Pambazuka News 347: Kenya crisis - CSOs speak out
Pambazuka News 347: Kenya crisis - CSOs speak out
The The National Civil Society Congress calls for a Marshall-‘Anan’ Plan that will ensure that the country is rebuilt and put on a path to growth, development and prosperity amongst other things.
This is a constitutional moment! While some parties want to negotiate the future of Kenya on a flawed foundation of the current constitution, the National Civil Society congress (the Congress) wants a new constitution to be the basis of negotiating the future.
The congress therefore recommends a mediation package in this order:
RECOMMENDED MEDIATION PACKAGE:
1. The enactment of an Interim constitution to fundamentally transform Kenya’s governance; The congress has proceeded to prepare a progressive draft building on all the constitutional drafts that have been produced so far in the country and will be putting it to public discussion and scrutiny shortly.
2. The establishment of a transitional government that oversees the reconstruction of the country and carrying out transitional justice process;
3. The unveiling and implementation of a Marshall-‘Anan’ Plan that will ensure that the country is rebuilt and put on a path to growth, development and prosperity; and
4. A Truth, Justice and Restitution Commission
ON TRANSITIONAL GOVERNMENT:
The National Civil Society Congress examined seven options and finally settled at a ‘transitional constitutional and political arrangement’ as the best option. Having already acknowledged that the opportunity for a constitutional moment for our country has never been more ripe than it is now. The congress intends to galvanize the whole country using our networks on the ground to influence the mediation talks for the only constitutional and political arrangement that will save this country from similar-future catastrophe as we have witnessed since December 29th, 2007.
The other options were:
1) Maintain the Status Quo;
2) Presidential Election petition through the Court system;
3) A re-run;
4) Re- tallying of Presidential votes/Forensic audit;
5) Fresh election;
6) Coalition government;
7) Power sharing;
8) Transitional constitutional and political arrangement.
ON INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY:
Kenya as a member of the global community and has thus submitted herself to international support, scrutiny, evaluation and even criticism.
Regionally she is a member of a number of political formations;
- The East African Community (EAC);
- Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD);
- African Union (AU);
Internationally, she is a member of;
- Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM);
- The United Nations (UN).
As a member of these political groupings, Kenya has signed and ratified various regional and international instruments on democratic governance and human rights.
In addition we in the past have offered ourselves as peace mediators for Somalia, Sudan and Uganda and have volunteered Kenyan troops to various countries as part of UN Peace Keeping Missions.
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Community Based Human Rights Network declare full support to the Annan led committee and the progress that has been made so far.
CONCERNED with the political developments in our country resulting from the disputed presidential elections that have triggered politically and ethnically instigated violence affecting most parts of our country and has resulted in the killings of over 1000 people, displacements of an estimated 300,000 people, a third of whom are children who should be in school, teachers and health workers that should be at their workstations alleviating the physical and emotional effects of the violence, and destruction of property worth billions of shillings and the economic effects that this continues to have which include the price hikes of basic commodities,
NOTING the polarisation, negative ethnicity, repression, governance crisis and more so loss of confidence in state institutions.
UNDERSTANDING as human rights defenders that the on going crisis has resulted to violation of fundamental human rights such as rights to life, human dignity, self determination, right to education, right to food, security, information, property, development, protection, freedom of assembly, expression and association, right to information as well as freedom of the press.
APPRECIATING the significant steps through mediation by the Annan led National Dialogue and Reconciliation committee.
WE representatives of the 21 Community Based Human Rights Networks drawn from all the regions of Kenya, purposely convened at the SavelBerg Retreat Centre to discuss the aforestated crisis, wish to outline our observation and proposed remedial measures that in our view will curb the recurrence of a similar scenario in future, while giving adequate redress to the current situations.
WE note with concern that incidences of politically, instigated violence have been experienced in the past especially to the run up to the general elections of 1992,1997 and now 2007.These incidences were generally viewed as state sponsored violence whose purpose was to dispel the increasing demands for comprehensive and people driven reforms. The current crisis took the form of political contestation. It is our observation however, that the driving force for all these clashes were similar. This includes among others:
1. Historical injustices dating back to colonial times especially with regard to distribution of essential resources such as land.
2. Failure to address the constitutional legal policy and institutional reforms in order to redress the above injustices.
3. Negative ethnicity perpetrated by the political class to achieve selfish ends. Tribal political mushrooming.
It is our believe that a permanent and lasting solution can and must be found. In this regard, we wish to declare our full support to the Annan led committee and the progress that has been made so far in regards to;
Constitutional, legal and policy and institutional reforms targeting.
a) The Electoral Commission, The Executive, The Judiciary, Parliament
b) Redress poverty, insecurity and general inequalities
c) Redress historical injustices dating back to the colonial period through a properly constituted and independent truth and justice commission
d) Find a political solution to the current crisis at local levels (division and District levels)
e) Ensure that the state takes up primary responsibility for the IDPs, with non governmental and faith based organizations only playing a complementary role, in dealing with IDPs adhere to the UN Guidelines on IDPs in the numerous IDP camps within Kenya and those in neighbouring countries
f) Note particularly that the state has a duty to safeguard and respect the interests of the IDPs as per the International Humanitarian laws that oblige the state and its agents to provide protection to all IDPs that have a well founded fear for not returning to their homes. The camps must not be closed down without respecting the humanitarian laws.
g) We demand that the state ensures that law and order is maintained by averting further violence (including that perpetrated by state agents) and destruction of property by distinguishing between genuine grievances and the exploitation of the ongoing crisis to resort to criminal activity for personal gain under the pretext of expressing genuine grievance
h) Ensure that in maintaining law and order, state agents do not resort to witch hunting and victimization of real or perceived political opponents,
i) That Hon. Mwai Kibaki and Hon. Raila Odinga must put Kenya’s interests before their own personal interests.
SIGNED BY:
1. Narok Human Rights Networks
2. Wajir Human Rights Network
3. Pro-Active Youth Group, Kangemi
4. Miss-Koch Initiative, Korogocho Nairobi
5. Isiolo Network Human Rights Network
6. Daniel Muoti-Centre for Human and Civic Education, Mwingi
7. I.D.P’s network-Transzoia KTC
8. Kinango Human Rights Network
9. Taita Taveta Human Rights Network
10. Mombasa Human Rights Network
11. Siaya Human Rights Network
12. Laikipia Human Rights Network
13. Mara River Resource Centre
14. Mukogodo Human Rights Network, Laikipia
15. Citizen Land Network, Kibwezi
16. Nyando Human Rights Forum
17. Human Rights Education and Outreach in Schools.
18. Kakamega Human Rights Network
19. Kwale Human Rights Network
20. Ndula Information and Human Rights Resource Centre
21. Mt. Kenya Human Rights Network.
*Please send comments to or comment online at www.pambazuka.org
The council of the European Union cautions that until a legitimate political settlement is agreed upon, the EU and its Member States will not conduct business as usual with Kenya.
The Council adopted the following conclusions:
1. The Council expresses its deep concern that the violence, uncertainty and instability in Kenya continue.
2. The Council reiterates the urgent need for Kenya’s leaders to engage seriously and flexibly in order to bring an immediate end to the violence and to ensure security, stability and the protection of human rights for all in Kenya. The Council calls on the Kenyan parties to engage constructively in a genuine spirit of compromise in order to find a legitimate political settlement.
3. The Council strongly supports the efforts by the Panel of Eminent African Personalities, led by Mr. Kofi Annan, and stands ready to provide any further assistance it can to this process. The Council reiterates the necessity for the International Community to stand united behind the dialogue process chaired by Mr. Annan. The Council will monitor this process closely. Individuals who obstruct the dialogue process or who encourage violence will have to face the consequences.
4. The Council welcomes the agreement between the Kenyan parties on 1st February to take immediate steps to end the crisis. It is encouraging that the parties plan to address the long term issues as well as the short term ones. The Council welcomes the intention by the Kenyan parties to establish a Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission aimed at bringing about debate and consensus on how Kenya should address the root causes of the crisis.
5. The Council welcomes the response by the United Nations to events in Kenya, both politically and in support of the affected civilian population.
6. The Council welcomes the agreement by all parties to an international investigation into the violence since the elections and calls for further co-operation by the Kenyan authorities with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Special Advisor for the Prevention of Genocide of the Secretary General of the UN.
7. The Council reiterates that until a legitimate political settlement is agreed, the EU and its Member States cannot conduct business as usual with Kenya. The Council will continue to closely monitor the situation in Kenya and support all efforts towards ending the violence and ensuring democracy, stability and respect for human rights. "
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The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) urges the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR) to "to adopt a specific resolution condemning intimidation of human rights defenders, and demand respect for the physical and moral integrity of human rights defenders" amongst other things.
MEMORANDUM TO THE ACHPR ON THE HUMAN RIGHTS SITUATION IN KENYA
The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), its member organisation, the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC), and the Kenyans For Peace, Truth and Justice (KPTJ – a coalition of Kenya's governance, human rights and legal organizations), welcome the decision of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR) to examine the human rights situation in Kenya at the occasion of its 4th extraordinary session which will be held in Banjul, The Gambia, from 15 to 24 February 2008.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
FIDH, KHRC and KPTJ request the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights to:
1. Invite Kenyan, African and International NGOs to present an assessment of the state of human rights in Kenya at the occasion of the 4th extraordinary session.
2. Adopt a resolution at the occasion of the 4th extraordinary session to: a) Condemn the serious violations of the provisions of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights and its Protocol on the Rights of Women;
b) Denounce the electoral irregularities that were committed during the presidential ballot of 27 December 2007 as blatant violation of the African Charter on Elections, Democracy and Governance;
c) Reaffirm support toward the efforts of the Mediation Team towards effective political solution to the crisis, based on peace, truth and justice ;
d) Request the Kenyan authorities and any other duty-bearers to: ? ensure unobstructed investigations on the alleged breach of the Presidential and National Assembly Elections Act and the Constitution of Kenya by the Electoral Commission of Kenya;
? ensure the protection of civilians, including human rights defenders; ? take all necessary measures to ensure the end of impunity of the authors, co-authors and instigators of post electoral inter-ethnic violence;
? ensure that all individuals responsible for directly inciting ethnic violence be investigated and prosecuted;
? ensure that all members of security forces responsible for disproportionate repression of peaceful demonstrators and other individuals be investigated and prosecuted; ? ensure the opening of investigations against militia members responsible for human rights violations;
? ensure unobstructed investigations on the murder of two opposition Members of Parliament; death threats pronounced against the human rights defenders;
? take all the necessary measures to ensure respect for the United Nations (UN) Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement;
? establish transitional justice mechanisms to address the underlying causes of the violence and provide justice addressing immediate and historical wrongs in Kenya;
? more generally, to take all necessary measures to settle the root causes of the crisis in Kenya, notably the issue of land and internally displaced persons, and to guarantee justice, respect for human rights and democratic governance.
3) Request, together with Kenyan and International NGOs, a meeting with the African Union Peace and Security Council, to present the human rights situation in the country so as to mitigate or prevent further or imminent violations
4) Invoke its inherent jurisdiction to draw the attention of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government the to existence of serious or massive violations of human rights in Kenya, and the trigger, namely the flawed presidential election
5) Urge the Member States to adopt the African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa. FIDH, KHRC and KPTJ request the Special Rapporteur of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Human Rights Defenders in Africa:
? To adopt a specific resolution condemning intimidation of human rights defenders, and demand respect for the physical and moral integrity of human rights defenders, in conformity with the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights and the Declaration on the protection of Human Rights Defenders adopted in 1998 by the United Nations General Assembly.
*Signed by: International Federation for Human Rights Kenya Human Rights Commission Kenyans for Peace, Truth and Justice : ? Africa Centre for Open Governance (AfriCOG) ? Awaaz ? Centre for Law and Research International (CLARION) ? Centre for Multiparty Democracy (CMD) ? Centre for Rights, Education and Awareness for Women (CREAW) ? (CRADLE) ? Constitution and Reform Education Consortium (CRECO) ? East African Law Society (EALS) ? Haki Focus ? Hema la Katiba ? Independent Medico-Legal Unit (IMLU) ? Innovative Lawyering ? Institute for Economic Affairs (IEA) ? Institute for Education in Democracy (IED) ? International Commission of Jurists (ICJ-Kenya) ? Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) ? Kenya Leadership Institute (KLI) ? Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) ? Kituo cha Sheria ? Media Institute ? Muslim Human Rights Forum ? National Constitution Executive Council (NCEC) ? Regional Centre for Stability, Security and Peace in Africa ? Sankara Centre ? Society for International Development (SID) ? Urgent Action Fund (UAF)-Africa ? Youth Agenda.
**Please send comments to or comment online at www.pambazuka.org
ICG warns that armed groups are mobilising on both sides, ODM is under pressure from its core constituencies, to demand nothing less than the presidency, and the Kibaki coalition is buying time to wear down both the opposition and the international community’s resolve.
Since the announcement of the contested presidential election results on 30 December 2007 giving a second term to Mwai Kibaki, Kenya has been in its worst political crisis since independence. Over 1,000 people have died and 300,000 have been displaced in violence with a serious ethnic character. As former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan conducts negotiations for a political settlement, calm has partly returned but the situation remains highly volatile. To address the causes of the crisis, it will not be enough for the Annan team to broker a deal on the mechanics of a transitional arrangement between political opponents and schedule negotiations on a reform agenda. A sustainable settlement must address in detail a program of power-sharing, constitutional and legal reform and economic policies that convinces the drivers of violence to disarm. For negotiations to succeed, the international community must enhance its pressure, including aid conditionality and threats and application of targeted sanctions against spoilers.
State authority collapsed in the political strongholds of the opposition Orange Democratic Movement (ODM). Supporters of its leader, Raila Odinga, took to the streets in violent protest against the theft of the presidency and to seek revenge on the Kikuyu and Kisii communities perceived to be loyal to Kibaki. The security forces reacted with great brutality and members of the communities supporting ODM were violently targeted by Kibaki supporters.
Kofi Annan and a distinguished team of other African leaders have been mandated by the African Union (AU) to mediate the crisis. Soon after their arrival on 22 January, they arranged a meeting between Odinga and Kibaki and obtained pledges to negotiate a settlement. The parties have conceded some ground and are discussing a transitional arrangement which could lead to new elections after two years, legal and constitutional reforms, and a truth, justice and reconciliation commission to assist in healing wounds.
Serious obstacles remain, however. Armed groups are still mobilising on both sides. ODM, which won a clear parliamentary plurality in December, has put on hold its calls for mass action and is using the talks to restore prestige it lost internationally in the violence. It is under pressure from its core constituencies, however, to demand nothing less than the presidency, and its supporters could easily renew violent confrontations if Kibaki’s Party of National Unity (PNU) coalition remains inflexible.
The Kibaki coalition is buying time to wear down both the opposition and the international community’s resolve. It benefits from the presidency’s extensive powers, including unlimited access to public resources. It insists the situation is under control and there is no power vacuum, tends to treat Annan’s mission as a side-show while sponsoring alternative reconciliation processes, seeks to have Kibaki’s election recognised by neighbouring countries and continues to resist genuine sharing of executive power.
While the mediation concentrates on a power-sharing agreement and a transitional arrangement leading to new elections, it has postponed equally important talks on the reform agenda and economic policy that an effective transitional government should adopt. A further year is envisaged for these talks. This is a risky approach. The Annan team should engage the two sides immediately on these topics.
Three complementary sets of issues must be addressed to finalise a detailed power-sharing agreement. The first are the legal and constitutional reforms needed during the transition period, including a complete overhaul of the electoral framework. The second are the economic policies to be implemented during the transition. The third are the concrete details of the process to be followed to end the violence and to deal with the humanitarian crisis, including the institutional framework and timelines. The ODM and PNU do not control the local violence. There is a chance to restore state authority and prevent renewed major fighting only if local leaders understand that their grievances are being addressed and concrete measures are being rapidly implemented. Civil society and economic stakeholders should also be associated with the negotiations on institutional reforms and economic policy.
International pressure is critical to achieving these objectives. The conditioning of multilateral and bilateral financial help for a negotiated settlement should be reinforced by a general travel ban and asset freeze policy against those who support and organise the violence or otherwise block the political process. Some hardliners in Kibaki’s camp depend on international credit-worthiness to keep their enterprises prosperous. The prospect of making individuals pariahs can be used to encourage concessions in the negotiations and good faith in implementation of an agreement.
The stakes go beyond Kenya, whose political and economic health is an essential ingredient for the security and prosperity of Eastern and Central Africa and indeed for how the entire continent’s future is assessed by investors. Kenya’s stability determines regional access to energy supplies and basic commodities and guarantees a relatively safe environment for hundreds of thousands of Somali and Sudanese refugees. But concentrating on a power-sharing arrangement between ODM and PNU will not be enough to restore the situation.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
To the Annan mediation team of eminent African personalities:
1. Propose to open three additional areas to be addressed immediately and urgently as detailed negotiations on the structure and composition of a power-sharing arrangement continue:
a) constitutional and legal reforms, including a complete overhaul of the electoral framework;
b) economic policies, including immediate land acquisition and redistribution and major job-creation programs; and
c) the framework and process for implementing commitments for ending the violence and resolving the humanitarian crisis, including institutions, timetables and international guarantees.
2. Involve additional stakeholders from civil society in the talks on legal and constitutional reforms and from the business community on economic policies.
To the Kenya Government and PNU coalition:
3. Engage constructively in the power-sharing negotiations and take the opportunity of discussions on constitutional reforms and economic policies to negotiate guarantees for the continuation of reforms started by the Kibaki administration.
4. Restore security in the IDP camps and suspend all resettlement and relocation policies until a framework has been agreed by the parties.
5. Ensure equal access and distribution of humanitarian and reconstruction resources to all victims of the violence.
6. Arrest and prosecute the leaders of the Mungiki sect, as well as politicians supporting its activities, so as to redress concerns about possible state support for its resurgence.
7. Suspend immediately all police officers in charge of the areas where extra-judicial killings have occurred, including Nairobi, Kisumu, Kakamega, Nakuru, Naivasha, Sotik, and Kericho. ;
To the ODM leadership:
8. Engage constructively in the negotiations and support the immediate opening of detailed talks on constitutional reforms and the economic policies to be carried out during the transition, with a view to reassuring PNU hardliners over its economic policies as well as addressing the grievances of its own hardline constituencies;
9. Condemn publicly and threaten with sanctions any ODM leader inciting ethnic hatred, and express sympathy for the Kikuyu victims of the violence;
To the U.S., the EU and its member states, Canada, South Africa and other international partners:
10. Condition aid on the satisfactory conclusion of all the above-mentioned elements of the negotiation.
11. Implement and expand the travel bans already announced by the U.S., Canada, the UK and Switzerland by freezing the financial assets of individuals directly involved in or supporting violence or otherwise blocking the negotiation process and publicly blacklist their companies on financial markets.
To the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC):
12. Open a preliminary investigation into alleged atrocity crimes committed in Kenya and take into account the findings and recommendations of the fact-finding mission of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) once issued.
Nairobi/Brussels, 21 February 2007
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Following a management dispute, SMILE FM, a community radio station based in Zwedru, a north eastern-town, about 643 kilometres from Monrovia, the police on February 20, 2008 closed down the station.
The Citizen's Guide to Gender Accountability is written in context of recent endeavours by International Financial Institutions (IFIs) to assess compliance and enforce institutional accountability to their own policies and procedures on gender equality as well as other cross-cutting issues. The establishment of the accountability mechanisms such as the Independent Review Mechanism (IRM) is also designed to empower locally-impacted and other concerned individuals to raise policy related concerns, including those on gender and seek redress for negative impacts resulting from Bank operations.
The 2008 session of the CODESRIA sub-regional methodological workshops will explore the conditions for the employment and validation of qualitative perspectives in African contexts. To this end, the workshops will be open to all the social research disciplines. These disciplines are uniformly confronted with broadly similar difficulties of understanding social reality and the challenges posed by techniques of data collection and analysis, which, on account of their “qualitative” nature, are suspected by some to be seriously lacking in scientific rigour.
Wikiversity is organising an online course “Composing free and open online educational resources”. Starting on March 3, 2008, the course is designed for teachers and teacher-students who do not have prior knowledge or skills related to free and open education resources.
The Bush administration has asked the Supreme Court to throw out a lawsuit that accuses more than 30 U.S. and European corporations of violating international law by assisting South Africa's former apartheid government. The case -- three suits being considered jointly -- seeks up to $400 billion in damages from corporations such as Ford Motor Co., IBM Corp., Citigroup Inc., and General Electric Co., for their business relationships with the South African government from 1948 to 1994, according to court papers.
As President Bush returns to the United States from his whirlwind tour of Africa, Africa Action notes with concern that coverage of Bush’s trip has concentrated on particular successes in individual countries while ignoring the systemic, continent-wide development challenges that unjust U.S. economic policies continue to promote. Most of the attention around the Bush visit has focused on U.S. public health programs in Africa, particularly the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).
Government officials, experts, and representatives of non-governmental organizations will meet here next week to evaluate investments made so far in achieving equality between men and women. The gathering, during the Commission on the Status of Women to take place from 25 February to 7 March 2008, will share lessons learned and good practices, identify effective policies, and foster the exchange of national and regional experiences to achieve gender equality, empower women, and reduce gender-based violence.
A new thematic fund for maternal health has been created to boost global efforts to reduce the number of women dying in pregnancy and childbirth. The fund, established by UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, will also encourage developed countries and private sponsors to contribute more to saving women’s lives.
Egyptian security forces shot dead a Sudanese man trying to cross into Israel on Tuesday. A total of five African migrants have now been killed crossing the border so far this year. Security officials said 50-year-old Ermeniry Khasheef was shot in the back after he ignored orders to stop as he attempted to cross barbed wire near the border town of Rafah.
The Ugandan government has struck a deal with the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) about where their leaders will be tried. LRA leaders accused of crimes against humanity and war crimes would be tried by a national court under the terms of the deal. Many of the people have been charged with horrific crimes – and international warrants have been out for their arrest for more than two and a half years.
The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) condemns the attack carried out by armed forces of the Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government (TFG) at the offices of Waayaha Press, a Mogadishu-based privately owned weekly newspaper. On Tuesday, 19 February 2008, security forces, who were conducting security related operation in Bakara market, came into the offices of Waayaha Press and ordered the management and the journalists to move into one side and searched the offices, according to the management of the media house.
Seeking to end one of the most prolonged refugee situations in the world, the United Nations is appealing for $34 million to assist 218,000 Burundians who fled to neighbouring Tanzania to escape violence in their homeland over 35 years ago. The so-called “1972 Burundians” are among the hundreds of thousands of Burundians who sought refuge in neighbouring countries that year to escape ethnic violence which killed an estimated 200,000 people. They are distinct from Burundian refugees who arrived in Tanzania in the 1990s.
A former Rwandan government minister has pleaded not guilty to 11 charges during his first appearance before the United Nations war crimes tribunal set up to deal with the 1994 genocide in the small country. Callixte Nzabonimana, 55, who served as minister of youth and sports in Rwanda’s interim government in 1994, made the plea yesterday before Judge Dennis Byron of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), which is based in Arusha, Tanzania.
The Security Council has extended for another six months the African Union-led mission in Somalia, which has been helping the war-wracked country that has not had a functioning government since 1991 to achieve national reconciliation and facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid. Established in February 2007, AMISOM is also tasked with providing protection to the Transitional Federal Institutions (TFIs) to help them carry out their functions of government, and security for key infrastructure.
The United Nations peacekeeping operation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has said that it is investigating human rights violations committed by both Government troops and rebel groups in the eastern part of the strife-torn nation. The human rights section of the mission, known by its French acronym MONUC, has positively identified eight victims, including three children, who were killed by Congolese Army soldiers on 2 January in a village near Goma, the capital
President Robert Mugabe has likened independent presidential aspirant, former Zanu-PF political bureau (politburo) member and finance minister, Simba Makoni to a political prostitute who tries to endear himself to the electorate even when the electorate does not like him. This is the first time that the 84-year old leader has openly castigated Makoni for having brokered away from his ruling Zanu-PF party, an attack that could be the opening episode of more that are yet to come as Mugabe moves to launch his presidential campaign in the near future.
Cameroon's Minister of Communication, Jean Pierre Biyiti Bi Essam, signed on Thursday a ministerial order banning the Douala-based and private TV station Equinox. According to the ministerial text, Equinox has been tagged with carrying out “irregular activities in their station”, the text read. The text was also read, exclusively on the government controlled radio and TV, Cameroon Radio and Television, CRTV.
The two factions of the MDC on Thursday, jointly announced the end of dialogue with Robert Mugabe’s ruling ZANU-PF. They also accused South African President Thabo Mbeki of having failed to broker a resolution to the stalled talks. The talks completely broke down in January when Mugabe unilaterally called the polls for 29th March, leaving no time for the implementation of a new draft constitution agreed on by all parties.
Congolese Tutsi rebels said on Friday they were suspending participation in an east Congo ceasefire commission until an independent inquiry was launched into United Nations allegations that they massacred civilians. The move announced by renegade Tutsi General Laurent Nkunda marked the latest hitch in a ceasefire accord for eastern Democratic Republic of Congo signed on January 23 by Nkunda's rebels, the government and rival militia groups.
Violence in eastern Chad is preventing aid workers from reaching thousands of refugees who fled Sudanese government attacks in Darfur last week, with a new wave of refugees expected after fresh bombardments. Beatrice Godefroy, head of the Swiss branch of Doctors Without Borders in Chad, told Reuters up to 8,000 refugees had poured across the border from Darfur last week and were living rough in the desolate area around the border town of Birak.
The chairman of the African Union Commission blamed the leaders of a renegade island in the Comoros on Friday for stoking a crisis that has prompted the government to prepare an invasion. Mohamed Bacar, the self-declared president of Anjouan island, has defied the AU and the national authorities in the coup-prone Indian Ocean archipelago since he won an illegal election last June.
Africa's top diplomat pushed Kenya's feuding parties on Friday to reach a speedy deal after the government agreed in principle to create a prime minister's post to help end a deadly post-election crisis. "The weekend will be crucial. We hope that next week we'll have something which can be agreed," newly-elected African Union chairman Jean Ping told a news conference in Nairobi.
Sierra Leone's war crimes court on Friday rejected an appeal by three former militia leaders against long jail sentences handed down last July for atrocities committed during the former British colony's civil war. "The court finds no reason to interfere (with the sentences)," Presiding Judge George Gelaga King told the Special Court for Sierra Leone.
In a historic decision, a French court has accepted a request of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) to try Wenceslas Munyeshyaka and Laurent Bucyibaruta before French courts for their alleged participation in the Rwandan genocide in 1994. Munyeshyaka was a priest in charge of the St Famille parish in Kigali during the genocide in which countless Victims who sought refuge there were brutally massacred.
A meeting of the members of the Indian Ocean Commission in Addis Ababa last week decided to give the go-ahead to connect their island-members by fibre to each other and the rest of the world. The connecting cable would be available on non-discriminatory terms and under a low-cost, high volume regime. The project has its origins in a consultants’ study started in mid 2007 and completed at the end of last year. The study looked at the likely demand from the different island members and the technical and financial feasibility of the project.
Giving people with genital herpes an advance supply of anti-herpes medication and instructions on how to recognise the early signs of a herpes attack may be the most effective way of limiting the spread of HIV in Africa through herpes lesions, doctors from the United Kingdom and South Africa argue in a recent edition of The Lancet.
Efforts to reduce maternal mortality in Africa are not being driven by evidence, say Spanish and Mozambican reasearchers, after an autopsy study published this week in PLoS Medicine revealed that half of mothers died of infectious causes and just under one in seven died of HIV-related causes. Common obstetric complications accounted for just 38% of deaths during pregnancy, labour or after delivery.
In a decision welcomed by Tunisian researchers and novelists, the Ministry of Culture announced that several works previously banned by the Censorship Department will be freed for publication. The Arab Institute for Human Rights (AIHR) confirmed on Monday (February 18th) that Tunisia would lift the ban on books which have been held in a legal limbo for years.
Three years after Algeria's family code was revised, women are looking back with regret on their initial enthusiasm for the change. What appears to have been a well-intended effort to protect women and children's rights has inadvertently caused many of them to lose everything.
Reforming the political process topped the agenda at a conference of Moroccan politicians this week. Party leaders acknowledged they have failed to properly address the needs of the younger generation and said changes are planned to get the public involved in politics.
A new charter to regulate satellite television networks adopted recently by Arab information ministers is under attack in the Maghreb. Critics see the measure as an attempt to censor Arab media and render political dissent impossible.
Despite pleas from Prime Minister Abbas El Fassi, three of Morocco's five national trade unions held a 24-hour strike on Wednesday (February 13th), paralysing the nation’s civil service. The FDT (Democratic Labour Federation), UNMT (National Union of Moroccan Labour) and USF (Civil Servants’ Union) proceeded with the strike after two meetings with El Fassi. Morocco’s two other trade unions opted out of the strike, saying that the government should be given more time to consider the union's demands for pay increases and legislative reforms.
FORUM-ASIA and International Movement Against All Forms of Racial Discrimination (IMADR) will organise the 1st Regional Workshop on the Durban Review Conference (DRC) 2009. About 30 representatives of civil society organisations are expected to attend the event, which will be held from 25 to 26 February in Bangkok. They two organisations will facilitate civil society consultation and participation in response to the DRC.
Certain medical workers in Rwanda have expressed concern about the country's campaign to promote male circumcision as a means of curbing the spread of HIV. They fear that in a country with low levels of knowledge about sexual health, people could mistakenly believe the procedure offers complete protection against the virus. An epidemiologist based in the capital, Kigali, said there was a risk of "a bloodbath in the country once circumcision is taken as an anti-AIDS measure."
The Ugandan parliament will soon have a hearing on the draft Plant Variety Protection Bill, approved by the cabinet early last year. If passed unmodified, the bill is likely to entrench the rights of breeders and companies while curtailing the rights of small farmers to exchange, save and breed new varieties using hybrid seeds.
Uganda’s major trade partners are not only looking for food markets but also for seed markets. This has happened in a push that has been packaged as ‘‘the new green revolution’’ by corporations involved in biotechnology and chemicals. They have been supported by philanthropic organizations, notably the Rockefeller Foundation and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Swaziland’s timber plantations have been held up as a model of sustainable forestry management, where other plantations around the world are considered to have had negative environmental and social impacts. However, the authors of this report argue that these plantations are sustainable in the narrowest sense of the term, that of “long-term productivity” rather than “sustainability” as it is understood in a development context.
This paper evaluates the seven presumed African success stories: Botswana, South Africa, Zambia, Ghana, Tanzania, Mozambique and Uganda. It gives a detailed analysis of the economic, political, governance and human development scenarios in each country, and identifies the emerging challenges.
The Coalition of African Lesbians (CAL) with LAMBDA, which is a gay organisation in Mozambique, is hosting a third Leadership Institute conference in Maputo, Mozambique. Taking place between 24 and 29 February, the conference will discuss among other things the work that CAL does, the African Feminist Charter of Principles, HIV and Aids, gender, sexuality and violence against Women.
Senegalese police clashed with hundreds of people protesting against the publication of photos of an alleged wedding betwen two men in the country. Police fired teargas to contain the large crowd. A local magazine, Icone, broke the story in early February. The publication followed arrest and detention of homosexuals who were later released without charge. Icone's editor claimed he has since received several death threats for exposing homosexuals in a society where they face social stigma and blackmail.
Angola has been ranked worst in the world for tackling child deaths, in a new report by a UK-based charity that compares child deaths to a country's income per person. Oil-rich Angola has a child mortality rate of 260 deaths per thousand - 162 deaths higher than predicted for its economy's size, according to the report, released on Monday.
The Sudanese cabinet has been reshuffled. State media reported the dismissal of Mohammed Ali Mardhi, the justice minister, and the moving of Awad Ahmed al-Jaz, the energy minister, to the finance ministry. Mardhi has been replaced by Adbel Basit Sabderat, who was the federal affairs minister.
In the coming months, up to 24,000 Mauritanians will return home after almost 20 years in exile. Many have been living in refugee camps in Senegal since a minor border dispute escalated into deadly ethnic riots in 1989. Some black Mauritanians later returned on a voluntary basis, but the vast majority remained in Senegal.
The protocol on policy and regulatory framework for NEPAD ICT Broadband Infrastructure Network, known as the Kigali protocol, came into force on 13th February 2008, after His Excellency Dr Bingu Wa Mutharika, President of the Republic of Malawi put pen to paper in Lilongwe, Malawi. Malawi thus became the seventh country to ratify the protocol. Other countries that have already ratified the protocol are: Lesotho, Mauritius, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. Ratification by seven countries was the majority needed to bring the protocol into force.
Climate change could pose a new threat to food-insecure Sub-Saharan Africa, according to the USAID Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS NET). Christopher Funk, a geographer-climatologist from the University of California Santa Barbara and member of FEWS NET, presented their draft Climate Change Impact Report at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Boston, United States
At least 22 people have been confirmed dead a week after cyclone Ivan struck Madagascar. It has also left thousands of people homeless and displaced in the north-west town of Anosimahavelona. The announcement of further three of heavy rains by weather forecast officials has already caused panic in many parts of the Indian Ocean, including the capital, Antananarivo. These places are already affected by floods.
Uproar is slowly spreading among African civil society organisations and scientists, fearing that the biofuel revolution will bring more food insecurity, higher food prices and hunger to the continent. A petition calling for a "moratorium on new agrofuel developments in Africa" has so far been signed by over 30 NGOs all over the continent.
As refugees began moving from the northern Cameroonian town of Kousseri to a more permanent site in Maltam some 32 kilometres away this week, services and facilities were being rapidly prepared to accept them but conditions remain extremely basic. Refugees, most of whom fled Chad at the beginning of February when anti-government rebels launched an attack on the capital N’djamena, started being trucked to Maltam on 16 February.
Blood donation drives held in Kenya in recent weeks to meet the need created by post-election violence have highlighted the shortage of regular blood donors and the problem this creates in public healthcare, say officials from the national blood transfusion service. "We realise people have a lack of confidence in their health status that generates the fear to donate blood," said Stranslaus Onyango, assistant programme officer at Hope Worldwide Kenya.
The first microbicide candidate to reach the final phase of testing has failed to prevent HIV transmission, researchers announced this week. Testing of the microbicide, Carraguard, was carried out over a three-year period on 6,000 women in South Africa, and was completed in March 2007. But there was no difference in HIV infections between women in the group using Carraguard compared to the placebo group.
As developing countries scale up their antiretroviral (ARV) treatment programmes, more and more people living with HIV are expected to develop resistance to their drug regimens and will need second-line medicines. Many second-line drugs are either unavailable or prohibitively expensive in developing countries, and doctors often lack experience or knowledge of what combination of second-line ARVs to prescribe.
One legacy of South Africa's extensive mineral deposits is the infrastructure and wealth of the country. But another more troubling legacy is emerging as an increasingly urgent problem: environmental contamination from over 100 years of mining that could severely pollute the country's water, affecting the food chain and citizens' health.
Kenya is at risk of plunging into a new wave of violence, despite progress in negotiations to end a political crisis, because several armed groups are mobilising on all sides of the country’s ethno-political divisions, according to the International Crisis Group (ICG) think-tank. Firearms are much less widely available in Kenya than in neighbouring countries. In the context of this article, “armed groups” include those using machetes, spears, poison arrows and clubs.
Ugandan rebels have walked out of peace talks because the government refused their demands for senior government posts, a rebel spokesperson said on Friday. The two sides have been meeting in Sudan-mediated peace talks since July 2006 in an effort to resolve a brutal 20-year insurgency in northern Uganda. Earlier this week, the talks took a major step forward with an agreement on how to prosecute alleged war crime
Egyptian police detained dozens of members of the Muslim Brotherhood on Wednesday, expanding a crackdown on the country's strongest opposition group ahead of local elections in April. The Islamist group, which holds one fifth of the seats in Parliament, poses the most serious challenge to the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) in the April 8 elections for local councils, which the NDP has dominated for years.
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Pambazuka News 413: Zimbabwe on the edge of the precipice
Pambazuka News 413: Zimbabwe on the edge of the precipice
The Institute of International Education's Scholar Rescue Fund (SRF) provides fellowships for established scholars whose lives and work are threatened in their home countries. These fellowships permit professors, researchers and other senior academics to find temporary refuge at universities and colleges anywhere in the world, enabling them to pursue their academic work and to continue to share their knowledge with students, colleagues, and the community at large.Application Deadline: January 31st, 2009.
The International Network of Genocide Scholars together with the Centre for the Study of Genocide and Mass Violence (SGMV) at The University of Sheffield/UK will dedicate the 1st Global Conference on Genocide, Sheffield, to sustainable genocide prevention for the 21st century. "Genocide: The Future of Prevention", the inaugural event in INOGS' biannual series of Global Genocide Conferences, will take stock of Genocide Studies and move on to develop new ideas about prevention.
The Human Rights Advocates Program (HRAP) at Columbia University is designed to prepare proven human rights leaders from the Global South and marginalized communities in the U.S. to participate in national and international policy debates on globalization by building their skills, knowledge, and contacts. The Program features a four-month residency at Columbia University in New York City with a structured curriculum of advocacy, networking, skills-building, and academic coursework.
AIDS is affecting women and girls in increasing numbers: globally women comprise almost 50% of people living with HIV. Nearly 25 years into the epidemic, gender inequality and the low status of women remain two of the principal drivers of HIV. Yet current AIDS responses do not, on the whole, tackle the social, cultural and economic factors that put women at risk of HIV, and that unduly burden them with the epidemic’s consequences.
With more than 1.3 billion people, China has the largest population and one of the fastest growing economies in the world. While much has been written about the country’s overall economic growth, much less is known about the companies helping to generate it. Scheduled to be published by World Scientific in 2010-11, A Guide to Top 100 Companies in China will provide up-to-date and comprehensive coverage of key corporations as ranked by revenue size. Edited by Professors Wenxian Zhang and Ilan Alon of Rollins College, this reference guide will highlight the major enterprises in China, which as a gauge of the country’s overall economy have made significant contributions to the economic growth of recent years.
Stephen Marks looks at the rising influence of China in the global economy in the wake of the financial crisis. China’s top economic decision-makers, gathering for a key meeting in Beijing, were reported to be planning a new tax boost to the economy, as support was pledged to recession-hit firms from airlines to carmakers. But latest figures showed the recession’s impact was worse than expected. Officials began their annual three-day Central Economic Work Conference in Beijing, which sets the tone for policies for the coming year. Informed sources suggested they could by 1 percentage point from the current 5 percent which would amount to a 120 billion yuan ($17.5 billion) boost.
On December 9, 2008, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Liu Jianchao held a regular press conference and answered questions on China-France relations, the Six-Party Talks, the situation in Zimbabwe, etc.
After the break in the 1990s, Russia is making a comeback to the African continent. Effective penetration into Africa requires an integrated approach. We need to make our political contacts in Africa more active. Russia has economic interests on all continents where it is encountering active competition from the United States, European Union nations, or China. Of late, the economic and political interests of these players have intersected in Africa.
China Inc is unlikely to assist Rio Tinto with a major cash injection any time soon, despite what Chinese officials say is a top-level Government directive for state-owned companies to go out and buy international resources assets at current discount prices. Rio Tinto has announced it will slash 14,000 jobs, cut $US5 billion ($7.6 billion) in capital spending next year and accelerate asset sales to repay $US10 billion of debt by the end of 2009 as the global financial crisis curbs demand for metals.
China has promised to train 15,000 African personnel in the next three years to strengthen the cooperation in human resources development between China and Africa.
KBR Inc., the U.S. engineering firm that split from Halliburton Co. last year, and Sonangol, Angola’s state oil company, signed an agreement to build a refinery in the port of Lobito, KBR said. The Houston-based company got involved in the project after Sonangol in March last year said it ended talks with China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. over the $3.7 billion, 200,000- barrel-a-day refinery project, known as Sonaref.
The Chinese government will fund major infrastructural projects to promote investment, that would see Kenya elevated into a middle level economy, Prime Minister Raila Odinga has said. Speaking during a Commemorative Scholarship Awarding ceremony in Kibera, Mr Odinga said the China African Development Bank (CADB), which runs a multi-trillion shilling investment base, has expressed interest in the construction of the Lamu-Juba standard rail-line project, whose completion would link countries in the horn of Africa to the sea port.
The events of the past three days compel us to evaluate the state of fundamental freedoms in Kenya, and the verdict is singularly unfavourable. On December 12, 2008, as Kenya marked its 45th Jamhuri Day, the Grand Coalition Government signaled its definitive departure not just from the ideals of independence. It also departs from agreements reached under Agenda Item One of the mediation process, which sought to restore full fundamental rights and freedoms, including the right to assembly and peaceful protest.
Sadiq Sahour Abkar paid human traffickers $750 to smuggle himself, his 28-year-old wife, Hajja Abbas Haroun, and their infant daughter Samar over a remote border crossing in the Sinai Desert into Israel last year. The smugglers, however, dropped them along with four pregnant women, eight men and numerous children - all Sudanese refugees - several miles from the border. As the African migrants neared the frontier, they heard a patrol of Egyptian border guards and lay down quietly on the ground, waiting for them to pass. Suddenly a baby in the group began crying.
Following the resignation of Mr. Pierre Thizier Seya from the position of ERNWACA Regional Coordinator, the Board of Directors has appointed Prof. Djénéba Traoré as next ERNWACA Regional Coordinator for a renewable 3-year term, starting from April 1, 2009. Mireille Massouka will be the acting Regional Coordinator until the new Regional Coordinator takes over.
In response to Network member’s requests, a one stop shop for GBV Prevention information has been created! The Network’s new website features an online library with the most current GBV prevention resources and program innovations in the Horn, East and Southern Africa. Also the website connects members who will be involved in lively online discussions, be able to post their experiences, stories and events.
Following the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in 2005, ending more than 20 years of conflict in South Sudan, the peace building processes in Sudan remain challenging. In addition, this is in contrast to the expectations and hopes invested in the 2005 Sudan National Interim Constitution. Individuals and organizations working and advocating for human rights across the country continue to face multiple risks to their activities and lives.
The Center for Global Development (CGD), an independent Washington-based think tank, invites applications from leading scholars in developing countries for a visiting fellows program sponsored by Canada's International Development Research Centre (IDRC). The program offers one-year sabbatical support for a senior researcher from a developing country on leave from his or her host institution.
China Nonferrous Metal Mining Group Co (CNMC) said it is raising 1 billion yuan ($145 million) through bonds to finance its Chambishi copper project in Zambia and Tagaung Taung nickel project in Burma.