The Union of Islamic Courts (UIC), which controls the capital, Mogadishu, and much of south and central Somalia, issued a directive on Tuesday banning exports of charcoal and rare birds and animals, an official told IRIN. The Executive Committee of the UIC issued the directive after a full committee meeting agreed to the ban, Sheikh Abdulkadir Ali Omar, the UIC Vice-Chairman, said. "The decision was reached after the committee was briefed on the dangers posed by the indiscriminate cutting of our trees," he said.

The Ugandan government has rejected a demand by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) for a reduction in the size of the army and the induction of rebel fighters into the military when a final peace deal is struck. During talks in Juba, the capital of southern Sudan, the LRA had said reconstituting the Ugandan People's Defense Forces (UPDF) was the only way to achieve lasting stability in the country. "Uganda shall constitute and build a new national army that guarantees security, peace and sustainable prosperity of the people of Uganda," according to a LRA position paper presented to southern Sudanese mediators.

Swaziland's chiefs have condemned the new constitution as a plot by political progressives to "steal the country" from them. At a gathering of traditional leaders, called this week by the country's executive monarch, King Mswati, chiefs discussed the new constitution, which includes a Bill of Rights permitting freedom of assembly and speech, among others.

A new school curriculum aiming to overhaul the legacy of inferior apartheid schooling and bring South Africa's education system more in line with the demands of a global economy has stumbled at the first hurdle.

The Kenyan lands ministry has said it will repossess all land owned by "absentee landlords" in the coastal strip and redistribute it to squatters. The ministry says it will seize such land in Coast Province by next Monday (August 28), in line with a presidential decree. The land question is a particular problem in the province, where half of the 4m residents are squatters.

As fears of its destruction mount, city authorities have taken steps to protect the forest, or the greenbelt, around Niamey and evict squatters living within its confines. The forest protects the city from encroaching desertification and the extremes of Niger's climate. Although an ultimatum to vacate the greenbelt was issued Apr. 30, IPS has verified that the forest is still being occupied by the squatters.

Are the effects of teenage pregnancy on the education of girls being addressed with sufficient vigour in Kenya? With statistics indicating that pregnancy accounts for 31 percent of all school drop-out cases among girls, this is a question that begs asking.

As the annual summit of the Southern African Development Community got underway Thursday (August 16), Zimbabwean activist Bishop Shumba was on hand in Lesotho's capital -- Maseru -- to remind regional leaders about the political and economic difficulties in his country.

This paper presents the preliminary findings of a study of land conflicts between refugees and host communities in Southwestern Uganda and their impact on refugee women's livelihoods. Uganda has a long history of hosting refugees that dates back to the 1940s when it hosted Polish refugees.Refugees were placed in gazetted areas in close proximity to the local population. As the refugee situation became protracted, hospitality gave way to a competition fpr resources such as agricultural and grazing land, water and forest resources.

Nominations are sought for the 2007 International Human Rights Lawyer Award (formerly the International Rule of Law Award).The award is presented annually by the ABA Section of International Law to recognize distinguished foreign lawyers who have suffered persecution because of their professional activities.

Dramatic atrocities, extreme human suffering and the cruelties and psychosis of dirt poverty and slum life make for memorable documentaries, and the Sierra Leone civil war (1991-2002) combined all of these in excess. Man Den Nor Glady'O, a 57-minute documentary produced by charmingly named Rice N Peas, an alternative London-based production company, is the latest to relentlessly focus on these vulgar aspects of the country's recent and current condition.

Film director Spike Lee's long-awaited four-hour documentary about Hurricane Katrina was due to receive its world premiere last night, watched by 16,000 people who lived through the tragedy. The first half of Lee's $2m (£1.05m) documentary, When the Levees Broke: a Requiem in Four Acts, was scheduled to be shown to a sell-out audience in the New Orleans Arena. The venue is next door to the Superdome, the sports complex where more than 15,000 people sought shelter during the hurricane last year.

Imagine, if you will, a modern apartheid state with first, second and eleventh class citizens, all required to carry identification specifying their ethnic origin. First class citizens are obliged to serve in the armed forces, kept on ready reserve status until in their forties, and accorded an impressive array of housing, medical, social security, educational and related benefits denied all others.

Seven countries yesterday (August 18) resolved to deploy soldiers to keep peace in Somalia in a few weeks. They have started revising an Operational Deployment Mission Plan for presentation to the UN Security Council to allow for the lifting of an arms embargo in the region. They are Kenya, Ethiopia, Sudan, Somalia, Djibouti, Eritrea and Uganda.

Reuters Foundation and the World Conservation Union (IUCN) launch the 2006 Media Awards for Excellence in Environmental Reporting. The awards, aim to help raise global awareness of environmental and sustainable development issues, by encouraging high standards in environmental reporting worldwide. Journalists working in print and online media are invited to submit entries to 2006 Reuters-IUCN Media Awards.

This book focuses on the militarisation of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs), especially in Africa. The planned and spontaneous arming of refugees and IDPs threatens access to asylum as well as protection. This book attempts to explain why displaced people arm themselves or how militarisation affects the local and host populations.

The 11th One World Fellowship Scheme, run in collaboration with the British Council, is currently open to applications to join the 2006 programme. Aimed at senior radio and television broadcasters from developing countries, the scheme brings a select group of broadcast professionals to the UK for a 2 week period in November. During this time a packed and varied programme is set up, tailored to meet the interests of those selected to participate.

Mama Cash Grants support women's groups that champion a woman's right to control her own body. Grants range from 500 euros to 20,000 euros. Applications for The Netherlands and Europe as well as the Global South (Asia and the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean) and the former Soviet Union, can be submitted throughout the entire year.

In developing countries, girls lag behind boys, according to the latest World Bank research. The discrepancy is explained in part by the fact that male teachers discriminate against girls. Girls are perceived as less intelligent while boys are given more opportunity to talk and participate.

The International AIDS Conference in Toronto, Canada this week (August 15-19) attracted more than 24,000 activists, policymakers and scientists to reflect and strategise on responses to the global pandemic. Celebrities such as Bill and Melinda Gates, Bill Clinton and Richard Gere, brought much needed public attention and media to the feminization of HIV/AIDS, however, it also highlighted the danger of having these personalities dominate the discourse and promote a depoliticized analysis of women's rights, as was often witnessed in Toronto this week.

Amnesty International launched a campaign to highlight the problems faced by women in Sierra Leone in accessing the justice system. Every day, women in rural Sierra Leone face discrimination and violence at the hands of the men in their homes and communities. When they try to access justice to address such abuses, they are often faced with further abuse and violence - often as a result of local chiefs exceeding their legal authority and imposing punishments against women based on customary law.

The Conference aims to build on what has already been accomplished by greater NGO and civil society participation in many of the debates taking place at the United Nations, including Informal Interactive Hearings by the General Assembly President with NGOs, civil society and private sector representatives. Speakers at the Conference are being asked to illustrate their work on the ground by real-life examples of effective partnerships to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

With the EASSy fibre cable coming on stream in 2008, Africa could be expected to increase its use of cheaper fibre links for connectivity. A new report, however, suggests there are still many reasons satellite will remain the dominant transmission medium on the continent for the next three to five years.

This organisation is looking for applicants with a strong interest in the education transformation process in South Africa and in providing sustained related in-service teacher development and support at primary school level. S/he must have sound knowledge of the National Curriculum for Foundation Phase and a tertiary teaching/education or relevant field qualification.

The incumbent will independently provide support services to satisfy the overall operational objectives of USAID Namibia. S/he must have 5 years of senior experience managing HIV/AIDS programmes, ideally in a developing country context. Applicants must be U.S. citizens able to obtain a secret security clearance. Application deadline August 18.

A study from KwaZulu-Natal has revealed shocking details of a super-tuberculosis strain – XDR TB – that is resistant to all first and second line TB drugs and has an extraordinary high death rate. South Africa does not yet have any drugs to treat people with XDR TB.

SACCAWU (South African Commercial Catering and Allied Workers Union) members employed by Shoprite have been engaged in lunch hour pickets effective from 18 July 2006. The pickets, which are but just a component of a protected industrial action, were in response to Shoprite's unreasonable refusal to grant workers an increase of a mere R300.00 or 10%, whichever is greater and also improve their other conditions of work.

According to a 2003 ILO study covering 1,500 cocoa producers in Côte d’Ivoire, there are over 5,000 children working in the country’s cocoa plantations. These children may or may not be paid and are not receiving any form of education. Most come from the neighbouring countries and are victims of the child trafficking rackets organised with Burkina Faso, Benin and Mali.

The August issue of ReConnect Africa is now online. Connecting Africa to the global world, ReConnect Africa is a unique online publication and portal that provides readily accessible information, articles, interviews and jobs in Africa. With essential services for employers who recruit, manage and develop African human resources and careers advice, services and information for graduates and professionals in Africa and the Diaspora seeking opportunities in employment and business in Africa.

The Cape Town World Cinema Festival (CTWCF) will once again showcase the latest international, African and South African films in its programme this year. The focus is on world cinema and more specifically, films from the south. The programme consists of features, documentaries and short films.

Bi Kidude, virtuoso queen of Taraab and Unyago music from Zanzibar, continues to dazzle audiences at the age of 95-plus. Shailja Patel saw her live for the first time at the recently-ended ZIFF Festival of the Dhow Countries.

I.

The woman planted a drum on the grass before her
twisted a soft worn khanga round her hips.
As if she was going to wash clothes, chop vegetables,
hike a child to her back to go to market.
None of us really paid any attention.

The woman harnessed her hips to the drum.
Chest-high, foot-in-diameter uyagi drum.
Placed it aslant between her straddled legs,
settled into position.
Sunken chest erect
shoulders, neck, at the ready,
mouth set over gaping gums,
khanga hiked up skinny strong legs.
Feet placed in the earth
like it was time
to do business.
Like she was going
to work.

Suddenly, we are on
Planet Kidude.
Where men scurry across the mat
place mics, arrange wires, jostle for camera views.
Where she ignores them all
because she has done this for eight decades,
before there were cameras, mics;
decades she hoisted her drum
trudged rich dirt,
the length and breadth of Tanzania
to perform.
Decades she fought off
terror, insults, mockery,
the soul-destroying silence
only the strongest fire survives,
decades she travelled deep and deeper
to the heart of her own rhythm.

This is Bi Kidude.
Virtuoso of Taraab, Uyagi,
woman who at ninety-five, has walked more miles
than most of us have driven,
claimed a lineage
of music rooted
in the lives of the powerless,
stories unfurled in language of street and market,
poetry buried in the bodies of women.

II.

I have never seen a woman ride a drum before
like a goddess rides a tiger
like creation rides the cosmos,
I have never seen a woman ride a drum like this -
I have never seen an artist
male or female,
anywhere across the globe
own their instrument,
like it grew out of their belly
was welded to their thighs.

III.

Then, there were the dancers.

The dancers moved lazily
dropped their cellphones, shook out their khangas
gold at their ears, their necks, their wrists
gold gleamed in their mouths.

The dancers slipped into movement
as a bhajia slips into hot oil
rises to the surface
starts to sizzle.

Now the dancers shake their hips
with precision of balance, control
potency of strength, of muscle isolation
Olympic gymnasts would envy.

They shake their hips
for all of us
who have been taught, coerced
to disown our bodies,
for all women whose bodies
have been stolen from them.

They thrust their succulent buttocks out
with democratic largesse:
tease the old woman in the black buibui,
taunt the white-boy, dreadlocked tourist
who feigns coolness behind his wraparound sunglasses
while I watch his neck turn scarlet
drip with sweat.

The dancers shake their hips for the waitresses
at Africa House hotel, caged
in the most godawful
ugly, cheap, confining,
sweat-producing black skirts, white shirts
to serve drinks to tourists in shorts and bikinis.
Because heaven forbid those who serve
should ever feel breeze on their skins,
heaven forbid those who serve
should move their hips and torsos
freely in clothes that flow,
colours that hum,
we might forget they are servants
we might
see them.

The dancers shake their hips for the women
those waitresses serve. Waxy-pale bikini-clad tourists
at Serena's poolside.
Women who check their bodies daily
for forbidden fat,
outlawed abundance of flesh.
Women of the tragic sisterhood
of liposuction, surgical alteration,
silent epidemic – thirty-thousand anorexia deaths per year.
Women taught that beauty
equals self-annihilation.

These dancers shake their hips
for the six-thousand girl children who today
were held down, legs spread, hands tied, gagged, blindfolded
tortured beyond screaming,
violated beyond horror,
circumcised
for the crime
of a clitoris.

They shake their hips for every woman
infected with HIV
by a man who valued her life
less than his gratification.

These women who circle Bi Kidude
as planets orbit the sun,
circle like temple snakes
sinuous panthers
the source where sound begins,
they are shaking the bounty
of women's bodies
back into the world.

Their hips and butts are saying
YESS!!
YES - to largeness that does not apologise.
YES - to power, knowledge that do not disguise themselves.
YES -to pleasure, claimed and vested
in our mortal beautiful bodies.

III

I will never fear aging again
because now I have heard Bi Kidude
belt out, at ninety-five, without a mic
tobacco-stained waves of sound
sandpapered down to coconut fibre
stronger than cables of steel.

I will never fear aging again
because now I have seen Bi Kidude
whose face has never touched
an anti-wrinkle cream,
an age-defying glycolic acid enzyme peel,
who knocks back whisky, cigarettes
for every ounce of moisturizer I consume,
hypnotise a hundred cameras.

I have felt the power of this woman's neck
her shoulder muscles
surge thunder down arm
to hand to drum;
generate more electricity
than ten Madonnas,
a hundred Fela Kutis with sixteen-piece bands,
take us back to the center of fertile creation
where sound begins.

IV.

I believe in Bi Kidude
the way I don't believe in god.

But if god were a ninety-five-year old, ebony black
Swahili woman,
who claims to be one hundred and twenty,
with a mouth full of broken and missing teeth
hands veined like banyan trees
a drum between her legs,
a kijiti between her defiant, all-knowing lips
a shillingi-mia-kumi note flapping out of her neckline;

if god chanted wickedly satirical shairi
about the dangers of the very deathstick
she sucks on;

if god embraced irony, lust, contradiction
heartbreak, imperfection,
if god flaunted her struggles like a velvet cape,
rearranged the atoms of the world
with the rhythm of her gut

then maybe I would believe
in that god.
That god who is only a name
for the genius in all of us
that makes us our own imam and prophet
our own divinity.

I would call the faithful to prayer:
Bomba Kidude! Kidude Saafi!

And they would holler back: Saafi!
They would holler back: Saafi!
They would holler back: SAAFI!

And we would all be

god.

* Shailja Patel is a Kenyan Indian poet and spoken word artist. Visit her at

* Background on Bi Kidude (Courtesy of Busara Promotions)

She is about 93 or something like that, but still she is the undisputed queen of taarab and unyago traditional music. Bi Kidude is still alive and kicking, touring Europe as well as Africa spreading taarab music. You might wonder what keeps this legendary barefoot diva strong and active despite her age, but as she says herself "everytime I sing I feel like a 14-year old girl!”

Bi Kidude's exact date of birth is unknown, much of her life story is uncorroborated, giving her an almost mythical status. Kidude started out her musical career in the 1920s, and learnt many of her songs with Siti bint Saad. She has performed in countries all around Europe, Middle East and Japan and finally recorded her first solo album ("Zanzibar", Retroafric Recordings) only six years ago, while in her mid-eighties. Recently she released a second locally-produced album ("Machozi ya Huba", Heartbeat Records) with her traditional drums influencing the burgeoning Zenji Flava local hip-hop scene in one of the most remarkable juxtapositions of musical style in modern 'World Music'.

Since fleeing a forced marriage at the age of 13 and escaping her homeland of Zanzibar, Bi Kidude has led an extraordinary and varied career as a drummer, singer, henna artist and natural healer. Her first journey was to the mainland of Tanzania, where she walked the length and breadth of the country barefoot. Fleeing a second unhappy marriage, Bi Kidude boarded a dhow, the ancient sailing vessels of the Swahili coast and journeyed north to Egypt where she became a renowned singer in the foremost dance bands of 1930's Egypt.

With renewed confidence and a new attitude to tradition (by now Kidude had thrown off her veil and shaved her head!) she returned, slowly to Zanzibar where she acquired a small clay house in the 1940's and settled down to life grounded in the traditional roots of society. Her role was as part of the 'Unyago' movement, which prepares young Swahili women for their transition through puberty and she excelled at the art of henna designing for young brides, manufacturing her own 'wanja' application from age old recipes fit 'to make a rainbow shine'. To this day, Bi Kidude performs traditional unyago music and is still the island's leading exponent of this ancient dance ritual, performed exclusively for teenage girls, which uses traditional rhythms to teach women to pleasure their husbands, while lecturing against the dangers of sexual abuse and oppression.

Her many talents were acknowledged by Zanzibar International Film Festival (ZIFF) at the second Festival of the Dhow Countries in 1999, when she was awarded "Lifetime Achievement Award for Contribution to the Arts."

Bi Kidude's is a remarkable story, one which challenges our perception of age, and of the role of women in Islam. She has never conformed to the media stereotype of a Muslim woman ever since she removed her veil. To see a ninety-something year old Muslim woman drink, smoke, flirt, dance and drum is a unique experience. To witness the transformation as she reverses the ageing process and changes from a wrinkled granny into a vital shining star is nothing short of revelationary.

For the past three months Bi Kidude has been setting the festivals and concert venues of Europe ablaze, where she has been receiving rapturous reviews of her performances with Zanzibar's illustrious Culture Musical Club taarab orchestra. With her humble manner, incredible stage personality, voice and strength, Bi Kidude is favourite with audiences wherever the group performs.

Midway through this tour, the whole of Zanzibar was thrown into shock and disarray when a rumour spread fast through the island that Bi Kidude had died. From the narrow streets of Stone Town to the barazas of N'gambo and throughout the villages this was the only topic of conversation as the island rapidly acquired the atmosphere of mourning. This rumour continued to spread even long after the offices of Busara Promotions had disseminated confirmation from Bi Kidude's European promoters that on the contrary, she was alive and very well. She may have been surprised to hear that people in Zanzibar think that she has died:

"Sijafa bado. Labda sababu watu hawajaonana nami sasa karibu mwezi. Lakini bado tunaendelea na safari na bado safari ndefu ya miezi miwili. Lakini sijambo, sina wasiwasi miye. Kuimba naimba na nguvu zote ambazo ninazo ili watu wafurahi."

"I haven't died yet. Maybe people are saying that because they haven't seen me around for almost a month. But we are still continuing our tour which lasts for two more months. Me, I'm well, I have no problem. Me I sing with all my strength and continue to make people happy."

In September she will be packing her drums and travelling again, to perform a series of shows around KwaZulu Natal at the invitation of Awesome Africa Festival, culminating in a shared performance with South Africa's legendary Mahotella Queens.

Courtesy of Busara Promotions.

International organizations, governments, academia, industry, and the media have all begun to grapple with the information society as a global policy issue. The contributors to this timely volume examine the links between information technology and human rights from a range of disciplinary perspectives.

Evelyn Kwamboka, a reporter with the Standard, last Friday opposed a plea by the state to have her take the witness stand to disclose sources of a court story appearing in the newspaper on June 28, according to a report on The reporter had been served with summons requiring her to disclose the source of a story she authored on the Bishop Gilbert Deya's so-called miracle babies' saga.

Pregnant women aged between 25 and 29, living in KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and Gauteng are worst affected by HIV. But the biggest increases in HIV are among pregnant women aged 35 to 39, and those living in North West. This is according to the annual HIV and syphilis prevalence survey for 2005.

This week an application was launched in the Johannesburg High Court asking the Court to declare that the decisions of Johannesburg Water to limit free basic water supply to 6 kilolitres per household per month and to unilaterally install prepayment meters are unconstitutional and unlawful. The Court is being asked to order Johannesburg Water (Pty) Ltd. to provide a free basic water supply of 50 litres per person per day, and the option of a credit-metered supply installed at the cost of the City of Johannesburg, to the residents of Phiri, Soweto.

As air and ground fighting continues to kill and maim in the Middle East, Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed looks at the broader ramifications of the current conflict – and the ultimate price that it might extract.

Over 300 people killed, most of them civilians. 1,000 wounded. Half a million and rising displaced from their homes. A third of these Lebanese casualties, according to the UN, have been children. These estimated figures dwarf in scale the terror and tragedy that paralysed London almost around the same time last year, when 52 were killed and over 700 wounded in a coordinated bomb attack on the commuter transport system.

What's happening in Lebanon is six times the devastation, six times the agony, six times the trauma, six times the terror of the 7/7 terrorist attacks. But leaders in the UK, US and European governments don't seem to think so. They have all unanimously fumbled their fingers and mumbled meaninglessly as Israel has proceeded to respond to Hizbollah's capture of Israeli Defence Force (IDF) combatants - an action in concordance with legitimate military resistance against illegal occupation - by ruthlessly smashing civilian life and infrastructure in Beirut.

IDF operations have targeted key civilian installations, including water and sanitation systems, destroyed Lebanon's largest dairy farm and pharmeceutical plant, shelled UN posts sheltering civilians, flattened whole villages, and turned mosques, churches and houses into rubble. They have cut off roads and bridges, blocking urgently needed humanitarian assistance.

But such terrorist attacks, when targeted against the Other, no longer constitute terrorism at all; in our Orwellian world of media double-speak, they become instead laudable acts of valour. In fact, when an Israeli air strike killed 8 Canadian citizens in southern Lebanon, US Ambassador to the UN John Bolton emphasized that such deaths due to IDF operations are morally different to the deaths of Israelis due to attacks by Hizbollah. "I think it would be a mistake to ascribe moral equivalence to civilians who die as the direct result of malicious terrorist acts," he said. In contrast, Israeli military operations constituted only "self-defense", with the "the tragic and unfortunate consequence of civilian deaths."

Dead Lebanese are unworthy victims. They don't count. But Israeli lives do. The moral distinction drawn by Bolton is not in fact moral at all; it is political, a political decision to view the lives of one group of human beings as sacred, and another group as functionally irrelevant. Such "moral" distinctions are central to the legitimization of large-scale systematic violence against a particular human group.

The Beirut bombings are not the result of a fundamentally religious conflict. Israel Defence Force raids are indiscriminately murdering Lebanese and non-Lebanese Muslims, Jews and Christians. It's difficult, caught in the horror of the bloodied bodies left in the wake IDF air strikes, to remind ourselves of the context of the crisis, and its strategic trajectories. But the broad ramifications must be understood.

Israeli policy-planners have long envisaged a protracted wider regional conflict as a potentially useful way for Israel to achieve longstanding historical objectives. Israeli spokesmen have been at pains to characterize the conflict as a regional conspiracy against Israel hatched by Iran and Syria. But this obscures the fact that, although the latter indeed provide support for Hizbollah, the Lebanese resistance group remains an autonomous and outspoken organization rooted firmly in its national homeland. US and Israeli officials, however, see the drastic escalation of the conflict as an opportunity to explore the prospects for US-Israeli military expansionism.

The invasion of Iraq was, we ought to remind ourselves, merely the first stage in a rolling strategy for the reconfiguration of the Middle East whose existence is now well-documented and indisputable. Reporting for Time Magazine in February 2003, Joe Klein – a member of the Council on Foreign Relations – observed that: “Israel is very much embedded in the rationale for war with Iraq. It is part of the argument that dare not speak its name, a fantasy quietly cherished by the neo-conservative faction in the Bush administration and by many leaders of the American Jewish Community.” The US war on Iraq was intended to be the beginning of a whole new era in the Middle East, designed to “send a message to Syria and Iran about the perils of support for Islamic terrorists,” bring an end to the Palestinian problem, and shake the “wobbly Hashemite monarchy in Jordan.” We are now seeing the next stages of this "new era" in construction.

Need we also remind ourselves of the influential 1996 strategy paper authored by David Wurmser published by the Institute for Advanced Strategic and Political Studies (IASPS) based in Jerusalem and Washington D.C.? It advised: "The battle to dominate and define Iraq is, by extension, the battle to dominate the balance of power in the Levant over the long run... The United States must support moves to challenge Syria’s position in Lebanon, to undermine Iran, to ensure Turkey’s long-term pro-Western tilt and integration into Europe, to support Jordan’s efforts in Iraq, and to understand better the dynamics of Saudi succession as they relate to its foreign policy."

The overwhelming danger is plain for all reasonable observers to see. Israel is escalating its aggression, in both diplomatic rhetoric and military conduct, against Beirut, Damascus and Tehran, knowing full-well that this is dramatically increasing the probability of a wider conflict. Tehran has loudly confirmed its solidarity with Damascus in the event of a serious Israeli assault there. As the IDF continues to terrorise Lebanon with impunity while our own governments continue to supply military and financial aid to Israel, Hizbollah is left with little option but to escalate its own responses with support from Iran and Syria. As usual, Hizbollah's responses are in turn cited by Israel as ample justification for increasing its own indiscriminate massacres of Lebanese civilians, which further aggravates and escalates Hizbollah's retaliations.

As the cycle widens and deepens, US leaders and experts increasingly blame Iran, albeit without evidence, for engineering Hizbollah's initial operation to capture the IDF soldiers. The danger that the increasing involvement of Iran and/or Syria in the conflict could be exploited by Israel to convert it into a full-scale regional war should not be underestimated. As the late Professor Israel Shahak of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, wrote years ago in his Open Secrets (London: Pluto, 1997):

"The wish for peace, so often assumed as the Israeli aim, is not in my view a principle of Israeli policy, while the wish to extend Israeli domination and influence is… Israel is preparing for a war, nuclear if need be, for the sake of averting domestic change not to its liking, if it occurs in some or any Middle Eastern states... Israel clearly prepares itself to seek overtly a hegemony over the entire Middle East…without hesitating to use for the purpose all means available, including nuclear ones."

There could perhaps be no better time to heed Shahak's warning than now, when both the US and Israel, with British complicity and European duplicity, are maneuvering themselves into a position where they can legitimize the opening of multiple military confrontations with Lebanon, Iran and Syria. The nuclear implications have never been lost. Both Britain and the United States have adopted first-strike nuclear policies, and are actively pursuing tactical nuclear weapons to make such unconventional warfare strategically viable. US Vice-President Dick Cheney continues to spend most of his time in secret nuclear bunkers where he oversees the establishment and functioning of an unelected network of unknown officials, planned to immediately come into power in the event of a nuclear strike against the United States.

For the last few decades in the Middle East, armageddon has long lingered on the horizon, but in light of recent events, its shadow looms closer. Our leaders are not rational, trustworthy individuals, and we are not safe in their hands. We do not want to experience 7th July 2005 a thousand times over. So we must take action, now; which means making the voices of we, the people, heard so clearly and overwhelmingly that those who kill and support killing in our name can do so no longer.

* This article first appeared on Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed is the author of The London Bombings: An Independent Inquiry (London: Duckworth, 2006,

* Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at www.pambazuka.org

* Links on the Middle East crisis

- Five Israeli myths
http://members5.boardhost.com/medialens/msg/1153759483.html
- Organisation of African Trade Union press release on Lebenon
http://epetition.net/julywar/index.php
- Support relieve efforts
http://www.choike.org/nuevo_eng/informes/4636.html
- Diary of Liberians in Beirut
http://itf.typepad.com/lebanon/
- Other blogs
http://lebanonupdates.blogspot.com/
http://siegeoflebanon.blogspot.com/
http://www.fromisraeltolebanon.org/

A delegation of about 150 people from northern Uganda has arrived in Maridi, Western Equatoria State of southern Sudan, on their way to meet the leader of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), Joseph Kony. Sources said the meeting was likely to take place on Thursday in Nabanga, near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo. The LRA, the sources added, had been holed up in this area and in Garamba national park for some time now.

Voters in the Democratic Republic of Congo go to the polls on July 30 for the first time in 40 years and after a four-year transitional period that followed a brutal war. Theodore Kasongo Kamwimbi points to the failure of the DRC to achieve justice for victims of human rights abuses as a significant threat to the elections, future peace and stability. “Many younger people argue that they won’t let the perpetrators walk free forever. They guarantee that sooner or later they will honour the memory of the loved ones innocently massacred, raped, abused, abducted by those who are running the country and want to run it indefinitely.”

After five years of war and terror which left more than three million dead and thousands displaced, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is struggling to make way for the establishment of a new society. The process is on track so far, as the first democratic elections, initially scheduled for April and June 2006, are finally confirmed to take place on 30 July 2006. The elections are the result of various rounds of negotiations and peace accords between the DRC government, Mai-Mai militia, rebel groups, non-armed political opposition parties and representatives of civil society.

During the negotiation process, the government of the Republic was represented by the former government led by President Joseph Kabila. Rebel groups were represented by the Rwanda-backed Congolese Rally for Democracy (Rassemblement Congolais pour la Démocratie, RCD-Goma), the Uganda-backed Movement for the Liberation of Congo (Mouvement pour la Libération du Congo, MLC), the Congolese Rally for Democracy-National (Rassemblement Congolais pour la Démocratie-National (RCD-N), the Congolese Rally for Democracy/Kisangani- Liberation Movement (Rassemblement Congolais pour la Démocratie/Kisangani- Mouvement de Libération, RCD/K-ML). Non-armed political opposition parties were represented by the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (Union pour la Démocratie et le Progrès Social, UDPS), Unified Lumumbist Party (Parti Lumumbiste Unifié, PALU), National Congolese Movement-Lumumba (Mouvement National Congolais- Lumumba, M.N.C./L), Popular Movement for the Revolution- Fait Privé (Mouvement Populaire de la Révolution- Fait Privé (MPR- Fait Privé), Innovative Forces for Union and Solidarity (Forces Novatrices pour l’Union et la Solidarité, FONUS) and Democratic and Social Christian Party (Parti Social et Démocrate Chrétien, PDSC).

The first positive achievement of the process was the global and all-inclusive agreement on transition in the DRC signed by all parties in Pretoria, South Africa on 16 December 2002. Despite the difficulties and misunderstandings which characterised the political negotiations, under the guidance and supervision of the international community all the parties managed to reach a final agreement in Sun City, on 2 April 2003. In order to sign the agreement and end the conflict, all the parties were asked to make a power-sharing concession in the form of a government of national unity. A transitional government of national unity was formed. However the rebel groups, including RCD-Goma, MNC, RCD-N submitted to participation in the government on the non-negotiable condition of being granted amnesty for all offences committed during the conflict. As a result no condition was imposed on the belligerent groups to apologise, tell the truth or ask for forgiveness for their wrongdoings.

The majority of Congolese people as well as the principal non-armed opposition parties, including UDPS, PALU, FONUS and PDSC were unanimous in their criticism of the amnesty offered as impunity in the name of reconciliation. The former perpetrators could not, during the transition, be prosecuted and punished, in order to preserve peace and prevent a relapse into conflict. But, in the opinion of many Congolese, reconciliation through justice and truth is extremely crucial in the DRC context considering the degree of violence and terror that occurred during the years of conflict. Therefore, the key question is whether reconciliation has really started in the DRC if as Alex Boraine argues:

“Reconciliation can begin when perpetrators are held accountable, when truth is sought openly and fearlessly, when institutional reform commences and when the need for reparation is acknowledged and acted upon.” [1]

In other words, it can be argued that a given society can be considered as reconciled only if a number of conditions are fulfilled:

- Accountability of perpetrators

Reconciliation can indeed begin when perpetrators are held accountable for their wrongdoings. But in the DRC context that is not the case as former perpetrators have not been prosecuted and have not acknowledged or disclosed their wrongdoings. Therefore, they have not shown any remorse to the victims and the community as a whole. It is obvious that the decision to grant amnesty to them for political reasons is unlikely to promote national reconciliation and meet the population’s demands for justice.

In the Congolese public opinion, the best way of holding someone accountable for his act or omission is through the judiciary system as established by the law. If a presumed perpetrator does not appear in a court of law for his alleged criminal actions or omissions, that is considered to breed impunity. This absence of justice has created frustration among the Congolese and caused private vengeance and cycles of violence between communities.

For instance, in the North-eastern DRC the culture of impunity has resulted in a cycle of ethnic violence among the local populations as reported by Human Rights Watch in its briefing paper of January 2004. This kind of attitude is believed to be exacerbated, especially in the case of amnesty granted to former perpetrators in order to reach political agreement. Moreover, as long as the former perpetrators have now become state officials capable of taking executive decisions, the justice option is clearly difficult to achieve. The other reason is that some of them still have military capability and could take up their weapons and destabilise the peace process once again.

- Open and fearless truth-seeking

It is argued that reconciliation can begin when truth is sought openly and fearlessly. But in the DRC, although the appropriate non-judicial mechanism, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) is well established, truth-telling is not happening. The TRC resulted from the Inter-Congolese Dialogue to establish the truth and give the perpetrators the opportunity to seek forgiveness and pay compensation to their victims. This has not happened yet, as the TRC hasn’t called and put together victims and perpetrators to facilitate reconciliation.

Congolese people and civil society organisations are pessimistic concerning any success of the truth-telling model and thence, its ability to achieve reconciliation. This seems true given the fact that the TRC has a bounded mandate and has to submit its complete and final report before the end of the transitional period. According to the new calendar released by the Independent Electoral Commission on 12 January 2006 the elections in June 2006 will end the transitional period. Moreover, as its President, Bishop Jean-Luc Kuye told the International Centre for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) in August 2004, the TRC is unable to undertake investigations of human rights violations. Instead, it has focused its work on conflict-mediation activities. [2] As it can be noticed, in this case it is difficult to imagine a face-to-face process between perpetrators and their victims, as the TRC is not even able to identify the crimes committed.

- Effectiveness of Institutional Reform

It is argued that reconciliation can begin when institutional reform commences effectively. In this regard, the DRC is far from achieving its goals in relation to the reform of government sectors. For instance, the government has not managed to reform the public administration, justice system, nor to unify, restructure and reintegrate the security forces, including police and the army. Without institutional reform fair and free general elections, sustained peace and stability, and go forward in the reconstruction process will be impossible.

One of the major obstacles for peace, reconciliation and stability in the DRC remains the army and security forces. Indeed, during the last years of war and violence the DRC had more than five different armed groups fighting against each other for control of different portions of territory. The Ugandan backed MLC was in control of the Northwestern part of the country, while the Northeastern part was under the control of RCD/N, RCD-ML, UPC rebel group and other militia groups. The Kivu and North-Katanga provinces were controlled by the Rwandan backed RCD/ Goma and the Mai-Mai militia. The rest of the territory was under the control of the Congolese national army, FAC and national police.

All these groups were enemies for a long time, but now they need to be part of the new unified, restructured, reintegrated and inclusive security forces under construction. As is evident, this will be an extremely difficult and challenging task, but it is essential for sustainable peace and reconciliation in the DRC as well as in the rest of the Great Lakes region. To date, the unification and integration process of the army is far from being achieved given both the hostility of former belligerent armies to the transitional government and the divisions between them on the basis of ethnicity.

For example, the majority of the former RCD-Goma, Congolese Tutsi known as Banyamulenge, fight regularly against other units composed of other Congolese ethnic groups. It has been reported that a number of former RCD soldiers, mainly Congolese Tutsi, are deserting the new integrated army to join the dissident General Laurent Nkunda. In fact, Laurent Nkunda, a Tutsi Congolese, was a senior military officer in the former rebel group RCD-Goma. In accordance with the Global and All-inclusive Agreement signed in Pretoria by all the warring parties, he was named general in a new integrated Congolese army. But, he declined the offer and withdrew his troops to Masisi in North Kivu province from where he threatened to overthrow the government in Kinshasa on the pretext of rescuing, protecting and defending his community members, "threatened" by the Congolese government. In September 2004, Nkunda was sentenced in absentia by a Congolese military court and an international arrest warrant was issued against him after he briefly seized and occupied Bukavu, the capital city of South Kivu province. But, to date the DRC police and army as well as the UN peacekeeping forces have not been able to arrest him. Human Rights Watch [3] criticized this failure in a statement released on 1 February 2006.

Urgent reform is also needed in the public administration sector which is generally corrupt. As a result, corruption has been strongly institutionalised in all national sectors in the DRC. For reform to happen, political will is needed from officials with the support of the Congolese people.

- Acknowledgment of the need for reparation

It is argued that reconciliation can begin when the need for reparation is acknowledged and acted upon. In the DRC, former perpetrators haven’t acknowledged their wrongdoings and showed their willingness to pay reparations to victims or survivors. This attitude has made the victims feel forgotten and abandoned. Yet, the majority of former perpetrators in power have enough resources to pay compensation to their victims. It’s just a question of political will and personal conscience. Like in South Africa, the issue of individual reparations for victims could be used in the DRC context to appease victims’ anger over the amnesty process. [4] Victims would feel morally rehabilitated if the need for symbolic reparations was acknowledged. Reparation is indeed essential for reconciliation to sustain peace and democracy. In this regard, Charles Villa-Vicencio argues that reconciliation includes reparation because to exclude socio-economic justice from the reconciliation process is to endanger the prospects of democratic consolidation. [5]

As demonstrated, all conditions to begin reconciliation are not fulfilled in the DRC and both the rule of law and truth-telling mechanisms have failed up to now. Therefore, the Congolese believe that the only remaining option would be the international criminal judicial model. This option has also been called for by various local and international human rights organisations given the scale of abuses committed in the last five years. An International Criminal Court process could possibly work if the DRC ratified the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) by Decree-Law No 13/2002 of 30 March 2002. This international court would deal with crimes not covered by the amnesty law, including war crimes and crimes against humanity. But, cooperation between the Congolese judicial system and the ICC would be necessary. Congolese officials have already shown their willingness in that regard by inviting the ICC prosecuting authority to proceed with investigations on the ground. The ICC has responded to the Congolese request and promised the significant involvement of victims of violence in the north-eastern region of Ituri in the inquiry process, as reported by the Catholic Missionary International Service News Agency (MISNA) on 20 January 2006.

The ICC exercises jurisdiction over crimes against humanity, war crimes, aggression and genocide in accordance with article 5 (1) of Rome Statute under which it was established. But in order to prosecute those crimes the ICC has to work with the Congolese government and judicial authorities. This is required by the principle of complementarity provided in Paragraph 10 of the preamble of the Rome Statute of the ICC. In accordance with this principle, priority to exercise jurisdiction over the crimes mentioned in article 5 is reserved to national courts, unless the State in question is unwilling or unable to prosecute, as stated in article 17 (a). The ICC should prosecute those who committed the crimes within its jurisdiction; otherwise the question of impunity will once again be raised, which undermines deterrence and encourages recidivism.

As an international body, the ICC was created to fight impunity and rejects any procedures or institutions that protect perpetrators from accountability. One may wonder about the impact of the ICC proceedings on the reconciliation process in the DRC. In the DRC context, the ICC is indeed in a good position to prosecute the crimes committed because the Congolese judicial system is unable to prosecute given the multidimensional problems it is facing. Among those problems the key ones are: corruption, nepotism, tribalism, lack of professionalism, lack of impartiality and the absence of an independent judiciary. Another major reason why the DRC national judicial system is unable to prosecute has been the political situation on the ground, which gave Congolese authorities no choice other than negotiations.

Paul Van Zyl [6] argues that it would be irresponsible to prosecute those perpetrators who are able to jeopardise peaceful transition to stable democracy and peace. However, alternative transitional justice mechanisms are still feasible and possible in the DRC context. For instance, acknowledgement and apology would be one of the better options for the former perpetrators to reconcile with their victims. This happened once, during the 1991 Sovereign National Conference, when many officials and members of Mobutu’s party came and apologised publicly to the Congolese people. That attitude was well received and appreciated by the whole nation, but unfortunately the perpetrators’ acts were not sincere.

One of the key actors in the Congolese political arena, MLC leader and Vice-president for economic and financial affairs, Jean-Pierre Bemba has publicly apologised for atrocities, crimes and pillages committed by his soldiers during the war. Bemba made his apology in his speech at his party’s congress where he was designated as a candidate for the forthcoming Presidential elections. One may, of course, wonder whether he apologized in order to get sympathy and support from the Congolese people with a view to the elections, or if he sincerely apologised and sought forgiveness. Time will tell.

The overriding issue, at this stage, is whether the Congolese will be willing to let their perpetrators decide their destiny. The majority of Congolese believe that they are subject to the will of those who committed mass human rights violations against them. Many younger people argue that they won’t let the perpetrators walk free forever. They guarantee that sooner or later they will honour the memory of the loved ones innocently massacred, raped, abused, abducted by those who are running the country and want to run it indefinitely. In consequence reconciliation without truth and justice in the DRC poses a significant risk to the future stability of the country.

* Theodore Kasongo Kamwimbi is a lawyer to the Kinshasa Court of Appeal, currently acting as the Fellows Programme Coordinator at the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation (IJR) in Cape Town, South Africa. He has published and co-published several articles, including “Hat Kongo eine Friedensperspektive?”, a Newspaper article published in Germany in the Der Überblick in July 2006 as well as ‘DRC moves towards first democratic elections: Congo peace prospects precarious’, a Newspaper article published in The Cape Times on 5 July 2006. (contact [email][email protected] or [email][email protected])

* Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at www.pambazuka.org

Notes:

[1] Boraine, Alex (2004) ‘Transitional Justice’, in Villa-Vicencio, Charles and Doxtader, Erik (eds.) Pieces of the Puzzle: Keywords on Reconciliation and Transitional Justice, Cape Town: IJR, p. 69-70.
[2] Borello, Federico (2004) ‘A First Few Steps: The Long Road to a Just Peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo’, Occasional Paper Series, New-York: ICTJ p.46.
[3] Human Rights Watch (2006) ‘D.R. Congo: Arrest Laurent Nkunda For War Crimes: Military and U.N. Should Act to Protect Civilians’, New York, Available at http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2006/01/31/congo12579.htm Accessed on: 2 February 2006
[4] Lyster, Richard (2000) ‘Amnesty: the burden of victims’ in Villa-Vicencio, Charles and Verwoerd, Wilhelm, Looking back Reaching Forward: Reflections on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa, UCT Press: Cape Town, p.189.
[5] Villa-Vicencio, Charles (2004) ‘Reconciliation’, in Villa-Vicencio, Charles and Doxtader, Erik (eds.) Pieces of the Puzzle: Keywords on Reconciliation and Transitional Justice, Cape Town: IJR, p. 8.
[6] Van Zyl, Paul (2000) ‘Justice without Punishment: Guaranteeing Human Rights in Transitional Societies’ in Villa- Vicencio, Charles and Verwoerd, Wilhelm, Looking back Reaching Forward: Reflections on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa, UCT Press: Cape Town, p. 43.

It’s more than a year since the May 2005 Ethiopian elections collapsed in chaos, resulting in violence, arrests, imprisonments and a press crackdown. How can the country move forward towards elections in 2010? Now is the time for the government to dodge the election trends of other African governments. Now is the time for dialogue and tolerance, writes Erkyihun Lagere. Only if this happens can Ethiopia truly fulfill is reputation as a mosaic culture.

The parliamentary election in Ethiopia in May 2005 was unique in Ethiopian history, and can be compared to the South African elections of 1994 where all South Africans, after 40 years of segregation, went to the polling stations and queued for hours to exercise their democratic rights and put in place a Government of National Unity. It was the first in Ethiopia’s history, especially in a multi party platform, where Ethiopians became aware of and exercised their power to elect their legislators and form a government. Politicians consented not to use the barrel of the gun to access power. It was this sense of assurance that encouraged eligible Ethiopians to go to the polling stations and exercise their newly found democratic rights.

During the Communist regime, the process was manipulated, votes were rigged and members of the communist party were declared the winners at any cost. After the overthrow of the Communist Derg regime in 1991 by the Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Front’s (EPRDF) armed insurgency, the EPRDF’s Meles Zenawi reorganized Ethiopia’s regions along ethnic lines and constructed a political machine that has dominated Ethiopian politics for the past 15 years. Despite widespread opposition to this system among a number of ethnic groups in Ethiopia, the EPRDF and Zenawi had been able to maintain their power. However the existence of a better organized, united opposition combined with an energized electorate strongly contributed to the hope that surrounded the 2005 elections.

The May 2005 Ethiopian Elections

The May 2005 elections drew the attention of Ethiopians at home, the diaspora, and even the international community. It was the first time in Ethiopian history where the incumbent government provided facilities, gave access to government owned media and allowed the opposition to campaign “freely”. While the incumbents still enjoyed some advantages, the pre-election processes were nevertheless unprecedented in several ways:

1. It was the first [1] election that took place in a multi-party platform. According to the Associated Press, it was “the most competitive election in the country’s 3,000 year history” [2].

2. There was an open debate (discussion) in the media between the incumbent and opposition political parties.

3. All political parties condemned violence and requested their supporters to go to the polling stations and cast their vote.

4. The four major parties signed a non-violence pact.

5. It was the first election in Ethiopian history where Ethiopians went to the polls believing that they could cast votes and elect a government of their choice.

6. It was a practical demonstration of attempts to accommodate the interests of opposition political parties. The hope was perhaps best captured by Desalegn Rahamato from the Forum for Social Studies who was quoted saying: “We do not expect a miracle, certainly nobody expects the government to lose but we are hoping that the composition of parliament will change substantially so there will be more opposition.” [3]

What went wrong?

The Prime Minister’s premature announcement of EPRDF’s overwhelming victory [4] was the beginning of the rift in the political process, which subsequently led to allegations and counter allegations that increased the gap between opposition political parties and EPRDF [5]. This premature announcement challenged the power of the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) which was the only institution empowered to declare the election results.

The NEBE’s inability to intervene immediately to stop the incursion increased dissent, led to civil violence and forced the residents of Addis Ababa to demonstrate and express their dissatisfaction with the handling of the election results. Although the incumbent government claimed that the opposition political parties instigated and backed the civil violence – the government’s violent suppression of demonstrations also escalated and triggered more violence.

The incumbent government breached the non-violence agreement signed before the election, and violated the people’s constitutional right to peaceful demonstration and gathering. Even worse, mass arrests of students, innocent civilians and leaders of the opposition were carried out. Some of the imprisoned opposition leaders had won Parliamentary seats even in the rigged election.

The derailment of the democratic processes led to the curtailment of press freedom, the arrest of journalists and the closure of private newspapers. Further, it created tension among ethnic groups and sporadic violence in the southern part of Ethiopia that could have been exploited by politicians to orchestrate ethnic violence. In the Diaspora, the consequences were a series of demonstrations, public meetings, vigils, and lobbying of governments and donors to reconsider their relations and restrict development assistance.

Elections in Africa

Was the process in Ethiopia different from other African countries? What are the election trends in Africa? At this junction it would be useful to briefly analyze the election trends within other countries in Africa in order to shed light on the Ethiopian case.

It is a public knowledge that most African elections are marred with fraud and vote rigging. In most cases in Africa, opposition political parties claim victory in major cities while the incumbent governments do so in rural areas. In the post conflict environment of most African countries, an incumbent government rarely wins votes in metropolitan areas. The rationale being that the cities hold the enlightened members of the society (the elites, unionized labor force etc.) who are politically conscious, and rely on the often poorly provided services (water, electricity, health) of the incumbent government.

Further, they are also the immediate victims of government policies, which are designed to attract donors, and the international community to demonstrate governments commitment to good governance. Thus, the perpetually dissatisfied urban electorate demonstrate their anger through huge turn outs at polling stations to vote against the incumbent government that threatens their livelihood; though they know that their vote will not make a huge impact on the overall result. In addition, the presence of the international community and international observers predominantly in urban areas makes it more challenging for the incumbent government to rig votes in cities compared to rural areas.

However, in rural Africa with low literacy rates, difficult living conditions, and well established control mechanisms, the electorate can be coerced, bribed and manipulated to vote for the incumbent. If they vote against an incumbent that stays in power, they will be denied access to fertilizer, insecticide, veterinary care, healthcare and other essential services the government provides. For the sake of survival, the rural communities have to comply with the instructions of government officials. As mentioned earlier, the lack of transportation and hospitality infrastructure limits the number of international or even domestic observes in rural areas, making it easy to rig the vote. As an emerging democracy, Ethiopia is affected by all these factors and it should be no surprise that the incumbent EPRDF claimed victory in rural Ethiopia while losing in the big cities.

The consequences of the May 2005 election

Why did the incumbent government rush to declare its party as a winner? I think it was due to a lack of confidence in its own system. The EPRDF believed that they had won the confidences of the electorate in Addis Ababa and other metropolitan areas which in the end turned out to be woefully wrong. As the election results started to become public in the metropolitan areas the party became increasingly frustrated and insecure.

However, the EPRDF should have been conscious of the elections trend in Africa and been prepared for such an outcome: Robert Mugabe’s party ZANU-PF lost in Harare and Bulawayo, Daniel Arap Moi’s party KANU lost in Kisumu, Nairobi, Nakuru and Naivasha. By rushing to announce the result, EPRDF failed to comply with the guidelines of NEBE and this demonstrated a lack of experience in multi-party politics.

Accepting defeat was difficult and unfamiliar in the culture, and the social and political systems. With the exception of rare cases such as Ghana, Kenya, and Zambia, most incumbents in many African countries have rarely accepted defeat and handed over power to the victorious political party. This highlights a crucial issue in African politics – leaders who come to power using the barrel of the gun do not have the confidence to leave the government mansion willingly and become an “ordinary” citizen.

I can understand their fear. Such leaders, while in power, are not interested in developing a system that could provide them a means that would enable them to live as an ordinary citizen, because they do not want to leave power. It has become fashionable to amend Constitutions, extend terms of office, and stay in power for life. This alienates them from the community and they cannot assimilate back if they leave power because of injustices they committed and unlimited powers they exercised over the people. They are foreigners who would only feel secure living in exile from their homeland usually after a last minute peace deal brokered by a western government.

An important question one should ask is why it was necessary to violate the non-violence pact signed before the 2005 Ethiopian elections where the major political parties agreed “[t]o peacefully resolve our differences or other disagreements between and among ourselves”. [6] Why was it necessary to change a relatively smooth democratic process to a violent event where over 40 people lost their lives, thousands (including leaders of opposition political parties, human right activists and civil society organizations, etc.) ended up in detention camps, and freedom of press was curtailed severely.

Losing the elections in Addis Ababa, where the African Union and some international organizations have their headquarters, was an embarrassment for the EPRDF government. As the parliamentary election results continued to become public formally and informally, it became evident that while some senior government officials including the Minister of Education Genet Zewdae, speaker of the House Ato Dawit Yohannes, etc. lost their parliamentary seats in Addis, still more government officials lost in the regional towns. Thus, the EPRDF government, on the notion of maintaining order and peace in the country, banned public meetings and rallies, intimidated, harassed and retaliated against the electorate who voted against EPRDF, using excessive power and denying the people the right to express their views publicly on the results of the election.

It is worth remembering that retaliation or revenge breeds violence and creates a downward spiral of violence. Ethiopians at home and in the Diaspora witnessed and remember how revenge and retaliation spiraled into violence during the early days of the Marxist regime. Loosely translated, one of the slogans that bred violence was “the blood of one revolutionary can be matched by the blood of a thousand anarchists”. It is thirty years later now and I am sure most Ethiopians remember how the retaliatory chain of violence labeled “Red Terror” and “White Terror” wiped out thousands of young and educated Ethiopians.

More recently, Ethiopians will also recall how the EPRDF, which took power in 1991, used this terror to identify with families of the victims, win trust and confidence of Ethiopians and show the atrocities the Communist government committed against its own people. There is no justification for any group including EPRDF to use revenge (violence) as a means to solve the current problem in Ethiopia.

It has become clear that the legal system is too slow, either due to limited capacity or a lack of good will, to provide remedy for those who seek justice, especially those jailed in connection to the May 2005 elections. As all concerned Ethiopians and the international community continue to advocate for justice, it is a ripe time to plan and discuss how the democratic process should continue in Ethiopia. The parliament has only three years and ten months to finish its term and visionary people and their leaders must start preparation for the next elections, which are slated for 2010.

From the contested election results of May 2005, Ethiopians have demonstrated their ability and commitment to use the ballot box to elect leaders who can form a government that respects the rights of its citizens, and is dedicated to good governance. Every politician and even the highest organ responsible for implementing the elections recognized the power of the electorate, as indicated by the NEBE chairman’s comment that “[t]he determination of the people to exercise their democratic rights is a sure guarantee that democracy is here to stay”. [7]

If this is the principle that guides the people of Ethiopia and is the motto of the Board, then it will be appropriate to give elections another try. Opposition political parties and those who would like to participate in the next election have to develop a strategy and road map on what should be accomplished between now and the next elections. Willingness (Preparedness) to engage in dialogue should be part of strategy. Dialogue can help shed some light into what happened during the 2005 elections and provide space to identify future opportunities. Identifying lessons learned and building on that foundation is one sign of growth, and would minimize chances of similar mistakes in the future.

What can be done to reinvigorate the democratic processes in Ethiopia? It is true that innocent people have died and leaders of the opposition political parties, human rights activists, and CSO leaders are languishing in jails still waiting for justice. With this in mind, following are suggestions on how to break the stalemate, and continue building the democratic process that was halted.

Looking Forward

While the outcome of the elections strangled an emerging democratic culture and increased polarization among various groups, I would argue that it is in the best interests of Ethiopians at home, in the Diaspora, and the international community that the process be given another chance.

While some groups now contend that change can only come via the barrel of the gun, I do not see the rationale, yet, for further blood shed! As an Ethiopian, I am against all violence and do not want to see any Ethiopian take up a gun and kill another Ethiopian. We have had enough of that - violence breeds violence. We have grieved for the last forty years, exhumed graves to collect human remains, and we have been pointing figures at others who were involved in killing our innocent brothers and sisters. If we opt for violence as a means to solve the current problem in Ethiopia, this will only increase the prison population, intensify divisions among groups, create new groups of victims and result in yet another exodus of refugees. Are we ready for another round of demobilization and reintegration of ex-combatants? Have we even finished reintegrating ex-combatants from the communist regime? We have not yet fully addressed the psychosocial problems in our communities and the economy is staggering to grow. We need to break the cycle of violence. We need to reconcile, heal wounds and build a democratic society. What are the options?

1. A need to stop the zero-sum mind set

The incumbent government and opposition political parties perceive the political landscape as a small cake, each one of them determined and eager to get a bigger portion at any cost – today. They fail to look into the future or explore if there are other alternatives and opportunities. The ‘here and now’ perception should be challenged. All have to agree to expand the cake and get a good share for each and look to the opportunities in the future. In spite of the differences in their political manifestos all political parties have to invest in the future. The cycle of elections is five years and this is not a long time to wait. Looking into the future will generate options. Since more elections are coming, there are opportunities to win, “benefit” and demonstrate their talent and commitment to good governance. Therefore, there is a need for compromise and a move out of the cocoon of “all for me attitude”.

2. Need to develop a culture of dialogue and tolerance

History and experience have proved that a culture of political dialogue among Ethiopians is missing. Dialogue helps to reestablish relationships, to develop a shared vision and commitment [8] and subsequently to increase tolerance, which include among other things the ability to listen and engage. At this juncture it is appropriate to ask whether dialogue is new to Ethiopians. Among many groups in Ethiopia, there are different forms of dialogue: “afersat”, “idir”; “ikub”, “mahibir”, etc. which are used at different levels in the society, family, and community to address issues of mutual concern. Afersata, for example, is used to identify criminals, investigate crime, mediate inter group and inter community conflicts, etc. Communities under the leadership of the community elders attend a series of meetings to weed out criminals from their community. In similar ways, Idir and iquib are used to address social issues and financial needs. However, politicians do not have such a platform and fail to develop such a model in a multi-party environment to negotiate and discuss crosscutting national issues.

Among most Ethiopians, losers are not welcome and this is reflected in our culture and value system. This is inculcated in early childhood. Therefore, most of us (including politicians) who grew up in a social system that considers defeat as a disgrace can rarely accept defeat and would rather retaliate or take revenge. It is crucial to change this attitude, and teach people that accepting defeat is not the end of the world, but an opportunity to explore other possibilities, and look to the future.

Conclusion

Ethiopians at home and in the diaspora have an obligation to nurture what was planted prior to the election in May 2005. It requires gentle hands using appropriate tools that can nourish it, removing weeds that have the potential to strangle its growth, and provide good nutrients so that it continues to grow and bear fruit. If the government and opposition political parties continue to use a heavy hand, the democratic process will become stunted. Suppressing and punishing any form of political dissent will not help the democratic processes in Ethiopia to grow. A polarized approach will increase the rift among groups who are interested in taking the process forward.

It is time to remove the stigma attached to elections; another election is coming in about three years time and it is coming with new opportunities. Let us stop blaming and blackmailing others if the person expresses an opinion which is different from that of our own. Different views would provide room for growth and if all Ethiopians promoted just one ideology life would be monotonous. It is time to continue to promote our mosaic culture, and appreciate our differences. It is the drum, the kirar, the masinko, embelata, etc. which have important but distinct roles in producing the rhythm in our music.

* Erkyihun Lagere is an Ethiopian working in the field of conflict analysis and resolution for an NGO based in Europe Contact [email][email protected]

* Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at www.pambazuka.org

Notes

[1] The elections in 1995 and 2000 could not be claimed to be multiparty because there was not strong opposition
[2] “Ethiopia’s governing party claims victory” Associated Press, International Herald Tribune, May 18, 2005
[3] Quoted from the BBC News website 11/05/06 ‘Election fever hits Ethiopian cities’.
[4] Ethiopia’s governing party claims a victory, International Herald Tribune, May 18, 2005
[5] See J. Abbink, Discomfiture of democracy? The 2005 election crisis in Ethiopia and its aftermath. African Affairs Volume 105, Number 419, April 2006. p.183
[6]The full text of the Ethiopia Electoral Non-Violence Pact from http://www.electionsethiopia.org/Whats%20New22.html
[7]Ethiopia PM warns of ‘hate’ poll, 6 May 2005.

Some 242 children who have been in the fighting units of the southern Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) were on Tuesday disarmed and demobilised at a ceremony in the southern town of Tonj in Warab State. According to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), in the past five years more than 15,000 children have been disarmed, demobilised and returned to their families and communities from SPLA ranks.

Pambazuka News, the electronic weekly newsletter and website focusing on social justice issues in Africa, is seeking an ONLINE NEWS EDITOR. You will be a forward thinking and independent person with a strong background in journalism and experience and/or a strong interest in the power of the internet for information delivery and campaigning. For more information, please visit the website provided.

PLEASE NOTE: Owing to the number of applications received, we are changing the final date for applications from August 15 to July 31.

Months of fighting in Mogadishu has just ended, with the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) defeating warlords allegedly backed by the United States for control of the capital. In the last week, the threat of new violence has loomed with reports that Ethiopian troops have entered the country to defend its powerless government against the Islamist forces. The following article was compiled and submitted to Pambazuka News by Strategic Initiatives for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA) Network and details the difficulties faced by ordinary people trying to escape the violence.

The struggle for power in Somalia is an ongoing battle. In recent days Ethiopian troops have been sent into the country, allegedly backed by the US, to defend the town of Baidoa, seat of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG), against a possible attack from the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) who took control of the capital Mogadishu last month.

The battle for the capital itself involved many months of fighting between the UIC’s militia, who have also assumed power in many areas of South Somalia, and an alliance of warlords believed to have been backed by the US. The involvement of the Islamists is only the most recent move in a series of power struggles which began following the departure of Siad Barre’s Government, overthrown in 1991. Warlords have fought between themselves ever since to succeed in governing the country.

Now, although most of the warlords have fled Mogadishu, there remains a continued threat of further conflict with the rising tension between the UIC and the TFG. Many Somalis, whose population is predominantly Muslim, are glad that the Islamists have taken control of the capital because they have brought a severe reduction in violence. However UIC control has raised alarm with the TFG (who have limited power), Ethiopia and the US. They believe that Islamic dominance will lead to Somalia becoming a safe haven for terrorists, including members of al-Qaeda.

Yet while the gunbattles rage and the political struggles are fought it is the people of Somalia who continue to suffer as victims of attacks, with few job opportunities, with no stable Government and thus little access to services. Moreover, unlike its neighbour Sudan, due to the ferocity of fighting and lack of Government, the involvement of the international community in assisting Somalia has been limited. For many Somalis life has become unbearable and they have little hope for any improvement. Violence against women, including rape, is rife, there are limited police and hospitals, theft and lootings by gangs is commonplace, most children in IDP camps have had no education and many IDPs are forced to move from camp to camp.

This has driven some Somalis to take desperate measures to try to change their situation. A special report by IRIN (UN news agency) in June told the tales of the thousands of Somali people attempting to escape to the Middle East by paying middlemen to take them across the Red Sea. Many never make it past the port as their fares for the journey – their life savings – are stolen on the way to reach the boats. Others who make the treacherous voyage will have their bodies washed up on the shores of Yemen. Even those who do make it risk being deported back to Somalia. But they will try again; for Somalis life or death is a challenge they face every day.

Civil Society Forum for Peace

Two Strategic Initiatives for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA) members, the Coalition of Grassroots Women’s Organisations (COGWO) and the Peace and Human Rights Network (PHRN), have joined with other civil rights groups in Somalia to set up a Civil Society Forum which held its first planning meetings this month. The idea of the Forum came about in response to the continued conflict in Somalia, the recent deployment of Ethiopian troops and tensions between the TFG and UIC, which has led to fears of further armed confrontation.

The aim of the Forum is to strengthen the role of civil society in promoting dialogue and in achieving a peaceful resolution to the Somali conflict. The Forum will seek to develop a common agenda, strategy and vision for civil society so that organisations can work together with a comprehensive approach to achieve greater impact. It is hoped that the Forum and its participants will be able to play a crucial role mediating between the UIC and TFG as well as ensuring that community needs are addressed. The Forum also wishes to promote the establishment of a government of national unity and to prevent the collapse of the TFG. Any organisation that believes in these objectives is welcome to become a member of the Forum and further meetings will take place later this month. For more information please contact: [email][email protected]

Saving Lives through Food Distribution

SIHA member Kalsan voluntary organization recently donated 2,000kg of maize and sorghum to four refugee camps in the north of Mogadishu, Karan district, Wajeer quarter. Two hundred families, of mainly women and children, each received 10kg of the provisions. Food distribution projects like this can play a life saving role as few aid resources are available for IDPs living in the camps. However there is hope for the future. The United Nations Emergency Coordinator, Jan Egeland, recently met UIC officials to open discussions on allowing the UN and other aid agencies access to deliver badly needed supplies to Mogadishu.

A Cry for Help: Internally displaced women living in camps in Mogadishu tell their stories

RUKIO AHMED ALI comes from Bakal region of Southern Somalia. “We used to live in another IDP camp which was hit by a mortar during the recent fighting. A friend of mine, an old woman, was killed. A number of children were also killed. Others who did not manage to escape were injured. Most were people I knew and still know. I moved to this IDP camp, Tawakal, after that attack and I feel secure here now.”

On the safety issue she continues: “Whilst I do feel safe here and generally in the city too I have no idea for how long. The shooting and fighting has stopped at the moment and I am able to move around relatively easily. But I don’t have the security of a livelihood to sustain me and my family. I see my future as doomed. Look, I have nothing, no work, no home, just this shelter. Who knows what the Islamists will do. I do not know whether we will have rights under them. Remember that I am an IDP who essentially has no right, no voice and doesn’t exist. In that context, my future is bleak. But there is something I do know, this war has caused unimaginable suffering to a lot of people and it must end. Can you help, please?”

SA’IDO BARISE CEYMOY lives at AMIN NUR IDP camp in Wardhigley District in Mogadishu. She and her family were evacuated from another IDP camp known as BUR EYLON in Bay Region, South West of Mogadishu. She has two children and is 7 months pregnant. “It was terrible (referring to the recent fighting). Right now as we speak, I do not know the whereabouts of my husband. It is two months today since he disappeared. I do not know whether he was killed or what. I am very worried. I have two young children and am pregnant. I do not know how I will cope without him. Life has become a misery. This war has made me very sad and angry. It has robbed me of my husband. I live here, a miserable life. I own nothing that I can call my own: no assets and no means to earn a livelihood. The future is bleak for me and my children whose father…no one knows where he is!”

On the issue of sending her children to school she responds with a smile: “That is a good thing to do for ones’ kids, but I am not in a position to send them since I have no means to pay them through school. In any case I do not feel comfortable enough to do so since security is not yet all that good. Remember I am an IDP. To me the most important thing is to try to feed, clothe and house them. That is what is critical. Can I do that? I do not know since right now I am pregnant and cannot seek any work around the camp or outside. It is terrible. My husband was everything and now he is not here.”

MADINO ADEN BIYOOLE and her family have lived in Mogadishu for a period of 12 years. They left their home in the Bay region of Somalia because of severe drought. “Fighting has become a normal occurrence here. We hide under these makeshift huts as our only place to seek safety. However, fighting does not know IDP camps, it does not know children, it does not know women and the elderly. These people shell everywhere indiscriminately. It is terrifying especially for the kids. I thank God we are alive and together. But I don’t know for how long. I feel secure now but who knows, another fight may be coming. It is awful. It may not be over yet. Pressure must be exerted on these people to lay down their weapons and seek dialogue for the sake of peace. In Somalia life is all about risks perpetrated by power hungry people. As a woman, things are harder. As an IDP they are even worse. I am helpless and feel unworthy. Imagine what could happen if a shell hit this hut?” She begins to cry.

FATIMA AHMED MOHAMED: “I do not know where Somalia is heading. The people fighting have no compassion for us women and children. They have been fighting for so long that it has become a habit. This madness must stop and let us rebuild our lost lives. Look at this camp (Fardow). Is it a place for human beings? No sanitation, no clean water and no means to change the situation since no work is available. We live in poverty, wretched poverty. Why has God forsaken us?”

FADUMO SHEIKH ALI has lived in ISBARTIIBO IDP camp for 10 years. She originally comes from the Bay region of South Somalia. “I tell you, we have nothing: no clothes, no shelter (pointing around) and no food. I am waiting for God to help and improve my future. We live in deplorable conditions as you can see. This is made worse by war, war, war or whatever you may call it. It kills people: young, old, women, men and everyone. It does not help anyone. I feel angry, angry at those causing us so much suffering, so much trauma and above all making it difficult to have a livelihood. I need to be secure from harm, secure from hunger and secure in assets. But I do not possess any of these. Of course the fighting has stopped again but nothing has changed for me. I still eke a living from begging. Is that the life we want to live? NO! We want our leaders to give us hope not misery. We need the basic requirements of life: schools for our children, health centres for pregnant mothers and livelihoods. Maybe what I am saying is a dream. So be it. Let me dream to soothe my pain temporarily, to reduce my sadness and anger. What a world we live in! It is not a good life to live in an IDP camp. But this has become necessary because of selfishness amongst our leaders who have no souls, hearts and foresight. What a pity.”

* This article was compiled and submitted to Pambazuka News by Strategic Initiatives for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA) Network. SIHA is a network of civil society organisations from North and South Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somalia and Somaliland. Founded in 1995 by a collection of women's groups with the view of strengthening their capacity, SIHA has grown over the years and is now comprised of 28 member organisations.

* Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at www.pambazuka.org

Today I feel no kinship with the human race.
I’m sorry,
but today I feel affinity with clotting blood
smeared on a pitted ghetto street,
beside the broken skull of an alien child,
barely ten winters old.
crushed by the triumphant indifference
of the ruling race

I’m sorry. For I know how infra dig this sounds,
especially when I estimate
the days and months of blinkless surveillance
you’ll now invest in me;
but up there in the cynic skies
I see your rockets’ frozen flatulence
and wonder what you sought,
so far above the earth,
when everywhere I turn
the cries of dying children fill my ears…

Today! I feel no kinship with the human race
for when his alien scream perjured the air
my heart confessed its truth!
That’s how I know I’m alien too,
like him, an outsider
There are many, many restless aliens
stalking all your streets

Tonight, when claret dams rupture,
don’t expect squeamishness from me,
when grey wakes end in the mist of flashing skies…
I know how terrorist this sounds!
coming from one so conformist!
…but I have seen polished members of the human race
dining with dismembered portions of the avian race.
I have seen courteous, lipsticked, napkined smiles,
pausing awhile to masticate
- and know that norms of decency
have no bearings beyond the pale of race…

Tonight! When I steer angers into crimson streams,
don’t expect decency when brooks begin to brim,
for your pacifists will turn their backs to the butchers,
only to belly up to the dinner
once the gory deed is done…

Tonight! I’ll feel no kinship with the wicked race
when judgement’s angel stalks,
but heed this warning; let every quickened man beware.
For every clotted drop will tell its tale to me,
‘and I’ll raise every sleeper of your race
to come account to Me.

Tonight’.

* From Chuma Nwokolo: ‘Memories of Stone’. Lagos: Villagerhouse 2006. Reproduce with the permission of the author.

* Chuma Nwokolo is a writer and advocate from Jos, Nigeria, and is writer-in-residence at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, England.

Excellent article, placing the drive to privatisation in a clear light. (http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/31759). The expected returns on FDI, related to privatised public services, to shareholders will soon replace the interest owed on debts to the World Bank and IMF. "There is no free lunch". I hope African leaders will see the trap in time.

QuickGuides are 24 page books, readable in an hour, covering the fundraising and management needs of both large and small organisations. QuickGuides are the perfect way to learn about a subject quickly and easily, and because they are written and reviewed by knowledgeable professionals from all around the world they will be useful wherever you operate as they are not country specific. And with 6 new titles to add to our current 22 and more planned for 2007 - from sources of funding to events planning, motivating staff to marketing – it’s all there. At £8 or US$14 per book, QuickGuides are accessible to all, and you can build your own library of expertise. And as a reader of Pambazuka News, you can take advantage of a special promotion of 3 books for the price of 2 until the end of October 2006. Or for £125 you can buy an entire library of all 28 titles. QuickGuides are a resource you can’t afford not to have. Quote ref: pambazuka and order online now at our online bookshop.

EnviroMedia 2006 is the third event of its kind bringing journalists, media practitioners and development experts together to deepen understandings and share expertise about reporting on environment, sustainability and development in Africa.

To mark Liberia’s Independence Day, Liberian-Americans and concerned consumers from 36 states are joining Friends of the Earth, International Labor Rights Fund, Institute for Policy Studies, TransAfrica Forum and other members of the Stop Firestone Coalition in telling Firestone that “80 years of exploitation is enough.” As part of the first national day of action organized by the Stop Firestone Coalition, participants will be delivering letters to Firestone Complete Auto Care in Wheaton, MD and to retailers across the country in an effort to urge the tire giant to end its long history of perpetuating slave-like conditions on its rubber plantation in Liberia.

A new website for human rights professionals called Human Rights Tools has been created. It offers four main services: A library of carefully selected and commented resources; Key resources for country analysis; Daily updated human rights headlines; a Human Rights Tools newsletter.

Does the news coverage reflect the reality on the ground? Through the voices of scholars, media critics, peace activists, religious figures, and Middle East experts, Peace, Propaganda & the Promised Land carefully analyzes and explains how--through the use of language, framing and context--the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza remains hidden in the news media, and Israeli colonization of the occupied terrorities appears to be a defensive move rather than an offensive one.