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Featured this week:

2005-03-24

* EDITORIAL: Mary Ndlovu introduces three articles on the Zimbabwean elections (in the Editorial and Comment and Analysis sections) arguing that it is impossible for anyone to say with any certainty what Zimbabwe will look like one month from now. But whatever happens, she says, democracy in the region must be built from the bottom up.
* COMMENT AND ANALYSIS: Steve Kibble explains how the crisis in Zimbabwe is about security and questions how to shift the monopoly on security from the military so that it addresses the concerns of those without power.
* COMMENT AND ANALYSIS: Janah Ncube outlines the political dynamics effecting Zanu-PF and the MDC, stating that the March 31 election might not be as predictable as everyone thinks.
* LETTERS: Readers respond on: Bleeding heart do-gooders; Columnists who can’t stop complaining; and genocide in Zimbabwe. Send your views to editor@pambazuka.org
* PAN-AFRICAN POSTCARD: Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem criticizes African leaders for talking about self-determination but being the first to run to the West for aid.
* AFRICAN UNION WATCH: What did the Commission for Africa have to say about the African Union? This article includes extracts from the Commission report on conflict prevention, education, health and more…
* CONFLICTS AND EMERGENCIES: Whole communities in Angola lose their land without compensation due to diamond mining, says a recent report.
* HUMAN RIGHTS: An Amnesty International report says the fight against terrorism is bad news for human rights in Kenya.
* WOMEN AND GENDER: The struggle for the ratification of the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa continues.
* DEVELOPMENT: Wolf 1 gives way for Wolf 2 at the World Bank, with clear implications for global civil society.
* HEALTH/HIV/AIDS: News on World TB Day and the Indian Patents Act.
* AND…The latest jobs, courses, campaigns and email lists.

>>>>>PAMBAZUKA NEWS TURNS 200! On March 31, Pambazuka News will release its 200th edition. The milestone represents a journey from an e-newsletter with a few hundred subscribers to one with over 15 000 subscribers; from an e-newsletter that nobody knew about to one that is widely distributed on the African continent.

We invite subscribers to celebrate with us and send us a birthday greeting. Tell us about your experience with the newsletter and how you find it of use. Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org

Zimbabwe’s March: The struggle continues

Mary Ndlovu

2005-03-24

Zimbabwe’s recent history has fascinated the pundits, academics and analysts who study the stunted development of democracy in a post-liberation state. On the ground it has not been so engaging, as one round of voting after another comes and goes, and every aspect of life – economic, political, moral, social, even spiritual – loses quality.

Democratic elections are supposed to give a nation an opportunity to reflect and choose – to continue with the current policies and leadership or to give others a chance. When an economy falters and people’s lives become more difficult, sitting governments normally pay the price, whether or not they are responsible for the problems. But in Zimbabwe, when a government wilfully destroys an entire economy, and leads the whole nation into catastrophic collapse, misery and even starvation, elections have failed to provide opportunities to punish those responsible by removing them from power. As far as their democratic role is concerned – to hold governments responsible and bring them to account – elections have been exercises in futility. Will the 2005 Parliamentary elections be any different?

In February 2000, ZANU PF discovered, in a rare moment of truth, that they were unpopular enough to be defeated at the polls, in spite of all the advantages they had in controlling most of the media, the electoral machinery and all the state security apparatus. They immediately began the process of ensuring that no matter what the people wanted, never again would ZANU PF lose a vote. The electoral process would be turned into a stage-managed spectacle.

Within a few weeks of their unexpected defeat, ZANU PF had begun to put in place a new strategy. They pulled out their trump card of land seizures, accompanied by violence and intimidation. They added to it a manipulation of the electoral process which went just far enough to secure them a continued lien on state power. However, the legitimacy of the process was already under question. The legal challenges mounted against the results were never allowed to reach their conclusion, but the evidence is convincing that the declared results of the June 2000 parliamentary elections did not reflect the people’s will.

By 2002 when Presidential elections were held, ZANU PF had added more weapons to their arsenal: subversion of an independent judiciary, strangulation of the media and the withdrawal of civil liberties. With these essential underpinnings of any democracy gone, it is hardly surprising that the “democratic” elections produced a result similar to that in 2000: a disputed outcome, condemned by most of the observers who had not pre-judged it, but with ZANU PF remaining in control. Since then, they have perfected their manipulation to such an extent that they are now not afraid to reduce the level of overt violence and claim to the world that they have put in place a fair system. But the proof is in the guest list – only those who are friends of ZANU PF and gave previously disputed elections a clean bill of health will be allowed to observe in 2005.

Faced with this clearly biased situation, the opposition MDC appealed to the international community to save themselves and Zimbabwe from another charade. Europe and North America had already condemned the electoral process as fatally flawed and had begun to withhold aid; Zimbabwe had quit the Commonwealth when her suspension was upheld. What remained was Africa, and specifically the Southern African regional grouping of SADC, where all eyes fell on President Mbeki to offer a solution. In 2004, the SADC nations signed a Protocol which set election standards for the members, holding out a promise that the region might indeed insist on fair elections in Zimbabwe. Doubting Mugabe’s commitment, the MDC suspended participation in any elections until ZANU PF adhered to these standards. ZANU PF felt obligated to make a few changes – some meaningful and others quite prejudicial, and the debate raged about whether or not the SADC standards were being met. Mugabe obviously believes he will be able to get away with cosmetic changes, reducing the overt violence while keeping the essential mechanics of control in place.

The MDC recognised the uneven playing field when they suspended their participation in elections last August. The pressures on ZANU PF which they hoped to provoke did not materialise. The new electoral legislation is worse than what went before. Overt violence has decreased, but is no longer needed as the intimidation remains. So why is the MDC contesting? Have they learned nothing in the past five years? Don’t they know that ZANU PF will not give up power through the ballot? Haven’t they understood that the international community will not save them from a faulty election?

It was a difficult decision. International players, friendly and otherwise, put on the pressure to contest. The majority within the party structures wanted to contest, so how could a democratic party do otherwise than fulfil the wishes of the membership? Underlying the decision to participate was a deeper reality: MDC was formed as a political party with a mandate to remove ZANU PF through elections. Not to contest would have implied they had another plan, which they didn’t, and would have almost certainly led to a split in the party. Tsvangirai’s “damned if we do, damned if we don’t” is true in many senses – suicide or murder – which would you choose?

Until a few weeks ago, with Mbeki insisting that the role of SADC was to help Zimbabwe produce a fair election, there was still a hope that he pressurise President Mugabe to postpone the election until an independent electoral machinery could be put in place, the voters roll up dated, and repressive legislation repealed. But no positive steps were taken. In the final weeks before the election, Mbeki exposed his commitment to Mugabe by announcing that he saw no reason why the election should not be free and fair. Then President Mwanawasa of Zambia said he would never intervene in Zimbabwe.

The observer factor turned into something of a circus as ZANU PF changed the rules at will, making up excuses why they shouldn’t invite anyone who disagreed with them, excluding the SADC Parliamentary Forum, EISA, and even shortening the visas of individual members of South African delegations. As the observers arrive it has become even worse: the head of the South African Government delegation announced on arrival that the election would be free and fair. MDC then refused to talk to them and said they would deal with the ANC delegation only. Some opposition members of the South African Parliamentary delegation have already left for home. It appears that the lion has gobbled up his tamer, but the show goes on, a complete farce, with no credibility whatsoever. Too bad about the lion tamer. But has anyone noticed?

Zimbabwe and the whole region desperately need a resolution of the current multi-faceted crisis. But since it is essentially one of legitimacy, the election must produce a result which is accepted as genuine by the Zimbabwean people, the region and the international community as a whole. The chance for this has now been pre-empted by ZANU PF’s tightening rather than loosening of undemocratic controls, and the region’s apparent endorsements. What is the likely outcome?

ZANU PF has very little to offer Zimbabweans which would attract voters. In the five years since the last Parliamentary election, the country has lurched from one disaster to another; even the President has admitted that the land redistribution has largely failed, and the country can no longer feed itself; agricultural exports have collapsed, industry has shrunk, mining is under threat, and the human development index has dropped below what it was in 1975.

Just how all these problems will end if we vote “against Blair” is not revealed. A frenzy of election teasers has been showered on the doubtful – huge salary increases for civil servants, vehicles and electricity for chiefs, pensions for pre-independence ex-detainees previously ignored, fiats from on high prohibiting price increases on critical commodities. But few are fooled. Elections are Christmases in Zimbabwe; Father Christmas visits with his bag of goodies and then retreats to the North Pole to play with his elves. Why should Zimbabweans be any different from people around the world, who recognize when their governments have failed and show them the door? It is clear that, given a free choice, Zimbabweans would not wish to continue with leaders who appropriate to themselves the little remaining wealth and resources and ruthlessly crush those who would dare to complain.

There will of course be some who willingly vote for ZANU PF. Those who benefit from the plunder; those whose crimes are ignored by a police and judiciary partial to the ruling party; those whose lives have been intertwined with a political party of liberation, and like their leader, do not wish to face the reality that the past is history; the misguided who have fallen for the propaganda bait; and most significantly those who are afraid, who want to ensure a food supply, who do not want the “trouble” which would ensue if their communities were to be seen to be voting against a powerful establishment.

But there is disunity within the party. In previous elections, when disputes rocked the ruling party, they papered over the cracks and pulled together against a common enemy. But can the spectacular eruption which blew apart the party congress in December be overcome? Will the losers in the succession stakes be content to bide their time, and support the winners through the election? Is Jonathan Moyo now an irrelevant maverick, or do he and ZANU PF still have a hidden agenda? Observers have been surprised by the lack of energy in the ZANU PF campaign, the uninspiring campaign materials. Is it possible that the open rift has affected their capacity? Or is there a lack of funds, with known funders expelled, bankers on the run and enormous amounts of money required to pay reluctant campaigners?

The MDC, on the other hand, seems confident. ZANU PF’s desire to make this seem like a fair campaign means that the violence is reduced, and it has been necessary to allow opposition campaign meetings. Violence and fear are still factors, of course, especially in Mashonaland, with many already targeted while others are threatened; but meetings are being held, some of them huge. The mood is exuberant, joyous, relaxed, in contrast to ZANU PF’s threatening diatribes addressed to obviously bemused school children and resentful adults.

Given the decision to participate, what has MDC to offer the electorate? They promise to free the country from the oppressive rule of ZANU PF, restore the rule of law, rebuild the economy, provide jobs, make agriculture productive again, make primary education free and health care available. Some MDC operatives are convinced that in spite of the tilted playing field, there is such disaffection in the country that they can still win the election. They are right about the disaffection - the people are seething with anger - but whether they can translate that into MDC ballots in the box is another question. Already many hundreds of thousands, especially of young people, have not bothered to register as voters. Many of the most committed party activists from 2000 and 2002 are no longer around, having fled from violence or simply concluded that Zimbabwe is not a good place to make a life any more. Some are disgruntled over the results of primary elections, and there is a lack of money for campaigning. Yet, in spite of the bleak realities, the mood is up-beat, optimistic, reinforced daily as reports of successful rallies and ZANU PF defections flood in from rural areas. Many of the rank and file are euphoric, convinced that this time they will march to victory.

But the number of people who actually vote for ZANU PF is only part of the equation. Can MDC win the count as well as the vote? As members of MDC become aware that a solitary election agent in each polling station will bear the responsibility for ensuring that no cheating takes place, they are realising how unreliable the process is, even if they do manage to attract a huge majority of the voters. Transforming a majority of ballots in the boxes into counted and recorded opposition votes is another challenge altogether. Even the official monitor whose task is to ensure that procedures are followed fairly, will be government appointed. And the foreign observers upon whom some were counting, will all be friends of ZANU PF. The faulty voters roll, and the manipulation of the voting process as well as the counting should provide success for the ZANU PF plan.
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But there are other imponderables. The rigging depends on compliant electoral officials. To make sure that a discontented civil service does not upset the plan, the new Electoral Act provides for uniformed and non-uniformed services to man the polling stations and the entire electoral machinery. Uniformed personnel act under orders, and we have ample sworn testimony from previous elections that even when voting they were instructed to display their votes for ZANU PF. Can the party rely on these soldiers to do the job? Just in case they can’t, the brainwashed, mbanje-smoking National Youth Service, otherwise known as militia or green bombers have also been drafted in. While this time it will be more difficult to stuff ballot boxes or replace genuine boxes with fake ones, the system still allows ample opportunity for falsification of results by those who are so inclined.

What is the likely scenario? The election is held. Most people vote for MDC. The results are announced declaring a win for ZANU PF – with an increased majority. It will not be exactly a replay of 2000 or 2002, because this time there will probably be protests. Civic groups and some MDC members mount street demonstrations. Militia backed up by riot police and soldiers break them up, with casualties. Many are arrested. It’s over. After a week or two, compromised observer groups make mild criticisms of some aspects of the election, but endorse the result and call for restraint on all sides. ZANU PF is still in power; we have expended enormous amounts of time, energy and money, and we have achieved nothing.

Civil society organisations in South Africa and elsewhere will protest, but in the short term they are not likely to have a decisive effect. What will be the future of a government with a lukewarm endorsement from its friendly neighbours and the cold shoulder from much of the rest of the world? The economic problems, unemployment, collapsed services, will still be there, shouting for attention. Instead of economic recovery; government will move more rapidly towards a completely controlled, command economy. “New farmers” who have no title to their land may be instructed what to grow, will have prices fixed by the state and inputs erratically and preferentially supplied. War veterans, now joined by ex-detainees, will remain a huge drain on the economy, drawing a pension larger than the majority of those who work for a living. With a government considered illegitimate by most of those who have the means to invest, and policies becoming ever more irrational, the government will not attract investment from anywhere. Inflation will take off again due to the effects of stalled production and massive borrowing to finance expenditure.

Suggestions that at that point both ZANU PF and MDC will be persuaded to “talk” are surely misplaced. Why would ZANU PF want to talk in 2005 when they have not been willing to talk for the past three years? They have shown no sign whatsoever that they understand or care about the dire situation of the majority of Zimbabweans. Repression against civil society groups is more likely to be intensified. As the succession battle resumes, ZANU PF itself may continue with further infighting, which could even involve different factions of the army. The suggestion of a peaceful transition to a new-look ZANU PF which will restore the economy is surely fanciful, and any such government would have to eventually face the electorate, no more willing to hand over the reins of power than the present leadership is. The future looks bleak and dangerous.

But could it be different? Could street protests be strong enough to face down the police of army? Not likely. Could an MDC win actually be announced? Possibly. It will depend on the effectiveness of the rigging, the competence of the MDC election agents, and the commitment of ZANU PF to announce a win at all costs, whatever the results reported. Here’s another scenario: As the counting proceeds, and some results are announced, it becomes clear that ZANU PF has lost; a delay might occur as they argue about what to do. In the meantime, the people begin to demand a genuine result. MDC announces their own count, which gives them a win. Government calls in the army and riot police, dispersing any groups which have gathered. Arrests are made, and we arrive at the same point at which we reached in the first scenario, but this time no official results have yet been announced; government quickly announces their victory, observers dilly dally and the repression begins. Would regional governments then act? Why should they? If they weren’t prepared to talk tough up to now, why should they in 2005?

Then we could look at another scenario, less likely perhaps, but in some views not impossible. As results are announced, MDC seats tally more than last time, reaching 65, or even an outright majority. This would certainly expose ZANU PF’s legitimacy and Robert Mugabe’s right to rule as President; but the constitution gives him the Presidency until 2008, no matter what happens in Parliament. Unless MDC wins 75 seats, he will still have a majority in Parliament by virtue of his right to appoint 20 MPs outright, and the chiefs’ right to elect 10, generally government supporters. He can appoint a Cabinet from among the ZANU PF members of Parliament. But if MDC has 75 seats, the ability to pass legislation would be strangled; this might lead him to dissolve Parliament and try for another more congenial result. Gaining less than half of the elected seats in a clearly flawed poll would put ZANU PF’s mandate to govern in serious question, even for friendly neighbouring governments. ZANU PF would doubtless attempt to soldier on, perhaps literally, with support from the army, but would it finally turn Mbeki’s loyalty? Not likely, unless South African civil society continued to pressurise effectively, and desperate Zimbabweans poured in ever greater numbers across the borders.

We cannot today see through the dark glass; what Zimbabwe will look like even one month from now cannot be known by anyone. But several issues have become clear:

- The people of Zimbabwe are palpably angry and unwilling to tolerate ZANU PF’s continued rule.

- Their ability to translate their wishes into a valid election result are seriously hampered by the prejudicial electoral legislation and machinery, but they have found no alternative course.

- If ZANU PF seizes another victory against the will of Zimbabweans, disaster in many forms lies ahead, including total economic collapse and possibly even civil conflict or war, with dire consequences for the region.

- SADC governments’ unwillingness to insist on the electoral standards they themselves agreed in Mauritius appears to signal that they are not prepared to implement them for their own countries either.

- Democrats in the whole region should now be awake to the reality that whether Independence or the end of apartheid was won through armed struggle or otherwise, governments cannot be trusted with the task of defending democracy, in their own countries or anywhere else.

- Whatever occurs in Zimbabwe in the next few weeks, there is a long road ahead for the building of democracy in Southern Africa, from the bottom up, with much struggle to claim rights against the autocratic tendencies of all the governments and ruling parties of the region.

“March 31st, Freedom Day” shout the enthusiasts of the MDC. Even in the unlikely event that they celebrate on April 1, the lesson for the whole region should be clear: freedom and democracy remain the first item on the agenda for the next generation. The struggle continues.

* Mary Ndlovu is a Zimbabwean human rights activist.

* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org

* Previous editorials from Mary Ndlovu in Pambazuka News:
- Zimbabwe in March 2004: Four years from the beginning of the plunge
http://www.pambazuka.org/index.php?id=20577
- Zimbabwe’s March: Pambazuka News 105, 2003
http://www.pambazuka.org/index.php?issue=
105
- March, Zimbabwe’s month of destiny: Pambazuka News 55, 2002
http://www.pambazuka.org/index.php?issue=
55

>>>>>Unfree and Unfair? Decide for yourself
Background reading and websites on the Zimbabwean elections

- The Zimbabwean Online
www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
- Amnesty International report on the run-up to elections
http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/engafr460032005
- Human Rights Watch report on the run-up to elections
http://hrw.org/backgrounder/africa/zimbabwe0305/
- Essential news and events on the elections from Kubatana
www.kubatana.net
- No solution to the Zimbabwe crisis by Brian Raftopoulos
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/news/2005/March/Friday18/1892.html
- Pre-election analysis from the South African Institute of
International Affairs (SAIIA)
http://www.sarpn.org.za/documents/d0001143/index.php
- Labour and union issues in the Zimbabwean agriculture sector
http://www.sarpn.org.za/documents/d0001159/index.php
- Zvakwana - Enough is Enough: A must visit website for activists
http://www.zvakwana.org/
- Report by social movement observer delegation to Zimbabwe
http://www.nu.ac.za/ccs/default.asp?2,40,5,608
- Report on torture and violence in Zimababwe
http://www.redress.org/publications/ZimbabweReportMar2005.PDF
- Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe
www.mmpz.org.zw

Polarities and contradictions about conflict, security and identity in Zimbabwe

Steve Kibble

2005-03-24

Zimbabwe, according to Chris Alden, faces multiple crises - legitimacy as the postcolonial consensus crumbles, expectations stemming from the failure of the economy and polity, and confidence in the impartiality of the institutions of the state. All of these aspects can be seen as a crisis of security. The state is increasingly repressive as it is centralised but undermined to defend the elite and its clients/ supporters simultaneously. Many see this as illogical, but it marks the ultimate if narrow realpolitik form of security where the state re-defines itself as the only element of society that needs security. It parallels the transition of the state from settler forms to the immediate (and popular) post colonial nationalist path to the incorporation of neo-patrimonial elements as an emerging economic and power bloc uses naked power as its only form of survival.

Traditionally the idea of ‘security’ has been associated with the national state, agreements between different militaries and different politicians - and it has been a male arena. What are the implications for security and identity when weak nation states are increasingly unable to make policy as power shifts to global social formations and policy is formulated through global networks and markets led by transnational corporations, multilateral financial and trading institutions, and (to some extent the ‘Aid’ and NGO community) rather than territorially-based states?

Whilst there have been sometimes successful resistance and democratisation struggles within southern Africa, this has been halting and liable to reversal. Often it has been formalistic with little empowerment of the population. Recent resistance has arisen to stabilisation programmes in which Southern regimes under pressure from Northern financial institutions and growing balance of payments constraints introduced policies abandoning service provider functions that led to breakdown of social services. Priorities moved from fulfilling popular demands to the removal of market barriers. The upshot of states losing their distributive capacity means state-society relations become highly confrontational. ‘Good governance’ breaks down under the effects of neo-liberalism leading to the disappearance of consensus, political centralisation, peripheralisation of certain groups and generalised repression.

One form of resistance is regionalisation. It is however, contradictory, as both part of and a reaction to globalisation. As the Cold War world system of two antagonistic blocs ended, security has certainly become regionalised. Economically this is reflected by TNCs dominating regional economies as the new basis of international relations.

The President of the Crisis in Zimbabwe Committee (linking 480 NGOs), Brian Raftopoulos, sees the fight for democracy as part of the struggle for an alternative political dispensation in Africa between two uninviting positions. ‘On the one hand there is a global superpower, espousing liberal democratic values, but policing an economic agenda producing widespread global impoverishment; on the other hand this system of global inequalities is breeding an authoritarian nationalism in countries like Zimbabwe, that demands uncritical solidarity, and in which there is no place for national state accountability. Solidarity seems to mean little more than a defensive reaction to broader geo-political concerns. While it may provide some short- term solace to regimes facing a national crisis of legitimacy, it is a grossly inadequate basis for imagining alternative futures. The real need to build up co-ordinated African positions on global inequalities has also to be based on the democratic accountability of African nation states themselves’.

There are other relevant polarities. There is a gap in perception between how Northerners/Westerners perceive their own models and practice of development, human rights etc and how others in the world perceive it - one might call this a subset of perceptions of globalisation. Western oil and strategic interests find greater stability in backing corrupt and oligarchic regimes, than in pursuing human rights. This gap is probably most advanced in the Muslim/ Arab world and has ready-made foci in the Israeli-Palestinian dispute - and now the Iraq post-conflict impacts on Iran, Syria and Lebanon. But it provides anywhere a breeding ground for the authoritarian nationalism alluded to by Raftopoulos.

Other polarities include: a polarity of 'recent history versus recent amnesia'. For many Zimbabweans alive today, the colonial and settler periods are very much part of their life experience and the forcible conquest of their lands is only three generations back - very recent in most understandings of history. By contrast, most British and other European peoples have only a sketchy idea of what went on under colonial rule and its implications today in terms of 'failed' or collapsing states, skewed and inappropriate economies and state structures, manipulation of ethnic identities and authoritarian nationalism.

Within the structures of colonialism there is/was a specific intensity amongst regions/ areas/ countries that involuntarily received large numbers of settlers, especially when combined with systems of land expropriation, racial domination and imposed division - apartheid being the supreme example. But as happened in South Africa and Zimbabwe there were also the creation of diversified economies geared to settler needs, but capable of being operated by newly- decolonising (black) elites. Such elites inherited powerful centralised state apparatuses, although little political or economic power. The parallels between the way Smith and Mugabe have used this kind of state – similar to the apartheid ‘national security state’ - are oft remarked on.

The ‘national security’ strategy of the ZANU-PF elite has led to economic collapse, severe repression, flight and severe economic consequences for the region, but as yet there has been no concerted regional reaction to this in terms of security. This in turn relates to national elites being unable to formulate a path directed to human security, and largely because of their lack of engagement with and mistrust of new social forces (which of course are not themselves necessarily united or coherent).

The other states in the region, particularly South Africa, hesitate between a closed form of regional security and of opening up to world economic forces for increased and supposedly more effective linkages with the global economy. South Africa pushes a process where integrated manufacturing becomes the basis for a regional industrial strategy - an integral part of supply chains for globally competitive manufacturing processes. South Africa knows that for this to occur outside investment is crucial and highly dependent on improvements in governance which the NEPAD programme (an uneasy mix of pan-African idealism and neo-liberalism) seeks to bring about. However this whole process is marked by contradiction which does nothing to lessen conflict and insecurity in Zimbabwe and the region.

South Africa insists on 'quiet diplomacy' for regional solidarity reasons, not wishing to jump at the behest of former colonial masters. It also points to misconceptions about the extent of its power as the 'regional hegemon' saying it cannot unilaterally reorder the region. Rather it vaunts a united regional approach based on avoiding confrontation and promoting multilateralism.

Historically, divisions inside SADC had to be overcome as well as in Pretoria’s internal foreign policy discussions. Additionally, in Pretoria’s view while South Africa has necessary leverage over Zimbabwe in areas of finance, energy and oil to effect change, the economies are too closely linked to impose sanctions. It at least initially believed that its model of negotiated settlement and compromise was transferable to Zimbabwe. It also knows that it is vulnerable on the land question. Both the ANC and ZANU-PF see themselves as the legitimate inheritors of the anti-colonial struggle with any other parties being seen as tainted by association with the previous regime(s). For this reason it and other southern Africa states have been only too ready to accept ZANU-PF’s policies in some way as a Pan Africanist and anti-imperialist position in the face of global inequalities and British neo-colonialism.

Strangely, and contrary to the support given to the ANC in exile, Pretoria foreign policy has never provided support for human rights groups and other opposition forces within societies whose governments are undemocratic and/or human rights violators. This suggests reliance on notions of the legitimacy of heads of state and of sovereignty, both of which are formalistic concepts even if they are key AU positions. Taken with the support for ‘a just world order’ which means equity amongst nations there is no concern for more far-reaching restructuring of power to embrace human security concerns.

Mugabe’s charge is that the UK is attempting to recolonise Zimbabwe acts to disguise structural rather than conspiratorial processes in the world economy. It does this on behalf of a new power bloc inside Zimbabwe clinging on to power in the face of global inequalities, popular pressure from new and old social movements, but using a Cold War rhetoric that has similar although different resonances with both African and Third World elites and with landless and frustrated African and other third world populations. The contradiction of the policy of this power bloc is that it is unable to create resistance to globalisation precisely because it does not engage with its own population. Some in the Zimbabwe nationalist spectrum might well disagree given that some allege that the ‘war veterans’ are a popular social movement.

How do we shift the monopoly on security from the military, and build a framework of human security addressing the concerns of those without power, the oppressed, and those adversely affected by the current disorder, poverty, environmental degradation and human rights abuse?

How does an alternative perspective able to suggest regional, national and local policies - based on globalisation from below in order to transform the South and overcome the global organisation of inequality - get constructed? Increasingly, world and regional social fora have attempted to come up with answers involving global civil society and non-governmental organisations (not to confuse the two) stressing international humanitarian values and citizenship to counter nationhood, ‘civilisation blocs’ or geo-economic units.

Such values would include peace, promotion of human rights, and concepts of the common good as the building blocks for security, reciprocity and multilateral power centres. It would also demand that domestic security concerns need to pay greater attention to violence against women and children ignored by state agencies. It may not seem obvious when there seem more immediate concerns, but the fight against repression in Zimbabwe illustrates much of this, and involves what values postcolonial states and regions should have, their road to development, democracy and overcoming of colonial and apartheid structures, all of which pose human security dilemmas.

* Steve Kibble is Africa/ Yemen Advocacy Coordinator at the Catholic Institute of International Relations (CIIR)

* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org

Will Zimbabweans vote?

Janah Ncube

2005-03-24

There is much anxiety that is gripping Zimbabweans concerning the upcoming general elections at the end of March this year. In 2000 and 2002 the country’s voting population was clearly divided into those who vote for the MDC and ZANU PF. Any attempts by the smaller political parties or independent candidates to have an impact on the political process was immaterial. Those who cast their votes for the MDC did so because of the hope and change they anticipated for the greater Zimbabwe democracy project but indeed more importantly how this change would translate to their being more secure, better fed, housed, clothed and being employed.

Many of those who cast their votes for ZANU PF were intimidated into doing so and of course as I have said before, there are still those who have clung to it for the ideals that ZANU PF used to stand for and represent. Yet others have remained committed to it because of the benefits to their pockets and stomachs it has brought them.

Because the political climate in Zimbabwe today is much different from both 2000 and 2002, it is highly likely that the voting patterns and trends of the electorate will change and give a completely different picture to what we saw happen in the last general election. My greatest concern is that this election will see a very low and poor voter turnout. This would be ominous for MDC and is probably what ZANU PF hopes for. If the 2003 urban local government elections are anything to go by, then my suspicions will materialise to actuality. The highest average voter turnout in those elections was 37% in Redcliff and the lowest average was 12% in Chitungwiza and Bulawayo, the rest were between 25 and 34%. Considering that previous trends show the MDC’s strongholds to be urban locations, this does not look good for them. However, if the figures for ZANU PF’s primaries are to be used as a gauge, they too should be just as worried as they will rely on their staunch membership for votes as compared to the ordinary voter who is not involved in party politics, this time, both in the rural and urban areas.

There are many reasons that can be given for a likely poor turnout. The extent of the desecration of Zimbabwe’s socio economic state has sucked joy from most of Zimbabwe’s hardworking people and instead impregnated them with despair, hopelessness and disillusionment in the political process as a means to solve the country and everyday individual problems. People are suffering. Most can not afford to feed themselves and their families, they can not afford to pay their bills such as rent, water and electricity, they can not afford to send their children to clinics or hospitals neither can they find or afford doctors and medicines. Reserve Bank Governor Gono can brag all he wants about how much better our economy is doing, it means nothing to those who know that each day is more expensive for them to meet their basic needs. The quality of life for the greater majority of Zimbabweans has been amazingly eroded as basic necessities such as transport to work, lunch at work and recreational activities have become luxuries that are out of reach.

Other factors include the violence and intimidation people have been living with for the past 5 years. The senselessness with which ZANU PF unleashed its terror armies and used state organs such as the police and army to sustain its assault on civic society, the MDC, activists and the general public has indeed left a dent on many who suffered for sins they did not even commit. Others will be too afraid to vote and yet others will not care to vote as that particular action will not emit a different experience for them; you will get harassed whether you vote or not, so why bother.

Because of the closure of the Daily News, which had enabled news that was not ZANU PF and voices that were not ZANU PF to be regularly heard, the MDC lost a spot were it could continually visibilise itself, defend itself and send out its own messages. This did generate a perception to the general public that they are not active, are not doing anything or saying anything. People would complain that the MDC had gone silent and they would not realise that the MDC had been denied a platform by the ZANU PF to go about its business of engaging the public. Even though it’s a matter not of its own doing, it will dent the MDC. If people keep on hearing the same message over and over again they will eventually believe what they hear or will use what they hear as a basis to measure truth, especially in the absence of a different message. The consistent propaganda people have been listening to over the past three years without a counter voice has formulated in people’s minds as a basis of some-version-of-truth.

While I have always paid tribute to the MDC for being a David that challenges a Goliath (much stronger, bigger, older, more resourced and fierce looking) it is truth that it has made many blunders with its internal politics, which were heralded, to the public by their enemy’s mouth pieces. What people heard about the MDC, they heard from ZANU PF mouthpieces and so their image to the average Zimbabwean who is not in its structures is a bit disfigured by ZANU PF’s sinister exaggerations. ZANU PF on the other hand is also seriously fractured right now due to its own internal conflicts centred around the much loathed professor Jonathan Moyo and his Tsholotsho bandwagon, to add to this, they are still recovering from cheating, beating and stealing from each other at the primary elections.

Yes, ZANU PF was in power and could still pass the legislation it wanted since they had the majority in Parliament and as government were in the driving seat. It may look like there isn’t much that was benefited from having an opposition like the MDC in Parliament as unconstitutional and regressive laws that assault our rights kept on coming out of Parliament. What needs to be observed as well is that for the first time in a long time ZANU PF was continuously being challenged every time Parliament was in session. This time it was not a lone Margaret Dongo but there were over 20 MPs relentlessly debating, questioning, challenging, calling to account and speaking down at ZANU PF. This in itself is a score particularly in such restrictive and limited space. For every unconstitutional bill ZANU PF voted for, they had to work for it, some MPs actually had to be mobilised to attend Parliament so they could succeed in their endeavours. With as much contempt the ruling party has shown to the ordinary person of Zimbabwe in the past 5 years, I shudder to think what this period would have been like without the fierce opposition and pressure they got from MDC. If anything at all, more alternative voices must be increased.

This election, like in 2000, will be fought on the strength of the political parties and not on the individuals running the race. However, minimal performance and delivery by some individuals in the last parliament particularly in constituencies with strong independent candidates is a possibility. I will use my own constituency Harare Central to illustrate my point. In this case, the incumbent MP Hon. Zwizwai must not assume he will be voted back in as voters may be persuaded that having a strong independent candidate like Margaret Dongo may actually be more beneficial for them compared to having an MP whom they know little about, have seen little performance if any; have never read about him in the paper (or the Hansard for that matter) to have said anything in parliament, have never seen their constituency profiled through him at any platform. In the case of Hon. Zwizwai, it’s exacerbated by the fact that he took over from a more visible and vocal MP, Hon. Mike Auret. Hon. Zwizwai won the election with around 3,000 votes in August 2003 about the same figure (less) as votes ZANU PF received in 2000 (3, 600 votes). In 2000 Mike Auret got over 14, 000 votes. Margaret Dongo may actually make it back to Parliament in her own steam and not that of a party.

My point is, this election is not that easily predictable. Any party, any candidate, may get the biggest surprise of their life and thus must do what they need to, to show people they are the best candidate. Due to the context of the country as I have highlighted, I believe those who will vote already know how they will vote. However, I believe a lot of those we witnessed vote in 2000 and 2002 may need to be persuaded to exercise their responsibility to vote.

ZANU PF must refrain from using violence before or after the polls and must stop using delay tactics as it did in 2002 during the presidential elections and Harare local government elections. This disenfranchised Zimbabweans their right to vote. I witnessed in horror women and men being tear gassed and chased like dogs from the voting queues by riot police in Glen Norah. Such obscenities must not be repeated and must not insult the lives of the comrades who died in the liberation struggle so that all Zimbabweans could exercise the right to vote.

* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org

'Self-determination is not a tactical tool to be used when it is convenient'

Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem

2005-03-24

The former Pop Star, of Boomtown Rats fame, Bob Geldof, (also known as Sir Bob or Saint Bob) is not a very popular man in some very powerful quarters in Uganda these days.

Nothing new in that because even in the Irish republic where he was born and in Britain where he made his Pop name and was later Knighted by the British Queen - not for his Pop Music, but for inspiring the Band Aid appeal that caught global attention in 1984 in response to the Ethiopian famine - he is not universally popular.

He has earned a well- deserved reputation for being a loud-mouth (and here I should declare a potential personal conflict of interest because my mouth does not often have a stopper), rubbing people the wrong way and ruffling all available feathers in his crusade against hunger, debt and poverty in Africa.

I have had occasion to observe that he sometimes appears to be crying more than the bereaved. It is easy to be taken over by the cause and sometimes that may lead to the precipitate road of the end justifying the means. If there is a Guinness Book of Records entry for using expletives without caring whether it is president or prisoner, diplomat or peasants, that are listening, Bob Geldof should be a runaway winner. It is part of his stock in trade. Sometimes the theatrics stand in the way of the message he has which makes many to accuse him of either insatiable individualism or petulant exhibitionism. I have had one or two run-ins with him where it was bull for bull . But his publicity tactics have worked well for him because whatever he says often gets global attention.

And so it was typical of him at the launching of the Blair Commission for Africa report two weeks ago to send a verbal missile in an aside about President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni and his worst kept secret attempt to tinker with the constitution of Uganda and lift the restriction on two terms for the presidency so that he could stand again. Ekisanja (as the self succession bid is known in Luganda) has now reached global media. Thanks to Geldof asking Museveni to move off the state lodge!

Not unexpectedly the Ekisanja supporters have been up in arms decrying his impertinence: how dare he interfere in our sovereign affairs? What does this foreigner, a musician for that matter (some say with angry disbelief, as if musicians should have no political views), know about Uganda to be asking Mzee to step aside?

The uproar culminated in an obviously orchestrated demonstration by supporters of the President last Monday condemning Geldof’s brash pronouncement. While they were at it they also had non-diplomatic words for the British government for meddling in Uganda’s affairs. The UK High Commissioner to Uganda has been grumbling rather too loudly of recent and also a recent statement by a British Foreign Office Junior Minster voiced concerns about Uganda’s transition to a genuine multi party democracy.

According to newspaper reports there were many placards and slogans on display. They were broadly nationalistic, anti imperialist, very Pan Africanist, anti neo-colonialism, etc. But one in particular caught my attention: It said ‘yes to aid but no to foreign intervention!’

While Bob Geldof may not be surprised (and would have been disappointed if people were indifferent to his remarks) at attacks on him, I am not sure how he would react to a planned demonstration today by anti-Museveni, anti-third term and opposition supporters or activists in his support. They must be hoping they can enlist his support as a veteran global publicist for their local cause. In addition to Bob’s crusade to feed starving Africans the Ugandan opposition is adding delivery of democracy too! The bad news is that only recently Geldof in yet another choreographed outburst openly said he was tired of being regarded as ‘Mr Bloody Africa’.

The banner that said ‘yes to aid but no to intervention’ exposes the self-inflicted humiliating contradiction confronting many African leaders. They expect foreigners to build their roads, feed their people, construct their stadiums and hospitals but at the same time they want to assert their independence. Uganda under Museveni is typical of this disease. The country is talked up as a success story, though it is fast losing its shine to new ‘miracles’ like Mozambique. Yet its budget and development plans are more than 50% dependent on foreigners. How sustainable is this in the long run? No doubt the country has seen some economic growth under Museveni’s laissez fair economics but real development is still very much elusive. But it is a country that has now become an Aid junkie.

It will be ridiculous for those who are paying the piper not to want to dictate the tune. After all those who attended the Ekisanja demonstration must report back to those who provided them with the logistics, facilitation and the sodas that followed their successful mission to Parliament Avenue. As it is with individuals so it is with states and between states where the stakes are much higher.

But African governments would like to eat their cake and keep same. They want to serve imperialism and serve their people even when the logic of the relationship is one of cat and mouse. They steal their peoples’ money and head for European and American banks with them and yet they want to be independent of Washington, London or Paris! Many of them have signed away the national economy, without referendum or even perfunctory consultation, yet when it comes to some very narrowly defined convenient political issues like our obligation to continue to choose them (or vote without choosing as some have described it) they suddenly declare the people are sovereign. What kind of sovereignty and selective empowerment is this that does not allow you to decide the way your national resources are managed or mismanaged? If the people are too backward to decide how their economy is managed why do you need their voice in determining how they should be governed and by whom?

They go to the IMF/World Bank without consultation. They fight wars without consultation but when they have problems with their donor-masters then they remember sovereignty, self-determination and Pan Africanism. Otherwise they are proud to be seen with their powerful friends from Europe and America. It is like wannabe Africans –Americans who only remember they are Black when they are in big trouble. Remember OJ Simpson? Now look at the pathetic Michael Jackson and his trial for paedophilia. Suddenly Rev Jesse Jackson is his spiritual counsellor.

This Ekisanja militia of Uganda of today or their cousins across the continent in similar battles to sustain ruling regimes are mere pawns in a cynical manipulation of the population to perpetuate personal or class rule. Where were those now carrying the banner of non-interference when Uganda and Rwanda tragically fought against each other, three times, in the DRC and both Presidents and their executive entourage traveled to Auntie Clare in London to settle their differences!

They did not listen to their own peoples, even their own cabinets, let alone neighbours or other Africans, but as soon as London called they were off like good boys. Why? Because Clare Short was in charge of DFID and was dishing out millions of British taxpayer money to Uganda and Rwanda. They even claimed that Clare was a mutual friend of theirs. But the same was said of Lynda Chalker before Clare and I am sure now both governments have ingratiated themselves to the DFID boss, Hilary Benn! But the dependence on outsiders (and external leverage in our affairs) is not just on the part of governments but is fast corroding our civil society at all levels especially in these days of donor-driven professional NGOs, MONGOs (my own NGO), NGI (Non Governmental Individuals), etc.

Yet we proclaim independence and demand sovereignty. Like Wole Soyinka challenged Late Sedar Senghor of Senegal, the apostle of Negritude: ‘A tiger needs not proclaim its Tigeritude’. You do not claim independence and self-determination but earn it by self-reliant actions and trusting your own people to decide the economic, social, cultural and political direction of their polity. It cannot be a tactical tool used when it is convenient.

* Dr Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem is General-Secretary of the Pan African Movement, Kampala (Uganda) and Co-Director of Justice Africa

* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org

Prophet Blair (1)

Asia Ahmad

2005-03-23

I want to commend Dr. Tajuudeen Abdul Raheem's succint expository on Blair's African Commission or whatever it is they call it. I agree with him and nobody could have said it better!

Prophet Blair (2)

Fatoumata Toure

2005-03-23

Thank you Ndugu Issa. Where in the Blair Commission report do they mention compensation to the Kenyan women raped and brutalised by their "Johnies" and Gurhkahs in the name of Cold War freedom, defense and security. Freedom? All these perorations as these ignored women strive for justice in the shadow of high tech military bases and six star tourist hotels? Africa and the Third World do not need their poisoned chalice of crocodile tears. We have two sayings: those who weep harder than the bereaved and the mouse that bites you then,oh so gently as the old Anglican hymn goes,' soothes your sorrows, heals your wounds and drives away your fears! Yeah man,drives you right into the gulag of dependency by compassion!

Tony Blair talked about the scar on the world's conscience. Wrong again! The wounds of exploitation are still fresh and festering. Instead of 'breaking the chains from our hearts and setting us free' as the 1970s song goes, they're polishing the chains and piling up tons of neo liberal market friendly reports even as school children sit under trees and die of malnutrition thanks to their SAPs. Mothers are dying thanks to their user fee rules. It gets even better, cynical as that may sound. In a recent BBC programme it emerged that one British town had more Malawian doctors than the whole of Malawi. The issue is not compassion, aid, assistance, developement. There have been too many experiments with African lives, too many sheltered dictators,too many donor driven budgets, too many small arms, too many fire brigades translating into too many mice biting. Africans are not victims We are survivors and we are not about to give up. The issue is not compassion: it is LIBERATION and as Mwalimu Nyerere himself said: It can be done.

I speak from the depths of the Temple of Isis, Nzinga,Yaa Asantewa, Me Katilili and Mbuya Nehanda who didnt write books but wrote history. I speak through the spirit in the vocal chords of Miriam Makeba and in the feet of Soundiata Keita, the son of Sogolon who defeated the usurper Soumaoro Kante. Their spirits hover aloft to inspire us not in compassion but in DIGNITY. Hear ye all ye bleeding heart do gooders: It MUST be done. We are our own liberators.

A luta continua!

Prophet Blair (3)

Noel Cunningham

2005-03-24

Dear Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem,

I have waited a week to send my comments to you. It has taken that long to calm down in order to respond reasonably? First of all there are two kinds of people in life, one who operates from the prospective of the glass is half full and the other like yourself where the glass is half empty. Your whole commentary has no positive aspect to it whatsoever.   Do you really believe that Africa and Africans in general have no responsibility for the lack of good governance, compassion for the poor or the lack of sanitation, health care and all the social issues that need to be addressed in order for the continent to live up to its true potential   I say thank GOD  for the NGOs that reach out with schools, health clinics etc. in order  to try and start a process of improving the lives of the citizens of Africa.

Your anger, sarcasm and overall negative response leaves me speechles. I say thank you Tony Blair and Bob Geldoff yes two WHITE people who have the ordacity to care about Africa which in my mind after reading your piece at least they are trying to do something unlike yourself just complaining. Would it not be better to change all this negative energy and reach out to the citizens of Africa to commit to each other and create over time a better life for all. Please check out this web sight and see what is possible  www.cindybeads.com  Scroll down to giving back Ethiopia 04, click on to the school, hospital and especially Etagens page. I am VERY proud of the work our community is doing in Yetebon. Maybe instead of just bitching why not put your own group together and build a school with sanitation and possibilities for the children,   after all education is the key to the future   lets hope the children we are educating will help to improve their continent not just complain about everything.

Zimbabwe and Genocide

Norman Reynolds

2005-03-23

The largest genocide for many years, some 700,000 people a year for the last three years, is being carried out by Robert Mugabe’s government against its citizens. It continues to remain unnamed and thus ignored by the international community.

The ravage of a 40% plus HIV/AIDS infection rate exploits the enormous difficulties most Zimbabweans already face in that ‘failed state’. At the 60th anniversary of Auschwitz, Kofi Annan, UN Secretary General, called for an end to genocide. “It is, above all, a day to remember not only the victims of past horrors, whom the world abandoned, but also the potential victims of present and future ones. A day to look them in the eye, and say: “you, at least, we must not fail”.

Not a word about Zimbabwe. Not by any authority. Not by South Africa, SADC, the African Union or the UN. Yet, Kofi Annan quoted the old chestnut, “ Truly it has been said: “all that is needed for evil to triumph is that good men do nothing”.

In Zimbabwe, HIV/AIDS has turned to a form of genocide as economic, political and electoral policies have devastated the economy and made it hard for people to care for their families and to find and to buy food. In 2002, it is estimated that some 700,000 Zimbabweans, all recently infected with HIV/AIDS, died rapidly as they could not look after themselves. Their normal life expectancy should have been for another ten to fifteen productive years. That is, 700,000 of the 1 million who died that year died of HIV/AIDS related illnesses in the early years of HIV infection.

The same pattern continues in Zimbabwe except that more Zimbabweans now live outside that county and so, together with the massive death rates internally, there are fewer to kill by official neglect of economy and of human rights. Nonetheless, it remains the largest genocide for decades worldwide.

Zimbabwe must implement the African Commission’s Recommendations

Open Letter

2005-03-24

We, the undersigned, wish to express to you our grave concern about the continuing abuse of human rights in Zimbabwe. We are asking all members of the African Union (AU) to call publicly on the Government of Zimbabwe to implement in full the recommendations made by the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights in the report of its 2002 Fact-Finding Mission to Zimbabwe.

The African Commission Fact-Finding Mission visited Zimbabwe in June 2002 and the AU adopted the Commission's findings and recommendations in January 2005. The Fact-Finding Mission took place in the context of Zimbabwe's obligations under the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, to which it is party. In its report, the African Commission concluded that "human rights violations occurred in Zimbabwe". The Commission made several substantive recommendations for action by the Government of Zimbabwe. The majority of the human rights concerns documented by the African Commission Fact-Finding Mission in 2002 remain serious problems today.
Open Letter
Zimbabwe must implement the African Commission’s Recommendations
18 March 2005
Dear Mr. President,
We, the undersigned, wish to express to you our grave concern about the continuing abuse of human rights in Zimbabwe. We are asking all members of the African Union (AU) to call publicly on the Government of Zimbabwe to implement in full the recommendations made by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights in the report of its 2002 Fact-Finding Mission to Zimbabwe.
The African Commission Fact-Finding Mission visited Zimbabwe in June 2002 and the AU adopted the Commission’s findings and recommendations in January 2005. The Fact-Finding Mission took place in the context of Zimbabwe’s obligations under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, to which it is party.
In its report, the African Commission concluded that “human rights violations occurred in Zimbabwe”. The Commission made several substantive recommendations for action by the Government of Zimbabwe. The majority of the human rights concerns documented by the African Commission Fact-Finding Mission in 2002 remain serious problems today.
The findings and recommendations of the African Commission
On freedom of expression…
The African Commission stated that laws such as the 2002 Public Order and Security Act (POSA) and the 2002 Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act would have “a ‘chilling effect’ on freedom of expression and introduce a cloud of fear in media circles”. The Commission recommended that:
“The POSA and Access to Information Act should be amended to meet international standards for freedom of expression”.
On the police service…
The African Commission found evidence that a “system of arbitrary arrests took place”. The Law and Order Unit of the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) was described as appearing “to operate under political instructions and without accountability to the ZRP command structures”.
The Commission stated that every effort must be made to “avoid any further politicisation of the police service” and recommended that the Law and Order Unit be disbanded.
On the youth militia…
In 2001 the Government of Zimbabwe established the National Youth Service (NYS). The African Commission noted reports that youths trained under the NYS have acted as militias for the ruling party and have been implicated in acts of political violence.
The Commission recommended “that these youth camps be closed down…”
On the rule of law…
The African Commission found that “the government had failed to chart a path that signalled a commitment to the rule of law…” and in its recommendations stated that:
”The independence of the judiciary should be assured in practice and judicial orders must be obeyed”.
On the work of NGOs…
The African Commission’s report stated:
“Legislation that inhibits public participation by NGOs in public education [and] human rights counselling must be reviewed. The Private Voluntary Organisations Act should be repealed.”
Since the African Commission visited Zimbabwe in 2002 little has changed…
The Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act remains in place. In 2003 this legislation was used to close down Zimbabwe’s only independent daily newspaper, the Daily News, and the weekly Daily News on Sunday. It has also been used to shut down the Daily Tribune in 2004 and the Weekly Times of Bulawayo in February 2005.
The Public Order and Security Act (POSA) continues to be used selectively to prevent the political opposition and civil society groups from meeting or engaging in peaceful protest. In 2005 POSA has been used to detain dozens of women for handing out flowers to mark Valentine’s Day and to arrest opposition candidates and supporters in the context of the General Election campaign.
There are persistent claims that the police are partisan and apply the law selectively although the Commissioner of Police has recently reiterated that there will be zero tolerance of violence, particularly in the run-up to the General Election in March 2005. Youth training centres [camps] remain operational and graduates of the NYS are given preference for recruitment in the police. This could have negative long-term implications for the integrity and professionalism of the police force in Zimbabwe.
The government has continued its repression of NGOs, particularly those working on governance and human rights issues. The Private Voluntary Organisations (PVO) Act is set to be replaced by the Non-governmental Organisations Act – a piece of legislation widely condemned as even more repressive than the PVO Act.
The judiciary remains under sustained pressure and the operational environment for judges raises doubts about judicial independence in some matters. Court orders have been ignored and there continue to be considerable delays in the consideration and completion of cases perceived to be of a sensitive nature or where some constitutional rights are at issue.
The African Commission is charged with ensuring the promotion and protection of human rights guaranteed under the African Charter. It is vital to the credibility of the African Commission that its recommendations carry the full support and weight of the AU and its member states. We have noted the Government of Zimbabwe’s response to the African Commission report and regret the lack of positive engagement by the Government of Zimbabwe with its recommendations. We urge you to take action – consistent with the mandate of the AU – to support Zimbabwe in implementing the African Commission’s recommendations.

Yours sincerely,
In South Africa:
Amnesty International South Africa (AISA)
Anti-Corruption Trust of Southern Africa (ACT-Southern Africa)
Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR)
CIVICUS - World Alliance for Citizen Participation
Crisis Coalition Zimbabwe- South Africa
Heal Zimbabwe Trust (HZT)
Human Rights Institute of South Africa (HURISA)
Institute of Democracy in South Africa (IDASA)
Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR)
Peace and Democracy Project (PDP)
Solidarity Peace Trust (SPT)
South African National NGO Coalition (SANGOCO)
Southern African Women’s Institute of Migration Affairs (SAWIMA)
The Zimbabwe Torture Victims Project
Tree of Life (TOL)
Zimbabwe Advocacy Campaign (ZAC)
Zimbabwe Exiles Forum (ZEF)
Zimbabwe Political Victims Association (ZIPOWA)
In Zimbabwe:
Amani Trust
Amnesty International (Zimbabwe)
Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace
Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition
Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe
Legal Resources Foundation
Media Monitoring Project of Zimbabwe
National Constitutional Assembly of Zimbabwe
Nonviolent Action and Strategies for Social Change
Southern Africa Human Rights Trust
Transparency International (Zimbabwe)
Zimbabwe Association for Crime Prevention and the Rehabilitation of the Offender
Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights
National Association of Non-Governmental Organisations (Zimbabwe)
Zimbabwe Civic Education Trust
Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions
Zimbabwe Human Rights Association
Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights
Zimbabwe Peace Project

More...

8th Time of the Writer, International Festival of Writers

2005-03-24

The 8th Time of the Writer, International Festival of Writers, brings together over 25 writers from South Africa, Africa and the rest of the world to engage in a six-day programme. Activities include nightly readings at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre and a stimulating range of day activities, including an educators' forum, schools visits, prison writing project, a workshop on women's writing, and a publishing forum, all designed to nurture a culture of reading, writing and creative expression. One of the focal themes at this year's festival is negotiating identities, and examining the complexities that arise from issues of race, nationality and language.
The 8th Time of the Writer, International Festival of Writers, brings together over 25 writers from South Africa, Africa and the rest of the world to engage in a six-day programme. Activities include nightly readings at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre and a stimulating range of day activities, including an educators' forum, schools visits, prison writing project, a workshop on women's writing, and a publishing forum, all designed to nurture a culture of reading, writing and creative expression.

One of the focal themes at this year's festival is negotiating identities, and examining the complexities that arise from issues of race, nationality and language. This includes discussion on the status of writing in indigenous African languages in South Africa .The festival also reflects on writing from war-ravaged zones, places where writers give voice to people who have been rendered voiceless. Time of the Writer 2005 features a varied mix of established writers alongside bright new talent on the literary scene, setting the platform for an extraordinary programme of exchange, dialogue and debate.

PARTICIPATING WRITERS:
Bessora (Gabon/Switzerland) Tanella Boni (Ivory Coast) André Brink (South
Africa) Nawal El Saadawi (Egypt) Abdulrazak Gurnah (Zanzibar) Rayda Jacobs
(South Africa) Kossi Komla-Ebri (Togo/Italy) Martin Koboekae (South Africa)
James Mafela (South Africa) Ncamisile Makhambeni (South Africa) Sisana
Mdluli (South Africa) Hari Kunzru (United Kingdom) Niq Mhlongo (South Africa)
Manuel Rui Monteiro (Angola) Charles Mungoshi (Zimbabwe) David Mutasa (South
Africa)Gladman Ngubo (South Africa) DBZ Ntuli (South Africa) Henrietta
Rose-Innes (South Africa) Ncedile Saule (South Africa) Siba Shakib (Iran)
Sami Tchak (Togo) Chris van Wyk (South Africa) MG Vassanji
(Kenya/Tanzania/Canada) Nogwaja Shadrack Zulu (South Africa)

Photos and bios are available on the Centre for Creative Arts website:
www.cca.ukzn.ac.za

MONDAY APRIL 04
Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre: Evening Programme
19h30 -Musical Welcome: Zulu Dance - Umlazi Cultural Group
- Introduction: Peter Rorvik, Centre for Creative Arts (CCA)
- Guest Speaker: Fred Khumalo, Editor, Sunday Times Insight
- Introduction of Festival Participants: Lorelle Royeppen-Viegi , (CCA)
- Performance: Siwela Sonke Dance Theatre in collaboration with Zim
Ngqawana: The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born

TUESDAY APRIL 05
AM: Writers visit schools

AM: Prisons Programme: Hari Kunzru, Ncamisile Makhambeni, DBZ Ntuli

14h00-15h30 Women in Writing Workshop: Bessora, Tanella Boni, Rayda Jacobs,
Nawal El Saadawi, Henrietta Rose-Innes, Siba Shakib - Phillip Russel Room,
Diakonia Centre, 20 St Andrews Street " (031) 310 3501

18h45-19h15 Book Launch introduced by André Brink: Freedom Spring:Ten Years
On: Contemporary Writing from South Africa and Scotland ,Glasgow City
Council & Scottish Arts Council, 2005 - WellingtonTavern Deck, Elizabeth
Sneddon Theatre.

Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre: Evening Programme
19h30 Maskanda Music - Shiyani Ngcobo
New Directions in South African Writing
Niq Mhlongo (South Africa), Martin Koboekae (South Africa), Henrietta
Rose-Innes (South Africa)
Presenter: Vuyo Mbuli
Interval
70th Birthday Tribute to André Brink
André Brink (South Africa)
Presenter: Andries Visagie

WEDNESDAY APRIL 06
AM Writers visit schools

- 10h00-11h30 African Writers' Seminar: Bessora, Abdulrazak Gurnah, Kossi
Komla-Ebri Centre for African Literary Studies - PMB Campus " (033) 260 6249

- 11h15-13h00 Writers in Media: Hari Kunzru, Manuel Rui Monteiro, Siba
Shakib -Arthur Smith Hall, City Campus, Durban Institute of Technology,Smith
Street Entrance " (031) 203 6614

- 12h30-13h30 Writers and Activism Workshop: Nawal El Saadawi, facilitated
by the Centre for Civil Society - Senate Chamber, Westville Campus " (031)
260 2506

18h30 -19h15 Book Launch: Jailbirds and Other Stories, Muthal Naidoo,
Botsotso Press, 2005, includes dramatised readings - Wellington Tavern Deck,
Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre

Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre: Evening Programme
19h30 Electronic Acoustic Music - Jurgen Br?uninger and Sazi Dlamini
New World Voices
Bessora (Gabon/Switzerland), Hari Kunzru (United Kingdom)
Presenter: Lindi Stiebel
Interval
Writing, Resistance and Reconstruction
Manuel Rui Monteiro (Angola), Tanella Boni (Ivory Coast), Siba Shakib (Iran)
Presenter: Ashwin Desai

THURSDAY APRIL 07
AM Writers visit schools

Publishing Forum: Kwa Muhle Museum, 130 Ordnance Road (031) 311 2223
-09h00-09h30 A View from Abroad, Ajmal Kamal, City Press, Karachi -
Pakistan
- 09h30-11h00 Indigenous African Language Writers Speak, James Mafela,
Ncamisile Makhambeni,Sisana Mdluli, David Mutasa, Gladman Ngubo, DBZ Ntuli,
Ncedile Saule,Nakanjani Sibiya, Nogwaja Shadrack Zulu
- 11h00-12h00 Preparing Your Manuscript for Publishing, Maggie Davey, Jacana
Press
- 12h30-13h00 South African Perspectives on Publishing, Glenn Cowley, UKZN
Press
- 13h00-13h30 Innovations and Current Publishing Trends, Nelleke de Jager,
Kwela Press
-13h30-14h15 New Publishing Initiatives, Muff Anderson and Maggie Davey,
Jacana Press
-14h15-14h45 Tenth Year Democracy Publications, Nonceba Levin, Skotaville
Media

-13h00-15h00 Educators Forum: Bessora, Ncamisile Makhambeni, Charles
Mungoshi, DBZ Ntuli, HenriettaRose-Innes, Nakanjani Sibiya, Chris van Wyk,
MG Vassanji - Clairwood Secondary School, hosted by the Teacher Centres in
the eThekwini Region " (031) 401 9266

Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre: Evening Programme
19h30 Kathak and Drum Duet - Siwela Sonke Dance Theatre
Constructing Identities
MG Vassanji (Kenya/Tanzania/Canada), Kossi Komla-Ebri (Togo/Italy)
Presenter: Lorelle Royeppen-Viegi
Interval
Women, Creativity and Dissidence
Nawal el Saadawi (Egypt)
Presenter: Mandisa Mbali

FRIDAY APRIL 08
Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre: Evening Programme
19h30 Mpantsula Dancers - Bright Sparks
- Presentation of Schools Awards
- Presentation of Gcina Mhlophe Short Story Award
- Presentation of Ronnie Govender Literary Award
- Presentation of first copies of The Silent Minaret to European Union
Literary Award winner, Ishtiyaq Shukri
Interval
In Our Own Voices: Writing in Indigenous African Languages of South Africa
James Mafela, Ncamisile Makhambeni, Sisana Mdluli, David Mutasa, Gladman
Ngubo, DBZ Ntuli, Ncedile Saule and Nogwaja Shadrack Zulu (all from South
Africa)
Presenter: Pitika Ntuli

SATURDAY APRIL 09
12h00-14h00 Creative Writers Workshop: Rayda Jacobs, Martin Koboekae, Niq
Mhlongo, TanellaBoni - Mission Control, Bat Centre " (031) 332 0451

Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre: Evening Programme
19h30 Isicathimiya - Durban Black Drifters
Southern African Stories
Charles Mungoshi (Zimbabwe), Chris van Wyk (South Africa)
Presenter: Sisonke Msimang
Interval
Writing, Place and Identity
Abdulrazak Gurnah (Zanzibar), Sami Tchak (Togo), Rayda Jacobs (South Africa)
Presenter: Alan Swerdlow

The festival funders and partners are: The National Lottery Distribution
Fund, Prince Claus Fund for Culture and Development, Hivos, French Institute
of South Africa, National Arts Council of South Africa, Pro Helvetia Arts
Council of Switzerland , Consulate of Italy , City of Durban , Royal
Netherlands Embassy, Adams Campus Books, Sparkport Pharmacy, Ferrero,
Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre and the University of KwaZulu-Natal .

Ticket prices for evening presentations are R20 for adults and R10 for students/pensioners. No charge for workshops, seminars and book launches.
Book at Computicket - Tel: (011) 340 8000 or 083 915 8000 or www.computicket.com or at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre from 18h30.

For further info contact the Centre for Creative Arts (UKZN)
Tel: +27 31 260 2506 or +27 31 260 3118; Fax +27 31 260 3074
E-mail: cca@ukzn.ac.za * Website: www.cca.ukzn.ac.za


Gail Snyman
Centre for Creative Arts
Memorial Tower Building
University of KwaZulu-Natal
Durban
4041
South Africa
Tel: +27+31+260 2506
Fax: +27+31+260 3074
Email: cca@ukzn.ac.za
Website: www.cca.ukzn.ac.za

More...

African Voices on Development and Social Justice: Editorials from Pambazuka News 2004

Firoze Manji & Patrick Burnett (eds)

2005-03-24

http://www.fahamu.org/

African Voices on Development and Social Justice: Editorials from Pambazuka News 2004
Firoze Manji & Patrick Burnett (eds)
http://www.fahamu.org/
"This is a wide ranging informative compilation of essays which offer the very best advocacy for Africa - by Africans."– Glenys Kinnock MEP

Pambazuka News, the electronic newsletter on social justice in Africa, has published an anthology of editorials that provide a perspective on development and social justice in Africa that rarely finds expression elsewhere. The collection constitutes a valuable record of the views of both African civil society activists and academics on key developments and events in the region during 2004, touching on issues of conflict, development, debt cancellation, women’s rights and the role of the international financial institutions in Africa.

SPECIAL PROMOTION FOR PAMBAZUKA NEWS SUBSCRIBERS

Readers in Africa can obtain a copy of the book from Mkuki na Nyota Publishers (see below) for US$ 15. Subscribers elsewhere can buy the book for UK Pounds 10 (normal price 17.95 pounds) for a limited period – until 30 April – provided you can prove that you are a subscriber to Pambazuka News. You must quote the words “Pambazuka News Subscriber Offer” and include your email address (so we can check whether you are a subscriber) and send your order to orders@africanbookscollective.com

ISBN 9987417353 304pp. 2005 Mkuki na Nyota Publishers, Tanzania
(Editorials from Pambazuka News series, 1)

Directory of Peace Studies in Africa 2004

2005-03-24

http://www.africa.upeace.org/documents/dpsa2004.pdf

UPEACE Africa Programme and the African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD) are pleased to announce the release of a new publication entitled "Directory of Peace Studies in Africa 2004". The directory is a result of a continental-wide survey conducted over the past two years targeting established institutions in Africa. Included is feedback from participating institutions on existing programmes in the field of peace studies in terms of teaching, research and community service.

The Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival

An Evening of African Writing and Music

2005-03-24

Brian Chikwava and Parselelo Kantai will be in attendance. Brian Chikwava is a Zimbabwean writer and winner of the 2004 Caine Prize for African Writing. Parselelo Kantai, from Kenya, also a Caine Prize winner, has published in the Kenyan literary magazine Kwani? Together with Elleke Boehmer, they explore the shifting rhythms and definitions of Africa, writing and nationhood, in their work.

The Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival

Brian Chikwava and Parselelo Kantai
An Evening of African Writing and Music

Thursday, 14 April 2005
7.30 - 10 pm
Holywell Music Room, Oxford

Brian Chikwava is a Zimbabwean writer and winner of the 2004 Caine Prize for
African Writing. His short story '7th Street Alchemy' appears in the
collection Writing Still: New Stories from Zimbabwe published by Weaver
Press, an independent Zimbabwean company publishing scholarly books and
creative wrtiting from and about southern Africa. The book is distributed
outside Africa by African Books Collective, Oxford, UK.

Parselelo Kantai, from Kenya, also a Caine Prize winner, has published in
the Kenyan literary magazine Kwani? Together with Elleke Boehmer, they
explore the shifting rhythms and definitions of Africa, writing and
nationhood, in their work.

Followed by an interval, and then:

Music by X-Shamiso
X-Shamiso is more of an open-ended collaboration with other artistes than a
standing band, although it has Brian Chikwava and Pascal Makonese at its
centre. It emerged when Brian began to explore performance with other young
visual artists, musicians and contemporary dancers. Brian and Pascal perform
their music with Sam Mangwana, the Zimbabwean percussionist. Enjoy an hour
of uniquely exciting music, drawn from X-Shamiso's recent recording,
Jacaranda Sketches, an album that blends social commentary with guitar, as
well as southern African music movements of the '50s and '60s. This promises
to be an evening of unique music.

Tickets are priced £10.00

Booking information
For general information about how to book, please see
http://www.sundaytimes-oxfordliteraryfestival.co.uk/howtobook.htm

Prior to the Festival, up to 6.30 pm on Friday, 8 April. Tickets can be
booked in person at the Box Office at Oxford Playhouse, Beaumont Street,
Oxford OX1 2LW by telephone 01865 305305 (Monday-Saturday, 9.30 am-6.30 pm,
from 10 am on Wednesday) by fax 01865 305335 online
www.ticketsoxford.com/stolf <http://www.ticketsoxford.com/stolf> (24hr
booking)
From 12 pm on Saturday, 9 April and throughout the Festival in person at
Festival Box Office, Oxford Union, St Michael's Street, Oxford by telephone:
07786 083797, 07810 294614, 07810 293986 Saturday, 9 April 12 pm-6 pm,
Sunday, 10 April-Friday, 15 April 10 am-8 pm, Saturday, 16-Sunday, 17 April
9 am-8 pm
Immediately prior to events. Any remaining tickets will only be on sale at
the Festival Box Office at the Oxford Union-or on the door, if at a
different venue.
Disabled access: please check with the Box Office for each event.

Concessions and discounts. Students, senior citizens, children (18 and
under), companions to the disabled, unwaged: £1.50 off tickets.

For further information, please contact:
Oxford Literary Festival:
Angela Prysor-Jones (Angela@sundaytimes-oxfordliteraryfestival.co.uk; tel:
01865 514149)

African Books Collective:
Stephanie Kitchen (stephanie.kitchen@africanbookscollective.com; tel: 01865
726686)


THE OXFORD LITERARY FESTIVAL IS A NON-PROFIT MAKING COMPANY LIMITED BY
GUARANTEE.
http://www.sundaytimes-oxfordliteraryfestival.co.uk

African Books Collective
Unit 13, Kings Meadow
Ferry Hinksey Road
Oxford
OX2 ODP, UK
Tel: +44 1865 726686
Fax: +44 1865 793298
www.africanbookscollective.com

More...

The Commission for Africa report and the African Union

Rina Alluri

2005-03-24

Tony Blair's Report for the Commission for Africa has been released in order: "to define the challenges facing Africa, and to provide clear recommendations on how to support the changes needed to reduce poverty.” The Commission states from the offset that they see 2005 as the year for Africa. The Report outlines very specific recommendations related to topics such as causes, trade, economic growth, culture, education, governance, capacity building, healthcare, violent conflict, water, HIV/AIDS, women, donors and implementation. However, this summary highlights specific references and recommendations that the Report has made to the African Union.

Conflict Prevention

With unresolved conflicts in places such as the Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Ethiopia, the goal towards the prevention and resolution of conflict appears to be a reasonable area of concern for the Commission for Africa. Specifically the Report urges donors to "fund at least 50 per cent of the AU's Peace Fund from 2005 onwards". By using initiatives and bodies such as the pan-African Parliament, AU's New Partnership for Africa's Development (AU/NEPAD) and the African Peer Review Mechanism, the Report believes in an encouraging future. The Commission highlights the importance of the political involvement and financial contributions of developed countries, established organisations and individual donors to help establish an African Union which is an important, effective, international peacekeeping group. Further, "the African Union (AU ) has moved towards putting the concept of 'non-indifference', which recognises the responsibility of member states to promote human security, into practice" by responding to instability. In order to achieve this goal, the AU would need to create an agenda for action which would raise the standards of infrastructure, financial and human resources needs.

The prevention and resolution of violent conflict through "'Early warning systems', risk assessments and fact-finding missions" could improve the distribution of information, reduce the risk of conflict and provide adequate response activities. Further, the development of ‘open-source’ early warning systems, African think-tanks and universities on peace and security are ways of using education and capacity-building methods to mobilizing responses.

Education

Education is another way that awareness is built and skills are encouraged. Through the AU/NEPAD 'e-learning' pilot scheme, more appropriate curricula in educational programs would be supported and ensured. "The regional networks should also support African governments in developing systems for the accreditation and quality assurance of education, vocational and teacher training".

Health and HIV/AIDS

Concerning healthcare in Africa, the Commission emphasised the need for African governments to invest in their public healthcare systems as a first step. As a second step, donors would be required to "provide US$7 billion over five years […] behind the Health Strategy and Initial Programme of Action, of the African Union’s NEPAD programme". The Initial Programme of Action is an attempt to tackle years of oversight, disregard and deficient resources that have infringed on healthcare. AU/NEPAD and the World Bank would be responsible for creating networks, encouraging aid and resource-building to develop global partnerships and guidelines.

Emerging from African leadership, the Initial Programme of Action is a short-term, catalytic plan to build and renovate the foundations for health systems in a coherent manner. It is setting out to tackle the years of neglect and conflicting approaches.

Further, the AU 's Presidential Initiative, AIDS Watch Africa, and the AU /NEPAD Fight against AIDS Strategy have received a significant amount of support and the Commission predicts that they will most likely be merged into a single AU strategy which focuses on AIDS. However, budgetary support from donors for these initiatives is crucial.

Social exclusion and vulnerable groups

In order to build countries and organisations that are based on a rights and inclusion framework, donors need to support the AU's NEPAD Programme and countries to develop social protection strategies by 2007. This would require the development of analysis and good practice on issues related to orphans, vulnerable children and groups who are excluded from acquiring rights. The Commission recommends that "Donors and African Governments should provide financial and other support to the Gender and Development Directorate of the AU, to AU /NEPAD and to the African Gender and Development Centre of the Economic Commission for Africa."

Growth and poverty reduction

Priorites and the sharing of best practices between both businesses and governments needs to be encouraged. This needs to be supported at the "the regional, national, urban and rural priorities identified by AU /NEPAD, the Regional Economic Communities (RECs), national governments, local authorities and municipalities, the private sector and poor people - and should avoid funding prestige projects that have so often turned into white elephants in the past." “We, the Heads of State and Government of the African Union... [are] concerned that at the current growth rates, Africa is at risk of not attaining the MDGs... [We are] convinced that high and sustained economic growth is a necessary but not sufficient condition to reduce poverty”.

Agriculture and rural development

Agricultural projects need to support the AU /NEPAD's Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Framework, focusing on "irrigation and post-harvest infrastructure; research, innovation and extension; security of tenure and land rights; and a well planned strategy of urbanisation that recognises the role of small towns in encouraging growth and trade through the development of local and regional markets."

Rights of Women

The empowerment of women in relation to access to land, education and economic and social assets needs to be addressed. “Recommended actions include improving women's access to training in basic business skills and market opportunities; and implementing legislation that guarantees land, property and inheritance rights for women […] These are essential not only for gender equality and poverty reduction, but also for the development of a diverse and vibrant private sector.”

Poverty Reduction

In order to rid developing countries of past debts while preventing future ones, more attention and involvement is required of the AU in aid distribution and country selections. Further, it is important to assess the need of countries more closely in order to ensure that they are receiving the best type of aid for their problems.

African leadership and world partnership

The African Union and NEPAD have been created to focus on the idea that “Africa's development must be shaped by Africans.” This involves cooperation and sustainable development on the part of all African countries. The Commission said it had seen progress in many countries and viewed the Peer Review Mechanism as having the ability to provide legitimacy and oversight within the AU. The AU and African regional organisations must continue to work towards reducing and controlling conflict and good governance with peace and security. However, "the grip of weak governance, corruption and conflict in many parts of Africa is still strong. It can and must be loosened and overcome."

* Rina Alluri works for Fahamu

* Pleased send comments to editor@pambazuka.org

Africa/Global: Declaration adopted by CSW at its 49th session

2005-03-22

http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/Review/documents/Declaration%20issued%2 0by%20the%20CSW%20as%20revised.pdf

The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) at its 49th session (New York, 28 February ­ 11 March 2005) adopted a Declaration reaffirming the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and emphasizing that the full and effective implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform is essential to achieving the internationally agreed development goals including those contained in the Millennium Declaration. The full text of the Declaration is available through the link provided.

Africa/Global: Economic Justice and Women’s Human Rights

2005-03-22

http://www.madre.org/articles/int/b10/econjustice.html

"At the 1995 World Conference on Women in Beijing, governments committed to remedy some of the ways in which macro-economic policies impact women negatively and disproportionately. But 10 years later, violations of women’s economic rights have only worsened: policymakers have expanded deregulation of manufacturing and investment, boosting profits at the expense of poor women and their families; the 1993 North American Free Trade Agreement is a calamity for working people and the environment has become the model for trade agreements worldwide; and privatization has shifted more of the burden for meeting people’s basic needs from governments to women in the household. Nevertheless, women’s economic justice advocates continue to formulate and demand alternative policies that are key to guaranteeing women’s economic rights as outlined in the Beijing Platform for Action." Read the rest of this position paper at MADRE, Demanding Human Rights for Women and Families around the World.

Africa: Urge African Governments to Ratify Women’s Rights Protocol

2005-03-22

http://hrw.org/women/africaprotocol/

African women made history in 2003 through the adoption of a protocol that specifically protects women’s human rights and breaks new ground in international law. But before the protocol has the force of law, fifteen governments must ratify it. As of early March 2005, ten countries had ratified the Protocol (Comoros, Djibouti, Libya, Lesotho, Mali, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, and Senegal). By writing to African governments to urge ratification, you can help promote desperately needed women’s rights in Africa. Read this Human Rights Watch feature on the Protocol by visiting their website.

DRC: Sex assault continues

2005-03-13

http://www.womensenews.org/article.cfm?aid=2218

A woman is gang-raped by six soldiers, in front of her husband and children, while their companion assaults her 3-year-old daughter. A 13-year-old girl dies, vomiting blood, two days after being brutally raped by a group of militants. A United Nation's peacekeeper trades a desperate woman two eggs for sex. The stories are horrifying and endless and come from a new report by Human Rights Watch, evidence of the ongoing tragedy in a forgotten corner of Africa.

West Africa: Three protocol ratifications in West Africa

2005-03-22

The Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa adopted in July 2003 in Maputo will enter into force thirty days (30) after the deposit of the 15th instrument of ratification. To March 8th, only ten (10) countries have ratified and 37 have signed it. Five precious ratifications are still missing before countries that accessed to it are obliged to implement the principles of the Protocol into their laws. In West Africa, three (3) States members of the African Union have ratified and 14 out of the 16 countries of the sub region have signed.
WOMEN IN LAW AND DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA (WiLDAF)


FEMMES, DROIT ET DÉVELOPPEMENT EN AFRIQUE (FeDDAF)


SUB-REGIONAL OFFICE / BUREAU SOUS-RÉGIONAL – WEST AFRICA Lomé, Togo


B.P. 7755 – Téléphone (228) 222 26 79 - Fax (228) 222 73 90


Email : info@wildaf-ao.org ;  Site : www.wildaf-ao.org
 







WiLDAF/FeDDAF


WASRO/BSRAO
 


--- Press Release --- Press Release --- Press Release ---


 


Three countries have ratified the Protocol and 14 have already signed it
in West Africa!


Lomé, Togo, 21 March 2004. The Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa adopted in July 2003 in Maputo will enter into force thirty days (30) after the deposit of the 15th instrument of ratification. To March 8th, only ten (10) countries have ratified and 37 have signed it. Five precious ratifications are still missing before countries that accessed to it are obliged to implement the principles of the Protocol into their laws.


In West Africa, three (3) States members of the African Union have ratified and 14 out of the 16 countries of the sub region have signed.


Processes for the ratification is increasingly advanced in some countries. Some States ended their administrative and legislative steps but the instrument of ratification have being deposited yet officially at the African Union so it becomes effective. Benin, The Gambia and Guinea in West Africa are in this situation.


Thus, the Parliament of Gambia ratified the Protocol March 11th. Unfortunately, it made reservations on articles 5, 6, 7 and 14 which are on the elimination of harmful practices (5), marriage (6), separation, divorce and annulment of marriage (7) and health and reproductive rights (14).


In Guinea Bissau, pressures are done so the Protocol is approved and ratified at the next session of the Parliament between March 28th and April 28th. Côte d’Ivoire follows about the same path. The presentation on the Protocol was adopted normally by the Minister Council beginning of March. It will then be transmitted to the National Assembly for the April session. On February 24th, the Ministers Council of Cape-Verde adopted a communication on the Protocol. It should then be sent to the National Assembly.


Women’s groups in Niger are putting pressure so it ratifies. But we can read in a letter sent to the Prime Minister by its Justice Minister on January 26th that it won’t be easy because ‘the family law have raised a lot of debates notably by Islamic associations. The Protocol seems to include dispositions which don’t reflect our daily reality particularly about the status of person. It must be analyzed in every detail with all stakeholders.’


 


Our follow up committee continue the work. We will keep you informed of new development. Don’t hesitate to let us know about your action.


 


Yours sincerely,


 Women in Law and Development in Africa/ Femmes, Droit et Développement en Afrique (WiLDAF/FeDDAF) West Africa sub-regional office


info@wildaf-ao.org / wildaf@cafe.tg


 
To keep up to date on signatures and ratification, go to www.africa-union.org and check Treaties, conventions and Protocols etc. under Official Documents section.

More...

Africa/Global: A human rights perspective on agriculture trade and the WTO

2005-03-23

http://www.3dthree.org/en/page.php?IDpage=38

This publication is the first in a series designed to analyse the World Trade organization (WTO) Agreement on Agriculture from a human rights perspective. As a backgrounder it focuses on the main characteristics of agricultural trade, and the relevant global rules. It points out what the main human rights concerns are, and suggests some possible actions human rights advocates can undertake.

Africa/Global: Annan introduces 'in larger freedom' report

2005-03-21

http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2005/ga10334.doc.htm

Introducing his report -- "In larger freedom:  towards development, security and human rights for all" -- to the General Assembly, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged Member States to adopt this year a package of specific, concrete proposals to tackle global problems and enable the Organization to better respond to current challenges. He said the comprehensive strategy he was proposing "gives equal weight and attention to the three great purposes of this Organization:  development, security and human rights, all of which must be underpinned by the rule of law."  The report was called "In Larger Freedom" because he believed those words from the Charter conveyed the idea that development, security and human rights went hand in hand.  The cause of larger freedom could only be advanced if nations worked together; and the United Nations could only help if it was remoulded as an effective instrument of their common purpose. 

DRC: ICC Launches First Judicial Proceedings

2005-03-15

http://tinyurl.com/6ud3j

The International Criminal Court, established in 2002 as the world's first permanent war crimes court, held its first judicial proceedings on Tuesday, with a pre-trial hearing on abuses committed in Congo. The Hague-based court - backed by almost 100 countries but fiercely opposed by the Unites States - was set up as the first permanent global criminal court to try individuals for genocide, war crimes and massive human rights abuses.

Kenya: Crackdown on "terrorism" violating human rights

2005-03-24

http://news.amnesty.org/index/ENGAFR320032005

Kenyan authorities must take immediate action to halt numerous human rights violations committed against suspects detained during recent "anti-terrorism" operations, Amnesty International said this week. In a new report presented at a news conference in Nairobi, the organisation gave details of extensive violations including arbitrary arrest, incommunicado detention without charge, torture and harassment of family members. The human rights violations occurred during "anti-terrorism" operations conducted since the 2002 bombing of a hotel near Mombasa that killed 15 people.

Kenya: UN considers Kenya rights report

2005-03-23

Kenya's Attorney General Amos Wako led the official delegation that presented Kenya's second periodic report to the United Nations Human Rights Committee on the status of human rights in Kenya under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The first issue the Committee raised was grand endemic corruption. The Committee was concerned that corruption affects the whole of society and compromises the ability to enjoy all other rights. The Committee wanted to find out whether the government was worried about donors pulling out. The Committee further wanted to be enlightened on what the government was doing to fight corruption.
* Read East African Standard comment on the human rights situation in Kenya at http://www.eastandard.net/hm_news/news.php?articleid=15871
PRESS RELEASE

UN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE CONSIDERS KENYA'S REPORT AFTER 25 YEARS

United Nations Headquarters, New York and Nairobi, 21 March 2005


Kenya's Attorney General Amos Wako led the official delegation that
presented Kenya's second periodic report to the United Nations Human
Rights Committee on the status of human rights in Kenya under the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

The first issue the Committee raised was grand endemic corruption.
The Committee was concerned that corruption affects the whole of
society and compromises the ability to enjoy all other rights. The
Committee wanted to find out whether the government was worried about
donors pulling out. The Committee further wanted to be enlightened on
what the government was doing to fight corruption.

The attorney general's response to this was that corruption in Kenya
was more a question of perception. He explained that the government
had put in the necessary measures to fight corruption. The efforts to
fight corruption were noted by the committee in the chairperson's
summary of the dialogue.

The chairpersons summary also broached on the non-integration of the
Covenant in domestic legislation. The Committee was concerned that
the prov