Weekly ANB1023_07.txt #7

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

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 23-10-2003      PART #7/7

* Ouganda. Attaque rebelle à Soroti  -  Au moins trois personnes sont 
mortes au cours d'une nouvelle attaque des rebelles de l'Armée de 
résistance du Seigneur (LRA) dans le nord de l'Ouganda. Le 20 octobre, à 4 
h. du matin, un groupe d'une trentaine de rebelles a pris d'assaut 
Nakatunya, un des faubourgs de Soroti (290 km au nord-est de Kampala). 
Après avoir saccagé et incendié des maisons, ils ont fui dans la brousse, 
prenant en otage un nombre indéterminé de personnes. Quelques équipes de 
l'armée ougandaise se sont lanceés à leur poursuite avec l'aide des 
habitants de la zone. Cette attaque a de nouveau semé la terreur au sein de 
la population.   (Misna, Italie, 20 octobre 2003)

* Uganda/Congo (RDC). Kampala rejects Amnesty report on Ituri  -  Ugandan 
President Yoweri Museveni and the spokesman of the Ministry of Defence, 
Maj. Shaban Bantariza, have dismissed a new report by advocacy group 
Amnesty International, accusing the government of Uganda of continued 
involvement in eastern Congo RDC. Amnesty International Secretary-General 
Irene Khan had released the report on 21 October during a news conference 
in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, and called on Uganda to face up to its 
responsibilities to stop supporting armed factions in eastern Congo. "The 
Ugandan government must take immediate steps to end its continued support 
of armed groups and the economic plunder which fuels the atrocities," she 
said. The Amnesty report, documenting human rights abuses committed since 
the beginning of the year in eastern Congo's troubled district of Ituri, 
Orientale Province, said many of the atrocities recorded earlier in the 
year were still going on in Ituri and were becoming accepted because they 
were now commonplace.   (IRIN, Kenya, 22 October 2003)

* Uganda. A spot of history  -  The king of one of Africa's oldest kingdoms 
is threatening to take Britain to court for war crimes committed by UK 
troops during the colonial era of more than 100 years ago. Using evidence 
from field diaries of British officers who colonised east Africa in the 
1890s, the king says he can prove that Britain broke existing humanitarian 
laws when her imperial forces plundered the Bunyoro kingdom in what is now 
western Uganda. Solomon Iguru, the king of Bunyoro, is seeking £2.8bn 
compensation from Britain for "acts of pillage, rape and murder". These 
actions, he says, were committed by soldiers -- under the command of 
Colonel Henry Colville, the consul of Uganda -- against the kingdom of his 
grandfather, Kabalega, when Bunyoro was annexed under the British 
protectorate of Uganda in 1894. "We are still open to settling out of court 
but we want an official apology and compensation," said King Iguru, who has 
purely ceremonial powers over the hilly, rural kingdom of a million people. 
The charges include organised pillage, crop destruction and abuses against 
prisoners of war, including Kabalega, who was jailed without trial in the 
Seychelles for 22 years. A demand for compensation was sent first in August 
2001, via Tom Phillips, then British high commissioner to Uganda. Mr 
Phillips rejected it, saying the claim relied on the Geneva convention, 
which did not then exist. But some lawyers say the convention embodies 
international laws widely accepted in the late 19th century.   (The 
Guardian, UK, 23 October 2003)

* Western Sahara. Polisario's congress  -  21 October: It is one of 
Africa's longest ongoing wars. Forgotten, but still not over. Every four 
years the Polisario Front holds a congress, to discuss how to proceed with 
their 27-year battle against Morocco for self-determination of the disputed 
Western Sahara. Hundreds of Polisario representatives based as far a field 
as Australia make their way back for the event. This year, for the first 
time since a ceasefire was signed with Morocco in 1991, the Polisario held 
their congress in the heart of what they proudly call "liberated 
territory". Most of the international community consider it to be in 
south-west Algeria, just 300 kilometres from Tindouf. For some it is a 
no-mans land under de facto control of the Polisario. For Morocco, it is 
just a threat; Tifariti is 100 kilometres from the Moroccan wall of 
defence, a wall in the middle of the Sahara desert, stretching the length 
of the Moroccan-controlled Sahara border with Algeria. Holding the congress 
here was a ratcheting up of the pressure for a settlement. Polisario 
Secretary General Mohamed Abdelaziz says the choice of venue was intended 
to remind Morocco that the Polisario is there, occupying its land, and 
pursuing the struggle for independence with firmness. He also told the 
congress that a return to all-out war with Morocco was one option to be 
considered.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 21 October 2003)

* Zambia. National Dialogue opens...  -  On 17 October, Zambia's main 
opposition parties and civic groups boycotted the launch Friday of a 
national dialogue on the country's political future after President Levy 
Mwanawasa refused to allow discussion of constitutional and electoral 
reform. President Mwanawasa organized the four-day forum, or "indaba," to 
give Zambians a chance to criticize the direction of government since he 
succeeded President Frederick Chiluba in 2001. But the main opposition 
United Party for National Development said it saw no commitment by 
Mwanawasa's government to address the main issues threatening the country. 
"It is sad to see a government that can ignore concerns of organizations 
which together represent the voice of more than 56 percent of the people of 
Zambia," said Sakwiba Sikota, the group's acting president. Speaking at the 
launch in the capital, Lusaka, Mwanawasa said there were already 
constitutional and electoral review processes in place, so delegates should 
focus on other issues. Mwanawasa has come under attack for prosecuting 
politicians and government officials for corruption and theft, including 
Chiluba. He has been accused by the opposition of ignoring the constitution 
by overriding court decisions.   (CNN, USA, 18 October 2003)

* Zambia. National Dialogue closes...  -  A national conference that 
President Levy Mwanawasa hoped would promote national healing in Zambia 
ended on 20 October just as divisively as it had begun. The government said 
the four-day "indaba" was a success because over 600 delegates showed up. 
But key civil society groups that had boycotted the conference maintained 
it was a waste of the reported US $1.5 million it cost to host it. The 
major recommendations from the indaba were issues that civil society had 
long championed: the need to have a constituent assembly to adopt a new 
constitution, a reduction in the size of the cabinet, and electoral reform 
to ensure that an elected president receives more than 50 percent of votes 
cast. "There is nothing that Mwanawasa did not already know, because we 
have given him these recommendations time and again. Did he really need to 
spend four days and all that money to hear it again?" asked Lucy Muyoyeta, 
chair of the Non Governmental Organisations' Coordinating Committee 
(NGOCC). Muyoyeta, whose NGOCC stayed away from the meeting, said the most 
important issues in the country were the growing political tensions 
manifested in increasing violence, an ongoing public workers' strike, and 
the controversy over the government's insistence on a Constitutional Review 
Commission (CRC), rather than a constituent assembly.   (IRIN, Kenya, 21 
October 2003)

* Zimbabwe. Police accused of beating lawyer  -  On 16 October, a 
Zimbabwean lawyer who has defended many prominent press freedom and human 
rights cases filed charges of assault against police who she alleges 
severely beat her on 13 October. Beatrice Mtetwa needed medical treatment 
for severe bruising and cuts to her face, throat, arms, rib cage and legs. 
The lawyer defended and won acquittal for the Guardian correspondent, 
Andrew Meldrum, when he was tried for "publishing a falsehood", a criminal 
charge carrying a jail term of two years. She also won court rulings 
ordering the government to allow Mr Meldrum to stay in the country, but he 
was illegally abducted and expelled from the country in May. Police were 
called to assist Mrs Mtetwa on 13 October in the afternoon when her vehicle 
was attacked by car thieves. But instead of pursuing the criminals, the 
police took Mrs Mtetwa into custody for allegedly driving while 
intoxicated. "They said the tables have turned, you are no longer a lawyer, 
you are a suspect," said Mrs Mtetwa. During three hours in custody, an 
officer beat her in the police car and also at Borrowdale police station, 
according to a complaint she has filed. "A policeman, identified as Officer 
Mutumwa, beat me with his fists on my face and my body," said Mrs Mtetwa. 
"I tried to defend myself as best I could. I bit him. The assault continued 
in the police car as we drove to the Borrowdale police station. At the 
station he kicked me all over my body in addition to the blows he had 
inflicted on my face. The assault was in full view of the other details who 
were at the charge office and who refused to intervene." At one point the 
officer gripped her in a stranglehold until she could not breathe, she 
said. "Afterwards I lost my voice from the bruising." Because police said 
she was suspected of intoxication, Mrs Mtetwa insisted that they test her 
with a breathalyser or give her a blood test to prove her sobriety but they 
refused. After her release she went for medical treatment and documentation 
of her injuries.   (The Guardian, UK, 17 October 2003)

* Zimbabwe. Plus de carburant  -  La compagnie nationale de pétrole du 
Zimbabwe n'a plus une seule goute d'essence ni de gasoil dans ses 
réservoirs, selon le quotidien gouvernemental. Les ambulances du service 
public, les véhicules de l'armée et les transports publics sont 
immobilisés, ainsi que certains trains.   (La Libre Belgique, 20 octobre 2003)

* Zimbabwe. Mugabe desperate to find evidence of British plot  -  President 
Robert Mugabe, is said to be living in fear of a British "plot" to kill him 
and has ordered the Zimbabwe spy agency to do a more "thorough job" of 
monitoring the activities of the British high commissioner, as a prelude to 
his possible expulsion. Intelligence sources say Mr Mugabe is eager to 
collect evidence to justify expelling Sir Brian Donnelly from Zimbabwe, but 
has, so far, found none. His various conspiracy theories against Sir Brian, 
including one that the high commissioner has spent most of his time 
preparing the ground for an Anglo-American invasion of Zimbabwe, have not 
been backed up by any tangible evidence. But Mr Mugabe believes his Central 
Intelligence Organisation (CIO) is being incompetent and it has not done 
much to uncover Sir Brian's alleged activities, despite a similar order 
last year to place him under close surveillance. Sir Brian is under 
instructions to advise the Zimbabwean Foreign Ministry when the high 
commission's diplomats leave the country, an order which also applies to 
the US ambassador on the movements of American diplomats. Mr Mugabe has 
convinced himself that Britain wants to kill him after failing to help the 
opposition remove him from power in the presidential election last year, 
sources said. A special task force of CIO officers will now work full time 
on monitoring Sir Brian.   (The Independent, UK, 21 October 2003)

* Zimbabwe. Economy -- from bad to worse  -  17 October: Less than half the 
number of supposed beneficiaries have been resettled under Zimbabwe's land 
reform programme, an official report says. The government had previously 
said that 300,000 black farmers had been given land seized from whites in 
the past three years. But a report prepared by Charles Utete, a close ally 
of President Robert Mugabe, puts the figure at 127,192, according to leaks 
in two local newspapers. The report also says that bureaucratic failings 
and political interference have hindered the process. One part of the land 
reform programme was meant to create 50,000 black commercial farmers but 
just 7,260 families have been given land under this scheme, according to 
the privately-owned Financial Gazette. 18 October: Zimbabwe's 
state-controlled oil company has run out of fuel, plunging national 
infrastructure and emergency services into crisis, fuel officials have 
reportedly said. The country's state-controlled newspaper, The Herald, 
quotes a source at the National Oil Company of Zimbabwe (NOCZIM) as saying: 
"There is not a drop of fuel here, though some is expected next week." 
However, the country's Minister of Energy and Power Development Ambassador, 
Amos Midzi, told the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation there was adequate 
fuel in the country. In August, fuel prices in Zimbabwe rose by up to 500% 
after the government announced it had ended price controls. The Herald 
reported the lack of fuel at NOCZIM had led to ambulance fleets, army 
vehicles and the public transport sector becoming "paralysed". 22 October: 
Zimbabwe's tobacco production has halved this year compared with 2002. The 
Tobacco Industry Marketing Board says the country's output of its main 
export crop has fallen to its lowest level since independence in 1980. Less 
than 80 million kilograms of the country's once lucrative crop was 
auctioned off durin this year's sales season which started in 
April.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 22 October 2003)

* Zimbabwe. Manifestants arrêtés  -  Le 22 octobre, la police zimbabwéenne 
a arrêté des dizaines de manifestants qui s'étaient réunis pour protester 
contre la dégradation de leur situation économique qu'ils attribuent au 
gouvernement du président Robert Mugabe. Des membres de la NCA (l'Assemblée 
constitutionnelle nationale, coalition de partis politiques et 
d'associations étudiantes, religieuses et de défense des libertés civiques) 
ont déclaré que près de 400 personnes avaient été arrêtées et emmenées dans 
des commissariats.   (Le Figaro, France, 23 octobre 2003)

Weekly anb1023.txt - #7/7 - THE END




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Un homme meurt chaque fois que l'un d'entre nous se tait devant la tyrannie 
(W. Soyinka, Prix Nobel litterature)
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Everytime somebody keep silent when faced with tyranny, someone else dies 
(Wole Syinka, Nobel Prize for Literature) *
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