Weekly ANB1106_05.txt #7

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 06-11-2003      PART #5/5

* South Africa. Opposition coalition emerges  -  3 November: South Africa's 
largest opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), and the Inkatha 
Freedom Party (IFP) have formed a coalition to fight next year's general 
election. Tony Leon of the DA and Mangosuthu Buthelezi of the IFP held a 
joint rally in Soweto on Sunday, during which they said that they planned 
to clip the wings of the ruling African National Congress (ANC). Mr Leon 
said that South Africans feared that their country was becoming a "shadow 
of democracy" that was dominated by one party. They worry that the hope of 
a rainbow nation will be destroyed by greed, insecurity and by a new 
racism   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 3 November 2003)

* South Africa. Apartheid victims dismiss US lawyer  -  A group of victims 
of South Africa's apartheid regime has dismissed Ed Fagan, the 
controversial US lawyer, as counsel on the eve of a long-awaited 
reparations-related court hearing in New York. "We have terminated his 
mandate on the apartheid reparations case," John Ngcebetsha, a South 
African lawyer representing the group, told the FT on 5 November. "We took 
the decision in the best interests of our clients." The Southern District 
Federal Court of New York will on 6 November begin hearing two separate 
cases alleging that many multinational and South African companies "aided 
and abetted" apartheid while doing business under white minority rule. The 
class action lawsuits would mark the first time that a court of law has 
been asked to rule on apartheid as a crime against humanity, and are seen 
as a test case for the Alien Tort Claims Act -- an 18th century statute 
recently pressed into service by litigants to hold companies accountable 
for doing business under repressive regimes. Mr Fagan, who acquired his 
notoriety when he spearheaded efforts to secure multibillion dollar 
out-of-court settlements from Swiss banks and German industry in 
Holocaust-related suits, had represented one of two apartheid victims' 
groups seeking financial reparations. A separate group, led by Khulumani, a 
victims' support organisation, is represented by Michael Hausfeld of the US 
law firm Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld & Toll. In both lawsuits, the plaintiffs 
are tens of thousands of victims of human rights abuses under the apartheid 
regime that ruled South Africa for decades. The defendants are some of the 
world's biggest and best-known companies and banks, accused of having 
supported and financed the white minority government.   (Financial Times, 
UK, 5 November 2003)

* Sudan. Locusts cause asthma deaths  -  1 November: Eleven people have 
died in the past two weeks in central Sudan after a swarm of grasshoppers 
caused an asthma epidemic. More than 1,600 people have been taken to 
hospital, health officials in the affected state of Gezira said. Residents 
said the grasshoppers gave off a strong smell, which caused breathing 
difficulties. The health officials said the outbreak had reached 
unprecedented proportions in the state capital, Wad Medani, Sudan's second 
largest city. It was believed to be the first such outbreak in the area. 
Last month, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation warned that crops in 
north Africa were under threat from swarms of locusts.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 
1 November 2003)

* Sudan. Boy faces double amputation  -  A Sudanese boy of 16 is to have 
his right hand and left foot amputated by a court order that human rights 
campaigners have denounced as barbaric. Launching an urgent appeal on 
behalf of Mohamed Hassan Hamdan, Amnesty International said on 4 November 
that the penalty, known as "cross amputation" is tantamount to torture. 
Judicial amputations, floggings and even sentences of death by stoning are 
not unheard of in Sudan, whose penal code is partly based on Sharia 
(Islamic law). But even by the standards of Sudan's special courts, which 
have been criticised for drastic penalties, this case stands out because of 
the age of the defendant. The youth was arrested in August along with five 
adults on suspicion of involvement in an armed attack in Darfur, in the 
west of the country. They were charged with armed robbery. All six pleaded 
not guilty, but only Hamdan was convicted. Amnesty said the trial was 
conducted in an emergency court, which does not respect international 
standards for fair trials. The defence lawyer was absent during the last 
session of the trial when Hamdan was convicted. Amnesty said the sentence 
should be commuted because it contravenes international human rights 
standards ratified by Sudan. The boy is an ethnic Arab from Darfur, a 
region known as the "Wild West" for its lawlessness. Fighting between 
rebels and the government led to the declaration of a state of emergency in 
the area in 2001. Darfur's special courts were set up as part of Khartoum's 
emergency measures, to try summarily cases involving possession of arms and 
killings. Human Rights Watch says Sudan's special tribunals, composed of 
one civil judge and two military judges, do not meet basic fair trial 
standards as they restrict legal representation and appeals. Hamdan is in 
Nyala prison awaiting the outcome of an appeal. If his appeal in a local 
court fails, his lawyers can apply to the Supreme Court in Khartoum. If 
upheld, the sentence could be carried out at any time.   (Independent, UK, 
5 November 2003)

* Tanzania. Boosting the coffee trade  -  Coffee grows on the slopes of Mt 
Kilimanjaro  -  Tanzania hopes that fresh investment will boost its 
flagging coffee industry. Nestling in the rolling foothills of Africa's 
tallest mountain, Mount Kilimanjaro, are miles and miles of coffee bushes 
planted in neat rows. This is the centre of Tanzania's coffee industry and 
it is not difficult to see why. The rich soil, good humidity, sufficient 
rainfall and correct temperatures make for perfect cultivation conditions, 
but despite all that, over the last thirty years the coffee industry in 
Tanzania has been in terminal decline. Now the industry is hoping to 
reverse that trend by world by embarking on an ambitious project to replace 
around 200 million bushes across the country. It's hoped that in the next 
ten years Tanzania may become one of the leading coffee producers in the 
world. There is a lot of catching up to do. Tanzania produces between 
40-50,000 metric tonnes of coffee a year, making it only the sixth largest 
coffee producer in Africa after Cote d'Ivoire, Cameroon, Uganda, Ethiopia 
and Kenya. The government wants to double Tanzania's output, but that will 
happen only after the entire coffee bush stock is replaced. The 
organisation behind this huge task is the Tanzania Coffee Research 
Institute (Tacri), an institute which was set up in September 2001 to 
kick-start the industry. Twahir Nzallawahe, Tacri's head of research, said 
it is a drastic but necessary move. "The coffee bushes which are growing in 
Tanzania are very susceptible to disease, especially leaf rust and coffee 
berry disease. In some cases, farmers have lost up to 90% of their crop as 
a result of theses diseases, so we are trying to find new varieties of 
disease resistant coffee bushes. When we have found the best varieties we 
will attempt to replant every bush in the country," he said.   (BBC News, 
UK, 29 October 2003)

* Tunisie. Nasraoui en grève de la faim  -  L'état de santé de l'avocate 
Radhia Nasraoui, en grève de la faim depuis près de trois semaines pour 
protester contre le harcèlement de sa famille et de ses clients par la 
police, s'est détérioré, selon son médecin. Elle souffre de "troubles de 
sommeil et de la mémoire". L'avocate, qui aurait conservé des séquelles 
d'une précédente grève de la faim de 38 jours en 2002, a réaffirmé sa 
détermination à poursuivre son action jusqu'à la mort s'il le faut. "C'est 
le seul recours qui me reste pour exiger le respect de ma dignité d'avocate 
et de citoyenne", a indiqué Radhia Nasraoui, qui accuse les autorités de 
vouloir la "réduire au silence" et de provoquer son "isolement" en raison 
de son engagement en faveur des droits de l'homme. La presse tunisienne n'a 
pas fait état de la grève de la faim de l'avocate.   (Le Monde, France, 5 
novembre 2003)

* Uganda. Drawing inspiration from Kampala's colour  -  Fashion designer 
Santa Anzo is on a mission to brighten up Kampala -- and is using the 
colours of the city's famous Balikudembe market to inspire her creations. 
The market -- the biggest in Uganda -- is awash with bright bursts of 
colour from cloth, food and crafts. Anzo says her creations are inspired by 
"all the shades, colours, mostly Ugandan items -- especially the 
foodstuffs." These include coffee, cinnamon, tea, and beans. "The coffee's 
really nice, it's good to work with, the colours are good." Anzo's clothes 
are bright and flowing -- a reflection, she says, of life in one of 
Africa's most vibrant cities. "Kampala's favourite colours are bright -- 
bright shining colours, because Kampala is quite tropical, and because of 
that we tend to wear friendly colours, colours that hug us during all 
seasons. That's mostly the orange, lime green. Then a few people tend to go 
into earthy colours --especially foreigners. Most of my foreign clients go 
into earthy colours, like coffee brown, cinnamon -- just like on sale." 
Bizarrely, some of Anzo's designs are not only inspired by foodstuffs -- 
they are made from them too. For example, some of the clothes designed in 
her studio are made from porridge. "The fabric will be plain, and when they 
make the porridge they will pour it on it, and then sweep it. As they 
sweep, they pour the dye on it as well," she explains.   (BBC News, UK, 28 
October 2003)

* Uganda. Rebel leader killed  -  2 November: A top commander of the rebel 
Ugandan Lords Resistance Army (LRA) has been killed, the Ugandan army has 
announced. Charles Tabuley, the LRA's second in command, was killed in 
fighting on 29 October in northern Uganda, army spokesman Chris Magezi 
said. The rebels have not confirmed their commander's killing. Lieutenant 
Chris Magezi said Tabuley had been killed "during running battles" in the 
district of Kaberamaido. "Our intelligence has intercepted rebels' radio 
communication messages confirming Tabuley's death and orders from LRA 
leader Joseph] Kony to have the body taken to him in Sudan," the spokesman 
said.Three of Tabuley's associates are also reported to have been killed. 
The Ugandan army also said that, in the past week, it had rescued 120 
children abducted by the LRA rebels in three northern 
districts.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 2 November 2003)

* Ouganda. Commandant de la LRA tué  -  Le 2 novembre, le porte-parole de 
l'armée ougandaise a qualifié la mort du commandant en second de l'Armée de 
résistance du Seigneur (LRA) de "pas de géant en direction de la fin de la 
guerre" qui sévit depuis sept ans dans le nord du pays. Les forces 
gouvernementales ont affirmé que le général de brigade autoproclamé Charles 
Lardin Tabulay a été tué au cours d'un affrontement de 30 minutes à la 
suite d'une embuscade tendue aux rebelles dans le village de Kalaki, 
district de Kaberamaido, à plus de 400 km au nord-est de Kampala. Plusieurs 
autres jeunes commandants et combattants de la LRA ont été tués en même 
temps que Tabulay. Auparavant, l'armée a affirmé avoir tué 33 rebelles de 
la LRA lors de batailles séparées dans trois districts de la région du 
nord-est. -- Pendant ce temps, de nouvelles attaques de la LRA ont fait de 
nombreuses victimes, indique l'agence Misna. Ainsi, le 1er novembre, les 
rebelles ont tué 15 étudiants dans une école secondaire du district de 
Kaberamaido. Le 2 novembre, 9 personnes ont été tuées au village de Pata, à 
quelque 50 km de Lira. Des milliers de civils ont abandonné la zone après 
une série d'attaques des rebelles, qui semblent s'être déplacés vers l'est, 
dans les districts de Lira, Teso et Soroti.   (ANB-BIA, de sources 
diverses, 4 novembre 2003)

* Zambia. Child poisoning tragedy  -  Every time children play in the dusty 
streets of the small Zambian town of Kabwe, they are putting their health 
at risk, according to environmentalists. What sets Kabwe apart from other 
places is the extent of its lead pollution, a grim, but for years hidden, 
legacy of the town's now disused lead mine. In its heyday, Kabwe boasted 
one of the largest and richest lead mines in Africa. But from the time the 
mine opened in 1902 and closed in 1994, there were few pollution controls 
and as a consequence Kabwe's vegetation, soil and water are heavily 
contaminated with the highly poisonous metal, lead. When breathed in, lead 
quickly poisons the bloodstream and attacks the central nervous system. 
Poisoning results in anaemia, vomiting, kidney damage and slows down mental 
development, especially in children. In severe cases, there is brain damage 
and death. For years the people of Kabwe were kept in the dark about the 
environmental mess in which they live and the health problems they 
suffered. According to environmentalists one of Kabwe's lead hotspots is 
Katondo, one of the townships that sprouted up in the shadow of Kabwe's old 
mine - which lies in the heart of the town. Katondo lies right beside a 
canal used to carry toxic waste from the pit. About US$15 million dollars 
has been set aside for Kabwe, which has been included in the broader 
Copperbelt Environment Project (CEP). The World Bank is providing much of 
the money for the CEP, the clean up of Zambia's heavily polluted mining 
towns, an operation which is expected to finally take up sometime next 
year.   (BBC News, UK, 6 November 2003)

* Zimbabwe. Army chief to step down  -  4 November: The head of Zimbabwe's 
Defence Forces has announced that he is to resign at the end of the year. 
General Vitalis Zvinavashe is a close ally of President Robert Mugabe and 
like many army commanders, fought in the war which brought him to power. 
Before last year's presidential poll, he warned that the army would not 
accept an opposition victory. But earlier this year, he denied reports that 
he was trying to negotiate a deal with the opposition. General Zvinavashe 
was also named by the United Nations as one of those who had personally 
benefited from the war in Congo RDC, in which Zimbabwe intervened. The 
change in the army leadership is unlikely to change the character of the 
army leaders, who are mostly loyal to Mr Mugabe's Zanu-PF 
party.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 4 November 2003)


Weekly anb1106.txt - #5/5 -  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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