Weekly anb0522_1.txt #6

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 22-05-2003      PART #1/6

* Human Rights. G8 countries arm human rights violators  -  As the G8 heads 
of state prepare for their summit in Evian, Amnesty International reveals 
that despite assurances to the contrary, their governments are arming and 
supplying some of the world's worst abusers of human rights. A new report 
published today shows how military and security technology from the world's 
most powerful nations continues to make its way past inadequate controls 
into the hands of abusive regimes. At least two thirds of all global arms 
transfers between 1997 and 2001 came from five members of the G8 - the US, 
Russia, France, the UK and Germany. These countries, as well as the other 
members of the G8 - Italy and Canada - all have varying laws requiring that 
military exports be licensed. Japan officially prohibits military exports. 
Yet in each case, Amnesty International's report shows how these controls 
have been ineffective, or bypassed. (...) The report also demonstrates: - 
how arms brokers and traffickers based in most of the G8 countries can arm 
human rights abusers by simply plying their trade in "third countries" with 
weaker controls. - how most G8 governments do not have in place laws to 
prevent the export of security equipment to foreign security forces that 
are known to abuse legitimate devices to inflict torture or ill-treatment, 
or to freeze the use of equipment like electro-shock weapons until their 
effects are fully known. - how, using the excuse of "commercial 
confidentiality", the provision of meaningful and timely information to 
legislators, media and the general public about arms export decisions is 
lacking, thus undermining parliamentary scrutiny and public accountability 
of the arms trade. Amnesty International is calling for an international 
Arms Trade Treaty, to strengthen and harmonise national controls and turn 
off the flow of arms to human rights abusers. The G8 summit will take place 
at Evian-les-Bains, France on 1-3 June 2003.   (Amnesty International, 19 
May 2003)

* Africa. Coffee crisis tops summit agenda  -  19 May: The plight of the 
world's coffee farmers topped the agenda at a specially-convened meeting in 
London, today.Many coffee farmers are on the brink of starvation after 
prices plummeted to their lowest level for 30 years. Over-production and an 
increase in poor quality coffee - particularly since Vietnam joined 
traditional coffee growing countries in Africa and Latin America - are to 
blame, analysts say. But there is widespread disagreement on the best 
solution. Oxfam is calling on the four main coffee roasting companies to 
give a fair price to farmers and end what it calls exploitation. Oxfam, 
together with the Global Alliance for Coffee and Commodities (GLACC), is 
urging the meeting to take a proposal for an independent commission on 
coffee and commodities to the G8 summit in France in June. "How can the 
coffee market be so rigged against the poor that they lose money for 
growing coffee, while the coffee giants' profits soar?" Mr Bloomer 
added.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 19 May 2003)

* Africa. Action against the Media - 1  -  Congo RDC: In a 19 May 2003 
letter to Mulegwa Zihindula, a spokesperson for President Joseph Kabila, 
Journaliste en Danger (JED) protested the harassment and humiliation 
suffered by journalists during a public rally held along Kinshasa's 
Triomphal Boulevard on 17 May. Several journalists also received death 
threats. The organisation is particularly shocked by these incidents since 
the targeted journalists were officially accredited by the office of the 
president to cover the march commemorating the Kabila regime's sixth year 
in power. Ethiopia: On 16 May, the Ethiopian Free Press Journalists' 
Association (EFPJA) said that a state prosecutor has charged Wosenseged 
Gebrekidan, deputy editor-in-chief of It 'op newspaper, with "publishing 
and disseminating an article in It'op newspaper no. 343 that libels Habte 
Mariam Seyoum". Gebrekidan is accused of dismissing the former ambassador's 
statements regarding his diplomatic efforts during the Ethio-Eritrean war, 
and in connection with issues relating to Asab port. Gabon: On 21 May, 
Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) said that the National Communications 
Council of Gabon has decided to suspend the Misamu and L'Espoir 
publications. RSF describes the action as an "intimidation campaign against 
the private press". Morocco: On 21 May, the BBC reported that the editor of 
two Moroccan satirical weeklies has been sentenced to four years in prison 
for defaming King Mohamed VI. Ali Lmrabet was found guilty of "insulting 
the king's person" and "undermining [Morocco's] territorial integrity" in 
recent articles and cartoons. His trial was postponed by a week earlier 
this month after he went on hunger strike to protest against alleged police 
harassment and to promote press freedom. His lawyers said it was the first 
time since 1971 that a journalist has been given a jail term on similar 
charges.

* Africa. Action against the Media - 2  -  Zimbabwe: On 16 May, The 
Committee to protect Journalists (CPJ) reported that Zimbabwean immigration 
officials today deported Andrew Meldrum, Zimbabwe correspondent for the 
UK-based Guardian newspaper, from the country. Officials at Harare Airport 
forced Meldrum onto a London-bound Air Zimbabwe flight, ignoring a high 
court order staying the reporter's deportation and instructing authorities 
to produce Meldrum for a court hearing on his expulsion. Meldrum was 
accused of being an "undesirable inhabitant" of Zimbabwe in reprisal for 
his critical reporting on the government. According to The Guardian, this 
evening, immigration officers at the airport ran away from Meldrum's 
lawyer, Beatrice Mtetwa, to avoid being served with another court order 
demanding Meldrum's immediate release and forbidding his deportation. 
Meldrum was barred contact with anyone while he was in custody at the 
airport. "We are appalled and dismayed by the deportation of Andrew 
Meldrum, and the utter disregard that the government of Zimbabwe has shown 
for press freedom and the rule of law," said CPJ executive director Ann 
Cooper. --On 20 May, the Media Institute of Southern Africa reported that 
Tafataona Mahoso, chairman of the Media and Information Commission (MIC), 
has demanded that journalists recruited by the privately-owned newspaper 
The Daily News two weeks ago, surrender accreditation cards issued to them 
by the MIC. In a 7 May 2003 letter to Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe 
(ANZ), publishers of The Daily News, Mahoso had said it was fraudulent for 
journalists accredited while in the employment of one newspaper company to 
work for another. In his letter to ANZ Chief Executive Sam Sipepa Nkomo, 
Mahoso said: "The MIC wishes to warn the publishers and the editor that it 
is fraudulent and highly unethical for journalists who were accredited 
under a duly registered publication to use their cards under that 
publication when in fact they are now working for the unregistered Daily 
News. The MIC will inform the law enforcement authorities of this 
position," he added. Officials with journalists' unions said Mahoso's 
letter was one of the clearest confirmations yet that requirements by the 
state that journalists register with the MIC were meant to severely curtail 
press freedom.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 21 May 2003)

* Africa/USA. Bush says Europe hinders US aid to Africa  -  On 21 May, 
President George W. Bush accused European governments of hindering US 
efforts to end hunger in Africa, and challenged them to back Washington's 
policies on development aid and the fight against HIV/AIDS. Speaking just a 
week in advance of his first trip to Europe since the war on Iraq, Mr Bush 
broadened US criticisms of the major European governments, challenging them 
"to join us in moving beyond the broken development policies of the past 
and encourage the freedom and reform that lead to prosperity". The speech, 
in Connecticut, reflected an unrepentant mood in the White House as the 
president heads towards the G8 summit meeting with European leaders, some 
of whom opposed the US-led war in Iraq. "The president does not think we 
need to do a group hug and look into our inner feelings about what 
happened,"said a senior White House official on Wednesday. The comments 
emphasised that the divisions that flared over Iraq were not limited to 
security issues. Mr Bush's administration has grown increasingly concerned 
over what it sees as a European effort to export a heavily regulated, 
government-led economic model to the developing world. Mr Bush's harshest 
words came over the trade dispute between the US and Europe on genetically 
modified foods. He said European governments "have blocked all new 
bio-crops because of unfounded, unscientific fears. This has caused many 
African nations to avoid investing in biotechnologies for fear their 
products will be shut out of European markets. European governments should 
join, not hinder, the great cause of ending hunger in Africa."   (Financial 
Times, UK, 22 May 2003)

* East/Central Africa. Towards a political union  -  If recommendations in 
a report released by the Mwalimu Nyerere Foundation (MNF) are followed 
through, six countries in East and Central Africa will form a political 
union and sever ties with other regional bodies within ten years. The final 
56-page report, drafted by a team of specialists led by Professor Tarshis 
Kabwegyere, MNF's coordinator, shows how such a union will be a stabilising 
force, with a common defence policy and a uniform foreign policy. Such a 
union will demilitarize politics, pursue a multi-party system of governance 
and favour free market economies. The MNF has established a five-year 
timetable in which Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania shall withdraw from COMESA 
and the SADC. To this should be added Congo RDC, Rwanda and Burundi. The 
MNF is increasingly a significant vehicle in regional politics. It brokered 
the Burundi peace process which resulted in a power-sharing deal. Though 
the MNF is a Tanzanian project, Ugandans have been stealing the limelight. 
Indeed the idea of a six-nation political union is very much Yoweri 
Museveni's dream. The idea of a political union was first floated by 
Uganda, Ethiopia and Eritrea but later was shelved when the dispute arose 
between Eritrea and Ethiopia. Because of the power struggle between 
Rwanda's Paul Kagame and Uganda's Yoweri Museveni, it still hangs in the 
balance. Attempts have been made to reconcile the two leaders. The most 
recent was the 8 May 2003 meeting between Kagame and Museveni in London, 
UK.   (Crespo Sebunya, ANB-BIA, Uganda, 13 May 2003)

* Afrique de l'Est. Projet hydroélectrique du Bassin du Nil  -  Le 20 mai, 
les ministres de l'Energie des 10 pays riverains du Nil se sont réunis à 
Dar es-Salaam afin d'approuver le plan de mise en oeuvre d'un projet 
régional hydroélectrique basé à Dar es-Salaam. L'objectif du projet, d'un 
coût de plusieurs millions de dollars, est de créer un mécanisme 
institutionnel pour coordonner le développement de marchés régionaux 
d'énergie entre les pays membres et favoriser l'accès à une énergie fiable 
et bon marché dans le Bassin du Nil. Selon David Grey, un conseiller de la 
Banque mondiale, il s'agit d'une région où "les pays ne disposent que de 20 
kwh d'électricité par personne et par an, ce qui fait 4% du minimum 
recommandé pour une qualité de vie raisonnable". En créant un réseau 
d'énergie électrique reliant les pays, la région pourra fournir de 
l'électricité aux foyers et aux industries riverains et contribuer ainsi à 
la lutte contre la pauvreté.   (PANA, Sénégal, 20 mai 2003)

* Algérie. Violences  -  Onze personnes ont été tuées ces derniers jours 
dans des violences en Algérie, a rapporté la presse algérienne le dimanche 
18 mai. Huit membres des groupes armés islamiques ont été tués samedi à 
Relizane (300 km à l'ouest d'Alger) dans le cadre d'un vaste ratissage dans 
le massif forestier de Souk Sebt. La même opération, qui se déroule depuis 
plus d'une semaine, a déjà entraîné la mort d'une vingtaine d'islamistes 
armés, alors qu'il y aurait plusieurs blessés du côté de l'armée, dont le 
général qui dirige les opérations. Par ailleurs, trois membres de la garde 
communale ont été tués dans une embuscade dans la wilaya d'Annaba (500 km à 
l'est d'Alger). - D'autre part, selon le quotidien Al Khabar, citant "des 
sources informées", le chef du contre-espionnage algérien, Smain Lamari, 
négocierait la libération des 15 touristes encore en otages dans la région 
d'Illizi (1.500 km au sud-est d'Alger). Les autorités seraient disposées à 
laisser partir les auteurs de l'enlèvement dans un pays de leur choix ou à 
les faire bénéficier des dispositions de la loi sur la Concorde civile, qui 
accorde la grâce aux islamistes ayant renoncé à la violence armée. En cas 
d'échec, une intervention militaire n'est pas exclue. - Le 19 mai, l'armée 
algérienne a "formellement démenti" les informations données par des médias 
internationaux selon lesquelles les quinze otages auraient été libérés, 
mais affirme que "tous les efforts continuent d'être pris" pour leur 
libération.   (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 20 mai 2003)

* Algeria. Algeria denies hostages freed  -  19 May: The Algerian army has 
denied reports that more European tourists being held hostage in the Sahara 
desert have been freed from captivity. Earlier, military sources quoted by 
German media said all 15 people in the group - 10 Germans, four Swiss and 
one Dutch - had been released and were on their way to the capital Algiers. 
But later, today, the Algerian military firmly denied that any hostages had 
been freed. Efforts to secure their release were continuing, the army said, 
quoted by news agencies. German media had reported that the tourists were 
released in a dawn raid, near the town of Ilizu, 1,500 kilometres east of 
Algiers. The first group of freed hostages - 10 Austrians, six Germans and 
a Swede - arrived home on 14 May after being rescued by commandos. Some of 
the Austrians who were part of the first group have given details of their 
captivity. Speaking at a news conference in Salzburg, they described their 
captors as humane, religious men. "We almost became friends," former 
hostage Ingo Bleckmann said. He stressed that the militants did not put the 
hostages' lives in danger during the gun battle which led to their release. 
"From the first shot, they (the kidnappers) moved away from us so that our 
lives would be spared. They could have used us as human shields," Mr 
Bleckmann said. He also denied a report carried by Radio France 
Internationale on 16 May saying the release of the first group had been 
secured not by an army assault, but by payment of a ransom of several 
million dollars. The government has declined to give details of last week's 
rescue operation. 21 May: Fierce sandstorms and low clouds helped force the 
delay of a military operation to free the further 15 kidnapped hostages. El 
Watan says a commando raid on the Algerian militant rebels' hideout will 
only take place once all the necessary conditions for success are 
met.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 21 May 2003)

Weekly News anb0522.txt - #1/6