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Featured in this issue

2005-05-12

EDITORIALS: Horace Campbell writes on how Walter Rodney became the ‘prophet of emancipation’
COMMENT AND ANALYSIS: The onslaught of the biotech industry is the new scramble for Africa, argues Nnimmo Bassey
- Chandrakant Patel asks if the vision of Bandung will mean new trade rules based on equity?
LETTERS: Reader views on capitalism as genocide, development pornography and press freedom
CONFLICT AND EMERGENCIES: News on DRC secession, Somalia peacekeepers and the latest from Darfur
HUMAN RIGHTS: Soon-to-be announced winner of human rights award arrested and held in Sudan
DEVELOPMENT: Footballers challenge the G8 in Kenya and chicken farmers demand fair trade in Ghana
ENVIRONMENT: New trade talks threaten environmental laws
MEDIA AND FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION: Kenyan and Nigerian first ladies mark press freedom day by storming newsrooms, beating and arresting journalists
ADVOCACY AND CAMPAIGNS: Call for the release of a Coke union worker arrested in Eritrea along with two others.
JOBS: Fahamu seeks advocacy and campaigns coordinator

* Would debt cancellation change your day-to-day life?

World Debt Day 2005 takes place on May 16 and is an opportunity to voice your feelings about how the burden of debt blocks development across Africa. Pambazuka News would like to know how you think debt cancellation would change your day-to-day life. Send your comments to editor@pambazuka.org

In March Pambazuka News produced a special issue on debt that contained a series of articles addressing critical issues related to debt. You can catch up on the articles in the edition by visiting http://www.pambazuka.org/index.php?issue=197

Walter Rodney, the Prophet of Self Emancipation

2005-05-12

Horace Campbell

Guyanese activist and academic Walter Rodney, the author of ‘How Europe Underdeveloped Africa’ was not just a Guyanese figure. He was known worldwide, especially in Africa, where he enjoyed great popularity for his solidarity with the struggles of the working people. This year marks 25 years since his assassination and efforts are underway to commemorate the life of a man who became known as the ‘prophet of self emancipation’.


The year 2005 marks twenty-five years since Walter Rodney was assassinated in
Georgetown, Guyana. Walter Rodney was a tireless champion of the rights of working peoples everywhere and in his short life of thirty eight years he made his mark as one of the pre eminent thinkers of the 20th century.

When one reads his monograph, ‘World War II and the Tanzanian Economy’, (published by Cornell University, African Studies and Research Centre) one can get a sense of the kind of conditions into which Walter Rodney entered this world. This reflection on the war was also contained in a paper delivered by Walter Rodney in London on comparisons between Tanzania and Guyana under colonialism. War and the destruction of human lives by capitalism were constantly on the mind of Walter Rodney.

Secondary Education in Guyana

Walter Rodney was brought into this world in the midst of war, conceived by Guyanese working class activists who were very much part of the anti colonial struggles of the society. Rodney was born on March 23, 1942 in Bent Street, Georgetown, where he grew up and spent his childhood. After attending primary school, he won an open exhibition scholarship to Queen’s College, then one of the elite schools in the colony. Rodney grew up in a time of ferment in Guyana and he paid close attention to what was happening in his society while excelling in every area of life that he participated in. He was involved as a school cadet, as a debater, as a member of the sports team and was known to be a very good bridge and chess player. Rodney came to adulthood when the questions of the centrality of the working people in the future of the country were being debated (with words and with imperial intervention). Both of his parents were active in the Peoples Progressive Party (PPP) led by Cheddi Jagan and were outspoken in their opposition to racism, colonialism and imperialism. Walter Rodney often attended political meetings with his mother and went around distributing anti-colonial literature himself.

Walter distinguished himself in high school and in 1960 won another open scholarship, this time to the University of the West Indies (UWI) campus at Mona, Jamaica. In Jamaica, he was an active supporter of Caribbean Unity and he traveled extensively in Jamaica supporting the West Indian Federation during the referendum of 1961. Three years later, he obtained a degree in history with First Class (top) Honors.

While as an undergraduate he was outspoken in the defense of the poor and his activities were monitored by the Jamaican police, who were afraid of the strident defense of the rights of ordinary people. As an undergraduate, he was already writing and contributing to scholarly journals on the issues of slavery and capitalism. In one particular essay entitled, “The Slave,” Walter brought out not only the humanity of the enslaved African, but the capacity to organize and rebel under the most brutal conditions.

Walter Rodney in London

In 1963, he received yet another scholarship, to study African History at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London. At that period, the questions of decolonization in all parts of the world were being debated. The legacies of the post war agitation by Africans who were involved in the West African Students Union (WASU) had inspired a spirit of cooperation beyond national boundaries. In London he deepened his understanding of Pan Africanism and was in contact with students from Africa and the Caribbean. C. L. R. James provided the bridge between these communities. James had been a member of the International African Service Bureau (IASB) and had cooperated with George Padmore, W.E. B Dubois, Jomo Kenyatta and Kwame Nkrumah in placing the decolonization question squarely before the British political leaders and peoples. Walter was a member of the group of Caribbean workers and students who studied and debated with C.L. R. James. These study sessions included the cream of the anti colonial youth who were being trained in Europe at that time.

In 1966, at the age of 24, Rodney received his PhD. His doctoral thesis was published in 1970 as ‘A History of the Upper Guinea Coast, 1545-1800’. Because of the scholarly breakthroughs in this study, Rodney’s work was published in the most distinguished Journals of African History and he made a name for himself as a pre - eminent African historian. It was while in London when he married Patricia.

Rodney and Tanzania

His first job in academia was an appointment as lecturer in history at the University of Dar es Salaam, in Tanzania, East Africa. At that time, Tanzania was the Headquarters of the OAU Liberation Committee. In 1964 the Zanzibar revolution had radicalized the politics of East Africa and in 1967 the Tanzanian government launched the Arusha Declaration. Che Guevara had also traveled through Tanzania on his way to fight in the Congo.

Returned to Jamaica

In 1968, he returned to Jamaica to lecture at Mona campus, his old university. Rodney’s second coming to Jamaica coincided with the rise of mass political activity on the island, activity in which he became deeply involved. He worked closely with poor people and “grounded” with Rastafarians in Kingston and other parts of the country. He was constantly under surveillance by the police but was not intimidated. The scholarly work of Rodney increased while he was publishing for journals, but he found time for working with the ordinary people. In this regard, Walter was the quintessential organic intellectual.

Rodney was very popular with the Jamaican masses, but his activism was frowned upon by the middle classes who felt that he was wasting his time with the Rastafari. At that time, the Rastafari were considered “outcasts” and “criminals.” The influence of Walter Rodney on the lyrics of Bob Marley can be seen from reading ‘Groundings’ and listening to the Album ‘Survival’ by Bob Marley. (See Walter Rodney, ‘Groundings With My Brothers’) In seeking to respect the culture of the people, Rodney participated in numerous sessions teaching the history of Africa in poor communities. For this, he provoked the wrath of the Jamaican government, which claimed that he was a threat to national security.

The year 1968 was historic in the uprisings all over the world. Walter Rodney attended the Black Writers Conference in Montreal in October 1968. On his return to Jamaica, the government banned Rodney from Jamaica. The JLP government sent him back to Canada on the same plane on which he had arrived. The ban resulted in major uprisings in Kingston. This was a demonstration of the love that the people had for him.
Students marched on government offices and ordinary people in Kingston, angry at the expulsion of the beloved “Brother Wally,” joined the demonstration, which eventually turned into a popular uprising. The event, which became known as the “Rodney affair,” resounded throughout the Caribbean. Some of the public presentations Rodney gave in Jamaica were published in a small book, ‘The Groundings with My Brothers’.

After his expulsion from Jamaica, Rodney spent time in Toronto, Canada and in this period traveled to Cuba. In early 1969 he returned to Tanzania, where he resumed teaching at the University of Dar es Salaam. At this time, The University of Dar es Salaam was a magnet for all of those in Africa thinking through the issues of liberation and freedom. These ideas were debated at the University of Dar es Salaam. It was in this intellectual milieu when he published his best-known work, ‘How Europe Underdeveloped Africa’. This book broke with the Eurocentric conceptions of African history and immediately the book became one of the most widely-read and influential books on Africa and the third world in general.

In addition to his scholarly pursuits, Rodney was deeply involved in working with those dedicated to freedom and emancipation. He gave classes to the Workers at the Urafiki Textile Mill near the University and traveled on weekends to communal villages. Tanzania was then undergoing a revolutionary experiment, and it also served as the headquarters for many liberation movements from various parts of Africa. Rodney, who considered study and struggle inseparable, was involved in all of these activities.

He was central to the development of an intellectual tradition that became known as the Dar es Salaam School. His numerous writings on the subjects of socialism, imperialism, working class struggles and Pan Africanism and slavery contributed to a body of knowledge that came to be known as the Dar es Salaam School of Thought. Issa Shivji, Mahmood Mamdani, Claude Ake, Archie Mafeje, Yash Tandon, John Saul, Dan Nabudere, O Nnoli, Clive Thomas and countless others participated in the debates on transformation and liberation in the University. He traveled extensively throughout East Africa and was one of the founders of the History Teachers Workshop of Tanzania. This workshop assigned themselves the task of rewriting the text books for high school students in Tanzania. One of the results of these debates was the effort of the World Bank and western donors to prop up a conservative brand of economic theory in the University. By the end of the eighties, World Bank thinkers and consultants were blaming Walter Rodney for the radical thinking in the University of Dar Es Salaam.

Return to the Caribbean.

Walter was a teacher, a political activist, a father and husband. Two of his children, Kanini and Asha were born in Tanzania. His son, Shaka Rodney was born in Jamaica in 1968.

Walter always wanted to return to the Caribbean and he wanted his children to know Guyana. Hence in 1974 he moved with his family back. Initially, he was appointed as Professor of History at the University of Guyana. The government of Guyana, however, canceled the appointment. Because of his independence and clarity of ideas, the government thought that he would leave. Out of paid work, he refused to leave the country. Instead, over the next six years he threw himself into independent research and political organization. He increased his work as an international scholar, teaching and researching on a full time basis. Many did not understand how he could work full time as an activist in the Working Peoples Alliance (WPA) and remain committed as a serious scholar.

Walter threw himself into the study of the Guyanese working people and brought out a study of Guyanese plantations in the 19th century. He was involved in a three volume study of the Guyanese working people but before it was complete, he was assassinated on June 13, 1980. After his assassination, the first volume, ‘A History of the Guyanese Working People’, 1881-1905 was published by John Hopkins University Press. This book provided the historical foundations for the political movement he played a central role in founding and leading until his death, the Working People’s Alliance (WPA). More than anything else, the WPA was committed to the politics of reconciliation among all racial groups in Guyana, beginning with the working people.

The dominant theme in Rodney’s life and work, intellectual and political, is a deep and abiding commitment to the struggles of the working people everywhere for emancipation from all forms of oppression. It was the principle for which he lived, and the principle for which he died. His last major project was the writing of books for children. It was his view that only when children learnt proper history and respect for others that the struggles against racial insecurity could be overcome. Two children’s books were produced. His legacy remains an inspiration to lovers of justice and human dignity the world over.

Walter Rodney was assassinated on June 13, 1980. He had traveled one month earlier to Zimbabwe in Southern Africa to celebrate the independence of Zimbabwe. He had been under house arrest and the political leadership panicked when they learnt that he had met the Prime Minister and leaders of the Zimbabwean struggle.

From 1979 Rodney was under constant surveillance and close colleagues of Rodney were killed in 1979 (Ohene Kahama) and in 1980 (Edward Dublin). Finally, they killed him on June 13; murdered by a bomb concealed in a walkie-talkie. The man who handed the Walkie Talkie to Walter was whisked out of Guyana and protected by international imperialism until he expired nearly twenty years later.

His death shocked Guyanese of all racial groups, women, men, and youth. He had dedicated the latter part of his life to bridging the divisions between the people of Guyana only to end up paying with his life. Rodney was not just a Guyanese figure. He was also known worldwide, especially in the Caribbean and Africa, where he enjoyed great popularity for his solidarity with the struggles of the working people. It was for this reason Eusi Kwayana termed him as the ‘prophet of self emancipation’.

* Horace Campbell is chair of the Walter Rodney Commemoration Committee (http://www.rodney25.org/) Contact core@rodney25.org to find out more about planned events.

* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org

Conned with Corn

2005-05-12

Nnimmo Bassey

The onslaught of the biotech industry is a modern day scramble for Africa, with genetically modified crops being promoted as the miracle cure to hunger and poverty with little analysis of their long term impact. The people of Africa and their governments must show solidarity, ask questions, and act.


The scramble for Africa is getting hotter today than it may have been during the Berlin Conference at which she was partitioned. The partitioning of Africa sowed the seeds of discord and conflict that we are reaping today. Today, certain concepts have been painstakingly constructed and foisted on the continent. And this has been done in order to have Africa so compromised that she would simply just beg to be colonised once more. We are talking about the onslaught by the biotech industry on the innards of this continent.

The siege is on. Many people imagine that the pressure on Africa to accept genetically modified grains or other crops as food aid ended with the widely known case with Zambia in 2002. That emblematic case rightly showed that every country has the sovereign right to determine what type of food to eat, irrespective of whether it is purchased in the market or is donated as aid. And it demonstrated to the world that the predicted catastrophe of Zambians starving never happened. The country thereafter recorded food surpluses, besides the fact that in the heat of the crisis the shortage was limited to sections of the country and there were supplies in other regions of traditional crops like cassava and millet that simply needed to be procured for the needy areas.

Genetically engineered food has been presented as the ultimate weapon against hunger in Africa and the world. This is also seriously suggested in the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), meaning that this may be the direction efforts will be concentrated in the years to come. African leaders have largely been co-opted into thinking this way because they are warned that since the so-called Green Revolution train left Africa standing at the station they should not miss the gene train. It has been noted that the Green Revolution required extensive chemical and equipment inputs and although food production increased in some areas, small scale farmers were marginalised, the environment took a beating and on the aggregate hunger was boosted in the world.

The next major push has manifested in the presenting of Monsanto’s genetically engineered cotton (Bt Cotton) as the solution. This cotton variety, which has been engineered to withstand certain pests and to be suitable for use of certain herbicides, has been planted in India, Indonesia, South Africa, etc. The biotech industry touts these as huge successes, but there are many reported cases where farmers have recorded lower yields, and have gone into debt. The manifold cases of failure of Bt Cotton are so well documented that we may not need to go into details here. Suffice to say that industry’s underhand push and shove has been vividly illustrated in the bribery scandal that rocked Indonesia where a prominent biotech industry bribed as many as 144 serving and retired government officials in order to have approval for the commercial cultivation of the variety.

Last year, some governments in West Africa pledged to embrace this same variety of cotton. The next point of call of the proponents of Bt Cotton is Tanzania. All these efforts have been made under the direction of the USAID, one of whose major goals is promoting the spread of GMOs in the world and pointedly working to "integrate GM into local food systems."

The push into Tanzania gathered momentum in 2002 when USAID began meeting with Tanzanian scientists to describe the potential of engineered foods. Some of these USA advocates were also the architects of the Memorandum of Understanding signed with Nigeria in 2004 for a biotech programme managed by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan, Nigeria.

The interesting thing about the Tanzanian case is that although cotton production was suspended in the southern part of Tanzania because of the spread of redball cotton disease in 1968, the country is currently experiencing cotton production surpluses. When this is coupled with the record low cotton price in the market, it becomes hard to see what arguments could be pushed for the genetically engineered variety of cotton.

Barring a change of heart, the government of Tanzania has already buckled under intense pressure and the country is set to join Tunisia, Zimbabwe, Egypt, Burkina Faso and Kenya in conducting confined field trials (CFT) for genetically modified crops. These so-called field tests will eventually open the nation’s doors to genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

As already noted, food aid is one of the main vehicles for putting GMOs on the platter of the world. Do we call that charity? Not so. One issue about some of these food aids is that citizens in the recipient country may not even know that their country receives food aid. In 2003 Nigeria received 11000.6 Metric Tons of soy meal as food aid from the United States, under the US title “Food for Progress”. Taking into account that around 60% of soybeans in the US is genetically modified we strongly suspect Nigeria has been receiving GM products without any prior information to the Government, and with our population completely uninformed on this. In 2004 the country was billed to receive 10,500 tons of rice.

People around the world have been vocal is calling for caution in the introduction of genetic engineering in food crop propagation. The biotech industry with their powerful lobby has stoutly resisted compliance with the precautionary principle enshrined in the Cartagena Protocol on Bio-safety. The precautionary principle as the name implies requires that countries apply caution when considering or opening doors to bringing GMOs into their environment. One of the reasons for this is that the safety of GMOs has not been unequivocally proven.

The biotech industry thrives on subverting the ability of people to protect themselves and their environments. They do this through deliberate contamination and illegal release of genetically modified crops into the environment. In fact, when environments are acutely contaminated, nations have no option but to legalise the illegality. Many suspect that this may have been the case with Brazil. Also, many reports from North America show that when conventional and organic farms are contaminated by genetically modified neighbours, the innocent farmers are made liable and are forced to pay compensations to the polluter instead of the other way round. This is cowboy justice.

The argument usually put forward as a response to the insistence on caution is that GMOs have not harmed anyone. But how can we know that GMOs have not harmed anyone if there are no serious studies on the populations consuming it? How do we prove damage to human health when there is little or no serious research over the toxicological, long term impacts of GM food? How do we know whether an allergy is caused by a GM crop where adequate tests have not been developed to prove the link between the GMO and the allergy? The large number of questions existing over the risks of GM crops clearly show that the world is not ready for its release until the questions are properly answered.

An example of this need is the attitude of the European Commission, which is about to start new studies to examine the potential “cumulative long-term effects” genetically modified (GMO) crops might have on human and animal health in the longer term. This is coming eight years after the EU first allowed biotech crops. If the European Commission is now commissioning such studies, it shows that we still have a lot to learn from the risks of GMOs. And if that is the approach taken by Europeans, we have every reason to pause and think.

But, the biotech industry is like a bull set loose in a china shop and needs all the controls possible. Recent reports of contamination of food supplies with illegal varieties should worry everyone. We refer to the case of Latin America where corn varieties with StarLink which are not authorised for human consumption have been found in food aid sent there in 2002 and also in 2005. Where they cannot deny the presence of the illegal grain the response of the biotech industry has been that the illegal corn is okay for consumption. No apologies.

Africa received huge quantities of corn from the USA as food aid. From reports Africa was the top worldwide recipient of US corn as food aid in 2004. Three African countries, Angola (62.400 MT), Tanzania and Burundi (28.000 MT) were among the top five. Other African countries included Uganda (20.900 MT), and Kenya (13,600 MT). We recall here that after the refusal of GMO grains by Zambia and Zimbabwe the shipments of food aid to these countries in 2003 and 2004 dropped to zero.

The push continues even though proponents like the USAID recognises that GM corn sent to Africa as food aid “would be expected to perform poorly in African growing conditions” and is “not well suited for planting” . Despite this, the maize keeps coming to Africa. If one country rejects it, it is channelled to another.

We have many reasons to worry. Another reason is that the industry does not have GMOs under control and the risks to health and environment are unknown. A few weeks ago it became public that an untested experimental crop, from Swiss agrochemicals multinational group, Syngenta, called Bt10, has been illegally planted from 2001 until 2004 in the USA. This illegal variety contains antibiotic resistance marker genes, which the British Medical Association recommended not to commercialise due to the potential risks for human health. The EU, Japan and South Korea have already protested against this and are taking measures to test the grains in order to isolate and destroy the illegal variety. All Syngenta could say is that their 1000 tons of Bt10 food entered the EU accidentally. Initially Syngenta had claimed that Bt10 and Bt11 (an already commercialised variety of GM cron) were virtually identical, and therefore there were no risks, but later on it was verified as false since Bt10 contained antibiotic resistant marker genes, while that was not the case with the Bt11 type. What other areas have confused the biotech industry?

What measures are taken by our Governments in Africa? Africa continues to be the biggest corn food aid recipient, not only of grain, but also corn soy blend and cornmeal. Are we going to continue to let our population be at risk and consume these GM products?

Genetic pollution is not comparable to oil or other environmental pollution. Chemical pollution may finally dissipate after a thousand or so years, but genetic pollution on the other hand grows exponentially with time. They simply do not diminish. The problem expands.

With the huge contamination of the world’s corn and soya stock and the risk that it may become irreversible, the biotech industry is now seriously working on commercialising GM wheat and rice. Indeed it is reported that China may release GM rice into the market in the next year. With the bulk of rice in Nigeria coming from Asia, it is a matter of time before GM rice from China floods our supply lines. This is inevitable, unless something is done, and quickly too.

Just to think about all this makes us feel really scared about the food that is placed on our plates, and the seeds that we may be planting. If we blindly follow the biotech agri-business path we are bound to find that all traditional food crops will be genetically engineered in no time and as we have seen already, when the plague hits, the chance of recovery will be slim.

This is the time for everyone, Nigerian, Tanzanian, Togolese, Camerounian, or Swazi to stand up and defend our collective right to live in dignity and to choose what seeds to plant and what foods to eat. We cannot afford to place our future in the hand of an industry that has lost control of its Frankenstein. Our governments, if they represent us, must begin now to ask questions, and to act. Tomorrow will be too late.

* Nnimmo Bassey is Executive Director of Environmental Rights Action and Friends of the Earth Africa GMO campaign co-ordinator. An ERA/TWN African Conference was held 21-23 March 2005 on Genetically Modified Organisms in Lagos, Nigeria and drew the attendance of over 50 participants from 16 countries. It focussed on the enormous and unrelenting assault and the real threat of a GMOs invasion of Africa. The conference brought together civil society groups, government representatives, scientists and academia from Nigeria, Africa, and from Asia.

* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org

Post-Bandung: Rhetoric or Transformation in Afro-Asian Cooperation?

2005-05-12

Chandrakant Patel

Fifty years after the first Afro-Asian meeting in Bandung in 1955, leaders from these regions met again to re-establish a spirit of co-operation. The meeting took place at a time of increased trade between countries of the South and when many African countries are starting to adopt “go east” policies. But will the vision of Bandung mean new trade rules based on equity and protection of weaker trading partners?


At the recently concluded meetings in Jakarta and Bandung to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first Afro-Asian meeting in Bandung in 1955, the President of Indonesia observed: “ It took fifty long years for this Conference to happen, but Asia and Africa have finally assembled here again.” Reflecting on the achievements of the first Conference (which was attended by, among others, President Soekarno of Indonesia, President Nasser of Egypt, Prime Ministers Chou En Lai and Jawaharlal Nehru of China and India respectively), the President of Indonesia went on to ask:

“Why did it take 50 years - a lifetime - for Asia and Africa to reconvene, after the success of the first Summit in 1955?

We must ask: Does the Bandung Spirit mean the same in 2005 as it did in 1955? If the Bandung spirit has served us well over the years, how can we adapt that spirit to today’s circumstances? And we must ask: now that Asia-Africa spirit is reconvened in great numbers and with robust confidence, how can we make it relevant? Relevant to us, and relevant to the world?

Against this note of expectations, it must be observed that the very fact that the Conference took place - and in a modest if not practical way succeeded in outlining the broad contours of political, economic and social cooperation between the two regions - is an important development. Only time will tell whether the Conference has succeeded in shifting the colonial and therefore contrived patterns of linkages from North-South to Africa-Asia and to South-South.

There can be little doubt, however, that trade and investment ties between Asia and Africa are growing at a faster pace than between North and South. The combined share of Africa and Asia in world trade since the 1990s has risen markedly, from about a fifth to over a quarter of world total. Secondly, trade among developing countries has become the most dynamic component of international trade. In the decade of the 1990’s, for example, trade among them grew at an annual average of 11 percent, by far exceeding the 6 percent growth in world trade. As a result, the share of intra-developing trade has expanded from a modest 8 percent to over 13 percent of the total over the same period. More than 40 percent of their exports of agriculture and manufactured products are now destined for each other’s markets. In consequence, the structure of their trade has altered dramatically: whereas two decades ago, primary commodities accounted for nearly 75 percent of their exports, they now account for less than 30 percent. Even for Africa, there has been a modest rise in the share of manufactured goods.

If Africa’s trade with Asia were to continue to grow at similar rates over the next two decades i.e. at just over 10 per cent annually, a massive diversification of Africa’s trade structure is likely to take place. This will not only significantly lessen its dependence on traditional markets of developed countries but also more importantly, re-orient its trade towards the more dynamic markets of Asia. It is therefore not surprising that an increasing number of countries in Africa are designing strategies and polices to take into account this prospect. Zimbabwe’s “Go East” policy, now reportedly under consideration by other countries in the region, is a good example of this trend. They are grounded in emerging complementarities induced by rapid growth in import demand from Asia and growth of Asian SMEs-led investments in Africa.

It is equally true that much of the expansion in trade, investment and technology transfers is autonomous i.e. market-driven and concentrated in a few sectors and countries. If the benefits of such expansion are to be widely shared, it will in all likelihood require much greater attention and involvement of the policy-makers of the two regions. If the emerging trends are to lead to more fundamental and qualitative changes in economic relations, a structure and a system of cooperation will have to be built away from donor-inspired frameworks of EPAS, AGOA and the like.

Regional and inter-regional efforts at cooperation have so far largely focused on the mutual gains from closer economic relations. Without greater commitment and efforts on the part of the political establishments of the respective continents, however, economic cooperation will, in all likelihood, continue to remain below the potential warranted by their complementarities. The New Strategy of Afro-Asian cooperation must accordingly be based on sustained political commitment to ensure its progress and implementation. This includes as close a harmonization of positions as possible in global negotiations on matters of environment, social justice, reforms of global institutions, international trade, investment and other development issues. At the national level, where the primary impetus for greater cooperation must be nurtured, greater effort needs to be made to raise awareness about the political importance of Afro-Asian cooperation.

Arrangements for improved Afro-Asian cooperation must perforce take into account the striking changes that have taken place in the global economic and political environment over the past fifty years. Many of these changes warrant new approaches and engagement of new actors in driving cooperation: for example, the role of technology, of the private sector and in particular the small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs), improved communications and the need for larger markets in the wake of new integrated production and distribution systems all need to be given considerably greater weight and attention than was the case fifty years ago.

The dramatic transformation of many economies in Asia has altered the scope for mutual cooperation distinctly in favor of increased inter and intra–regional cooperation. The emergence of ASEAN, China and India, among others, as important players on the global scene is beginning to reshape economic geography and the quality of trade relations as they intensify their cooperation with each other and with other developing countries. Likewise, rapid growth and demand for the products of Africa has spurred the interests of business and the investment community in Asia to forge fresh links with Africa.

The real challenge before the Afro-Asian policy-makers is to ensure that patterns of Asian-African trade does not replicate North-South linkages: it must, for example, be informed by new trade rules in which the fruits of value chain are equitably distributed; in which dependency of debtor-creditor relationship is largely absent; in which rules of origin encourage investments and technology transfers at source; and in which the weaker trading partners are protected. It is possible to conceive of a new paradigm of economic relations. But is the political leadership in the two regions really prepared to implement the vision of Bandung?

* Chandrakant Patel is the editor of the Seatini Bulletin. Seatini is the Southern and Eastern African Trade Information and Negotiations Institute (http://www.seatini.org/) The latest edition of the Seatini Bulletin, ‘50 years after Bandung, Asia-Africa summit adopts a new pact’, contains a series of articles on the recent Bandung Summit. For more information and subscriptions, contact SEATINI, 20 Victoria Drive, Newlands, Harare, Zimbabwe, Tel: +263 4 792681, Ext. 255 & 341, Tel/Fax: +263 4 251648, Fax: +263 4 788078, email: seatini.zw@undp.org

* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org

'Development Pornography'

Charles Kachikoti

2005-05-12

I salute this brilliant discussion on a matter I myself had not thought of. As a journalist of 20 years standing in Zambia (15 years in newspapers and five in development communication), now in corporate public relations, I find this most instructive. I hope you are able to indicate which media organisations have taken up and published this piece. Good work!

A solidarity of sorrow

Jacques Depelchin

2005-05-11

Thank you for the piece by Gerald Caplan on solidarity in Genocide. That effort of transcending the differences in partial or total annihilation for the sake of an ideology is to be commended, but the effort falls short. The space is too brief to deal fairly with the reasons for this.

Uniquely unique

One should accept that all genocides are both unique and generic. But, the idea that, historically, morally or ethically, we shall one day devise a sort of Richter Scale for genocidal horror is beyond sadness because it would fall into the very system which was inaugurated with the wiping out of Indigenous people, Amerindians followed by ripping Africans away from their homes in ways which can be imagined as similar to current processes in various parts of the Planet.

Hitler's words quoted by Caplan illustrate something deeper. By then, as far as the System was concerned, who remembered the Native Americans, Africans and African Americans as people? The circumstances were different, but the objective was the same: wipe out any obstacle which dares to stand in the way. The difference between Hitler and Capitalism is that the latter does not have a name even though so many crimes have been perpetrated in its name.

It is easier to scapegoat Hitler than, say, institutions which pass today as standing up for humanity. If fidelity to humanity is going to create an unassailable foundation for Never Again, then it should not fear calling for something like Reconciliation with Truth. Such a process principled by a truth process based on an ethic of truth would be organized at a distance from States or institutions deriving their legitimacy from states. It would be rooted in the kind of preoccupation which is highlighted in Caplan's piece.

African Voices on Development and Social Justice

Jonathan Harle

2005-05-12

I recently bought a copy of the Pambazuka book "African Voices on Development and Social Justice", and just wanted to let you know what a thought-provoking, interesting and above all motivating book it is! I am a recent anthropology graduate and hope to pursue a career in social justice/development after gaining some further experience and a further postgraduate degree.

Opening eyes

Faith Kabata

2005-05-12

Your publication is a real eye opener.

World Press Freedom Day (1)

Dieter Gerhardt

2005-05-12

I consider that any defendant (Shaik) has a right to present his defence to the court prior to the information being publicised in the Press. Also that highly derogatory comment on an individual on trial be left until after the court has made it's findings. It is right that you plead for freedom of the press. On the other hand, if the press acts irresponsibly then it must expect to be criticised and in the worst case to be muzzled. Suggest it might be good thing if the press looked to reporting accurately within legal and ethical norms - not continously focus on reporting sensational news which may or may not be accurate with a view to expanding own circulation.

World Press Freedom Day (2)

Andrew Manyevere

2005-05-12

I want to make brief comments on World Press Freedom day in relation to Zimbabwe. No matter how Shabir Shaik may have misconstrued his sentence or remarks on him from the media to justify what happens in Zimbabwe as a result is an insult to humanity and the dignity that we talk of in freedom.

To say Mugabe may have gotten up one morning and say enough is enough, for who through? If it was enough for him then he should resign and let someone else run the affairs of the country rather than assign oneself the role of a monarch. I think, irrespective of who Shaik is and where he comes from, his sentiments underline our greater problem of SELF is bigger than EVERYBODY.

Mugabe cannot argue with everybody in Zimbabwe to say he is the best and no one is better than him. That is what lack of freedom to the press means in Zimbabwe, Mugabe taking everything arround him including what to say and when by citizens. It is the freedom of the press, in my opinion, which brings with it the willingness of those in power to bow down to the wrongs committed while in office and resign. Denying press freedom, as is alluded by Shaik, is saying the opposite: Leave us in power and mind your own business. But we say how can we mind our business when our lines of communication cross with yours and yet you do not want us to go and repair the lines in order that we mind our business. How sincere then is the statement mind your own business?

We concede to the fact that some of these business men who fly across Africa are champions in seeding corruption and kill, virtually kill tenets of freedom of the press when they bribe their way into the heart of governance in Africa. This undermines freedom and we mean it sincerely when we say in Zimbabwe Mugabe's action on the media are the last kicks of a dying horse.

We are grateful of what the international community is doing in the fight for World Press Freedom and want to draw their attention to atrocities that took place immediately after the stage-managed-2005 elections, and are still taking place in Zimbabwe. We are loosing count of loss of human life and barbaric action taken against others by Zanu malice directed as vindictive and punitive assaults on freedom against association and belonging. We condemn these.

Central Africa: Crises, Reform and Reconstruction

ESD Fomin and John W Forje

2005-05-12

This timely book addresses development problems and prospects in Central Africa. Drawing from individual case studies, global debates and experiences, the contributors provide a rich repertoire of reflections and insights on economic integration and activities, and on the internal and external politics of the different states in the subregion.
Central Africa: Crises, Reform and Reconstruction
ESD Fomin and John W Forje
Published April 2005; 272 pages; ISBN 2-86978-151-2
‘This book contains insightful and well-articulated analyses of key factors and issues for nation building in Cameroon and the Central African sub region in terms of the socio-economico-political variables for the enterprise of natural development’.
Professor Beban Sammy Chumbow, Rector University of Yaounde 1, Cameroon.
‘This comprehensive work covers a wide range of issues affecting the Central African sub-region and argues that though most of the problems affecting African states are traceable to colonial and the Cold-War eras, authoritarian leaderships, despotism, consolidated through ethnic hegemony, politics of exclusion, corruption and unhealthy romance with forces of neo-colonialism are equally to be blamed. ... This is no doubt a timely publication and a must read for any one interested in the politics of Africa’.
Iroanya Richardo, University of Pretoria, South Africa.
This timely book addresses development problems and prospects in Central Africa. Drawing from individual case studies, global debates and experiences, the contributors provide a rich repertoire of reflections and insights on economic integration and activities, and on the internal and external politics of the different states in the subregion. Strikingly, all the studies point to the fact that Central African states, although possessing tremendous natural and human resources and peopled by communities thirsty for development, have for a long time remained under the spell and chaos of bad governments and bad economic policies and practices. A consequence has been endemic poverty and misery for all but an elite few. Informed both by their empirical findings and experiences as social actors, the authors of this important volume highlight not only the failure of democracy to take root in the subregion, but also how corruption, lack of transparency and accountability in governance and business have detrimentally become fashionable, making the prospects of reform an ever more extravagant dream.
E.S.D. Fomin has a Doctorate in History from the University of Yaounde. He is the author of four books, has published several scientific articles, and participated in many seminars, conferences, and symposia.
John W. Forje is currently Archie Mafeje Fellow at the African Institute of South Africa, Pretoria. He was educated at the Universities of Lund, Hull and Salford. He is a Lecturer in the Department of Political Science, University of Yaounde II-Soa; and a Visiting Lecturer, University of Buea, Cameroon. He is author of a number of books and articles.
Africa: CFA 10,000; non-CFA zone, 20.00USD; Rest of the world: 25.00 USD
Contents

Introduction
E.S.D. Fomin and John W. Forje

Section I: Nation Building and Regional Integration: Problems and Prospects
 
Regional Economic Blocs in Central Africa: What Went Right and What Went Wrong?
Arsene Honore Gideon Nkama
 
The Paucity and Irregularity of Anglophone Newspapersdin Cameroon Victor Cheo and Henry Muluh
 
The Management of Ethnic Diversity in Cameroon: The Case of the Coastal Areas
Emmanuel Yenshu Vubo
 
Effects of the Foreign Debt Burden on Saving Ratios in the CEMAC Zone
George Ndoh Mbanga
 
The NEPAD Initiative: A Basis for Fostering Economic Recovery in the CEMAC Zone
Ntangsi Max Memfih
 
Checking Rebels or Chasing Fortunes: Foreign States’ Elites and the DR Congo Conflict (1997–2002)
Oladiran W. Bello
 
The Youth and Environmental Education in Cameroon: A Study of Secondary School-based Environmental Clubs
Andrew Wujung Vukenkeng
 
From Village to National and Global Art: Whose Art?
Walter Nkwi
 
Section II : The Weird Wind of Democratisation and Governance
 
Traumas, Memories and ‘Modern’ Politics in Central Africa
E. S. D. Fomin
 
Tribulations of a Democratic Transition: The Cameroonian Experience
Valentine Ameli Tabi
 
Protection against Human Rights Abuses in the Central Africa  Sub-Region: The Case of Children
Margaret Ayike
 
The Vicissitudes of Cameroon Civil Society in the 1990s: What Lessons for the Central African Region?
Susanna Yene Awasom
 
Rethinking Political Will and Empowerment as Missing Dimensions in Post-Conflict Reform and Reconstruction in the Central African Sub-Region
John W. Forje
 
Conflict and Violence in Central Africa: The Political Economy Behind Internal and External Networks in Fomenting War in the Sub-Region
Ian Taylor
 
For orders :
Africa: 
Publications and Dissemination
CODESRIA
Avenue Cheikh Anta Diop x Canal IV
BP 3304
CP 18524, Dakar, Senegal
Email:
codesria@codesria.sn
Rest of the world: 
African Books Collective
The Jam Factory
27 Park End Street, Oxford, OX1 1HU
Email:
abc@africanbookscollective.com
Web:
www.africanbookscollective.com

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Health for Some: Death, Disease and Disparity in a Globalizing Era

Ronald Labonte, Ted Schrecker and Amit Sen Gupta

2005-05-11

http://www.socialjustice.org/cart.php?filter=&action=add_item&id=23&qty=1

Those who fall behind in the winner take all markets of global competition not only suffer from poverty and poor health, but also lose access to health care and other essential health-producing services. Reversing these trends will require decisive and coordinated action on the part of high-income countries in areas we often do not connect with: debt cancellation, increased development assistance, fair trade policies and global tax reforms.

Talk Left, Walk Right

Patrick Bond and David Moore

2005-05-12

http://www.socialistreview.org.uk/article.php?articlenumber=9406

This timely and instructive book by Patrick Bond, a radical academic based in South Africa, shows that Gordon Brown and Tony Blair's current effort to project themselves as the saviours of the world's poor is far from unique. The South African president and fellow Third Way traveller Thabo Mbeki has also been donning the garb of global justice in order to repackage neo-liberalism as the solution to world poverty.

Africa/Global: Beijing +10 amnesia: Governmental interventions in preparation for the September summit

2005-05-10

http://www.peacewomen.org/un/September_Summit/WomenGenderSeptSummit.html

Between 19 and 28 April 2005 UN Member States participated in four rounds of interventions, based on the following four major themes of the Secretary-General's report, 'In Larger Freedom'. These themes were: development, security, human rights and UN reform. The governmental responses to the recommendations in the report were largely void of a gender perspective and, in particular, a focus on women.

Africa/Global: Complaints of sexual infractions at UN last year doubled from 2003

2005-05-05

http://www.peacewomen.org/un/pkwatch/News/05/complaints.html

The number of allegations of sexual abuse and exploitation made by and about United Nations personnel in 2004 was more than double the number reported in 2003, a development that is deeply distressing, even though contributing factors include clearer reporting procedures and new response measures, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan says in a report to the General Assembly. "The total number of 121 allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse registered in 2004 was more than double the 53 allegations reported in 2003. The increase in allegations is deeply troubling," he says.

Africa/Global: Evaluation of gender and age mainstreaming at UNHCR

2005-05-11

http://www.eldis.org/cf/search/disp/DocDisplay.cfm?Doc=DOC18411&Resource=f1gender

This report assesses the UNHCR age and gender mainstreaming pilot project launched in 2004. It provides a strategic overview of the pilot project experience, drawing out findings, good practice, lessons learnt and recommendations for the future. In particular it documents specific learning in terms of the MFTs (Multi-Functional Team), partnership working, methodology, leadership in the field and at headquarters, ownership and accountability. The age and gender mainstreaming pilot involves a massive organisational change exercise.

Africa/Global: Poor nations vow to defend women

2005-05-10

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4534795.stm

Latin American, African and Asian countries have vowed to act to improve the lives of women in the Third World. Members of the Non-Aligned Movement of nations ended their first ever summit on women's rights in Kuala Lumpur by signing a new protocol. The Putrajaya Declaration pledges to do more to protect women from violence, improve their health and education and give them a greater political voice.

Nigeria: More power and education needed to improve women's ability to negotiate safer sex

2005-05-11

http://www.eldis.org/cf/search/disp/DocDisplay.cfm?Doc=DOC18391&Resource=f1gender

This study, published in Demographic Research, examines the extent to which women have control over their sexuality within marriage in Lagos, Nigeria, and its implications for the spread of HIV. Findings from the study show that women have some control over their sexuality, such as during menstruation, breastfeeding, pregnancy and sickness. However, only a few women could negotiate with their husbands to insist on safe sexual practices. Other findings demonstrate that improved socio-economic status increases the likelihood of a woman asserting her reproductive rights; and 18 per cent of those interviewed reported multiple sexual partners.

Nigeria: Time to give women a voice

2005-05-09

http://allafrica.com/stories/200505100364.html

Women Organisations For Representative National Conference (WORNACO), an umbrella organisation founded with a mission to dismantle all structures and barriers that promote discrimination against women in Nigeria, recently held a one-day strategic meeting to discuss their engagement with the Confab and to also set agenda for the proposed Women's Summit slated for June 2005. The Convener of WARNACO, Professor Jadesola Akande, Executive Director Women, Law and Development Centre Lagos (WLDCN), chaired the meeting held at the Women Development Centre Lagos, which brought together forty-five participants representing organisations from the six geo-political zones in Nigeria.

Africa/Global: 12.3 million in forced labour

2005-05-12

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,1481724,00.html

At least 12.3 million people are trapped in forced labour around the world, according to estimates in a report by the UN agency the International Labour Organisation. More than three-quarters of these are subjected to forced labour by private companies or individuals rather than being victims of the state, the ILO study suggests.

Egypt: Calls for an end to the death penalty

2005-05-12

The African Commission on Human and People?s Rights (ACHPR) which is currently meeting in Banjul (The Gambia) will review Egypt?s third State report. On that occasion, the FIDH publishes a report on the death penalty in Egypt in order to draw the attention of the African Commission on the violations of international and regional standards taking place in that framework. The report is the result of an international fact-finding mission which was conducted in November 2004 in Egypt.
Press release
FIDH

The African Commission on Human and People?s Rights (ACHPR) which is
currently meeting in Banjul (The Gambia) will review Egypt?s third State
report. That report is supposed to present the measures adopted by the
Egyptian authorities to give effect to the rights guaranteed by the main
regional human rights instrument in Africa, the African Charter on Human
and Peoples? Rights.

On that occasion, the FIDH publishes a report on the death penalty in
Egypt in order to draw the attention of the African Commission on the
violations of international and regional standards taking place in that
framework. The report is the result of an international fact-finding
mission which was conducted in November 2004 in Egypt.

The report notably points to the great number of crimes which entail the
death penalty in Egypt and to the fact that civilians may be tried by
military courts, sentenced to death and executed without delay, in
violation of the rights of the defence and sometimes in abstentia. The
only remedy is the unlikely pardon of the President of the Republic.
Confessions obtained under duress are often accepted in court and form the
basis of the sentence.

The FIDH report recommends to the Egyptian authorities to put an immediate
end to the state of emergency which, after 23 years, is no longer
justified in Egypt today; the state of emergency is conducive to serious
violations of human rights, including administrative detention without any
effective judicial control, unfair trials of civilians before military
courts, and widespread torture of detainees, including during the
pre-trial stage. The Egyptian authorities should inquire into all
allegations of torture and bring to justice those responsible.

The FIDH, the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights (EOHR) and the Human
Rights Association for the Assistance of Prisoners (HRAAP) call upon the
African Commission to recommend that the Egyptian authorities conform to
its 1999 resolution, which urged all States parties that still maintain
the death penalty to consider establishing a moratorium on executions of
death penalty as a first step towards abolition.

FIDH, EOHR and HRAAP also urge the African Commission to make public such
recommendations.

Contact: FIDH (331) 43 55 25 18 EOHR (202) 363 68 11 HRAAP (202) 302 82 19

More...

Nigeria: Serious violations of core labour standards

2005-05-11

A new report by the ICFTU on core labour standards in Nigeria, which coincides with Nigeria's trade policy review at the WTO this week, shows serious shortcomings in the application and enforcement of all eight core labour standards, particularly with regard to the lack of trade union rights of workers including the right to strike, discrimination and child labour.
INTERNATIONAL CONFEDERATION OF FREE TRADE UNIONS

ICFTU OnLine:
066/100505


New ICFTU report submitted to the WTO:

Serious violations of core labour standards in Nigeria

BRUSSELS, 10 May 2005, ICFTU Online: A new report by the ICFTU on core
labour standards in Nigeria, which coincides with Nigeria's trade policy
review at the WTO this week, shows serious shortcomings in the
application and enforcement of all eight core labour standards,
particularly with regard to the lack of trade union rights of workers
including the right to strike, discrimination and child labour. In
October 2004, the President of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) was
arrested during a general strike despite the fact that the action was an
entirely legitimate exercise of the collective rights of the trade union
movement. Though released, he is still facing criminal charges in an
Abuja High Court while police have raided his house and office on
several occasions.

A new Trade Union Amendment Act, which was adopted recently, fails to
address adequately problems identified in the report with regard to
freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining, the right
to strike and anti-union policies. The new Act is aimed at curbing the
right to strike and at weakening the Nigerian Labour Congress. The Act
was presented without adequate consultations through the tripartite
labour review set up with assistance of the ILO, contrary to what was
promised. Furthermore, trade union rights are restricted in Export
Processing Zones and strikes prohibited in such zones for a period of
ten years, which is directly contrary to ILO conventions.

The ICFTU and the NLC consider that in view of the seriousness of these
problems, there is need for a much stronger commitment to social
dialogue by the Federal Government of Nigeria in order to achieve a
culture of constructive engagement of labour over policies and
governance issues. It is also imperative to abrogate the Public Order
Act, which compels organisations to seek a permit from the Police before
any assembly. The law gives the Commissioners of Police latitude to
refuse to issue such a permit or to break up assemblies convened without
one. As such permits are invariably denied, the right to assembly
provided for by the Constitution and the right to freedom of association
cannot be meaningful as long as this law still exists.

Discrimination in employment and wages is persistent in Nigeria. Surveys
show a wage gap between men and women and a highly segregated labour
market. Few women are employed in the formal economy due to social
discrimination in education and training and to a gender-based division
of labour in the formal economy. Moreover, the Minimum Wage Act excludes
many workers, in particular those groups where women are
disproportionately represented such as part-time workers and seasonal
agricultural workers.

Child labour is widespread in Nigeria, and it was estimated in 2003 by
the ILO and the government that 15 million children are working, of
which up to 40% is at risk of being trafficked for forced labour, forced
prostitution and armed conflict. 6 million children do not attend school
and 2 million work more than 15 hours per day. Many children are also
trafficked into Nigeria for the purpose of forced labour. Several child
slave camps exist in the Western States of Nigeria, where children are
used as slaves in mining and on rubber plantations.

To read the full report:
http://www.icftu.org/displaydocument.asp?Index=991221621&Language=EN

The ICFTU represents 145 million workers in 231 affiliated organisations
in 154 countries and territories. ICFTU is also a member of Global
Unions: http://www.global-unions.org

For more information, please contact the ICFTU Press Department on +32 2
224 0232 or +32 476 621 018.

More...

Somaliland: Inside Hargeisa central

2005-05-12

Raabi Yusuf Abdillahi was arrested in January and spent 16 days in Hargeisa central prison for no other reason than the peaceful expression of his political views. Sultan Raabi had advocated a clan gathering to discuss the country’s political future, first at a public gathering and subsequently in a press conference. He was detained although he was never tried or sentenced by a court of law. Government officials told the UN independent human rights expert for Somalia, Ghanim Alnajjar, who met with Raabi Yusuf in prison in February, that he “had been charged with inciting a rebellion”, but no charges were in fact ever brought, nor any explanations given. Asked to report to the central police station in Hargeisa the day after the press conference, he was told on arrival that he was under arrest. His mobile and the keys to his safe were confiscated. He spent four nights in the station, and was interviewed once by officers from the CID who informed him that he was accused of “incitement”, though they gave no details or evidence.
CONDITIONS IN HARGEISA CENTRAL PRISON
African Rights
An Account from Sultan Raabi Yusuf Abdillahi

5 May 2005


Introduction

Raabi Yusuf Abdillahi was arrested in January and spent 16 days in Hargeisa central prison for no other reason than the peaceful expression of his political views. Sultan Raabi had advocated a clan gathering to discuss the country’s political future, first at a public gathering and subsequently in a press conference. He was detained although he was never tried or sentenced by a court of law. Government officials told the UN independent human rights expert for Somalia, Ghanim Alnajjar, who met with Raabi Yusuf in prison in February, that he “had been charged with inciting a rebellion”, but no charges were in fact ever brought, nor any explanations given. Asked to report to the central police station in Hargeisa the day after the press conference, he was told on arrival that he was under arrest. His mobile and the keys to his safe were confiscated. He spent four nights in the station, and was interviewed once by officers from the CID who informed him that he was accused of “incitement”, though they gave no details or evidence. After four days, he was told that he would be taken to court the following morning, and arranged to meet his relatives and supporters there. Instead, he was taken to Hargeisa central prison, amidst tight security and a large contingent of armed policemen, where the prison authorities were expecting him. In the meantime, government supplies of water and electricity to his restaurant in town, “Bile”, were cut off, and the government stipends to the traditional leaders perceived as his supporters, were terminated.

Despite the evident injustices of his detention, Sultan Raabi considers himself to have been one of the most fortunate prisoners because his status as a community leader allowed him privileges that ordinary detainees cannot even imagine. He was given a room on his own, and his family brought him food. Shocked and appalled by the conditions he found in prison, he gave a press conference to talk of his experiences. In the account published by a local newspaper, Haatuf, he described the situation there “as one that warrants immediate emergency action.” He also made this appeal: “I urge fellow-Muslims, people with a conscience and those with a minimum of patriotic feelings to act and help.”
Hargeisa central prison was built in the 1940s to accommodate 150 inmates by the British administration then in charge. But according to Ghanim Alnajjar, who visited the prison in February, it was then home to 800 inmates. He made the following observation in his report.

As noted by many during this mission, the conditions at the prison were very poor. It had noticeably deteriorated in the past three years, the conditions were overcrowded, and there were no sanitation facilities or running water.

Alnajjar echoed the observations made ten months earlier, in April 2004, by the Social Affairs Committee of Somaliland’s House of Representatives [parliament] who, on visiting the prison, wrote in their report:

The living conditions in the central prison are shocking… The prisoners lack medical attention. There is a medical officer assigned to the prison but he never appears there. Inmates suffer from TB, HIV/AIDS, swelling of the skin and other diseases. There were prisoners with broken limbs who had not been attended by doctors.

The toilets and sewage in the prison are overflowing. Health and sanitation in the prison are very poor. If immediate action is not taken, serious epidemic diseases could break out.

There were 200 custodial corps in the prison. They lack uniforms and transport.

The Committee’s report put the number of prisoners at that time at 603, 33 of whom were women. The increase of 200 prisoners between April 2004 and February 2005 justifies Alnajjar’s concern about the deterioration of conditions. Of the 603 prisoners at the time, they wrote that 264 had been convicted, 146 had been detained under the Emergency Decree by the “Preservation of the Peace Committee” and 193 were on remand.

On 24 April, a representative of African Rights and of the Coalition for Justice and Peace in Somaliland met with Sultan Raabi where he spoke at length about the day to day life of prisoners in Hargeisa central prison. This is his testimony.

Hargeisa central prison is a terrible, terrible place. I used to cry every night. And I hardly slept at all because I couldn’t believe that as a citizen, and as a person in a position of responsibility, I didn’t know all this was happening right in the midst of Hargeisa.

The prisoners were very welcoming. I was taken to a filthy room. The prison authorities asked me for money to connect the electricity in the room, and also money to pay the people who were going to clean the room. I told them that I had no money with me. One person, I’m not sure who he was, but he was not a prisoner, offered to advance the money and I said I would reimburse him. And the room was washed.

During the 16 days I spent there, the prisoners told me many horror stories and problems. But there are three things that are uppermost in my mind.
Lack of Medical Care

The first is the lack of medical care, which especially affects prisoners from regions outside of Hargeisa. Even when their families send them medication, they are not given the medicines. Nor do they get treatment. Some die as a result, from disease, compounded by malnutrition. Some die while still in chains.

During my time there, I never saw the prison doctor even though there were sick people in a nearby room. I asked the prison authorities to send some of them for medical care, but they refused. There was even someone who had been shot by the police and who was bleeding, but nothing was done to stop the bleeding. He had been wounded in Hargeisa. The police of course didn’t come to find out how he was doing.

Absence of Toilet Facilities

The second astonishing discovery for me is the fact that there are no toilet facilities. The prisoners have to dig pits in the very rooms where they sleep on sandy floors and then take out the waste in buckets. On the days when they are taking the waste, the stink is so terrible that no one has the appetite to eat anything. Even someone like me who had a private room had to use plastic bags because there are simply no toilets. Even the prison guards don’t have toilets.

Only five rooms have cement floors: the room I occupied, the one next door which was empty and a room reserved for the detainees accused of killing foreigners. So you can imagine the hygienic situation in the other rooms which don’t have cement floors and which are dug up as part toilets.

Overcrowded Store-Rooms as Holding Centres

But the very worse thing is the store-rooms which are used to house 96 prisoners to a room. These rooms, and I know of five, were not built to house detainees, but as they are, they can accommodate at most 30 per room. Instead, there are 96 men packed into a room, forced to sleep in one position as there is no space to turn. There are people in these rooms with TB, meningitis and HIV/AIDS, as well as prisoners who are mentally unstable. They receive no medical help and are living and sleeping with the others. Some go mad when they can no longer endure these inhumane conditions. Even if someone has diarrhoea, and it is not uncommon, they remain there. These prisoners are covered by lice and bedbugs.

These prisoners have the doors locked at 3:00 p.m. and remain locked up until 8:00 a.m. During that time, they get no water. Between 8:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m., they are allowed outside twice, for half an hour each time. The rest of the time, until 3:00 p.m. they remain indoors although the doors are not locked.

The Detention of Children and Young Men

There were about 10 children in the prison, some aged about 12, others 13, 14 or 15. And it is in fact these juveniles who do the dirty work of cleaning out the buckets.

Youngsters aged 18-25 constitute a very large percentage of the male prison population.
Food

For breakfast, the prisoners are given a small bit of bread and black tea. For lunch they get a cupful of cooked maize and for supper, they get nothing. Even the prison guards are underfed.

The Lack of a Judicial Process

Many of the prisoners have been sent there without any kind of a judicial process. A large number of them are poor people from the areas to the west of Hargeisa, for example near the spot known as Makhayada Inanta and Allay Baday, a district where the land is now sought after by people with money. If they make a fuss about their land being taken, it is easy to get them imprisoned under the Emergency Decree which gives extraordinary powers to the mayor, the attorney-general, the Minister of the Interior, the governor, the head of the police and the head of the courts, to send people to prison directly without passing through any legal process. People are in prison after a phone conversation between various officials, and these officials also use the prison to detain people with whom they have private quarrels. I even remember a son imprisoned together with his mother and father.

Conclusion

Raabi Yusuf Abdillahi’s own experience underscores the problems inherent in the judicial system in Somaliland. Released two months ago, he is still waiting for an official explanation as to the reasons for his arrest, or an apology. On his release from prison, he learned that his brother had stood bail for him. When he and his brother went to the regional court to look into the issue of bail, and his detention, the judge sent them to the attorney-general, who told them to go and see the head of the police, who sent them back to the judge.

In the meantime, Sultan Raabi has decided to focus his energies on being an advocate for the men, women and children he left behind in prison, drawing attention to their plight, and to that of prisoners detained throughout Somaliland. African Rights and the Coalition for Justice and Peace in Somaliland urge the government and people of Somaliland, as well as international organizations concerned with justice issues present in Somaliland, to address the appalling prison conditions, including the wider implications for the police and the judiciary, and to help alleviate needless human suffering.

More...

Somaliland: Peace coalition concerned about human rights situation

2005-05-12

"The Coalition for Justice and Peace in Somaliland (CJPS) is concerned about the implications for human rights of statements made on 10 May by the Minister of the Interior, Ismail Adan Osman, during a conference to debate a proposed National Human Rights Commission. The comments, given prominent coverage by the local media yesterday, underline the government’s intolerance of criticism, and its determination to control the flow of information that reaches the outside world. The Coalition shares the desire of the government and public in Somaliland to attract international interest and investment. But it believes that sweeping unpleasant facts under the carpet, rather than confronting reality and addressing problems, is detrimental to the interests of Somaliland."
The Coalition for Justice and Peace in Somaliland


12 May 2005


For additional information, please contact Ibrahim Jama Ali (415851) or Ibrahim Haji Musa


Human Rights Organizations Under Threat


The Coalition for Justice and Peace in Somaliland (CJPS) is concerned about the implications for human rights of statements made on 10 May by the Minister of the Interior, Ismail Adan Osman, during a conference to debate a proposed National Human Rights Commission. The comments, given prominent coverage by the local media yesterday, underline the government’s intolerance of criticism, and its determination to control the flow of information that reaches the outside world. The Coalition shares the desire of the government and public in Somaliland to attract international interest and investment. But it believes that sweeping unpleasant facts under the carpet, rather than confronting reality and addressing problems, is detrimental to the interests of Somaliland. It also believes that the government’s extreme sensitivity to alternative opinions and voices is in fact undermining Somaliland’s nascent institutions, demoralising its people and jeopardising its future.

It is ironic, and instructive, that the comments by the Minister of the Interior were made during a presentation to a conference called to discuss the establishment of a National Human Rights Commission. The conference was organized by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). The Coalition was among a number of prominent and experienced human rights groups who were not invited to the conference, the others being Samotalis, the War Crimes Commission and African Rights. These organizations have, on a number of recent occasions, clashed with the government on its human rights record, a fact that should not have been allowed to stand in the way of their presence at a UNDP conference.

The Minister of the Interior told the conference what he expected of the proposed Commission, as reported by Jamhuuriya.

I would like so see included in the articles of the National Human Rights Commission clauses that restrain human rights activists based in Somaliland.

The newspaper went on to explain the Minister’s grievances against unnamed human rights groups.

He accused certain members of human rights groups in Somaliland of disseminating false reports that are damaging to the dignity and statehood of Somaliland.

The case of Zamzam Ahmed Dualeh, the young girl who was detained for five months last year, and whose detention and accusations of rape against a number of police officers was documented and publicised by the Coalition, was highlighted in the Minister’s speech.

There was a case which was used to weaken our economic development and [our quest] for recognition. It was intended to make the international community put an end to their support for us by making them perceive us as people who violate human rights and who are no better, if not worse, than the government we struggled against. [These human rights people] are doing this in order to trample upon the rights of all of us.

According to the article, the Minister is determined to vet human rights reports before they are allowed to reach an international audience.

The Minister warned human rights organizations by telling them that they should not disseminate reports without first submitting such reports to his Ministry.

The Coalition is particularly troubled by the tendency of the government to label critics as enemies of Somaliland. He asked the audience this question:

What is your own judgment when you see a citizen of Somaliland, be it a man or a woman, who submits a report critical of Somaliland to the British Ambassador to Ethiopia and the African Union delegation, both of whom paid a visit here recently?

The government newspaper, Maandeeq, also quoted the Minister as he expressed his opinion that human rights groups in Somaliland have a duty to keep the truth away from foreign visitors.

Every time that foreign visitors come to Somaliland, in order to learn more about our affairs, and where we stand regarding our independence, our achievements, and whether we are mature enough to be recognized [as an independent state], it so often happens that citizens, who claim to represent human rights, address their criticism and accusations of the government to the [foreign] delegations instead of submitting their concerns to the government.

I consider the person who acts in this manner to be someone who is opposed to our statehood and our search for independence.

Haatuf concentrated on the part of the Minister’s speech where he took the human rights groups who had defended Zamzam Ahmed Dualeh to task.

It is important that we collectively safeguard [human] rights and at the same time avoid inventing what is not true. He took an example of the girl from Puntland who accused the Somaliland police of raping her.

Haatuf quoted the Minister as he explained how the case developed.

The Minister said they had requested the United Nations to send them a doctor who investigated the case and who confirmed to them that the girl had never been raped. But complaints continue, and foreign delegations who come to Somaliland still ask the Somaliland government about the case. Therefore, the Minister said: “it is essential to seek information from those who are concerned before making such information available.”

We do not wish to comment here on the substance of the Zamzam case. We would merely point out that it was in fact inappropriate to condition her release on a medical examination that did not involve her consent or her mother’s, in order to minimize “embarrassment” to Somaliland. The embarrassment lay in the manner in which she was arrested, detained, tried, sentenced and denied a wide range of human rights.

The Coalition for Justice and Peace in Somaliland is committed to protecting and improving human rights. We see dialogue and debate as important, and urge all the people of Somaliland, irrespective of their politics, to contribute to the search for constructive solutions to the myriad problems Somaliland faces. We recognize and salute the abilities, judgement and resilience of the people of Somaliland who can, and will, make up their own minds about the truth as they see it. We also believe in justice and fairness, and that includes our right to speak our minds, without fear or favour, on issues of national interest, to national, regional and international audiences. We hope that the government of Somaliland will, in time, come to see this endeavour as an exercise in the responsibilities of citizenship.


The Coalition for Justice and Peace in Somaliland brings together organizations and individuals that share a common interest in promoting justice, peace, human rights, the culture of dialogue and the establishment of democratic institutions in Somaliland.

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South Africa: Tesco rakes in the profits as women workers suffer

2005-05-12

http://www.eldis.org/cf/rdr/rdr.cfm?doc=DOC17632

This paper from ActionAid International states that while UK supermarket giant Tesco has commitments to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and an Ethical Trading Initiative baseline code, workers on South African farms supplying the company are paid below the minimum wage, are exposed to pesticides, suffer from food insecurity and are trapped in dismal housing. Action Aid calls for the adoption of new standards at the UN (the UN Human Rights Norms for Business) to establish legal obligations for companies to respect and secure the human rights of all workers within a company's sphere of influence.

Sudan: Winner of Front Line Award arrested in Sudan

2005-05-12

Dr Mudawi Ibrahim Adam is due to receive the inaugural Front Line Award from President McAleese at a ceremony in Dublin's City Hall on Friday morning (May 13th). He was selected for the award because of his courageous and inspiring work for human rights in Sudan, including in Darfur, which led to him being twice imprisoned in the last year. At 11.00 am on Sunday 8th of May he was arrested in the street in Khartoum North, hours before he was due to board a flight en route to Ireland. "The actions of the Sudanese authorities betray their contempt for the protection of human rights," said Front Line Director Mary Lawlor, "this new arrest of Dr Mudawi is a further attempt to silence those who work for the rights of others in Sudan. They will not succeed." Dr Mudawi Ibrahim Adam is the Chairperson of the Sudan Social Development Organization (SUDO). SUDO, is a voluntary organization created to promote sustainable development and Human Rights. It is engaged in humanitarian activities including providing emergency services in North, South and West Darfur as well as in human rights education and development projects throughout the country.
Front Line Press release
9 May 2005

Winner of Front Line Award arrested in Sudan

Dr Mudawi Ibrahim Adam is due to receive the inaugural Front Line Award
from President McAleese at a ceremony in Dublin's City Hall on Friday
morning (May 13th). He was selected for the award because of his
courageous and inspiring work for human rights in Sudan, including in
Darfur, which led to him being twice imprisoned in the last year. At
11.00 am on Sunday 8th of May he was arrested in the street in Khartoum
North, hours before he was due to board a flight en route to Ireland.

"The actions of the Sudanese authorities betray their contempt for the
protection of human rights," said Front Line Director Mary Lawlor, "this
new arrest of Dr Mudawi is a further attempt to silence those who work
for the rights of others in Sudan. They will not succeed."

Dr Mudawi Ibrahim Adam is the Chairperson of the Sudan Social
Development Organization (SUDO). SUDO, is a voluntary organization
created to promote sustainable development and Human Rights. It is
engaged in humanitarian activities including providing emergency
services in North, South and West Darfur as well as in human rights
education and development projects throughout the country. Dr Mudawi is
a 49 year old engineer who has been involved in the design and
manufacture of water supply systems as well as serving as Associate
Professor in the Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, University of
Khartoum

The latest information is that Dr Mudawi is held in the Security
Detention offices in Khartoum North. He has not been allowed access to
his family or to a lawyer and there are fears that he may have been
moved. He was arrested with his colleague Yasir Saleem and driver
Abdalla Taha. According to the information received none of the three
have yet been charged

Dr Mudawi has been previously been arrested by the Sudanese authorities
on two occasions. On 24th January 2005, Dr Mudawi was arrested by
members of Sudan’s National Security and Intelligence Agency in North
Kordufan. Three days after he was transferred to Khartoum and detained
until 3 March 2005. According to the information received Dr Mudawi was
held in Khartoum in a ‘ghost house’, a private house used as a secret
detention center in Sudan. He went on hunger strike and was transferred
to hospital 26 February 2005 and was brought before the Attorney General
and charged with "attempting to commit suicide" which could carry a
one-year's imprisonment under Article 133 of the 1991 Sudan Penal Code.
Front Line believes that such a charge suggests that the Sudanese
authorities have failed to find any other offence to charge him with. In
2004 Dr. Mudawi spent seven-months in police custody, having been
charged, in connection with his human rights work, of committing
offences against the state. Following the hearing of his trial on 7
August 2004, all charges against Dr. Mudawi were dropped and he was
released.

The purpose of the Front Line Award it to honour the work of a Human
Rights Defender who, through their non-violent work, has made an
outstanding contribution to the promotion and protection of Human Rights
in the face of considerable personal risk. Dr Mudawi was selected as the
winner of the inaugural award by a jury which included Ruairi Quinn TD,
Senator Paschal Mooney, Simon Coveney TD MEP and Proinseas de Rossa MEP.
The Front Line Award will be presented at a ceremony in Dublin's City
Hall by President Mary McAleese on Friday 13th May.

Front Line has called for the immediate and unconditional release of
Dr Mudawi. Front Line Director Mary Lawlor stated, "We will continue to
press that he be released and allowed to travel to collect his award,
however, should he be unable to make it to Dublin we will still go ahead
with the ceremony in order to honour this remarkable and courageous man."

For further information please contact Mary Lawlor, Director, Front Line
on +353 1 212 3750 or mobile +353 86 839 9355 or email
marylawlor@frontlinedefenders.org

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Chad: Aid workers withdraw from four refugee camps after disturbances

2005-05-12

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47069

Aid agencies have withdrawn their staff from four refugee camps in eastern Chad following disturbances. UNHCR said the trouble began at Iridimi and Touloum on Monday, when the camp residents refused to take part in a refugee registration exercise being conducted there by UNHCR officials. In nearby Mile and Kounoungou, protests erupted when the camp residents refused to take part in a food distribution exercise which involved verifying the number of people actually present.

Côte d’Ivoire: IDPs need urgent protection and assistance

2005-05-10

http://www.db.idpproject.org/Sites/IdpProjectDb/idpSurvey.nsf/wViewSingleEnv/Cote%20d'IvoireProfile+Summary

After more than two years of intermittent conflict that effectively split Côte d’Ivoire in half and sparked fears of ethnic cleansing, the country’s 500,000 IDPs may finally have a glimmer of hope for a more peaceful future. However, serious causes for concern remain. Ethnic tensions in the polarised country are acute. Gross human rights violations against civilians, including IDPs, continue to be reported in both government and rebel-controlled areas.

Namibia/Angola: Angolan refugees wary of repatriation

2005-05-11

http://www.newera.com.na/archives.php?id=6911&date=2005-05-09

The remaining Angolan refugees at Osire refugee camp do not seem very keen to return to their home country after the war ended in 2002. Although many refugees have volunteered to be repatriated to Angola since the advent of peace, which came about with the death of UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi, others are still too afraid to go back. Some refugees who had gone back on repatriation have since returned, claiming that their lives are in danger.

Sudan: Darfur IDPs unlikely to return home in the near future - UN

2005-05-11

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/4950679a06b1a292683ab40f5bd53532.htm

A large number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the western Sudanese region of Darfur are unlikely to return to their homes in the immediate future, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in a report to the Security Council, which called for the strengthening of the African Union (AU) mission in Darfur. Over 2.4 million people continue to be affected by the conflict, 1.85 million of whom are internally displaced or have been forced to flee to neighbouring Chad.

Togo: Hundreds return to Togo from Ghana

2005-05-11

http://www.unhcr.ch/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home/+7wwBmaesqZ3qwwwhFqnN0bItFqnDni5AFqnN0bIDzmxwww/opendoc.html

The exodus from Togo has slowed to a trickle while hundreds of Togolese refugees have returned home from Ghana, citing improved security in their homeland. Those in Benin, however, say they are not ready to go back to Togo. More than 3,500 refugees are now living in two camps in Benin – Come, which is now full, and Lokossa, where the population is growing steadily.

UK/Africa: Exiles in UK criticise pre-election focus on asylum

2005-05-11

http://tinyurl.com/7koe7

In the run-up to last week's general elections that saw the ruling Labour party maintain a diminished majority, some asylum seekers and refugees in the United Kingdom said they were concerned about the heightened focus on immigration and asylum during the campaigning, saying it fed negative sentiments towards foreigners rather than a better understanding into the reasons why people are forced to seek asylum.

Africa: NEPAD and civil society participation in the APRM

2005-05-11

http://www.sarpn.org.za/documents/d0001229/index.php

This Idasa paper attempts to provide civil society organisations with general information on the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (Nepad) and the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) to help facilitate active and meaningful participation in its processes. Nepad is a relatively recent initiative for the rejuvenation of development on the African continent, arguably still more familiar to Western and African leaders than civil society.

Burundi: Threat to transition ebbs as interior minister is appointed

2005-05-12

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47057

Burundian President Domitien Ndayizeye appointed on Tuesday Jean Marie Ngendahayo as the minister of interior, ending weeks of disagreement between the president and the former main rebel group, the CNDD-FDD. Ngendahayo is a member of the CNDD-FDD or Conseil national pour la défense de la démocratie-Forces pour la défense de la démocratie. His appointment follows talks last week in Pretoria, South Africa, between Ndayizeye and CNDD-FDD leader Pierre Nkurunziza, who is also the minister for good governance in Burundi's transitional government.

CAR: Polls results to be announced on 22 May, official says

2005-05-11

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47051

The Central African Republic's electoral commission is due to announce results of run-off presidential and parliamentary elections on 22 May, an official told IRIN on Wednesday. Voters went to the polls on 8 May, for the run-off, to elect a president and 87 out of 105 Members of Parliament. This followed 13 March general elections in which two of several presidential candidates qualified for a second round of voting: President François Bozize and his strongest challenger, Martin Ziguele, a former prime minister.

Ethiopia: Election observers should recognise systematic repression, says human rights watch

2005-05-12

As parliamentary elections approach, the Ethiopian authorities have established new institutions that suppress speech and political activity in the country's most populous region, Human Rights Watch said in a report released this week. At the same time, officials have continued to detain and harass perceived political opponents. The 44-page report, "Suppressing Dissent: Human Rights Abuses and Political Repression in Ethiopia's Oromia Region," documents how regional authorities and security forces have used exaggerated concerns about armed insurgency and "terrorism" to justify the torture, imprisonment and sustained harassment of their critics and even ordinary citizens in the central region of Oromia.
Election Observers Should Not Fail to Recognize Effects of Systematic
Repression

(Nairobi, May 10, 2005) ? As parliamentary elections approach, the
Ethiopian authorities have established new institutions that suppress
speech and political activity in the country's most populous region, Human
Rights Watch said in a report released today. At the same time, officials
have continued to detain and harass perceived political opponents.

The 44-page report, "Suppressing Dissent: Human Rights Abuses and
Political Repression in Ethiopia's Oromia Region," documents how regional
authorities and security forces have used exaggerated concerns about armed
insurgency and "terrorism" to justify the torture, imprisonment and
sustained harassment of their critics and even ordinary citizens in the
central region of Oromia. The ethnic-based party that controls the region,
the Oromo Peoples' Democratic Organization, holds the largest share of
parliamentary seats within the four-party coalition that has ruled
Ethiopia since 1991.

Human Rights Watch said that election observers reporting on the May 15
parliamentary vote must acknowledge the extent to which these pervasive
abuses have been used to prevent the emergence of dissenting voices and to
punish those who speak out critically against government policies.

"The Ethiopian government claims that the elections demonstrate its
commitment to democratic principles," said Peter Takirambudde, executive
director of Human Rights Watch's Africa Division. "But in the run-up to
the elections, the authorities have intensified the repression they have
used to keep themselves in power for 13 years."

In recent months, regional authorities in Oromia have imposed new local
institutions that restrict the large rural population's most basic
freedoms. For more than a decade, the region's ruling Oromo Democratic
Peoples' Organization has sought to solidify its grip on power by
punishing dissenters and intimidating others into silence. So far, these
abuses have been largely ignored by the international community.

The Oromo Democratic Peoples' Organization (OPDO) has enjoyed a position
of unchallenged dominance in Oromia's governance since 1991, following the
overthrow of the military leader Mengistu Haile Mariam. The following
year, the Oromo Democratic Peoples' Organization's only rival for
political control of Oromia, the Oromo Liberation Front, withdrew from the
political process after its candidates and supporters were harassed and
intimidated in the run up to parliamentary elections.

Since then, the Oromo Liberation Front has waged an ineffectual armed
struggle that has provided the authorities with a rationalization for
repression. Throughout this period, Oromo's ruling party has routinely
accused its critics and opponents of involvement with the rebel group to
justify subjecting them to extreme abuse and harassment.

In March, Human Rights Watch researchers interviewed dozens of people in
Oromia who had been arbitrarily detained, often repeatedly, when officials
accused them of supporting the Oromo Liberation Front. In each of those
cases, despite the inability of Ethiopian government authorities to
produce any evidence to support their allegations, the detainees were held
for weeks or months. None of the former detainees interviewed had ever
been tried for any offense connected to their arrest or confronted with
any evidence that they had committed any crime. Human Rights Watch
documented cases in which security officials had arrested children as
young as 11 and accused them of plotting armed insurrection.

Many of the people detained on suspicion of involvement in the Oromo
Liberation Front were severely beaten while in detention, and some were
subjected to brutal methods of torture. Several people detained last year
described being beaten to the point of unconsciousness. Others recounted
how they were stripped naked and made to stand with partially full bottles
of water tied to their testicles.

"They told me that I had gone to school not for education but to do
politics," said a 19- year-old Oromo woman detained in August by police in
Agaro. "They forced me to take off my clothes and I was naked except for
my underwear when they started kicking me.
They put a pistol in my mouth
and said that they would kill me."

Many former detainees said their ordeals did not end when they were
released from detention. In many cases, security personnel subjected them
to continuing harassment severe enough to destroy their livelihoods. After
several former detainees were released without charge, their businesses
failed as clients began to avoid them because police harassed those who
patronized stores owned by the former detainees.

In the past six months, regional authorities have taken even greater
efforts to stifle dissent in Oromia's countryside, where more than 85
percent of the population lives. Beginning late last year, Oromia's
regional government began imposing an entirely new set of quasi-
governmental community "development" organizations called gott and garee,
in thousands of rural communities. While government officials claim that
these institutions exist to facilitate development work, they are actually
being used to monitor and control the speech, movement and personal
associations of rural households in violation of fundamental rights. With
elections approaching, these institutions have also used monetary
sanctions to enforce attendance at pro-ruling party political rallies
thinly disguised as "community meetings."

"Far from being isolated incidents, the patterns of human rights abuse
that prevail in Oromia call into question the Ethiopian government's
professed commitment to human rights," Takirambudde said.

In response to repeated demonstrations by students protesting government
policies, regional and local authorities have gone to great lengths to
monitor and suppress criticism in Oromia's schools. Students said that
they could not express themselves freely in the classroom for fear of
being suspended, expelled or even imprisoned. Several teachers confirmed
that such fears were well-founded, describing how school administrators
pressured them into gathering and reporting information about their
students' political leanings.

People who have suffered abuse at the hands of government officials
because of their critical opinions said that they now avoid speaking in
public about the issues facing their communities. The chilling effect of
these abuses is most pronounced in Oromia's countryside, where dozens of
farmers interviewed by Human Rights Watch said that the efforts of the
garee to monitor their opinions have caused them to avoid any discussion
that might be seen as political.

"I used to speak at meetings about things that I thought were wrong. But
now I never do this," one elderly man told Human Rights Watch. "They are
too suspicious of anyone whose ideas are not the same as theirs."

Human Rights Watch called upon the Ethiopian government to take immediate
action to end these deeply entrenched patterns of human rights violations
and to hold responsible security and government officials accountable for
their role in carrying them out. International donors should employ their
considerable leverage to press the country's government into taking prompt
and meaningful action in this regard.

With elections approaching on May 15, Human Rights Watch also urged
international election observers to acknowledge the extent to which these
abuses have restricted the possibility for meaningful political debate in
the country's most populous region.

To view this document on the Human Rights Watch web site, please go to:
http://hrw.org/english/docs/2005/05/10/ethiop10590.htm

Human Rights Watch Press release

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Liberia: Misinformed voters demand payment for registration

2005-05-11

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47047

Misinformed villagers in central Liberia, long accustomed to gifts from power-hungry politicians, have been demanding payment from government officials in return for putting their names on the voters' list for general elections due in October, a local official told IRIN. Some rural folk were so confused by the electoral process that they thought political campaigning had begun already and were demanding cash payments to register for their voter's card, Daniel Weetol, the Superintendent of Bong County, told IRIN.

Nigeria: More than 100 people arrested at separatist Biafra rally

2005-05-11

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47033

Riot police arrested more than 100 people at a rally in the oil-rich southeast of Nigeria last weekend organised by a group campaigning for an independent Biafra, according to witnesses and police. Described as a Christian revival meeting, the Sunday rally in Abakaliki, capital of Ebonyi state, was called by the outlawed Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), and featured preachers who prophesised the secession of south-eastern Nigeria and urged the audience of hundreds of people to fight for a separate state, the sources said.

Zimbabwe: Examining the SADC regional guidelines

2005-05-11

http://www.eisa.org.za/PDF/et20.pdf

This paper from the Electoral Institute of Southern Africa covers the campaign process during the 2005 Zimbabwe parliamentary elections. These elections in Zimbabwe were aimed at offsetting controversies that occurred in the 2000 parliamentary and 2002 presidential elections. Notwithstanding, as campaign issues are not legislated in the Zimbabwe Electoral Act, it was the SADC Principles that provided the basis in creating a peaceful process. This article seeks to examine whether the campaign in the recent parliamentary elections in Zimbabwe conformed to these regional guidelines.

Kenya: New Book On Corruption is Launched

2005-05-11

http://allafrica.com/stories/200504290956.html

A book on corruption in Kenya has been launched. Authored by lawyer Peter Anassi, ‘Corruption in Africa: The Kenyan Experience’ dwells on graft in the public and private sectors and details how corrupt deals are executed. It specifically devotes itself to corruption in the police force, local authorities, Judiciary, lands office, immigration, Kenya Revenue Authority and other departments.

Kenya: War on corruption too sluggish, says EU

2005-05-11

http://admin.corisweb.org/inde