Weekly anb02275.txt #7

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

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 27-02-2003      PART #5/7

* Egypt. Police abuse children  -  Egyptian children are subject to 
arbitrary arrest by police, who abuse them physically and sexually and 
extort money from them, Human Rights Watch claims. A report by the 
international organisation says children are jailed alongside adults, who 
also maltreat them. Clarisa Bencomo, who helped research the report, said 
street children are the most vulnerable -- and are often arrested without 
cause. "Instead of protecting children, the police abuse them and steal 
whatever money they have," she said. "Children are particularly vulnerable 
to sexual abuse, both in and out of custody," she said. The report, 
entitled "Charged with Being Children: Egyptian Police Abuse of Children in 
Need of Protection", was issued in English and Arabic. It quotes children 
as young as 11 who have been arrested. One 16-year-old girl, who the report 
calls "Warda N" to protect her identity, described being sexually harassed 
by police. An eleven-year-old boy whom the report calls "Yahiya H" said he 
was handcuffed and put in a transport with adult prisoners. Human Rights 
Watch says police use the country's Child Law to "clear the streets of 
children, extort money and information, force children to move on to other 
neighbourhoods, and bring children in for questioning in the absence of 
evidence of criminal wrongdoing".   (BBC News, UK, 20 February 2003)

* Ethiopia. The West's failure to give aid  -  On 24 February, Ethiopia's 
Prime Minister Meles Zenawi called on the West to reform damaging trade 
policies and increase development aid to help his country break its 
20-year-long cycle of poverty and famine. Warning that millions of 
Ethiopians still face the threat of starvation because of the slow response 
to the current famine, the prime minister said his country could run out of 
food by June.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 24 February 2003)

* Ethiopia/Somalia. Ethiopia admits Somali forays  -  24 February: 
Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has admitted he has occasionally sent 
troops into neighbouring Somalia to attack members of a militant Islamist 
group, al-Ittihad. Mr Meles said al-Ittihad was linked to al-Qaeda and they 
had tonnes of captured documents that proved the link to al-Qaeda. "They 
have engaged in terrorist activities in our country," he said. He also said 
that several Afghan Arabs had been killed during an Ethiopian attack on an 
al-Ittihad training camp. Mr Meles insisted that he wanted to see a stable 
and united Somalia and said "in the end it is for Somalis to decide". But 
he said they had lists of members of al-Ittihad inside Somalia's parliament 
and the Transitional National Government (TNG). TNG President Abdulkassim 
Salat Hassan has consistently denied Ethiopian claims that his government 
has linked to Islamic extremist groups.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 24 February 2003)

* Ghana. Forests opened to miners  -  Ghana, Africa's second biggest gold 
producer, is to grant mining licences in its protected forest reserves to 
attract new foreign investment. The Mining Minister, Kwadwo Agyei-Darko 
says: "The government has committed itself to measures that will enhance 
mining and restore it to its former glory. Ghana produces, annually, about 
2.2 million ounces of gold, representing about 45% of foreign currency 
revenues. Mining licences will be granted to the world's largest gold 
miner, Newmont, and Ghana's Ashanti, Australia's Red Back and Canada's 
Nevsun Resources. The move will create about 1,000 jobs directly.   (BBC 
News, UK, 20 February 2003)

* Grands Lacs. Un texte de belles intentions  -  Le 22 février, la 
Belgique, la République démocratique du Congo, le Burundi et le Rwanda ont 
adopté une déclaration commune intitulée "L'engagement de Bruxelles", qui 
appelle entre autres la communauté internationale à dégager davantage de 
moyens diplomatiques et financiers en faveur de l'Afrique centrale. Les 
trois pays africains concernés s'engagent de leur côté à chercher une 
solution pacifique à leurs conflits. Le texte de cet engagement à été 
publié à l'issue d'une rencontre entre le Premier ministre belge, le 
président burundais P. Buyoya, le président congolais J. Kabila, et le 
ministre rwandais des Affaires étrangères Ch. Murigande. Dans la 
déclaration commune, les dirigeants africains ont réitéré formellement leur 
engagement "sincère et total en vue d'un dénouement heureux des processus 
de paix et de stabilisation en cours au Congo, au Burundi et au 
Rwanda".   (La Libre Belgique, 24 février 2003)

* Guinée-Bissau. Report probable du scrutin  -  Les élections législatives 
anticipées du 20 avril prochain, prévues initialement pour le 23 février, 
pourraient ànouveau être reportées à mai ou juin, a rapporté la radio 
portugaise RDC-Africa, le 22 février. Pour la plupart des partis politiques 
de l'opposition, les conditions pour la tenue d'élections "libres, 
démocratiques, transparentes et crédibles" ne sont pas encore réunies. La 
Commission nationale électorale, qui doit procéder au recensement de plus 
de 40.000 nouveaux électeurs avant le début de la campagne, n'a pas encore 
commencé son travail. En outre, les Nations unies exigent que ce soit la 
Cour suprême qui contrôle le déroulement du scrutin et en proclame les 
résultats. Par ailleurs, l'envoyé spécial du secrétaire général de l'Onu, 
Stephen David, a évoqué la situation préoccupante en Guinée-Bissau. "La 
Guinée-Bissau se dirige vers des élections et nous avons des preuves que la 
situation politique s'est exacerbée", a dit le diplomate. La situation 
politique et sociale y est marquée depuis des mois par des arrestations 
d'opposants qui viennent s'ajouter à des grèves à répétition. Ainsi, depuis 
le 24 février, les agents de la Fonction publique observent un mouvement de 
grève de cinq jours. Les secteurs de la santé, de l'éducation et de la 
communication sociale sont les plus affectés, mais le secteur privé 
fonctionne normalement.   (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 24 février 2003)

* Kenya. Enquête sur scandale financier  -  Le président Mwai Kibaki a 
désigné une commission chargée d'enquêter sur l'escroquerie financière 
Goldenberg, portant sur environ 1 milliard de dollars, soit plus de la 
moitié du budget annuel du pays. La fraude présumée a été commise il y a 12 
ans par des gens de bonne famille, qui auraient réclamé des dédommagements 
sur une vente d'or qui n'a jamais existé. Selon un communiqué publié le 24 
février, la commission, qui comprendra 7 membres, sera présidée par le juge 
Samuel Bosire, magistrat à la Cour suprême. Le gouvernement devrait 
suspendre toutes les affaires légales en cours liées au "scandale 
Goldenberg". Ces affaires traînent depuis des années sans que beaucoup de 
progrès ne soient enregistrés.   (PANA, Sénégal, 24 février 2003)

* Kenya. Hausse des salaires des députés?  -  Les Kényans sont mobilisés 
contre un projet visant à accorder aux nouveaux membres élus du Parlement 
une hausse importante de leurs salaires de 100.000 shillings (1.280 
dollars) par mois. Les députés kényans touchent actuellement un salaire net 
de 350.000 shillings (4.800 dollars) par mois. Les membres du clergé, les 
syndicalistes et, curieusement, certains membres du Parlement se sont 
opposés vigoureusement à cette mesure qui va avoir des implications d'une 
portée considérable sur le budget de l'Etat. Le projet prévoit aussi pour 
tous les députés une subvention non remboursable de 3,3 millions de sh., 
ainsi qu'une prime mensuelle pour leur entretien. Ces propositions ont 
suscité un tollé, une partie de la population les considérant comme 
immorales. "C'est ce même gouvernement qui a pris le pouvoir en promettant 
des réformes économiques, qui cherche maintenant à donner aux 
parlementaires de l'argent gratuit supplémentaire", a déclaré un homme 
d'affaires. Le porte-parole de la commission parlementaire a préconisé que 
les Kényans débattent de la proposition avant qu'elle ne soit soumise au 
Parlement.   (PANA, Sénégal, 25 février 2003)

* Kenya. Inquiry launched into export scam  -  Kenya's new government took 
a stride towards fulfilling its people's dearest hope yesterday by 
launching a special commission to investigate the theft of £400m of public 
funds in the country's biggest ever corruption scandal. Leading figures in 
former president Daniel arap Moi's ruinous 24-year regime have long been 
implicated in the so-called Goldenberg scandal which involved the payout of 
vast sums in compensation for fictitious exports of gold and diamonds. The 
compensation scheme was ostensibly designed to promote exports of the two 
precious minerals; though Kenya has negligible reserves of either. Since 
the scandal broke in 1992, none of the alleged thieves has been found 
guilty -- and only a handful were charged. "With this commission, finally 
the Kenyan people will be able to close one of the most ignominious 
chapters in the nation's economic history," said a spokesman for President 
Mwai Kibaki, who swept to power in December's election. "This decision was 
informed by a realisation that these cases have been dragging through the 
courts for years without any apparent increase in the possibility that 
justice shall be done for the Kenyan people." The new inquiry was prompted 
by a recent statement from several of Kenya's most senior judges, 
castigating the former government for charging only two officials in 
connection with the scandal, as well as the acknowledged fall-guy, Kamlesh 
Pattni, a director of the Goldenberg International gemstone company. 
Kenya's long-serving intelligence boss, James Kanyotu, another director of 
the company, was among the alleged miscreants who have never been charged. 
Eric Kotut -- at the time governor of Kenya's central bank -- was another. 
Yet the investigation will be judged on the rigour with which it examines 
the alleged role of Mr Kibaki's new education minister in the scandal. 
George Saitoti, Kenya's finance minister at the time and a long-serving 
former vice-president, has been dogged by allegations of complicity in the 
scandal, which he denies.   (The Guardian, UK, 26 February 2003)

* Kenya. Death row inmates freed  -  25 February: The Kenyan Government has 
released 28 prisoners on death row and commuted the death sentence of 195 
others to life in prison. The Kenyan Minister for Home Affairs and National 
Heritage, Moody Awori, said most of those released had been on death row 
for a very long time, and some for more than 20 years. Mr Awori said the 28 
were already out and on their way to rejoin their families. One aim of the 
action was to decongest Kenya's over-populated prisons, said Sylvester 
Mwaliko, permanent secretary at the ministry of home affairs and national 
heritage, responsible for Kenya's prisons. The action was also aimed at 
fulfilling some of the promises made by the ruling National Rainbow 
Coalition (Narc) during last December's election campaign, he said. The 
commissioner of prisons, Abraham Kamakil, said his department was against 
the death penalty, because mistakes could always be made in criminal 
proceedings, and it was longing for the day when the Kenyan parliament 
abolished it. Mr Kamakil, now regarded as the most reform-minded prisons 
chief since Kenya attained independence from Britain in 1963, is urging the 
government to abolish the death penalty altogether. He says parliament 
should remove the death penalty from the statute books, stressing there is 
always a strong possibility that the wrong person could be hanged. The last 
death sentence was carried out in Kenya in 1987.   (BBC News, UK, 25 
February 2003)

* Kenya. Chief Justice resigns  -  26 February: Kenya's Chief Justice 
Bernard Chunga has stepped down after a tribunal was set up to investigate 
alleged misconduct. President Mwai Kibaki, who established the tribunal 
last week, has accepted his resignation. The tribunal was going to probe 
allegations that he: had planned, condoned and carried out torture; had 
been corrupt; had interfered with judges. Legal experts are split on 
whether the tribunal will continue its investigations following his 
resignation. The tribunal was portrayed as a key test of President Mwai 
Kibaki's crusade against corruption, which swept him to victory in December 
elections. Fresh allegations of Mr Chunga's alleged involvement in the 
torture of political prisoners in the 1990s surfaced after torture chambers 
at Nyayo House in Nairobi were opened to the public earlier this month. He 
was a senior state prosecutor for the previous government of President 
Daniel arap Moi. Human rights organisations and dissidents who were jailed 
had called for him to step down.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 26 February 2003)

* Kenya/Somalia. Anger over Somali talks move  -  21 February: The 
controversial relocation of the National Reconciliation Conference for 
Somalia from the Kenyan town of Eldoret to Nairobi led this week to the 
airing of many grievances and complaints in various African media outlets. 
Kenya's special envoy to Somalia, Bethwell Kiplagat, told The East African 
that the relocation was necessary to cap the escalating costs of the talks. 
"Initially, 400 delegates were invited but more than 1,000 turned up. The 
budget was blown out of the ceiling." Mr Kiplagat said the numbers were 
being cut to a more manageable 360. It is a move which will undoubtedly 
please some commentators.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 21 February 2003)

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