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Featured this week

2006-04-13

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/highlights/33438

FEATURED: Twelve years after Rwanda, Gerald Caplan warns of many more genocides
COMMENT AND ANALYSIS:
- Fifty-four women from 21 African countries stand up for Kwezi, the complainant in the Zuma rape trial
- World Health Day 2006: New research shows massive outflow of Africa's wealth behind underdevelopment
- Four Pambazuka News readers comment on the Charles Taylor trial
- Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender activists (LGBT) meet on discriminatory Nigerian legislation and persecution of homosexuals in Cameroon
LETTERS
- Is homosexuality really “unafrican”?; Falling down in Zimbabwe; Happy 250th birthday for Pambazuka News
PAN-AFRICAN POSTCARD: Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem asks 'who can be trusted with nuclear weapons?'
BLOGGING AFRICA: Blog columnist Sokari Ekine wraps up the blogosphere
BOOKS AND ARTS:
- Warning: “Site-specific gallery installation by up-and-coming artist. Visitors may find certain works in this exhibition challenging.” Shailja Patel introduces Wangechi Mutu
- Gangsters and Democracy: A review of Jonny Steinberg’s The Number
CONFLICT AND EMERGENCIES: Unease in N’Djamena as rebels move closer
HUMAN RIGHTS: Transparency campaigners arrested in Congo
WOMEN AND GENDER: What challenges does UN reform present for women?
REFUGEES AND FORCED MIGRATION: UK judges order Zim refugees back home
ELECTIONS AND GOVERNANCE: Worries over passing of Ugandan NGO legislation
DEVELOPMENT: NGOs call for fast-tracked trade negotiations
CORRUPTION: World Bank corruption back in the news
HEALTH AND HIV/AIDS: World Health Report 2006
EDUCATION: Child labour blocks Education for All
ENVIRONMENT: Shell told to stop gas flaring in Nigeria
MEDIA AND FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION: Journalist on hunger strike in Tunisia
INTERNET AND TECHNOLOGY: New bookmarking tool for Internet café users
PLUS: Courses, Seminars and Workshops, Fundraising and Useful Resources, Jobs

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PAMBAZUKA NEWS - 250 ISSUES
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This is the 250th issue of Pambazuka News.

Thank you to all of you who have continued to support, subscribe, promote and sustain us with articles and information that we publish each week. Thanks also to those who sent us good wishes on our 250th 'birthday'. We are older (and if you realised what it takes to produce Pambazuka News, we feel much older than that). From its early days of being generated in a dark basement in Oxford, Pambazuka News today is almost entirely produced in Africa by Fahamu's staff in South Africa, Kenya and Senegal, and by volunteers in so many other places. Pambazuka is now produced in two languages - English and French. We feel proud to have been able to make a contribution to the struggles for rights and social justice across the continent, including support for the ratification and implementation of the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa, campaigns around media and freedaom of expression, remembering the anniversary of the Rwanda genocide, making critical analyses of issues such as debt, aid and trade, the WTO, the World Bank, EPAs, to name but a few.

Pambazuka News depends on your support. Encourage others to subscribe, forward copies of the newsletter to others, send us information about the struggles that you are engaged in, and - if you can afford it - reach deep into your pockets and make a donation. Every little helps to make Pambazuka News an authentic voice for building a different world, one that is free from oppression and exploitation, one where everyone recognises their social responsibilities, respects each other’s differences, and where each of us can realise our full potential.

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No lessons learned 12 years after the Rwandan genocide

Gerald Caplan

2006-04-13

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/33432

Last week the world remembered the 12th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide. Gerald Caplan argues that understanding about the real causes of the genocide remains limited, while the world’s superpowers continue to act in their own self-interest when it comes to other genocides.


Twelve years after perhaps a million defenseless Rwandans were slaughtered for the sin of being Tutsi, Rwanda's genocide has at last become widely known. As people around the world commemorate this week the 12th anniversary of the genocide, the phrase "Another Rwanda" joins the wildly ignored "Never Again!" to reflect the world's apparent abhorrence of genocide—the ultimate crime of crimes. Anyone who thinks this augurs well for the future of humankind is dead wrong.

There are three critical realities that both these neat little phrases obscure: Few really understand what actually happened in Rwanda in 1994. A pernicious campaign to deny that genocide continues to unfold. And it IS happening again before our eyes.

Thanks to a modest production of movies, documentaries and books since the 10th anniversary, the genocide is far better known now than it was even while it was at its bloodiest. Far and away the most important vehicle has been the mainstream film "Hotel Rwanda", seen by millions and widely available on CD. The problem is what these large audiences learned from "Hotel Rwanda." Yes, it made clear that the minority Tutsi people were attacked viciously by the majority Hutu and that the world at large failed to intervene.

Yet the lasting impression surely is that some Hutu Africans were sadistically massacring some Tutsi Africans for no good reason. No one viewing the film alone would have grasped that this was no mere barbaric tribal eruption based on primitive ancient hatreds. This was a carefully planned and executed conspiracy by a group of sophisticated, westernized, greedy men and women for the purpose of ensuring their continued power and privileges. That's not a savage African phenomenon - that's a universal human phenomenon.

Nor is the critical, destructive role of outside forces evident in "Hotel Rwanda". No viewer would learn that the hatred between the two groups had largely been invented and inculcated over a century ago by the powerful Roman Catholic Church in Rwanda. They'd know nothing of the responsibility of the Belgian government for the deep, ultimately deadly, division between Hutu and Tutsi. They'd be blissfully unaware that the government of France was complicit in the genocide and has never to this day accepted any responsibility. Indeed, without a century of western interference, there'd have been no genocide as we know it. And had western governments cared one iota, they could easily have prevented the entire genocidal conspiracy from being executed. The world knows everything about Rwanda except what really matters.

What's even worse are the insidious forces at work that brazenly deny that there ever was a genocide launched by Hutu extremists against the Tutsi. Another unwelcome lesson in human nature: There are always deniers. There are always David Irvings and Ernst Zundels, who for their own sordid or pathological motives deny what can't be doubted. In Rwanda's case, it's an unholy coalition of Hutu genocidaires who want to complete the extermination of the Tutsi, whites in Belgian and France who had privileged access to the pre-genocide Hutu government, conservative Christian politicians in Europe, and a motley cast of characters around the world (including Canadians) with diverse, perverse, sometimes inexplicable motives.

For the survivors of 1994, and for the families of the victims, denial creates a second unbearable hurt, making an already difficult healing process far more painful and prolonged. And it's all based on lies and distortions. The evidence is overwhelming and irrefutable: To deny the genocide of the Tutsi in Rwanda is the equivalent of denying the Holocaust, and all who do so should be treated accordingly.

Finally, despite Rwanda, there remains Darfur. To commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Rwanda genocide, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan called on the world to assure that Darfur, the besieged western area of Sudan, doesn't become "another Rwanda". Unlike Rwanda, all the world knows what's happening in Darfur, so the excuse of ignorance, as in Rwanda, doesn't hold. Unlike Rwanda, Darfur has been formally labeled a genocide by the Bush administration and both Houses of the American Congress.

Yet three years since the Darfur crisis erupted, the world's reaction has been pitiful. The all-powerful permanent members of the Security Council - China, Russia, the US, France - have perfectly good reasons of crass self-interest to allow hundreds of thousands of Darfurians to die, countless women raped, millions forced to flee to squalid camps. Three years after it exploded, the situation in Darfur continues to deteriorate drastically. "Another Rwanda", indeed.

What are the real lessons of Rwanda and Darfur? They are surely inescapable. Those of us who demand interventions on humanitarian grounds - in Rwanda, Darfur, northern Uganda - will continue to be ignored. When western powers do intervene, we can be sure that dubious geopolitical and hegemonic interests are the driving force. We'll have many more Rwandas; we can count on it.

* Gerald Caplan has written frequently about the Rwandan genocide and genocide prevention.

* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org

The Jacob Zuma Rape Case: A letter to Khwezi

2006-04-13

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/33434

Fifty-four women from 21 African countries, meeting in Johannesburg to discuss women's rights and HIV/AIDS, have issued a statement expressing concern about the Jacob Zuma rape trial. Zuma, the former deputy president of South Africa, has been charged with rape following allegations by a 31-year-old HIV-positive woman. The trial has been characterized by ugly scenes outside the court building, with Khwezi, as the complainant has been nicknamed by her supporters, being abused and insulted by supporters of Zuma.


We, 54 women from 21 African countries representing 41 national, regional and international women's organizations in Africa; comprising of HIV and AIDS organizations, feminist associations and human rights institutions, meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa between April 6 and 7, 2006 to formulate advocacy positions on women's rights in the context of HIV and AIDS are outraged at the direction that the rape trial of the deputy President of the African National Congress, ANC, Jacob Zuma is taking. We find the conduct of the defence lawyers, the media, the courts and the police dishonorable.

1. We have been and continue to be affected by the twin epidemics of Violence Against Women and HIV and AIDS in various ways. Many of us are living with HIV, provide care and support to members of our families and communities who are infected with HIV and living with AIDS. We have either as young girls, or in our adult life, survived violent crimes committed against us by men in powerful positions within our families and in our communities. Some of us remember those women who have been senselessly murdered through acts of violence committed at home, at work and at school. We know that women are often raped by men who are known to them.

2. We take this opportunity to publicly state that we stand in solidarity with Khwezi. We applaud her brave stance in reporting her experience to the police and in standing before the courts to name her violation. Khwezi has shown respect for the mechanisms that exist in South Africa to report and resolve crimes. Confronting powerful men in powerful positions is a difficult and courageous task. We wish her, all of South Africa and the world to know that she has our love and our support.

3. We are outraged by the horrific and unethical victimization Khwezi has received in and through the mainstream broadcast and print media. She has been vilified by a form of reporting that is biased and blatantly sexist. We are noting those sectors of the media that continue to serve as judge and jury through the lens of the mass media, conferring guilt on Khwezi through inappropriate coverage of her HIV status, her dress, and her sexual past based on violations committed during her childhood.

4. We are angered by the inaction of the police, who, rather than provide a safe environment for Khwezi, have left thousands of Zuma's supporters to burn underwear and images of Khwezi outside the courts in ghastly acts of hatred and intimidation. We believe that the Commissioner of Police has continued to permit what amounts to public violence to unfold in the vicinity of the courts. Where he could have ensured a peaceful atmosphere prevailed, he has let Khwezi suffer dramatically brutal acts of bullying in her journey to and from the courts.

5. We are offended by the manner in which Jacob Zuma has manipulated traditional Zulu practice and custom. We are also outraged by Zuma's admitted attempts to abuse Zulu culture by seeking to buy off Khwezi and her mother with a few fattened cows. It makes women seem like a bag of meat that can be humped and the issue settled by trading a few cattle as marriage negotiation. This tactic of invoking customary options is a manipulative affront to a continent that daily struggles with notions of barbarism and primitivism in a global world that is built on racist and unequal frames and that believes that Africans cannot respect human rights.

6. Given the irresponsible and inaccurate remarks made by Jacob Zuma with respect to risk of HIV transmission and the infamous shower, we call for the dismantling of the South African National Aids Council (SANAC) as it is evidently a vehicle of misinformation and miseducation that permits the abuse of political power rather than meeting its statutory mandate with respect to HIV prevention, treatment and care.

7. Opening up the sexual violations Khewzi experienced as a five year old or thirteen year old child to the scrutiny of the courts is improper. These are incidents that happened when she was a minor who needed protection. It is unfair to present them as part of the present case history.

8. South Africa prides itself as a democracy whose Constitution promotes and protects women's human rights and freedoms from sexual violations. It prides itself on promoting and protecting the rights of women and people living with HIV and AIDS. South Africa claims to have a sophisticated judiciary that is free of political and other powerful influence. We want these bold claims to hold true.

Given South Africa's pivotal role in regional and international politics, how the Zuma Rape Case is treated by the media, the courts, the police, the ruling African National Congress, the Office of the President, by Parliament, by the Human Rights Commission, by the Gender Equality Commission, by every single arm of government, will send strong signals about the Human Rights of Women in Africa in the 21st century. A century where South Africa and the other 52 nations of the African continent have adopted the Protocol to the African Charter on the Rights of Women in Africa and the Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa under the auspices of the African Union. And also where the SADC region has a Gender and Development Declaration and its Addendum on Violence against Women that has been signed by all its members including South Africa.

The women of the African continent deserve better than this. Women's rights are human rights and should not be violated under any circumstances; religious, political or cultural. Will South Africa walk its talk by upholding its Constitution and its Commitments at regional and international levels on women's rights?

Signed: Ama Kpetigo, Women in Law & Development (WILDAF), Amie Bojang-Sissoho, GAMCOTRAP, Amie Joof-cole, FAMEDEV,Beatrice Were, Uganda, Bernice Heloo, SWAA International, Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi, AWDF, Buyiswa Mhambi, Empinsweni Aids Centre, Caroline Sande, Kenya, Dawn Cavanagh, Gender AIDS Forum, Diakhoumba Gassama, Dorothy Namutamba, ICW, Ednah Bhala, Ellen Chitiyo, The Women's Trust, Ennie Chipembere, South Africa, Everjoice Win, South Africa, Faith Kasiva, COVAW – Kenya, Faiza Mohamed, Somalia, Flora Cole, WOLDDOF –GHANA, Funmi Doherty, SWAA – Nigeria, Gcebile Ndlovu, ICW, Harriet Akullu, Uganda, Helene Yinda, Switzerland, Isabella Matambanadzo, OSISA, Isatta Wuire, SWAA - Sierre Leone, Izeduwa Derex-Briggs, Nigeria, Jane Quaye, FIDA – Ghana, Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, Women's Aids Collective (WACOL), Ludfine Anyango, Kenya, Marion Stevens, South Africa, Mary Sandasi, WASN, Mary Wandia, Kenya, Matrine Chuulu, WLSA, Neelanjana Mukhia, South Africa, Sandasi Daughters, Zimbabwe, Olasunbo Odebode, Prudence Mabele, Positive Women's Network, Rouzeh Eghtessadi, Sarah Mukasa, Akina mama Wa Afrika, Shamillah Wilson, AWID, Sindi Blose, Siphiwe Hlophe, SWAPOL, Sisonke Msimang, OSISA, Tabitha Mageto, Africa, Taziona Sitamulaho, South Africa, Theo Sowa, Therese Niyondiko, Thoko Matshe, Vera Doku, AWDF, Oti Anukpe Ovrawah, National Human Rights Commission - Abuja

* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org

Stopping the brain drain of Africa’s wealth - a bottom line for health

2006-04-13

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/33433

World Health Day 2006 on April 7 addressed the drain of health workers to developed countries, a problem which has had a significant impact on health systems in Africa. Research conducted by the Regional Network on Equity in Health in Southern Africa (EQUINET) argues that the debate over the health worker drain needs to be deepened to address the “significant and dramatically rising flows of resources out of Africa northwards, draining the continent of the important resources needed to address its own development, including in health.”


At this year's World Health Day the WHO will be launching its annual report which focuses on human resources for health. In Africa, as we have raised in previous editorials in this newsletter (the newsletter of Equinet, the Regional Network on Equity in Health in Southern Africa, available at www.equinetafrica.org), we are experiencing a 'global conveyor belt' of health workers flowing from rural, primary health care level in the public sector to urban, private care; from poor to rich areas and countries in the region and from the continent, with its high health needs and under-resourced health services to developed, high income countries such as USA, Canada, UK and Australia. The loss of public investment and social resources in this outflow is significant and outweighs any returns in remittances or aid for education.

However health workers will certainly continue to go to where they can work in adequately resourced health services, in decent jobs and where they can secure their own family needs. This draws attention to the much wider question of how in Africa we secure the resources to retain and value our health workers, and more widely to meet our population health needs. The latest EQUINET discussion paper, written by Patrick Bond and produced jointly by EQUINET with the Centre for Economic Justice in southern Africa points to a South-North drain of African wealth that undermines the resources for health and development, and that increases our dependency on the global North, and our loss of health workers.

The 2005 Commission for Africa report leaves the impression of a continent receiving a vast inflow of aid, with rising foreign investment, sustainable debt payments and adequate remittances from the African diaspora to fund development. Our discussion paper tells a different story: of significant and dramatically rising flows of resources out of Africa northwards, draining the continent of the important resources needed to address its own development, including in health. The paper synthesizes data about the outflow of Africa's wealth, to reveal factors behind the continent's ongoing underdevelopment, as the basis for proposing policy measures to reverse these flows.

The statistics speak loudly of a continent being progressively dispossessed of its wealth, and thus the resources it needs to improve health and human development:

* A debt crisis with repayments in the 1980s and 1990s that were 4.2 times the original 1980 debt levels, and annual debt repayments equivalent to three times the inflow in loans and, in most African countries, far exceeding export earnings, leaving a net flow deficit of by 2000 of $6.2 billion.

* Unequal exchange in trade and trade liberalisation policies that have lowered rather than increased Africa's industrial potential and exacted an estimated toll in sub-Saharan Africa of $272 billion over the past 20 years.

* Flows of private African finance that have shifted from a net inflow during the 1970s, to gradual outflows during the 1980s, to substantial outflows during the 1990s.

* Falling foreign direct investment (FDI) from roughly one third of FDI to third world countries in the 1970s to less than 5% by the 1990s, and a shift to highly risky speculative investment in stock and currency markets - with erratic and overall negative effects on African currencies and economies.

Africa is commonly and mistakenly represented as the (unworthy) recipient of a vast aid inflow. Aid flows in fact dropped 40% during the 1990s, and the phantom aid that flows back to the source countries in technical and administrative costs was estimated in one study to be $42 billion of the 2003 total official aid of $69 billion, leaving just $27 billion in 'real' aid to poor people.

There is also a perverse subsidy in the extent to which industrialised countries exploit the global stock of non renewable natural resources. This takes place through the extraction of minerals and natural resources from Africa by Northern investors with little investment in return and few royalties provided. It also takes place through use of global goods like the earth's clean air. Forests in the South absorbing carbon from the atmosphere are estimated for example to provide Northern polluters an annual subsidy of $75 billion. A method for measuring resource depletion used by the World Bank suggests that a country's potential GDP falls by 9% for every percentage point increase in a country's dependency on resource extraction. This implies, for example, that Gabon's people lost $2,241 each in 2000, based on oil company extraction of oil resources.

These outflows deplete the resources available for productive and human development. They are felt most heavily by women and poor communities, and undermine progress towards the achievement of human security for the majority of African people.

They imply that the first step to effect genuine growth and to deliver welfare and basic infrastructure is for African societies and policymakers to identify and prevent the vast and ongoing outflows of the continent's existing and potential wealth.

Current global reform agendas do not address these outflows. While they point to debt and unfair trade, they do not seek to reverse the outflow of African wealth.

Campaigns to reverse resource flows and challenge perverse subsidies are emerging from grassroots struggles and progressive social movements, such as those in Africa that are resisting privatisation and commodification of basic services, pressuring for rights to generic anti-retroviral medicines and resisting encroachments on human development through trade and macroeconomic policies that intensify inequities.

These grassroots struggles can be consolidated by national governments and regional co-operation to improve disclosure of financial flows and apply policies within Africa to prevent the outflows and encourage the 'stay' of domestic investment resources. The paper points to some options - systemic default on debt repayments, strategies to enforce domestic reinvestment of pension, insurance and other institutional funds; national-scale regulation of financial transfers from offshore tax havens; clearer identification and renegotiation of tied or phantom aid; and improved calculation and negotiation around of the costs of FDI (not simply the benefits), including natural resource depletion, transfer pricing and profit/dividend outflows.

EQUINET welcomes the focus on this year's World Health Day on one area through which Africa is bleeding - its loss of human resources. We would however urge that to deal with this effectively in the continent, and address the inequity globally in the resources needed for health and human development goals, we need to deepen the debate. In 1998 EQUINET highlighted that a critical dimension of equity is the power and ability people have to make choices over health inputs and their capacity to use these choices towards health. For Africa this must surely include bringing control over the resources for health and development back within the continent.

* This article first appeared in the the April 2007 newsletter of the Regional Network on Equity in Health in Southern Africa (EQUINET), available at www.equinetafrica.org The new EQUINET can be found at http://www.equinetafrica.org/bibl/equinetpub.php
Please send feedback or queries on the issues raised in this briefing to admin@equinetafrica.org . EQUINET work on economic policy and health is available at the EQUINET website at www.equinetafrica.org

Charles Taylor: The escape, the capture and the justice

2006-04-13

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/33435

Charles Taylor, the President of Liberia between 1997 and 2003, is in jail, awaiting trial on 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the conflict in Sierra Leone. A decision to move his trial, taking place through the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL), to The Hague in the Netherlands, because of fears over whether he can be kept securely in Sierra Leone has not been finalized because there is no agreement over which country will hold him once he is convicted.

Taylor’s incarceration follows three years of obscurity. The former warlord was being held in Nigeria under an asylum deal, but this changed dramatically on March 28, when the Nigerian government announced Taylor’s disappearance from his residence in Calabar, Nigeria. On March 29, however, Taylor was arrested in Gamboru, along Nigeria's northeastern border with Cameroon. He was subsequently transferred to Liberia and handed over to the UN in Sierra Leone. On March 30, the Special Court requested permission for the International Criminal Court in The Hague to carry out the trial.

Having presided over a brutal civil war that cost the lives of up to 200,000 people and displaced an estimated one million, Taylor’s reign of terror over West Africa has not been forgotten, and he maintains a grip on the region, leading to fears that if his trial is not handled carefully it could lead to further conflict. Pambazuka News readers were quick to comment on the arrest of Charles Taylor. We have reproduced these commentaries below in summary form, with the full commentaries available through the website link provided. Send your comments on Charles Taylor to editor@pambazuka.org

1. Bringing African dictators and warlords to justice

Ndung’u Wainaina notes that bringing Charles Taylor and other dictators to justice, other than its importance in establishing the rule of law and deterring future human rights violations, gives victims an opportunity to know the truth about the past and seek reparations for these violations.

2. The many lives of Charles Taylor

Kintu Nyago points out that it was largely US pressure that led to Taylor’s arrest. This, he argues, has enormous implications for Africa and its emerging governance institutions such as the African Union.

3. The Trial of Charles Taylor and the Fate of Africa

Stan Chu Ilo says that the fate and future of Africa will be determined by the extent that leaders are held accountable for their actions by Africans and the international community.

4. Charles Taylor, The Escape Artist

Prof. Vivian Seton says that every morning, Taylor should take care of the crippled by bathing them, feeding them, combing their hair and taking care of their personal hygiene as this is the only way he will experience what it is like to be maimed and crippled.
1. Bringing African dictators and warlords to justice

Ndung’u Wainaina notes that bringing Charles Taylor and other dictators to justice, other than its importance in establishing the rule of law and deterring future human rights violations, gives victims an opportunity to know the truth about the past and seek reparations for these violations.

2. The many lives of Charles Taylor

Kintu Nyago points out that it was largely US pressure that led to Taylor’s arrest. This, he argues, has enormous implications for Africa and its emerging governance institutions such as the African Union.

3. The Trial of Charles Taylor and the Fate of Africa

Stan Chu Ilo says that the fate and future of Africa will be determined by the extent that leaders are held accountable for their actions by Africans and the international community.

4. Charles Taylor, The Escape Artist
Prof. Vivian Seton says that every morning, Taylor should take care of the crippled by bathing them, feeding them, combing their hair and taking care of their personal hygiene as this is the only way he will experience what it is like to be maimed and crippled.

1. Bringing African dictators and warlords to justice
Ndung’u Wainaina

The arrest of Warlord Charles Taylor after his indictment was unsealed in June 2003 by the UN-backed Sierra Leone Special Court cast a bright hope on conflict ridden Africa. Africa has for a long time been dominated by leaders who have constantly and consistently been unleashing in a deliberate and indiscriminate manner terror with impunity to civilians. To address this phenomenon, the AU council of ministers endorsed a plan of action against impunity in 1996. Subsequently, African leaders made a commitment through a declaration in 2000 to condemn genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in the continent and pledged to cooperate with relevant institutions in the continent and outside that are set up to prosecute perpetrators. However, the Charles Taylor’s case has exposed African leaders as lacking in a common approach in combating impunity and preserving emerging fragile peace and democracy on the continent.

Charles Taylor is accused of masterminding massive killings, amputations, mutilations, and sexual offences including sexual slavery and rape, recruitment of child soldiers and adductions. Across in central Africa, former US-backed Chad dictator Hussein Habre is facing trial in Belgium, whose anti-atrocity law allows its courts to hear cases from all over the world. Habre’s extradition to Belgium was a wake up call to dictators in Africa and elsewhere, warning them that if they commit atrocities they could also be brought to justice one day and not necessary in their respective countries.

The arrest of Charles Taylor is a crucial action that will contribute significantly to securing peace, justice and accountability in Liberia and in its tormented neighbours where Taylor had established and sponsored an army empire of militia to terrorize and overthrow governments in West Africa in return for concessions to exploit diamonds and other natural resources. African leaders, the majority of whom have opted to keep quiet over the Taylor issue, need to recognize the essential role that justice plays in maintaining peace, political stability and promoting rule of law. Impunity does not serve the interests of African people whose lives have been ruined by either state or non-state actors.

An attempt to insulate or shield human rights violators flouts both international human rights law and humanitarian law and it is an affront to innumerable victims of these atrocities. Nobody is accusing African leaders that they are not doing much to address human rights violations in Africa, but they need to appreciate the existing gaps in the continent and work with the international community in dealing with complicated human rights abuses. The unwillingness to address the problem of impunity is inconsistent and incompatible with the fundamental principles of the Constitutive Act of the African Union. Africa’s conflicts are caused by widespread impunity which takes the form of massive human rights atrocities, large scale pillage of public resources, illegal extraction and sale of primary resources and systematic discrimination on ethnic or religious grounds. This calls for strengthening of institutional commitments and capacity to monitor and address human rights violations continuously and to take proactive actions to intervene.

Bringing Charles Taylor and other dictators to justice, other than its importance in establishing the rule of law and deterring future human rights violations, gives victims an opportunity to know the truth about the past and seek reparations for these violations.

The leadership of various armed groups roaming in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Darfur in Sudan, Northern Uganda and Somalia need to take Charles Taylor’s lesson seriously. The arrest and transfer of Thomas Lubanga in the DRC to the International Criminal Court in The Hague, and the indictment of rebel leaders in Northern Uganda and Darfur to the same court has opened new chapter in pursuing justice for human rights violations. Prosecution of these people by the ICC would contribute substantively to restoring peace and stop the widespread systematic attacks against the civilians in the Great Lakes Region. Sustainable peace and democracy is not exclusive of justice.

The African Union needs to facilitate the consolidation of the gains obtaining from these latest actions on the justice front through implementing the resolutions of the Conference on Security, Stability, Development and Cooperation in Africa (CSSDCA) adopted in 2002. It is also imperative to redesign and strengthen the peace building and post conflict reconstruction mechanisms in Africa to include justice and accountability mechanisms. Since African leaders have at least shown political will to intervene and address the conflict crises, it is crucial for the international community, including the UN Security Council, to adopt strategies that create a conducive environment for positive engagement and partnership in handling Africa problems. Financial commitment is only one way but more significant is the development of institutions with capacity to intervene rapidly and curtail the escalation of impunity.

* Ndung’u Wainaina is a Programme Officer, NCEC and Director, International Center for Policy and Conflict. P.O. Box 11996-00400 Nairobi. Tel: 4445974, 4446313; email: wainainagn@yahoo.co.uk

* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org


2. The many lives of Charles Taylor

Kintu Nyago

The Charles Taylor saga raises more questions than answers. There is a need to appreciate at this stage that pressure to have Taylor apprehended overwhelmingly emerged from Washington, rather than from Monrovia, Abuja or the African Union (AU). This in turn points to the very fragility of most African countries while concurrently testing the very credibility of our continental and regional institutions, more specifically the AU and Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

Although Taylor and his state apparatus operated in a criminal manner, one needs to contextualize the pressure leading to his arrest, in order to fully appreciate the gravity of the issues surrounding that development. When three years ago Taylor and the lieutenants of his National Patriotic Party military politico outfit were besieged in Monrovia by the LURD rebels, they were ready to cause a blood bath rather than surrendering or for that matter fleeing into exile. For they were all to aware of the consequences of both, that is in light of Master Sergeant Doe’s violent death in addition to the issuing of the arrest warrant from the Sierra Leone based International Criminal Court (ICC).

It took the wise intervention of both the AU and ECOWAS to avert a massive loss of life in Monrovia. President Olusegun Obasanjo, then AU Chairman, in addition to President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa and President John Kuffor of Ghana, with AU backing, persuaded Taylor to peacefully relinquish power with the promise of amnesty for his supporters and a safe exile in Nigeria. Taylor complied, which in turn resulted into Liberia’s hitherto promising democratization effort that recently saw Ellen Johnson Sirlief elected and the Mano River Basin seeming to move towards a much deserved peace. This also was an illustration of the policy of African solutions to African problems.

Not for long however, for Washington, always too eager to criticize and impose its will, pressurized the Sirlief-Johnson administration to demand Taylor’s extradition from Nigeria. To ensure compliance the US withheld its development assistance to war ravaged Liberia. Hence it became a contest between democracy and justice. This being so because while the democratically elected Sirlief administration had opted through its mandate and wisdom to move on and reconcile, Washington on the other hand demanded immediate justice, through having Taylor arrested and tried.

Hence the honeymoon of the new Liberian government was rudely interrupted. This in a very fragile country where there is a chance of destabilization. For the much-anticipated national reconciliation has been undermined. For Taylor, who had won Liberia’s first democratic elections with a landslide, still has considerable support, both political and military. For instance, the current Speaker of the Liberian Parliament is a member of his party.

Regionally, Washington’s bullying tactics, (Obasanjo was also nearly denied access to the White House on his recent visit after it had been reported that the elusive Taylor had escaped), have fundamentally undermined the credibility of the AU and ECOWAS. How will these bodies successfully diffuse potential political catastrophes involving this or other African political elite? For after what has befallen Taylor, it would probably be only the most credulous to trust such conflict resolution mediations.

Regarding Taylor and Liberia, Washington is not spotless. In the mid 1980’s, Taylor escaped from an American jail, from where he fled to conduct military training in Libya and eventually launch a successful armed struggle in 1989 that overthrew the Doe regime. Some have actually pointed to US complicity in this escape.

On the other hand, the Liberian state, whose meaning refers to liberty, was created by the US in the mid 1880’s as an outpost for freed slaves. The irony is that subsequent American policy was characterized by neglect with interest only coinciding with the demand of US multinationals to smoothly extract huge profit margins from this poor country’s resourceful economy.

This background of neglect most probably explains how the freed slaves, the Americo-Liberians, soon adopted the attitudes of the former slave masters, leading to the marginalization of indigenous Liberians. Of the thirty or so presidents it has had, over 150 or so years, it’s only Doe who was an indigenous Liberian. Even the American educated Taylor and Sirlief Johnson are Americo-Liberians.

The context that led to Taylor’s rise to power was one of a country that was war ravaged without functioning institutions and a credible political class to mediate differences, which concurrently was rich in natural resources. Unless the world invests in the creation of viable political economic institutions in both Liberia and Sierra Leone, we are bound to see re-occurances of desperado war lords such as the likes of Taylor and Sankoh in this region.

* Kintu Nyago is Executive Director of the Forum for Promoting Democratic Constitutionalism, a Kampala based good governance think tank. (nkintu (at) yahoo.com

* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org

3. The Trial of Charles Taylor and the Fate of Africa
Stan Chu Ilo

The capture and deposition of former Liberian president, Charles Taylor to the Special UN Court in Sierra Leone, marks a step forward in the long but tortuous road to national reconciliation in Liberia and Sierra Leone. His upcoming trial will no doubt bring closure to the worst page in the history of sub-Saharan Africa. In addition, it will help unearth the many untold tragedies and unanswered questions about the horrors of that era under Taylor. According to the UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, Taylor's capture and trial will send "a powerful message to the region that impunity will not be allowed to stand, and would-be warlords will pay a price."

Charles Taylor represents the very antithesis of what a leader should be in traditional African thinking. He revolutionized guerrilla warfare in Africa as a means to gain political power. The war he led in Liberia caused the deaths of over 200,000 Liberians and the displacement of over 100,000 others. The war he supported and financed in Sierra Leone, led to the deaths of over 50,000 Sierra Leoneans and the displacement of over 400,000 others. His army, the National Patriotic Front of Liberia and the army of his Sierra Leonean protégé, Foday Sankoh, the Revolutionary United Front, gained most of their recruits from under-aged children, who were forced to kill their parents as a first test of valor.

These children were hooked on drugs and were forced to commit all kinds of atrocities, which were unheard of in the dark annals of our continent. The tale of a nine year old Liberian captures the intensity of Taylor's over flowing cup of horrors: "I saw 10-20 people shot, mostly old people who could not walk fast. They shot my uncle in the head and killed him. They made my father take his brains out and to throw them into some water nearby. Then they made my father undress and have an affair with a decaying body. They raped my cousin who was a little girl of nine years."

That a man who authorized and gloried in these horrors, should call himself 'a sacrificial lamb' is very unfortunate; that he should justify these atrocities as 'an act of God' is to insult the glorified African tradition of respect for life, a high premium on the sense of community and the realization of the fullness of life for one and all.

Taylor has been indicted with 17 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity. His crimes include, among others, the systematic massacre and mutilation of tens of thousands of helpless civilians including children, women and the elderly; the hacking off of feet and hands of defenseless civilians with machetes and axes for comical relief or just for the inhuman passion of seeing blood flow. He also backed rebels in Sierra Leone under Sankoh, whose despicable crimes in the 'Operation No Living Thing', horrified the sensibilities of Africans and the international community.

Most of us who grew up in West Africa in those dark days, when Taylor and his henchmen reached the peak of evil, could not understand how any African could be so inhuman, so senseless and so brazen in the comprehension and execution of evil. Memories of those dark nights, of fellow West Africans who were disappearing every day, of thousands of Liberians and Sierra Leoneans who were roaming the streets of West Africa's major cities in search of a home, with wounded memories and fractured histories, still come into my consciousness.

Taylor was the most destabilizing factor in the sub-region for most of the 90s as he promoted rebel movements in Sierra Leone and Guinea. Out of passion for the rich alluvial diamonds of Kono in Sierra Leone, whose annual export value was put at $500 million, Taylor supported the rebellion of Sankoh, with whom he had military training in Libya. He used the ill-gotten wealth from the diamond trade to fuel the war and caused untold hardship to the people of both Liberia and Sierra Leone.

As Taylor's trial begins, it is important that the international community supports the fledgling democratic experiment in Liberia, which could be threatened by Taylor's demobilized soldiers - the most effective guerrilla fighters in Africa. It is expedient that Taylor be tried in The Hague for security reasons. It also highlights the significance of his crimes: the abuse of the dignity and rights of any person in any part of the globe is an abuse of the dignity and rights of every person in every part of the globe. The whole world has become a kind of court for judging the actions and inaction of leaders in any part of the world.

Taylor still has some strong following in Liberia. He also has immense wealth and connection in Africa and Europe. He was able to run the illegal trade in diamonds from West Africa because he had the support of some African leaders, who allowed the use of their countries as conduits for diamond and illegal arms. The illegal purchase of weapons by Taylor was actively supported by business interests from some Western companies in France and Britain. These weapons were not manufactured in Africa; it is always the case that it takes some Western collaborators to make a monster out of some African dictators or to create a corrupt African leader. Whatever be the case, the truth is that the long arm of the law has now caught up with Taylor. In the end, justice does prevail.

The fate and future of Africa will be determined to the extent that the leaders of this potentially great continent are held accountable for their actions by Africans and the international community. This is the only way to put an end to the colossal wasting of the human and material resources of Mother Africa, by a self-serving political class.

* Stan Chu Ilo is a Catholic priest. He is the author of The Face of Africa: Looking Beyond the Shadows and founder of the NGO Canadian Samaritans for Africa.

* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org

4. Charles Taylor, The Escape Artist
Prof. Vivian Seton

Charles Taylor can be compared to the escape artist Hudini. All through his life, Taylor has been able to extricate himself from difficult situations and come out victorious. He broke out of the county jail in Massachusetts and go on to become the President of Liberia. Now he is in custody again. Will he be able to escape this time?

(I have known Charles Taylor since he was a senior at Rick’s Institute in Liberia. We were once pen pals, but as these things go, the friendship fizzled out. In April, 1980, Taylor introduced me to 16 of the 17-member PRC (People’s Redemption Council who had staged the coup which killed President William R. Tolbert, Jr. and brought Samuel K. Doe to power) “as the most intelligent woman in Liberia”.Taylor is a very determined man and carries out what he says.

On Wednesday, March 22, 2006, Charles Minor, the Liberian Ambassador to the United States and I were the two studio guests on VOA’s (Voice of America, the American government’s external broadcasting television and radio system) “Straight Talk Africa” to discuss the importance of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s official visit to the United States. The host of the show, Shaka Ssali, asked me to address Taylor directly and plead with him to return the funds (3.2 billion dollars) he alleged stole from the Liberian people.

It occurred to me that capturing Charles Taylor and condemning him to death would be the easy way out. I then got in touch with Dr. K. A. Paul who I had met on August 13, 2003 when he was a call-in-guest on VOA’s “Straight Talk Africa.” (On that program, I had been invited to discuss the significance of Charles Taylor’s departure from Liberia and the future of the country). Dr. Paul, the President of Global Peace Initiatives, is the man being credited with having talked Taylor into going into exile. Taylor was sent to Port Harcourt, the capital of the State of Kalaba in Nigeria where he was captured last week, flown to Liberia and onward to Freetown, Sierra Leone for prosecution.

In my discussion with Dr. Paul, I was concerned that if Charles Taylor was sent to Freetown, he would be killed before the trial even began. The trial could cause disruption of the peace in the entire region. Instead, I proposed that he should be tried by the International Court of Justice in The Hague, The Netherlands. After his conviction, Charles Taylor should be sent to Freetown where he would have to do community service. He should be made to return the funds he stole from the Liberian treasury and those funds should be used to take care of the thousands who were deformed upon his orders and provide for the orphans whose parents had been killed.

Every morning, Taylor should take care of the crippled by bathing them, feeding them, combing their hair and taking care of their personal hygiene. This is the only way he will experience what it is like to be maimed and crippled.

On May 15, 2002, I was invited to be the Rapporteur at the Conference on Children and Youth in Armed Conflict held at the World Bank in Washington, D.C. The conference was organized to determine the effects the Special Court, which was being set up in Freetown, would have on the child soldiers who had participated in the Sierra Leonean disturbances. Since then, the Special Court has been bringing the various warlords and other participants in the Sierra Leonean unrest to justice. Charles Taylor is supposed to have financed that war in order to get diamonds and other precious stones from Sierra Leone, which he allegedly sold to terrorist organizations around the world.

The Bush administration asked Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to request Charles Taylor’s extradition from Nigeria. She sent a letter to the heads of state of the ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) to bring the Taylor matter to closure. General Olusegun Obasanjo, the Head of State of Nigeria, said he would turn Taylor over for prosecution. Thereupon, Charles Taylor left the villa, the former mansion of the Governor of Kalaba, and was caught near the Chadian border trying to leave Nigeria.

Taylor is now being sent to the International Court of Justice in The Hague. Will he be Hudini and escape again?

* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org

23rd International Gay & Lesbian Association (ILGA) meeting held in Geneva

Sokari Ekine

2006-04-13

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/33436

The 23rd International Gay & Lesbian Association (ILGA) meeting was concluded in Geneva on Monday 4th April after a week of discussions and workshops around lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues (LGBT). Africa was represented by LGBT activists from South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Rwanda, Nigeria, Tunisia and Senegal.

The two issues that most concerned the Africa group were the homosexuality trial in Cameroon and the proposed same sex marriage law in Nigeria.

Among other issues tackled were: the case of Ugandan LGBT activist, Victor Julie Mukasa. An outline of her case and her proposed course of action was presented in a plenary session alongside with a description of The All Africa Rights Initiative (AARI) and The Coalition of African Lesbians (CAL).

On the arrest and detention of 35 men on homosexuality charges in Cameroon (11 are still in prison), Alice Nkom, the lawyer for the defendants, was present and was able to provide us with details on the background to the case and the present situation. The trial is due to start on the 21st of this month. The prisoners have been refused bail and are housed in overcrowded cells with the most violent criminals, where they are sure to be sexually assaulted. Nkom reported that there was one positive element in that the President of Cameroon, Paul Biya, has asked that people put their religious and personal beliefs aside and judge the matter on the basis of human rights. She is approaching the case from the point of view that like the Jim Crow laws of southern US which led to the Civil Rights movement and the apartheid laws of South Africa, the law being applied in the Republic of Cameroon is a violation of human rights.
Just last week, 11 female students were dismissed from their college "after confessing" to the Disciplinary Council of the school of belonging to a network of lesbians.

In the case of Nigeria, the proposed legislation which will ban any advocacy around LGBT issues – the Same Sex Marriage Prohibition Act, 2006 - has already been presented to the House of Representatives. President Obasanjo is calling for the bill to be fast tracked.

President Obasanjo urges the National Assembly to give expeditious consideration and passage to the bill. “This is because the problem has become topical and embarrassing in recent times.”The House Leader added that "the problem of homosexuality has become very disturbing in view of the increasing number of gays and lesbians in the country".

Nigerian delegates said the bill would create a climate of fear amongst the community at large and would impact on HIV counseling and testing; drive the issue of sexual identity underground; and further reduce the number of reported rape cases both for men and women. Women and girls would be even more reluctant to report rape for fear of being labelled lesbian and therefore the bill would put women at even more risk of being raped. As advocacy and support by any organisation around sexual identity will become illegal, organisations such as Alliance Rights Nigeria and SPIN will be at risk of being criminalised.

The Nigerian contingent met with a lawyer from the Nigerian Human Rights Commission (HRC) to discuss possible strategies. It was decided that the first step would be to present a document outlining the issue of LGBT in Nigeria in relation to the proposed legislation to the HRC. Another possible course of action was to take the matter to the constitutional court. The lawyer pointed out that the process would take anything from 5-10 years with no guarantee of a positive outcome. There were three considerations:

1) Innovation (no legal precedent);

2) Hostile judges and a hostile system leading to an unfavourable judgement;

3) Social perception leads to legal change and in this case the overwhelming social perception is that homosexuals are social misfits and or mental cases.

In the North, gay men are seen as being paedophiles and or pimps whilst ironically in the south many lesbians are quite open about their sexuality.

Two Africans - one transgender and one lesbian - were chosen as ILGA representatives for the continent.

On Friday night we learned that the proposed bill had been presented to the House. The following day two meetings were held to discuss how to respond. It was decided that Human Rights Watch would take the lead by contacting various international organisations and possibly the UK government to take the matter up with the Nigerian Government and President.

It was also decided to contact Bishop Desmond Tutu and possibily Nelson Mandela in the hope that they could speak directly with the President and other members of government and the Senate.

Also on Monday 4th April, representatives from some African LGBT groups accompanied by ILGA officials presented a letter protesting the current anti gay bill in Nigeria to the Nigerian Embassy in Geneva.

African organisations that participated in the conference were:

Freedom and Roam Uganda
Alliance Rights Nigeria
SPIN
Changing Attitude
The Rainbow Project
Engender
GALZ
FEW
ARC En Ciel D'Afrique

* Sokari Ekine produces the blog Black Looks, http://okrasoup.typepad.com/black_looks

* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org

Who can be trusted with nuclear weapons?

Tajudeen Abdul Raheem

2006-04-13

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/panafrican/33442

"I am officially announcing that Iran has joined the group of those countries which have nuclear power.” These 17 words were uttered live on television last Tuesday, by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran, to a cheering crowd of jubilant compatriots proud that their country had joined this patented club of countries whose wishes may not be ignored by the rest of the world because of their ability or potential to back their power with nuclear technology.

It is a small club of nations that can intimidate the rest of the world. Until recently, that club was almost exclusively White and Western (including the Zionist State of Israel), with the exception of China. But North Korea, India and Pakistan are also members now. All experts agree that Iran has not become a full member yet and may take a few more years to be able to make nuclear bombs but it has now demonstrated its potential.

As Iranians jubilate ‘The World’ or more appropriately those who think
they are ‘The World’ through the global media they control and the rest of us follow, let it be known that our world is made more unsafe by this copycat scientific development in Iran. US State department spokesman, Sean McCormack, said to BBC: “we would have hoped that the Iranian regime would have taken this opportunity to choose a pathway of diplomacy as opposed to the pathway of defiance.”

The same words could have been quoted back to the US for many policies its government, especially under the bellicose George Bush, have pursued since it came to power. And I am not referring only to the foretold tragedy in Iraq. It would be more credible if those who preach to other nations to respect international rules, conventions and etiquettes were themselves impeccable in their observance of the same.

The US government should be the last government to shout foul because it has refused to allow international law or morality to stand in its way in the pursuit of its own interests. If it can obey international rules in a kind of reckless a la carte what right has it got to say other countries should not do the same?

I am not sure if the world feels as threatened by Iran acquiring what all experts know to be a capacity to make nuclear fuels as the US and EU countries are orchestrating. Many Africans openly or secretly jubilated when India detonated its nuclear bomb the same week that Pakistan launched its own.

The only regret many felt was that there was no African country able to do the same and redeem the continent and its peoples from ‘nuclear whitemail’. There were many African scholars and activists who opposed Professor Ali Mazrui’s call for an ‘African Bomb’ in the 1980s who now regretted their ideological opposition to the controversialist scholar.

I was a baby radical then and thought of Mazrui as a reactionary. Now I know better. In those days, Mazrui had ambitions for Nigeria to be able to counter the nuclear threat posed by apartheid South Africa. The idea that nuclear weapons are safe in the hands of Americans and their European cousins only and a danger to the rest of the world is not only patronising but also racist. If George Bush can be trusted with nuclear weapons why not anybody else? The only way to ensure universal nuclear disarmament is for all countries to renounce it and destroy the nuclear arsenal they have acquired. As long as some have it and others do not, those who do not will try to either acquire it, if they can or if they cannot, envy those who do. Iran is not the only country trying to acquire nuclear weapons.

How come nobody is talking anymore about North Korea whose capability is technically ahead of that of the Iranians and whose leaders have also declared their readiness to use it ‘for pre-emptive action’ the principle so beloved by Bush’s America? There is no doubt that the Iranian government under President Ahmadinejad has raised the stakes very high in a game of brinkmanship against American bullying.

Many countries have been cowered into submission but secretly wishing they could also play with the Tiger’s tail and get away with it.

Is it really surprising that the Teheran announcement came the same week when Western media was full of stories about Washington planning ‘pre-emptive strikes’ against nuclear installations in Iran by the US, including using nuclear weapons? Does anyone expect the Iranians to behave like sitting
ducks?

Teheran continues to protest that it is seeking nuclear technology for peaceful purposes. The Americans and many Westerners doubt this intention but many people in the world also doubt Western intentions. The US in particular, has not got a good record in identifying real threat to global peace and security. It was wrong in Iraq, in Afghanistan and why should anyone trust its judgement now? Russia, China, India, Pakistan and Israel have nuclear weapons and these countries are either neighbours of Iran or countries with strategic focus on the country and vice-versa.

Therefore Iran cannot be expected to willingly leave itself so vulnerable. Whether it is Ahmadinejad or any other leader, the nuclear option would have been a serious option in Teheran. Now that Iran has demonstrated its capability it may actually be opened to diplomatic discussions.

Unlike Israel which does not even accept any UN Non- Proliferation treaty and welcomes no inspectors, Iran may return to cooperation with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) but like Israel, it may never fully disclose its capability, just to keep its regional rivals and enemies guessing: do they, don’t they?

How many Africans will really find it objectionable if there is an African state with such potential?

Ghana: Life choices campaign

2006-04-11

http://www.comminit.com/africa/experiences/pds112004/experiences-2787.html

Life Choices is a nationwide family planning campaign that was launched in October 2001 in Ghana. The goal of the campaign is to increase the use of modern family planning methods in urban, peri-urban and rural areas, with particular attention to communities whose pharmacies and chemical shops sell Ghana Social Marketing Foundation (GSMF) brands and where other community-based service providers have a presence.

Is homosexuality really "UnAfrican"?

Keguro Macharia

2006-04-12

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/33378

Jacob Rukweza raises an important question on the broader issue concerning democratic freedom and sexuality. In asking whether homosexuality is un-African, Rukweza asks us to consider the centrality of sexuality to our ideas of citizenship and political allegiance. He rightly points out that ignoring African homosexuals means denying our shared humanity.

At the same time, I would have liked to see his article address the ways African homosexuality might be different from western versions. Are there specific ways of living, histories, and cultural practices that make African homosexuals unique? Is it possible that a struggle for sexual rights in Africa will look quite different from similar struggles in the West? What can we learn from the West? And, what can the West learn from us?

With Rukweza, I believe sexual rights to be central to human rights and democratic practice. I applaud his article, and Pambazuka, for initiating what I hope will be an ongoing conversation.

Is homosexuality really "UnAfrican"? (2)

Cleo Manago

2006-04-13

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/33430

When same gender loving (SGL) and ''bisexual'' Africans stop writing about ''African homosexual liberation'' in blatantly colonial-minded ways, and have more of an African liberatory/affirmation agenda parallel to their desire for safe acknowledgement in their country - they **might** have more effective results.

This article by Jacob Rukweza sounds like the voice of a colonized African homosexual who is using Europe - an abuser, disrupter and exploiter of ''Zimbabwe'' - as a frame of reference in terms of identity as he critiques his own people. I do not mean to imply that Rukweza's complaints are not justified, but he is confronting people, his people, who are still deep in the difficult throws of resurrecting themselves from being disrupted by White/European brutality. Just like in Black America, the group is still trying to reconstruct its manhood, its independence, its self-determination - which is still threatened by colonial/racist forces.

Also missing from Rukweza's story – as is typical among most gay identity advocates in Black American and African communities – is acknowledgement of the sexual exploitation of African males and boys by White Europeans taking place all over the Diaspora (This contributes to hatred for homosexuals throughout the Caribbean). How this also contributes to African discomfort (and humiliation) with ''gay'' is frequently left out.

An approach to homosexual rights in Africa that is framed in colonial constructs i.e. gay/lesbian identity/politics, that does not explicitly acknowledge African post colonial struggle, will never work. As it has not worked, similarly, in America's Black communities. The so-called Black gay movement was/is mired in anti-Black behavior and often headed up by gay identified Black men who exclusively had White partners. This was an assault even on many of the Black homosexuals who desperately relied on it for sexual empowerment. Anti-Black and bourgeoisie tendencies in this ''movement' today still compromises its credibility and effectiveness.

If we really are or were a part of African history, culture and experience, we need to act like we have respect for and honor that. We need to stop attempting to force feed homosexuality in European/colonial drag (politics) down the throats of our ambivalent communities who justifiably wonder if this ''gay stuff'' is just another symptom of or a weapon to compromise African people.

Is homosexuality really "UnAfrican"? (3)

Mercy Grace Muchadura

2006-04-13

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/33431

I do not see the reason why "gays and lesbians" should cry foul and seek special protection of the law when other sexual orientations are not specially protected.

One of the major problems that we have in Africa is with these young generations and even some old who just join the Western ship without much ado. The author refers to a book by Stephen Murray and Will Roscoe. Are these African scholars? Why should Africans wait for Western scholars to, not only tell, but also interpret their history? What rational basis is there to conclude that because Nzinga was a female "king" with male "wives" in the 1640s in one kingdom, then homosexuality is African? A thorough study of those cultural ancient settings will tell you that that tradition and many things discussed in that book are far removed from homosexuality which, in my personal opinion, is rightly treated along with bestiality as unnatural sexual behaviour. Why allow these Western scholars to inculcate into us their depraved culture and emasculate our cultural traditions in broad daylight? For once I agree with Mugabe.

Pambazuka News turns 250

Subscriber letters

2006-04-12

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/33376

I educate myself each week reading your emails. I am from a third world country, namely the republic of the Fiji Islands in the South Pacific, where we are struggling for freedom and human rights as well. - Mere Tokailagi

Thank for the work you are doing. Personally I was apolitical, but ever since you started sending this good news, I have come to get more concerned with socio-political issues than ever before, especially about suffering of all kinds in Africa, women and gender and poverty. My eyes are now wide open and I am very informed of what is taking place in our continent of Africa. - Medad Rugyendo

Pambazuka is my essential link to sanity and to 'home'. Living in self-imposed exile in the UK, surrounded by the complacent consumerism and insidious continuing dominance of the west, it has been and is a weekly tonic to read excellent analysis, 'real' news on all aspects of social and political life from across Africa. I have found no other source for the understandings and insights you offer and, above all, a source with Africa at heart. Knowing there are so many wonderful people working so hard in so many areas, learning about the realities and the courage and commitment of Africans across the world, is reinvigorating and uplifting. Whenever I meet someone wanting to understand what is going on in African countries, Pambazuka is my 'gift' to them. Whatever the rest of the world thinks, Pambazuka is evidence of the strength and resources of the continent. Long may you continue. Thank you from the depths of my soul and, a luta continua! - Barbara Murray

Congratulations on making the 250th anniversary and possible more importantly for becoming an indispensable part of the fight for justice and transformation in Africa - Steve Kibble

Peace and love to you. I wish to commend you for the great work you are doing for Africa. Ever since I found your site, I have recommended it to my students and colleagues here in Toronto. I am a Nigerian Catholic priest but active in social criticism in Africa. I identify myself totally with the social activism of your online magazine. I hope to make occasional contributions purely from the perspective of a religious critique of contemporary African Christian and Islamic religions and politics as they affect women and children. My new book The Face of Africa: Looking Beyond the Shadows is being released this week simultaneously in Africa and North America. I am also the founder and director of the Canadian based Non-governmental organisation, Canadian Samaritans for Africa. Pambazuka! Ummera ummera-sha! - Stan Chu Ilo

Congratulations on the 250th issue of this wonderful on-line publication. I have been greatly informed on all issues in relation to the continent of Africa. This is about the only online news that gives one objective and authoritative news on politics, human rights, as well as other issues. Please keep it up. - Okwa Morphy

Somali Women Action (SOWA) hereby sends you a letter of appreciation regarding the issues of the e-newsletter Pambazuka News that we have received. We welcome the topics and the continent wide coverage of news of human rights, gender issues, etc. all being around the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa. We firmly believe that the Solidarity for African Women’s Rights (SOAWR) Coalition is the right apparatus in implementing the promotion of women’s rights in Africa and at the same will pave the way for further gains to all women around the world. Keep up the good work! We are proud of you! And the world is proud of you.
- Ruqiyo Ali Abdulle, The Chairlady of SOWA  

We all fall down

Mercy Grace Muchadura

2006-04-12

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/33377

I am touched by the pleading by the writers who rightly feel the ordinary Zimbabweans must be rescued from the jaws of the hero-turned-villain Robert Mugabe.

It is not for Mugabe to deliver us from the evil. That is obviously impossible - for since when did evil deliver its prey from its jaws? We all do give credit to Mugabe for the good that he did for Zimbabwe, similarly to the likes of other African leaders who led the liberation of their countries.The problem with many African leaders is power - they take political office as a profession yet it is only national service!

I for one also wanted land because I grew up in a baren communal area. But I do not want to be given 200 hectares on farmland, because my profession and my aspiration is not to be a farmer. I am trained as a lawyer and I am happy to have land in Harare to build my house and continue to practice my profession.

In the communal area in which I grew up in, no-one was resettled. So where is the decongestion of communal areas? Who got the farms that were confiscated from the white commercial farmers? The answer is obvious - stupid political cronies with no idea of farming. They produce nothing. We are starving and we export nothing. Cry my beloved country. All the middle class has reasonably seen it fit to leave the counrty and go and practice their professions where they are respected and valued.

Kenya: Holy Messes, Bloody Head Games – The Art of Wangechi Mutu

Shailja Patel

2006-04-13

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/books/33417

In the museum map for the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Wangechi Mutu's work is listed as: "Site-specific gallery installation by up-and-coming artist. Visitors may find certain works in this exhibition challenging. Parents/guardians are advised to preview the exhibition before sharing it with children."

One might be forgiven for thinking that Mutu, born and raised in Kenya, now based in New York, has already "up and come". Her work resides in museums of modern and contemporary art in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and San Francisco. It has been exhibited at prestigious art museums and galleries in London, Paris and Tokyo. It has received critical attention in numerous glossy journals and publications.

"Beauty" and "horror" are the two words most frequently used about the Mutu opus. She creates collaged images of women, using clippings from fashion magazines, news magazines, and porn magazines (which feature, she's asserted, the most realistic brown skin). Smooth shiny arms that end in manicured talons, sexy stiletto-shod legs, emerge from bodies which are continents of mineral, wood, plant, forest, flesh, rock, jewel, feather. Close up, we see that each of these bodies is mutilated in some way – amputated, pierced, shattered, bleeding.

"There are elements and references to violence, but my work is not about violence," says Mutu. "It concerns what brings about violence, and ideas of power – female power, how history is proscribed or worked out on the bodies of women."

The installation I viewed in San Francisco is entitled "The Chief's Lair is a Bloody Mess". One wall of the white box gallery space has been gouged with dozens of small holes, like gunshot wounds, tinged with red pigment. Three chairs dominate the center of the room, poised on extended spindly stilt legs. A bottle of wine hangs over each one, drips on the chair and spills on the floor, drying to sticky odorous bloodstains. These "thrones" are a satire on Western global hegemony: "A leader can sit on his seat and tell people to go out and fight the wars he has created." Yet the ease with which the same seats could be toppled, as they wobble on their perches, suggests the precarious base of military dominance.

In the collage "Bloody Old Head Games", a tiny figure, half-female, half-bird, perches on the elbow of a gigantic standing woman with scars and dark patches where we would expect to see breasts. A pistol in the hand of the avian woman points directly into the skull of the main figure, spews an explosion of red and brown particles. The eye moves down the picture to a girdle of pubic hair that morphs into long dangling strands of a grass skirt, over a leg raised as if to dance. Mutu plays a head game with the viewer, challenges our preconceptions, seduces and frightens, lures and repels.

The work of an African artist exhibited in the Western world is never free of imposed expectations of "authenticity". San Francisco museum curator, Tara McDowell, says of Mutu's work: "Born and raised in Nairobi, Kenya, she creates work that reflects her African identity and heritage as well as a politics of place with which she is deeply familiar, having spent years exposed to the mutilations that are common in parts of Africa debilitated by civil strife and the diamond trade."

Wangechi Mutu was a schoolmate of mine at Loreto Convent, a private Catholic girls' school in Nairobi. The mutilations referred to may be common in Liberia, Sierra Leone, the Congo – they did not figure in the experience of upper middle-class Nairobi schoolgirls in the 1980s. While Mutu admits to a "Catholic-obsessed mind", and clearly draws on the iconography of the ritualized sacrificial body, we see at work in McDowell's comments the unexamined racism of "collective representation". Anyone hailing from the African continent is assumed to have first-hand experience of every aspect of the social, political and economic history of every region of the continent. This is the only way their art can be legitimate. Unlike Western artists, Africans may not address a subject simply because it engages them – it must reflect some aspect of their own heritage.

If Mutu's work does indeed reflect a politics of place, it is a universal place she explicates herself: "I position myself as a violator, a person who destroys. There's something horribly satisfying about it. People have to clean up after you. Someone has to come around to heal the wall. And it takes a lot to repair. It's also about creating that cycle of responsibility that's part of the performance of this piece. Women's bodies […] are like sensitive charts - they indicate how a society feels about itself."

It takes creative courage to gouge out a white gallery wall. It takes intellectual and artistic courage to recontextualize mass-produced images of the female body in ways that may still be misinterpreted. Mutu's work has been reproduced on magazine covers with captions such as "Fashion and Art", or worse, "Sex Sells". But there is a deeply satisfying aesthetic fused with a radical politics here. A holy mess that draws us into the best kind of head game - one that forces us to re-examine our conditioned responses to the imagery that surrounds us.

* Visit http://sikkemajenkinsco.com/wangechimutu.html for more information. Shailja Patel is a Kenyan Indian poet and spoken word artist. Visit www.shailja.com

* Send comments to editor@pambazuka.org

South Africa: The Number by Jonny Steinberg

Cape Town: Jonathan Ball Publishers, 2004, ISBN: 1868422054

2006-04-12

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/books/33412

Reviewed by Francis B. Nyamnjoh

The Number very broadly articulates the democratization of South African society since the end of apartheid in 1994, and the impact of this transition on prison communities structured on the principles of apartheid and the discipline and punish logic of prisons everywhere. In the words of the author, the book demonstrates “why generations of young black men lived violent lives under apartheid, and why generations more will live violently under democracy” (p.11).

Using the life of William Steenkamp/Magadien Wentzel, Steinberg demonstrates the proximity of the history of crime to the central fault lines that have shaped and continue to shape South African society. In William Steenkamp/Magadien, Steinberg sees the sort of man he wanted to write about, especially as: “I was frightened of penning a story about hell; I wanted to find a redemptive tale, to write about someone who had journeyed to the heart of the inferno but had come out the other side.” (p.27-28). The Number thus recounts Steinberg’s and Magadien’s journey into the latter’s past (p.44) Thus informed by how William Steenkamp/Magadien Wentzel has come to understand his own past and why, The Number, a highly researched book rich in prison ethnography and organizational sociology, is as much about history as it is about memory. Two themes have caught my attention: (a) democratization and (b) identity.


On Prisons and Democracy in South Africa

In post-apartheid South Africa where the rhetoric of equality of humanity, democracy peace and reconciliation are the order of the day, personal and communal identities are increasingly seeking representation for a complexity and plurality that the rigid policing of identities in the past had rendered invisible to the insensitive bureaucracies of legality and legitimacy. Considered as the most outlawed and subhuman of dehumanized blackness under apartheid when it was commonplace for white men to play out “their fantasies that blacks were animals, and in the process brought out the animals in themselves” (p.10), the black prison population has not been indifferent to the democracy bandwagon, often appropriating it to reinterpret the past, justify their actions and dream new futures of tolerance, belonging and conviviality.

Even the prison administration, used to disciplining and punishing, would have to re-invent itself through a revalorization of black humanity and a more empathic and contextualised understanding of crime and punishment. Both of these dimensions are captured through the story of a prisoner widely known under the false name of William Steenkamp [name in a stolen ID book (p.303)], who joined the 28s [one of the three competing and complementary prison gangster groups – The Number] in the late 1970s while still in his teens, and whom Jonny Steinberg, author of The Number, first met in October 2002, when he was about to be released from Pollsmoor prison.

The winds of change in tune with democracy and the contradictions arising from it in South African prisons are well epitomized by two coloured people at the centre of The Number - Jansen, the new administrator of Pollsmoor, whose philosophy and approach to prisoners Steinberg describes below, and Steenkamp, Steinberg’s main informant:

“He [Jansen] came armed with a philosophy as laudable as it was naïve: an evangelical belief that all men’s souls are naturally gentle, that only the cruelty of history had made them bad. He identified with the gangsters behind the bars. The humiliations he had suffered as a coloured warder working in apartheid’s jails were the same humiliations, he thought, that had turned many Cape Flats men into monsters…” (pp.24-25).

But both Jansen (as concerns democratising South African prison management) and democratization of the wider society face formidable hurdles, as the reality remains schizophrenic and pregnant with rhetoric.

It is therefore little surprise that Pollsmoor prison is “a world nourished by stories” as “weapons, tools, [and] the stuff of action”, and a place where prisoners want to unload their stories into a journalist’s notebook, organized around the master story of Nongoloza, the God of South African prisoners (p.17-18). Thanks to the mythical feats of Nongoloza, the prison Number gangs – the 26s, 27s and 28s - had demonstrated courage in the struggle against the indignities of apartheid.

A central theme of the book is that to change for the better, prisoners need the active cooperation of the outside world, a concern which William Steenkamp articulates superbly in the following words:

“It is no use us prisoners changing…if the world outside is still the same. You are still labeled a criminal when you leave, which means you don’t get a job. And inside here, we are told when to eat, sleep, walk, exercise, play sport, when to watch TV and when to phone our families. How can you expect a person enslaved in this mentality to have responsibility on the outside? That is why we always come back.” (p.29)

That is why prisoners consider the state and social structures - “the system” - “a factory for criminals”, making “criminals out of decent people” (35). It is also why The Number, whose death prisoners seeking redemption may wish, remains very strong even after democracy came in 1994, not only in prison, but also in the streets of cities and townships across South Africa (pp.38-39). Parallel to this, is the resilience of racism, despite the rhetoric of transformation and celebration of The Rainbow Nation.

On Identity – What is in a Name?

William Steenkamp, who has “served five or six sentences over the last 20 years, each time under a different name” (p.40), was, in the words of Steinberg, “a hell of identities not yet erased, and identities not yet formed.”(p.43). He captures his identity crisis (or should I say wealth) thus:

“My mother, she is the Wentzel in my life; she is a Muslim. My foster-mother, in whose house I grew up, her name is Mekka; she is a Christian. When I was a child I went to church. I sang in the choir. When I was told who my real family was, I was sent to mosque. So you can say I am confused. My father was a Christian. But I am not sure if he was really my father. If he was my father, why didn’t they give me his surname? Why Wentzel? Why my mother’s name?”

“I want to know who my father is, and when I find out, I want to take his name. And then my sons must take his name. JR and Steenkamp must disappear. I owe it to my children that they know who they are. And to their children and the children after that. I have fucked up my life. Why must I also fuck up the lives of children who have not yet been born? Why must they wander around nameless like me?” (pp.40-41).

To get a job with Mr Morris, he had to work under the name of William Steenkamp, a stolen ID he had assumed. But the troubles of going through with a false name were enormous, as the identity of ‘William Steenkamp’ haunted his work and made life at home intolerable.

“Do you understand what it means not to have a name? […] You can take it for granted that you are Jonny Steinberg. You’ve never even had to think about what it means. It means you are a Jew, that your grandparents came to South Africa in x year, that your father was born in y year. That you know your name means you will never have to sleep in a gutter or wander the streets like a stroller. You belong.” (p.302).

Uncomfortable with living a lie, “I wanted to go back to jail so this lie would end”, “I couldn’t live this life” (p.41) “I need to be Magadien Wentzel to live a proper life” (p.42). But there was the fear that this might never happen: “I have forgotten my own life … I was too fucking angry to take notice of my own life. I’m scared I will never get it back.” (p.44) And he is right to be scared, as it was all up to “a bunch of faceless bureaucrats, shifting through a biography that had been reduced to a slime dossier” to determine which of his lives was really his, often with an arbitrariness that shattered whatever sense of self he was trying to cultivate. (p.289).

The encounter between Mr Morris and Steenkamp demonstrates that reconciliation and empathy are possible between the world of crime and that of order, between imprisonment and freedom, and between communities rigidly divided and at conflict under apartheid, if only everyone in post-apartheid South Africa could make an effort to see the humanity in the other. Despite Steenkamp’s dishonesty, Mr Morris, a white South African, is able to see the goodness in him.

As for Steenkamp,

“I was brought here to serve this sentence because of what I did to Mr Morris…I loved them, you know, Mr and Mrs Morris. But a piece of me always held back. I would do stupid things to hurt him. I would smash the bakkie on purpose and then blame it on someone else. I would break his glass…A couple of years ago, I phoned Farieda. She said there was a new boss now; the Morrises went bankrupt. I walked back to my cell in a daze. I put my head on the pillow and cried. You see, I knew it was because of me, because of the glass I stole from him. I had destroyed him. He offered me love and I spat on him and destroyed him…When I get out, I want to work and save and try to pay him back. I know it will take me a long time. If he’s not there I can pay back his children. This is one debt I need to repay.” (p.288)

Finally released into the ‘normal’ world where he hopes to re-integrate himself into a ‘normal’ life as a ‘normal’ citizen of the now ‘normal’ South Africa, William Steenkamp/Magadien Wentzel comes “to learn that one cannot reinvent oneself without reinventing the people around whom one has lived a life”, for identity is not just how one sees and positions oneself, and also how others recognize and represent one. Identity, to make sense, is a negotiated reality.

Conclusion

This is a fascinating book with a compelling story told mostly from the standpoint of gangsters in prison who are more used to being disciplined and punished, than being given a voice to share their predicaments with the wider world. Steinberg has succeeded in doing what most writers cannot manage, being able to share, in a creative and irresistible narrative, the results of scientific enquiry or journalistic investigation with the wider reading public whose primary concern is a good story well told. The style is that of a master storyteller, but the content remains factual and sociologically outstanding. The Number is a major contribution to the peace and reconciliation, and to the crystallization of renegotiated identity essentialisms that should come from an understanding of all the facets and nuances of South African society past and present. Through his outstanding craftsmanship Jonny Steinberg has given a voice to the desperately voiceless in a new South Africa where every voice matters.

* Francis B. Nyamnjoh is Head of Publications and Dissemination at CODESRIA

* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org

Africa blog round-up

Sokari Ekine

2006-04-12

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/blog/33409

Chippla (http://chippla.blogspot.com/2006/04/price-of-disloyalty.html) writes on the ongoing “3rd term” battle between Obasanjo and his supporters and the growing opposition in Nigeria to the idea. In particular he focuses on the disagreement on the issue between the President and Vice President, Atiku Abubakar:

“A few days ago, the Vice President, Mr. Abubakar, attended a meeting in which he publicly accused his boss of trying to manipulate the Nigerian constitution by perpetuating his stay in office.”

The President’s spokesperson then called on Abubakar to resign and so it goes on back and forth between the President’s men and the opposition including pro supporters trying to prevent the VP from entering the Presidential wing of Lagos airport. Chippla concludes:

“A few things become very clear from this incident: in today's Nigeria, demonstrations are allowed PROVIDED they are in support of the president or his ruling party. All other demonstrations are nothing short of treachery. The killing of innocent Nigerians who were demonstrating in the Northern State of Katsina against an amendment to the constitution goes to show that Mr. Obasanjo's government will go to any length to silence opposition.”

Ethiopundit (http://ethiopundit.blogspot.com/2006/04/battle-of-adwa-110th-anniversary.html) remembers the 110th anniversary of the Battle of Adwa which was a defining moment in Ethiopia’s struggle against colonialism. He reviews a book “The Battle of Adwa: Reflections on Ethiopia’s Historic Victory Against European Colonialism” and comments:

“Nine scholars analyze the unique Ethiopian victory at Adwa, pondering the factors that brought success, the putative missed opportunities for securing the future integrity of the Ethiopian territory, and the lessons to be learned…”

“The event and its implications have much to say about Ethiopia’s subsequent development, the secession of Eritrea, and relations with external powers. It also reveals much about the machinations of global powers and the dangers they pose to weaker nations, and most specifically international influence in Africa.”

Gukira (http://gukira.blogspot.com/2006/04/where-my-mouth-is.html) responds to an article in the Kenyan newspaper, “The Sunday Nation” which questions whether this is the right time to discuss issues such as sexuality when Kenyans should be focusing on “violent sexual offences”.

Keguro responds that “growing up means having to choose” and in this instance precedence should be given to legislation that will provide recourse to victims of “gender based violence” over the issue of gay rights. If one has too choose, as in this case, I completely agree with Keguro. Once this legislation has been passed then the focus can move on to gay rights, abortion rights and so on.

Diary of a Mad Kenyan Women (http://madkenyanwoman.blogspot.com/2006/04/violent-writing-and-gangsta-writers.html) writes on the ongoing “Violent writing and Gangsta Writers” in the blogosphere. Whilst supporting freedom of speech she points out that there are ways of saying things and one can express a point of view without being rude and insulting. On those who choose rudeness but hide their identity she writes:

“After all, it is not much more revealing to call oneself, for example, ‘blitzwriter’ than it is to call oneself ‘anonymous.’ Thus, this latter impulse to anonymity suggests to me that the writers are in fact cloaking themselves from themselves no less than from us. They are, consciously or not, divesting their rude anonymous alter egos of the responsibility that being a citizen of the blog world imposes. They are in short, making of themselves a mob - in both gangster and crowd senses. Mobs, in either sense, allow themselves the detestable vices of non-thought, hidden identities, and most of all incomprehensible, unnecessary, unthinkable, and unforgivable violence. Mobs - both the gangster kind and the crowd kind - allow themselves furtive recourse to petty parochialisms, to ugly little hatreds, to bigotry, to witch-hunts, to meaningless contests for a power that only they covet, to brutality, but mostly, to irresponsibility. Then the crowd disperses, the gangsters flee, and they all melt back into the sheltering disguises of normality, reason and identity. Until the next time.”

Black Looks (http://okrasoup.typepad.com/black_looks/2006/04/last_week_i_was.html) posts an interview with South African lesbian activist, Rose Masuku, who speaks on being a lesbian in South Africa, the culture of “butch lesbians” and lesbians playing soccer as well as her work as a counsellor to lesbians, many of whom are thrown out of school and out of their homes.

The Moor Next Door (http://wahdah.blogspot.com/2006/04/christians-dont-respect-algerian-laws.html) asks: “Why is it illegal to convert Muslims from Islam to other religions in Algeria?” He believes this is because evangelists are using Christianity as a “tool to destabilize” Algeria and calls for a review of religious policy in Algeria.

“First of all, if Islam and religion are the causes of so many troubles in Algeria, why not stop the use of religion in politics entirely? We can start by abolishing the state religion, or by making it illegal to call for the use of religion for violent ends (or using anything for that end). The problem cannot be fixed by simply attacking the Christians, you have to attack Islam too. Religion is a problem that must be dealt with totally.”

The Skeptic (http://elijahzarwan.net/blog/?p=86) comments on the lack of reporting in the blogosphere on the killing of 17 Palestinians by the Israeli Defense Forces since last Friday. He contrasts this with the response to an op/ed in the Washington Post on an academic article discussing the Israeli lobby and American foreign policy. Here thousands of words were written on the topic yet nothing on the murder of Palestinians.

“Pardon me if I take a preachy tone for a minute. I understand that civilian casualties in the OPT are nothing new and that in Amrika these deaths more often than not appear on page A-13 as brief items written by AP. Still, if you got exercised about the Walt-Mearsheimer article, ask yourself why you are less exercised about the death of 17 people, including a little girl and a little boy. Which is more important to you: an academic paper or the end of 17 human lives?”

* Sokari Ekine produces the blog Black Looks, http://okrasoup.typepad.com/black_looks

* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org

Egypt: Women still marginalised from the judiciary

2006-04-13

http://www.agenda.org.za/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1344&Itemid=147

“When I was appointed by the Constitutional Court in 2003, I felt Egypt had taken a very important step towards building a freer, more equal merit-based society,” said Tehany al-Gebaly, Egypt’s only female judge. “Three years on, I am saddened to see that the obstacles to women joining the judiciary remain firmly in place.” In Egypt’s approximately 6,000-strong judicial body, al-Gebaly is the only woman in an executive judicial role.

Global: Separate UN agency for women?

2006-04-13

http://www.whrnet.org/docs/issue-un_women.html

A proposed blueprint for a radical restructuring of the United Nations as envisaged by outgoing Secretary-General Kofi Annan has fallen short of its target in one specific area: gender empowerment. As the 191 member states get ready to discuss the political nuances and economic implications of Annan's recently-released landmark report on UN reform, there is an increasingly vociferous demand to rectify the gender shortcoming by creating a separate UN agency to deal with women's issues.

Global: What challenges does UN reform present for women

2006-04-13

http://www.agenda.org.za/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1341&Itemid=147

“It is … right and indeed necessary that women should be engaged in … decision-making processes in all areas, with equal strength and in equal numbers.” These are the words of United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan in his speech to mark this year's International Women's Day which was celebrated on March 8. For a number of years the United Nations has been planning and implementing reforms to improve its effectiveness. However, current initiatives to reform the UN have women wondering if the organization is not merely paying lip service to the principle of gender equality.

Kenya: The little pill that could

2006-04-12

http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=32716

Misoprostol is not exactly a household name as far as drugs are concerned; however, it has the potential to improve and even save thousands of women's lives in Kenya. This medication is one of a number of drugs that can be used to induce abortion, in a procedure that has come to be known as "medical abortion", or "abortion by pill". It provides a cheaper alternative to surgical termination of pregnancy, results in fewer complications if administered correctly and can also be used to stop haemorrhaging after delivery.

Namibia: Leaving prostitution is easier said than done

2006-04-12

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=32795

"Everything revolves around money and without work there is no money," says 33-year-old Maria Xoagub*, a mother of three who earns her living as a prostitute. "Sometimes we try stopping going to sell our bodies in the streets, but when poverty takes over we are back there." Xoagub’s story is one heard frequently from Namibia’s sex workers. In a country where the unemployment rate hovers around 30 percent, prospects of getting a job outside prostitution are slim for sex workers, many of whom are illiterate.

Nigeria: New Bill puts human rights defenders of sexual rights at risk

Press Release

2006-04-13

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/wgender/33421

The World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), in the framework of their joint programme, the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, express their deep concern over a Bill that would introduce criminal penalties for public advocacy or associations supporting the rights of lesbian and gay people, as well as for relationships and marriage ceremonies between persons of the same sex. As a consequence, human rights defenders and organisations defending those rights will be at a greater risk of criminalisation.
Nigeria: New Bill Puts Human Rights Defenders of Sexual Rights at Risk

World Organization Against Torture (Geneva)
PRESS RELEASE
April 7, 2006

Geneva/Paris

The World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), in the framework of their joint programme, the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, express their deep concern over a Bill that would introduce criminal penalties for public advocacy or associations supporting the rights of lesbian and gay people, as well as for relationships and marriage ceremonies between persons of the same sex. As a consequence, human rights defenders and organisations defending those rights will be at a greater risk of criminalisation.

Indeed, the Observatory has been informed by several organisations, including the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC), that on January 19, 2006, Mr. Bayo Ojo, Minister of Justice, presented to the Federal Executive Council a "Bill for an Act to Make Provisions for the Prohibition of Relationship Between Persons of the Same Sex, Celebration of Marriage by Them, and for Other Matters Connected Therewith". While the Council reportedly approved the Bill, it has not yet been submitted to the National Assembly.

For example, in its article 7 (1), the Bill prohibits the "registration of gay clubs, societies and organisations by whatever name they are called [...] by government agencies".

Furthermore, the Bill provides in its article 7(3) five years imprisonment for "any person involved in the registration of gay clubs, societies and organisations, sustenance, procession or meetings, publicity and public show of same sex amorous relationship directly or indirectly in public and in private". It also provides the same sentence to anyone who "goes through the ceremony of marriage with a person of the same sex, and "performs, witnesses, aids or abets the ceremony of same sex marriage" (article 8).

The Observatory recalls that chapter 42, section 214 of Nigeria?s Criminal code already penalises consensual homosexual conduct between adults with fourteen years imprisonment.

The bill, if adopted, would blatantly violate the principle of non-discrimination, enshrined in all main international human rights instruments, and a corner stone of human rights law. It would also clearly restrict freedoms of expression and association of human rights defenders and members of civil society, when advocating the rights of gays and lesbians. This Bill would also potentially criminalise civil society groups engaged in fighting against HIV/AIDS through prevention programme.

The Observatory recalls that the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders states, in its article 5, that "everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, at the national and international levels: a) to meet or assemble peacefully; b) to form, join and participate in non-governmental organisations, associations or groups", and in its article 7 that "Everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to develop and discuss new human rights ideas and principles and to advocate their acceptance". The Special Representative of the UN Secretary General on Human Rights Defenders herself has specifically called attention to the "greater risks... faced by defenders of the rights of certain groups as their work challenges social structures, traditional practices and interpretations of religious precepts that may have been used over long periods of time to condone and justify violation of the human rights of members of such groups. Of special importance will be... human rights groups and those who are active on issues of sexuality, especially sexual orientation" (See Report of the Special Representative to the Secretary General on Human Rights Defenders, UN Doc. E/CN.4/2001/94 (2001), at 89g).

Moreover, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Nigeria acceded without reservations in 1993, protects the rights to freedom of expression (article 19), freedom of conscience (article 18), freedom of assembly (article 21) and freedom of association (article 22). It also affirms the equality of all people before the law and the right to freedom from discrimination in articles 2 and 26.

As a consequence, the Observatory urges the Nigerian authorities to:

-- withdraw the "Bill for an Act to Make Provisions for the Prohibition of Relationship Between Persons of the Same Sex, Celebration of Marriage by Them, and for Other Matters Connected Therewith", in order to conform with international and regional law;

-- conform with the provisions of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 9, 1998, in particular with article 1, which states that "everyone has the right, individually or in association with others, to promote and to strive for the protection and realisation of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels", above-mentioned articles 5 and 7, and article 12.2, which states that "The State shall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities of everyone, individually and in association with others, against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of the rights referred to in the present Declaration";

-- more generally, conform with the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and the regional and international instruments relative to human rights binding Nigeria.

Moreover, the Observatory also calls upon the international community, in particular the United Nations human rights mechanisms and the African Commission on Human and People?s Rights, to urge Nigeria to conform, in all circumstances, with its international human rights commitments.

Tanzania: Two rapists to serve life in prison

2006-04-11

http://allafrica.com/stories/200604101288.html

Two persons of 23 years of age, have been sentenced to life in prison after a district magistrate's court in Tanzania found them guilty of rape. Handing down the judgment, the magistrate said the court was satisfied with the testimonies given and found the two accused guilty of the offence and would therefore spend the rest of their lives in prison.

Congo: Top transparency campaigners arrested in Republic of Congo

2006-04-12

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/rights/33381

The international Publish What You Pay coalition is deeply concerned by the arrest in the Republic of Congo (Brazzaville) of two prominent campaigners against corruption and human rights abuses, Christian Mounzeo and Brice Mackosso. The arrests follow a campaign of intimidation and threats against the two men, who have spoken out courageously against the misuse of oil revenues in their country.
Publish What You Pay Coalition
Press release 10 April 2006

Top Transparency Campaigners arrested in Republic of Congo

The international Publish What You Pay coalition is deeply concerned by the arrest in the Republic of Congo (Brazzaville) of two prominent campaigners against corruption and human rights abuses, Christian Mounzeo and Brice Mackosso. The arrests follow a campaign of intimidation and threats against the two men, who have spoken out courageously against the misuse of oil revenues in their country.
Mounzeo and Mackosso are the Co-ordinators of the Congolese branch of the Publish What You Pay (PWYP) coalition. PWYP is a global coalition of civil society groups which campaigns for greater transparency in the management of revenues paid to governments by the oil and mining industries. They were arrested in the city of Pointe-Noire 6 on charges of having misappropriated funds from a human rights organisation founded by Mr Mounzeo, Rencontre pour la Paix et les Droits de l'Homme. They were released that night, but then rearrested on Friday 7 April and remain in custody.
The arrests of Mr Mounzeo and Mr Mackosso were ordered at the highest level of the Congolese police but did not follow the procedures defined by Congolese law. Their lawyer was at first refused access to them on the grounds that police were under instruction not to allow them any legal assistance, a clear violation of their human rights. In addition, the two men were told by the Pointe-Noire Prosecutor that they had to be put into protective custody because of the 'political' nature of their work. Police officers who questioned Mr Mounzeo and Mr Mackosso have showed less interest in the financial allegations against them than their role as prominent critics of the oil-related corruption which is systemic in their country, and have confiscated documents relating to their campaigning activities. No proper record was made of the documents taken, which opens up the danger of false evidence being introduced
Republic of Congo, a highly indebted poor country, has signed up to reform of its oil sector in return for debt relief. Despite these commitments, there is clear evidence of systemic mismanagement, with the government's own figures revealing hundreds of millions of dollars unaccounted for in the budget. In December 2005, a London court judgement revealed that Republic of Congo’s top oil officials had overseen sales of hundreds of millions of dollars of cut-price oil to companies owned by the head of the national oil company, ostensibly to hide them from the country’s creditors. The revelations resulted in international donors, led by the World Bank, insisting on increased oversight and transparency of Congo's oil revenue management before the country is granted full debt relief.
Congo is also supposedly a participant in the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), a global process which promotes transparency of oil and mining revenues. Although the free participation of civil society groups is a cornerstone of EITI, Mounzeo and Mackosso have faced months of denunciations from government officials because of their work in promoting good governance and fighting corruption, and have also been accused of misappropriating funds. None of these allegations have been substantiated and they have not been made by the international organisations which actually provided the funds.
‘We are deeply concerned that Mr Mounzeo and Mr Makosso have been arrested on trumped-up charges because of their courageous stand against the corruption of oil revenues in their country,’ said Publish What You Pay Africa Co-ordinator Matteo Pellegrini. ‘We call on the international community to make clear to the Congolese government that it must respect their human rights and not abuse the legal process in order to silence those who speak out for the public interest.’
For further information please contact:
Matteo Pellegrini (PWYP Africa Coordinator) +237 634 5635
Grégoire Niaudet (Secours Catholique, French PWYP Coalition) +33 616 93 20 15
Moké Loamba (President, Congolese PWYP Coalition) +242 521 5407
Sarah Wykes (Global Witness) +44 207 561 63 62 or +44 7703 108 449

Global: Negotiating Justice? Human Rights and Peace Agreements

International Council on Human Rights Policy (ICHRP)

2006-04-10

http://www.ichrp.org/public/publications.php?lang=AN

This report examines the perceived clash between 'principled' and 'pragmatic' approaches to peace negotiation. It lays out the dilemmas and trade-offs that negotiators and mediators face when they consider human rights and, based on country studies, suggests how such difficulties can be managed and sometimes resolved. The report argues that human rights can make a practical and positive contribution to many areas of conflict resolution, both during the negotiation process and in the implementation of peace agreements. The publication is available for download and in printed format.

Liberia: Resurrecting the justice system

2006-04-12

http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=4061&l=1

Reform of the justice system needs to be a top priority for Liberia’s new government and donors alike, says the International Crisis Group. "After fourteen years of civil war, the system is in shambles. Impunity prevails, and in this atmosphere, the government cannot adequately address economic governance, transformation of the military and reconstruction of war-scarred physical infrastructure – all primary areas for reform and reconstitution in 2006. Courts that do not prosecute those who siphon resources from government coffers impede progress in all other areas."

Rwanda: A wounded generation

African Rights Report

2006-04-12

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/rights/33388

"As part of the genocide commemoration this year, Saturday 8 April will be devoted to children. Among the horrific accounts of the Rwandese genocide which African Rights has gathered since 1994, the stories told by children have enormous impact. An entire generation lost their childhood and will be forever scarred by their memories. Children were slashed with machetes, shot at and subjected to all manner of abuse during the genocide; girls, some as young as six or seven, were frequently raped. Many child survivors lost their parents or siblings in the massacres; many witnessed the murders themselves. They watched as their neighbours, teachers and the parents of their friends and classmates—and sometimes even their relatives—killed their parents and close relatives. They have been left to bear the legacy of physical injuries and emotional anguish, often without even minimal support of a social network. Their views of human relationships were subverted overnight, and their incomprehension in the face of the catastrophe permeates their moving testimonies. Nonetheless, the visions of the genocide offered by its child victims also contain astonishing revelations and examples of resilience."
African Rights
DISCUSSION PAPER No. 14 April 2006

A WOUNDED GENERATION

THE CHILDREN WHO SURVIVED RWANDA’S GENOCIDE

As part of the genocide commemoration this year, Saturday 8 April will be devoted to children. Among the horrific accounts of the Rwandese genocide which African Rights has gathered since 1994, the stories told by children have enormous impact. An entire generation lost their childhood and will be forever scarred by their memories. Children were slashed with machetes, shot at and subjected to all manner of abuse during the genocide; girls, some as young as six or seven, were frequently raped. Many child survivors lost their parents or siblings in the massacres; many witnessed the murders themselves. They watched as their neighbours, teachers and the parents of their friends and classmates—and sometimes even their relatives—killed their parents and close relatives. They have been left to bear the legacy of physical injuries and emotional anguish, often without even minimal support of a social network. Their views of human relationships were subverted overnight, and their incomprehension in the face of the catastrophe permeates their moving testimonies. Nonetheless, the visions of the genocide offered by its child victims also contain astonishing revelations and examples of resilience.

Introduction

The genocide, with its broad-ranging consequences, has affected every aspect of the lives of young survivors, individually and collectively, in both practical and emotional terms. It continues to define their relationship to their surviving relatives, to classmates, friends, teachers, to each other, to the wider community and the outside world. Whether they were very young in 1994, and are now teenagers, or teenagers then and now young adults, the shadow of the genocide is a tangible and painful part of their everyday life.

For those who were children in 1994, the breadth and depth of their losses and bereavement have become more pronounced with time. Even adults say that the tenacity, resilience and morale of survivors is diminishing, rather than improving, as the years go by. A teacher in Kigali spoke about the cumulative impact of the last 12 years on children.

As time passes, the impact deepens and becomes more and more visible. Those who were very young during the genocide, and who didn’t know what was happening, have for now grown up in a bad environment where they feel the full weight of what happened. That can only increase their bitterness every day. They have never known love and cannot, therefore, love others in return. When you go to commemoration services in memory of the victims, you see clearly that the morale of survivors is on the decline. Their hearts are much more wounded. They are the living-dead who, rightly, feel that they have been abandoned by their fellow-citizens and by the world. And on top of all that, comes the extreme poverty which they face after having lost everything during the genocide.

I don’t know why the sorrow has increased instead of diminishing. I think in 1995, and until about 2000, they still hoped that justice would be done. But now, they have been disappointed and they have no hope of justice. And that affects them enormously.

A teacher who received training in counselling in Butare agreed that the problems of some children worsen with age.

The older the survivors get, the more they are saddened and troubled by the genocide. That’s why a lot of the survivors who are at secondary schools are traumatised. It’s because they have a growing awareness of what they actually went through during the genocide.

Thomas, who was 17 when the world he had known came to an end, echoed these views.

Just after the genocide, we were hopeful about justice. But now, we see that we must lie with injustice. This makes me feel morally insecure. I can’t explain this sense of insecurity, so I can’t go and complain to the police. All survivors feel this insecurity, and it is that, more than anything else, which undermines us. Because it has an effect on all aspects of our life, including education.


When There is No Way to Forget

Vestine Umugwaneza was aged 11 in 1994. Her family lived in Rusatira in Butare. Her father, brothers and sisters died in the massacres at the agricultural research centre of ISAR/Songa between the 24-28 April. She was left to comfort her mother who had become distraught. At night, they searched the nearby ravines for sweet potatoes and manioc which they ate raw. At the end of four days, Vestine’s mother had gone beyond what she could endure and disappeared. Despite the danger, Vestine returned to their home and discovered her mother’s body in their living room. She found a bottle of poison lying by her mother’s side.

Vestine’s life was destroyed at ISAR.

I have led a miserable life since the genocide of April 1994. I went through a terrible time when they went after the thousands of Tutsi refugees at ISAR/Songa. I will never forget that time. How can I? The massacre at ISAR changed my life forever. I was the only survivor from my family. I became an orphan at a very young age. I had to leave school, not for lack of means, but because of psychological problems. I had trouble remembering things after the massacre.

Giselle , living in Mudasomwa in Gikongoro, was also 11 at the time. With many of her relatives, she joined the exodus to a school under construction in Murambi, on the outskirts of Gikongoro town. The school came under a well-organized attack at 3:00 a.m. on 21 April. Giselle’s parents, two younger brothers, a younger sister and her grandparents died at Murambi. Her grandparents and sister were killed in front of her.

Fortunate to find a caring guardian, she was able to finish secondary school and has a job. She regrets that her salary does not allow her to pursue further education, but she considers herself fortunate compared to other survivors when it comes to the practical impact of the genocide.

When I compare myself to the other orphans, I believe I am very lucky. The other children of my age who lost their parents during the genocide could not continue with their studies, many have become cleaners, others are prostitutes to find the money to survive and are dying of AIDS. They also see that I am in a better situation than they are. And yet I equally have a long road to travel, may be not equal to theirs as I at least have something.

The consequences of the genocide which impact a lot on me are those relating to the loss of my whole family. I can’t bear to hear others saying that they are going to see their parents as it makes me think of mine. I often think of all that they were and all that they would have been for me.

Like so many survivors, Giselle is haunted by the fact that she has not been able to give her parents and siblings a dignified burial.

The people who were killed at Murambi were thrown in mass graves. No-one is sure they have buried their own relatives who were at Murambi, but they tried to believe it to avoid torment. Personally, I condemn myself for not having buried my parents, brothers and sisters. It is the one thing that I could have offered them and I have not been able to do it. Sometimes, when I am in bed, I dream of what happened to my family, my friends and cousins. I see my family again as they were before the genocide… I often lose myself in thought and ask why God permitted such a horror. Even today, I don’t understand it and have not been able to reconcile myself to the genocide.

Jean-Baptiste, who was 15 in 1994 and is a native of commune Mbogo in Greater Kigali. His mother, two sisters, one of them a primary school teacher and the other a student, and a brother who was at school, were among the victims of the genocide. In 1995, his father also died. Jean-Baptiste was then a student at the Ecole Technique Officielle in Kibungo. He found that thinking about his life—past and present—distracted him from his studies.

Some days, I think about my mother and my brothers and sisters. Even my grandmother was killed and she was eighty. Thinking about this almost drives me mad and prevents me from studying as I should, especially when I remember a photo of all the members of my family. We had a photo like this in an album which was stolen. This photo often returns to my mind. It reminds me of my dead brothers and sisters, of the way some of them were torn to pieces by grenades. This thought often comes to me during my homework in the evening. Tears follow thoughts like this. After I cry I feel better. I unconsciously find myself reflecting on these things. It’s certainly difficult for me to do as well as I should.

I also get sad when the children are visited by members of their families. I don’t think it’s due to jealousy. My family were killed by people; they didn’t die from illness. They were tortured before being killed. When I see people passing by, even strangers, I say to myself, from the heart: “May be he killed people.”

I want to go home to Ngaru to reflect upon the life I led there with my parents, my brothers and my sisters. There were a lot of people around me. Now there is no longer any happiness without my parents. We buried the remains of my mother and my two older sisters in 1995 before my father died. I will never forget seeing the remains of my beloved mother.

When I think about the children of my age who were killed simply for being Tutsi, it makes me want to leave this country and go and live or die far away from here. I’m incapable of understanding, or accepting, this sudden loss of such a large number of people.

Beginning a new life after the genocide is a constant reminder of the absence of loved ones, as Thomas, who was 17 in 1994, remarked.

Every survivor had to start his or her life from zero after the genocide : to make new friends and construct a new life. It’s as if we were born a second time, but this time in a society where the social fabric has been torn to pieces and where we must live side by side with the perpetrators. Even if I’m fortunate enough to still have my mother, I lost my father, my brothers, friends, neighbours and relatives. They cannot be replaced. We will miss them forever and it will be impossible to fill the emptiness they left behind.

Charlotte Ingabire was only 15 when she spoke as if she had already lived too long. Charlotte’s entire family was massacred in front of her in their home in Gisuma, Cyangugu.

I’m dead, even if others see me as alive. I hid so I wouldn’t die. This is how I’ve come to be suffering alone, with no consolation and with no-one to rely on in the difficult conditions in which I find myself today. Where my family is, there is no suffering. Why did I remain on this cursed earth, full of more interahamwe than I can count, who killed my family and destroyed everything which belonged to the Tutsis?

It is unlikely that Elizaphan Ndayisaba will ever have peace of mind. He keeps asking why his neighbours left him without his brothers Ndagijimana and Mbonimpaye, to talk to and play with. Aged 12 in 1994, he had already left school to do what he loved best, to look after cows on the green pastures of Bisesero. Overnight, the hills he had come to love turned into a war zone as thousands of Tutsis fought pitched battles against soldiers, gendarmes, communal policemen and militiamen.

One day the militiamen and soldiers attacked us. The little children started to cry. My mother put Nyirakanyana on her back and my older brother did the same with Mbonimpaye. We then ran in different directions. Many people were killed that day. When the militiamen had gone home, someone came to tell me that my whole family had been killed. When I heard this, I went to every hill to try and find their bodies.

I carried on looking until I came across my mother’s body and my little sister who was on her back. They were both dead. My elder brother was next to my mother and on his back was Mbonimaye. My older brother was still breathing but the child on his back was dead. The dogs were coming to eat the corpses. I watched how my mother, who had nursed me, was going to be eaten by dogs. I felt sad. She was lying there without any clothes on.

A few months later, after a stint in an orphanage in Gitarama, Elizaphan returned to Bisesero. It was a sad homecoming.

I had to live with my paternal uncle because my parents were dead and all our possessions had been destroyed. My uncle was alone too. I had to do all the work and I spent all day farming so that we wouldn’t die of hunger. I didn’t farm before the genocide. I don’t know where to go to get anything back. My father had a lot of cows and other things which were worth something. My uncle does not have the time to help me. I am alone so I can’t cultivate my father’s fields. All that is left now are bushes.

At night, instead of sleeping, Elizaphan reflects on the projects “that have come to nothing”, but above all on the circumstances in which he finds himself.

I wonder why I ever left school. I thought that my father would give me a lot of cows and build me a house.

Before the genocide, my brothers and I would chat and play together before going to sleep. Now when I go to bed I think about the genocide. When I close my eyes I see all the bodies that were at Bisesero, especially the one of my mother with the child on her back. I have become disheartened. Nothing seems to give me back my courage. I don’t know what my future will be anymore.

There is no one to shield him against the shame and hurt he feels.

Other children my age, who still have their parents, wear new clothes on special days, for example at Christmas, and when they go to mass. However, I am left feeling sad and I look at my clothes which are all worn. I wonder why they killed my parents and the other Tutsis who gave me things. I wonder what we have done to have to suffer like this for the rest of our lives. I haven’t been able to answer this question.

In 1992, Justin Twagiramungu’s mother was killed in Mbogo, Greater Kigali, with his baby sister of three weeks strapped on her back. His seven-year-old sister was burnt alive. Justin had made it in time to his grandmother’s house. His father and three of his brothers were killed in 1994. His young brother and sister who remained were taken in by the Saint Elizabeth orphanage. He mingled with the huge crowds en route to Zaire in July and ended up in Mugunga camp. In 1995 he eventually traced his way back to Rwanda.

I don’t think there’s anything that could make me happy now. Nothing will bring my family back to life. I’ve got nobody to talk to. Until 1992, I didn’t have a care in the world. My parents looked after me and all my brothers and sisters. Now, I spend night after night lying awake, thinking about my future and the future of the children I’m responsible for. If my parents had lived, I would’ve carried on with my studies. And my parents would have looked after us. If only my brothers were still alive... I was the eldest. Alfred, who came next, was just a little younger than me. He would’ve helped me look after the two little ones if he hadn’t been killed. None of them did any harm to the people who killed them. They were tortured before they died. And I’ll feel tortured for the rest of my life. I can’t commit suicide, but I sometimes think death would solve all my problems. I think that especially at night, when I can’t sleep.

Even a life abroad, free of the demons of the genocide, is beyond Justin’s imagination.

Sometimes I want to go and live in a far-off country, so I can forget the genocide and the ruins of Tutsis’ homes. But then I remember I might meet commander Stanislas Kinyoni, one of the main people responsible for the genocide.

No-One to Lean On

For children and young people, parents and close adults are not only a source of love and economic support, but of guidance and advice. Even the youngsters who have managed to overcome adversity feel the absence of caring adults in their lives. Brigitte Kankindi and her older brother are all that remain of a family of nine people. Her parents and siblings were killed in Nyanza, Nyabisindu. While her brother was repairing their damaged houses, Brigitte finished her secondary education and worked in Nyanza hospital. She then went to university. Her brother returned to secondary school. They live together with two young female cousins, both 23, the only survivors of their respective families. They do the best they can, but regret that there are no adults they can look to as anchors for security and confidence.

We are a family of young people only. We have learned to take on all responsibilities after my parents’ death. We have no-one to give us advice or to set us straight. No-one in my father’s family, except for our two cousins, is alive. They used to be a large family. We have a few maternal aunts but they live far away and we see each other rarely.

Despite their own problems, they helped the orphans of the genocide who were attending a nearby nursing school, sharing their meals with those who lived far away. To support themselves, Brigitte and her brother rented out the houses they had rebuilt.

Although they are no longer there, Justine Nyiransabimana continues to hold her family close to her heart. Just before the genocide began, Justine’s mother went to visit her own family in Bugesera, taking the youngest child, a one-year-old boy. It was the last time Justine saw them; they were killed there, along with their relatives. Justine’s four younger sisters and brothers were killed in Mbogo, the commune where they lived. Justine and her father got separated and found each other in August 1994. They began to repair their house and their lives. The information her father provided contributed to the imprisonment of a number of genocide suspects. He remarried and, in March 1996, Justine had a new sister. Two weeks later, he was killed in front of his house. Justine suspects that he was murdered by the families whose relatives he had imprisoned.

I cannot forget my family. When I feel unhappy, I wish that I could die so that I can join them. I will not find happiness as long as I live. It is impossible to get my mother and father back. I will never have a brother or sister. I am all alone in this world. Perhaps I will see them on resurrection day. But when will this take place?

Justine lives in Bugesera with her maternal uncle and his eldest daughter and has, in her words, “found joy again.” But she misses the company of an older female relative in the household.

I don’t have any aunts. My uncle looks after me but he is a man. I want someone who can reassure me but I can’t find anyone. I wish I had an aunt. I don’t, however, have the choice.

The depth of their loss is brought home to the survivors on social occasions. Because people generally socialise as a unit—either as couples or as families—it is difficult to re-invent oneself and to be sociable on one’s own, or to find joy in gatherings which simply underline the extent to which one’s family and circle of friends had diminished. As such, school holidays, weekends, Christmas, New Year, birthdays and weddings are often filled with emptiness.

Emmanuel Uwizeyimana, 17, longed for his father, older brothers and uncles when his sister, Donata, decided to get married. Although happy for his sister, he found himself trapped in the past as he prepared for the wedding, thinking about his parents and the eight brothers and sisters who should have been there.

Before the genocide, my older brothers and sisters had been married. On their wedding day, we got lots of beers and people came to the house to celebrate and brought presents for the married couple. My father had prepared speeches to welcome the visitors. Grandparents, other members of the family and neighbours came to the party. My older sisters bought many things—plates, clothes and suitcases—for the new household.

He had to make decisions beyond his years.

A marriage demands a lot of ceremony and money. I looked for an older man to take my father’s place. I wondered how I could provide for Donata’s marriage. I went to Mbogo and claimed my father’s cows, which had been taken by militiamen during the genocide. I sold the cows I found to raise the money. I got 80,000 francs and other survivors helped me. With this money my sister bought the things she needed. My sister’s husband brought the beer. I found an older man to take my father’s part in the marriage ceremony.

The wedding was not a joyous occasion.

There were a few of us drinking beer in our little house. It didn’t feel like a celebration. The conversation was about the genocide. I heard people saying: “It would have been better if their parents were still alive.” We accompanied my sister to the Parish of Gihogwe in Rutongo for the religious ceremonies and afterwards her husband took her to Butare.

Forced to drop out of school because of poverty, he decided to become a farmer which only heightened his loneliness. When a charity donated corrugated iron, windows and doors to the survivors of Mbogo, the older survivors helped Emmanuel build a house. He moved in on 1 May 1997. He was delighted to find a nephew, the son of his brother. Taking care of him has given meaning to Emmanuel’s life, but the child cannot fulfil his need for companionship.

We are surrounded by the families of the militiamen who killed my family. The child spends all day at school. I stay alone in the house and there is no-one to talk to me. My neighbours will never come to my house. They say I am their enemy, though I have done nothing to them. They are the ones who murdered my family.

The pace at which his neighbours work their fields made him realise how much his world had shrunk.

I no longer have the courage to farm. My neighbours who see me farming alone laugh at me because I can work on a small patch for more than a week, whereas they could even plough a whole hill in a few hours because the father, mother and the children all go to the fields to farm. I cannot find anyone to help me. I cannot even get married. I’m still young. I have no security and I think I will be killed one day. I care for the child and I look for study materials for him.

Régine Uwase finds the period of commemoration especially unbearable.

I stay in bed until the commemoration is over.

When the friend she lives with became engaged, the gathering turned into a sad occasion.

It was very hard for us to find someone to preside over the ceremony.

The death of parents, grandparents and siblings creates regret and fear not only about links to one’s past, but also concerns about continuity to the future. Marie-Rose Uwizeyimana lives with an elderly aunt, who has since taken in three other orphans. She and her husband do their best to support the children, but their age and lack of means is never far from Marie-Rose’s mind.

If I didn’t have my aunt, what would happen to me? Now that she is ill, I am afraid that she will die and leave me alone. I have no-one else. My other uncles, aunts and cousins were killed. I am constantly afraid that my old relatives will die. I would have nowhere to go. I am the eldest of the other children and I am still too young to work.

Adults Before Their Time

The genocide has robbed thousands of children of their parents, extended families, their homes and their childhood. Many children and young people have been forced to assume responsibility for the remaining members of their family, often at the expense of their own well-being.

At 16, Julienne Umugwaneza lived through the horrors which left about 50,000 Tutsi men, women and children dead on 21 April 1994 at a school under construction in Murambi, outside Gikongoro town. She later met up with her two younger sisters and their maternal uncle took them with him to Kigali. They lived there until 1997. But aware of the pressure on the family which had taken in many other orphans, they went to live with their paternal uncle. Julienne married a soldier and had three children with him; they later separated.

It’s very difficult for me to guarantee their education. But I have to manage because I don’t have anyone left from our family to share the responsibility with. I share these troubles with many other genocide survivors. We must, for better or worse, ensure our own survival in extreme solitude. Others have families they can turn to in times of need, but we are condemned to live in this way.

In addition to her own children, Julienne is looking after her two sisters who are attending secondary school. Their fees are paid by the FARG, but she must meet all their expenses and tries to do so from the income of her family’s fields.

I ended my schooling in order to dedicate myself to my younger sisters’ education. I had done the first year of secondary school in 1995 and I did well. But I couldn’t continue because at that time the FARG had not been set up to help me. I therefore chose to devote myself to ensuring that my little sisters would not miss out on their education as I did.

Marie-Chantal Mukansange’s parents died when she was three years old. She lived with her grandmother; after her death, she and her younger sister moved in with their aunt who lived in Mbogo, Greater Kigali. They scattered in different directions after their home was destroyed on 10 April. Marie-Chantal, then fifteen, eventually found her sister and aunt. Two of their neighbours, including a headmaster, gathered the Tutsis in the area and separated the men and women. The men were shot and finished off with machetes. The women were driven to a communal graveyard located near the marketplace.

One by one, each woman and girl was struck on the back of the neck with a hammer and then immediately thrown into the large well where there were other dead people.

In the evening, Marie-Chantal climbed out of the pit. She was saved by a Hutu woman whose Tutsi husband had been killed. When a civil servant asked to employ her as a domestic worker, her host encouraged her to accept. She lied to protect her, saying she was her niece. She fled with this family to Zaire in July 1994, and met up with the woman who had originally befriended her. She lived with her until they returned to Rwanda together in September 1996. To her joy and surprise, she discovered that her sister, Marie-Rose, 14, was still alive. At the time of the interview, the two girls were living together in a house given to them by a family friend. Marie-Chantal looks after her younger sister who attends primary school.

I cultivate but I don’t have enough strength. I rent out fields and find money to take on one paid labourer to cultivate the rest of the fields. We have no-one. All the members of our family were killed during the genocide.

Marie-Chantal had completed sixth year of primary school just before April 1994. She would have liked to continue her education, but lack of money and her sister’s dependence on her have forced her to put her own aspirations on hold.

I had good marks. If my aunt had stayed alive she would have put me in secondary school. But now I don’t have any money and I have to stay at the house to prepare the food. I have no choice but to live like this. When the food runs out, I worry a lot for my younger sister.

Apprehension about their security is another source of unease.

We spend our nights alone in the house and I get very frightened by the smallest thing. I don’t sleep well.

It has not been possible to close the door to the past, and the nights are not restful either.

I always see the ruins of our house. I see Tutsi neighbours who had children of my age and whose families were wiped out. I live in eternal pain. I saw terrible things. I had never seen a dead person before. I was frightened of dead bodies. Even when my grandmother died, before the genocide, I refused to see her body. But during the genocide I saw lots of dead bodies and people in agony. This will never be wiped from my memory. When I sleep at night and dream, these images come back to me and frighten me. I also dream about the militia chasing me, in order to kill me.

Uwayisenga was seven when the killings began. Her family took refuge on the hills of Bisesero. A man who worked for her father and who she considered a family friend brought a machete down on her head and stuck pieces of wood into her face. He left her for dead. Her mother washed her injuries with water. She hid her in the bush where they stayed until the arrival of French troops who transferred her to a hospital in Goma. Her father and four of her five siblings were killed. Her mother married Uwayisenga’s uncle whose own family had perished and in time she had a new baby sister. But her future was blighted by the injuries from the machete as she was forced to leave school.

Still, I was happy to see my mother taking care of me and I looked after the baby.

But the contentment that Uwayisenga drew from her family did not last long. In February 1997, her mother died suddenly.

When I heard that she was dead, I wanted to kill myself.

Her mother’s death has brought the devastation of the genocide to the forefront of Uwayisenga’s life.

When I go to bed, I immediately think about how the genocide was carried out in Bisesero. My head hurts all the time. Before the genocide, I used to eat and sleep without any problems. I did not have to think about my future because my parents looked after me, my brothers and my sisters.

It also transformed her into a mother, at the age of ten. The narrow shoulders of a child are too weak to carry such a heavy load.

Now I am like an old mother. I wonder how my mother’s baby will grow up. When he cries, I cry too. He gets his food from cows’ milk. Other orphans from the genocide were placed in the orphanage of Nyamishaba in Gitesi. I couldn’t abandon my father’s fields to go to an orphanage. I wanted to live here in Bisesero to look after the cows and the baby. I didn’t want to go back to school because I couldn’t see the point of studying.

Because men were the primary target of the genocide, women constitute a significant percentage of survivors. In a society where it is easier for men to deal with bureaucracy, young men find themselves under constant family pressure, as Thomas testified.

I have a lot of responsibilities which take up a lot of my time, responsibilities which I would not be carrying today if it was not for the genocide. I can’t give my family sufficient time even though I’m the oldest and they really need my presence. Sometimes I even miss classes. The teachers think that I lack discipline, but I can’t tell them the reasons for my absences.

Pierre finds himself caught in a similar trap.

Because many of the survivors in my extended family are women, they ask me to help with this or that urgent matter. And I feel under an obligation to put my studies aside and to assist them. There are priorities that must take precedence over school, and it’s impossible to do anything about it. This has negative consequences for our grades.

Robbed of Their Sanity

During the months of April, May and June 1994, thousands of Rwandese children experienced horrors and saw crimes that no child should ever see. Many witnessed massacres or were subjected to physical violence that no words can adequately describe. Their parents and siblings had their throats slit in front of them, were blown apart by bullets and grenades, or seared by clubs. In a last act of love, many parents placed their children underneath them when soldiers and militiamen stormed sanctuaries. These children held their breath as their parents’ bodies were slashed with machetes, their blood pouring over them. Fearful of the killers who returned to massacre sites to finish off the wounded, children—debilitated by hunger and thirst— crouched for days next to the rotting bodies of their parents and other relatives. They watched as dogs devoured the bodies of the people who had loved and protected them. Many of the murderers were men and women whose children were their playmates.

Emerging from these horrors has been further restricted by their encounters with a hostile or indifferent world. Normal relations were turned on their heads in the genocide and children, least of all, can cope with the fact that they knew many of those who murdered their families. Often their own lives were under threat from people who had formerly welcomed them into their homes. No child can be expected to understand or come to terms with this knowledge.

A huge number of children lost not only their parents, but all or most of their siblings, their grandparents, uncles and aunts. For them the only substitute for home became the limited security and support which an orphanage could provide. This was usually the best they could hope for, and some children demonstrated immense courage there, managing to take their first steps towards recovery.

While the signs of trauma were most evident in the very young in the first two or three years after the genocide, the fact that trauma is today particularly pronounced among survivors in secondary schools speaks volumes of the hurt and injury in the hearts and minds of those who were very young in 1994.

Olive, aged about three in 1994, was found on the road to Butare. She had been in the Kacyiru orphanage in Kigali for a year when African Rights met her in mid-1996, but had hardly spoken a word. Although her words were not clear, the staff noticed that she was making an effort to improve.

Olive was only able to tell African Rights that she used to live in Butare, and that her mother was called Espérance. But the people who looked after her said the little girl was always calling for her parents, and demanding that they take her to her parents’ home. They could not respond because they did not know her parents’ names, if they were alive and they could not understand what she was telling them.

At the age of twelve, Floride tried to commit suicide, together with her eleven-year-old sister, Josephine. The two girls ran towards Lake Kivu with the intention of killing themselves after their parents died in a massacre in Rwamatamu, Kibuye. At the edge of the water, the girls met a group of Zairians who took them to the island of Idjwi in their boat. They subsequently went to live with their brother-in-law in Rwamatamu.

But Josephine, unable to accept the loss of their parents, was deeply unhappy and troubled by nightmares. Floride spoke about the distress her sister feels and about how, as the older child, she is called upon for help. But Floride is unable to do anything.

My sister asks me if our parents will come back. And then she cries all the time and that also hurts me. I have no way of calming my little sister down, especially during the night when she shouts a lot that the killers are running after her. She calls out their names and it’s the names of the men who murdered our parents.

But Floride cannot fill the void at the centre of Josephine’s life. Josephine’s questions and her needs—emotional and material—are painful reminders of Floride’s own devastation and sense of helplessness.

She asks me to give her clothes, when I haven’t got any. That makes me think about the death of my parents who used to give us everything we needed. My little sister doesn’t want to go to school. She wants to stay in the house. I don’t know how to behave in this situation. I am incapable of doing anything to soothe my little sister. I’m also not in good health because they beat me on the back with massues. Even if I was healthy, I couldn’t do anything at my age.

Etienne’s life is a protracted battle to overcome the grief in his heart. This is a weary struggle for a boy of ten. In 1994, he lived in Kigali. His parents were killed but he and his five surviving brothers and sisters were hidden at the Parish of St. Michel and were later taken to the Gisimba orphanage. He returned to school but was frequently away because of sickness as his feet were affected by paralysis. Etienne, nevertheless, tried to hold on to the future.

I am going to stay at the orphanage until the age of at least seventeen, when I will be grown-up. I would like to become a doctor.

Despite his seemingly positive attitude, the extent to which Etienne was at a loss was obvious. He would refuse to talk or to eat. He wouldn’t answer questions, but sit with his mouth closed. The staff had to force him to eat, putting food on a spoon and trying to get him to swallow it, escalating into a battle of wills.

Claudine was shot in the leg as the family fled from Butare to Burundi. Her leg became infected and was later amputated. Her father was also shot and is no longer able to provide for his family as he used to. Claudine has found it difficult to come to terms with both her disability and the very difficult circumstances that the genocide has forced upon the family. Claudine was too withdrawn to be interviewed herself. Her mother spoke of their inability to help their child.

She gets a complex when she sees others of her age who are in good health, especially because they have two legs and she doesn’t. Claudine asked us for an artificial leg so that she could walk like the others. We have been unable to do anything about Claudine’s problem. Her father really has no resources. Everything was taken from us—especially the cows and the goats which used to bring in some money. Also, because he can’t walk, he can't work to get money. After she asked us for this artificial leg, Claudine became especially anxious and distressed.

The family do what they can to reach out to Claudine.

I try to calm her down. But nothing works. She doesn’t want us to talk about her life. She wants to be alone; she goes into a corner, crying a lot. If anyone asks her why she is crying, she says: “I’m not crying.” If they say why are you alone here, she says: “It’s my right to be.” I have bought her a crutch. But since the school is far from our home, she sees the other children of her age who are going to school and her anxiety becomes intense. She is always crying. Sometimes she says that we don’t love her. We try to comfort her, but we don’t succeed.

Augustin, from Kibuye, sought to confront the legacy of the genocide with an emotional ferocity that was tearing him apart. Both his parents were killed and he, aged 13, was struck by a machete. Two years later, he could still not speak about his experiences except to mention his parents’ names and to say: “If you are an interahamwe kill me; even my parents are dead. But don’t ask me a lot of questions.”

A fellow-survivor from Augustin’s home area talked about the distraught state in which Augustin was living.

He witnessed the death of his parents and was cut on the head by machetes. Also, being the only one left in his family causes him a lot of problems. Now he has left school because he used to shout that everyone was a killer, while the teacher was giving a lesson. When he is told to go and draw water, he takes a jerry can then leaves. When he gets to the well he spends the whole day there and leaves the jerry can at the well. If he is asked the question: “Where is the jerry can?”, he says: “Go and look for it. I’m not your servant.” Sometimes he remains calm and doesn’t speak; the alternative is that he cries, especially during the night. We have noticed that he has been affected by the machete cuts on his head.

Neighbours could not find a way to console Augustin. It was clear to them that Augustin needed sustained medical treatment, but the level of poverty in a remote rural area does not afford them the opportunity to help him.

We try to calm him down, but nothing works. If we could comfort him, for example by taking him to hospital, we would. That requires money we don’t have.

Raped as a Child

Rape was used widely as a weapon of genocide. Girls as young as six were gang-raped and kept as sexual slaves both in Rwanda and in the refugee camps set up in neighbouring countries. Many were raped alongside their mothers or sisters, often by the men who had just murdered their fathers, brothers and other relatives. To compound the physical violence and the psychological shock, some of the young girls became pregnant, which subsequently alienated them from their surviving relatives. Many more have endured illness or caught sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS.

Dévota was seven in April 1994. She lived with her mother and grandparents. The family abandoned their home and Dévota was with her grandmother in the bush when they were found by the interahamwe. They killed her grandmother, but one of the men claimed she was his daughter and took her home with him. Dévota had never seen him before.

He then began to rape me. He asked me: “Have you seen how the others were killed?” alluding to a boy he’d just handed over. If you don’t do everything that I order you to do, you will also be killed.” He took me when he wanted and did what he wanted to. When I got to the stage that I couldn’t walk anymore, he left me for one or two days. Then he began again. To rape me, he put me on his knees and when I cried, he asked me if I’d really thought that he was my father, as he had told the killers. While he was really hurting me badly, he would tell me, in a nasty manner, to be quiet. I stayed with him for about two months.

He took Dévota with him to Gikongoro, and then from there he joined the exodus to Zaire. Although Dévota was no longer at his mercy, she had to beg at the market for food. Soon afterwards a gang of street children moved into the house she was staying in.

There were eight of them. The eldest was 20, but all these children were older than me. They were all boys; I was the only girl. The 8 boys also raped me. Some times they took turns. There were also times when the eldest took pity on me and, after he raped me, he told the others off. He was the strongest; the others were afraid of him. They held me lying on my back while they carried out their will. We lived for a week together like this. Sometimes, they all raped me. Other times it was just the eldest.

A woman who saw her in the market took pity on her. Dévota moved into her house but was left alone with her husband every day and soon he too began to rape her.

He knew through his wife that I had been raped by several men, so he told me: “Come here, you’ve got nothing to save,” meaning that he wasn’t the first.

Dévota was raped by this man “several times” even though she was already visibly suffering from a sexually transmitted disease, the consequence of previous rapes. She was too terrified to tell his wife.

Reunited with her mother after the genocide, Dévota has been taken to the doctor regularly with the apparent ongoing symptoms of an STI, despite treatment. She does not appear to have been informed of the specific cause of her illness. However, she has been tested and is not HIV positive. She was in the fifth year of primary school, having had to repeat several times due to frequent absence. Her mother is working and looks after her. Despite visits to the doctor she remains unwell.

These pains even prevent me from sleeping. I cry out very loudly. So I have to consult a doctor.

I’ve hidden my story from the other children. I don’t want them to make fun of me. They could say that I’m a woman. None of them went through the same problems as I did.

The man who raped Justine initially took her and another girl to a woman’s house for safety in Nyamata, Greater Kigali. However, one week later the woman was ready to call the Presidential Guard to come and kill them, so he came back and took them to his house.

He raped me in the absence of his wife on about five occasions. He would choose between me and the other girl; as he raped one, the other would go outside. One day he told us to lift up our clothes. He hit us and said that he would put sticks between our legs, but we begged him not to and he left us alone.

At the age of just ten, Bernadette was separated from her family and left to crouch in fields near her home in Gishamvu, Butare. An adult man found her there and raped her. During the following days, she remained constantly on the run from the gangs of killers she could hear roaming around. Later, while sheltering in the reeds, she was discovered by another man who also raped her.

As I was still a young girl, the rape was the first time that I’d had sexual intercourse with a man. It was too painful and it was very hard for me to put up with it. I shouted a lot but the rapists didn’t care. I had difficulty standing up and couldn’t even walk. Before raping me they also hit me. They were offended that I had rejected their offer to sleep with them.

I didn’t recognize any of the men who raped me, so I can’t bring them to justice.

Justine found herself without any family left. She decided to move in with a man, saying that her experience had left her feeling that she “wasn’t a little girl anymore.” She was 12 at the time.

I thought that he would be at the same time my father, my mother and my brother. I married towards the end of 1994. We separated after we had two children; the eldest is now six years old.

Shortly before April 1994, Anathalie left her home in Gisuma, Cyangugu, which she shared with her parents and nine brothers and sisters. She had just finished primary school. She went to stay with her older sister in Gikongoro. When the killing started, her sister went to Butare and Anathalie was left alone in Gikongoro, hiding with sympathetic Hutu families or in the bush.

When I was in the bush, militiaman raped me three times. There were a lot of rapists and I didn’t know them.

Anathalie was 14 at the time. She returned to Cyangugu after the genocide to live with her sister. Although repeatedly unwell, it was only when she was about to marry that Anathalie was tested. Her HIV-positive diagnosis has destroyed her future and she is visibly crushed. Now in her twenties, Anathalie is watching her life slip away. She found it very difficult to speak about what has happened to her and how she feels.

I hadn’t told my fiancé that I’d been raped during the genocide, but I told him everything once I’d got my results. He was really shocked. The news rekindled my bad memories of the genocide. I had real difficulty in coming to terms with the results. I still can’t accept what’s happened to me today. I avoid thinking about it, but that’s impossible.

Anathalie cannot forget as she is so often sick.

We live in a house built by an NGO but it’s not solid. We live off crops from our fields; we don’t have any other source of income. I’m very weak. I’ve not taken any medication to prevent the illnesses that come with HIV. I don’t even know where they distribute these. If it were possible to receive help, I would like priority to be given to my medical needs and to making our house a bit more solid.

Solange’s parents, as well as her seven brothers and sisters were killed at their home in Ngoma, Butare in April. Left to fend for herself at the age of 10, she hid in the fields, then turned to family friends for help. She was taken in by a Hutu woman, married to a soldier, who asked Solange to look after three children.

Several weeks later, the soldier returned and urged his wife to flee the advance of the Rwandese Patriotic Army (RPA). Solange was taken with them to Cyangugu where soldiers had set up a camp in a secondary school.

I was raped several times by two men who were guarding the military. I didn’t know them beforehand and I don’t know where they are now. They told me that I was also old enough to be raped like the other Tutsi girls who were there. In fact, I was the youngest of all of them. They told us that our time was up, that we should give in to their desires. These men hurt me. They were violent.

Despite the evident injuries, she is nervous about taking the HIV test., but fears that she may be infected and that she may have internal injuries which will prevent her from having children. Her neighbours make it difficult for her to meet potential partners.

If my neighbours find me chatting with someone, they tell him that he’s going to be infected with AIDS because they know everything that happened to me. When I think about all these things, I wonder why I survived.

Her only salvation, she believes, would be a partner who was exceptionally understanding, a prospect about which she is not very optimistic.

I can’t get married unless I find someone I can tell everything to and who will agree to live with me despite that.

Education: The Harsh Lessons of Indifference

For the children who escaped the genocide, attending school invariably means overcoming crippling economic problems, disability or ill-health and facing up to haunting memories, prejudice, fear and loneliness. Sometimes the difficulties are insurmountable. Even when children are forced to drop out of school, their belief in the importance of education is rarely extinguished. Most young survivors see education as their only hope for the future, the best chance to give meaning and restore order to their lives. Many are prepared to attend classes although they are hungry and lack any of the necessary equipment, including notebooks and pens. Families will make considerable sacrifices to finance the education of their children; some young orphans have even left school themselves in order to pay the fees of their younger siblings.

But, whatever their commitment to their studies, once at school, orphans and the children of survivors often have trouble learning. In most schools little effort has been made to accommodate the psychological and practical problems which survivors of the genocide confront. Often they are in the minority and are easily identifiable, whether because of their machete scars, because they are the only children not wearing uniform or because at secondary school their fees are paid for by the FARG. Staff and pupils may make them feel unwelcome at best, and at worst they may tease or harass them, making them feel humiliated and isolated. This was especially true in the years immediately after the genocide Hunger and lack of resources can disrupt their studies and lead to poor grades and low self-esteem. Few will achieve the standards they reached before the genocide. Others are regularly expelled because of their inability to pay school fees, interrupting their education and undermining their confidence. And yet schools may be the only social network with which these children interact. Without parents or extended family, they need additional support from teachers and other pupils. For some it has become their only “home” as they may have nowhere to go in the holidays or, particularly if they live in the countryside, may not be able to afford the journey to visit a relative or friend.

Moreover, the trauma of genocide is forever present in the educational system. Schools were among the most common sites for large-scale massacres in 1994, partly because most parishes include schools in their compound, but also because many people believed that schools would be exempt from attack. It has been estimated that as many as 2000 people were murdered at the primary school of Nyakanyinya in Cyimbogo, Cyangugu on 13 April. Many of them were former pupils of the school. Of those who survived, some stayed on in the school as they did not know where else to go. A number of the girls and women were raped repeatedly. Children as well as adults had their lives cut short in a massacre at St. Joseph’s school in Rwamagana, Kibungo on 16 April. In Gikongoro, 90 schoolchildren were trapped at the College of Kibeho. On 7 May, after weeks of torment, all except eight were assassinated. Those who tortured, raped and assassinated them included their schoolmates and teachers. Mass graves lie within sight of many classrooms; they contain the bodies of children who used to sit in those classrooms. Some children are forced to study in the schools where they themselves were injured and their families were murdered.

Children are painfully aware that some of their teachers—whether in exile, detained in Rwanda or at liberty—were active participants in the genocide. Perhaps of all the professions, teachers—who wield considerable authority—particularly in the countryside, distinguished themselves in the genocide, killing, amongst others, their own pupils and the parents of the children they taught.

Pupils also took part in the killings. Many of the leading perpetrators—both men and women—“worked” alongside their children, especially their sons, who often acted as their drivers or as heads of the militia loyal to their parent. Other parents took their children along to intimidate, rob and kill the refugees gathered in churches, schools and hospitals. Some children and young people are absent from educational institutions following accusations that they played an active role in the genocide. They are spending an important part of their formative years behind bars, on charges of genocide. There can also be no doubt that many who have charges to answer are at liberty, in schools, sitting next to survivors of the genocide.

Death is present in a tangible manner in schools throughout Rwanda. Reminders of former friends and teachers are everywhere. In the words of one child, there are “coffins” in the classroom. Before children can hope to progress at school, this pain and fear must be addressed. Unfortunately, teachers like Charles Hitimana, from Mbogo, who recognise the extent of the difficulties faced by child survivors are comparatively rare. Charles is a survivor himself who lost several of his own children in the killings.

There are not many children survivors. The majority of them are orphans whose parents died during the genocide. The children rebel against everything. They have mood swings. Sometimes they cry for no apparent reason and sometimes they want to talk all the time and tell many, many stories. Other times they are alone, locked in their solitude. Some are disabled because of their injuries and scars. The children often hurt the others with words or because they can’t control their actions. It is very hard for these poor children and the heavy burden is understandable. Even I am incapable of coping. Life has no meaning anymore.

Another teacher, Edith, sees a bleak future for these children “without special attention and teachers who like them.”

I have noticed that at school, the children who are survivors are poor and have no uniforms or materials. This is because they are looked after by other survivors, especially old people, who have no-one and nothing left. Most of these children have lost the desire to study.

The comments from teachers in close contact with survivors in school have hardly changed in the 12 years of African Rights’ research. In mid-1998, Eustache Gatarayiha was teaching at the primary school in sector Rusasa, commune Mugambazi in Greater Kigali.

The children who’ve survived the genocide need special attention. Deeply distressed by the death of their close relatives, they’ve lost all interest in their studies. Nobody can care for them the way their parents did. They’re living with poor families who can’t afford to buy them uniforms when they need them. Even if these children no longer have to pay the cost of their schooling, they need much more support of various kinds. That might help them to come out of their isolation. Orphans have little interest in their lessons and tend to get poor results. And their new parents aren’t strict enough with them. A boy in the fourth year is an example. He lost both his father and his mother and is living with his grandmother, with five other orphans. The child isn’t being looked after. He’s got chiggers. And his school attendance is poor. Since the genocide, he’s been one of the ones at the bottom of the class. The grandmother he’s living with told me she’s looking after another orphan who’s left school, even though he was only in the first year of primary school.

The evidence suggests that 12 years on, genocide survivors are particularly prone to troublesome behaviour. Teachers and pupils suggest that their attitudes to education and authority have been affected by their experiences. While many cope admirably with the hardships they face, precisely because they see education as their best hope of survival, others have behavioural difficulties or have simply given up on education and on life in general.

Speaking not only as a teacher but as a mother and a survivor, Dancille made particular mention of the attitudes of young survivors.

The young survivors, most of whom are orphans, don’t seem to be aware of the unfortunate position they are in. There is a lot of delinquency. I say this because one of my sons dropped out of school. I think this kind of behaviour is an attempt to cover up their grief and their sadness. They can’t think straight after what they went through during the genocide.

The adults looking after youngsters who cannot cope face delicate predicaments. They are aware that they cannot give these children the love and support their parents provided. But they are also conscious of the importance of imposing a certain measure of discipline. Careful not to push them beyond the point of no return, they search for a balance that is difficult to establish.

The testimonies of the youngsters themselves reveal the turmoil in their lives. In mid-1996, Jacqueline Mukayisenga was a pupil at a school in Mugonero, Kibuye. She spoke from personal experience when she said that it was impossible for orphans and other survivors of the genocide at her school to focus on their school work.

The prefect for discipline at this school told us that the problem for the traumatised children is that they feel alone. Since he is responsible for these children he watches them closely. That is why there is a list of children who don’t even concentrate in class, who are there physically but their thoughts are elsewhere. When people try to get them to pay attention, they reply: “What’s the point of studying?” Sometimes children hide somewhere and cry. When they are asked why they're crying, they calm down without saying a single word. I’m one of these children.

For Jean de Dieu Furaha, school was a daily encounter with everything he had lost in the genocide, bringing him close to thoughts of suicide. Jean de Dieu, 15, is from Gatare in Cyangugu. His parents were killed. His older sister is married and not in a position to help him and his older brother was unemployed. .

During the holidays I stay at school because I don’t have anywhere to go. I feel very sad when the exams are over and I see the other pupils wash their clothes, preparing to go on holiday to their parents. At such times I do nothing; I just think of my parents who are dead. I have my older sister, who is very poor. I could go there in the holidays. But I can’t get a ticket to go there; it is in Cyangugu.

At school the pupils also tease me at study times. Some of the pupils tell me that if they were me, they wouldn’t waste their energy studying because I have no parents or other people who could ask me for my report. When I hear that I even think of committing suicide, because my parents were very necessary to my life.

I cause problems at school because I don’t pay the fees to buy school things and food. If I stay there during the holidays, the school is obliged to feed me; this is another expense for the school. The school head can no longer bear orphans. They have sometimes made us go out of class to ask us to go and get the school fees. In the meantime, the teachers continue to teach the children who have their parents and also to give them tests.

When they chase us out of class to go and get the school fees, we stay in school. We refuse to leave because we have nowhere to go. Later, they tell us to go back into the classroom. However we do expect to be thrown out of school at the end of the year.

At school, each pupil has a bed and a mattress. But I have no mattress. In the evening, when the other pupils revise their subjects, I think about where I am going to sleep because every evening I ask a pupil if I can sleep in their bed. Since the bed is too small, I am forced to stay in the same position during the night, so as not to annoy my fellow-pupil.

Apart from the mattress, I always ask the other pupils to give me money to buy pens, soap, notebooks...etc. Some of the pupils give me some, others complain about me, and say: “Are we going to keep giving him money forever?’” Also when we go on walks, I ask other pupils to lend me shoes so that I don’t walk barefoot because we go on long journeys. For sport, other pupils use their slippers. But I do sport bare foot and without sports clothes; I always wear my uniform. In fact, I don’t have a uniform; I only have a shirt and shorts, so I have to wash them at night to wear them in the morning.

Before the genocide my parents used to look after me. My mother used to give me something to eat as soon as I came back home and my clothes were well-prepared, washed and ironed. My father used to pay my school fees without any problems.

Speaking in December 2003, Joseph described how his life changed virtually overnight in 1994, forcing him into a life of poverty for which nothing in his 16 years had prepared him. As he could not afford the transport, he was not able to visit his home during the holidays. His poor grades and his lack of stability led to a constant change of schools. In one of the schools, he could not buy his own bed and was forced to share with another student who had TB, which Joseph then contracted.

This illness was a terrible ordeal for me. I had no-one to visit me and to cheer me up. I couldn’t get the diet which the doctor prescribed for me either at home or at school. I decided to stay at the school because things would only get worse if I went home as those at home are even worse off than we were at school. You can imagine how distressing it was to stay at the school without anyone from your family coming to visit you.

According to both teachers and students, trauma is particularly widespread among survivors in secondary school. Joseph’s testimony highlights the many reasons that force young people to feel adrift and tormented.

Students who were survivors were often sent away because they hadn’t paid their fees. We spent all our time going back and forth. We didn’t have confidence in all the teachers as we couldn’t be certain whether they would be sensitive to our problems. That’s why we didn’t discuss our concerns with just anybody. The teachers had their way of looking at us, and we had our way of judging them according to their behaviour. There was no sense of solidarity from the student body either. For example, during the annual national commemoration of the victims of the genocide, preparing the activities was left to the survivors alone. When you give a testimony on the history of the genocide, it is only the other survivors who take what you say seriously. The other students believe, and say, that we exaggerate in order to make what we say moving. Some are even hostile.

So at school, we try to hide our feelings from the other students because that is what living side by side demands. The other students also regard the survivors as people who have an easy time and who are spoilt by the State. When they see that the State pays the fees for some of us, they draw the hasty conclusion that they are the victims of injustice since they have to pay the fees themselves. They forget that we once had parents and relatives who could see to our needs without us having to humiliate ourselves by looking for the help of sponsors.

Still, I was able to hold out because I had lived through the worst. And education is the only hope for my future; I can’t give up on it, no matter what the obstacles.

The presence of others at school at least, said Joseph, provided a distraction.

But when the holidays approached, I began to think of family problems. And life at home was much harder than at school. I even used to think of staying behind at school during the vacation.

Joseph eventually got the association of student survivors to pay for his entrance to university but said that he finds life as a student “a tough battle to win given my family circumstances.”

Even today, there are times when I spend two or three hours without taking anything in. I don’t have the time to concentrate on my holidays because I’m frequently submerged in family issues which contributes to my failures in class. My older sister doesn’t work; she didn’t work even before the genocide, but then her husband worked and supported them. I also have a younger brother who abandoned primary school just after the genocide. Later, he refused to go back to school, saying he was too old.

Caritas has found the strength to keep going, but she understands the pressures upon young survivors.

Even if a survivor is brilliant he will have discipline problems. It’s true to say that the survivors are undisciplined. It’s obvious why. There are many reasons. Some of the survivors think that anything is acceptable, that they can do what they like no matter where and no matter how because of what they lived through during the genocide. Even though they’re desperate and know the real meaning of life, they don’t control their reactions in their everyday lives. Most of them don’t have any family: no father, mother, elder brother or sister. They may live with distant relatives or alone.

The survivors often leave before the end of the year. Those who stay on are often expelled. For example out of 67 pupils in this present school year, 18 have been expelled for discipline matters and they’re all survivors. Even a well-behaved survivor will get led astray by his friends.

Laurent was so fearful for his security that for a long time he hid the fact that he had been orphaned by the genocide.

I forced myself to be something that I was not.

Without the FARG, a huge number of survivors would find themselves locked out of educational establishments. But delays in paying schools fees has been a constant criticism leveled at the FARG and has been a source of stress and academic failures for the students concerned, as Laurent pointed out.

Academic establishments don’t allow them to continue with their studies unless they have paid in full.

Knowing what he endured and saw at secondary school, Laurent commented:

At university, we are able to manage, somehow. But at secondary school, each survivor is isolated and lost within his own nightmares. Some of them come from families living in abject poverty, others don’t even have families and some live with relatives who treat them badly. Very few live with their own families and in reasonable conditions. We try to keep track of them in our association , but it’s difficult for us to find the time and the means, what with all the other school and family obligations.

With regard to students supported by the FARG, Thomas underlined that it pays only the fees.

They often lack lodgings and the necessary equipment, and their morale is always rock bottom. The result is that they don’t make it and are sent away. Then the situation becomes even worse as they blame themselves for not exploiting the possibility that was offered to them, and then they risk becoming unbalanced or thinking of suicide.

With his mother gainfully employed and a brother and sister to share life with, Thomas considers himself among the lucky ones. But he feels empathy for many of the other members of the Association of Student Survivors of the Genocide.

They don’t want to desert their studies, the only thing which will give them a future, but nor do they want to turn their backs to the obvious needs of their families. So there they are, torn and without any means. And yet they must absolutely find a way of combining these two heavy responsibilities.

He worries in particular about what the lack of choice means for girls.

Girls might think of an early marriage, and sometimes they even marry men they know have HIV/AIDS etc…

Burying Loved Ones: Essential Therapy

For thousands of survivors, Rwanda has become a country of nameless mass graves, into which the bodies of their loved ones fell in heaps. Coming to terms with their loss has been compounded by the failure to find the bodies of relatives, making it difficult to grieve them properly. They have been burned, washed down rivers, dumped and then eaten by dogs and crows, left to rot in toilets or buried anonymously in mass graves. At the same time, and for many years, survivors in the countryside kept stumbling upon skulls and bones. This lack of respect for the dead is an additional source of psychological distress. Not knowing where or how their parents, siblings, grandparents and aunts were killed has made it difficult for both adults and children to express their grief and to close their relationship with the person who has died. For survivors who were not with their families when they died, accepting their death is often impossible. As a result, looking for their remains takes on an added urgency.

Cécile Mukarusimbi attended a boarding school in Gitarama but had joined her parents for the holidays in Nyamata. The family ran to Mt. Rebero where Cécile’s mother, four younger sisters and two younger brothers lost their lives.

When I was at Nyamata I nearly went mad thinking about the situation I had come from. I had seen my relatives’ naked bodies exposed on the hill. But I hoped that my father, who was in Kigali, was alive. I longed to see him again. He was called Egide Karegeya and worked for the Ministry of Public Works. But he was murdered in Kigali.

Cécile knows that her family in Kanzenze was killed by the parents of her friends, making it impossible for her as a youngster on her own to confront them.

I have not found the remains of my family, but the neighbours must know where they left them. Why don’t they tell me? I don’t have the courage to ask them about it; when I see them, I start crying immediately. I’m angry with them, and I would like to speak to them frankly.

Marie-Rose Uwizeyimana was baptised on Easter Sunday, 3 April 1994, four days before the genocide began. She was ten at the time. She lived in Mbogo. A week later, their home came under siege and the family scattered. Later, Marie-Rose, the youngest in her family, learned that her parents, four brothers and two sisters died in the neighbouring commune of Shyorongi.

They were killed far away from me. I don’t know who is responsible. They died at the hands of people who didn’t know them. No-one is in prison for killing the people I loved. I’m the only one who could have them put in prison and I don’t even know who they are. There’s nothing I can do about it.

Every time we searched the mass graves at Shyorongi, I found nothing. Even if I had found them, what would I have done?

After a few moments, Marie-Rose answered her own question.

At least I would be sure of their deaths.

For a long time, the uncertainty sustained the hope that they might be alive.

When I am at the market, amongst a large crowd, I always think I might find my brothers. If I only knew where their remains had been put, then at least I could go where I could remember them.

When I am asleep, in my dreams I imagine myself at home as if no-one was dead. When I wake up I feel sad when I realise that it isn’t true.

When I go home to my parents’ house, all I do is cry. I can’t go there alone. I’m afraid of meeting people who I don’t know, especially men, when I’m alone. I always think that they have a machete and that they will kill me.

For Justin, the possibility that his family’s remains might be in a mass grave somewhere, as opposed to obliteration, is what he holds on to.

I’ve got nothing to remind me of my parents or brothers. I don’t even know where they died. I suppose they lie somewhere in a mass grave. I hope so. Sometimes, I think that perhaps the bones of my loved ones are still lying on a hillside somewhere. My heart aches whenever I think of it.

Régine was 16 in 1994 and was living in Ruhashya in Butare. She left her home on 23 April, together with three young girls, to take refuge on the steep hills of Rubaba. Pursued by the interahamwe, they ran to the sprawling grounds of the agricultural research centre, ISAR in Songa, in the neighbouring commune of Rusatira, where she met up with her parents and four brothers. Her father advised them to disperse, and Régine tried to make her way to Burundi. She was ambushed by militiamen when she reached commune Ntyazo and left for dead in the bushes after a severe beating. She crawled out and joined a group of survivors who managed to cross into Burundi. She spent four years in an orphanage in Nyamata, and since 1998 has lived with another orphan.

I lost more than 20 members of my family. I can’t tell you if they have been buried or not. And not knowing is such a source of sorrow that I can’t sleep. It happens that I will go through a whole week of nightmares, thinking about my father, at the advice he used to give me, telling me to be good towards everyone. Now, there’s only loneliness. I sometimes get into a taxi without knowing where I’m going.

What I find the most upsetting is that I don’t know who killed my parents and my brothers. I don’t have a photo of my mother or of my brothers; I only have a passport photo of my father which I got from his bank card.

Fear and Mistrust: The Legacy of Betrayal

The scale, speed and brutality with which genocide was accomplished in Rwanda—a country lacking in the modern infrastructure and technology of mass death—is a tragic monument to the ability of a State to divide its people, severing bonds which had intertwined people and communities for decades. In part, the genocide owed its efficiency to the direct involvement or tacit collusion of many relatives, friends, neighbours and colleagues of its victims.

The mechanisms varied by which the perpetrators convinced the population to turn their backs upon those with whom they had formerly lived side by side, but promises to disinherit the Tutsis of their land, homes and belongings, the threat of financial penalties, intimidation and propaganda caused many to succumb to the message of hatred. This betrayal has robbed survivors of their loved ones, their communities, their homes and possessions and of any sense of security. Their ability to trust even those closest to them has, in many cases, been permanently destroyed. Tutsis were also betrayed by people in positions of authority and responsibility to whom they had looked for protection—priests, nuns, doctors, local government officials, nurses and, amongst others, teachers. It will undoubtedly take the Rwandese nation several generations to recover from the social and psychological consequences of this mass betrayal.

Goretti Murebwayire feels so cut off from her former life that she does not feel the need for new friends. What, she wonders, would they talk about? Goretti, 17, lived in Gikoro Greater Kigali. She experienced the genocide in Rwamagana, Kibungo, at the home of her grandmother. When Kigali fell on 4 July, her thoughts focused on finding her family in Gikoro, cellule Bwiza.

I made myself go home to Gikoro. I wanted to see my family and to tell them about my miraculous survival at Rwamagana. I thought that they would be worrying about me, thinking I was dead. I didn’t think that they had been killed. My heart assured me that they were there, and that I was going to see them and talk to them. When I arrived in Gikoro, I found the opposite: my family had been wiped out in April.

Her parents, four sisters and brother had died; she found virtually no trace of the extended family.

My uncles and cousins who lived in Duha had all been killed. The burnt bodies were still there, at my uncle Gakire’s place. They had been shut in his house, killed by hand grenades and then burned with petrol. My aunt came from Uganda here to Gikoro where her brothers and sisters had been killed. She found only me.

Goretti refused to return to the home of her surviving grandmother in Rwamagana.

I didn’t want to leave before burying my family.

Although only 13 at the time, Goretti’s decision to settle in Bwiza was a gesture of defiance.

I wanted to show the people who had killed my family that I was there. My aunt stayed with me. She had three children whose father was Ugandan. We formed a family. We cultivated the fields for food.

But after three years of sharing her life with her new family, Goretti found herself on her own.

In December 1997 my aunt, who had become like a father and mother to me, died of an unknown illness. She was all I had. After her death, her children returned to Uganda. I was alone again. A cousin has come to live with me, because I couldn’t stay alone. He often works in his fields in the day time and comes back in the evening. Sometimes he doesn’t come back and I’m afraid of spending the night alone.

Goretti, who had been in the fifth form of primary school in 1994, had to abandon school to help her aunt with farming “in order to survive.” The task of burying the family’s remains had not been completed when her aunt died; Goretti continued and completed the burial in May 1998.

Unable to comprehend why their neighbours and the local population turned on her family, Goretti has withdrawn into herself and lives in isolation and in fear of her own life.

My parents did nothing to deserve death. They were on good terms with the neighbours. Now I’m continually afraid of the people in this region who killed my father, my mother and all the children, even the youngest. They might also kill me. I never go to call on them, and they never call on me. I have no friends. Most of the young girls of my age have fathers and brothers in prison because of the genocide. I don’t need friends in any case. What for? What would we talk about? My life is miserable. Nothing makes me happy. I no longer fear death like I did before the genocide. Death would be welcome, because then I could join my parents wherever the dead go.

At the age of ten, Uwayisenga was bewildered by the ease and speed with which a family friend turned into an executioner.

When I saw the militia, I ran. One militiaman came up behind me. He was a strong man and he caught me. I was astonished. I realised that he was a friend. His name was Hazigama and he was from Rwankuba. Before the genocide, Hazigama used to come to our house everyday. He farmed my father’s fields and he received a salary. He received his salary on time and we never had any problems. We used to play with him and he was like a brother to us even though we were not from the same family.

With the innocence of childhood, Uwayisenga turned to logic to make sense of a world beyond her comprehension.

Hazigama was just about to kill me. I asked him why when I had done nothing to hurt him. I begged him to take pity on me. He said nothing but just hit me on the head with a machete. He had bits of wood in his hand which he stuck into my face. When he thought I was dead, he left.

Towards a Better Future?

Only a small number of people were saved from genocide in 1994; in the intervening years, few have been protected from its consequences. In their desolation and despair, these youngsters echo each other. Their words, which bear witness to a series of personal tragedies, are a prolonged collective indictment of the perpetrators of the 1994 genocide. But they are also evidence of unacceptable neglect on the part of both national and international actors over the past 12 years.

In the aftermath of this appalling crime against humanity, a clear rejection of the attempt to dehumanize a people was, and is still, needed. This requires both justice and a comprehensive attempt at the rehabilitation of survivors, restoring dignity to a people who have lost all else. The alternative is to remain bystanders to a slow torture as genocide crimes continue to destroy minds, bodies and spirits.

Rwanda: Remember Rwanda by taking action on Darfur

2006-04-12

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/rights/33389

Africa Action marked the International Day of Reflection on the Rwandan genocide by emphasizing the urgent need for action on the continuing genocide in Darfur. "On this day, when the international community pledges its commitment to avoiding another tragedy like that of Rwanda 12 years ago, the crisis in Darfur continues to grow. Africa Action notes the mounting security concerns and increasing humanitarian crisis in Darfur, and urges the United Nations (UN) Security Council to overcome obstacles to the rapid authorization of a multinational peacekeeping mission in Darfur."
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Ann-Louise Colgan (202) 546-7961

"Remember Rwanda by Taking Action on Darfur"

On Day of Reflection on Rwandan Genocide, Africa Action Urges
International Intervention in Darfur

Friday, April 7, 2006 (Washington, DC) – Africa Action today marked the
International Day of Reflection on the Rwandan genocide by emphasizing
the urgent need for action on the continuing genocide in Darfur. On this
day, when the international community pledges its commitment to avoiding
another tragedy like that of Rwanda 12 years ago, the crisis in Darfur
continues to grow. Africa Action notes the mounting security concerns
and increasing humanitarian crisis in Darfur, and urges the United
Nations (UN) Security Council to overcome obstacles to the rapid
authorization of a multinational peacekeeping mission in Darfur.

Ann-Louise Colgan, Director of Policy Analysis & Communications at
Africa Action, said today, "As the situation in Darfur continues to
deteriorate, the international community must take immediate and
vigorous measures to bring about a multinational peacekeeping mission
with the mandate to protect civilians. The expedited planning for a
future UN mission, recently authorized by a Security Council resolution,
will produce options for action on April 24. Now the duty of the
international community lies in ensuring that these plans, and related
diplomatic efforts, yield an immediate protection force for the people
of Darfur."

Africa Action notes that the month of April provides a new opportunity
for the necessary international action on Darfur. With UN planning
moving ahead, the Sudanese government's expulsion this week of the
non-governmental organization managing the largest camp for internally
displaced persons in Darfur has sparked international outrage. This act
exemplifies the need for determined international action and increased
diplomatic pressure on this crisis. UN humanitarian chief Jan Egeland
warned this week that, if international resolve flags, gains in
humanitarian aid access made in 2005 are likely to be lost in the coming
year, with disastrous consequences for the people of Darfur.

Marie Clarke Brill, Director of Public Education & Mobilization at
Africa Action, said , "As activists commemorate the massive and tragic
loss of life in the Rwandan genocide, they also realize that the phrase
'never again' can only be meaningful if applied forcefully to confront
genocide as it occurs. Outspoken and unremitting pressure brought to
bear by concerned Americans has created new momentum for action on
Darfur, and this attention will not cease until a UN intervention
mission is on the ground to halt this genocide."

To honor the victims of the Rwandan genocide, Africa Action is
encouraging activists to organize film festival events to shine a light
on this issue and to remind audiences of the consequences of ignoring
genocide. A film-screening guide is available at
http://www.africaaction.org/campaign_new/docs/Anniv06RwandanGenocideguide.pdf


For more information and analysis from Africa Action on the crisis in
Darfur, see www.africaaction.org/darfur

####

Sudan: Report on human rights launched

2006-04-13

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/rights/33429

The Sudan Organisation Against Torture has launched its eighth annual report on the human rights situation in Sudan. Through SOAT’s extensive work inside Sudan, including the provision of legal aid, medical treatment and documentation of human rights abuses, this is a definitive account of the human rights situation inside Sudan. The report concentrates on the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, (CPA), the human rights situation in Darfur region, torture and ill-treatment, freedom of expression and human rights defenders. It emphasis the current situation of internally displaced persons living in official camps and the estimated 1.5 million distributed in different squatter settlements and peripheral areas of Khartoum. For hard copies, please contact info@soatsudan.org

Uganda: Government defaults on torture compensation

2006-04-11

http://allafrica.com/stories/200604100626.html

The Ugandan government has not yet paid over Shs700m in compensation to victims of torture and human rights violations, according to the Uganda Human Rights Commission. The Commission chairperson said "the government has an obligation to fulfill its liabilities," adding that "the government would not be promoting and protecting the human rights of Ugandans if it refused to pay these victims."

Burundi: Government to expel asylum seekers

2006-04-11

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=52710

The Burundian government will expel all Rwandan asylum seekers who fail to meet conditions for their acceptance as refugees, Interior Minister Evariste Ndayishimiye has said. Burundi's northern provinces currently host at least 19,000 Rwandan asylum seekers. The Rwandans started arriving in Burundi in April 2005 - mainly from the province of Butare. They said they were fleeing prosecution under Rwanda's traditional justice system known as gacaca.

Chad: Displaced situation worsens

2006-04-12

http://www.refintl.org/content/article/detail/8359?PHPSESSID=702f5b6704757a593c6b33d1b1e79259

Over the past year, the security situation along the border that Chad shares with Darfur has significantly deteriorated. Since September 2005, Chadian militias and Sudanese Janjaweed have attacked Chadian villages, resulting in the displacement of nearly 30,000 people. As recently as April 10th, a rebel group, the United Front for Democratic Change (FUCD), allegedly attacked several villages and a refugee camp near Goz Beida, a town near the border in southeastern Chad.

DRC: Central Katanga situation improves, but much remains to be done

2006-04-11

http://www.refintl.org/content/article/detail/8355?PHPSESSID=4c1c92bf7bc25a914e6882b5028f1da2

Several months after the onset of a crisis that displaced 150,000 people in central Katanga in the Democratic Republic of the Congo the humanitarian situation is beginning to improve. The UN World Food Program has begun airdrops of food to Dubie, promising to deliver 80 tons over the next several days, with additional airdrops planned for Mitwaba and Sampwe after April 10. This should begin to reduce mortality rates, which, according to Médecins sans Frontières (MSF), are well above emergency thresholds of 4.3 per 10,000 people per day.

Global: Young refugees demand change

2006-04-12

http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/LTIO-6NRS2L?OpenDocument

A group of young refugees and asylum seekers are to get a rare opportunity to influence the asylum debate at a conference in Westminster on 19 April. The young people, aged 15 - 21, come from a range of unstable and war-torn countries including Angola, Iraq, Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe. They meet as part of 'Brighter Futures' - a Save the Children project that works to change perceptions of young refugees and asylum-seekers.

Horn of Africa: 2,000 refugees and illegal immigrants arrested in March

2006-04-10

http://www.yobserver.com/news_9882.php

Yemeni security forces and coastguards seized about 2,000 refugees and illegal immigrants in March, mostly Somalis who were displaced from the Horn of Africa, according to an official report. 539 of those illegal immigrants were Ethiopian nationals while the remaining were Somalis.

Sudan: 50 years later, refugees return in hope to Juba

2006-04-10

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/africa/article356428.ece

Can the story of happy return be consolidated into a new beginning or will the present optimism turn sour under the weight of unfulfilled promises? The south is a land for the large part without schools, hospitals, roads, jobs or a working government. Hopes of a new dawn, fuelled by a wealth of oil and gold, are tempered by fears that outbreaks of militia fighting could spill over into renewed conflict if frustration at the slow pace of change continues to fester.

Sudan: Repatriation of refugees from Ethiopia underway

2006-04-11

http://tinyurl.com/pwf6e

The United Nations refugee agency will repatriate some 4,500 Sudanese refugees from Ethiopia during the next two months, an exercise made possible by the restoration of peace in southern Sudan after two decades of civil war, officials said. Civil conflict pitting the Sudanese government and the former rebels of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) ended in January 2005, when the two parties signed a definitive peace agreement after several years of peace talks in Kenya. The SPLM is now a partner in Sudan's government of national unity and administers southern Sudan.

Zimbabwe: Judges open door for Zimbabwe deportations

2006-04-12

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/refugees/33416

A panel of judges has given the government a green light to deport Zimbabwean refugees despite fears of torture under Robert Mugabe’s regime. Home Secretary Charles Clarke said he was ‘pleased’ at the Court of Appeal ruling which overturned a previous decision of the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal (AIT). Refugee groups expressed dismay at today’s ruling claiming Zimbabwe remained a ‘very dangerous place.’

East Africa: Protocol for free movement of labour among states to be passed

2006-04-12

http://allafrica.com/stories/200604110869.html

Even as the three presidents of the East African states exude confidence about the future of the East African Community, promising a political federation for the region in five years, the reality is that the 10-year-old trading bloc is entering its most difficult period. Last week's meeting in Arusha between President Mwai Kibaki of Kenya, Yoweri Museveni of Uganda and Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania took place against the background of rising tension among the member states over restrictive immigration regulations, especially the issuance of work permits. Restrictions on the movement of labour remains a major problem and citizens of the region have had no advantage over other foreigners either in the issuance of work permits or the fees charged.

Egypt: Activists accuse government of fabricating cases against opposition

2006-04-12

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=52734

Activists have accused the state of fabricating evidence to support criminal charges against members of the political opposition. In spite of their relative infrequency, these operations “have wide and long term effects in spreading fear among ordinary citizens and amongst some activists who fear their turn will come,” read a recent report issued by the Cairo-based Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (HRInfo).

Guinea: Guinea in transition

2006-04-12

http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?l=1&id=4067

For too long, public figures within and outside Africa have been timid about discussing Guinea’s deep-rooted problems, says the International Crisis Group. "Its strong anti-imperialist stance in the 1960s and beyond earned it respect among pan-Africanists, but the hands-off attitude that grew out of that respect has long since degraded into indifference and cynicism. The probability is now high that President Conté’s term will end in a military takeover, which some seem prepared to accept before the fact, as if it were a means of preserving Guinea’s sovereignty."

Malawi: Constitution changes could strengthen Mutharika

2006-04-12

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=52739

The possible revision of a law that forbids Malawi's members of parliament from crossing the floor could help strengthen President Bingu wa Mutharika, who has been locked in a gruelling battle with his opposition. Changing Section 65 of the constitution was proposed by Mutharika, who argued that it contradicted freedom of association, which is also guaranteed. "The review of the constitution should assess the rights of individuals to belong to an association of their choice, and not to be forced to belong to a political party," he remarked at a recently concluded conference to examine the issue.

Swaziland: Unions block Swazi border posts in pro-democracy protest

2006-04-13

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L12700467.htm

South African police shot and injured at least one person with rubber bullets on Wednesday when they tried to disperse a crowd trying to blockade a border crossing with Swaziland in a political protest, police said. The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), which joined Swazi pro-democracy groups in organising Wednesday's protests, said eight people were wounded in the shooting incident and protested strongly to the government.

Tanzania: Survey suggests that 75 percent of Tanzanians trust their government

2006-04-12

http://allafrica.com/stories/200604110846.html

Tanzanians are greatly satisfied with the way the country is managed politically, economically and socially, unlike other citizens in 18 countries surveyed in East, Central, and southwestern Africa. Citizens in the rest of the surveyed countries, including Kenya and Uganda, are still doubtful of their ruling governments' capabilities to solve their problems such as crime, health, infrastructure and poverty. The results of the "Afro-Barometer" survey conducted between July and August 2005 and announced early last week further show that Tanzanians were "happy" even before the current government came to power in December, 2005.

Uganda: NGO registration bill passed

2006-04-12

http://allafrica.com/stories/200604110786.html

In Uganda, members of parliament have passed the non governmental organisations registration amendment bill 2001 requiring all NGOs and pentecostal churches to register with the internal affairs ministry. According to the new law, all organisations will renew their working licences after one year. The second renewal would be after two years while the third and last will take place after five years. An NGO board would have powers to revoke the licence of any NGO that fails to conform to its objectives.

Uganda: Political implication of supreme court ruling on poll petition

2006-04-12

http://allafrica.com/stories/200604110766.html

Though the majority of Ugandans during the Feb 23rd presidential polls voted for President Museveni, there is massive growing discontent amongst the minority. Whereas Museveni won the 1996 presidential elections with a landslide margin of 75 percent, his support declined to 69 percent in 2001 and then to 59 percent in 2006. With an economy grappling with drastic donor cuts and power shortages, the next term of office for President Museveni could be the most challenging.

Africa: Anti-graft watchdogs seek recovery of money

2006-04-13

http://www.thetidenews.com/article.aspx?qrDate=04/12/2006&qrTitle=Africa’s%20anti-graft%20watchdogs%20seek%20recovery%20of%20money&qrColumn=FOREIGN

Africa’s anti-graft watchdogs have called on various governments to expedite action on tracing, recovery and repatriation of wealth stolen from African countries. This decision was contained in a joint statement issued at the end of a two-day regional meeting in Nairobi by representatives of Transparency International (TI) from seven African countries.

Africa: Cleaning up the World Bank

2006-04-10

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/biztech/articles/060403/3worldbank.htm

Back in the early 1980s, Leslie Jean-Robert Pean was in a heap of trouble. Flat broke, in bankruptcy court, he had $10 in a savings account and a whole lot more debts than assets. But in 1989, Pean, an economist, landed a job at the headquarters of the World Bank, in Washington, D.C. By the early 1990s, Pean and his family had bought a big house on 3 acres of manicured grounds outside Washington. "Our dream," the World Bank's mission statement says, "is a world free of poverty”. The only trouble, bank investigators say, is that he wasn't focusing so much on helping the poor as he was on helping himself

Global: The World Bank weeds out corruption but will it touch the roots?

2006-04-11

http://tinyurl.com/lsjpv

A series of loan suspensions and internal investigations has everyone at the World Bank talking about corruption. However, despite high profile moves by president Paul Wolfowitz, the root causes of corruption - underpaid civil servants, an acceptance of bribery by big business, and dirty money - remain largely unaddressed. While many observers applaud these attempts to weed out corruption, Wolfowitz has so far failed to systematically address the roots of the problem.

Lesotho: NGO calls for audit of dam construction tenders

2006-04-12

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=52707

Following allegations of corruption, a local NGO has appealed for an audit of the tenders allocated in the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP), the world's largest water transfer operation. "Bribery for tenders goes along with compromising of workmanship standards. We can only pray that, despite this, standards for constructing these kind of dams was not compromised, as it would be a double punishment to the people living around the Katse and Mohale dams," said Mabusetsa Lenka of the Transformation Resource Centre (TRC), an NGO fighting for the rights of communities displaced by the multi-dam project.

South Africa: Kebble saga shows whistleblower protection not adequate

2006-04-13

http://www.moneyweb.co.za/business_today/201660.htm

Whistleblowers under the Protected Disclosures Act (PDA) are not being safeguarded enough against reprisals from their employers. Alison Tilley, of the Open Democracy Advice Centre, says that even though corruption is widespread in South Africa, not enough employees are coming forward to disclose what they know about wrongdoing in the workplace. Recently, Randgold & Exploration released a forensic audit showing R2bn was stolen while Brett Kebble was CEO, and JCI indicates R500 million was misappropriated.

Africa: Call for action to stop EPA

2006-04-13

http://www.twnafrica.org/news_detail.asp?twnID=892

Thirty civil society organisations involved in the Stop EPA campaign met in Harare from 27-30 March to launch a global call for action to stop the so-called Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs). Organised under the umbrella of the Africa Trade Network (ATN), the objective of the meeting was to outline existing problems within the EPAs, and call upon both the Africa, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) countries and the European Union (EU) to pay far greater attention to how it will affect citizens.

Africa: NGOs call for faster conclusion of global trade negotiations

2006-04-12

http://allafrica.com/stories/200604110836.html

Over 35 Non-Governmental Organisations working on trade issues in Africa have called for a speedy conclusion of the on-going global trade negotiations. The NGOs, gathered in Nairobi ahead of a African Union (AU) trade ministers meeting, say little success has been achieved since the last World Trade Organization (WTO) meeting in Hong Kong in November. The meeting is expected to provide an opportunity for Africa to advance a common position on outstanding issues so as to reap maximum benefits in global trade.

Africa: Western concern at China's growing involvement in Africa

2006-04-12

http://www.asiantribune.com/show_article.php?id=3102

New evidence is emerging about the extent and nature of China’s involvement in Africa. A series of articles in the Financial Times claims that China "has in the span of a few years changed the pattern of Africa's investment and trade." The paper admits to "only just beginning to grapple with the implications." Trade between China and Africa has quadrupled since the beginning of this decade.

Global: World Bank trade evaluation over-optimistic about trade liberalisation

2006-04-11

http://tinyurl.com/nmamf

In the most comprehensive evaluation ever conducted of the World Bank's work in trade, the Bank's Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) has found that the Bank neither fully understood the implications of its "narrow focus on trade liberalisation", nor did enough to strengthen trade capacity on the ground. While the evaluation shies away from challenging head-on the economics of the Bank's promotion of unilateral trade liberalisation, it points out a number of serious flaws in the institution's understanding of how to maximise the benefits to be had for developing countries.

Kenya: Faith groups demand that illegal debts be disowned

2006-04-11

http://allafrica.com/stories/200604100834.html

Religious groups in Kenya want the state to disown illegally incurred external debts. They have started a campaign to ask the finance minister to open for public scrutiny the public debt register before this year's national budget. The country's debt amounts to Sh750 billion and the Government proposes to spend Sh112 billion (22 per cent of the entire budget) servicing it. Officials behind the campaign blame the debts for increasing poverty in the country. A motion in Parliament to have the public debt register made public and its content published was shot down by 80 MPs last year.

Kenya: State will not factor donor funds in budget

2006-04-12

http://allafrica.com/stories/200604110087.html

The government of Kenya plans to trim its fiscal deficit to 2.5 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by the 2008/09 financial year, a senior finance ministry official has said. According to the country's finance minister, taxpayers contributed 96 per cent of the money that went to the budget in the current financial year. He revealed that the Government had broken the dependence on donors as only four per cent of the total budget was funded using donor funds.

Tanzania: Fresh negotiations with EU on fishing

2006-04-12

http://allafrica.com/stories/200604110845.html

The European Union (EU) has rejected a proposal by Tanzania to restart negotiations on a tuna fishing zone beyond the 12 nautical miles from the latter's coast. In contention was the fact that Tanzania has refused to allow the EU to control and do surveillance and monitoring on its fishing sites. Tanzania refused to sign the agreement because of the minimal benefits it was going to receive from the EU compared with the 8,000 tonnes of tuna fish that will be harvested.

Global: The global migration of nurses

2006-04-11

http://www.id21.org/health/h1jb6g1.html

Facing nursing shortages, health systems in developed countries are recruiting nurses from other developed and developing countries. What is the impact of this short term solution on recipient and source countries?  How can health systems plan for the effects of increasing migration of nursing staff? Research by the World Health Organisation explores the international migration of nurses and the implications.

Global: The world health report 2006

2006-04-11

http://www.who.int/whr/2006/en/index.html

'The World Health Report 2006 - Working together for health' contains an expert assessment of the current crisis in the global health workforce and ambitious proposals to tackle it over the next ten years, starting immediately. The report reveals an estimated shortage of almost 4.3 million doctors, midwives, nurses and support workers worldwide. The shortage is most severe in the poorest countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, where health workers are most needed.

Kenya: Medics deplore low pay, scarce incentives

2006-04-12

http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=32785

As the international community commemorated this year’s World Health Day on April 7th, the issue of poor remuneration for health workers in Kenya was debated. "The pay for doctors and other health care givers in the public service is so low that many of these people could not devote their full time to public service – like I have had to engage in private practice because the money I get from the university is not enough to feed me," said the chairman of the Kenya Medical Association (KMA).

Kenya: Proposed law is a bitter pill for parallel drug importers

2006-04-12

http://allafrica.com/stories/200604110483.html

A row has broken out between parallel importers of medicines and local pharmaceutical companies over the planned introduction of a law barring importation. Those who trade in parallel imported medical products claim they are being harassed by Pharmacy and Poisons Board officials and the Police. Parallel importation means that a country can source for patented products from countries where they are cheaper rather than buy locally from manufacturers who are mostly multinationals. It is a key provision in the Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights (Trips) agreement.

South Africa: Taking a shower will not prevent HIV

2006-04-12

http://www.health-e.org.za/news/article.php?uid=20031408

Former deputy president Jacob Zuma's irresponsible HIV statements are causing confusion, prompting a body representing more than 12 000 HIV specialists to clarify matters. Zuma stands accused of raping an HIV positive woman in his Johannesburg home. During cross examination at the rape trial Zuma said he took a shower straight after sex with his HIV-positive rape accuser as a way of reducing his chances of contracting the virus and that he had unprotected sex with the woman because he believed the risk of transmission was minimal. Zuma also disclosed that he has multiple sex partners.

Tanzania: New dosage for TB patients introduced

2006-04-11

http://tinyurl.com/owkvh

Tanzanians suffering from tuberculosis (TB) now have fewer pills to swallow, thanks to a new treatment, which reduces the daily dosage of tablets from between 11 and 12 to three or four. A health ministry official said the new treatment, known as the four-drug, fixed-dose combination is widely used in many countries on the recommendation of the United Nations World Health Organization.

Uganda: HIV vaccine trial starts soon

2006-04-11

http://allafrica.com/stories/200604101161.html

Trials on an HIV vaccine aimed at preventing transmission of the virus from infected mothers to their babies through breast feeding are to start in the next few months at Mulago Hospital in Uganda. The study is to last two years and the randomly selected babies shall be monitored by a team of doctors from the clinic at Mulago.

Zimbabwe: Adult population to die before age 40, says UN report

2006-04-11

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=52693

Zimbabwean women have the shortest lifespan in the world, according to a new report released by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Friday. Neither men nor women in one of the world's fastest shrinking economies are expected to reach the age of 40, according to the 'World Health Report 2006', based on the statistics for 2004.

Africa: Brown unveils Africa school funds

2006-04-12

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/4893980.stm

Chancellor Gordon Brown has said the UK will give $15bn (£8.5bn) in overseas aid for education in Africa and Asia. The 10-year funding plan is part of the pledge by the world's richest nations to help every African child have access to a primary school by 2015.

Africa: Child labour an obstacle to education

2006-04-12

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=32835

Delegates to a workshop held recently in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, have highlighted concerns about how child labour is undermining efforts to achieve universal primary education. "Child labour is a major obstacle to EFA (Education for All), and the elimination of child labour is key to realising the EFA," said the World Bank’s Bob Prouty, who also told the gathering that 11 percent of children below 14 years in Africa are engaged in some form of labour.

Kenya: Back to class for children from informal settlements

2006-04-12

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=52750

Thanks to Kenya’s free primary education initiative, many children who had dropped out of school are back in class. "I would still be at home, because my aunt who took me in after my parents died could no longer afford to pay for my fees," said Akinyi, a class-seven pupil at Ayany Primary School in Kibera, a sprawling shantytown in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi. Kibera is said to be one of the largest slums in Africa, with hundreds of thousands of residents.

Mozambique: HIV interventions for out-of-school youth

2006-04-12

http://www.id21.org/education/e5pp1g1.html

Education is a key protective factor against HIV. But school dropouts are increasing in many affected countries. We urgently need new ways to deliver the ‘education vaccine’. Can open, distance and flexible learning (ODFL) meet this need? Researchers from the Institute of Education, University of London, address this question through field studies in Mozambique and South Africa.

Southern Africa: Learning about HIV/AIDS and gender stereotypes in schools

2006-04-12

http://www.id21.org/education/e5mt1g1.html

Most young people learn about sexuality and HIV/AIDS in school. Giving teenage pupils space to explore, debate and ask questions is just as important as checking that they know how HIV is transmitted and avoided. Can teachers help in the fight against AIDS and gender stereotypes? A chapter in a book from Oxfam GB analyses two HIV programmes in schools in South Africa and Mozambique. The author argues that using the classroom to encourage young people to consider issues of sexuality and gender requires techniques that go beyond the training generally given to teachers.

Tanzania: Public statement on the univeristy charter

University of Dar es Salaam Academic Staff Assembly

2006-04-13

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/education/33439

Members of the University of Dar es Salaam Academic Staff Assembly (UDASA) (drawing representatives from UCLAS and MUCHS), held an Extraordinary General Assembly (EGA) meeting on 10th September 2006 to deliberate on the Charter of the University of Dar Salaam that was tabled to the University Council on 17th March 2006 for approval and eventual submission to the Government for endorsement and passing, as per Universities Act of 2005 requirements. The document that was tabled was prepared by the Legal Unit under the directives and Terms of Reference provided by the University Administration.
UNIVERSITY OF DAR ES SALAAM ACADEMIC STAFF ASSEMBLY

UDASA’S PUBLIC STATEMENT ON THE PROPOSED UNIVERSITY CHARTER AND THE RECENTLY ANNOUNCED TOP POSTS OF UNIVERSITY LEADERSHIP

Members of the University of Dar es Salaam Academic Staff Assembly (UDASA) (drawing representatives from UCLAS and MUCHS), held an Extraordinary General Assembly (EGA) meeting on 10th September 2006 to deliberate on the Charter of the University of Dar Salaam that was tabled to the University Council on 17th March 2006 for approval and eventual submission to the Government for endorsement and passing, as per Universities Act of 2005 requirements. The document that was tabled was prepared by the Legal Unit under the directives and Terms of Reference provided by the University Administration. It would be the main constitutional document of the University, setting out the Vision, Mission, the Intellectual tasks and the Social Responsibility of the University. The Charter would establish the basic structures of administration and academic oversight. The UDASA representative sitting in the Council as an invitee objected to the tabling of the Charter, as its preparation process had not been democratic, since it did not involve fully the members of the University community. The Council decided that UDASA, the workers organization RAAWU and the students’ organization DARUSO should consult their members and submit their views by 25th March 2005, short of which the drafted Charter would be considered acceptable and would be approved by the Council. A special meeting of the Council to handle this matter was scheduled for 5th April 2005.

UDASA, RAAWU and DARUSO submitted their views on time. In view of this, the Council meeting was deferred to 20th April 2006 to give the Legal Unit time to incorporate their views. It was in this context that UDASA decided to hold a meeting on the above mentioned date. For UDASA, it had become apparent that the University Administration had already made decisions on what the University should be and how it should be structured. Therefore, the input that they were required to make would be considered subject to the Terms of Reference the Legal Unit had been provided with. The University had already hired a foreign multinational company to advertise, select, interview and propose the suitable candidates to the Council for recommendation to the Chancellor on who should hold the posts of Vice Chancellor and three Deputy Vice Chancellors. The positions of three Deputy Vice Chancellors are being created for the first time in this University and going by the advertisements, it makes the administration rather than the academic (students and academic staff) the University: it makes the University heavily administrative, bureaucratic and top-down in its decision-making process. It is reinforcing fourfold the dominance of the administration, an aspect which has been rejected over the years since 1970 when the University of Dar es Salaam was established.

Members were of the view that the undemocratic procedures that had been used to draft the Charter, together with the problems in the Charter itself emanated from the fact that the Universities Act of 2005 which was made to apply to all universities — public and private - had some fundamental flaws. These were pointed out by the members of the various universities, including UDASA in April 2005 to the Parliamentary Social Affairs committee. Unfortunately, the Bill became an Act without incorporating the views of the academic community that aimed at defending the role of the public universities in the advancement and transmission of knowledge and service to the people of Tanzania and Africa in a context where academic freedom and social responsibilities of academics prevail. Clearly, therefore it was the expectation of the University community as a whole (the Faculty, Students and Workers) that the making of the Constitution would involve them fully; that there would be a broad discussion and debate taking stock of the last forty years of the University’s existence; drawing lessons from history and charting out the new future of this important institution in the life of our people. But this was not to be.

Members reminded themselves of the fact that the University of Dar es Salaam is a public institution which is accountable to the people of Tanzania, and therefore, whatever transformations that may be introduced must take into account their interests. They recalled the fact that the University College of Dar es Salaam, out of which the University of Dar es Salaam was established, came into being a few months before independence. Together with the National Flag and National Anthem, the University represented the third symbol of the country’s independence: the right of the people of Tanzania to think for themselves. Since then the University has been an important centre of generating and transmitting knowledge; a site of the struggle of different ideas and the mirror reflecting the hopes, fears and aspirations of the people of Tanzania and Africa. The University Act of 1970 stipulated the objectives of the University which, among other things, emphasised the role of the University to preserve, enhance and transmit knowledge for the benefit of the people of Tanzania, to create a sense of responsibility in the young people towards their country and people and to promote learning and the pursuit of truth. For the next two decades the University became a centre of not only learning but of great debates on the country’s development and the future of the African Continent. Leaders and scholars from all over Africa, and indeed the world, including liberation movements, came to the Hill to share ideas and participate in debates. The University of Dar es Salaam became one of the most renowned universities on the African continent.

The 1970 University Act had introduced appointative rather than democratic principles. This Act was constraining in that it limited the transmission of knowledge and research within the confines of the principles of socialism “acceptable to the people of Tanzania”. It thus removed all notions of academic freedom and respect for scholarship which such an institution required. Thus, the objectives of the University already determined the subjects to be taught, the content of the courses, the methods of teaching, the manner in which the University should be organized, and the relations with the society and the state. The Act marked the beginning of state and bureaucratic hegemony over the University. Power at the University was decidedly shifting from the faculty to the administrators. Suddenly, the administration had become the University and the Chief Administrative Officer was reigning supreme. There had been hardly any debates when the Bill for the Act was being prepared, and the University Community was only marginally involved, through a Visitation Committee. Within the University members of staff and students struggled to democratize the structures of administration and develop most advanced forms of imparting knowledge. The struggles were not easy and many a student and staff had to make sacrifices. The democratic struggles on the Hill eventually produced the Dar es Salaam Declaration on Academic Freedom and Social Responsibility which became the model for the Africa-wide Kampala Declaration on Academic Freedom and Intellectual Responsibility in 1990 and 1991 respectively.

Members noted that for this new charter, even the nominal equivalent of a Visitation Committee has been lacking. They further noted that for the last 15 or so years as the country and the continent slid rapidly into neo-liberalism, the very existence of universities in Africa came to be questioned by International Financial Institutions and donors. Increasingly, spearheaded by the Administration, the University began to adopt neo-liberal agendas through the corporatisation of its structures and commodification/commercialization of its courses. Members of UDASA have over the years advanced alternative views against these disastrous transformations that have ended in lowering the standards of education and suffocating the process of knowledge advancement, production and transmission, but to no avail, given the undemocratic nature of the university and bureaucratic hegemony in all processes.

After long deliberation, members of UDASA together with the representatives of RAAWU unanimously decided that they cannot be part of this very undemocratic, authoritarian, and top-down process of adopting the Charter of the University. They reminded themselves of the fact that the intellectual community owes it to the people of Tanzania to take a principled stand and its principled stand cannot be any other except on the side of the University. This is its social responsibility and intellectual vision. They expressed their indignation at the fact that after 45 years of the existence of the institution and independence of the country, the University Administration has gone as far as hiring a non-academic multinational business organization to assist in the appointment of the top administrators of a public institution; and that the same Administration had produced a Charter that reads more like a Memorandum of a commercial company than a Constitution of a University. Therefore they decided the following:

1. The proper procedure would be for the University Community itself and members of the public who have a stake in the advancement of education to discuss the principles and policy that should inform the Charter. This would include taking stock of the history of the institution and thus integrating in the Charter the intellectual and democratic achievements of the Community and the country in general. It would include renewing the pledge of the University Community to serve the People of Tanzania in their Vision of building a free, independent, democratic and socially just society.

2. Once the basic Principles are crystallized they would constitute the legal brief to the drafters to draft the charter. UDASA believes that with the oldest Faculty of Law in East Africa, UDASA members in that Faculty are perfectly qualified and committed to do this job without having to hire any team of technicians, by whatever name they are called.

3. Therefore UDASA does not recognise the ongoing process of appointment of the top officials of the University and the Charter in its current form. It appeals to the University Council to defer the processes that have been set in motion until when a Charter that is acceptable and reflective of the academic interests and the aspirations and wishes of the people of Tanzania is in place. UDASA will set into motion its own process in co-operation with other sectors of the University Community and the public on the lines advocated in 1 and 2 above.

4. UDASA has an obligation to inform the People of Tanzania as to what is happening at their historically first University and therefore decided to issue this Statement. It further promises to continue to inform the People of Tanzania on the progress of this process and welcomes comments and participation from the members of the public.


Issued by


[signed]
Prof. Chachage Seithy L. Chachage
UDASA Chairperson
12th April 2006

Zimbabwe: Fees hike likely to force more children out of school

2006-04-12

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=52742

Parents and educationists in Zimbabwe have warned that a rise of more than 1,000 percent in school fees will force larger numbers of children to drop out and preclude others from all education. Inflation has hit a new high of 913 percent, bringing a 12-fold rise in the cost of essentials. All schools, including those run by the government, said they would have to enforce the increases, effective from May.

Global: African student gunned down in Russia

2006-04-13

http://www.sptimesrussia.com/index.php?action_id=2&story_id=17308

An African student was fatally shot last Friday with a weapon bearing a swastika symbol, raising the hate crime murder toll in St. Petersburg to six in seven months. The fifth year student of the St. Petersburg State University of Telecommunications, Lamzer Samba, 28, from Senegal died instantly of two bullet wounds when he was shot from behind by an unidentified man in the early morning on his way home from the Apollo nightclub where he and his friends had been celebrating the university’s anniversary.

Africa: Experts tackle the effects of desertification

2006-04-12

http://www.swissinfo.org/eng/science_and_technology/detail/Experts_tackle_the_effects_of_desertification.html?siteSect=511&sid=6618768&cKey=1144741951000

The United Nations says almost a quarter of the earth's surface and over a billion people are affected by desertification. In Africa alone 325 million people are said to be living "precariously" in arid zones. Jean Ziegler, UN special rapporteur on the right to food, says not enough is being done to protect the estimated 250 million victims of ecological destruction worldwide and the millions of environmental refugees being forced off the land and into slums. "These refugees have no protection under international law," he said.

Africa: Wetland restoration could reduce bird flu threat

2006-04-13

http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/apr2006/2006-04-11-02.asp

The loss of wetlands around the world is forcing wild birds that may have avian influenza onto alternative sites like farm ponds and paddy fields, where they come into contact with chickens, ducks, and geese, finds a new report commissioned by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Restoring the tens of thousands of lost and degraded wetlands could help reduce the threat of an avian flu pandemic by providing wild birds with their preferred habitat, according to the report authored by Dr. David Rapport of Canada.

Global: 'Carbon tax' to compensate for G8 presidency aviation

2006-04-13

http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article357422.ece

A carbon "tax" will raise £100,000 across government departments in the UK to compensate for the 10,000 tons of carbon dioxide caused by extra air travel associated with Britain's presidency of the G8 and the summit at Gleneagles last year, The UK-based The Independent newspaper reports. The money will go towards environment projects in the developing world over the next three years to offset the harmful effects of the air travel by G8 leaders, but that is seen as a small sum to pay for global warming.

Global: IFC safeguard review fails to protect rights

2006-04-11

http://tinyurl.com/mkm8k

On 6 March the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank, made public its new policy and performance standards on social and environmental sustainability, and disclosure policy. Despite a number of changes made in the last round of revisions in response to comments from a variety of stakeholders, the new system is based on discretion and flexibility, rather than increased transparency, accountability and oversight. Comprehensive analysis on each performance standard submitted to the IFC by civil society was often ignored or only partially incorporated.

Nigeria: Shell given one year to stop gas flaring

2006-04-13

http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/apr2006/2006-04-11-01.asp

The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited must stop flaring gas in the Iwherekan community in Delta State by April 2007, the Nigerian High Court has ruled. The court has ordered Shell’s managing director in Nigeria and the Nigerian Minister for Petroleum Resources to appear in person before the judge in open court on May 31 in Benin City with detailed plans for putting gas flares out by April 2007.

Kenya: NGOs warned over titanium mining deal

2006-04-11

http://allafrica.com/stories/200604100775.html

The Kwale district commissioner has warned non-governmental organisations in the area against misleading local farmers about the Sh9 billion titanium mining. Farmers are set to be compensated for their land in June and the project had almost reached implementation stage, but some NGOs were giving the farmers confusing information, according to the district commissioner. Local NGOs have warned that they would not rest until justice for the local community was done in the titanium mining deal.

Morocco: Reporters Without Borders visits Morocco, evaluates situation

2006-04-11

http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=16986

At a press conference in Casablanca on 6 April at the end of a visit to Morocco, Reporters Without Borders said it had noted “positive changes” but called on the authorities to remove the obstacles still constraining press freedom. Represented by its secretary-general, Robert Ménard, and the head of its Middle East and Northern Africa desk, Lynn Tehini, the organisation welcomed the fact that for the first time in 20 years it had been able to meet a member of the government, communication minister and government spokesman Nabil Benabdellah.

Tunisia: Journalist launches hunger strike in protest over constant harassment

2006-04-11

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/media/33351

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has expressed its grave concern regarding Tunisian journalist Slim Boukhdhir's announcement that he was commencing a hunger strike. Boukhdhir, formerly a journalist with the publications "Akhbar El Joumhouria" and "Essarih", has over several months been restricted to making ends meet by freelance writing and obtaining random contracts with various press organisations. He was previously a correspondent with Alarabya.net and has currently been working at the daily "Al Shouroukh", after a brief stint with the weekly "Al Hadeth" that was cut short.
IFEX - News from the international freedom of expression community
_________________________________________________________________

ALERT - TUNISIA

6 April 2006

Journalist launches hunger strike in protest over constant harassment

SOURCE: International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), Brussels

(IFJ/IFEX) - The following is an abridged version of a 5 April 2006 IFJ
media release:

IFJ expresses grave concern as journalist faces constant harassment

Brussels, 5 April 2006

The IFJ has expressed its grave concern regarding Tunisian journalist Slim
Boukhdhir's announcement that he was commencing a hunger strike.

Boukhdhir, formerly a journalist with the publications "Akhbar El
Joumhouria" and "Essarih", has over several months been restricted to making
ends meet by freelance writing and obtaining random contracts with various
press organisations. He was previously a correspondent with Alarabya.net and
has currently been working at the daily "Al Shouroukh", after a brief stint
with the weekly "Al Hadeth" that was cut short.

"I have been progressively sidelined by my daily newspaper; none of my
articles have been published since November 2005; my salary has been frozen
since February 2006 but they have refused to inform me officially of my
dismissal," indicated Boukhdir. "My passport was confiscated and they have
refused to grant me a press pass."

Mr. Boukhdir has asked that his rights to freedom of expression and
association, and to work, be respected.

IFJ is appealing to the Tunisian authorities to satisfy these fundamental
claims and to permit Boukhdir to return to his profession. IFJ is asking the
authorities to cease the continual harassment of journalists and to respect
international conventions, particularly those relating to freedom of the
press.

The IFJ represents more than 500,000 journalists in more than 110 countries.

For further information, contact the IFJ, International Press Center,
Residence Palace 155, Rue de la Loi - Bloc C, B-1040 Brussels, Belgium, tel:
+322 235 2200 or +322 235 2206/7, fax: +322 235 2219, e-mail:
robert.shaw@ifj.org, Internet: http://www.ifj.org/

The information contained in this alert is the sole responsibility of IFJ.
In citing this material for broadcast or publication, please credit IFJ.
_________________________________________________________________
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EXCHANGE (IFEX) CLEARING HOUSE
555 Richmond St. West, # 1101, PO Box 407
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tel: +1 416 515 9622 fax: +1 416 515 7879
alerts e-mail: alerts@ifex.org general e-mail: ifex@ifex.org
Internet site: http://www.ifex.org/
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Uganda: Panic at New Vision newspapers over dossier on staff political inclinations

2006-04-12

http://allafrica.com/stories/200604110767.html

A section of employees in the New Vision establishment are troubled by reports that a colleague has compiled and submitted a dossier detailing the political inclination of each member of staff. Sources within the government-owned New Vision printing and publishing company claimed that the "clandestine work" by an editor and columnist with the Bukedde newspaper, had been erroneously leaked into the "wrong" hands, which culminated in some editorial staff getting access to what was supposed to be a confidential document.

Zimbabwe: Student journalist held

2006-04-11

http://www.journalism.co.za/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=3885&CAMSSID=6d7b7842bddf547f2e9a0f70ea06cee6

A second year media student with the National University of Science and Technology (NUST) in Bulawayo, was arrested while taking photographs during demonstrations by students at the university campus, according to a release from Misa. The student, Fungai Machirori, had been assigned to take photographs of the demonstration as part of the Department of Journalism and Media Studies' training programme when the police pounced on her for "taking photographs without their consent."

Global: IOM African Consultation Day, London – 11 May 2006

2006-04-12

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/diaspora/33380

IOM UK is holding a one-day event to engage the African Diaspora in the UK in further developing the reintegration assistance given under the Voluntary Assisted Return and Reintegration Programme (VARRP). VARRP is funded by the UK Home Office and the European Refugee Fund. With participants from leading African Diaspora community organisations and NGOs in the UK, and from IOM Missions in Nigeria, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Angola, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, Sudan and DRC, this will be an action oriented, workshop-based event. Participation is free and pre-register is essential. For further details, log onto: http://www.iomlondon.org/africa/

Chad: Chad army says back in control of central town

2006-04-12

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L12346286.htm

Chad's government said on Wednesday its army had regained control of a major town which rebels said they had attacked and occupied the previous day. But the exact military situation at Mongo - 400 km (250 miles) east of the capital N'Djamena - and nearby Bitkine remained confused, with one rebel leader saying his fighters still "controlled the zones" around the towns. He said their objective was to push on to the capital.

Ivory Coast: Peace talks nudge rivals closer to disarmament

2006-04-12

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/94b9097c2c5aa953831fd4735ed69f8d.htm

After high-level peace talks Ivorian and regional officials have called for a single programme to tackle disarmament and national identification – up to now major stumbling blocks to peace – but fell short of hammering out a schedule for the process. Previous talks aimed at facilitating presidential elections in October have faltered over rebel demands that a process of identification must be completed before they would give up a single weapon.

Kenya: Security a burning issue for herders

2006-04-12

http://allafrica.com/stories/200604110392.html

The onset of rains, especially after a prolonged drought, is not always a blessing in Kenya's semi-arid north. Here, the rains come with increased incidents of cattle rustling as many communities seek to restock after losing animals to drought. Cattle rustling creates tensions amongst these pastoralist communities. In neighbouring Samburu, pastoralists say once the grass starts sprouting and the land becomes green once again, they are likely to witness increased and sustained raids by neighbouring communities who want to restock thousands of livestock they lost during drought.

Nigeria: The young rebels

2006-04-12

http://mondediplo.com/2006/04/06nigeria

Corruption and inequality have fed insurrection among impoverished youth in Nigeria, Africa’s top oil producer. The tension is rising in the period before next year’s presidential election; at the same time, the oil from new wells is beginning to flow, reports this Le Monde Diplomatique article.

Senegal: Not enough aid reaching communities stranded by fighting

2006-04-12

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=52740

Fighting and the planting of lethal landmines in the northwest of Guinea Bissau has isolated some 20,000 people who are struggling to survive on dwindling food reserves and occasional deliveries of food and medicines by canoe. Residents say at least three people have died from treatable illnesses as the sole road that links the farming and fishing communities of Suzana, Varela and the surrounding villages with the nearest hospital about 40 kilometres east in Sao Domingos remains closed and mined after fighting between Senegal rebels and Guinea Bissau troops.

Somalia: Interview with a woman displaced by latest Mogadishu fighting

2006-04-12

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=52729&SelectRegion=Horn_of_Africa&SelectCountry=SOMALIA

Zara Ali Muki lost her leg in 2004, when freelance militia fired on a vehicle she was riding in in Mogadishu, Somalia. Her life was in danger once again at the end of March, when she was forced to flee the latest factional fighting in the capital city. The clashes between the Islamic court militia and militia loyal to an alliance of Mogadishu-based warlords killed more than 100 people and displaced hundreds of families from the capital. IRIN news interviewed Zara.

Uganda: Inspiration behind the terror gang

2006-04-12

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,1744945,00.html

It was one of the deadliest encounters United Nations troops had ever engaged in. Guatemalan Special Forces, operating under UN command in north-eastern Congo, made contact with 300 Lord's Resistance Army fighters who had crossed from Uganda into the Garamba National Park. After a fierce gun battle, eight Guatemalans were dead. The terrorists beheaded the commander and escaped. How could one of the world's most experienced special forces be outfought by what is usually described as a cult of half-crazed cannibals whose tactics are murder, rape and pillage? How could their leader, a dreadlocked psychopath called Joseph Kony with no military training, lead such a successful army?.

Uganda: Survey reveals grinding poverty in war-affected north

2006-04-11

http://tinyurl.com/qgzck

Seventy percent of the population in war-affected northern Uganda live in absolute poverty, with each adult's consumption expenditure at about 20,000 Uganda shillings (US $11) per month, according to a survey released this week. A government study of the living conditions and social welfare of people living in northern Uganda, many of whom have been displaced by civil conflict, revealed a dire humanitarian situation in the region. Dwellings were substandard, and most of the population lived on less than $1 a day.

Ghana: New bookmarking tool

2006-04-11

http://joitskehulsebosch.blogspot.com/2006/04/technology-ghanaian-bookmarking-site.html

During the Tech forum in Kumasi, Ghana, people showcased some of their work. Henry Addo showcased his Webmark site, a free (open source) online bookmark manager. Henry uses mostly cybercafes to access the web, and used to list his bookmarks on one of the computers in the cybercafe. When he found someone using the computer with his bookmarks, he used to get annoyed. Out of this need, he decided to develop an online bookmark manager.

Global: Bloggers and the mainstream

2006-04-11

http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,70631-0.html?tw=rss.index

A syndication service that delivers commentary from 600 bloggers for use by newspaper publishers is set to launch on Tuesday, further blurring the lines that divide blogs and mainstream media. BlogBurst, as the service from blog technology company Pluck Corp. is known, includes headlines and articles for use by newspaper publishers in the news or feature sections of their online services, as well as print editions.

Kenya: Suscribers pay dearly for mobile telephony

2006-04-12

http://allafrica.com/stories/200604110398.html

In Kenya calls to a competing network are so expensive that most people simply do not call across mobile phone networks. A chief executive of one of the mobile phone companies candidly admits that the high tariffs are a marketing strategy to keep subscribers. "It's a marketing decision. We want more people on our network. It started out as a cost issue but this is no longer the case." His counterpart at a competing network is even more blunt. "It's a tool to trap the customer inside the network, this is the rationale behind it."

Nigeria: Government to use 'made in Nigeria' software

2006-04-11

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

The Federal Government has approved a directive that only 'Made in Nigeria' software should run on the IT systems of the nation's public offices and institutions. The approval follows an intense lobby by the Nigeria Software Development Initiative (NSDI), an industry lobby group led by CEO of Zenith Bank Plc, Jim Ovia.

Uganda: Regulator seeks control of Uganda's domain name

2006-04-12

http://allafrica.com/stories/200604110832.html

If you want to register a domain name with a Ugandan country code, .ug, the man to speak to is Charles Musisi, an Internet entrepreneur who has managed the country's domain names over the past decade. However, Mr Musisi is now engaged in a dispute with the industry regulator, Uganda Communications Commission, over the right to manage the domain registry. UCC officials want to take over the administration of the registry in order to make domain names cheaper and to increase Internet use in Uganda.

East Africa: e-comesa newsletter available

2006-04-12

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/enewsl/33379

The latest e-comesa newsletter highlights:
- Burundi Pledges To Be More Active in Regional Integration Agenda
- Rationalise Economic Blocs – African Union
- Burundi One of the Biggest Beneficiaries of ATI
- Preps for 11th COMESA Heads of State Summit Underway in Djibouti
Visit www.comesa.int for more information.

Africa: Civil society building

2006-04-12

http://www.civilsocietybuilding.net

CivilSocietyBuilding.net is a network for exchange of knowledge, with mostly unique content provided by network members. Share your stories and experiences, or browse about for case studies, lessons, research or relevant events.

Global: Call for papers on children and society

2006-04-11

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/fundraising/33348

The editors of Children & Society are planning a Special Issue in Spring 2007 on the theme of displacement and asylum. The guest editors for this Special Issue will include Jason Hart and Jo Boyden. The aim is to produce a collection of essays that between them cover a wide age range; embrace experience in the global South as well as the UK and Europe; address both policy and practice; and offer critical reflection of a more theoretical nature.
Call for Papers

Children & Society Special Issue*

The editors of Children & Society are planning a Special Issue in Spring 2007 on the theme of displacement and asylum. The guest editors for this Special Issue will include Jason Hart and Jo Boyden. We encourage the submission of proposals from various disciplinary perspectives that include, but are not limited to, Anthropology, Sociology, Human Geography, Social Policy and Social Work, Educational Studies, Social Psychology, and Development Studies. Our aim is to produce a collection of essays that between them cover a wide age range; embrace experience in the global South as well as the UK and Europe; address both policy and practice; and offer critical reflection of a more theoretical nature.


Deadline for submission of proposals (max 500 words): 31^st May 2006

Deadline for final papers (max 6000 words): December 15th 2006


All enquiries and proposals to Jason Hart (jason.hart@qeh.ox.ac.uk and Jo Boyden (jo.boyden@qeh.ox.ac.uk

Global: The 5th Media Law Advocates Training Programme

2006-04-13

http://pcmlp.socleg.ox.ac.uk/html/MLAP2006.htm

This intensive 3 week training programme in human rights and media law with a focus on litigation and advocacy skills is run by PCMLP in collaboration with the Open Society Justice Initiative and other organisations. The course is designed for lawyers from any country who are interested in deepening their understanding of the various regional and international human rights systems, focusing on the protection and promotion of the exercise of the rights to freedom of expression and information. 

South Africa: Funding now available for CCS visiting scholar positions

2006-04-10

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/fundraising/33330

The Centre for Civil Society (University of KwaZulu-Natal) has committed funds to help defray the travel, living, and research costs of Visiting Scholars who would otherwise be unable to take up a visiting position due to funding constraints. Stipends at a maximum of R20 000 per applicant are available, though most will be significantly smaller. We now welcome applications for these funded positions.
FUNDING NOW AVAILABLE FOR CCS VISITING SCHOLAR POSITIONS

The Centre for Civil Society (University of KwaZulu-Natal) has committed
funds to help defray the travel, living, and research costs of Visiting
Scholars who would otherwise be unable to take up a visiting position due to
funding constraints. Stipends at a maximum of R20 000 per applicant are
available, though most will be significantly smaller. We now welcome
applications for these funded positions.

Visiting Scholars may work with CCS for several months or up to a year. CCS
provides Visiting Scholars with a temporary university access card, access
to the UKZN library and the CCS resource centre, access to a computer and
shared workspace, and a warm invitation to participate in all CCS events.

Since our resources, energies, time and space at CCS are limited, we ask
that all Visiting Scholars give back to the Centre and South African civil
society in the following ways:

- Provide research proposal and CV before they come.
- Deliver a paper at a CCS seminar (if seminar slots are available; other
alternatives include circulating research to CCS staff via email, etc.). The
paper may be made into a CCS Research Report where appropriate.
- Agree to provide a copy of their Masters/PhD thesis and any publications
produced during their time at the Centre.
- Volunteer and 'give back' to civil society (existing links to
organisations in relevant fields will be an advantage).
- Attendance of the CCS seminar series and Harold Wolpe Memorial Lectures.

Please send a CV, research proposal, and budget (if applying for CCS funds)
to Amanda Alexander at alexandera@ukzn.ac.za in order to apply. Applications
are reviewed on a rolling basis. A team of CCS staff will evaluate your
proposal from academic, civil society engagement (ie. how your research and
activities here will give back to the sector), and logistical points of
view. If your proposed research is not a good match with the Centre, we may
be able to suggest other more suitable organisations for pursuing your
research interests.

Scholar activists from the Global South, especially South Africa and Africa,
are strongly encouraged to apply.

For more information on the Visiting Scholar programme, see the 'Centre
Visitors' link on the CCS website (www.ukzn.ac.za/ccs).



Research Fellow
Centre for Civil Society
University of KwaZulu-Natal
Durban, South Africa 4001

T: +27 31 260 1412
F: +27 31 260 2502
www.ukzn.ac.za/ccs

Zimbabwe: Fundraising newsletter

2006-04-11

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/fundraising/33350

Fundraising Trainers Ass. has introduced a fundraising newsletter aimed at sharing fundraising information in Zimbabwe. Contact consultonefundraising@yahoo.co.uk to receive a copy.

Global: Mobilising the African Community to Overcome Poverty and Social Exclusion

2006-04-13

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/courses/33427

This is a one day conference to discuss how African organisations can play a more effective role in enhancing poverty reduction, promoting good governance and development in Africa, and promoting the well being of the African community in the UK and improve the community’s participation in the politics of the UK.
AFRICA RENEWAL
Mobilising the African Community to
Overcome Poverty and Social Exclusion

When: Thursday, 25th May 2006-03-30

Where Chestnuts Community Centre,
St. Ann’s Road, Tottenham, London N17

What:: A one day conference to discuss how African organisations can play a more effective role in enhancing poverty reduction, promoting good governance and development in Africa, and promoting the well being of the African community in the UK and improve the community’s participation in the politics of the UK. This solution-orientated conference will bring together UK-based African Civil Society Organisations and African community based organisations (CBOs) to discuss issues pertinent to the interest of the African community in the UK. Through this we hope to contribute poverty eradication programmes and good governance in Africa. Promoting the well-being of the African community in the UK is our primary concern.

Who: Africans in the UK – both individuals and organisations; Local Authorities, Health Trusts, and African Diaspora groups and organisations.

Speakers: Invited Speakers include: Professor Gus John, Educationist and Social Commentator, Marion Waruguru, FIC, Waltham Forest; Mary Kanu, Executive Director, DSA; Hadija Hamdoun-Said, Director, AWWG; Jim Baker, Executive Director, CFD; Frances Williams, Chief Executive, IfD; Nana Ama Amamoo, Director, AFF; Claudia Macauley, Director, SLFWA; William Lume, Director, CEFIAR; Afua Twum Danso, CCDI Janet Nar, Broadcaster, GlobalFM, Dr. Tito Banjoko, Executive Director, Africa Recruit; Martha Osamor, Haringey, and Councillor Adje, Leader Haringey Council;

Organisers: Centre for Community Development Initiatives, Centre for Inter-African
Relations, Development Support Agency, African Women’s Welfare
Group; Sierra Leone Family Welfare Association & Youth and Parents Support Organisation.

Contact for more information:
Hadija Hamdoun-Said: Tel: 0208 885 5822
Yepoka Yeebo: Tel: 0208 885 5822
Joyce Amankwah: Tel: 020 8885 5822

Or send Email to: afridiasporaconfab@yahoo.co.uk

Zambia: Social protection conference issues call to action

2006-04-12

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/courses/33408

The Government of the Republic of Zambia co-hosted with African Union an intergovernmental conference on social protection from 21 – 23rd March 2006 in Livingstone. The event brought together ministers and senior representatives from 13 African countries, (Ethiopia, Kenya Lesotho, Madagascar Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe) together with Brazil, development partners, UN agencies and NGOs. The call to action issued as a result of this meeting is available through the link provided.
INTERGOVERNMENTAL REGIONAL CONFERENCE

A transformative agenda for the 21st Century: Examining the case for basic social protection in Africa

20TH-23RD MARCH 2006

SOCIAL PROTECTION – A TRANSFORMATIVE AGENDA

THE LIVINGSTONE CALL FOR ACTION

The Government of the Republic of Zambia co-hosted with African Union an intergovernmental conference on social protection from 21 – 23rd March 2006 in Livingstone. The event brought together ministers and senior representatives from 13 African countries, (Ethiopia, Kenya Lesotho, Madagascar Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe) together with Brazil, development partners, UN agencies and NGOs.

The conference discussed measures for protecting the poorest in Africa. The conference noted with concern the continuing high levels of poverty in Africa and the likelihood that the Millennium Development Goals will not be reached in the region unless development strategies incorporate direct action to enhance social development in line with the 2004 Ouagadougou Outcome (Summit of African Union’s Heads of States and Governments on Employment and Poverty Alleviation), and the African Union social policy framework.

In his opening address, His Excellency Mr. Levy Patrick Mwanawasa SC, the President of the Republic of Zambia, noted that social protection is a basic human right. Social protection directly tackles poverty, contributes to economic growth and stimulates local markets. The President also noted that providing social protection in the form of social transfers is affordable in African countries with the resources currently available.

The conference heard a keynote address from the African Union Representative as well as overviews from Tanzania, Lesotho, Zambia, the ILO and DFID. The conference also heard presentations from individual countries’ experience on social protection. The delegates also had the opportunity to visit the pilot Cash Transfer Scheme in Kalomo District.

The conference noted that:

• Social protection is both a rights and an empowerment agenda.
• The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other human rights conventions establish that social security for all and social protection for the vulnerable is a basic human right.
• The guarantee of basic social protection strengthens the social contract between the state and citizens, enhancing social cohesion.
• Considerable evidence exists that social transfers have played a key role in reducing poverty and promoting growth.
• A sustainable basic package of social transfers is affordable within current resources of governments and international development partners.
• Transfers, when complemented with other social services, are a way to directly reduce poverty and inequality.
• Addressing generalised insecurity and inequality through social protection is proven to be an integral part of the growth agenda, particularly when provided alongside services promoting economic activity.
• The provision of cash directly to poor people enhances economic growth. Transfers are used for both investment and consumption.
• The provision of transfers increases human capital by helping people to keep healthy educate their children, and support HIV/AIDS affected families.
• Transfers can stimulate local markets, benefiting the whole communities.


Delegates called for

• Greater cooperation between African and other countries in the sharing and exchange of information, as well as experiences and action on social protection and cash transfers.
• Social transfer programmes, including the social pension and social transfers to vulnerable children, older persons and people with disabilities and households to be a more utilised policy option in African countries.
• National and international commitment to social protection, and to the building of consensus within different Ministries and institutional coordination in order to agree national plans.
• African governments to put together costed national social transfer plans within 2/3 years that are integrated within National Development Plans and within National Budgets, and that development partners can supplement.
• Increased investment in institutional and human resource capacity and accountability systems.
• Reliable long term funding for social protection, both from national budgets and development partners.
• The institutionalization of a bi-annual conference on social protection under the auspices of the African Union.

LIVINGSTONE – ZAMBIA
MARCH 23RD , 2006

Africa: Senior Policy and Advocacy Officer for the Northern and Southern Sudan

2006-04-12

http://www.wvi.org/wvi/employment/employment.htm

World Vision International (WVI), a Christian Humanitarian Relief and Development Organization is seeking a Senior Policy and Advocacy Officer for the Northern and Southern Sudan programs. The position will be based in Northern Sudan.
World Vision International (WVI), a Christian Humanitarian Relief and Development Organization is seeking a Senior Policy and Advocacy Officer for the Northern and Southern Sudan programs. The position will provide leadership and direction to WV Northern Sudan and WV Southern Sudan, and the WV partnership primarily in the area of policy analysis and advocacy related to the conflict and the need for broader peace in Sudan. It will enable World Vision to advocate appropriately and professionally on behalf of children in need of special protection in WV Northern Sudan and WV Southern Sudan- through a focus on supporting analysis on the impact of the conflict on children.

Purpose

Provide leadership and direction to WV Northern Sudan and WV Southern Sudan, and the WV partnership primarily in the area of policy analysis and advocacy related to the conflict and the need for broader peace in Sudan.

To enable World Vision to advocate appropriately and professionally on behalf of children in need of special protection in WV Northern Sudan and WV Southern Sudan- through a focus on supporting analysis on the impact of the conflict on children

The position reports to the Program Directors of South Sudan and North Sudan and is on Grade level 12-13

Major Responsibilities

Research and Policy Analysis

Generate periodic monitoring reports and analysis on the overall political, economic, social and humanitarian situation in the entire Sudan, including regular updates to key Partnership stakeholders.

Periodic monitoring of different aspects of the conflict in Northern Sudan including violation of human rights and in particular childrens’ rights, gender based violence and sexual abuse, humanitarian access and humanitarian aid, the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and the role and response of the Africa Union.

Produce analytical reports, based on information generated during monitoring activities in North and South Sudan, to be used to inform advocacy by different members of the partnership.

Develop positions and lead effective advocacy on Northern and Southern Sudan

Assist national, regional and international advocacy teams in the different partnership offices to develop context specific advocacy messages, including identifying which policy makers to influence key coalitions to work with from a Northern and Southern perspective.

Lead targeted lobbying efforts on ending conflicts and addressing post-conflict issues.

Lobby on broader issues. These include governance, resource sharing, human rights, HIV/AIDS, etc.

Build internal national staff capacity on policy and advocacy.

Coordination and Networking

Be the key WV contact person in the partnership for policy and advocacy issues on Sudan.

Build strategic relationships with other organisations and key government agencies. Liaising with donor and international community at the Khartoum, Nairobi and South Sudan levels; and at the local, national, regional and international levels as appropriate. Facilitate the building of direct relationships between these entities and different partnership offices.

Communicate on a regular basis with relevant stakeholders and internal and external networks.

Liaise with advocacy and program colleagues in Northern and Southern Sudan.

Working closely with North and South Sudan advocacy colleagues.

Work with the media team in developing, packaging and dissemination of relevant advocacy messages on Sudan.

Other

Write periodic progress reports on the advocacy programme and facilitate lesson learning by all stakeholders, particularly within the Sudan Policy Group. Progress reports would be submitted to the Programme Directors as well as the Africa Regional Advocacy Advisor.

Represent WV Northern and Southern Sudan national advocacy meetings and other forums as deemed necessary by the Programme Director or by the EAR Director.

Undertake other relevant tasks as directed by the Programme Directors.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

This is a senior position that requires a person who can constructively engage the WV North and South Sudan senior leadership teams, the Africa Region leadership and the Sudan Policy Group.

The appointee will be a good team player with excellent cross-cultural skills and a strong understanding of the conflict in Sudan and progress being made to end it. A minimum of 3 years experience in practical advocacy work and networking is essential.

In addition, the following knowledge, skills, and abilities may be acquired through a combination of formal schooling, self-education, prior experience, or on-the-job training

A master's degree or equivalent in development studies, international relations, development politics or law is required.

Skill in conflict analysis developed through a combination of formal education and practical experience.

Excellent analytical, interpersonal, negotiation and oral and written communication skills.

Fluency in English is essential. Knowledge of Arabic is and added advantage.

Creativity with strong sense of priorities and organisational skills.

Proven skills as a strategic thinker and creative writer.

Ability to develop and communicate advocacy strategies.

Knowledge of Child Rights is desirable and commitment to child rights is essential.

A commitment to World Vision's Mission Statement, and Core Values.

Ability to travel 30% of the time.

Willingness to be based in Northern Sudan



Applications Close: 21 April 2006

If you are interested please apply on-line through the employment web page on the WVI website http://www.wvi.org/wvi/employment/employment.htm

If you experience technical difficulties with the WVI website report the problem to AfricaRecruit@wvi.org listing 'Technical Difficulties' in the subject line.

If you require further information please contact Emma Osumo Emma_Osumo@wvi.org or Sue Dean sue_dean@wvi.org

Global: Project Manager

Res Publica

2006-04-11

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/jobs/33349

Res Publica (www.therespublica.org) is hiring a short-term, full-time project manager for a research project exploring e-advocacy and technology use by civil society in developing countries.
Res Publica (www.therespublica.org) is hiring a short-term, full-time project manager for a research project exploring e-advocacy and technology use by civil society in developing countries. This is a 6-8 week project. To apply, submit (via email) a resume and cover letter to:

David Mandel-Anthony, david@therespublica.org

Dates: 6-8 week project
Salary: $5,500
Application Deadline: ASAP
Start Date: ASAP

Primary duties include:

• Liaising with four in-country case-study researchers and one expert advisor for the project;
• Conducting primary source interviews with intermediary organizations, scholars, activists, and leading figures in the ICT field;
• Assisting with writing a final copy of the report

Qualifications:

• Relevant experience, background, and general knowledge of the technology and ICT field, especially e-advocacy use by civil society in developing countries, is useful but not essential;
• Research experience;
• Excellent writing and editing skills;
• Experience in managing long-distance research projects;
• Ability to work well under pressure and deadline

South Africa: Freedom of Information Programme Assistant and Struggles for Justice Programme Archival Assistant

South African History Archive

2006-04-11

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/jobs/33347

The South African History Archive (SAHA) is a Non - Governmental Organisation (NGO) dedicated to documenting and supporting the struggle for justice in South Africa. For more information about our programmes please go to www.wits.ac.za/saha The Archive is recruiting for two positions: the Freedom of Information Programme Assistant and Struggles for Justice Programme Archival Assistant.
SOUTH AFRICAN HISTORY ARCHIVE

The South African History Archive (SAHA) is a Non - Governmental Organisation (NGO) dedicated to documenting and supporting the struggle for justice in South Africa. For more information about our programmes please go to www.wits.ac.za/saha

Freedom of Information Programme Assistant
Part time position – 2 days per week

The Freedom of Information Programme (FOIP) utilises the Promotion of Access to Information Act of 2000 to extend the boundaries of freedom of information and amass an archive of released materials for public use. FOIP also creates awareness of, compliance with and use of the access to information law by assisting researchers, individuals and organisations, undertaking research and providing education and training.

The primary responsibilities of the position are to assist the FOIP Coordinator to: draft and submit requests for information on behalf of the public and partner organisations; undertake research and writing associated with the requests including drafting of correspondence, appeals against refusals of access to information, and complaints to relevant authorities; consult with and make submissions to governmental bodies regarding requests and the related law; and, disseminate information through e-mail and website up-dates.

Applicants must demonstrate that they satisfy the following essential criteria: experience in law, journalism, communications, cultural studies, or some related field; research and analysis skills; written and verbal communication skills; demonstrated organisational skills; basic computer skills; and ability to meet deadlines and work efficiently with minimal supervision.

Please contact Kate Allan at 011 717 1941 or on foip.saha@gmail.com for a job description and selection criteria.

Struggles for Justice Programme Archival Assistant
Full time position

The Struggles for Justice Programme (SFJ) is dedicated to preserving and creating access to collections of records that document struggles against Apartheid, as well as struggles still being fought in Southern Africa. Through the search, retrieval and preservation of hidden or forgotten narratives, SFJ carries the original motivations behind the formation of SAHA in 1988.

The primary responsibilities of this position are to assist the SFJ Programme Co-ordinator in managing the arrangement and description of SAHA’s archival records. As part of these duties, the Assistant Archivist will: conduct retrospective work by securing donor agreements for new or legacy collections; create or enhance indexes for recent and legacy collections; maintain and update a database correlating to SAHA’s large poster collection; file and catalogue posters, photographs and multimedia; assist in the digitisation of SAHA’s existing collection of oral histories; and participate in various outreach projects conducted by the Programme.

Applicants must demonstrate that they satisfy the following essential criteria: demonstrated academic competence in South African history, politics, journalism or a related field; experience in the heritage sector, including work in archives, libraries, museums, or NGOs; demonstrated dependability, flexibility and excellent oral and written communication skills; as well as the ability to meet deadlines while maintaining attention to detail and working independently and efficiently with minimal supervision.

Please contact Sam Jacob at 011 717 1941 or on sahav@library.wits.ac.za for a job description and selection criteria.

The deadline for application for the positions is the 28 April 2006.

South Africa: Information Systems Assistant

United Nations Information Centre

2006-04-11

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/jobs/33346

Responsibilities include:
- Participate in the development, programming, testing, debugging, implementation and support of Content Management System (CMS) and other information systems releases, modules and functionalities.
- Independently liaise with users in African UN Information Centre’s (UNIC) to define and specify requirements.
- Prepare technical and user documentation for CMS, as well as training materials and conduct technical presentations.
Information Systems Assistant

Level : G6
Salary : R 145 865 (Net per Annum)
Type of Appointment : 3-months, renewable for 12 months based on contract
Organisational Unit : United Nations Information Centre
Duty Station : Pretoria South Africa

Responsibilities:

• Participate in the development, programming, testing, debugging, implementation and support of Content Management System (CMS) and other information systems releases, modules and functionalities.

• Independently liaise with users in African UN Information Centre’s (UNIC) to define and specify requirements.

• Prepare technical and user documentation for CMS, as well as training materials and conduct technical presentations.

• Maintain functional specification for CMS, other programs and procedures developed and/or modified.

• Migrate UNICs’ websites into CMS.

• Troubleshoot and provide support for CMS including version management, data recovery and deployment to user offices; perform ongoing reviews with users and developers and respond to users requests.

• Serve as a focal point for coordination, monitoring and expedition of computer application system development projects, involving extensive liaison with diverse offices to initiate requests; prepare standard terms of reference; process and follow-up on administrative actions and resolve issues related to project implementation, e.g. organization of and participation in training, procurement of equipment and services, etc.

• Prepare, organize and execute training and introductory courses for the African UNICs’ staff on CMS and other computer applications.

• Keep abreast of developments in the field.

• Perform other duties as assigned.
Competencies

• Professionalism – Knowledge of at least two programming languages, basic systems analysis and design techniques, testing, debugging, and documentation standards, and database design. Good analytical and problem solving skills and ability to handle a range of systems-related issues.
• Client Orientation – Ability to identify and analyse clients’ needs.
• Communication – Good communication (spoken and written) skills, including the ability to explain and present technical information, effectively train/advise users on systems related issues, applications etc., and prepare written documentation in a clear, concise style.
• Teamwork - Good interpersonal skills and ability to establish and maintain effective partnerships and working relations in a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic environment with sensitivity and respect for diversity.
• Planning & Organizing - Ability to plan own work, to work effectively under stress and to prioritize and juggle multiple tasks within tight deadlines.

Qualifications

Education
Completion of high school or equivalent diploma; technical certificate in application software, systems development or other related field and experience in relevant area required. University degree in computer science or a related field is highly desirable.
Experience
A minimum of five years of relevant and progressively responsible technical experience in systems analysis and programming. Experience in PHP, CSS/HTML, Open Source Content Management Systems such as Mambo preferred. Experience in systems administration and maintenance, software development, technical writing across a broad range of hardware and software platforms is an asset.
Language
Fluency in written and spoken English is required. French is an added advantage

Salary Information
The salaries of United Nations staff are not taxed but there are deductions for medical insurance and other requirements.
A Dependency Allowance of R3 396 net per annum per child of the staff member will be added where applicable.
A language allowance will also be offered depending on the range of UN official languages spoken and proficiency thereof.

A cover letter and a comprehensive CV should be forwarded, by e-mail or fax, to:
Mr Dimitri Lermytte, Communication Specialist,
United Nations Information Centre, Pretoria
E-mail: dlermytte@un.org.za, Fax : 012 354 8501
Closing Date : Friday, 28 April 2006
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

South Africa: National Organiser in Right to Work Programme

Alternative Information & Development Centre (AIDC)

2006-04-10

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/jobs/33329

AIDC seeks a committed activist to serve as the national organiser of our Right to Work Campaign which seeks to address the crisis of mass unemployment by amongst other things having the right to work entrenched in South Africa's Bill of Rights.
Alternative Information & Development Centre (AIDC)
National Organiser in Right to Work Programme

AIDC seeks a committed activist to serve as the national organiser of our Right to Work Campaign which seeks to address the crisis of mass unemployment by amongst other things having the right to work entrenched in South Africa’s Bill of Rights.

You will be expected to:
· Build the Right to Work campaign nationally, provincially and locally · Establish Right to Work Campaign structures at a provincial and local level ·Assist structures of the Campaign to implement campaign strategies and programmes of action · Represent the organisation in various networks and coalitions · Develop links with key stakeholders such as the labour movement, faith based organisations, NGOs, youth organisations and popular organisations · Seek endorsements from key individuals and organizations for the Campaign · Organise workshops and seminars with relevant organisations to promote and win support for the Campaign

Requirements:
· Must have extensive organisational experience in popular organisations · Must have excellent analytical skills · A proven ability to work with young people · Be able to speak two or more local languages · Must have a driver’s license and be fully computer literate · Must be prepared to travel extensively

Salary will be commensurate with experience, skills and/or qualifications. To apply send your CV, a covering letter, and the names and contact details of 3 contactable referees to Feroza Phillips at feroza@aidc.org.za Closing Date 28 April 2006. Only short listed candidates will be contacted by 12 May 2006. The AIDC is based in Cape Town.

Tel 021 447 5770 Fax 021 4475884 Web: www.aidc.org.za

South Africa: Project Coordinator

2006-04-10

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/jobs/33328

Participatory modes of governance are increasingly seen as crucial in achieving good governance, citizen empowerment, poverty reduction and human development goals. As one of CIVICUS' key programmatic efforts, the Participatory Governance Programme therefore seeks to enhance the capacity of civil society actors in developing and transitioning countries to participate in, and influence governance processes at the local and national levels.
CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation

Project Coordinator
Participatory Governance Programme

CIVICUS is a global alliance of civil society organisations with
members in over one hundred countries all over the world. CIVICUS
works with its members and a rapidly growing network of partners at
both national and global levels to promote and strengthen civil
society globally.

Participatory modes of governance are increasingly seen as crucial in
achieving good governance, citizen empowerment, poverty reduction and
human development goals. As one of CIVICUS' key programmatic efforts,
the Participatory Governance Programme therefore seeks to enhance the
capacity of civil society actors in developing and transitioning
countries to participate in, and influence governance processes at the
local and national levels.

CIVICUS is recruiting a Project Coordinator to coordinate the
programme activities, involving a large range of partners,
particularly in the Global South. Besides coordinating the programme
network activities, the incumbent will be responsible for managing an
extensive and interactive website, organizing workshops and
conferences and developing educational and other resources on the
topic. The tasks involved under this job are managerial, conceptual as
well as administrative.

Specific Responsibilities

· Coordinate the overall development of the Participatory
Governance Programme,

· Organise workshops and conferences for the programme;

· Be responsible for the production of online as well as print
publications on the programme;

· Collect and analyse the development of participatory
governance practices around the world.



Requirements:

· Proven track record of at least three years in working on
civil society issues or a related field;

· Thorough understanding of civil society/the non profit
sector and its environment at the global and national levels;

· Experience in coordinating international initiatives,
networks or projects;

· Extensive experience in project management, preferably to
include events management;

· Experience in grant proposal writing, reporting and donor liaison;

· Excellent written and oral communication skills in
English; advanced skills in at least one other UN language preferred;

· Strong ability to develop plans and strategies and to
work toward their realization and improvement under demanding
performance schedules; and

· A university degree in an appropriate discipline of the
social sciences; advanced degree preferred.



Preferred start date is 1 June 2006. Women are especially encouraged to apply.



Applicants should send their CV and a covering letter via email to
humanresources@civicus.org Please note that only short-listed
candidates will be contacted.

Closing Date: 28 April 2006

Fahamu