Next time you crack open a Coke to quench your thirst, spare a thought for the sugar cane workers in Swaziland. Peter Kenworthy investigates the operations of the Coca-Cola Company in the repressive monarchy.

Former ANC minister Kader Asmal has come out against South Africa's controversial Protection of Information Bill. In a letter to the Right2Know campaign, Asmal wrote that: 'This Bill is so deeply flawed that tinkering with its preamble or accepting a minor change here or there will not alter its fundamental nature, that it does not pay sufficient attention to the nature of freedom of expression.'

A climate of non-disclosure pervades the sharing of basic school related information despite policies and pronouncements to the contrary. In a research brief titled 'Funding of Dar es Salaam Primary Schools: How accessible is school level information?', Uwazi at Twaweza shows that because of a climate of non disclosure, 80 per cent of the teachers interviewed could not correctly state the capitation grant amount entitlement per pupil, which is pegged at US$10 per year according to the Primary Education Development Programme.

A group of civil society activists who had locked Education minister Sam Ongeri's office to demand his resignation have been arrested. The activists had been camping at the reception of Ongeri’s office demanding his resignation or sacking and be made to face charges following a Ministry of Finance audit report showing Sh4.6 billion was lost in the Ministry of Education.

At least 32 people have died and 800 others have been infected following an outbreak of measles in the southern Pointe Noire and Kouilou regions of the Republic of Congo, say health officials. 'The total of 32 deaths and 800 cases of measles has not changed,' said Hermann Boris Didi-Ngossaki, head of the World Health Organisation’s Expanded Programme on Vaccination. At least 3,000 cases of measles were recorded in a 2006-2007 outbreak.

A Tunisian court has sentenced former President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and his wife Leila to 35 years in jail for embezzlement and misusing public funds. The couple, who fled to Saudi Arabia in January after a popular uprising, were also fined $66m (£41m). The one-day trial in absentia focused on $27m of cash and jewels reportedly found inside one of their palaces.

Equatorial Guinea's government has spent lavishly on diplomatic accommodations while neglecting the rights of the country's poor in the lead-up to hosting the African Union summit, Human Rights Watch and EG Justice said. The government has also sharply limited public dissent and critical reporting. While most citizens of Equatorial Guinea languish in poverty, President Teodoro Obiang's government, which holds the revolving AU chairmanship, spent more than US$830 million to construct a luxury complex for the summit outside the nation's capital, Malabo.

If Tunisians are to play an informed part in the transition phase and beyond, they need a free and independent media and a strong, democratic and open civil society to hold power to account, according to a new report published by the 21 members of the International Freedom of Expression Exchange -Tunisia Monitoring Group (IFEX-TMG), including ARTICLE 19. 'The Scars of Oppression Run Deep: Assessing the Critical Requirements for Freedom of Expression in Tunisia’s Democratic Transition' report was released on 16 June, 2011 to national and international media as well as local civil society groups at a press conference held in Tunis. It provides a sample of opinions gathered from a broad
cross-section of over 60 media professionals, civil society advocates and authorities interviewed in Tunisia during the course of a mission that took place from 9 to 16 April.

Girl soldiers, who are often forced to marry militia commanders, tend to have difficulties leaving and reintegrating into civilian life. In 2004, the United Nations children’s agency UNICEF launched a national programme to help former child soldiers adjust to their new circumstances. But since it started, only two per cent of those it has assisted have been women. Juvénal Munubo, head of a child soldiers reintegration programme for the NGO Caritas in Goma, eastern DRC, argues that this is disproportionally low, compared to the number of women that are estimated to be members armed units.

Reporters Without Borders visited eastern Libya in April to evaluate the situation of the media in Benghazi and the surrounding region and, in particular, to report on the extraordinary vigour of the new media that have been emerging in this part of the country since its liberation from Muammar Gaddafi’s oppressive rule. 'The current media are essentially citizen media consisting of young activists who have played a key role in the war, activists such as Mohamed Al-Nabbous, the creator of the Web TV Libya Al-Hurra, who was killed by a sniper on 19 March,' Reporters Without Borders said.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay has publicly condemned the scourge of corrective rapes in South Africa saying they are 'a serious crime that should never be tolerated nor condoned.' In an article published on 14 June by The Star newspaper in South Africa, Pillay asserted that South Africa had 'given the world some powerful ideas, among them the concept of the Rainbow Nation, where diversity is a source of strength and everyone is entitled to equal rights and respect.' She added, 'However it is saddening that the country reborn under Nelson Mandela’s watchful eye should now be the setting for corrective rape, a far more sinister phenomenon that undermines everything the Rainbow Nation stands for.'

Safaricom subscribers can search for and reconnect with their loved ones using their mobile phone via an application provided by Ericsson and Refugees United. The system enables refugees to use mobile phones to register themselves, search for loved ones, and subsequently reconnect via an anonymous database.

The Botswana government said on 20 June that it had amended legislation classifying essential services workers to include teachers in an effort to prevent more civil servants from striking. Making the announcement through a government gazette, Minister of Labour and Home Affairs Peter Siele said that veterinary services, teaching services, diamond sorting, cutting and selling services and all supporting services connected to them have now been placed under the essential services.

SABMiller Plc (SAB), the world’s second-biggest brewer by volume, has denied allegations that it dodged taxes in some African countries, including Tanzania, and said it’s prepared to discuss the matter with authorities. Officials from South Africa, Zambia, Tanzania, Ghana and Mauritius are to meet later this month to discuss tax payments made by the London-based SABMiller, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing Logan Wort of the African Tax Administration Forum. The meeting will be held on 28 June in Cape Town in the wake of a report by ActionAid, a UK non-profit group, which challenged the way the brewer paid taxes in those countries, the newspaper said.

Julius Malema’s recent attack on ANC policies at the opening of the ANC Youth League’s 24th national congress struck at the very core of the ruling party, setting the stage for a bruising battle in the run-up to the 2012 conference over the future direction of the party, writes Jabulani Sikhakhane in the Sunday Independent. 'Borrowing from Hugo Chavez and other populists, Malema built his narrative this week on three pillars: he tapped into and stoked the anger and feelings of social despair among the black majority; framed poverty as a function of conflict between the powerful elite (white people in this case) and the majority (poor, landless black people who own very little of the economy); and then presented the youth league, if not himself, as capable of radically transforming the lives of the poor.'

Hundreds of civil society organisations, including farmers' movements, women's groups and non-governmental organisations, will launch a global appeal against farmland grabbing during the G20 meeting on agriculture in Paris on 22 and 23 June. Over 500 organisations from around the world have joined the 'Dakar Appeal Against Land Grabbing' that was originally drawn up at the World Social Forum in Dakar last February. While agriculture ministers from the world's 20 richest countries are discussing what to do about food price volatility and the growing hunger crisis, millions of hectares of fertile land, along with their water resources, are being grabbed from peasants, pastoralists, herders, fisherfolk and indigenous peoples to be converted into massive agribusiness operations by private investors who want to produce food supplies or agro-fuels for international markets. As a consequence, millions of peasant families and other rural and indigenous folk are being thrown off their lands and deprived of their livelihoods.

The current drought in Kenya and the Horn of Africa is expected to affect millions. Farm Radio Weekly has a story that tells how affected families in a semi-arid region of Kenya are changing their opinions about cassava. Once stigmatized as a crop for the desperately poor, it is now feeding families in areas with insufficient rain to grow maize.

Cote d’Ivoire authorities have released 17 associates of deposed president Laurent Gbagbo who had been detained inside an Abidjan hotel. Gbagbo and his wife Simone and about 50 of their relatives and associates, remain under house arrest in five cities across the country. According to the Justice ministry, they could be charged as early as this week. They face charges of economic mismanagement, and involvement in post-election violence or collaboration with an 'illegitimate' regime.

Bandits, militias, and alleged abuses by the army are causing access problems for aid workers trying to help large concentrations of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the territory of Irumu, part of the Ituri region in northwestern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Among the 130,000 IDPs in the Ituri region, 89,864 (69 per cent) are in the territory of Irumu, about 40km southwest of Bunia, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Egypt’s premier has said that delaying a parliamentary election scheduled for September would give political parties more time to prepare, state media said, amid fears that an early poll would benefit Islamists. His comments come amid a mounting campaign by liberal and secular groups to delay the election until after a new constitution has been drafted. The 'Constitution First' campaign has sparked intense debate, with critics arguing that delaying the poll would keep the ruling military in place for longer.

Senegal is to create a new vice-president position. The move is seen as a means by President Abdoulaye Wade to maintain his grip on power. Cabinet has approved a proposal to create the position of a vice-president who will be a running mate for the president in next year's election. Observers see this as a means for the Senegalese President, 84, to maintain his grip on power while preparing grounds for a possible succession. The proposed plan has to be approved by the country's national assembly.

A UNHCR report released on World Refugee Day reveals deep imbalance in international support for the world's forcibly displaced, with a full four-fifths of the world's refugees being hosted by developing countries - and at a time of rising anti-refugee sentiment in many industrialised ones. UNHCR's 2010 Global Trends report shows that many of the world's poorest countries are hosting huge refugee populations, both in absolute terms and in relation to the size of their economies. Pakistan, Iran and Syria have the largest refugee populations at 1.9 million, 1.1 million and 1 million respectively.

The top UN human rights body declared on Friday (17 June) there should be no discrimination or violence against people based on their sexual orientation, a vote Western countries called historic but Islamic states firmly rejected. The controversial resolution marked the first time that the Human Rights Council recognised the equal rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, diplomats said.

'Congress believes that discussion of ANC leadership should be opened and members should at all time be at liberty to discuss and deliberate on the leadership question, particularly for the 53rd National Conference of the ANC in 2012. Putting timeframes of the leadership question disadvantages members and structures of the ANC to honestly reflect on the kind of leadership needed to lead the ANC post 100 years of its existence. Congress further disapproves of emerging tendencies to use State power as a tool to dispense patronage and empower friends and families.'

The Okavango delta in Botswana has suffered 'catastrophic' species loss over the past 15 years, researchers have announced, in the latest sign of a growing crisis for wildlife in Africa. Some wild animal populations in the delta, one of the wonders of the natural world, have shrunk by up to 90 per cent and are facing local extinction, according to the most comprehensive aerial survey yet undertaken there.

Swaziland's labour unions are planning a series of further strikes to voice their feelings about proposed wage cuts and to lobby the government for regime change. Sibongile Mazibuko, the president of the Swaziland National Association of Teachers, said the next protest action would take place over three days and their message was clear. 'We want this government to vacate office and we want regime change,' she said.

In Mugunga, about 12km from Goma in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), communities of Bambuti have been eking out a living at the edge of the city. The Bambuti are believed to be among Central Africa's oldest inhabitants, surviving from hunting and gathering. Among those living in Mugunga, some fled the war in eastern DRC in 2005 and others were evicted from their ancestral homes in Virunga National Park, home to DRC’s mountain gorillas.

African farmers’ organisations, members of the International Movement of Peasants, La Via Campesina, and allied organisations denounce every attempt to adopt genetically modified organisms, GMOs, as being a false solution to the food crisis in Africa. According to the farmers, all of the myths promoting GMOs as a 'miracle' to increase productivity are false, as they threaten the genetic integrity of the local varieties that are the basis of African food security. Only organic food production, based on local knowledge and skills, can feed the continent, as diversified, agroecological farming systems actually produce more total food per hectare than does industrial monoculture.

At the climate talks in Bonn in the past fortnight, the deadlock over the Kyoto Protocol continued, with a real prospect that the global climate regime will unravel, writes Martin Khor in this article. '...both the climate situation and the prospects for the global climate regime have become more grim...Most significantly, the Bonn meetings saw the continuation of the deadlock on the future of the Kyoto Protocol (KP), the legally binding regime that commits developed countries to cut their emissions by certain percentages.'

Reflecting profound concerns of developing countries, a new report has strongly criticised the World Bank group for promoting false solutions to climate change, such as carbon trading, megadams, agrofuels and industrial monoculture tree plantations. The report - 'Catalysing Catastrophic Climate Change' - also gives vent to anxieties of social movements, environmental and social justice organisations, and affected communities. It was tabled at a side event by Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) during the UN Climate Change Conference in Bonn that concluded on 17 June 2011.

The recent revelation that the Syrian blogger activist 'Gay Girl in Damascus' was actually 'Straight American Man in Scotland' Tom MacMaster sent ripples through international media circles and left deep scars in the LGBTI community. But why is this hoax so potentially harmful? asks the Association for Progressive Communications. 'It comes down to identity and rights. This case touches on some of the core issues surrounding identity and human rights - especially online...MacMasters, in claiming that his fictitious lesbian persona had been arrested by Syrian authorities, lends credence to the claim of many repressive regimes that LGBTI movements within their countries are somehow alien or under foreign influence.'

The first-ever official meeting of Ministers of Agriculture from G20 countries, to be held in Paris 22-23 June presents an extraordinary opportunity, says this IPS article. 'Tasked with developing an action plan to address price volatility in food and agricultural markets and its impact on the poor, the ministers are uniquely positioned to not only tackle the immediate price volatility problems, but also to take on a more fundamental and long-term challenge - extreme poverty and hunger. As experts in agriculture, the ministers no doubt know what extensive research confirms: Investing in agriculture and rural development, with a focus on smallholder farmers, is the best bet for achieving global food security, alleviating poverty, and improving human wellbeing in developing countries.'

The aim of this issue is to discuss the multi-dimensional interactions between African universities and 'their' territory. More than anywhere else, African universities are facing the hardly reconcilable missions and objectives of meeting growing socio-educational demands, maintaining academic standards to preserve their reputation, contributing to local development while keeping their autonomy and negotiating political pressures. These are challenges which young African universities are confronted with in a context of declining public funding. This issue proposes to analyze those interactions and their mutual effects.

Amandla has been on the air for 23 years, making it Canada’s longest running African current affairs radio show. It works every week to shift the public’s attention away from the mainstream media’s narrow portrayal of Africans as passive victims of war, famine, drought, dictatorship and corruption. Amandla seeks to explain the root causes of these afflictions, but also to move beyond this focus to encompass the creativity, ingenuity, innovation, ideas and struggles for change that Africa also embodies. Amandla, Wednesday, 7pm to 8pm EST, on

The Climate Change Media Partnership has published a briefing paper that recommends ways for policymakers to support a better class of climate change journalism that is relevant to local audiences, builds public awareness of the issues and contributes to improved policymaking. You can download the four-page briefing paper from the CCMP website.

In this week's edition of the Emerging Powers News Round-Up, read a comprehensive list of news stories and opinion pieces related to China, India and other emerging powers...

Following the second India-Africa Forum Summit held in Addis Ababa in May, two articles focus on the event in this edition of the newsletter. First, Prof K Mathews provides an overview of the activities and outcomes of the Summit, as well as commentary on the state of relations between the Indian government and Africa. A second article by Manish Chand also looks at the Summit, with specific mention of some of the commitments made during the event focusing on capacity building, education and human resource training. In addition, Rashaad Amra provides an interesting overview of Turkey’s engagement with Africa in terms of trade and investment activities. Mandarin translations for this month’s edition focus on the African journalist study tour to India conducted by the EMPA Initiative. It also draws comparisons with the tour to China conducted last year. The second article provides a review of the recent report by Global Witness titled 'China and Congo: Friends in Need'. The May edition is available

According to the International Committee for the Development of Peoples (CISP), an estimated 10,961 Congolese were expelled from Angola in the month of May alone, 7,178 of whom have arrived in Kasai Occidental Province. The CISP figures have been validated by DRC’s General Department of Migration. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimated that 80,000 were expelled from Angola to DRC between January 2010 and March 2011. The expulsions are not a new phenomenon. From 2003 to 2009, 140,000 Congolese were deported from Angola, according to OCHA.

Morocco's youth-based February 20 Movement has called for nationwide protests against constitutional changes proposed by King Mohammed VI. The king outlined curbs to his wide political powers in an address to the nation on Friday and pledged to build a constitutional monarchy with a democratic parliament. The proposals, to be put to a referendum on 1 July, devolve many of the king's powers to the prime minister and parliament.

'The chances of a climate change deal in COP17 that will actually seal a deal that will do something about the problem of rising global greenhouse gas emission are becoming increasingly remote by the day. Why? It seems that vested high-carbon emission interests are capturing the process. In effect, those who financially benefit from high carbon emissions, such as energy companies, are involved in the actual negotiations to reduce emissions. This is only too evident in the South African negotiating team, where both petrochemicals giant Sasol and national electricity utility Eskom are official representatives.'

A bewildering list of Cameroonian academics and intellectuals at home and abroad are throwing their full support behind President Biya and the ruling CPDM party, writes Dibussi Tande, in this week’s review of African blogs.

The ‘old woman stopped for a moment, looked at me, a smile crawling out of her mouth. Yet I could see the tears making the way through the corners of the eyelids. I then stopped and stared at her. She made a sound, trying to remove a lump in her throat and finally broke the silence. She said “Vote ANC, Vote for Better Life, Vote for Heaven and Vote for Jesus. Better life in heaven indeed not under ANC”.’

A policeman was arrested for using Zimbabwean President Mugabe's private toilet at a trade fair last month.

A month ago Solidarity for African Women’s Rights coalition (SOAWR) invited young people to reflect on the contributions women and girls can make to development issues, by writing an essay on the importance of Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa. The four finalists – Nonyelum Umeasiegbu, Laurence Lemogo, Itodo Samuel Anthony and Nelly Nguegan – will attend this month’s AU summit in Malabo on the theme of 'Youth empowerment for sustainable development’. The six best essays are available in the English and French editions of Pambazuka News.

‘It is taking Africa forever to commence the implementation and domestication of the protocol on national levels and in various countries. If the charter had been implemented even a year after its declaration, I would not have lost my friend to childbirth,’ writes Nonyelum Umeasiegbu, one of the four finalists in SOAWR's essay competition.

FLORIBERT CHEBEYA'S DEATH, ONE YEAR AFTER: A STRONG SIGN!

Jean-Pierre Mbelu

How can the struggle for human rights be converted into a struggle with the Congolese people (male and female alike) so that they become defenders of their own social, economic and cultural rights and political freedoms? What to do with the Congolese people whose rights and freedoms are constantly violated so that they do away with their status of 'innocent victims' defended only by a few worthy sons and daughters of Congo? How to enable them to become a people able to shout ‘their indignation’ without fear of death nor of vampires which can suck blood but cannot eat the spirit of resistance against the forces of death? Such are the questions which should bring the Congolese together, passionate for peace, justice and truth, and fighting for the advent of another Congo on this day when we remember these worthy sons and daughters of our people. Our article explores a few ideas.

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GABON IN RUINS FROM SHATTERED DEMOCRACY

Marc Ona Essangui

The visit to the United States of America by the Gabonese President Ali Bongo Ondimba from 6 to 9 June has sparked off protests from Gabonese civil society. In a letter addressed to President Barack Obama, the Gabonese civil society not only denounced the catastrophic state of democracy and governance in their country but also reminded President Obama of his speech in Accra, Ghana, which should form the basis of his relations with African leaders.

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MADAGASCAR: STOP THE DISORDER

The political crisis continues in Madagascar, with false solutions and missed opportunities in the search of a return to political stability. For the members of the observatory of public life, it is time to get out of this cycle which has brought about the crumbling of everything and now the Malagasy people have started to lose their bearings.

'Zimbabwean farmers’ organizations are hosting a training meeting on agroecology, an encounter organized by La Via Campesina (LVC) Africa in Masvingo province in Zimbabwe, from June 13 to 19. The training workshop brings together LVC member organizations in the continent, key allies including academics, NGOs, social science practioners, and small-scale farmers.'

If South Africa’s government ‘is really implementing the Freedom Charter, why are people complaining everywhere?’ asks Lindela S. Figlan. If ‘the ruling party was on the side of the poor it would encourage us to organise ourselves and to speak for ourselves…But instead it is always repressing the struggles of the poor’.