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Featured this week:

2005-03-24

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/highlights/27432

* 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

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/27428

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.
.
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

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/27427

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

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/27426

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

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/panafrican/27425

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

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/27385

Prophet Blair (2)

Fatoumata Toure

2005-03-23

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/27387

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

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/27401

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

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/27386

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

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/27431

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

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/books/27396

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

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/books/27392

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

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/aumonitor/27429

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

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/wgender/27362

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

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/rights/27373

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 provisions of the ICCPR are not applied by Kenyan courts.

An issue of grave concern to the Committee was the status of women
and children. There is continued marginalisation of women backed by
the constitution itself which allows cultural practices that violate
the rights of women in matters of personal law. Harmful cultural
practices, sexual violence, domestic violence, reproductive rights,
representation of women, female genital mutilation and wife
inheritance issues were raised by the Committee which proceeded to
assert that religious and cultural considerations used as
explanations by the attorney general cannot be used in mitigation.
The provisions of the ICCPR state obligations and it is incumbent
upon Kenya to change cultural tendencies.

Issues raised relating to children include: child labour as evidenced
by the statistics and numbers presented by the attorney general;
child trafficking in light of transnational implications; early
forced marriages and criminal responsibility. According to the
Committee eight years as provided by the penal code is contrary to
the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The Committee was also keenly interested in justice system reforms.
The issues of independence of the judiciary and judicial reforms,
independence of the national commission on human rights, alternative
dispute resolution, formation of a truth justice and reconciliation
commission and provision of legal aid were raised. The permanent
secretary in the ministry of justice and constitutional affairs
explained to the Committee the establishment of the sector wide
approach to reforms under the Governance Justice and Legal Sector
Reform Programme.

The Committee also took issue with poor detention conditions and the
large number of deaths occurring in custody together with
extrajudicial killings and the lack of statistics as to how many
officers have been convicted for any such deaths. On the issue of P3
forms issuable only by the police the attorney general promised that
more will be done to ensure that the said forms are available on
demand.

Various issues were raised in relation to the death penalty, such as
the de facto moratorium which translates into inhuman, cruel and
degrading punishment of death row convicts. For offences to be
awarded the death penalty they must be serious enough and the
Committee does not think that both robbery with violence and
attempted robbery with violence meet this standard. Further
procedural safeguards given to those charged with murder should be
extended to all offences that award the death penalty.

Land reforms were addressed to the extent that land clashes keep on
occurring in Kenya. The Committee raised the issue of forced
evictions and whether established principles were adhered to.

It is noteworthy that the attorney general quoted extensively the
provisions of the draft constitution to show that indeed the
situation of human rights in Kenya will greatly improve once the
draft becomes law. He averred that the draft constitution has a
progressive bill of rights which is not a contentious issue. He
further stated that even if the draft constitution did not become law
the government would look into how to incorporate the bill of rights
in the current constitution. However, on the question of how soon
this would happen, he replied to the Committee that he would not
answer that question as debate on it would last ad infinitum and it
was best that the Committee lets the matter rest.

The coalition of NGOs remains to await the official concluding
observations and recommendations of the committee on Kenya's
situation.

Millie Odhiambo
CRADLE

Caroline Karimi Lintari
COVAW

Joyce Majiwa
FIDA KENYA

Priscilla Nyokabi
ICJ-KENYA

Tim Ekesa
KAACR

Patrick Mutzenberg
World Organisation Against Torture

Odindo Opiata
Center for Housing Rights

Ekitela Lokaale
Kenya Human Rights Commission

Philip Sironka
MPIDO

Organisation Mondiale Contre la Torture (OMCT)
World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)
Organización Mundial Contra la Tortura (OMCT)
8 rue du Vieux-Billard
Case postale 21
CH-1211 Geneve 8
Suisse/Switzerland
Tel. : 0041 22 809 49 39
Fax : 0041 22 809 49 29
E-mail : omct@omct.org
http://www.omct.org

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Namibia: Breaking the walls of silence

2005-03-24

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/rights/27430

The Breaking the Wall of Silence Movement (BWS) was established by former detainees, relatives and concerned Namibians in February 1996, after previous sporadic attempts made by groups and individuals failed to yield a consistent impact in addressing the plight of the ex-detainees after Namibia's independence in 1990. The BWS was formed to resume, pursue and drive to its final resolution, the unanswered gross human rights violations committed by the SWAPO Liberation Movement against its own innocent cadres in especially Lubango, Angola and Zambia, while in exile (1960 - 1989). Click on the link below to read about BWS and some of the statements they have made about events and issues in Namibia.
BWS
Breaking the Wall of Silence Movement
____________________________________________________________________________
BWS is a movement of concerned Namibians who endeavour by PEACEFUL means to find an lasting solution for the problem of human violations committed and to work towards a truly democratic culture"
____________________________________________________________________________


Background

The BWS was established by former detainees, relatives and concerned Namibians in February 1996, after previous sporadic attempts made by groups and individuals failed to yield a consistent impact in addressing the plight of the ex-detainees after Namibia's independence in 1990.
The BWS was formed to resume, pursue and drive to its final resolution, the unanswered gross human rights violations committed by the SWAPO Liberation Movement against its own innocent cadres in especially Lubango, Angola and Zambia, while in exile (1960 - 1989).
Tramped-up charges of spying were levelled against targeted cadres and selected members of the leadership corps. These loyal cadres and party officials were mainly targeted for arrest, torture, killing and detention on grounds and criteria that range from tribal, ethnic, strata, class and origin.
An estimated 2000 innocent cadres , all members of SWAPO and most active soldiers of the People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN), are still listed as 'missing' without any account made of their whereabouts by the now ruling SWAPO Party.
The impact of the atrocities is so high that it has caused endless suspicion, disunity, distrust, and hatred along the lines of ethnicity, tribes, and social class and/or strata. This state of affairs has also brought social division and segregation. It manifests itself in areas of freedom, democracy and of wealth distribution in an independent Namibia.
The concern of the BWS is in that the continued tension in the country is likely to lead to ethnic strife and civil disturbances with fatal consequences in the not too distant future.

Objectives
The BWS has, as its main aim, to unite the people of Namibia through genuine national reconciliation. In its task towards the set objective of national reconciliation, the BWS has attained remarkable success in its work since 1996.
Some major engagements in its growth:
• Exposure of the mystery surrounding the truth about the arrests, torture, killing & detention of innocent Namibians in exile by SWAPO. Thereby opening a lasting public debate. (1996 -1997)
• Established and operates an office in Windhoek with a full-time national co-ordinator and functions with an organised leadership and management structure.
• Convinced the Council of Churches in Namibia and many leaders in SWAPO and other civil and NGO sectors, to pay attention to the calls of the ex-detainees through BWS.
• Secured lasting partnership with donors and support groups at national, regional, continental and international levels.
• Gained credibility and respect in terms of principles from many corners of the country and abroad.
• Participates in various forums locally and abroad.
• Has started the production project of multimedia documentary testimonies and evidence of the plight of the ex-detainees.
Membership and support
BWS has broad membership, supporters and sympathisers. Its membership categories range from direct victims of the 'Lubango onslaught' i.e., 169 survivors of the dungeons, parents, children, relatives and friends of the ex-detainees and the missing people and concerned Namibians.

Support sources
BWS is supported financially and materially by mostly church communities in Germany, and very few friendly organisations and groups from across the globe. It therefore operates on a very small budget ever since its creation in 1996.

Modus Operandi
The highest organ of the BWS is the Annual General Meeting. BWS is managed by a Management Committee (MC) consisting of seven members. Unless urgent matters arise, the MC meets four times a year. All members of the MC, including its Chairperson are volunteers. The only full-time office bearer is the National Co-ordinator: Finance and Admin. who co-ordinates all day-to-day affairs of the BWS.

National Reconciliation and BWS
National reconciliation is an imminent forerunner of unity, peace, stability and democracy. BWS believes in the following pre-requisites for national reconciliation:
1. Truth and honesty about events/causes leading to the conflict
2. Admission and confession of wrong-doing on the part of the perpetrator and to show remorse.
3. Apology
4. Acceptance of apology on the part of the victim.

Exposure of the dark and hidden/concealed atrocities lead to the revelation of truth. This is usually accompanied by embarrassment and shame. In SWAPO's situation, the exposure of hidden atrocities led to shame and silence. Discreet admissions have surfaced, e.g. "it was an unfortunate thing" or "blame it on the war" or "some mistakes were made". BWS wants to see an open admission for the atrocities have affected the peace within the whole nation.
Admission and confession of wrong-doing is normally followed by an apology.
On behalf of the victims, the BWS has declared that "we have the hearts to accept apology."
It is only then that conflict resolution can begin to take root towards a national reconciliation programme.


Contacts:

BWS: Head Office: NANGOF HQ, Katutura, Windhoek
P.O. Box 40507
Ausspannplatz
Windhoek Namibia

MC members (2004 - 06):
The following MC members were elected on 1 November 2003, to serve for a period of three years.
• Reinhard K. Gertze: Chairperson
• Ms Maria Geingos: Member
• Dr Erastus Shamena: Member
• Ms Maria Lawrence de Conceiçao: Member
• Ms Pauline Buchani: Member
• Mr Jimmy Amupala: Member
• Mr Sheeli Shangula: Member
Pauline Dempers: National Co-ordinator (ex officio)

Tel: 264 61 256227
Fax: 264 61 256227
Email: bws@iway.na
For further information:
Contact person: Pauline Dempers


"Silence is haunting when you begin to hear it"

What it takes to reconcile

Biblical, political and possibly most humanly acceptable forms of reconciliation have been explored over the past couple of years after independence. The purpose of the continuous debate should be seen as a necessary step in moulding a spirit of understanding and of tolerance.

In my opinion, reconciliation is a natural process. It is interesting how forces of nature enter into harsh conflicts from time to time. Think of the storms, the cyclones. One would wonder why there should be so much 'anger'. Does reconciliation necessarily follow immediately after disaster?

In an attempt to answer the above question, one must come to terms with the fact that serious breakdown of harmony, disorientation, and devastation prevails after disaster.

In Namibia, no exception should be made as for a similar breakdown that still prevails. We are all trying to understand why and how we did the ugly things to one another. Some try instead, to become oblivious of what happened to them and what they did to others. Some try to make it up to others and /or themselves with material goods, money, business, etc.

Wounds don't just heal when they are invisible i.e., when not on flesh, but they live when inside our souls, spirit and emotions. Physical scars do not disappear either. They remain an eternal reminder of pain.

Our lives are a constant struggle for survival. In a struggle for survival forces work by conflict. So, conflicts seem natural for progress but they must be understood positively as in the famous theory of the "unity of opposites". Conflicts become a danger to all living when they become hostile.

Only nature is most of the time unable to timely prevent hostility and subsequent disaster. Although it sometimes warns of imminent danger, there is not much we can do. Nature has an invincible cycle which balances and reconciles its own existence. Disasters strike when imbalances become unbearable to common life.

Humans are, on the contrary, capable of detecting most of its own misfortunes. Humans can read the signs of danger to all living. This is the distinct nature of the human specie. Insincerity and pretence are aspects amongst other distinct qualities of the human that can be fatal to his own survival. Negligence and ignorance are other misfortunes that may live in the human.
The horrors of 2nd World War and the recent tragedies in Sudan, Rwanda & Burundi are legible signs that serve as early warnings.

Unresolved conflicts do not die, they only sleep and when they wake, they are fatally refreshed. With all these, reconciliation is a process that needs moulding, but not for too long. Reconciliation is a matter of finding a truce that allows continuous human existence by incessant conflicting, progressive harmony. Namibians must realise what ugly and painstaking things have happened amongst them. Reconciliation must be a domestic exercise. Our enemies have long left after fulfilling their tasks. We, by pretence, share the sunlight of Namibia. If only we could share the rest.

Reinhard Kala Gertze
Ex-SWAPO detainee
Chairperson: BWS

Political Rights, Reconciliation and Tolerance

A statement by the Breaking the Wall of Silence Movement (BWS)

This statement is written by R. Gertze, Chairperson: BWS

The broader spectrum of "Politics" must be seen in the light of diverse implications of that word. Political rights must therefore be seen as rights within a political set-up.
Politics makes reference to the art of government and art of exercising one's power over others and the organisation of society.

Political rights are rights that allow us to participate and influence all political processes, which range from socio-economic and cultural activities of a society. Political rights seemingly allow for the acquisition and maintenance of political power by one entity over another.
Once political rights are allowed in a country and provided that citizens exercise these rights, democracy can be said to have been established. Political rights are a prime requirement for democracy and are a forerunner to all other rights of the citizens of a country.

Political rights entail various concepts such as human rights, economic rights, democracy, good governance, socio-cultural rights, the right to election, the right to free association, etc.
It will therefore be interesting to see how much political rights we enjoy in Namibia in the context of the above assertion. In the end political rights allude to democracy.

In Namibia, the essence of political rights lie in and depend on a certain key factors.

• Freedom: This guarantees the practice of political rights. Freedom refers to a situation of non-dependence on the one hand and a situation of not being in captivity or being kept hostage.

• Democracy: This guarantees mutual respect and peaceful co-existence and co-operation amongst the different political formations and entities of society.

It is in the above two key factors that a recurrence of conflict, tolerance and conflict resolution takes place on the continuum.

One can therefore safely line up political rights with, conflict, tolerance and reconciliation.

Namibia and the type of freedom and democracy it practices is characterised by an absence of tolerance, a lack of independent thinking, and dominance and imposition of a one-party type of rule.
The overwhelming and dominating nature of the ruling SWAPO party, in terms of political power, has made it to effectively undermine and ignore the freedom and democratic aspirations of those Namibians who do not subscribe or affiliate to their philosophy. Intolerance towards differing opinions, with regard to many issues, has surfaced, in for example, the differentiation between loyal and disloyal 'comrades' within a broader comradeship. In the overall concept of political rights a great deal of rationing of such rights becomes apparent on a degrading scale from the most loyal to the least loyal.

Political power, as a matter of right, is a shallow issue in Namibian politics, which not every Namibian political entity is set to enjoy. Political power, which is heavily vested in SWAPO, is denied other minority political formations of which the ex-detainees are one such entity. That overwhelming political power becomes a sole political right for SWAPO. This leads to situations where the SWAPO government has decided to ignore, undermine and deny the ex-detainees an answer on why they became the innocent victims of the Lubango onslaught.

Asking such questions have now led to the marginalisation and isolation of the ex-detainees and all those who identify with them. It has also become clear that the so-called ‘disloyal comrades’ in SWAPO identify with the plight of the ex-detainee, because being disloyal means being a traitor. Such blind allegations against loyal Namibian patriots amounts to a smear campaign aimed at eliminating those who become critical of SWAPO’s policies and practices.

The above tendency tempers with the political rights of such people who in turn are denied equal opportunity and access to other rights that stem from these prime rights vested in politics.

The Lubango case is a test ground for the SWAPO government to show that it has the political will to restore political rights by engaging in process of national reconciliation. It is only through genuine national reconciliation that the continued burden of silencing, marginalizing, and ignoring the BWS call for dialogue, that SWAPO could look every other political opinion in the eyes and to freely say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to different political opinions by merit. The hurt of the ex-detainees cuts deep into the Namibian communities. The deeds of the SWAPO security clique in Lubango, Angola, were therefore not only aimed at the approximately 2000 victims of atrocities.

And by dealing with the ex-detainee question appropriately, SWAPO would deal with Namibians along denominations that stretch across the country. Reconciliation is a prerequisite to peace and stability in Namibia. It is only then that we can talk of freedom and democracy and that we can deal with each other with understanding and ultimately live together alongside one another with a maximum bracket of tolerance.

It is unthinkable to allow tension to flourish in silence, only for it to erupt with very violent consequences in a generation that would not have the slightest idea of what the causes of such eruptions would be.

The denial of political rights could thus have serious implications on democracy and the denial of wrong doing by suppressing the outcry of the victims by intolerance results in building a volcanic can of worms.

We call upon the willing and considerate leaders and the broader SWAPO membership to hear the call by the BWS, for we only have peace to win by starting a tolerant process of national reconciliation with a tolerant dialogue.

Politics and Human Rights in Namibia
08 FEBRUARY 04
CAPE TOWN
GOEDGEDACHT FARM
SACPN

Namibians feel at ease that the President declined for the fourth term. This is not officially announced to the nation but we pick up through interviews with international journalists. Another positive development is that at long last the Caprivi detainees trail resumed, though postponed to this year.

A worrisome development is underway in the country. Democracy as fragile as it is is under thread. Namibia and the type of freedom and democracy are characterized by an absence of tolerance, lack of independent thinking, and dominance and imposition of a one-party type of rule.

The overwhelming and dominating nature of the ruling SWAPO party, in terms of political power, has made it to effectively undermine and ignore the freedom and democratic aspirations of those Namibians who do not subscribe or affiliate to their philosophy. Intolerance towards differing opinions, with regard to many issues, has surfaced, in for example, the differentiation between loyal and disloyal 'comrades' within a broader comradeship. In the overall concept of political rights a great deal of rationing of such rights becomes apparent on a degrading scale from the most loyal to the least loyal.


It is unthinkable to allow tension to flourish in silence, only for it to erupt with very violent consequences in a generation that would not have the slightest idea of what the causes of such eruptions would be.

The denial of political rights could thus have serious implications on democracy and the denial of wrong doing by suppressing the outcry of the victims by intolerance, results in building a volcanic can of worms.

Civil Society in Namibia

The Namibia Non-Governmental Organization Forum (NANGOF) has gone through stages in its life history. The secretariat has shrink from more than ten staff to only one permanent staff with National Executive Committee. This is caused by the demand from the funding agents, which brought confusion in the role NANGOF as an umbrella body was suppose to play.

The crisis that brought the umbrella body in conflict with its member organizations has created an opportunity for NANGOF to define its role as an umbrella body. Some overlapping roles were identified during he process of transformation. The umbrella body with the secretariat and NEC now serve as the facilitator and coordinator to best assist the member organizations to implement their planned activities and activities determined by the trend and the need of the country and their area of operation.

Despite the deep dive and turbulences, NANGOF has its strides and milestones in the Namibian Society as well as outside the Namibian border (today’s event is a proof of it). NANGOF through its links and networks within the region, continent, in the world has open up opportunities for the member organizations, with the aim to build their capacity as well as to learn from other relevant organizations. NANGOF has developed Membership Policy and Code of Ethics for the members to operate in.

The member organizations are clustered according to their activities and are divided in Sectors i.e.
• HIV/AIDS Sectoral working committee coordinated by NANASO and NAPPA
• Training and Capacity Building, coordinated by !NARA
• Human Rights and Democracy Sector, coordinated by TRP
• Natural Resource & environment, coordinated by Desert Research Foundation
• Policy Advocacy & Legal Framework, coordinated by FFF
• Socio Economic Justice Coordinated by Namibia Farmers union
• Rural & Urban Development, coordinated by Namibia Rural Development Project
• Gender, coordinated by Sister Namibia

NANGOF has a worked in mechanism to monitor and to evaluate the sectoral activities, through quarterly meetings and reports from different sectors on joint activities, Directors Forum for reviewing and planning.

NANGOF is in the process of developing a partnership with the government offices for effective implementation of programmes designed for national development. Just recently the National Planning Commission came up with a GRN/CSO Policy claiming it to be for effective partnership. The Policy is in final draft stage.

NANGOF’s take on this policy is, that we would like to advance the current working relationship to a sound, realistic partnership, not for the sake of convenience or circumstantial and short lifted partnership. But a partnership that would benefit both partners without compromising their values or principles and roles, also without compromising the independence and ownership and the identity of the sector.

Challenges ahead are the persistent reluctance of the ruling party to address the SWAPO ex-detainee issue, The Caprivi ex-detainee issue, unemployment; poverty, land and demonstrated intolerance and suppressive government may lead to conflict in our country.

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Rwanda: The History of the Genocide in Gahini Sector

2005-03-23

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/rights/27372

With the resumption of the Gacaca trials on March 10 2005, African Rights has released the sixth report in the series on the history of the genocide in the 12 original pilot sectors. This series was formulated with the aim of providing a background against which the results of the trials can be measured and can exist as a shared point of reference for all residents. Already published during the earlier phases of gacaca are the reports on Gishamvu, Nyarugunga, Nkomero, Nyange and Kindama sectors.

This particular report looks at Gahini sector, which at the time of the genocide was in Rukara commune in Kibungo province. With the redrawing of the administrative boundaries, Gahini now lies in Rukara district in Umutara province. As with all other previous reports, this one is based on the collective testimonies of prisoners, survivors and local people who witnessed the unfolding of the genocide.

Among the key perpetrators implicated in this region is Jean-Baptiste Mpambara, at the time bourgmestre of Rukara. He is currently detained in Arusha. French and Kinyarwanda copies of this report will soon be available. Contact rights@rwanda1.com for more information or a copy of the report.

Somalia: Transitional government must address human rights issues in order to be viable

2005-03-23

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/rights/27375

As Somalia's Transitional Federal Government (TFG) embarks on a five-year plan to re-build the war-torn country after two years of peace talks and 14 years of state collapse, Amnesty International is making an urgent call for human rights to be made a priority. "Vital to the success of the transitional government and the establishment of the rule of law in Somalia will be to secure justice for victims of war crimes and crimes against humanity," said Kolawole Olaniyan, Director of the Africa Program of Amnesty International. "There must be an open and transparent process to start establishing the truth and responsibility for past crimes with a view to prosecutions once a competent and impartial justice system is in place."
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
PRESS RELEASE


AI Index: AFR 52/002/2005 (Public)
News Service No: 060
17 March 2005


Somalia: Transitional government must address human rights issues in order to be viable
As Somalia's Transitional Federal Government (TFG) embarks on a five-year plan to re-build the war-torn country after two years of peace talks and 14 years of state collapse, Amnesty International is making an urgent call for human rights to be made a priority.

"Vital to the success of the transitional government and the establishment of the rule of law in Somalia will be to secure justice for victims of war crimes and crimes against humanity," said Kolawole Olaniyan, Director of the Africa Program of Amnesty International. "There must be an open and transparent process to start establishing the truth and responsibility for past crimes with a view to prosecutions once a competent and impartial justice system is in place."

Fighting and political violence in Somalia continues and the stage for peace and reconciliation in the country is far from set. The country is beset by extreme poverty and years of civil wars have destroyed its infrastructure. A humanitarian emergency in several regions has been compounded by the tsunami which hit the north-east coast in December. The transitional government and parliament plan to relocate from Kenya to Somalia as soon as security permits. When it does, one of the most pressing issues will be how to address and punish the crimes and crimes against humanity committed by warlords who are now part of the government, without jeopardizing the government's viability.

Critical first steps will be disbanding warlords' militia with the support of an African Union peacekeeping force, and creating new security forces which will respect human rights. "An impartial screening mechanism must keep perpetrators of crimes against international law out of the new security forces," Amnesty International urged.

In its report, Somalia: Urgent need for effective human rights protection under the new transitional government, (AI Index: AFR 52/001/2005) Amnesty International calls on the TFG to take visible measures to protect and support human rights in the high-risk first year of the transition. These include rights to freedom of expression and opinion, fair trial, formation of political parties and non-governmental organisation (NGOs), humane treatment of prisoners; protection of human rights defenders; protection of humanitarian workers and NGOs; and protection of vulnerable groups, especially women, minorities, children and internally displaced persons. The TFG should support the creation of an independent National Human Rights Commission to monitor and promote human rights.v

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Tanzania: Activists tell Zanzibar police to respect human rights

2005-03-23

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=46273

Human rights activists have called on the Zanzibari police to adhere to professional ethics and respect human rights after the Tanzanian government deployed extra policemen to the semi-autonomous island on Monday. "We are asking the police to be careful in the execution of the operation," said Jilde Mambo, a legal adviser with the Zanzibar Legal Services Centre, a human rights NGO.

Africa/Global: Internal migration and development

2005-03-23

http://www.eldis.org/cf/rdr/rdr.cfm?doc=DOC17812

This International Organization for Migration (IOM) paper discusses the trends, causes and impacts associated with internal voluntary migration for paid work. It states that in general, internal population movements are growing, and the three most significant recent changes in the pattern of internal population movement are: the feminisation of migration; the emergence of more accumulative kinds of migration which can contribute to the reduction of poverty; and the increase in temporary migration, especially commuting.

Algeria: Slow IDP return to rural areas

2005-03-18

http://www.db.idpproject.org/Sites/IdpProjectDb/idpSurvey.nsf/wViewSingleEnv/AlgeriaProfile+Summary

After a decade of civil war between government forces and islamist extremist groups, violence in Algeria has decreased significantly over the past few years. Between 1992 and 2002, fighting and attacks targeting the civil population forced large numbers of Algerians to flee rural areas and find security in nearby urban centres. The actual number of people displaced during the civil war is difficult to assess given the information void that has pervaded the conflict in Algeria since its onset.

Global/Africa: Consistent and predictable responses to IDPs

2005-03-20

http://www.unhcr.ch/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home/opendoc.pdf?tbl=RESEARCH&id=423551522&page=research

UNHCR’s policy and operational guidelines on involvement with IDPs need greater clarity and consistency, according to a recent review by the refugee agency’s Evaluation and Policy Analysis Unit (EPAU). The review analyses certain variables that have influenced or determined UNHCR’s involvement with IDPs – focusing on eight countries over a period of 15 years – with a view to indicating how the agency could be more consistent and predictable in its decision making processes.

Global/Africa: Over 8,000 forced out of their homes by war and rights abuses every day

2005-03-18

http://www.idpproject.org/press/2005/Global_Overview_2004.pdf

Civil wars and human rights abuses forced three million people - over 8,000 per day - to flee their homes and seek refuge elsewhere within their countries in 2004, according to a report released by the Global IDP Project of the Norwegian Refugee Council. The total number of IDPs is estimated at 25 million in some 50 countries across all continents, making this one of the world's largest - and most neglected - vulnerable groups.

Zimbabwe: Expatriates an untapped development resource, IOM says

2005-03-23

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=46275

Zimbabwean expatriates living in the United Kingdom (UK) and South Africa are an untapped development resource, says a study by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM). The organisation conducted a survey of 1,000 Zimbabwean expatriates in South Africa and the UK last year and found that, apart from economic remittances to Zimbabwe, "nearly three-quarters (73 percent) of respondents wanted to participate in a skills transfer programme and ... 77 percent wanted to contribute to the development of Zimbabwe".

Burundi: Electoral commission preparing timetable, official says

2005-03-22

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=46248

Burundi's electoral body, the CENI, is preparing an electoral timetable now that President Domitien Ndayizeye has promulgated the country's new constitution and the National Assembly has approved the communal law and electoral code, which are required for the polls due on 22 April. "It [the timetable] needs careful study," Paul Ngarambe, chairman of the National Independent Electoral Commission, or CENI, said at a news conference on Friday in the capital, Bujumbura.

Comoros: Government tactics threaten political stability

2005-03-24

http://allafrica.com/stories/200503230707.html

Human rights activists on the Comoran island of Anjouan have accused the government of riding roughshod over basic civil liberties, which has contributed to growing hostility between the state and the local population. The latest incident occurred in early March, when ongoing public protests over a teachers' strike left two high school students dead, amid allegations of heavy-handed police conduct. In what it claimed were legitimate concerns over national security, authorities on the tiny island imposed an immediate curfew in the capital, Mutsamudu.

Ethiopia: EU to observe May general elections

2005-03-22

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=46234

The European Union (EU) has fielded one of its largest ever teams of election observers to Ethiopia for the 15 May general polls, the mission chief, Ana Gomes, said. Gomes told reporters on Monday in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, that the forthcoming national elections could play a critical role in fostering democracy in Ethiopia and greater stability in the Horn of Africa. The 159-strong observer mission, which would cost about €2.8 million (US $3.68 million), had some initial concerns over whether the elections would be free and fair, she added.

Somalia: Interim government to relocate to Baidoa and Jowhar

2005-03-22

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=46236

The interim Somali government, based in Nairobi, Kenya, is to relocate to the towns of Baidoa, 240 km southwest of the capital Mogadishu, and Jowhar, 90 km north of the capital, an official told IRIN on Tuesday. "The cabinet has decided that the government will temporarily relocate to Jowhar and Baidoa," Abdirahman Nur Dinari, a government spokesman, said. It would operate simultaneously from the two towns, he added.

Uganda: Cabinet to withdraw third term bid

2005-03-25

http://allafrica.com/stories/200503230871.html

The government has decided to withdraw the contentious Constitution (Amendment) Bill, which is now before Parliament, Cabinet sources have said. The Cabinet has settled for splitting the omnibus bill, which is already the subject of litigation, into two, the sources said. Amendments that require approval by only Parliament, including the controversial proposal to lift presidential term limits will be in one Bill, while others requiring ratification by district councils under article 260 of the Constitution, will be in another Bill. These include the proposal for a regional tier (federo) for districts that prefer the arrangement.

Namibia: New president aims to tackle corruption

2005-03-22

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=46250

Namibia's President Hifikepunye Pohamba identified corruption, and economic and rural development as priorities when announcing his cabinet and the creation of a new ministry of safety and security shortly after his inauguration on Monday. Promising to continue the legacy of founding president Sam Nujoma, 69-year-old Pohamba declared a "zero tolerance for waste and corruption" in the public sector.

Nigeria: Education minister questioned over allegations he bribed parliamentarians

2005-03-22

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=46230

Nigeria’s education minister has been detained for questioning on suspicion he bribed parliamentarians to approve his annual budget, a senior official at the country’s anti-graft agency told IRIN on Monday. Education Minister Fabian Osuji was arrested last Thursday and questioned for three days before his release on Saturday by investigators of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), said the official, who asked to remain anonymous.

South Africa: MPs convicted in travel scam

2005-03-18

http://admin.corisweb.org/index.php?fuseaction=news.view&id=116902&src=dcn

Five South African members of parliament were convicted of fraud on Friday but were spared prison terms in one of the country's highest profile graft cases. The MPs, all members of the ruling African National Congress, were ordered to pay fines of between 40,000 rand and 80,000 rand each and received suspended sentences for their part in a 17 million rand "travelgate" scam.

Zambia: Graft campaign seen backfiring on president

2005-03-21

http://admin.corisweb.org/index.php?fuseaction=news.view&id=116908&src=dcn

Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa faces rising discontent within his ruling Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) as senior party leaders accuse him of failing to rein in corruption, analysts said on Monday. Mwanawasa, who took office in 2001 vowing to get tough on graft, has seen a series of defections by top allies that analysts say could leave him in a much-weakened position ahead of a party congress in May.

Africa/Global: G20 Declaration makes demands on subsidies, market access

2005-03-21

http://www.choike.org/nuevo_eng/informes/2772.html

The Ministerial meeting of the Group of 20 developing countries operating in the WTO on agriculture issues concluded on 19 March with the adoption of a Declaration and a press briefing in which Ministers from participating countries took part. The Declaration of the G-20 Ministers called for the elimination of all export subsidies in agriculture within five years. It asked for substantial reductions in trade distorting domestic support by developed countries.

Africa: Debt Sustainability: Oasis or Mirage?

2005-03-23

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/development/27381

It was contended that the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPCs) Initiative, and later its enhanced version, would ensure a permanent exit solution to Africa’s debt problems. There now seems to be an emerging consensus, however, that many African countries continue to suffer from a debt overhang despite the HIPC Initiative and various actions in the context of the Paris Club, says this editorial from the Seatini Bulletin.
SOURCE: Seatini Bulletin

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Debt Sustainability: Oasis or Mirage?
UNCTAD Report on Economic Development in Africa

In the context of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the international community has set itself a target of reducing poverty by half by the year 2015. Many observers have now come to the conclusion that, on present trends, there is very little likelihood that this objective can be achieved at any time close to that date in the poorer countries, including in Africa.

UNCTAD has argued that the current levels of GDP growth would have to be raised to seven or eight per cent per annum and sustained if poverty reduction targets were to be met. This would imply doubling the current amount of aid to the continent and maintaining it at that level at least for a decade if the continent was to break the vicious circle of low growth and poverty. Such an action, within the context of an appropriate mix of domestic policies and supportive international measures, would generate sufficient investment and savings to reduce aid dependency in the longer term and place Africa on a sustainable growth path.

The continent’s debt problems and its resource requirements are inextricably linked to the capacity of African countries to generate capital accumulation and growth. It was contended that the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPCs) Initiative, and later its enhanced version, would ensure a permanent exit solution to Africa’s debt problems. There now seems to be an emerging consensus, however, that many African countries continue to suffer from a debt overhang despite the HIPC Initiative and various actions in the context of the Paris Club. The fact that even those countries that have reached (or are about to reach) the so-called completion point will soon find themselves in an unsustainable debt situation gives credence to the arguments advanced by critics with respect to the inappropriateness of the criteria applied in the debt sustainability analysis. And the fact that several more debt-distressed African countries are not eligible for HIPC debt relief reflects the lack of objectivity in the eligibility criteria.

Debt sustainability is basically a relative concept. The questions that beg for a response are: what level of debt is sustainable for countries in which the vast majority of the population lives on under $1 a day per person? Have debt sustainability criteria been based on internationally recognized benchmarks such as those of the MDGs, or on objectively and theoretically verifiable criteria? What is the relationship between Africa’s total external debt stocks and the actual amount of debt serviced? Is complete debt write-off a moral hazard or a “moral imperative”?

It was only in 1996 that the international financial community accepted the need for a comprehensive approach to the debt problems of the poorest low-income countries. The first major coordinated effort in this respect was the launch of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative by the Bretton Woods Institutions (BWIs), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. The Initiative was launched in response to concerns that many low-income countries would face unsustainable external public debt burdens even after receiving traditional debt relief. Against this background, the goal of the HIPC Initiative was to reduce the external public debt burden of all “eligible” heavily indebted poor countries (HIPCs) to sustainable levels in a reasonably short period of time. The Initiative was to make it possible for all HIPCs so designated to meet their “current and future external debt service obligations in full, without recourse to debt rescheduling or the accumulation of arrears, and without compromising growth”

An enhanced version of the HIPC Initiative was outlined in September 1999 after intensive pressures from non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and civil society at large, academics and debtor Governments highlighting the inadequacies of the Initiative. These include the limited country coverage of the original Initiative and the fact that it provided too little debt relief and delivery was too slow. The main aim of the enhanced HIPC Initiative is to strengthen the link between debt relief and policies tailored to a country’s circumstances to reduce poverty through the delivery of “deeper, broader and faster” debt relief. Thus, the major modifications contained in the enhanced framework are larger reductions to total debt stock, faster reductions in debt-service payments and a relaxation of the stringent qualification criteria contained in the original HIPC Initiative.

Despite these improvements to the original Initiative, the enhanced HIPC has had its share of criticisms: “… progress has been much slower than expected and the Initiative is suffering from problems of under funding, excessive conditionality, restrictions over eligibility, inadequate debt relief and cumbersome procedures” (United Nations, 2000, p. 2). The debt sustainability analysis (DSA) and the overly optimistic assumptions with respect to GDP and export growth rates have been particularly criticized.

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Africa: HIPC has 'failed'

Statement by representatives of civil society

2005-03-23

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/development/27380

"We, representatives of civil society from Cameroon, Ghana, Guyana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Uganda, Sierra Leone, Zambia and the regional network, the African Forum and Network on Debt and Development (AFRODAD), met in Lilongwe, Malawi from 8 to 10 December 2004 and in Maputo, Mozambique on 15 March 2005 to study in detail the country situations of Commonwealth HIPCs and prepare our participation in the 7th Commonwealth HIPC Ministerial Forum, 15 to16 March 2005."
Statement by representatives of civil society to the 7th Commonwealth HIPC Ministerial Forum.
Thursday 17 March 2005

Preamble


1.         We, representatives of civil society from Cameroon, Ghana, Guyana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Uganda, Sierra Leone, Zambia and the regional network, the African Forum and Network on Debt and Development (AFRODAD), met in Lilongwe, Malawi from 8 to 10 December 2004 and in Maputo, Mozambique on 15 March 2005 to study in detail the country situations of Commonwealth HIPCs and prepare our participation in the 7th Commonwealth HIPC Ministerial Forum, 15 to16 March 2005. We welcome the opportunity afforded us once again to engage with our Ministers and other cooperating partners at Commonwealth level.

 

Issues


2.         The HIPC initiative has failed to provide low-income countries a ‘permanent and robust exist’ from indebtedness and no participating country has achieved debt sustainability.  Low-income countries owe a total of US$523 billion in debt to all creditors. Of this, the African Continent alone has a debt stock of $330 billion and still spends US$15 billion every year in debt service to rich countries and the international financial institutions. Continued debt service by sub-Saharan African countries constitutes a reverse transfer of resources to wealthy creditor countries by those that can least afford it.  Moreover, a number of severely indebted countries, such as Nigeria, have been excluded from the HIPC initiative altogether.

 

3.         The international community now recognises that such unbearably high levels of debt are incompatible with attaining the internationally agreed Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015. Even those countries that have successfully reached completion point under the HIPC initiative, and have received some debt write-off, have quickly found their debts unsustainable once again. This is the case for Uganda and Mozambique, among others.

 

4.         The HIPC initiative does not address domestic debt, notwithstanding that many participating countries are experiencing increases in their domestic debt to GDP ratio.

 

5.         The creditor-led framework of the HIPC initiative has contributed to changing rules of the game, most notably with regard to the criteria for reaching completion point; this can have negative consequences for participating countries. Countries that are judged to have failed to meet the requirements of the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) and are suspended from the HIPC initiative, for example, are forced to resort to the domestic market for resources to meet their obligations, and thereby increase their domestic debt stock.

 

6.         The World Bank/IMF debt sustainability analysis does not include domestic debt and is not linked with a country’s ability to achieve the MDGs. As argued in the report of the Africa Commission, debt relief and aid made available to countries should be analysed against the backdrop of the financing needed to reach the MDGs, rather than the present narrow economic indicators to determine debt sustainability.

 

7.         We recognise the efforts of our governments to tackle poverty in our countries. In this context, we would like to work with you to ensure that debt relief takes into account the financing needed to attain the MDGs and addresses the burden of domestic debt in all impoverished nations. We appreciate that you have tried to address some of these concerns in both domestic and international forums and we are committed to working with you to find lasting and sustainable solutions to the poverty - debt trap our countries find themselves in.

 

Recommendations


8.         It is against this backdrop that we make the following recommendations, which we call on our governments to support.


Domestic debt should be considered in all debt sustainability analyses as servicing it can also impede economic growth and governments’ ability to provide public goods and services. Debtor governments should be given the support required to manage domestic debt.


Financing of priority expenditures and the MDGs must be ring-fenced. HIPC eligibility should be de-linked from the PRGF in order to limit the need for countries to resort to the domestic market to make up resource short-falls.


Equal participation in the design of frameworks and in decision-making processes about debt resolution should be introduced to ensure that these initiatives respond to the needs of the countries they are intended to benefit and result in a decrease in indebtedness and support poverty reduction. Creditor-designed and led debt resolution exercises have failed.

Private sector involvement in the provision of social services must not only be determined by commercial interests, but should also be driven by social responsibility, in particular in the sharing of risks associated with the provision of public goods, such as water. The concept of public private partnerships should be expanded to include the participation of people, in order to design and deliver essential service solutions that guarantee access for all and are compatible with the achievement of the MDGs.


One hundred per cent unconditional cancellation of debts should be extended to all those low and middle-income countries where debt service payments are seriously hindering efforts towards achieving the MDGs by 2015.


Any debt relief initiatives should ensure additional, sustained and positive net financial flows to these countries in order to release resources for investment in poverty reduction.

 

Proposal for enhanced debt relief


9.         We welcome the efforts of some creditor countries to address the debt crisis. Of the current proposals tabled by creditor nations, the UK Government proposal for 100% debt service cancellation over 10 years is a welcome step forward. It could, however, be more comprehensive if it were expanded to include more countries.  The fact that the proposal extends to a limited number of countries that meet certain criteria and conditions as decided by creditors is of concern. There is also concern that only using bilateral contributions for multi-lateral debt payments effectively serves to convert grants into loans and increases moral hazard for institutional lending. There is further unease that this proposal might divert resources away from overseas development assistance to debt cancellation, when what is needed is for debt cancellation to complement rather than substitute aid.

 

10.       It is in this context that we propose the following:

One hundred per cent multilateral debt cancellation for all poor countries.  Additional funding should be provided to meet the MDGs.
The required funding should be generated in a tiered manner, as outlined below, with each of three tiers being exhausted before the next one is used.
The first source of funding would be the sale of IMF gold, which could mobilise up to $35 billion. This money should be used for the cancellation of multilateral debt owed to the IMF and other institutions such as the World Bank.
If these resources prove insufficient, additional bilateral contributions of the kind pledged by the UK can be used to make up the short-fall.
If additional funds are still needed, a third source of funding of up $17.5 billion could be made available through the World Bank’s non concessional lending arm, the International Development Association (IDA).

 

11.       Given the recurrent nature of debt and in order to bring about a permanent exit from debt, the international community needs to energetically support the creation of an alternative debt restructuring mechanism to address grossly unequal debtor-creditor relations in international debt negotiations. We believe that proposals for a Fair and Transparent Arbitration Process (FTAP) and International Arbitration Courts represent strong and viable options for a fair debt work out mechanism. Such a mechanism should address complaints of odious and illegitimate debt. It should be open to all countries, involve civil society organisations and address multilateral, bilateral and commercial debts. Additionally, our governments need to adopt legislation that limits their debt service to not more than 10% of government revenue in order to allow sufficient investments in the social and productive sectors of our countries.

 

Conclusion


12.       We are grateful for this opportunity to engage in a dialogue with Ministers and other stakeholders and reiterate our commitment to working with our governments towards long-term, sustainable solutions to the current debt crisis and the development of all people.

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Africa: The time of the wolves

2005-03-23

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/development/27371

Seething worldwide anger at US President George Walker Bush was reignited last week when he nominated one of his henchman, deputy US defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, for the position of World Bank president. Wolfowitz, who would take over from James Wolfensohn who is due to step down in June this year, is seen as the prime architect of the illegitimate invasion of Iraq, and is a champion of the free market approach to dealing with poverty. While Bush stresses Wolfowitz’s development credentials, there are many who quite simply view him as a war mongeror.

The appointment is seen as characteristic of Bush's tough approach towards multilateralism in which he seeks to aggressively push the US agenda and establish control over key institutions such as the World Bank. Initial speculation was that other G8 members, and especially the European lobby, would be opposed to the nomination, but Germany has since said it will not oppose the nomination, making a European challenge unlikely. It appears that this is one of the issues that Bush laid the groundwork for in his recent European friendship tour. The pay-back could come with US support for European leadership at the World Trade Organization.

Wolfowitz's role in the Iraq war makes him an unpopular choice for president of the Bank because the invasion and subsequent occupation is opposed in many of the areas of the developing world in which the Bank works. Former chief economist of the World Bank turned critic, Joseph Stiglitz, has warned that the nomination of Wolfowitz risks turning the institution into a hate figure and could spark public protests worldwide.

In this sense the appointment of Wolfowitz would bring into stark focus the links between war and the Bank – something that has been highlighted for some time by staunch critics. And as pointed out at http://www.voiceoftheturtle.org/raj/blog/ the appointment of Wolfowitz offers an opportunity because it makes nonsensical the argument that the World Bank can somehow be reformed and might therefore lead to a united voice against the damaging policies of the institution.

Others have pointed out that the issue of personalities is not as important as the damaging neo-liberal policies carried out, regardless of the figurehead. As Jubilee South said in a statement: "We call on all those concerned to direct their campaign efforts not simply at reversing that decision, but at decommissioning the World Bank itself, holding its owners and directors accountable for the genocidal consequences of its lending and collections, and resisting the neoliberal economic offensive that it is now entrusting Wolfowitz to unambiguously lead."

The cry from many in Africa to this statement would be a resounding ‘Hear, Hear!’

* Compiled by Pambazuka News. For further reading, click on the links below.

http://www.voiceoftheturtle.org/raj/blog/
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=13&ItemID=7460
http://www.jubileesouth.org/
http://www.nu.ac.za/ccs/default.asp?2,40,5,609
http://www.eurodad.org/articles/default.aspx?id=604
http://www.choike.org/nuevo_eng/informes/1752.html
http://www.brettonwoodsproject.org/wolfowitznomination

Africa: Throwing salt on 'the scar of Africa'

2005-03-16

http://www.spiked-online.com/Printable/0000000CA93F.htm

"In the name of humanism and self-determination, Blair's evangelical mission undermines Africa's case for development. And in the name of governance it threatens to weaken still further Africa's already fragile nation states," writes Daniel Ben-Ami is author of 'Cowardly Capitalism: The Myth of the Global Financial Casino, in this commentary for www.spiked-online.com Ben-Ami writes that Africa's situation is so dire that any extra assets would be welcomed, but that the Commission for Africa Report, is likely to do more harm than good.

Africa: World water day 2005: the beginning of a decade for action?

2005-03-24

http://www.choike.org/nuevo_eng/informes/2774.html

"In the name of humanism and self-determination, Blair's evangelical mission undermines Africa's case for development. And in the name of governance it threatens to weaken still further Africa's already fragile nation states," writes Daniel Ben-Ami, author of 'Cowardly Capitalism: The Myth of the Global Financial Casino, in this commentary for www.spiked-online.com Ben-Ami writes that Africa's situation is so dire that any extra assets would be welcomed, but that the Commission for Africa Report, is likely to do more harm than good.

Southern Africa: EU and SADC to create a FTA

2005-03-24

http://www.sarpn.org.za/newsflash.php#2624

The EU and a group of SADC countries have started negotiations to establish a free trade area between the two regions. It is hoped that the agreement will be ready for implementation by January 2008. South Africa, although the richest member of SADC, is excluded from the talks because she already has a free trade accord with the EU, signed in 1999. The EU is also negotiating an economic partnership agreement with the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA).

Africa/Global: Health Activists Urge India to Review Patent Laws

2005-03-24

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=healthNews&storyID=7969888

Health activists urged the Indian government on Tuesday to review a patent bill that makes it illegal to copy patented drugs, saying it would make drugs unaffordable for millions suffering from AIDS. Last week, India proposed changing the country's patent laws to make it illegal to copy patented drugs, a practice that has made cheaper medicines available in India and abroad, to fulfil India's commitment to the WTO.

Africa/Global: Neo-natal deaths top four million

2005-03-23

http://www.eldis.org/cf/rdr/rdr.cfm?doc=DOC18012

This paper, the first in the Lancet Neonatal Survival series, focuses on the growing proportion of child deaths that occur in the neonatal period (the first four weeks of life), accounting for 38 per cent of all child deaths in 2000, or 4 million a year. While 99 per cent of neonatal deaths arise in low and middle income countries, research focuses on the one per cent of deaths in rich countries. The highest neonatal mortality rates are found in sub-Saharan Africa. The authors conclude that the Millennium Development Goal for child survival cannot be met without achieving substantial global reductions in neonatal mortality. They argue that inequity should be addressed as a priority.

Africa/Global: The good and the bad in the battle against TB

Massive Effort 2005 TB report card

2005-03-24

http://www.massiveeffort.org/GlobalTBRC_FINAL.pdf

Tuberculosis was last year's most overlooked tragedy. TB killed more people than all wars, earthquakes, floods, tsunamis, airline accidents, terrorist acts and murders worldwide the past year, and with much less fanfare. The deaths of these 1.8 million people were arguably all the more tragic as almost every one of them could have been prevented if they had been properly treated with highly-effective anti-TB medicines. This report asks, "Who is succeeding in preventing these tragic deaths?" In examining the most recent data that countries have provided to the World Health Organization, this independent report finds that some countries - even among the poorest such as Cambodia and the Democratic Republic of Congo - are doing quite a lot. The report also finds that some countries - Nigeria being perhaps the most conspicuous example - are doing frightfully little.

Africa: HIV complicates fight against TB

2005-03-24

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=46281

TB is primarily an illness of the respiratory system, spread by coughing and sneezing, which kills about two million people across the globe each year. The disease is linked to poverty, with Africa accounting for a quarter of all notified TB cases worldwide. The strategy for treating TB, adopted by the World Health Organisation (WHO) 11 years ago, requires health workers to watch patients swallow their pills for at least the first two months of treatment. Directly Observed Treatment Short-course (DOTS) strategy, as it is known, demands that patients then be closely monitored to make sure they complete the entire six-month course of drugs.
Related Link: TB in south Africa
http://www.health-e.org.za/news/article.php?uid=20031190

Angola: Health officials identify Marburg virus, 96 dead

2005-03-24

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=46271

A deadly hemorrhagic fever which has claimed the lives of 96 people, mainly children, in Angola's northern Uige province has been identified as the rare Marburg virus, officials from the Ministry of Health and World Health Organisation (WHO) said late on Tuesday. The illness, characterised by high fever, severe headaches, vomiting and diarrhoea, was first spotted in Uige and is from the same family as the deadly Ebola virus.

Mozambique: Aids A 'National Emergency'

2005-03-23

http://allafrica.com/stories/200503220626.html

The Mozambican government intends to transform the fight against HIV/AIDS into "a national emergency", declares the government's five year programme, which is now before the country's parliament, the Assembly of the Republic. The current HIV prevalence is estimated at 14.9 per cent among adults aged between 15 and 49. There are thought to be 1.4 million HIV-positive Mozambicans, 60 per cent of whom are women.

Nigeria: Measles kills more than 500 children so far in 2005

2005-03-22

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=46209

Measles killed more than 500 children between January and mid-March in Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Sunday. An overwhelming majority of the 561 deaths occurred in Nigeria’s northern region, where doctors say people are wary of vaccinations largely for religious reasons. And of the 23,575 cases recorded so far this year, WHO said more than 90 percent of the total were in the north.

Tanzania: ARV treatment programme expands

2005-03-23

http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=28792

The Tanzanian government this year plans to "sharply" increase from about 4,000 to 44,000 the number of HIV-positive people receiving antiretroviral drugs at no cost, Tanzanian Health Minister Anna Abdallah said, Reuters reports. Abdallah said the government at the end of 2004 was providing 4,000 HIV-positive people in the country with antiretroviral drugs at a cost of $2 million. She added that the health ministry has released $3.5 million to purchase antiretrovirals for 2005 and received a "similar amount" from Canada to purchase more medications, according to Reuters.

Botswana: Improving progress towards universal primary education

2005-03-23

http://www.id21.org/education/e1ll1g1.html

Botswana signed up to the goal of universal primary education (UPE) in 1980. Facilities have improved, many more teachers have been recruited and enrolment rates have risen dramatically but many argue that the introduction of UPE has led to low quality education. The quality of public education remains low in those poor and remote rural districts with stubbornly high drop-out and repetition rates.
* Related Link: Reintroduction of school fees draws mixed response
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=46252

Côte d’Ivoire: Northern university set to reopen in April

2005-03-24

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=46284

The University of Bouake in the rebel-held north of Cote d'Ivoire is set to reopen next month almost three years after the outbreak of war forced it to close it doors and deprived thousands of youngsters of a chance of higher education, government and rebel officials said. Dozens of new students lined up at the campus on Wednesday to enrol for the first academic year since the start of the civil war in September 2002.

Ghana: How good is primary schooling?

2005-03-23

http://www.id21.org/Education/e1hw1g1.html

Ghana has made considerable progress in increasing enrolments amongst both boys and girls. The rate of progress has been sufficient to achieve universal primary education (UPE) by 2015, and hence gender equality at primary level. However, reaching this goal cannot be taken for granted, since there are still a large number of disadvantaged schools in poorer areas - shown by the fact that nearly one in five of primary graduates are illiterate. Achieving the targets will require increased focus on schools in remote areas and help for those schools that need it.

Nigeria: Universities That Aren't Worth the Name

2005-03-22

http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/interna.asp?idnews=27978

"Glorified secondary schools" is the derisive term coined by Nigerians to describe their country's universities. Classrooms are overcrowded, with many students sitting on the floor during lectures. Libraries lack books, and laboratories are ill-equipped to conduct experiments. "It is not what it used to be in terms of facilities, in terms of teaching aids, in terms of infrastructures. It certainly has deteriorated quite considerably," says Bola Fajemirokun, an environmental activist who graduated from the University of Lagos 20 years ago.

South Africa: Rural communities and education

2005-03-23

http://www.eldis.org/cf/rdr/rdr.cfm?doc=DOC17756

The report from the Human Sciences Research Council in South Africa examines the critical factors that affect rural schooling in South Africa, focusing on the three provinces KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape and Limpopo. The report argues that the historical development, contours and consolidation of power relations between urban and rural, and within rural areas, have resulted in neither formal nor substantive equality for people living in rural areas. It states that for rural development strategies to be sustainable they need to integrate both educational issues as well as community participation.

Africa: Oilwatch network strengthened in Lagos

2005-03-22

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/environment/27347

Oil is a big problem at the global level, where its use is resulting in climate change through the accumulation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. At the same time oil is an even bigger immediate problem in the areas where it is extracted, particularly in the tropics. In these regions, oil exploration and exploitation impact heavily on local peoples, whose lives and livelihoods are destroyed though deforestation, forest degradation and coastal ecosystem destruction, all accompanied by widespread human rights violations and impoverishment. Within that scenario, a meeting was held from 1-3 March in Lagos, Nigeria, convened by Oilwatch-Africa: the "Conference on Oil, Resource Conflicts and Livelihoods in Africa". The meeting was attended by representatives of NGOs, academia, media and legislators from Cameroon, Chad, Congo Brazzaville, Ghana, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa and Sudan, as well as from Latin America, North America and Europe.
Source: W R M   B U L L E T I N  92
International Secretariat
Maldonado 1858; Montevideo, Uruguay
E-Mail: wrm@wrm.org.uy
Web page: http://www.wrm.org.uy
Editor: Ricardo CarrereMarch  2005 - English edition

Africa: Oilwatch network strengthened in Lagos

Oil is a big problem at the global level, where its use is resulting in climate change through the accumulation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. At the same time oil is an even bigger immediate problem in the areas where it is extracted, particularly in the tropics. In these regions, oil exploration and exploitation impact heavily on local peoples, whose lives and livelihoods are destroyed though deforestation, forest degradation and coastal ecosystem destruction, all accompanied by widespread human rights violations and impoverishment.

Within that scenario, a very important meeting was held from 1-3 March in Lagos, Nigeria, convened by Oilwatch-Africa: the "Conference on Oil, Resource Conflicts and Livelihoods in Africa". The meeting was attended by representatives of NGOs, academia, media and legislators from Cameroon, Chad, Congo Brazzaville, Ghana, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa and Sudan, as well as from Latin America, North America and Europe. The WRM was present at the conference.




Asume Osuoka, coordinator of Oilwatch-Africa, opened the meeting expressing the symbolic importance of holding the conference in Nigeria, because Nigeria, more than any other country, presents the best example of the paradox of oil and gas. "While transnational companies go away with mega profits and the national government gets huge revenues from the sale of crude oil to the world markets", he said,  "the people of Nigeria are among the poorest in the world. Power generation and supply is woeful, as most Nigerians don't have access to electricity. Social infrastructures are fast collapsing even as the government makes over $20billion annually from the sale of oil. The lack of accountability and transparency in the management of oil and the distortions of the more productive sectors of the economy have led to mass impoverishment and frustration among the population."




In words of Nnimmo Bassey, chair of Oilwatch-Africa and executive director of the Nigerian NGO Environmental Rights Action (ERA), "the announcement of oil discovery in any territory is comparable to the declaration of war against the territory." He added that "oil destroys the environment, contaminates water and air and it also contaminates the social structure, destroys forests, destroys life and livelihoods and holds nothing sacred."




The Lagos conference participants shared their experiences in the different countries represented at the meeting, all of them adding to the broad picture painted above. They also shared their willingness to resist against oil expansion, creating alliances within and outside the continent.




Participants also identified the additional problem resulting from the growing militarization of the Gulf of Guinea by the United States and some European countries -particularly France- "fuelled by their desire to control African oil and gas resources, including their plans to establish military bases in Sao Tome and other African countries", adding that "the expanded military cooperation with pseudo democratic regimes in Africa constitutes a grave and worrying threat and indeed a declaration of war on the region."




To address the above, the conference called "on civil society groups on the continent and like minded groups abroad to strongly condemn this latent American and European aggression in Africa and use all means necessary to assure their complete withdrawal from the region."




Additionally, participants demanded "a moratorium on exploration and development of new oil and gas fields on the continent as a short term measure, and that efforts should be made to develop alternative energy sources and the long term ban on fossil fuel exploitation."




Most importantly, the meeting resulted in a strengthened Oilwatch-Africa, which will now have an even stronger voice against the reckless activities of transnational oil and gas companies. As Esperanza Martinez from the Oilwatch International Secretariat said: "Resisting, organizing and struggling is the only way for people and humanity to survive. Sharing experiences and coordinating actions is the best way for achieving that goal. This is what this meeting was about and the active participation of all have made this conference a big success."




The final declaration of the conference is available at: http://www.wrm.org.uy/deforestation/oil/OilwatchAfrica.html

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Burundi: Forest conservation against the people

2005-03-22

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/environment/27349

With an area of 27,834 sq km, landlocked Burundi is a battleground between the Rwandan army and militia from the Congo, and is plagued by a protracted civil war, which has claimed the lives of thousands of Burundi civilians. The over 5 million Burundi population is unevenly distributed geographically, with large populations displaced by economic crisis and war, forced to change their livelihoods. In a country with a long term legacy of colonial rule by successive Dutch and Belgian colonization --added to pre-colonial divisions and problems between landlords and communal farmers-- lack of access to land has been a major cause of deforestation. The forests, once extensive, today account for some 9% of total land area.
Source:
W R M   B U L L E T I N  92
March  2005 - English edition
International Secretariat
Maldonado 1858; Montevideo, Uruguay
E-Mail: wrm@wrm.org.uy
Web page: http://www.wrm.org.uy
Editor: Ricardo Carrere

Burundi: Forest conservation against the people

With an area of 27,834 sq km, landlocked Burundi is a battleground between the Rwandan army and militia from the Congo, and is plagued by a protracted civil war, which has claimed the lives of thousands of Burundi civilians.

The over 5 million Burundi population is unevenly distributed geographically, with large populations displaced by economic crisis and war, forced to change their livelihoods.




In a country with a long term legacy of colonial rule by successive Dutch and Belgian colonization --added to pre-colonial divisions and problems between landlords and communal farmers-- lack of access to land has been a major cause of deforestation. The forests, once extensive, today account for some 9% of total land area.




Without addressing the real root causes, accepting the destruction as a fait accompli, the government of Burundi has recently banned a group of farmers of the province of Cibitoke from accessing the Kibira Forest natural reserve, a mountain forest covering 40,000 ha, on the grounds that farming had led to the forest's destruction so much that the area "could turn into a desert". This is the typical approach pushed by global capital with interests in biotech prospection and tourism,  which seeks to establish forest reserves and national parks devoid of people, like stranded isles in the middle of a context of devastation.




"In [the northern province of] Kirundo people are dying because of food shortage; we are worried that the government will not allow us to harvest our crops in the Masango Zone yet it has not been able to feed all people starving in Kirundo," Michel Niyonsaba, 44, the farmers' representative, said.




He added that recent heavy rains had destroyed their homes and some of the crops yet the government had not provided them help. The severe food shortage that haunts northern Burundi affects more than half a million people and has even caused people to die. Declining rainfall is one of the major reasons for it.




The ban affects all farming activities in the Mirundi Zone of Bukinanyana Commune. President Niyindereye said the local administration would also stop farming in the Ruhororo Zone of Mabayi Commune, especially on the border with Rwanda and the natural forest of Nyungwe.




Protesting the cultivation ban, the farmers said the lands they had been cultivating had been given to their forefathers in 1954. They said they were expelled from the reserve in 1980, when the country's national parks were delineated.




"I was thirteen when we were ousted," Niyonsaba said. Since then, he said, they had often attempted to return to the lands in the fertile forest but always faced official resistance.




An official of the Institut National de la Conservation de l' Environnement et de la Nature (INCEN) said most of the forest destruction in the area began in late 2004 after the governor, who has since been dismissed, distributed forestland to farmers living nearby. According to the official, the ban was imposed when many of the farmers had not yet planted their seeds.




Part of the forest had also been destroyed over the course of Burundi's decade-long civil war when security forces allowed people living around the road passing through the forests to clear the bushes where rebels were suspected to be hiding.




In a long line of responsible agents of unfair development, the ultimate victims are the weakest link in the chain and they are left to their fate.




Article based on information from: "Burundi: Farmers decry eviction from forest reserve", Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN), http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=45447

More...

Mozambique: Voices from the Zambezi

2005-03-22

http://www.irn.org/pubs/wrr/issues/WRR.V20.N1.pdf

"The Zambezi River is the source of life for our families… [it] is generous and other users along with us benefit from it. We respect all of them as good neighbors, and we especially recognize the important role of Cahora Bassa dam… However, in the 30 years since the dam's construction, we have lost productive lands along the river and on the islands. The reeds we use have disappeared. Fish in the river have also decreased. In the delta, the River arms are progressively drying up. The mangroves are threatened, and so, too, is the prawn fishery…" These are some of the conclusions that a group of 70 subsistence farmers, fishermen and NGO members from the Lower Zambezi River in Mozambique developed in a declaration they presented to government authorities in October 2004. The full article is contained in the February edition of the World Rivers Review. published by the International Rivers Network.

South Africa: Biowatch seeks leave to appeal Monsanto costs order

2005-03-18

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/environment/27346

Biowatch South Africa has applied for leave to appeal against the Pretoria High Court order that the organisation pay the legal costs of Monsanto South Africa (Pty) Ltd. The organisation is also applying for leave to appeal the absence of any costs order in its favour. The costs order in favour of Monsanto SA (Pty) Ltd arose out of the major victory which Biowatch South Africa achieved to gain access to information about genetically modified (GM) crops in South Africa. The Registrar of Genetic Resources was ordered to release this information by 30 April this year – a development which will at last lift the veil of secrecy which has shrouded this industry and enable the public to know how decisions are made about the growing of GM crops in South Africa.
PRESS STATEMENT FROM BIOWATCH SOUTH AFRICA*

*Friday 18 March 2005***

* ***

*BIOWATCH SOUTH AFRICA APPLIES FOR LEAVE TO APPEAL HIGH COURT COST AWARD TO MONSANTO***

Biowatch South Africa has applied for leave to appeal against the Pretoria High Court order that the organisation pay the legal costs of Monsanto South Africa (Pty) Ltd. The organisation is also applying for leave to appeal the absence of any costs order in its favour.

The costs order in favour of Monsanto SA (Pty) Ltd arose out of the major victory which Biowatch South Africa achieved to gain access to information about genetically modified (GM) crops in South Africa. The Registrar of Genetic Resources was ordered to release this information by 30 April this year – a development which will at last lift the veil of secrecy which has shrouded this industry and enable the public to know how decisions are made about the growing of GM crops in South Africa.

In his order handed down on 24 February this year, acting Judge Eric Dunn upheld the right of access to information, enshrined in the Constitution. He reaffirmed that Biowatch had a Constitutional right to the information, that access to this information was in the public interest and that Biowatch was forced to go to court to exercise this right.

He also said that granting access to information was a necessary part of the proper administration of the Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) Act and that access to information could only be restricted on the grounds set out in the Promotion of Access to Information Act.

However, instead of applying the general principle in litigation that costs should follow the result (successful litigants normally have their costs paid), acting Judge Dunn ordered Biowatch South Africa to pay the costs of Monsanto South Africa (Pty) Ltd. His reason was that Biowatch South Africa had been too general in its request for some of the information and that this had forced Monsanto to come to court to protect its interests.

Acting Judge Dunn made no other orders about costs. This is extremely disappointing because Biowatch South Africa was substantially successful in its application and he found the Registrar of Genetic Resources had adopted a passive role.

The court application was brought against the Department of Agriculture’s Registrar of Genetic Resources and Executive Council For Genetically Modified Organisms, after several other unsuccessful attempts to obtain the information.

Biowatch South Africa has decided to seek leave to appeal for the following main reasons:

* The cost order in favour of Monsanto (Pty) Ltd was likely to have
a deterrent effect on future public interest litigation. The order
creates the impression that if any part of a request for
information is found to be insufficiently specific, even a
successful litigant may be heavily penalised.
* The costs order against Biowatch South Africa will impede the
organisation’s capacity to gain access to, analyse and disseminate
to the public the very information for which the court ordered
access because much needed resources would be diverted away from
the organisation’s core business. Biowatch South Africa is a
non-governmental organisation which is reliant on donor funds for
very specific activities.
* There was no order for payment of Biowatch South Africa’s costs,
even though the organisation was successful in its application to
the court.

If the application for leave to appeal is successful the appeal will be heard by the full bench of the Pretoria High Court or, alternatively, the Supreme Court of Appeal.

ENDS

For more information or queries, please contact

Leslie Liddell on 021 447 5939 OR 073 307 8873

More...

Ethiopia: Two imprisoned journalists continue to be detained in run-up to elections

2005-03-22

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/media/27345

Reporters sans frontières (RSF) has voiced concern that, with general elections due to take place in just two months, on 15 May 2005, two journalists, Shiferraw Insermu and Dhabassa Wakjira, continue to be detained. Insermu and Wakjira, journalists for the Oromo-language service of the state-owned Ethiopian Television (ETV), are accused of having links with an Oromo separatist group. "As Ethiopians get ready to vote, two journalists continue to languish in a prison where cases of torture and mistreatment are regularly reported by international organisations," RSF said.
La version française suit. The French version follows.

IFEX - News from the international freedom of expression community
_________________________________________________________________

ALERT UPDATE - ETHIOPIA

21 March 2005

Two imprisoned journalists continue to be detained in run-up to elections

**Updates IFEX alert of 10 February 2005**

SOURCE: Reporters sans frontières (RSF), Paris

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF has voiced concern that, with general elections due to take
place in just two months, on 15 May 2005, two journalists, Shiferraw Insermu
and Dhabassa Wakjira, continue to be detained. Insermu and Wakjira,
journalists for the Oromo-language service of the state-owned Ethiopian
Television (ETV), are accused of having links with an Oromo separatist
group.

"As Ethiopians get ready to vote, two journalists continue to languish in a
prison where cases of torture and mistreatment are regularly reported by
international organisations," RSF said.

"Ethiopia is violating the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights just
a few kilometres away from the African Union's Addis Ababa headquarters,"
the organisation added. "Whatever the charges against them, these two
journalists have rights, which have clearly been denied by authorities who
have defied the federal High Court's decisions. Under Ethiopian law, Insermu
and Wakjira should be released immediately. The circumstances under which
they were thrown in prison leads us to suspect that there is absolutely no
basis for the charge of terrorism that has been brought against them."

Insermu and Wakjira were initially arrested at their homes in Addis Ababa on
22 April 2004. The federal High Court ordered their release on bail on 9
August, but only Insermu was freed. On 17 August, Insermu was arrested
again, but was released on High Court orders in mid-October. As ETV refused
to rehire him, he was seeking work as a journalist elsewhere when he was
arrested for a third time on 11 January 2005.

Meanwhile, Wakjira has been held without interruption for nearly a year as
prison authorities have ignored the various court orders to free him.
According to information obtained by RSF in Addis Ababa, both journalists
were brought before a court on 7 March, but the hearing was postponed. At
present, both men are being held in Addis Ababa's main prison, known as
Kerchiele.

According to RSF's information, Insermu and Wakjira have been charged, under
Articles 32, 252 and 522 of the Criminal Code, with "passing government
information to Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) leaders", "planning attacks",
"criminal association of a terrorist nature" and "fundraising for the
purposes of carrying out acts of terrorism". Insermu, in particular, has
been accused of sending government information to the OLF's Sagalee
Bilisummaa Oromoo (the Voice of Oromo Liberation - SBO) radio station "by
e-mail or other means".

A former colleague now living in exile said Insermu and Wakjira were
detained along with other Oromo employees of ETV, who have since been
released. The journalists were arrested after the broadcast of a report
about the use of violence by police to disperse a 4 January 2004 Oromo
student demonstration on the Addis Ababa university campus. The police
arrested many demonstrators, especially members of the Macha Tulema social
assistance group, who were protesting the government's decision to move
Oromo regional institutions from Addis Ababa to Adama (also known as
Nazret), 100 km east of the capital.

Founded in 1974, the OLF is an armed movement that is opposed to Amhara and
Tigrean dominance in Ethiopia and believesthat the Oromos of southern
Ethiopia should form a separate country, together with the Oromos of
northern Kenya. The OLF is backed by Eritrea, the former Ethiopian province
where a guerrilla coalition waged a war of independence against Addis Ababa
from 1962 to 1991. Following Eritrean independence in 1993, Ethiopia and
Eritrea fought a deadly territorial war from 1998 to 2000.

Oromo community organisations and Oromo state employees are often the
targets of government repression on accusations of being OLF spies. A human
rights report, issued on 28 February by the US State Department, which has
in the past tended to favour Ethiopia, was highly critical of human rights
violations "especially against persons suspected of being OLF members."

The difficulties encountered by RSF in obtaining information in Ethiopia
about Insermu and Wakjira indicate how sensitive the issue has become. The
organisation has established that at least 12 Oromo journalists have fled to
neighbouring countries since the beginning of 2004 to escape the repression
in Ethiopia.

Garuma Bekele, Tesfaye Deressa and Solomon Nemera, managing editor, editor
and a journalist, respectively, for the weekly "Urji", spent nearly four
years in prison, from 1997 to 2001, for allegedly "participating in
terrorist activities" and "publishing inaccurate news." They had simply
raised questions about an official statement that three men killed by the
security forces were OLF members.

For further information, contact Léonard Vincent at RSF, 5, rue Geoffroy
Marie, Paris 75009, France, tel: +33 1 44 83 84 84, fax: +33 1 45 23 11 51,
e-mail: africa@rsf.org, Internet: http://www.rsf.org

The information contained in this alert update is the sole responsibility of
RSF. In citing this material for broadcast or publication, please credit
RSF.
_________________________________________________________________
DISTRIBUTED BY THE INTERNATIONAL FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
EXCHANGE (IFEX) CLEARING HOUSE
489 College Street, Toronto (ON) M6G 1A5 CANADA
tel: +1 416 515 9622 fax: +1 416 515 7879
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Internet site: http://www.ifex.org/
_________________________________________________________________
IFEX - Nouvelles de la communauté internationale de défense de la liberté
d'expression
_________________________________________________________________

MISE À JOUR D'ALERTE - ETHIOPIE

Le 21 mars 2005

Shiferraw Insermu et Dhabassa Wakjira : deux prisonniers oubliés à deux mois
des élections

SOURCE: Reporters sans frontières (RSF), Paris

**Mise à jour d'une alerte de l'IFEX de 10 février 2005**

(RSF/IFEX) - Deux mois jour pour jour avant les élections générales du 15
mai 2005, RSF exprime sa "très grande inquiétude" quant au sort de Shiferraw
Insermu et Dhabassa Wakjira, deux journalistes éthiopiens du service en
langue oromo de la télévision publique Ethiopian Television (ETV),
emprisonnés par les autorités pour leurs liens supposés avec un groupe
séparatiste.

"Alors que les Ethiopiens s'apprêtent à voter, deux journalistes croupissent
dans une prison où des cas de tortures et de mauvais traitements sont
régulièrement rapportés par des organisations internationales, a déclaré
RSF. A quelques kilomètres du siège de l'Union africaine (UA), à
Addis-Abeba, l'Ethiopie déroge impunément à la Charte africaine des droits
de l'homme et des peuples. Quels que soient les chefs d'accusation retenus
contre eux, ces deux journalistes ont des droits. Ceux-ci ont été
manifestement bafoués par les autorités éthiopiennes, qui ne se sont pas
soumises aux décisions de la Haute Cour fédérale. Selon le droit éthiopien,
Shiferraw Insermu et Dhabassa Wakjira doivent être relâchés immédiatement.
Par ailleurs, le contexte dans lequel ils ont été jetés en prison nous
incite à penser que l'accusation de terrorisme portée à leur encontre est
totalement dénuée de fondement", a conclu RSF.

Insermu et Wakjira ont été arrêtés pour la première fois à leur domicile
d'Addis-Abeba, le 22 avril 2004. La Haute Cour fédérale a ordonné leur
libération sous caution le 9 août suivant, mais seul Insermu a été relâché.
Arrêté de nouveau le 17 août, le journaliste a été libéré sur ordre de la
Haute Cour fédérale à la mi-octobre. La chaîne ETV ayant refusé de
l'autoriser à reprendre son emploi, il tentait de retrouver une activité
professionnelle lorsqu'il a été arrêté une troisième fois, le 11 janvier
2005. Wakjira, lui, est détenu sans interruption depuis près d'un an sans
que l'administration pénitentiaire obéisse aux différents ordres de
libération provisoire de la justice. Selon les informations recueillies à
Addis-Abeba par RSF, les deux journalistes ont comparu le 7 mars devant un
tribunal, qui a reporté l'audience à une date ultérieure. A ce jour, tous
deux sont emprisonnés à la prison centrale d'Addis-Abeba, dite "Kerchiele".

Selon nos informations, ils ont été inculpés en vertu des articles 32, 252
et 522 du code pénal éthiopien. Ils sont accusés de "transmission
d'informations gouvernementales à la direction du Front de libération oromo
(Oromo Liberation Front, OLF)", "planification d'attentats", "association à
caractère terroriste" et "levée de fonds en vue de perpétrer des actes
terroristes". Il est spécifiquement reproché à Insermu d'avoir transmis des
informations gouvernementales à la Sagalee Bilisummaa Oromoo (Voix de la
libération oromo, SBO), la radio de l'OLF, "par e-mail ou d'autres moyens".

Selon le témoignage d'un ancien collègue des deux journalistes, aujourd'hui
en exil, ils ont été interpellés, en compagnie d'autres employés oromos de
ETV aujourd'hui libérés, suite à la diffusion d'un reportage sur la violente
répression d'une manifestation d'étudiants oromos sur le campus de
l'université d'Addis-Abeba, le 4 janvier 2004. L'intervention des forces de
l'ordre avait donné lieu à des brutalités policières et à de nombreuses
arrestations, notamment de membres de l'association d'aide sociale Macha
Tulema, qui souhaitait protester contre la décision du gouvernement
éthiopien de déménager les institutions régionales de la région oromo
d'Addis-Abeba à Adama (également connue sous le nom de Nazret) à 100 km à
l'est de la capitale.

L'OLF, fondé en 1974, est un mouvement insurrectionnel du Sud qui s'oppose à
la mainmise des Amharas et des Tigréens sur le pays et milite pour
l'instauration d'un pays indépendant, rassemblant les Oromos éthiopiens et
ceux vivant dans le nord du Kenya. Les Oromos représentent, selon les
experts, de 35 à 40 % de la population éthiopienne. L'OLF est soutenu par
l'Erythrée, ancienne province éthiopienne où une coalition de guérilla a
livré une guerre d'indépendance contre le gouvernement d'Addis-Abeba entre
1962 et 1991. Après l'indépendance de l'Erythrée en 1993, les deux pays se
sont livrés une guerre territoriale meurtrière entre 1998 et 2000. Les
organisations communautaires et les fonctionnaires oromos en Ethiopie
subissent régulièrement la répression du gouvernement, qui les accuse d'être
des espions de l'OLF. Le 28 février 2005, le département d'Etat américain,
d'habitude plutôt favorable à l'Ethiopie, a publié un rapport très critique
sur la situation des droits de l'homme dans le pays, "notamment envers les
personnes suspectées d'être membres de l'OLF".

Les difficultés éprouvées par RSF pour obtenir des informations en Ethiopie
sur le cas de ces deux journalistes montrent à quel point ce sujet est
sensible. Selon les recoupements effectués par l'organisation, au moins
douze journalistes oromos ont fui la répression en Ethiopie depuis le début
de l'année 2004 et ont trouvé refuge dans les pays avoisinants.

Entre 1997 et 2001, Garuma Bekele, Tesfaye Deressa et Solomon Nemera,
respectivement directeur de publication, rédacteur en chef et journaliste de
l'hebdomadaire "Urji", avaient passé près de quatre ans en prison pour
"participation à des activités terroristes" et "fabrication de fausses
nouvelles". Ils avaient simplement remis en cause une déclaration
officielle, selon laquelle trois hommes tués par les forces de sécurité
étaient membres de l'OLF.

Pour tout renseignement complémentaire, veuillez contacter Léonard Vincent,
RSF, 5, rue Geoffroy Marie, Paris 75009, France, tél: +33 1 44 83 84 84,
téléc: +33 1 45 23 11 51, courrier électronique: afrique@rsf.org, Internet:
http://www.rsf.org

RSF est responsable de toute information contenue dans cette mise à jour
d'alerte. En citant cette information, prière de bien vouloir l'attribuer à
RSF.
_______________________________________________________________
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L'ÉCHANGE INTERNATIONAL DE LA LIBERTÉ D'EXPRESSION
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tel: +1 416 515 9622 téléc: +1 416 515 7879
courrier électronique: alerts@ifex.org boîte générale: ifex@ifex.org
site Internet: http://www.ifex.org/

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Liberia: Court officers demand "bribe" to reopen newspaper's office

2005-03-22

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/media/27342

Officers of the Sixth Judicial Circuit Court in the capital, Monrovia, are demanding 500 Liberian dollars (approx. US$10) from "Forum" newspaper's management as a pre-condition for reopening its office. According to a Media Foundation for West Africa-Monrovia source, the officers were to reopen the newspaper's office on 11 March 2005, after the management handed over US$200 to the state in payment of a fine for "disregarding a court order." The officers, however, said that they would not reopen the office unless the newspaper's management "gave" them 500 Liberian dollars. The paper's managing editor, Augustine Fallah, told MFWA that the demand constituted a "bribe" and was part of a deliberate attempt to silence the newspaper.
IFEX - News from the international freedom of expression community


_________________________________________________________________


 


ALERT UPDATE - LIBERIA


 


17 March 2005


 


Court officers demand "bribe" to reopen newspaper's office


 


SOURCE: Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), Accra


 


**Updates IFEX alert of 9 March 2005**


 


(MFWA/IFEX) - Officers of the Sixth Judicial Circuit Court in the capital, Monrovia, are demanding 500 Liberian dollars (approx. US$10) from "Forum" newspaper's management as a pre-condition for reopening its office.


 


According to an MFWA-Monrovia source, the officers were to reopen the newspaper's office on 11 March 2005, after the management handed over US$200 to the state in payment of a fine for "disregarding a court order." The officers, however, said that they would not reopen the office unless the newspaper's management "gave" them 500 Liberian dollars. The paper's managing editor, Augustine Fallah, told MFWA that the demand constituted a "bribe" and was part of a deliberate attempt to silence the newspaper.


 


On 24 February, the court, presided by Judge Yussif D. Kaba, held "Forum" management in contempt of court for "failure to respect a restraining order" and for "failure to appear in court" in a libel suit against the paper. On 4 March, the court issued an arrest warrant and asked the Liberia National Police director to "assist the court sheriff [by providing] police officers to arrest the managing editor and his staff." The court also ordered the closure of the newspaper's office.


 


The lawsuit against "Forum" was filed in early February by senatorial candidate Melee Kermue, based on "damages for injury to reputation." Kermue launched the lawsuit over an article in the paper that reported that he had fled prosecution in the United States, where he was allegedly involved in drug trafficking (see IFEX alert of 7 January 2005).


 


A hearing in the case was scheduled for the March session of the court, but the judge later changed the date to 24 February. In his ruling, Kaba alleged that the summons for the 24 February hearing was served and that the return was duly signed by the respondent. Fallah, however, maintained that at no time was the paper's management served with a summons to appear in court. He said the newspaper's lawyer, James Verdier, who is currently out of the country, notified the court of his travel plans and that the judge's decision to schedule a hearing in the lawyer's absence was a "manipulation," designed to deny the paper legal representation and thereby silence it.


 


For further information, contact Jeannette Quarcoopome, Media Foundation for West Africa, P.O. Box LG 730, Legon, Ghana, tel.: +233 21 24 24 70, fax: +231 21 22 10 84, e-mail: events@mfwaonline.org, Internet: http://www.mfwaonline.org


 


The information contained in this alert update is the sole responsibility of MFWA. In citing this material for broadcast or publication, please credit MFWA.


_________________________________________________________________


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EXCHANGE (IFEX) CLEARING HOUSE


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_________________________________________________________________


IFEX - Nouvelles de la communauté internationale de défense de la liberté d'expression


_________________________________________________________________


 


MISE À JOUR D'ALERTE - LIBÉRIA


 


Le 17 mars 2005


 


Administrateurs de tribunal exigent "pot-de-vin" avant réouverture de journal


 


SOURCE: Fondation pour les Médias en Afrique de l'Ouest (MFWA), Accra


 


**Mise à jour d'une alerte de l'IFEX du 9 mars 2005**


 


(MFWA/IFEX) - Les administrateurs du sixième tribunal itinérant de la capitale, Monrovia, exigent 500 dollars libériens (environ 10 $US) de la direction du journal "The Forum" comme condition préalable pour la réouverture de son bureau.


 


Selon la source la MFWA à Monrovia, les administrateurs devaient procéder à la réouverture du bureau du journal le 11 mars 2005, la direction du journal ayant versé une amende de 200 $US au Trésor Public pour "non-respect d'une ordonnance du tribunal". Les administrateurs ont manifesté leur décision de ne pas rouvrir le bureau à moins que la direction du journal leur "donnent" 500 dollars libériens.


 


Augustine Fallah, le directeur de publication du "Forum", a déclaré à la MFWA que cette exigence constituait un "pot-de-vin" et un plan délibéré pour réduire le journal au silence.


 


Le 24 février, le tribunal, présidé par le juge Yussif D. Kaba, avait condamné la direction pour outrages à magistrat pour "non-respect d'injonction" et pour "non comparution" dans une affaire de diffamation contre le journal. Le 4 mars, le tribunal a émis un ordre d'arrestation et demandé au Directeur de la Police nationale du Libéria "d'aider le shérif avec quelques agents afin d'assurer l'arrestation du directeur de publication et son personnel". Le tribunal a également donné l'ordre de la fermeture des locaux du journal.


 


L'action contre "The Forum" a été intentée début février par Melee Kermue, un candidat à l'élection des sénateurs, qui réclamait "dommages et intérêts pour atteinte à l'honneur". Il s'agissait d'un article publié dans le journal selon lequel l'homme politique aurait fui des poursuites judiciaires intentées contre lui aux Etats-Unis, où il serait impliqué dans une affaire de trafic de stupéfiant (consulter l'alerte de l'IFEX du 7 janvier 2005).


 


L'audience publique de l'affaire était prévue pour la session de mars du tribunal mais le juge a plus tard programmé l'affaire pour le 24 février. Dans sa décision, le juge Kaba a prétendu que la citation pour l'audience de l'affaire le 24 février avait été signifiée et que le mandat de renvoi avait été signé en bonne et due forme par le(s) répondant(s).


 


Toutefois, Fallah a soutenu qu'en aucun moment la direction avait été notifiée de la citation à comparaître devant le tribunal. Il a fait savoir que l'avocat du journal, qui est actuellement en déplacement hors du pays, avait informé le tribunal en bonne et due forme de son voyage, et que la décision du juge de citer l'affaire en l'absence de l'avocat était une "manipulation" visant à empêcher le journal de se faire représenter par un avocat et, par ce moyen, de réduire le journal au silence.


 


Pour tout renseignement complémentaire, veuillez contacter Jeannette Quarcoopome, Fondation pour les Médias en Afrique de l'Ouest, P.O. Box LG 730, Legon, Ghana, tél.: +233 21 24 24 70, téléc.: +231 21 22 10 84, courrier électronique: events@mfwaonline.org, Internet: http://www.mfwaonline.org


 


MFWA est responsable de toute information contenue dans cette mise à jour d'alerte. En citant cette information, prière de bien vouloir l'attribuer à MFWA.


_______________________________________________________________


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tel: +1 416 515 9622   téléc: +1 416 515 7879


courrier électronique: alerts@ifex.org  boîte générale: ifex@ifex.org


site Internet: http://www.ifex.org/  

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Nigeria: Public Hearing on Freedom of Information Bill Postponed

2005-03-24

http://mediarightsagenda.org/pubhear_shift2.html

The public hearing on the Freedom of Information Bill scheduled to take place at the Senate yesterday, March 22, has been postponed to April 12, 2005.  The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Information, Senator Tawar Wada, announced to scores of disappointed stakeholders that the public hearing had to be postponed due to the crisis that had engulfed the Senate over allegations that some members of the National Assembly had received a N55 million bribe from the now dismissed Minister of Education, Professor Fabian Osuji, to ensure the passage of the Ministry's budget for 2005.

Zimbabwe: MISA statement on the judgement on ANZ case

2005-03-22

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/media/27340

The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA)-Zimbabwe is dismayed by yet another Supreme Court judgment upholding certain sections of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) as constitutional. The Constitutional challenge brought by the Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe (ANZ) against the Minister of State for Information and Publicity in the Office of the President and Cabinet as well as the Media and Information Commission (MIC) sought the nullification of sections 39, 40, 41, 65, 66, 69, 70, 71, 76, 79, 80, 83 and 89 as well as paragraph 4 of the Forth Schedule of the Act as unconstitutional. The case was heard on March 3, 2004, with judgment only being delivered on March 14, 2005, over one year after the matter was heard.
IFEX Autolist (other news of interest)


From: Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA), research@misa.org


 


MISA Communiqué (Statement, Zimbabwe)


 


March 16, 2005


 


Statement on the judgment on the Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe case


 


The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA)-Zimbabwe is dismayed by yet another Supreme Court judgment upholding certain sections of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) as constitutional.


 


The Constitutional challenge brought by the Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe (ANZ) against the Minister of State for Information and Publicity in the Office of the President and Cabinet as well as the Media and Information Commission (MIC) sought the nullification of sections 39, 40, 41, 65, 66, 69, 70, 71, 76, 79, 80, 83 and 89 as well as paragraph 4 of the Forth Schedule of the Act as unconstitutional.


 


The case was heard on March 3, 2004, with judgment only being delivered on March 14, 2005, over one year after the matter was heard. 


 


We have always stated that justice delayed is justice denied and in this case there can be no argument over the fact that the unwarranted delay certainly resulted in a gross miscarriage of justice.


 


Although the Supreme Court set aside the determination of the MIC in which it refused ANZ registration as a mass media service provider, the fact that the same court referred the issue back to the MIC for consideration de novo is cause for concern. 


 


This is informed by the fact that the same MIC especially its chairperson has previously been found to be biased against ANZ.  Even the Chief Justice remarked that the chairperson who should have appreciated that he would chair the Commission that would determine the application for registration by ANZ should have refrained from making comments that were likely to make ANZ apprehensive on the chances of a fair hearing from the MIC.  We only hope that this time around, the MIC will apply its mind to the protection of the right to Freedom of Expression and grant ANZ an operating licence.


 


Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku concurred with Justices Cheda, Ziyambi, Malaba and Gwaunza and declared all Sections under challenge to be constitutional.  We have always stated that the powers accorded to the MIC and the Minister amount to quasi-judicial powers and this judgment will not change our position. The MIC and the Minister can decide on whom to and not to accredit therefore, who can and cannot work as a journalist in Zimbabwe. We have questioned and will continue to ask why the Minister and his permanent secretary would want to approve an application to practice as a journalist. Such a process is no longer a mere formality as there is discretion on the part of the accrediting authorities to accredit or to refuse to accredit. 


 


MISA Zimbabwe notes with concern that this judgment casts an ominous spell on press freedom in Zimbabwe.  The Supreme Court dismissed most of the arising issues on technicalities.  To the ordinary man, this does not make sense.  Where the law fails to protect the rights of its own citizens, then it is bad law and as citizens we do not need such a law.   


 


We reiterate that the contentious sections upheld by the Supreme Court bench severely undermine the exercise of freedom of expression.  


 


We have always stated that the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act was not promulgated in good faith.  Its use has been against journalists working in the privately owned media.  We call upon the sixth Parliament of Zimbabwe to repeal this Act so that Zimbabweans can freely exercise their right to freedom of expression.


 


Ends

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Zimbabwe: SW radio broadcasts jammed

2005-03-18

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/media/27343

Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe has established that transmissions of SW Radio Africa are being deliberately jammed. Although government has denied jamming SW Radio Africa's broadcasts, a report by the International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB) revealed that the jamming appears to emanate from Zimbabwe using Chinese equipment at Thornhill in Gweru. According to the IBB report, three jammers are being used to jam the three short wave frequencies used by SW Radio Africa. "One kHz tone is used to jam the broadcasts; and is continued till the transmitters become too hot; then 'noise' is used to avoid over driving the jamming transmitters. ...", says the report.

PRESS STATEMENT


March 18, 2005

Following the dispatch of our latest weekly media update Number 10, MMPZ has
established that transmissions of SW Radio Africa are being deliberately
jammed.

Although government has denied jamming SW Radio Africa's broadcasts, a
report by the International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB) revealed that the
jamming appears to emanate from Zimbabwe using Chinese equipment at
Thornhill in Gweru.
According to the IBB report, three jammers are being used to jam the three
short wave frequencies used by SW Radio Africa. "One kHz tone is used to jam
the broadcasts; and is continued till the transmitters become too hot; then
'noise' is used to avoid over driving the jamming transmitters. ...", says
the report.
The BBC Monitoring Services also confirmed the jamming saying the "the
interfering signals were present only for the period of the SW Radio Africa
programming".

MMPZ condemns in the strongest terms this latest deliberate assault on
freedom of expression. This act of sabotage against SW Radio Africa's
broadcasts, particularly in the run up to the March 2005 general elections,
is a cynical attempt to deny the public their right to access information
sources of their choice.
It also demonstrates a blatant intolerance for the free flow of information,
which is the cornerstone of every participatory democracy.
This latest affront to freedom of expression is not isolated. The government
has used repressive broadcasting legislation to stall the opening of the
broadcasting sector to independent broadcasters five years after the Supreme
Court struck down the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Holdings' monopoly as
unconstitutional in 2000.
The private print media have also suffered the brunt of the authorities'
intolerance of a free Press. Since September 2003, four newspapers have been
shut down, the latest being The Weekly Times which was closed on February 25
2005 after publishing just eight issues.
This clampdown on the media violates the SADC Principles and Guidelines
Governing Democratic Elections demonstrating a failure to meet some of the
minimum conditions for holding of a free and fair election.
To counter this assault on its broadcasts, SW Radio Africa announced
alternative frequencies on which its programmes can be heard:
6145 on the 49 metre band
3230 or 3300 in the 90 metre band
4880 in the 60 metre band
On the 25 metre band, listeners are urged to tune in to the following
frequencies:
11845 for the first hour
11705 for the second hour
11995 for the last hour

SW Radio Africa says it can also be heard in the Medium Wave (MW) 1197kHz
band between 05:00 hours and 07:00 hours, which is not jammed. Studio 7 and
BBC broadcasts are not being jammed.


Ends//

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Zimbabwe: The Zimbabwean goes online

2005-03-22

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/media/27344

The Zimbabwean, the only newspaper available to Zimbabweans internationally, goes online on Monday at www.thezimbabwean.co.uk The publication, which was launched on February 11 with simultaneous weekly editions in the UK and South Africa, has been hailed as a major step in bridging the information gap between millions of Zimbabweans in the diaspora and their troubled homeland. It is also a vital source of independent and accurate information to Zimbabweans at home who have been snapping up the 10 000 copies shipped in weekly from Johannesburg in a matter of hours.
NEWS RELEASE - THE ZIMBABWEAN ONLINE

The Zimbabwean, the only newspaper available to Zimbabweans
internationally, goes online on Monday at www.thezimbabwean.co.uk

The publication, which was launched on February 11 with simultaneous
weekly editions in the UK and South Africa, has been hailed as a
major step in bridging the information gap between millions of
Zimbabweans in the diaspora and their troubled homeland. It is also
a vital source of independent and accurate information to Zimbabweans
at home who have been snapping up the 10 000 copies shipped in
weekly from Johannesburg in a matter of hours.

"The website is very user friendly. We have purposely kept it simple,
quick to download and easy to access - specially for people in
Zimbabwe where there is limited bandwidth. We are grateful to the
Guardian Foundation, Guardian Unlimited and Kitsite for technical
assistance and the design," said the publisher Wilf Mbanga.

The entire newspaper will be available on the website free of charge.
"We are indebted to the many people around the world who have
already subscribed to the physical newspaper," said Mbanga. "The
online version is intended to be a complementary information source
and will add value to the print version."

Since its inception The Zimbabwean has attracted much opprobrium from
the authorities in Harare. "All we want to do is inform people
about what's going on so that they, in turn, can make informed
choices," said Mbanga. "We are merely asserting the right of all
Zimbabweans to freedom of expression and access to information."

The tabloid weekly contains news from Zimbabwe as well as life in
exile. The content includes politics, art and culture, business,
sports, gender, human rights and social issues, news backgrounders
and analysis. Letters to the editor and classified advertisements are
key features.

"The Zimbabwean is an authoritative and accurate newspaper of record
and a reliable source of information for all those individuals,
agencies and governments with an interest in Zimbabwe. A news
blackout is dangerous for any society. The forthcoming general
election scheduled for March adds urgency. Our coverage is accurate,
fair and balanced. We endeavour to give all viewpoints, and everyone
- including the government of Zimbabwe - has the right of reply,"
said Mbanga.

More...

Campaign for a Global Convention on the Right to Water

Sign a petition

2005-03-23

http://www.greencrossinternational.net/Tools/petition/index.html

"Governments, international organisations and financial institutions, private enterprises and all members of society have a responsibility to respect, protect and fulfil the Right to Water for Life.  With one third of the population of the world suffering from lack of adequate drinking water and/or sanitation, it is clear that the realisation of the universal right to Water for Life is far from complete at the grass roots level."

Say no to Wolf 2

2005-03-24

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/advocacy/27400

Available through the link below is a sign-on letter from U.S. civil society objecting to the nomination of Paul Wolfowitz to become the next President of the World Bank. While it is not clear whether the European governments - the only ones with the voting power at the institution's board to stop the nomination - will take any substantial action in opposition, the decision is not final until the board votes on it. That vote is expected on Thursday, March 31.
- Please forward -

sign-ons to: signon@nowaywolfowitz.org

March 23, 2005

Friends & Colleagues -

Below is a sign-on letter from U.S. civil society objecting to the
nomination of Paul Wolfowitz to become the next President of the World
Bank. While it is not clear whether the European governments - the only
ones with the voting power at the institution's board to stop the
nomination - will take any substantial action in opposition, the
decision is not final until the board votes on it. That vote is expected
on Thursday, March 31.

With this sign-on letter we want to signal to the public, to the IFIs,
to the Bush Administration, and to European activists and
decision-makers that U.S. civil society opposes Bush's nomination and
believes it must be fought. While it is unlikely that any Bush appointee
would make constructive changes at the deeply-flawed institution,
Wolfowitz threatens to make the World Bank little more than a pawn of
U.S. commercial and strategic interests. His record of deceit,
incompetence, war-mongering, and ideological obsession suggest his
presidency will almost certainly aggravate the plight of people
countries that borrow from the World Bank and reduce, rather than
increase, transparency and democracy within the institution.

SIGNERS: This letter is from U.S. ORGANIZATIONS
DEADLINE: Monday, March 28 - 2 pm Eastern (11 am Pacific)
TO SIGN ON: Send your name, organization name, and location to
signon@nowaywolfowitz.org


March, 2005

Dear President Bush,

We are writing to ask that you withdraw the nomination of Paul Wolfowitz
to lead the World Bank.

We believe that the World Bank requires serious reform. We believe
however that reform must make it a more multilateral institution, one
that balances the interests of donors and borrowers so that development
can become a shared vision of a better and more sustainable world.
Today's World Bank, unfortunately, is part of a development bureaucracy
viewed in the Global South as a tool for imposing policies that help
foreign interests and harm local initiatives for sustainable development.

For development to succeed, we must eliminate that perception, and more
important, the realities that generate that perception. We must
democratize development.

The installation of Mr. Wolfowitz would send precisely the opposite
signal: it would convince the people in countries that borrow from the
World Bank that the loans and programs it promotes are designed to serve
U.S. interests.

Paul Wolfowitz's background offers no suggestion that he could easily
reverse this perception. The signal accomplishment of his career, one to
which he has devoted 15 years, is the invasion and occupation of Iraq.

Paul Wolfowitz helped sell the war to the American public on deceptive
and misleading grounds.(1) Wolfowitz's disdain for truthfulness in
public policymaking is incompatible with the need for increased
transparency at the Bank and honest assessments of institutional failure.

Mr. Wolfowitz's war has taken a terrible toll. One hundred thousand or
more Iraqi civilians have been killed in the Iraq war, according to the
best available estimates, and more than 1,500 U.S. personnel have been
killed and 11,000 wounded, according to the Pentagon. According to the
CIA, Iraq -- which had no ties to al-Qaeda prior to the war -- is now a
terrorist breeding ground.

Perhaps Mr. Wolfowitz's most relevant experience for the Bank position
involves the U.S. reconstruction efforts in Iraq. But by all accounts,
the reconstruction effort has been a disaster -- worse than the World
Bank's most notorious boondoggles. Iraqi reconstruction has been plagued
by crony contracting, billions of dollars unaccounted for, and a total
failure to deliver the health, water and security services promised to
the Iraqi people.

The U.S. provisional authorities also imposed destructive multinational
corporate-friendly policies (2) that will, if maintained, tie the hands
of Iraqi policymakers and open up the economy -- if it ever gets back on
track -- to such domination by foreign corporate interests that
equitable development will be impossible. If those policies reflect Mr.
Wolfowitz's economic orientation, we could see a disastrous collision
between a demand for blanket privatization and the realities of the
world's impoverished nations.

President Bush, there is no question that major changes are required at
the World Bank.

It is past time for cancellation of the debts owed by impoverished
countries to the Bank.

The Bank's lending in support of destructive market-based proposals --
featuring such policies as privatization of public water systems, the
imposition of charges for access to healthcare, removal of worker
protections, and emphasis on exports and trade liberalization at the
expense of production for domestic needs -- has left countries poorer
and deprived tens of millions of basic rights to healthcare, clean
water, adequate nutrition and other necessities of life.

Independent commissions with which the World Bank has participated have
concluded that the Bank's long-time support for mega- projects such as
large dams and oil, mining and gas projects has seriously damaged the
environment and undermined development goals. Yet the Bank has failed to
alter its lending policy in the face of this evidence, and it continues
to undermine ecological sustainability around the world.

And governance at the Bank remains profoundly undemocratic -- most
prominently in the manner by which the institution's president is
selected. Developing countries must be accorded a stronger role in
selection of the institution's leadership and self-determination with
regard to their economic policies.

But while fundamental change is needed at the World Bank, there is no
evidence that Mr. Wolfowitz has the expertise or experience to
facilitate such moves. To the contrary, his record suggests he will make
matters worse.

We look forward to your reply.

Sincerely,

INITIAL SIGNERS:
Robert Weissman
Essential Action
Washington, DC

Njoki Njoroge Njehu
50 Years Is Enough: U.S. Network for Global Economic Justice
Washington, DC

Deborah James
Global Exchange
San Francisco, CA

Nadia Martinez
Sustainable Energy & Economy Network / Institute for Policy Studies
Washington, DC

Fred Azcarate
Jobs with Justice
Washington, DC

Emira Woods
Foreign Policy in Focus / Institute for Policy Studies
Washington, DC


(1) In 2003, he acknowledged to Vanity Fair that he and others in the
administration made weapons of mass destruction the primary public
rationalization for the Iraqi war not because of fear of actual threat
to the United States or other countries, but for "bureaucratic reasons."

(2) Examples include sweeping privatization, immunity for foreign
contractors from Iraqi law, suspension of all tariffs.


SIGNERS: This letter is from U.S. ORGANIZATIONS
DEADLINE: Monday, March 28 - 2 pm Eastern (11 am Pacific)
TO SIGN ON: Send your name, organization name, and location to
signon@nowaywolfowitz.org

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Africa: AU proposes pan-African contingency force

2005-03-24

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=46264

The African Union (AU) began drawing up plans on Tuesday to establish a 15,000-strong African stand-by force by June 2006. The entire contingent should be able to be deployed within 30 days of an order from the AU's Peace and Security Council. A draft roadmap on peacekeeping in the continent, released by the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, said five brigades of 3,000 men each would be in place by next year.

Angola: Stones of death

2005-03-23

http://www.wilsoncenter.org/events/docs/ADDMarq.pdf

The Angolan government should put an immediate end to the climate of impunity and terror that exists in the diamond rich Lundas provinces in north-eastern Angola and restore human dignity and the socio-economic integration of local people. For their part, diamond mining companies should respect human rights and prevent acts that violate people's rights and freedoms on the part of the security companies which are contracted to them.

These are some of the recommendations contained in a report 'Lundas – The stones of death: Angola's deadly diamonds', which details human rights abuses in the Lunda provinces of Angola. The report says the entire area constitutes diamond bearing reserve zones, of which tens of thousands of hectares have been granted in mining concessions. It shows how the concessions limit the free circulation of people.

“In practice, villages located in the diamond concession zones are forbidden. Populations of villages that fall within a concession zone are uprooted and forced to relocate to other areas, without any support from the authorities or from the concessionaires, and the land that the people traditionally worked and which belongs them is stolen without any compensation."

The report was conducted by Rafael Marques, freelance journalist , and Rui Falcão de Campos, a lawyer.

* Compiled from the report by Pambazuka News.

DRC: Ituri militias take war to civilians

2005-03-24

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=46267

Three months after the resumption of fighting between Lendu and Hema militias in Ituri, a district in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a vivid picture of human-rights violations is emerging. UN observers and NGOs believe the militias' objective is to change the ethnic composition of Djugu, a territory to the north of Ituri's main town, Bunia.

Ivory Coast: Annan warns of possible new war

2005-03-24

http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/LKAU-6ASDZ7?OpenDocument

U.N. peacekeeping troops in Ivory Coast are severely overstretched and militia groups are mobilizing across the country, creating a real danger of a fresh outbreak of war in the world's top cocoa grower, the United Nations said on Wednesday. "There is a very real danger that events may spin out of control with incalculable consequences for the people of Cote d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) and the subregion as a whole," U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in a report to the Security Council.

South Africa: Protests against Iraq war

2005-03-24

http://southafrica.indymedia.org/

About 1000 people marched through the streets of Johannesburg on March 19 to protest against war in all its forms. Organized by the Gauteng Anti-War Coalition, the demonstration was part of a global day of action on the second anniversary of the invasion of Iraq with simultaneous demonstrations around the world. The marchers protested the continued occupation of Iraq and Palestine and the farce of US-engineered democracy in Iraq. They also pointed to the immediate responsibility of South Africans, given the estimated deployment of 10.000 South African mercenaries in Iraq.

South Africa: The Bisaser road revolt

2005-03-24

http://southafrica.indymedia.org/

This is how the local newspaper, The Sunday Tribune, describes the confrontation that took place this past Saturday, 19 March 2005, between the police and the Bisaser road residents: “Amid burning car and tractor tires and flaming, lice-infested mattresses, Durban police battled for more than four hours yesterday to disperse a crowd of about 750 protesting shack dwellers who had barricaded a major arterial route into Durban.” The chief issue is that land promised for the development of housing is suddenly being dug up to be developed for business use. Amongst the secondary issues (sanitation, water, electricity, health) is the question of the Bisaser road dump – which has stayed open as part of the World Bank carbon trading scam which is giving people nearby cancer.

Sudan: Arab League must make a stand for peace in Sudan

2005-03-22

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/conflict/27369

The Arab League must make peace in Darfur an urgent priority as it begins its Summit in Algiers, the Darfur Consortium, an umbrella group of primarily Africa-based civil society organizations, said this week. Support from Arab League States for the African Union mission in Darfur and prosecution of those responsible for atrocities in Darfur is critical to the attainment of peace.
ontact: Dismas Nkunda +256-78-310-404


Arab League Must Take a Stand for Peace in Darfur


(KAMPALA, March 22, 2005) The Arab League must make peace in Darfur an urgent priority as it begins its Summit in Algiers the Darfur Consortium, an umbrella group of primarily Africa-based civil society organizations, said today. Support from Arab League States for the African Union mission in Darfur and prosecution of those responsible for atrocities in Darfur is critical to the attainment of peace.


The Darfur Consortium is a network of African organizations committed to engaging constructively with governments in Africa and around the world to bring about a lasting, peaceful and just resolution to the ongoing violence in Darfur.


A recent mission of the Darfur Consortium to Sudan and Eastern Chad identified two paramount concerns of victims and civil society: ensuring protection for civilians and bringing those responsible for atrocities in Darfur to justice. Addressing these two imperatives is essential for achieving sustainable peace and establishing security in the region. Mechanisms are already in place, but need additional support from the Arab League and the international community in order to ensure their effectiveness.


First, the African Union has already deployed a mission and peacekeeping force to Darfur. With support by States of the Arab League for the provision a more robust mandate and additional technical and financial assistance, the AU mission could significantly improve the lives of civilians in Darfur.


Second, a referral of the situation of Darfur to the International Criminal Court (ICC) by the UN Security Council would be an important first step in achieving justice for the victims of the most atrocious crimes and discouraging further violations. “We believe that the ICC is the most impartial and efficient mechanism for addressing the need for justice in Darfur,” said Taher Boumedra, Secretary-General of the African Society of International and Comparative Law. “Support by States of the Arab League for such a referral is entirely compatible with the vital additional efforts to achieve justice which must continue both in Sudan and within the AU in order to ensure peace, accountability and reconciliation.”


As an organization which includes some of Sudan’s closest neighbors, the Arab League is a vital partner of the people of Darfur and all of Sudan in the quest for peace. In April/May of last year the Arab League conducted a mission to, and assessment of, the situation in Darfur. With more than 180,000 estimated to have died as a result of the conflict and more than two million forced to flee their homes, the people of Darfur need this international support now. “It is our hope that Algeria, both as host of this consultation, and as a member of the Security Council, will take the lead in calling for effective action to protect the people of Darfur,” said Dismas Nkunda, a representative of the Consortium.

More...

Fun science in South Africa

2005-03-21

http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/interna.asp?idnews=27954

For the past week, a historic university town in South Africa's Eastern Cape province has reverberated with some unlikely noises: the sound of rockets igniting, robots chirping and home-made cars racing. Most of all, though, it is the voices of thousands of pupils racing between venues to hear lectures, see films or peruse another installation which remind Grahamstown locals that 'Sasol SciFest' is underway. The annual science festival, the biggest in Africa, is primarily sponsored by Sasol, a South African oil, gas and chemical giant that specialises in converting coal to fuel.

Mobile growth 'fastest in Africa'

2005-03-22

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4331863.stm

Mobile phone use in Africa is growing faster than anywhere else in the world, according to a report. The study, backed by the UK mobile phone giant Vodafone, said African countries with greater mobile use had seen a higher rate of economic growth.

Using SMS to save Kenya's elephants

2005-03-22

http://www.balancingact-africa.com/news/current1.html

A group of conservationists are hoping to keep a track on the elephants in the Samburu National Park in northern Kenya, by using mobile phones, so they can send SMS messages giving their latest location through a SIM card that is fitted after an elephant has been sedated.

Wsis Fund for Community Computer Projects Launched in Geneva

2005-03-22

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=13643&Cr=information&Cr1=technology

A "Digital Solidarity Fund", a voluntary financing mechanism designed to provide community computers, was launched in Geneva recently, with United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan welcoming the initiative as contributing to the fight against poverty and bridging the information divide.

More...

Join the Children Affected by AIDS Online Forum

2005-03-24

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/enewsl/27335

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and The Synergy Project of Social and Scientific Systems, Inc. invite you to join the Children Affected by AIDS (CABA) online discussion forum. You can review the online archive of past postings and resources and subscribe to the Children Affected by AIDS Online Forum at http://www.synergyaids.com/Caba/cabaindex.asp

The Drum Beat newsletter

2005-03-24

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/enewsl/27398

What is advocacy, and how might this strategy play a role in communication-centred development initiatives and analysis around the world? This issue of The Drum Beat focuses on development through advocacy as well as the building of advocacy capacity. It examines just a few of the ways advocacy can be used strategically to foster social change. The Drum Beat - Issue 291 - can be accessed online at http://www.comminit.com/drum_beat_291.html Subscribe online at http://www.comminit.com/subscribe_drumbeat.html

Building successful fundraising relationships

2005-03-22

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/fundraising/27363

'Masterclass - How to build relationships in Fundraising' on 31 March 2005 in Randburg, Johannesburg, South Africa is a one-day seminar with special guest speaker Jon Duschinsky, President of Union pour la Generosite from Paris, France who will share a success story of applying direct marketing techniques for the largest French AIDS Charity over a 4 year period.  Also speaking will be: Joe Araujo, Director of Girls & Boys Town, on how to ensure a balanced and sustained income; Nicholas Wolpe of the LilesLeaf Trust, who has just wrapped-up a capital campaign and raised over R39m for the restoration and development of the infamous Lilesleaf Farm and former base of ANC activists during the 1960's. Rae Bagus from SOS Children's Villages will present two case studies on long-term corporate relationships and Andrew Miller, CEO of Project Literacy, offers good advice on how to prepare and what to do when foreign donors and mega size corporates change criteria and you no longer meet their focus.  To book contact:  Liz Findlay info@fundraisingtraining.co.za  or Tel: +27 11 789 1347 or www.fundraisingtraining.co.za to download a booking form.

Poverty calculation tool

2005-03-23

http://iresearch.worldbank.org/PovcalNet/jsp/index.jsp

PovcalNet is an interactive computational tool that allows you to replicate the calculations made by the World Bank's researchers in estimating the extent of absolute poverty in the world. It also allows you to calculate the poverty measures under different assumptions and to assemble the estimates using alternative country groupings or for any set of individual countries of your choosing.

Rothamsted International African Fellows Programme

2005-03-22

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/fundraising/27357

The Rothamsted International African Fellows Programme aims to provide problem-focused training in Europe for mid-career African scientists. The purpose of the programme is to assist in capacity building, institutional strengthening and knowledge transfer in order to find relevant solutions to the problems of achieving sustainable agricultural production, as well as improving rural development and conservation of biodiversity.
Rothamsted International African Fellows Programme

Rothamsted International Closing Date: 5 April 2005 Description The Rothamsted International African Fellows Programme aims to provide problem-focused training in Europe for mid-career African scientists. The purpose of the programme is to assist in capacity building, institutional strengthening and knowledge transfer in order to find relevant solutions to the problems of achieving sustainable agricultural production, as well as improving rural development and conservation of biodiversity.

Eligibility Applicants must be 'mid-career' post-doctoral scientists.
Candidates without higher degrees but with equivalent research experience will also be considered.

Contact details rothamsted.international@bbsrc.ac.uk

Click below for more information

http://www.rothamsted-international.org/HTML/Fellowships/AFP_main_page.h tml

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4th International Human Rights Academy

2005-03-24

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/courses/27391

The Human Rights Centre of Ghent University (Belgium), the Netherlands Institute of Human Rights (SIM) at Utrecht University (The Netherlands), the Faculty of Law of University of the Western Cape (South Africa) and the International Federation of Health and Human Rights Organisations (IFHHRO) have pleasure in announcing the 4th International Human Rights Academy which will take place from 16-29 October 2005 in Cape Town South Africa.
4th International Human Rights Academy

The Human Rights Centre of Ghent University (Belgium), the Netherlands
Institute of Human Rights (SIM) at Utrecht University (The Netherlands),
the Faculty of Law of University of the Western Cape (South Africa) and
the International Federation of Health and Human Rights Organisations
(IFHHRO) have pleasure in announcing the 4th International Human Rights
Academy which will take place from 16-29 October 2005 in Cape Town South
Africa.

Courses include the Universal System of Protection of Human Rights, the
Regional Systems of Protection of Human Rights, International Criminal
Law, International Humanitarian Law and Transitional Law. Furthermore,
specific topics such as social & economic rights, children's & women's
rights, minority rights, refugees, torture, universal jurisdiction, human
rights & foreign policy, human rights from an Asian & Arab perspective,
etc. are also included. Lectures are given by prominent academic and
non-academic speakers from all continents.

The various intensive courses that make up the Academy are designed to
provide high quality legal education in comparative international human
rights and in humanitarian law, with emphasis on the practical aspects in
the various fields.

Level: graduate, professional

Location: Cape Town South Africa

Application closing date: 1 June 2005

Participants: academics, post-graduate students, staff of international
organisations, staff of international and national non-governmental
organisations, judges, lawyers and other legal practitioners from
countries all over the world. Admittance presupposes a fair knowledge of
human rights law.

For more information see http://www.law.ugent.be/pub/humanrightsacademy/

More...

CODESRIA Regional Methodological Workshop on Social Sciences in Africa

2-7 May 2005, Rabat, Morocco: Call for proposals

2005-03-22

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/courses/27356

One of the major weaknesses of social science research is its lack of consideration for epistemological and methodological issues. While the complexity of the social dynamic involved here should call for an accurate interrogation of the investigation procedures, we are on the contrary witnessing a serious trivialisation of research protocols, which are reduced to being, in the best cases, and under the appearance of a fake superficial rigor, a mere fetishist evocation of superficial recommendations, in the service of a social form of instrumentalisation, or are simply ignored, in the name of a so-called specific immediacy that excludes African social realities from the universal debates on the validity of science.
CODESRIA Regional Methodological Workshop on Social Sciences in Africa:

Fields and Theories of Qualitative Investigation
2005 Session / North Africa
2-7 May 2005, Rabat, Morocco Call for Proposals

One of the major weaknesses of social science research is its lack of consideration for epistemological and methodological issues. While the complexity of the social dynamic involved here should call for an accurate interrogation of the investigation procedures, we are on the contrary witnessing a serious trivialisation of research protocols, which are reduced to being, in the best cases, and under the appearance of a fake superficial rigor, a mere fetishist evocation of superficial recommendations, in the service of a social form of instrumentalisation, or are simply ignored, in the name of a so-called specific immediacy that excludes African social realities from the universal debates on the validity of science. The result is that in those debates, social sciences are often portrayed as a mix of purely literary discourse without empirical anchorage or as anecdotes hidden under a "scholarly" discourse, which is not only pretentious but also vacuous. In such a context, the knowledge produced loses all its heuristic content to become a mere element justifying, deliberately or otherwise, a relatively adapted economic policy. It is high time we discussed the methodological foundations of our current knowledge, in order to give a new impulse to the African social sciences.

The future of young social science researchers starts with an excellent mastery of research processes; that explains why the CODESRIA Secretariat has proposed to convene young African researchers around epistemological and methodological issues, in order to contribute to the creation of a critical space, that would combine the current empiricism with the logical rigor of the epistemological prerequisites, essential for scientific imagination. Such a perspective demands that the contemporary procedures, tools and the major theoretical trends be subject to critique from an African perspective. The major question would therefore be: how to establish a fertile link between theories and fields while taking into account the state of knowledge and techniques to be mobilized, as well as the evolution of African societies? The usual opposition between quantitative and qualitative methods is due to the fact that scientific practice was burdened with a wrong perception of the validity of research procedures: too much value was given to figures, at the expense of qualitative orientations, considered too fickle, in relation with the assumed exactness and "hardness" of the sovereign quantification. But beyond the academic disputes, we should emphasise the search of appropriate means of exploring the African social dynamic, that often does not find expression in the rigid and too systematic quantitativist approaches.

The 2005 session will explore of the conditions for implementating and validating a qualitative perspective in African contexts. Of course, this concern applies to all social science disciplines. Indeed, they are all confronted with the difficulties of understanding the social reality, and also with the limits of the techniques of data collection and analysis, which, given their "qualitative" nature, are suspected to be seriously lacking in scientific rigour. Hence, the hidden meaning of social life is irremediably inaccessible to them. The following points should therefore be placed at the centre of the discussion:

1.The workshop will initially review the distinction hurriedly established between « quantitative » and « qualitative » research, and tries to raise the issue of measurement in social sciences, through a critical study of this traditional division. The mode of processing data collected depends on both the field constraints and on the paradigmatic options of data interpretation. Such a questioning should finally induce us to consider procedures for "quantification" of the "qualitative" approach. Is the non-metrical and "comprehensive" nature of the qualitative approach, as opposed to the mathematical and explanatory nature of quantification, definitively certified?

2.Against the illusion of immediate knowledge, it is absolutely essential to raise clearly the methodological principles of "object construction", as a hypothetical articulation of a theoretical reconstruction of the social reality. This major operation demands that the researcher status, the systematic role of theories and tools be subjected to intense epistemological control.

3.As a procedure for practical comparison with a set of assumptions, the survey calls for a well thought-out choice of the technical data collection and "fact-finding" instruments. But such a selection is never neutral, because facts always remain as facts. The usual tools of qualitative study, interview, observation, archival studies, and the less usual ones, such as photography, will be reviewed, so as to define the modalities of their contribution to research.

The methodological workshop was designed for doctoral students and young African researchers. The countries involved are: Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia.

The working languages are English et French.

The session will be conducted by a session director, assisted by a team of three lecturers, all with an acknowledged knowledge of the session theme.

Researchers wishing to join the pedagogical team are invited to send us, as soon as possible, a CV as well as a four-lecture (4) proposal, of three (3) hours each, on one aspect of the session theme.

Beside the actual preparation of lectures and field visits, the pedagogical team will also submit to laureates a compilation of texts around the workshop theme The session director is in charge of the organization of the whole session. He will assist in preparing lectures to be given by resource timetable. Each application must include the following:
1. An application letter informing about the applicant's research theme.
2. A research project (with a maximum of three to five pages) stating clearly the problematic, relevance of the field, theoretical and methodological framework used, as well as the methodological and epistemological problems encountered.
3. A detailed and up-to-date curriculum.
4. Two reference letters:
a - one from the thesis advisor or another supervisor, showing the relevance of the research project, the state of progress of the research and the theoretical and methodological approach( es ) used, as well as the results expected ; b - another letter from the head of the department or another lecturer attesting to the qualities and academic potential of the candidate .
5. A letter showing institutional affiliation .
Applications will be selected on basis of the innovative nature of the research proposal, gender balance and geographical diversity of candidates .
Applications must be submitted by 1 st April 2005 , at the latest. They must be sent to:

Methodological workshop on Social Sciences (To the attention of Mrs Virginie Niang), Training, Grants and Fellowships Department, CODESRIA, P.O. Box: 3304, Dakar, CP 18524 - Senegal Tél: +221-825.98.22/23 - Fax: +221-824.12.89 E-mail: virginie.niang@codesria.sn CODESRIA Regional Methodological Workshop on Social Sciences in Africa:

Fields and Theories of Qualitative Investigation
2005 Session / North Africa
2-7 May 2005, Rabat, Morocco Call for Proposals One of the major weaknesses of social science research is its lack of consideration for epistemological and methodological issues. While the complexity of the social dynamic involved here should call for an accurate interrogation of the investigation procedures, we are on the contrary witnessing a serious trivialisation of research protocols, which are reduced to being, in the best cases, and under the appearance of a fake superficial rigor, a mere fetishist evocation of superficial recommendations, in the service of a social form of instrumentalisation, or are simply ignored, in the name of a so-called specific immediacy that excludes African social realities from the universal debates on the validity of science. The result is that in those debates, social sciences are often portrayed as a mix of purely literary discourse without empirical anchorage or as anecdotes hidden under a "scholarly" discourse, which is not only pretentious but also vacuous. In such a context, the knowledge produced loses all its heuristic content to become a mere element justifying, deliberately or otherwise, a relatively adapted economic policy. It is high time we discussed the methodological foundations of our current knowledge, in order to give a new impulse to the African social sciences.

The future of young social science researchers starts with an excellent mastery of research processes; that explains why the CODESRIA Secretariat has proposed to convene young African researchers around epistemological and methodological issues, in order to contribute to the creation of a critical space, that would combine the current empiricism with the logical rigor of the epistemological prerequisites, essential for scientific imagination. Such a perspective demands that the contemporary procedures, tools and the major theoretical trends be subject to critique from an African perspective. The major question would therefore be: how to establish a fertile link between theories and fields while taking into account the state of knowledge and techniques to be mobilized, as well as the evolution of African societies? The usual opposition between quantitative and qualitative methods is due to the fact that scientific practice was burdened with a wrong perception of the validity of research procedures: too much value was given to figures, at the expense of qualitative orientations, considered too fickle, in relation with the assumed exactness and "hardness" of the sovereign quantification. But beyond the academic disputes, we should emphasise the search of appropriate means of exploring the African social dynamic, that often does not find expression in the rigid and too systematic quantitativist approaches.

The 2005 session will explore of the conditions for implementating and validating a qualitative perspective in African contexts. Of course, this concern applies to all social science disciplines. Indeed, they are all confronted with the difficulties of understanding the social reality, and also with the limits of the techniques of data collection and analysis, which, given their "qualitative" nature, are suspected to be seriously lacking in scientific rigour. Hence, the hidden meaning of social life is irremediably inaccessible to them. The following points should therefore be placed at the centre of the discussion:

1.The workshop will initially review the distinction hurriedly established between « quantitative » and « qualitative » research, and tries to raise the issue of measurement in social sciences, through a critical study of this traditional division. The mode of processing data collected depends on both the field constraints and on the paradigmatic options of data interpretation. Such a questioning should finally induce us to consider procedures for "quantification" of the "qualitative" approach. Is the non-metrical and "comprehensive" nature of the qualitative approach, as opposed to the mathematical and explanatory nature of quantification, definitively certified?

2.Against the illusion of immediate knowledge, it is absolutely essential to raise clearly the methodological principles of "object construction", as a hypothetical articulation of a theoretical reconstruction of the social reality. This major operation demands that the researcher status, the systematic role of theories and tools be subjected to intense epistemological control.

3.As a procedure for practical comparison with a set of assumptions, the survey calls for a well thought-out choice of the technical data collection and "fact-finding" instruments. But such a selection is never neutral, because facts always remain as facts. The usual tools of qualitative study, interview, observation, archival studies, and the less usual ones, such as photography, will be reviewed, so as to define the modalities of their contribution to research.

The methodological workshop was designed for doctoral students and young African researchers. The countries involved are: Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia.

The working languages are English et French.

The session will be conducted by a session director, assisted by a team of three lecturers, all with an acknowledged knowledge of the session theme.

Researchers wishing to join the pedagogical team are invited to send us, as soon as possible, a CV as well as a four-lecture (4) proposal, of three (3) hours each, on one aspect of the session theme.

Beside the actual preparation of lectures and field visits, the pedagogical team will also submit to laureates a compilation of texts around the workshop theme The session director is in charge of the organization of the whole session. He will assist in preparing lectures to be given by resource timetable. Each application must include the following:
1. An application letter informing about the applicant's research theme.
2. A research project (with a maximum of three to five pages) stating clearly the problematic, relevance of the field, theoretical and methodological framework used, as well as the methodological and epistemological problems encountered.
3. A detailed and up-to-date curriculum.
4. Two reference letters:
a - one from the thesis advisor or another supervisor, showing the relevance of the research project, the state of progress of the research and the theoretical and methodological approach( es ) used, as well as the results expected ; b - another letter from the head of the department or another lecturer attesting to the qualities and academic potential of the candidate .
5. A letter showing institutional affiliation .
Applications will be selected on basis of the innovative nature of the research proposal, gender balance and geographical diversity of candidates .
Applications must be submitted by 1 st April 2005 , at the latest. They must be sent to:

Methodological workshop on Social Sciences (To the attention of Mrs Virginie Niang), Training, Grants and Fellowships Department, CODESRIA, P.O. Box: 3304, Dakar, CP 18524 - Senegal Tél: +221-825.98.22/23 - Fax: +221-824.12.89 E-mail: virginie.niang@codesria.sn CODESRIA Regional Methodological Workshop on Social Sciences in Africa:

Fields and Theories of Qualitative Investigation
2005 Session / North Africa
2-7 May 2005, Rabat, Morocco Call for Proposals One of the major weaknesses of social science research is its lack of consideration for epistemological and methodological issues. While the complexity of the social dynamic involved here should call for an accurate interrogation of the investigation procedures, we are on the contrary witnessing a serious trivialisation of research protocols, which are reduced to being, in the best cases, and under the appearance of a fake superficial rigor, a mere fetishist evocation of superficial recommendations, in the service of a social form of instrumentalisation, or are simply ignored, in the name of a so-called specific immediacy that excludes African social realities from the universal debates on the validity of science. The result is that in those debates, social sciences are often portrayed as a mix of purely literary discourse without empirical anchorage or as anecdotes hidden under a "scholarly" discourse, which is not only pretentious but also vacuous. In such a context, the knowledge produced loses all its heuristic content to become a mere element justifying, deliberately or otherwise, a relatively adapted economic policy. It is high time we discussed the methodological foundations of our current knowledge, in order to give a new impulse to the African social sciences.


The future of young social science researchers starts with an excellent mastery of research processes; that explains why the CODESRIA Secretariat has proposed to convene young African researchers around epistemological and methodological issues, in order to contribute to the creation of a critical space, that would combine the current empiricism with the logical rigor of the epistemological prerequisites, essential for scientific imagination. Such a perspective demands that the contemporary procedures, tools and the major theoretical trends be subject to critique from an African perspective.


The major question would therefore be: how to establish a fertile link between theories and fields while taking into account the state of knowledge and techniques to be mobilized, as well as the evolution of African societies? The usual opposition between quantitative and qualitative methods is due to the fact that scientific practice was burdened with a wrong perception of the validity of research procedures: too much value was given to figures, at the expense of qualitative orientations, considered too fickle, in relation with the assumed exactness and "hardness" of the sovereign quantification. But beyond the academic disputes, we should emphasise the search of appropriate means of exploring the African social dynamic, that often does not find expression in the rigid and too systematic quantitativist approaches.

The 2005 session will explore of the conditions for implementating and validating a qualitative perspective in African contexts. Of course, this concern applies to all social science disciplines. Indeed, they are all confronted with the difficulties of understanding the social reality, and also with the limits of the techniques of data collection and analysis, which, given their "qualitative" nature, are suspected to be seriously lacking in scientific rigour. Hence, the hidden meaning of social life is irremediably inaccessible to them. The following points should therefore be placed at the centre of the discussion:

1.The workshop will initially review the distinction hurriedly established between « quantitative » and « qualitative » research, and tries to raise the issue of measurement in social sciences, through a critical study of this traditional division. The mode of processing data collected depends on both the field constraints and on the paradigmatic options of data interpretation. Such a questioning should finally induce us to consider procedures for "quantification" of the "qualitative" approach. Is the non-metrical and "comprehensive" nature of the qualitative approach, as opposed to the mathematical and explanatory nature of quantification, definitively certified?

2.Against the illusion of immediate knowledge, it is absolutely essential to raise clearly the methodological principles of "object construction", as a hypothetical articulation of a theoretical reconstruction of the social reality. This major operation demands that the researcher status, the systematic role of theories and tools be subjected to intense epistemological control.

3.As a procedure for practical comparison with a set of assumptions, the survey calls for a well thought-out choice of the technical data collection and "fact-finding" instruments. But such a selection is never neutral, because facts always remain as facts. The usual tools of qualitative study, interview, observation, archival studies, and the less usual ones, such as photography, will be reviewed, so as to define the modalities of their contribution to research.

The methodological workshop was designed for doctoral students and young African researchers. The countries involved are: Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia.

The working languages are English et French.

The session will be conducted by a session director, assisted by a team of three lecturers, all with an acknowledged knowledge of the session theme.

Researchers wishing to join the pedagogical team are invited to send us, as soon as possible, a CV as well as a four-lecture (4) proposal, of three (3) hours each, on one aspect of the session theme.

Beside the actual preparation of lectures and field visits, the pedagogical team will also submit to laureates a compilation of texts around the workshop theme The session director is in charge of the organization of the whole session. He will assist in preparing lectures to be given by resource timetable. Each application must include the following:
1. An application letter informing about the applicant's research theme.
2. A research project (with a maximum of three to five pages) stating clearly the problematic, relevance of the field, theoretical and methodological framework used, as well as the methodological and epistemological problems encountered.
3. A detailed and up-to-date curriculum.
4. Two reference letters:
a - one from the thesis advisor or another supervisor, showing the relevance of the research project, the state of progress of the research and the theoretical and methodological approach( es ) used, as well as the results expected ; b - another letter from the head of the department or another lecturer attesting to the qualities and academic potential of the candidate .
5. A letter showing institutional affiliation .
Applications will be selected on basis of the innovative nature of the research proposal, gender balance and geographical diversity of candidates .
Applications must be submitted by 1 st April 2005 , at the latest. They must be sent to:

Methodological workshop on Social Sciences (To the attention of Mrs Virginie Niang), Training, Grants and Fellowships Department, CODESRIA, P.O. Box: 3304, Dakar, CP 18524 - Senegal Tél: +221-825.98.22/23 - Fax: +221-824.12.89 E-mail: virginie.niang@codesria.sn

More...

How to reform a government course

2005-03-24

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/courses/27395

The University of Westminster announces the launch of the world's first international 'how to reform a government' course for future world leaders. The one-year course, available starting September 2005 – MA Economic and Governmental Reform - is a unique Masters programme designed by the Global Economic Policy Institute. Its aim is to prepare senior civil servants and politicians for leadership roles in government. The course includes a forensic international examination of why reforms go well or go badly, and examines closely the conflicts that often arise between different types of economic & governmental reform.
Global Economic Policy Institute
University of Westminster
309 Regent Street
London W1B 2UW, UK
Tel. + 44 20 7911 5000
Direct tel. + 44 20 8741 1166
Mobile + 44 7974 188087

Press release

For Immediate Release








LONDON, ENGLAND, March 17th 2005. The University of Westminster announces the launch of the world’s first international ‘how to reform a government’ course for future world leaders.

The one-year course, available starting September 2005 – MA Economic and Governmental Reform - is a unique Masters programme designed by the Global Economic Policy Institute. Its aim is to prepare senior civil servants and politicians for leadership roles in government. The course includes a forensic international examination of why reforms go well or go badly, and examines closely the conflicts that often arise between different types of economic & governmental reform.

The programme design is based on extensive worldwide research among government leaders and international financial institutions. Course modules include security & military reform, macroeconomics, political & legal system reform and international law, for example. A central module concerns public administration and finance reforms, with a particular focus on the administration of health and education policy.

A fundamental assumption behind the course is that much international military conflict and most incidences of mass poverty can be prevented by more effective governance. An associated assumption is that the conduct of government at the top of policymaking is vital in this endeavour – on the principle that ‘good governance begins at the top’.

Course Director Paul Reynolds, said;

‘Many of the severe problems of the world – famine, repression and military conflict – arise from a lack of technical ability or adequate organisation at the top of government, the results from which can lead to diversionary security measures or a descent into economic chaos and corruption. Improving governance and democracy in the centres of power around the world can have a major positive impact on world peace and poverty reduction. That is the simple aim of this ambitious MA course’.

The Institute’s staff have worked with government ministers and international institutions in more than 60 developing and transitional governments around the globe, and this wealth of experience is brought to bear in course design and detailed teaching content.

The course is unique in that it is truly international and it focuses on all success-critical reform issues across government from the point of view of government leaders who have to balance conflicting pressures and resource constraints. Course subjects:

Public administration & finance Military & security sector reform
Macroeconomic policy Reform of political systems & democracy
Microeconomic reform International law in government
Judicial & domestic legal reform Integration of policy and political leadership

Much of the course focus is on how these different areas of reform conflict with each other and inhibit benefits for the population. Difficult issues such as relations with the World Bank and IMF, corruption, environmental damage, and demands for more democracy, are all addressed head-on.
Ends.

For further information contact:

> Prof. Paul E M Reynolds (Course Director)
Tel + 44 20 8741 1166 or + 44 20 8748 6788
Mobile/cellular + 44 7974 188087
E mail paulreynolds@email.com or paulemreynolds@gmail.com

> Dr Celia Szusterman (Course Leader)
Tel + 44 20 7911 5000
E mail c.szusterman@westminster.ac.uk
* Website: www.wmin.ac.uk >Postgrad courses > politics, or enter government in the course search box.

Backgrounder - The Global Economic Policy Institute, provides courses for senior civil servants from around the globe, in collaboration with the University of Westminster, and undertakes research and advisory projects for governments and for international aid institutions the world over. Country operations over the last 3 years include China, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Ukraine, Rwanda, Cambodia, Kenya and Iraq, and work with the World Bank, UK DfID and UN institutions.

Course applicants: contact Philip Niland at P.C.Niland@westminster.ac.uk or Prof. Paul Reynolds paulemreynolds@gmail.com or apply online at www.wmin.ac.uk (post-graduate courses > politics)

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The 8th ZIFF Festival of the Dhow Countries

2005-03-24

http://www.ziff.or.tz/

The Zanzibar International Film Festival (ZIFF) of the Dhow Countries, East Africa’s largest cultural event is located in Zanzibar around the magnificent, historical venues along the waterfront of Stone Town. The festival celebrates the unique cultural heritage of Africa and the Dhow countries of the Indian Ocean region and their global Diaspora. The Festival promotes an extensive programme of Films, Music & Performing Arts, Exhibitions, and Workshops for Women, Children, Film Industry, Music Industry and Literature.

Cameroon/Indonesia: Regional Coordinator/Senior Principal Scientist

Center for International Forestry Research

2005-03-22

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/jobs/27339

CIFOR is looking for a Regional Coordinator for its Central Africa office (Yaounde, Cameroon) and a Senior Principal Scientist for its Forest and Livelihoods Program (Bogor, Indonesia).

Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR)

The Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) is a leading international forestry research organization established in 1993 to address global concerns about the social, environmental and economic impacts of forest loss and degradation. CIFOR is one of the 15 Future Harvest Centers of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). It is based in Bogor, Indonesia, with regional offices in Brazil, Cameroon and Zimbabwe. It works with partners in over 30 other countries.

CIFOR is looking for a Regional Coordinator for its Central Africa office (Yaounde, Cameroon) and a Senior/Principal Scientist for its Forest and Livelihoods Program (Bogor, Indonesia).

Regional Coordinator (RC)
Duties:
Under the leadership of the Assistant Director General, the Regional Coordinator will provide regional input on forestry research priorities and support regional and collaborative research with partners. The RC will provide scientific leadership, identify strategic opportunities, develop and maintain functional partnerships, support capacity building initiatives, develop and maintain donor relations, and implement efficient administrative systems. He / she will support the research efforts of CIFOR scientists and collaborators, and ensure coordination with regional activities and research programmes. The Regional Coordinator will manage the Regional Office and liaise with Corporate Services with respect to financial, human resources and administrative matters.

Qualifications:
„P Degree in forestry research or related field, PhD is preferred.
„P A minimum of 8 years experience in collaborative research / research management. „P Regional reputation as research leader with knowledge of regional scientific issues.
„P Experience with cross-cultural and multi-disciplinary research teams. „P Experience working in more than one developing country within the region.
„P Excellent interpersonal, communication and organizational skills. „P Fluent in English and French.
„P Excellent team leadership and team facilitation skills.
„P Expertise in resource mobilization and in donor relations is preferred.

Senior/Principal Scientist (S/PS)
Duties:
Under the leadership of the Program Director, the Senior/Principal Scientist will develop, facilitate and manage research projects at various sites globally. The S/PS will provide scientific leadership and management, help identify strategic opportunities, develop and maintain functional partnerships, support capacity building initiatives, develop and maintain donor relations, and undertake appropriate research. The research focus could be on any of the topics covered in the program (conservation and development outcomes; forests and human well being; forest industry and local livelihoods).

Qualifications:

Degree in an appropriate discipline, PhD is preferred.
A minimum of 10 years experience in collaborative research. „P Global reputation as researcher with knowledge of forest and livelihood issues.
Experience with cross-cultural and multi-disciplinary research teams. „P Experience working in numerous developing countries.
Excellent interpersonal, communication and organizational skills. „P Fluent in English, and preferably also in French.
Excellent team leadership and team facilitation skills.
Expertise in resource mobilization and in donor relations is strongly preferred.

Terms of Employment: „P An attractive USD salary and benefits package including health care, relocation assistance and expatriation benefits.
Extensive regional travel and international travel required. Expected starting date: September 2005.

Application Process:

Applications should be submitted before the 15 April closing date. Interviews for both positions will be conducted in late May. Applications should include a covering letter, a detailed CV, and the names and addresses (including phone, e-mail) of three or more professional referees. They should be marked confidential and sent by e-mail to: Bourrier International Consultants Inc., 12 Roseglen Private, Ottawa, ON, K1H 1B6, Canada, Tel: (1-613) 247-7291, E-mail: bici@sympatico.ca To learn more about CIFOR and full details on these positions, please visit its web site at: http://www.cifor.cgiar.org CIFOR is an equal opportunity employer and believes that a diversity of staff contributes to excellence.
Women and developing country nationals are strongly encouraged to apply

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Northern Sudan: Policy Advisor

Oxfam

2005-03-22

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/jobs/27358

You will act as the policy focal point for Oxfam GB and support the Sudan Advocacy Co-ordinator to develop and implement a coherent advocacy strategy for Oxfam in Sudan. You will specifically focus on issues of conflict analysis, humanitarian space and the ongoing peace processes.

Policy Advisor

Are you ready to work with poor people as a force for change in addressing the causes of poverty, suffering and injustice, and alleviating their symptoms? We are looking for someone like you to fill the position of Policy Advisor for the North Sudan Programme.

You will act as the policy focal point for Oxfam GB and support the Sudan Advocacy Co-ordinator to develop and implement a coherent advocacy strategy for Oxfam in Sudan. You will specifically focus on issues of conflict analysis, humanitarian space and the ongoing peace processes. You will collect and analyse information relating advocacy work through liaison with INGO, UN networks, government authorities and other relevant sources.

Your role will include supplying situation updates, advocacy positions and briefing papers to the Country Office and make these available to key external contacts according to agreed strategies. You will provide support to the INGO advocacy coalition, active in Khartoum, on behalf of Oxfam GB. You will also work with the Khartoum-based Media Officer to ensure that media messages are consistent with the agreed strategy.

You will have proven ability to monitor and evaluate advocacy strategies and provide advice to the County Programme Manager on future requirements for advocacy support in Sudan You will therefore have proven record of media, advocacy and communication experience, with good analytical skills and an understanding of humanitarian issues. You will possess excellent written and verbal communication skills, as well as negotiation and diplomacy skills. You will work in a multi-national, multi-cultural team and will have the ability to develop good working relationships. Fluency in written and spoken English is essential, whilst the ability to speak the Arabic language will be an advantage.

The post is on an open-ended contract with a starting salary of £18,250 and a Market supplement of £2,000 net per annum. Attractive relocation benefits including housing allowance and annual flights home will be offered to the successful candidate.

If you believe you are the candidate we are looking for, please submit your application and current CV to hecajobs@oxfam.org.uk

The closing date for applications is the 31st of March 2005. Interviews will be held in Khartoum within April 2005.

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Regional Editors

2005-03-24

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/jobs/27394

We are an initiative called 1000 Women for the Nobel Peace Prize 2005. Our goal is to identify 1000 women worldwide who work for peace every day. Together these 1000 women and their work are being honored with a nomination to the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005. At this stage of the project, the biographies of the 1000 peace women are being written locally according to several formats: an exhibition, a book with 100 photographs and 1000 texts plus introductory chapters, post cards with abbreviated descriptions of the work of the 1000 women, and extensive biographies for a website. We are looking for regional editors who are willing to work with our regional coordinators and take on the responsibility of editing the biographies produced in the regions.
1000 Women for the Nobel Peace Prize 2005

Regional Editors

Job Description

We are an initiative called 1000 Women for the Nobel Peace Prize 2005. Our goal is to identify 1000 women worldwide who work for peace every day. Together these 1000 women and their work are being honored with a nomination to the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005.

Since the work these women do for peace is often unspectacular, but sustainable, we intend to present these 1000 women and their work to the entire world with exibitions, a book, a website. Furthermore, an international team of (women) scientists is researching on the work of these peace women in order to find out how women influence peacebuilding around the world.

The idea came from a member of the Swiss national parliament, Dr Ruth-Gaby Vermot-Mangold. Together with other prominent Swiss women (mainly politicians) she founded an association, which is now responsible for the project. The project is supported by 20 fantastic women worldwide who were responsible for calling for nominations in their respective regions and selecting the 1000 women peace builders. The Project Managers are Maren Haartje, a gender specialist and Rebecca Vermot, political scientist and journalist. So far, the project has been financed by the Swiss Federal Government and some Swiss banks as well as private persons who support this unique idea. But we have to find other sponsors as well.

At this stage of the project, the biographies of the 1000 peace women are being written locally according to several formats: an exhibition, a book with 100 photographs and 1000 texts plus introductiory chapters, post cards with abbreviated descriptions of the work of the 1000 women, and extensive biographies for a website.

We are looking for regional editors who are willing to work with our regional coordinators and take on the responsibility of editing the biographies produced in the regions (approx. 150 each).

Qualifications needed:
• Experience in editing and writing in English
• Mother tongue: English
• Knowledge of the region and the languages spoken there
• Availability in from March to May 2005 to accomplish the work
• Has direct access to internet and email

The regional editors will work locally and may have to be in touch with the coordinators and writers electronically or by phone. There is no possibility for travel.

Contact rebecca.vermot@1000peacewomen.org

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Secretary-General

West African Civil Society Forum

2005-03-22

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/jobs/27337

The Secretary-General is responsible for providing strategic leadership, coordination of programme development, management and implementation, servicing of the network, provision of an effective interface with partner institutions and funding agencies, monitoring and evaluation of programme delivery and operational performance, staff supervision and general administration.
West African Civil Society Forum (WACSOF)


The West African Civil Society Forum is the official Forum of over
100 civil society and non-governmental organizations operating across the West African sub-region. WACSOF aims to influence the work of the regional institution – ECOWAS, build and strengthen networks of civil society organizations in the sub-region, develop the capacity of its members and relate to external agencies who share the goals of deepening democracy, preventing conflict, promoting economic development and eradicating poverty in West Africa.


To deliver on its aims, WACSOF has finalized plans to recruit its pioneer Secretary-General who shall be expected to lead the work of the Forum:
Secretary-General (Initial two-year contract)
Reporting to the WACSOF Steering Committee, the Secretary-General is responsible for providing strategic leadership, coordination of programme development, management and implementation, servicing of the network, provision of an effective interface with partner institutions and funding agencies, monitoring and evaluation of programme delivery and operational performance, staff supervision and general administration.


The successful candidate will hold a post-graduate degree in the Social Sciences, Humanities, Law or related field, bring in extensive experience of leading and managing a team of professionals, project development and international fundraising, excellent analytical skills, ability to translate strategic aims to practical plans, excellent networking skills, sound knowledge of democratization, rights based development and human security issues, strong inter personal and communication skills and extensive local knowledge of developments in the West African sub-region.


This is a senior management level position in which a high performance strategic leader with a proven track record of delivering demonstrable impact while successfully managing change in complex and varied operations is required. Bi-lingual candidates are particularly encouraged to apply for this job with responsibilities that may entail frequent travel.

Terms and Conditions Attractive conditions consistent with responsibilities and commensurate to regional standards Application attached with a CV should be submitted by April 29, 2005 to wacsof@cddnig.org or labebe@international-alert.org

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Somaliland: Information technology specialist

Amoud University

2005-03-24

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/jobs/27393

We are looking for an innovative and creative individual able to handle the challenges inherent in a new institution in a developing country. You will have a diploma or other approved qualification in information systems and a minimum of 3 years work experience preferably in a medium to large organisation across two or more sites.


For over 30 years, CIIR/ICD has been leading the way on practical international development issues for more than thirty years. Whether through placing development workers overseas, or in our policy and advocacy achievements, CIIR/ICD has a track record of making a difference. We work with people of all faiths and none.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (IT) SPECIALIST
Amoud University
Borama, Awdal Region, Somaliland
9 month contract: April 2005 – December 2005


This post is based at Amoud community-based University in Borama, which is the first institute of higher education to evolve since the end of Somaliland’s period of conflict, operating between the main campus and the new e-Learning Centre in Borama town. This is an exciting opportunity for a resourceful and dedicated individual to assist in the development and management of information systems, the introduction of e-Learning, and offer necessary support and training to users.


We are looking for an innovative and creative individual able to handle the challenges inherent in a new institution in a developing country. You will have a diploma or other approved qualification in information systems and a minimum of 3 years work experience preferably in a medium to large organisation across two or more sites.

Experience in installation of LAN, including configuration and maintenance and appropriate security measures, web design and web construction using HTML and CSS, hardware maintenance, and setting up email and access to the Web are essential. You should also have experience of informal training of students/adults and of having worked in a resource-poor environment.

Knowledge of different operating systems including Windows, Unix and Mackintosh based system, an ability and commitment to share skills and experience and to work in a flexible way within existing resources are essential.

Fluency in Somali is essential. You should also and have gender awareness, cultural sensitivity, and social and political maturity. A commitment to the aims and objectives of the University and willingness to become involved in the wider life of the institution is also essential.


It is essential that you complete the application form in full, as very specific information is required and will be used to decide whether or not you will be shortlisted for interview. Please do not send CVs.

For further information, a copy of the job description and an application form visit www.ciir.org (see section " jobs @ CIIR").

Please return the completed application form to: Recruitment@ciir.org

Closing date: 13 April 2005 (by 17.30)

Interviews: Late April 2005

CIIR/ICD is committed to equal opportunities

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Sudan: Advocacy Co-ordinator

Oxfam

2005-03-22

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/jobs/27359

You will lead the development and implementation of a coherent advocacy strategy for Oxfam in Sudan. You will specifically focus on issues of conflict analysis, humanitarian space and the ongoing peace processes.
Advocacy Co-ordinator

A challenging job and a unique opportunity to make a real impact on poverty and suffering. These are some of the things you can look forward to when you join us at Oxfam as the Advocacy Co-ordinator for the Sudan Programme.

You will lead the development and implementation of a coherent advocacy strategy for Oxfam in Sudan. You will specifically focus on issues of conflict analysis, humanitarian space and the ongoing peace processes. You will act as the focal point for Oxfam International (OI) in Sudan (both the geographic North and South) for advocacy and liaise and co-ordinate the work of OI affiliates outside of Sudan.

Your role will include working closely with designated policy leads for North and South Sudan in developing strategy; playing a lead role for Sudan lobbying both regionally and globally; and to manage and appropriately co-ordinate resources available for this. You will work with Policy Advisors to produce and disseminate situation updates, advocacy positions and briefing papers within Oxfam, OI and key external contacts according to agreed strategies. You will lead on the provision of support to INGO advocacy coalition active in Khartoum and Nairobi on behalf of Oxfam GB.

You will have a proven record of media, advocacy and communication experience, with good analytical skills and an understanding of humanitarian issues. You will possess excellent written and verbal communication skills as well as negotiation and diplomacy skills. Good inter-personal skills as well as excellent written and spoken English are essential. You will be familiar with SPERE minimum standards and have a commitment to relevant internationally recognized humanitarian principles. You will be prepared to travel for 65% of the time.
The post is on a 1 year fixed term contract with a starting salary of £22,000 net per annum. Attractive relocation benefits including housing allowance and gratuities will be offered to the successful candidate.

If you believe you are the candidate we are looking for, please submit your application and current CV to hecajobs@oxfam.org.uk

The closing date for applications is the 31st of March 2005. Interviews will be held in Nairobi within April 2005.

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Zimbabwe: Campaigner

Amnesty International

2005-03-22

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/jobs/27341

The incumbent will be creating innovative campaigning strategies aimed at decision makers and other audiences, resulting in concrete and long lasting change for the human rights situation in Zimbabwe.

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL Campaigner – Zimbabwe £24,029 pa

Based London You will be creating innovative campaigning strategies aimed at decision makers and other audiences, resulting in concrete and long lasting change for the human rights situation in Zimbabwe.

You have substantial, practical experience of campaigning, and a sound understanding of human rights issues. Knowledge of the southern Africa sub-region, in particular Zimbabwe, is highly desirable. Fluency in English is essential.

A working knowledge of other languages, such as Shona and/or Ndebele, and French would be an asset. Field experience in the region is desirable.
Demonstrated commitment to human rights work, cultural diversity and an ability to work as part of a team, often under pressure, are also required.

For further information about this and our other current vacancies and to apply online, please visit us at www.amnesty.org/jobs fax us on +44 (0) 20 7413 5822 or send an A4 SAE to The Recruitment Team, HR Program,
1 Easton Street, London, WC1X 0DW. CV's will not be accepted.
Please quote Ref: AFR/05/04 Closing date: 25 April 2005 International Secretariat The International Secretariat of Amnesty International actively promotes cultural diversity and equal opportunities.

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Fahamu