Weekly ANB1120_01.txt #7

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 20-11-2003      PART #1/7

* Africa. Perilous times for journalists in Africa  -  These are perilous 
times for journalists working in Africa, where press freedoms are steadily 
losing ground and the threat of arrest, deportation and even murder is on 
the rise. "Hardly a week goes by without a journalist being deported 
here...or threatened elsewhere," said Herve Bourges, president of the 
International Union of the Francophone Press, in the Gabonese capital. 
Journalists working in Africa often come from countries "where democracy 
functions, where freedom of expression is guaranteed," Bourges said, 
explaining why the wrongful imprisonment of journalists is particularly 
upsetting to the Western world. Demanding the immediate release of AFP 
correspondent Rodrigo Angue Nguema, who is still being held in Equatorial 
Guinea, the press organisation's president was applauded by 160 worldwide 
representatives attending a conference of the Francophone press. Nguema was 
arrested in Malabo, and has remained in detention well beyond the 72-hour 
legal deadline for him either to be informed of the charges against him or 
be released. He was questioned last week in connection with an October 30 
AFP report that quoted officials denying rumours of a foreign-backed coup 
attempt circulating in Malabo. Nguema's arrest came less than two weeks 
after the murder of Radio France International (RFI) correspondent Jean 
Helene, killed in Côte d'Ivoire on October 21 by a bullet fired by an 
Abidjan police officer.   (Mail & Guardian, South Africa, 11 November 2003)

* Afrique. Message chrétien pour le ramadan  -  Le 14 novembre, le Conseil 
pontifical pour le dialogue religieux a rendu public son message pour la 
fin du ramadan, intitulé "Construire la paix aujourd'hui". Offrant ses 
meilleurs souhaits aux musulmans, Mgr Michael L. Fitzgerald, président du 
Conseil, centre ses réflexions sur la nécessité de construire la paix. Les 
quatre piliers sur lesquels repose la paix, selon l'encyclique Pacem in 
Terris de Jean XXIII, sont la vérité, la justice, l'amour et la liberté, 
rappelle-t-il, en y ajoutant la prière, dont le mois du ramadan est une 
période intense. Il souligne que "l'amour (...) rend capable de pardonner. 
Le pardon est esssentiel pour reconstruire la paix". "Puisse le Dieu de 
bonté nous donner la force d'être de vrais constructeurs de paix", conclut 
Mgr Fitzgerald, en offrant ses "meilleurs voeux pour une sainte 
fête".   (ANB-BIA, Bruxelles, 14 novembre 2003)

* Africa. Message for the End of Ramadan  -  In his Message for the End of 
Ramadan, entitled: "Constructing Peace Today", the President of the 
Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, Archbishop Michael 
Fitzgerald, recalled Peace on Earth, which was a letter addressed by the 
late Pope John XXIII in 1963 to all people of good will. In the letter, it 
was suggested that peace is an edifice resting on four pillars: Truth, 
Justice, Love and Freedom. Each of these values has to be present if there 
are to be good and harmonious relations between peoples and between 
nations. The Archbishop said: "To these four pillars I would be inclined to 
add a fifth, namely prayer. For we know that, as human beings, we are weak. 
We find it hard to live up to these ideals. We need God's help, and this we 
have to implore humbly. (...) The month of Ramadan is not only a time of 
fasting, but also a period of intense prayer. I wish to assure you, my 
Muslim friends, that we are united with you in prayer to the Almighty and 
Merciful God".   (Vatican City, 14 November 2003)

* Africa. Diabetes killing children  -  Children who develop diabetes in 
sub-Saharan Africa are dying within a year for want of insulin, a drug 
which keeps hundreds of thousands of young people well in the UK, experts 
are warning. Supplies of the drug and the syringes needed for daily 
injections are erratic in many places in Africa and some families walk 250 
miles to get the insulin their child needs. John Yudkin, director of the 
international health and medical education centre at University College 
London, said it was shocking that children were still dying. The 
International Insulin Foundation, which he heads with the project 
coordinator David Beran, has carried out a detailed study of the treatment 
available to children with type-1 diabetes in Mozambique and Zambia and 
concluded that better distribution of insulin and education of 
healthworkers, especially in rural areas, could cut the death toll. They 
hope the focus on the health needs of people in the poorest countries which 
has come out of the global campaign for access to drugs for HIV/AIDS may 
result in better care for those with diabetes and other diseases. 
"Improving the drug supply will impact not only diabetes, but all 
diseases," said Mr Beran. Pressure from Aids activists has already caused 
the main insulin-producing drug company, Novo Nordisk, to rethink its 
policies towards poor states and slash insulin prices by more than half. In 
the western world, daily injections of insulin and careful monitoring mean 
that children who develop what is known as type-1 or insulin-dependent 
diabetes in their early teens -- the form with a genetic origin -- live 
normal, healthy lives. Type-2 diabetes, which is usually diagnosed in 
middle age, is linked with obesity, but can also be stabilised. The World 
Health Organisation this weekend warned that the number of people with 
diabetes in developing countries could more than double in 30 years, from 
115 million to 284 million. About 90% of diabetes cases are type-2, but 
children die of type-1. In Mozambique, a child in a rural area will live 
for a year with diabetes, or four years if they live in a town with a 
hospital. "In parts of Zambia where paediatric clinics are quite well 
developed, life expectancy is better, but still precarious because of 
problems over insulin access and the transport situation and the economic 
circumstances of the parents," said Mr Beran. Susan Zimba, a paediatrician 
at the University Teaching Hospital in Lusaka, said access to insulin was 
"a deep problem. There is usually not enough to go round". When the 
hospital runs out, those who can afford it will buy the insulin from a 
private chemist, but a month's supply of two types of insulin, at £24, will 
cost about two-thirds of an average salary.   (The Guardian, UK, 17 
November 2003)

* Afrique. Une Agence africaine de l'eau  -  Quelque 143 pays africains 
pendront part à la première Conférence panafricaine sur la mise en oeuvre 
et le partenariat dans le domaine de l'eau (PANAFCON) au cours de laquelle 
sera annoncé le lancement d'une Agence africaine de l'eau. En plus du 
lancement de l'agence, qui se veut un mécanisme de soutien à 
l'investissement pour la gestion des ressources en eau, la réunion 
d'Addis-Abeba sera aussi pour lancer le "Journal africain de l'eau" et le 
"Rapport africain sur la mise en valeur des ressources en eau", publié tous 
les deux ans. Pour Josue Dione, directeur de la Division du développement 
durable de la Commission économique pour l'Afrique (CEA) et président du 
secrétariat du Groupe de l'eau-Afrique, "Cette conférence aidera à 
déterminer comment mettre en oeuvre, de manière collective, les actions 
spécifiées dans des instruments internationaux tels que la Vision africaine 
de l'eau pour 2025, les objectifs de développement du Millénaire et le 
programme eau du Nouveau partenariat pour le développement de l'Afrique 
(NEPAD)".   (News Press, France, 17 novembre 2003)

* Africa. Action against the Media - 1
-  ALGERIA: On 14 November, Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) condemned the 
six-month prison sentence for libel against journalist Sid Ahmed Samiane, 
and said it is alarmed over the Government's continuing harassment of the 
independent press. -- On 17 November, RSF called for the immediate release 
of journalist Hassan Bourras, who was recently handed a two-year prison 
sentence for libel after reporting on corruption by local officials in the 
west.
-BOTSWANA: On 18 November, MISA said that the government has suspended a 
segment of Radio Botswana's popular morning programme "Masa-a-sele" 
("Morning has broken"). The Communications, Science and Technology Minister 
says the suspension is indefinite.
-CAMEROON: On 18 November, RSF condemned the government's shutdown of Radio 
Veritas, a station founded and run by Cardinal Christian Tumi, a leading 
critic of President Paul Biya. "We do not understand how, in the space of a 
few weeks, some stations have been allotted frequencies while this one has 
been closed down," said the organisation's secretary-general, Robert 
Ménard. "Veritas and Freedom FM, set up by the Le Messager media group, 
have been banned because of their criticism, despite the government's 
technical and legal explanations. We fear the situation will get worse as 
next year's presidential election approaches," Ménard added. Veritas, which 
went off the air on 15 November 2003, one day after being banned by the 
Communications Ministry, had been test-broadcasting in Douala, the 
country's main city, for two weeks. Radio Freedom, founded by Le Messager's 
press group director Pius Njawé, was banned in May.

* Africa. Action against the Media - 2
ETHIOPIA: On 17 November, RSF said that the Ethiopian government has been 
urged to "stop harassing" the country's private media. Ethiopia's 
independent journalist association has been suspended. Robert Ménard, RSF's 
secretary-general also called on the Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi 
to lift the suspension.
- NIGER: On 13 November, the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) 
issued an alert because that day, three staff members of the independent 
Anfani FM radio station were arrested by police authorities in Zinder, 890 
kilometres from the capital, Niamey. Journalists Amadou Mamoudou and 
Harouna Mato and station director Ismael Moutari were arrested on the 
orders of Abba Malam Boukar, commissioner of the Zinder region. The 
journalists were accused of broadcasting information on a conflict between 
farmers and cattle breeders in Zinder, which resulted in some deaths. The 
two journalists were later released. However, the police detained the 
station director on grounds that he should disclose the source of the 
information. -- On 14 November, Ishmael Moutari was released from prison 
custody.
- SOUTH AFRICA: On 18 November, MISA said that lawyers for a Cape 
businessman have applied for an urgent interdict and have brought an Access 
to Information challenge against the Cape Argus newspaper to prevent it 
from publishing an article, which they allege is "defamatory" and "injures 
[their] client's dignity." George Hadjidakis, a major shareholder in the 
South African 7-Eleven chain and chairperson of the Premier Soccer League 
club Hellenic, plans to use the Promotion of Access to Information Act 
(PAIA) to try to force the paper to hand over a draft of an article for his 
personal perusal before it is published. The case is a landmark test for 
the fledgling PAIA in relation to balancing freedom of expression and media 
freedom, against the public's right to access information from the state 
and private bodies.

* Africa. Action against the Media - 3
SUDAN: On 12 November, in a Press Release, Human Rights Watch said that a 
prominent independent journalist has been forced to flee Sudan in the face 
of persecution by the Sudanese government. Nhial Bol, former managing 
editor and reporter at the Khartoum Monitor, Sudan's only daily 
English-language newspaper, fled Sudan to Kenya in late October following 
repeated government actions against the Monitor, and arrests and threats 
against his life. The Monitor was shut down several times this year by the 
government, most recently in September. Human Rights Watch has repeatedly 
condemned the Sudanese government's attacks on the independent media. -- On 
18 November, RSF called for the immediate reappearance of the 
Arabic-language daily newspaper Al-Ayam, which was suspended on 16 
November, and has condemned the harassment of journalists by the security 
services. One of Sudan's leading dailies, Al-Ayam, which last month marked 
its 50th anniversary, has been suspended indefinitely on the order of the 
state prosecutor in charge of subversion crimes, Mohammed Farid Hassan, 
under Article 130 of the 1991 code of criminal procedure, paragraphs 1 and 
3. The daily is accused of "threatening the security and stability" of the 
country.
-TUNISIA: On 18 November, MISNA reported that the journalist Zouheir 
Yahyaoui, arrested on 4 June 2002 and sentenced to 2 years and 4 months in 
prison for diffusion of false news, has been released today, though 
conditionally.
- ZAMBIA: On 13 November, MISA reported that on 11 November Omega TV, a 
privately-owned, free-to-air television station based in Lusaka, was 
ordered closed following the reversal of a High Court order allowing it to 
continue its test broadcasts. The closure of the station followed a 
successful appeal by Solicitor General Sunday Nkonde against a "stay of 
execution" granted to Omega TV on 19 September, which had allowed it to 
continue its test broadcasts. Nkonde argued that there was no legal basis 
for the stay of execution because the "construction permit", or temporary 
licence, that Omega TV was trying to protect had expired.
-ZIMBABWE: On 13 November, Judge Mishrod Guvamombe ordered four directors 
of Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe (ANZ) which publishes The Daily News, 
to appear in court on February 6, 2004, for a routine hearing pending a 
trial date. The case against The Daily News --Zimbabwe's largest 
independent daily and a frequent critic of President Robert Mugabe's 
government -- has thrown a spotlight on new media laws critics say are 
aimed at silencing Mugabe's opponents. The directors had appealed against 
charges filed against them by the government after they published an issue 
on October 25 following a court ruling which said the state media 
commission erred in denying them a publishing licence. Police immediately 
closed the newspaper and arrested four of its directors, who were later 
freed on bail.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 18 November 2003)

* Afrique. Pauvreté et chômage en augmentation  -  Pauvreté et chômage 
augmentent en Afrique, selon un rapport de l'ONU préalable à la Conférence 
sur le travail d'Addis-Abeba. La 10e Conférence régionale africaine de 
l'agence de l'ONU sur le travail, qui se tiendra du 2 au 5 décembre à 
Addis-Abeba en Ethiopie, s'efforcera d'identifier des remèdes à la 
situation d'un continent où la pauvreté comme le chômage sont en 
augmentation. Contrastant avec la situation dans d'autres parties du monde, 
le niveau de la pauvreté en Afrique est élevé et s'accroît, souligne un 
communiqué de l'Organisation internationale du travail (OIT), publié 
aujourd'hui. Près de la moitié de la population du continent, soit quelque 
300 millions de personnes, vit avec un dollar ou moins par jour. Le 
pourcentage de gens pauvres dans l'Afrique subsaharienne est près du double 
de la moyenne mondiale, qui est de l'ordre de 24%, précise le communiqué. 
"Les mandants tripartites de l'OIT en Afrique se réunissent alors que les 
nations du continent mettent en place des institutions qui devraient 
enclencher un processus dynamique de développement basé sur leurs efforts 
collectifs", déclare le directeur général du BIT Juan Somavia dans un 
rapport préparé pour ces assises. Le lancement de l'Union africaine (UA) en 
2002 et le Nouveau partenariat pour le développement de l'Afrique (NEPAD) 
en 2001 s'inscrivent dans cette nouvelle dynamique, indique le communiqué 
de l'OIT.   (News Press, France, 18 novembre 2003)

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