, saying the tournament "will be a massive event 
for South Africa". Zimbabwe's pro-government The Herald is keen to see the 
contest "roar into life". But with the competition opening at the end of 
the same week that saw opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai put on trial for 
conspiring to murder President Mugabe, other papers continue to have 
misgivings. Zimbabwe's Financial Gazette condemns the government's 
"heavy-handed tactics" in attempting to stop the media and international 
observers from monitoring the Tsvangirai trial proceedings in Harare. The 
Zimbabwe Independent meanwhile predicts a brutal response by the 
authorities to civic protesters who have threatened to disrupt the 
tournament by staging demonstrations.   (BBC News, UK, 7 February 2003)

* Afrique. L'accès aux médicaments  -  L'Organisation mondiale du commerce 
(OMC) a repris les discussions sur l'importation des médicaments 
génériques, mais n'est pas encore arrivée à une conclusion. Lors de son 
sommet à Doha, en novembre 2001, l'OMC avait affirmé que la protection des 
brevets sur les médicaments ne pouvait pas primer le droit à la santé. Les 
pays en développement ont donc le droit, en cas d'épidémie, de produire 
chez eux des médicaments génériques. Mais le problème des pays qui n'ont 
pas de capacité de production locale et qui devraient importer les 
médicaments génériques, n'avait pas été réglé à Doha, l'OMC se donnant 
jusqu'à fin 2002 pour se mettre d'accord. Le 20 décembre 2002, un accord a 
failli être conclu, auquel les Etats-Unis ont cependant opposé leur veto. 
Le conseil de l'OMC qui devait trancher la question au début de cette 
semaine, s'est donné un délai supplémentaire: il se réunira du 18 au 21 
février pour examiner un nouveau compromis. L'intérêt des malades semble en 
tous cas passer après la défense des grands laboratoires.   (D'après Le 
Soir, Belgique, 11 février 2003)

* Africa. Coalition To Stop The Use Of Child Soldiers  -  Amnesty 
International has issued the following Press Release: "On the eve of the 
anniversary of the entry into force of an international treaty banning 
child soldiers, the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers warned that 
the problem of child soldiers, far from being solved, is still prevalent. 
"Child soldiers continue to be abused as foot soldiers, porters, look-outs 
and sexual slaves -- the problem is not decreasing but, with each new 
conflict, children are at risk of being drawn into the fighting," says 
Casey Kelso, Coordinator of the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child 
Soldiers. (...) In December 2002, the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's 
report to the Security Council, identified 23 parties to conflict in five 
country situations that involved child soldiers: Afghanistan, Burundi, 
Congo RDC, Liberia and Somalia. At the end of January 2003, the UN Security 
Council adopted a new resolution on children and armed conflicts calling on 
the Secretary-General to include information about protecting children in 
all his country-specific reports".   (Amnesty International, 11 February 2003)

* Afrique. Enfants soldats  -  Le 12 février 2002, entrait en vigueur un 
traité des Nations unies destiné à lutter contre l'utilisation des enfants 
comme soldats lors des conflits armés dans le monde. Un an plus tard, les 
enfants prennent toujours part aux guerres d'adultes. "Des enfants 
continuent d'être exploités comme fantassins, porteurs, guetteurs ou 
esclaves sexuels", souligne Casey Kelso, coordinateur de la Coalition pour 
mettre fin à l'utilisation d'enfants soldats, pour qui le problème reste 
entier malgré l'entrée en vigueur d'un traité international. En décembre 
2002, le secrétaire général des Nations unies, Kofi Annan, a présenté au 
Conseil de sécurité un rapport identifiant 23 parties à des conflits 
faisant usage d'enfants soldats dans cinq pays en guerre: l'Afghanistan, le 
Burundi, le Liberia, le Congo-Kinshasa et la Somalie. Outre les groupes 
rebelles, l'Onu a également reproché aux forces régulières du Burundi, du 
Liberia et du Congo-Kinshasa d'exploiter les enfants comme soldats. Le 30 
janvier dernier, le Conseil a adopté une nouvelle résolution sur les 
enfants et les conflits armés, dans laquelle elle appelle M. Annan à 
inclure des informations sur la protection des enfants dans tous ses 
rapports spécifiques sur les pays. (Ndlr: Selon l'AFP, les mouvements armés 
congolais qui se battent en Ituri (RDC) recrutent tous des enfants soldats, 
qui forment parfois le gros de leurs troupes. "L'Ituri regorge d'enfants 
soldats", déplore un responsable humanitaire qui opère dans la 
région).   (AP, 11 février 2003)

* Africa. Action against the Media  -  Chad: On 6 February, Reporters sans 
Frontières (RSF) said that Nadjikimo Bénoudjita, publication director of 
the weekly Notre Temps, and Mbainaye Bétoubam, the newspaper's deputy 
editor-in-chief, were sentenced to six months' imprisonment and fined two 
million CFA francs and interest, in N'Djamena. The court also barred the 
journalists from exercising their profession for eight months and ordered 
their paper closed for three months. Congo RDC: On 12 February, MISNA 
reported that on the previous day, a journalist, Jules Tambwe, working for 
Uhuru magazine, was stopped and beaten by the police in Kinshasa. Côte 
d'Ivoire: On 12 February, RSF said it is very concerned about the 
well-being of Kloueu Gonzreu, a local correspondent with the Ivorian News 
Agency, who has been reported missing since 11 January. RSF said that 
"violence against journalists has been steadily increasing in recent 
months". Ethiopia: On 8 February, the Ethiopian Free Press Journalists' 
Association issued a press release informing the public that a Workshop 
that discussed the new draft press law had been held at the Semien Hotel 
hall on 8 February 2003. The forum, in which over 300 people participated, 
was organized by the Ethiopian Free Press Journalists' Association (EFJA) 
and free press publishers. A joint position statement was issued at the end 
of the meeting in which participants declared that they do not accept the 
new press law drafted by the Ministry of Information. Liberia: On 11 
February, the BBC reported that Hassan Bility, a journalist, had told the 
organisation of being tortured whilst imprisoned. He was held in isolation 
for six months without being charged or tried, often in cramped conditions. 
Mr Bility, who was editor of the local independent daily The Analyst, was 
arrested along with a number of other journalists last June, for allegedly 
plotting to kill President Taylor and for having links to rebels. He was 
released in December. Sudan: On 12 February, RSF reported that on 8 
February, the Sudanese authorities had confiscated the next day's edition 
of the Arabic-language daily, As-Sahafa. Zambia: The Media Institute of 
Southern Africa (MISA) reported that on 5 February 2003, police arrested 
Chali Nondo, chief reporter of The Monitor newspaper, and charged him with 
"publishing false news with intent to cause fear and alarm to the public". 
The journalist is being held at Woodlands police station in Lusaka and has 
been denied bond. The offence, which is contrary to Section 67 of the Penal 
Code, carries a maximum jail sentence of three years upon conviction. 
Nondo's arrest follows a story published in the 4 to 6 February edition of 
The Monitor, which alleged that President Levy Mwanawasa had authorised 
police to hire a witchdoctor in order to help them capture a fugitive 
former finance minister who was wanted by police to face charges of "theft 
of public funds". Zimbabwe: On 6 February, the International Federation of 
Journalists (IFJ) protested to international cricket chiefs over their 
declaration that Zimbabwe is a "safe venue" for cricketers, while ignoring 
a pattern of violence against media and journalists and attempts by the 
regime of Robert Mugabe to gag sports reporters who cover the World Cup 
Cricket competition. "Zimbabwe is anything but a safe venue for 
journalists," said the IFJ, the world's largest journalists' group, in a 
letter to Malcolm Speed, Chief Executive of the International Cricket 
Council, which says Zimbabwe is safe for players taking part in this year's 
Cricket World Cup. "Over the past two years we have seen numerous acts of 
violence against media, a wholesale legal assault on independent journalism 
and the creation of an atmosphere of intimidation against the exercise of 
free reporting, whether by foreign correspondents or local journalists," 
said Aidan White, IFJ General Secretary. "You appear to show no 
consideration for the difficulties facing journalists who will be expected 
to cover cricket events scheduled for Zimbabwe."   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 12 
February 2003)

* Algérie/UE. Accord sur le gaz  -  L'Union européenne soutiendra les 
projets de gazoducs algériens devant desservir le marché européen, a 
déclaré le 7 février à Alger la vice-présidente de la Commission européenne 
en charge de l'énergie et des transports, Mme Loyola de Palacio. 
"L'interconnexion à travers les nouveaux gazoducs Algérie-Italie et 
Algérie-Espagne est importante pour l'Algérie et l'Europe", a-t-elle 
déclaré. Le projet reliant l'Algérie à l'Espagne est à un stade très avancé 
et devra bénéficier du soutien de la Commission. Mme de Palacio a invité 
l'Algérie à consolider sa position de fournisseur traditionnel 
d'hydrocarbures du marché européen, et de participer à la nouvelle 
politique européenne en matière de stocks stratégiques de pétrole et de 
gaz. L'Algérie occupe la deuxième place, après la Russie, au rang des 
fournisseurs de gaz au marché européen.   (PANA, Sénégal, 7 février 2003)

* Angola. UNITA officials accuse govt supporters of intimidation  -  6 
February: Angola's UNITA opposition has called on the government to 
guarantee the safety of its members following reports that party officials 
had been prevented from setting up offices in parts of the country. UNITA 
secretary for foreign affairs Alcides Sakala says that five officials of 
the movement were attacked on 3 February by armed youths wearing T-shirts 
with the ruling MPLA party slogan. The delegation was in the town of 
Londuimbali in the central Huambo Province.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 6 February 
2003)

* Angola. UN makes air drop  -  The UN World Food Program (WFP) airdropped 
food to a remote village in Angola on 7 February, the first such delivery 
in the war-scarred country for a decade. The agency was forced to fly in 
food to the hungry people of Luvemba in the central province of Huambo, 
because rains had made roads to the area impassable. Eighteen tons of food, 
mainly corn, was dropped on pallets from 655 feet up. Luvemba last received 
one month's supply of food from the WFP by truck in early November, before 
the main rains arrived. WFP officials said the drop was the first of its 
kind for 10 years. Other areas were being assessed for possible airdrops, 
but such deliveries were only a last resort due to the expense involved, 
they said.   (CNN, USA, 7 February 2003)

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