As quoted in January, Zimbabwe's security minister Didymus Mutasa warned that "the net will soon close" on critical journalists who threatened nation’s security. The statement came together with a new offensive against the remaining independent journalists in the country and just after the arrest of employees and directors of Voice of the People (VOP), a radio station that transmitted into Zimbabwe via a shortwave transmitter in Madagascar. The significance of the crackdown lies in the fact that VOP is one of the few alternatives to the state-controlled Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation.

This Friday in Harare, six trustees of Voice of the People (VOP), a privately-owned radio station, are due to appear in court on criminal charges, according to a Human Rights Watch press release (http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2006/02/08/zimbab12632.htm). On January 24, the authorities brought charges of broadcasting without a license against six of the station’s trustees. VOP was one of the few alternatives to the state-controlled Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation, the only broadcaster with a license to operate legally in the country.

“The Zimbabwean government is using criminal charges to muzzle independent reporting and criticism,” said Paul Simo, Africa advocacy director at Human Rights Watch. “This crackdown targets media that criticize government institutions, officials and the ruling party.”

The VOP trustees could face up to two years in jail. The charges came after police raided the Harare home of one of the board members, Arthur Tsunga, and kidnapped two of his household staff. The two were detained without charge for four days in an effort to coerce the executive director of VOP, John Masuku to turn himself into the police. Masuku was charged with broadcasting without a license on December 23.

The board members? David Masunda, Isabella Matambanadzo, Millicent Phiri, Lawrence Chibwe, Nhlahla Ngwenya and Tsunga?are will be represented by Beatrice Mtetwa, a renowned Zimbabwean human rights lawyer.

VOP was not the only target, however. Independent journalist Sydney Saize was arrested for filing a Voice of America report saying that the ruling ZANU-PF party had beaten teachers in the city. Meanwhile, the Media and Information Commission (MIC) threatened in early January to cancel the license of the Financial Gazette, a privately-owned newspaper, and refused to renew the accreditation of fifteen journalists working for the Zimbabwe Independent, another privately-owned newspaper.

Three laws have tightened the screws on Zimbabwe’s media over the last five years. The Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act of 2002 forces media ventures to register with a Media and Information Commission or face prison. It also makes it an offence for journalists to work without accreditation.

The Broadcasting Services Act of 2001 ensures that the government has control of the airwaves by giving the Minister of State for Information and Publicity the power to decide who can broadcast. Lastly, the Public Order and Security Act of 2002 has a number of aspects which potentially limit the right to freedom of expression and covers the publishing of false statements against the state, the organizing of public gatherings and grants extensive powers to the police.

EDITORIAL: Femnet’s Christine Butegwa analyses what hope the ICC will bring for Darfur’s women
COMMENT AND ANALYSIS:
- Can protocols and legislation really be an effective weapon against gender discrimination? Asks Janah Ncube about SADC gender policy
- Thabo Mbeki gets a poor report from Mohau Pheko and Lebohang Pheko for his state of the nation address
- John Christensen writes about how Africa’s resources are looted through capital flight and tax avoidance
- Mona Prince, an Egyptian woman writer, flies to the US and experiences “homeland security” first hand
- Zimbabwe: Voice of the People staff and directors arrested
LETTERS: Readers discuss whether trade in the era of globalization can be just
BLOGGING AFRICA: African blogs present their perspectives on the third term debate
CONFLICTS AND EMERGENCIES: Cartoon crisis protests spread to Africa
HUMAN RIGHTS: ICC to hear first Africa cases
REFUGEES AND FORCED MIGRATION: Forty days later: Remembering the victims of the Cairo refugee massacre
ELECTIONS AND GOVERNANCE: DRC hurtles towards April poll with 300 parties and 40 presidential candidates
WOMEN AND GENDER: Women’s empowerment crucial for representation in leadership
DEVELOPMENT: Corporate influence over WTO talks exposed in new report/ ‘Bamako Appeal’ promotes struggle against market-driven society
CORRUPTION: Groups question World Bank's role in troubled DRC mine
RACISM AND XENOPHOBIA: Malian killed in Russian street attack
HEALTH AND HIV/AIDS: Nigerian bird flu outbreak
EDUCATION: Free primary education in Kenya having negative impact on early childhood development
ENVIRONMENT: GM debate fought on cotton fields of South Africa
MEDIA AND FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION: Newspaper group sorry for offending Muslims
NEWS FROM THE DIASPORA: Haiti votes by candlelight
PLUS…Advocacy and Campaigns; Internet and Technology; Advocacy and Campaigns; Courses, Fundraising, Jobs and Books and Arts…

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Mona Prince, an Egyptian woman writer, traveled to America full of hope and excitement. But what she found forced her to stand up for her rights and “resist the silences”. Before returning home she had a chance to hear the voices “against the war, against the erosion of what is great in the American system, against homeland security as a pretext for silencing ‘other’ voices.

In a climate where the United States is seen as an aggressor enforcing her way and will on the rest of the world, I found myself excited last summer to be heading to America after being chosen as part of the International Writing Program (IWP) in Iowa City. My excitement stemmed from the fact that I refused to believe that the US, with one of the best constitutions in the world, where individual rights are cherished and defended, has lost its soul. Rather I wanted to believe that its current policy is an aberration that came to pass as a result of fears arisen after 9/11, and not a true reflection of what America is all about.

I could not think of a better bridge to mend the widening gap between the image and true face of the Arab "other". As an Egyptian woman writer and academic, I wanted so much to show the true face of the other, transcending the stereotype that has been propagating in the US lately, wanted in my own small way to unveil that thick veil of misunderstanding and misinterpretation.

I was officially invited by the US Embassy in Cairo and funded by the US State Department to participate in the IWP, an invitation I wholeheartedly accepted. I was delighted to be part of a programme that fosters mutual understanding, cross-cultural communication, and tolerance; to share and exchange ideas with, and learn from, the other international writers as well as our American counterparts in an academic institution setting at the University of Iowa where the programme resides.

I arrived in Iowa City and my first two weeks in the program was all I would have hoped for. I felt energised, thinking of many things I want to do -material for my writings that would benefit from my stay in the US within the IWP. One of my major interests and ideas for a writing project was to visit an Indian reservation, get in contact with Native American traditional storytellers and learn about their spiritual practices. What unravelled after those two weeks was so much telling of the extent of the erosion of the American way as a result of the current administration's policy and how deep it has affected even the best of sanctuaries and defendants of individual rights, transforming academics and poets into big brothers driven by homeland security to charter the handling of their programmes.

I informed the programme director of my interest in visiting an Indian reservation and explained to him the reason behind my interest. His initial response was positive. So I took it upon myself to search for potential places I could visit and found one in a neighbouring state. I informed the director where I would be heading - a short visit to Minneapolis to visit an Indian reserve.

The e-mail response that I have received from the director was a total shocker in both language and content. I was threatened with homeland security law, informing me that I could not leave Iowa City and if I did I would be expelled from the programme and the United States. I was made to feel like a prisoner at best, a criminal at worst. At no point before or during my visit was I made aware of any rule in the IWP program restricting the movements of international visitors. Additionally, an immigration officer confirmed that there were no such rules. This incident and what followed thereafter made me think whether this response from the director was an isolated and petty exercise of power or was symptomatic of a bigger picture where homeland security and what it entails is starting to seep into the American system, reaching the gate of institutions that are traditionally viewed as strong voices for the preservation of the individual rights, voices against stereotyping and labelling of the "other". Are the fences of Guantanamo Bay slowly closing on academia, indeed on all of us? I abided by the director's decision and did not go to Minneapolis. Elation and excitement were quickly replaced by feelings of failure and depression. Guantanamo seemed just around the next corner.

After a few e-mail exchanges with the programme director, and a fruitless effort to get advice or help from the US embassy, I decided to break my silence and to speak out against the intimidation and abuse. I wrote several statements against the unprofessional and undiplomatic handling of my situation, while demanding at the same time an official apology, as well as to be provided with the governing laws by which writers should abide while in the programme.

I sent all the official correspondences between the programme director and myself to all parties concerned, as this matter impacted upon all the members of the IWP programme. Not only was I severely criticised for speaking up against this injustice, I was repeatedly intimidated, offended, and threatened by the grave consequences that would be directed at me if I do not put an end to my vocalism, which I took to mean, "Shut up and take the abuse."

The programme director, eventually, decided to terminate my participation in the programme because of the public statements I made, as clearly stated in his official letter. I was removed from all my scheduled public cultural activities and my funding was cut, leaving me with two days to evacuate Iowa City. The termination letter cited a US State Department decision that I have yet to receive.

After my deportation from Iowa City, I joined a group of African Americans who were evacuated from New Orleans after the Katrina hurricane. I felt for them and in some way felt part of them. What those evacuees told me in an interview is a counter- narrative that expressed their concerns about how America was, to their minds, disintegrating from within, which has resonated very well with my own experience in Iowa. A different form of "homeland security" had been imposed on them, and their human and constitutional rights had been violated.

During the current administration they had more than ever been marginalised, made to feel like they belong to a second-class America. They looked at the breach of the levy that flooded the city, their homes, as a symbol of the neglect of the current administration that is preoccupied with the "unjust" war in Iraq. They were forced at gunpoint - fully loaded M16s - to leave their houses while affluent white Americans were extended all necessary assistance and did not have to leave their homes. They told of being searched several times for weapons, as if they were terrorists in their own country. They were shipped in a plane, guarded by armed soldiers, without knowing their destination, to finally land as refugees in Omaha, Nebraska.

Before I flew back to Egypt, I was able to finally arrange a meeting with Native Americans. I met one of the five elders of the Dakota nation who still speaks the Dakota language and performs the spiritual ceremonies of his tribe. Contrary to what I have heard from the IWP administration, I was unreservedly welcomed by the spiritual elder and his family. I was offered a sweat lodge ceremony that is meant to purify the soul, mind and body, which was attended by other non-Native Americans. We were a mixed group of all colours and ethnic backgrounds.

The ceremony began with an ancient Indian saying "we are all relatives." Following the instructions of the spiritual elder, we all prayed in our different languages for the good health and happiness of all people. The ceremony ended again with the same wise man iterating that "we are all relatives." After the ceremony was finished, all of us had a collective dinner at the house of the spiritual interpreter. Before I left the reserve, I asked if I could have an Indian name. They agreed, and a special ceremony was held for me the following day. The name that was given to me from the spiritual world was "Good Eagle Woman."

I flew back home empowered by the immense knowledge and experience I gained in the US. In spite of having the misfortune of leaving the programme earlier than planned, and being subjected to such unjust and unfortunate treatment from the IWP director, I remain enriched by the whole journey, by finding it in myself to stand up for my rights, to refuse to be intimidated into silence. When I was about to leave the US, I witnessed the emergence of voices that started to speak out against the war, against the erosion of what is great in the American system, against homeland security as a pretext for silencing "other" voices. I will always remember the people that came to my defence; the refugees in Nebraska that hosted me when I was deported from Iowa City, and my spiritual enriching encounter. As my journey came to a close, I came out of it flying like an eagle having broken free, resisted being bullied into submission, even under the pretext of "homeland security". I can't think of my journey to the US without thinking about the "Good Eagle Woman" as a symbol for resisting silence.

* This article was first published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM. It is reproduced here with permission of the author. Please send comments to

John Christensen comments on the issue of capital flight and tax avoidance, a massive drain on African’s resources. In the face of a reluctance by international organisations to address the issue, and the weakness of national efforts in the face of global capital, civil society will have a vital role to play in pushing for change.

Last month two global meetings painted two very different portraits of Africa. In the luxury Swiss holiday resort of Davos, shielded by a ring of steel fences and security forces, finance ministers, corporate executives and assorted celebrities gathered at the World Economic Forum. They talked vaguely about the responsibility to bolster aid and reduce the debt of African nations. The Africa portrayed at Davos was an indebted, broken continent whose impoverishment can only be solved by the generosity of donors in the North.

Four thousand kilometers away, civil society groups from Africa and beyond came together in the Malian capital of Bamako for the African leg of the World Social Forum, a vibrant grassroots alternative to the suits and platitudes of Davos. Five days of meetings addressed alternative solutions to poverty and disease across the global South. In these meetings a different Africa emerged: a region not simply in need of external resources, but with immense wealth potential of its own, being drained at an ever increasing rate with the collusion of the world's wealthiest countries and companies.

This was the message of the Tax Justice Network (TJN), an international coalition of researchers and campaigners who spoke at packed meetings in Bamako on capital flight and tax avoidance. The remarkable interest in these ordinarily dry topics shows how tax is emerging as an overlooked but central issue in the fight against poverty. The figures speak for themselves: TJN's own research estimates that a staggering $11.5 trillion has been siphoned 'offshore' by wealthy individuals, held in tax havens where they are shielded from contributing to government revenues. The benefits from taxing this wealth would far outweigh any realistic amount of foreign aid from those countries. If the income from this offshore wealth was taxed at the moderate rate of 30%, the resulting revenue - around $255 billion annually - could finance the United Nations Millennium Project in its entirety. Put simply, making the rich pay their due taxes could immediately fund measures to halve world poverty.

In common with the rest of the developing world, Africa suffers particularly acutely from this wealth drain. Around 30% of sub-Saharan Africa's GDP is moved offshore. As several studies have suggested, this rate of capital flight means that Africa - a continent we are continually told is irrevocably indebted - may actually be a net creditor to the rest of the world. Whilst Africa's wealth flows to Monaco, Switzerland, Jersey and London, those who lose out are the populations of African nations whose dwindling tax revenues cannot support government spending on health, AIDS programmes, education, infrastructure and communication. Meanwhile the banking secrecy maintained by the world's bankers and accountants in tax havens helps business and political elites to plunder resources across the continent, providing a secure cover for them to launder the proceeds of political corruption, fraud, embezzlement and illicit arms trading.

Astonishingly, international organisations including the World Trade Organisation and the International Monetary Fund have not pursued international action to stem the hemorrhaging of Africa's wealth. Instead, they have encouraged developing African nations to drop business and trade taxes further, in a desperate bid to encourage investment from multinational corporations accustomed to channeling their wealth through tax havens. The result is that ordinary people shoulder more of the tax burden through sales taxes, while homegrown national businesses cannot compete with giant international corporations which can avoid tax through the international movement of capital and assets.

National initiatives are beginning to work against this African plunder. Nigeria's heroic Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is working to recover some of the wealth lost to tax havens through corruption and the tax evasion of multinational oil companies. And last November, South Africa's Finance Minister Trevor Manuel, called for wider measures against multinationals' aggressive tax avoidance.

But national initiatives alone are weak in the face of mobile, global capital. International cooperation on tax is urgently necessary - and if international institutions like the UN and the OECD will not take action, global civil society must force them to do so. Bamako saw a bold proposal: to form a continent-wide Tax Justice Network for Africa, to be launched at the 2007 World Social Forum in Nairobi, Kenya. This will be a major step in a new global development struggle, at whose forefront should be African activists and campaigners.

Davos and Bamako are worlds apart. Uniting them, though, is not just philanthropic promises over debt and aid, but a global theft which sees vast African wealth secreted away in bank accounts and offshore trusts in Switzerland and beyond. Stopping that theft, and taxing it for the benefit of African populations, will go a long way towards ending the poverty of Mali and its neighbours.

* John Christensen, is the director of the Tax Justice Network's International Secretariat. He is a development economist and former economic adviser to the UK and Jersey governments.

* Please send comments to [email protected]