Washington,DC — African leaders "have a duty to create the right climate for business" in Africa, Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete said September 2 in Washington.

Kikwete described the private sector as the engine for economic growth and development across the continent and he called on his audience to "look forward," not backward, toward a brighter economic future and a closer U.S.-Africa business and trade relationship.

Speaking at a luncheon held in his honor on the eve of the Corporate Council on Africa's (CCA's) Seventh Biennial U.S.-Africa Business Summit, which will be held in Washington, Kikwete said now is the time for business to position itself strategically for future opportunities in Africa. He readily acknowledged, however, that now, as the world begins to emerge from the global financial crisis, "it is not easy to convince skeptics" to invest enthusiastically in Africa.

African leaders need to create the right climate for business, he said. "It is our duty to keep projecting a better image of our continent as a whole and of each individual country. Our commitment to good governance, peace and security, to the rule of law and respect for contracts and the business environment as a whole must never be put into question."

Kikwete reminded his listeners of the $698 million, five-year "compact" his country has been awarded by the United States through the U.S. Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) and said his only regret is that there are not more American companies competing for the business that will be created by the MCC agreement.

Kikwete spelled out five key sectors for business investment across Africa: infrastructure, the lack of which is strangling economic development across the region, he said; agriculture and agribusiness; natural resource development; tourism; and financial services, where a broader array of banking tools and programs is needed to help fuel long-term economic growth.

The media have not been very helpful, Kikwete said, as Africa makes its case as a great place for investment opportunities and business. "Sometimes I read what they say about us and wonder."

Kikwete told his audience of business executives, entrepreneurs, U.S. government representatives, Africans and Africanists that oftentimes the media report that China is "gobbling up" Africa.

"We are realizing that it is precisely the subjective and selective stories that [the media] carry about Africa that keep many Western companies out of Africa," he said. "Believe me, the field is wide open" for everyone, whether they be Chinese or Western businesses, to invest and do business in sub-Saharan Africa.

Cross-border trade is steadily increasing across sub-Saharan Africa, Kikwete said, and there are more and more trade links between Africa and Latin America and between Africa and Asia.

"South Africa, Kenya and India are important sources of investment for Tanzania, and while African investment and trade with Latin America remains slow, political will and the trend to grow remains undeniable," he said.

Kikwete noted that the African Diaspora is "slowly shifting from simply making remittances to support their families back home into making their own investments or mobilizing other investments," demonstrating, in his view, that "things are not as bad as [the media] sometimes portray the continent of Africa to be."

He called Africa the world's "last entrepreneurial and investment frontier" and said those who are not afraid to invest strategically can make good profits. He said some funds that invested in Africa's telecommunications sector have enjoyed an annual return on their investment in excess of 35 percent.

Kikwete thanked his audience for what they are doing to promote closer U.S.-Africa business and trade ties, especially those companies that are already operating in Africa.
"It is your success," he told those companies, "that will be a better selling point for the continent than simply listening to politicians like me." He called on all companies "who are succeeding in Africa to spread the good word."

Kikwete reminded his audience that between 2006 and 2008 Tanzania enjoyed an annual economic growth rate of 7.1 percent, and he expressed the hope that with increased trade and investment, Tanzania and the rest of the region can emerge from the financial crisis to enjoy such record economic growth rates again.

At least five African heads of state are expected to attend the CCA summit, which will showcase the latest trade and investment opportunities across Africa through more than 50 industry-specific sessions. More than 1,500 attendees are expected. The previous CCA summit was held in 2007 in Cape Town, South Africa.

all africa:
Progress critical to stabilization in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has been uneven, with some rebels being reintegrated into the national army while others continued to attack civilians, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon writes in a new report.

"The humanitarian situation remained precarious during the reporting period due to large-scale population displacements; human rights violations by armed men, including rapes, killings and lootings; impeded humanitarian access; and security incidents against humanitarian workers," he says in the report to the Security Council on the UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC), covering July to September.

The total number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the DR Congo is estimated at 2.2 million, of whom an estimated 1.7 million people remain displaced in the eastern provinces of North and South Kivu, with more than 400,000 persons having fled their homes since January.

"The challenges that remain in the Kivus are formidable and have the potential to impede the consolidation of peace and stability in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo if not handled in a timely and comprehensive manner," Mr. Ban writes.

"I urge the Congolese Government to take the necessary steps, with the assistance of MONUC and other partners, to keep the integration process on track and to bring it to a successful conclusion, including by ensuring the regular payment of FARDC [national army] salaries and by building barracks for the soldiers based in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo," he adds.

While some rebels, including members of the Congrès national pour la défense du peuple (CNDP), continued their integration into FARDC in accordance with agreements signed in March, military operations against the mainly Rwandan Hutu rebel group, Forces démocratiques de libération du Rwanda (FDLR), advanced into South Kivu.

FDLR and the Ugandan Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) continued to attack civilians in the Kivus and Orientale province, respectively, resulting in new population displacements and in Ituri province, to the north, two residual armed groups, the Forces de résistance patriotique en Ituri (FRPI) and the Front populaire pour la justice au Congo (FPJC), continued to attack and loot civilians in the Irumu area.

"Elements of FARDC also conducted exactions against civilians, although some progress was reported in the areas of military justice and discipline within FARDC," Mr. Ban writes, adding that he is encouraged by Government steps against impunity for sexual violence and other human rights violations by army elements in the Kivus.

But the human rights situation throughout the country continues to cause serious concern. "During the reporting period, MONUC observed an increase in reported human rights violations perpetrated by foreign armed groups but also, at times, by Government security forces, some of which were perceived to be ethnically motivated," he says.

"Sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo remained severe during the reporting period, with rapes and other forms of sexual violence perpetrated by armed groups, security forces and, increasingly, civilians."

Mr. Ban urges all parties, particularly the authorities, to ensure the full operation of the local conciliation committees and the appointment of territorial administrators and their assistants, and to expedite the appointment of members of the former armed groups to administrative positions as foreseen in the March agreements.

He also calls on Member States to act against FDLR leaders based in their countries to cut off support which is known to be provided to the rebel group in the DRC.

all africa:
Climate change will increase the number of malnourished children in Africa by 10 million to 52 million in the next 40 years, and the continent needs new agricultural investment of U.S. $2.9 billion a year to offset the adverse effects, says a new report.

The report, "Climate Change: Impact on Agriculture and Costs of Adaptation," is billed by its authors from the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), as the most comprehensive assessment of the impact of climate change on agriculture to date.

After comparing predictions of the numbers of malnourished children in 2050 with and without climate change, it concludes that climate change will produce 25 million more malnourished children around the world than would otherwise have been the case.

A fact sheet issued with the report says the number of malnourished children in Africa is expected to rise from 33 million in 2000 to 42 million in 2050 – without taking into account the effects of climate change.

"Climate change will further increase this number by over 10 million, resulting in 52 million malnourished children in 2050," the sheet says.

However, this outcome could be averted with a global investment of an extra U.S. $7 billion a year to boost agricultural productivity, said Gerald Nelson, the lead author of the report.


Sub-Saharan Africa needs 40 percent of the estimated $7 billion, most for rural roads, the report added.

Other key points from the report, issued in conjunction with international climate change meetings in Bangkok:

• The negative effects of climate change on crop production are especially pronounced in sub-Saharan Africa, as agriculture accounts for a large share of GDP, export earnings and employment in most African countries.

• In 2050 average rice, wheat, and maize yields will decline by up to 14 percent, 22 percent, and five percent, respectively, as a result of climate change.

• Climate change is expected to produce a 21 percent decline in calories by 2050, an average 500 calories fewer per person.

South Africa is terminating the services of thousands of soldiers whose protests over a pay rise turned violent last week and resulted in clashes with the police.

A court has ruled the protests as illegal and dismissal letters are being sent to the soldiers, the ministry of defense said on Monday.

The soldiers' union was demanding a pay rise of 30 percent.

"There are about 1,500 to 2,000 people that we are interested in. So the letters have started going to them," SAPA news agency quoted a union adviser as saying, Reuters reported.

About 460 soldiers have already received dismissal letters, said the adviser who was not named.

However, South African National Defense Union's legal adviser Michael Thekiso said that the soldiers "have 10 days to motivate to the minister on why they should not be dismissed. It is only final after 10 days."

Some Niger's former members of parliament who attempted to reinstate the Parliament which President Mamadou Tandja squashed in May were brutalised on Sunday by the police. Tear-gas, whips and batons were employed by police in Niamey (capital) to hinder these ex-MPs from opening the Parliament house.
Niger protesters
The Parliamnet is in the central Poudriere district and that country’s police hindered the MPs from holding this symbolic section.

About 65 former MPs were severely tortured, resulting in bloody wounds and deep cuts, according to eyewitnesses quoted by AFP.

About 1000 sympathisers of the embattled MPs who were marching down for rescue were beaten back by the police with tear-gas. They retaliated with hurling of stones and boos.

President Tandja dissolved the Parliament and Supreme Court to enable him organise the widely condemned August 4 referendum which he won in a landslide and now ensures his limitless terms in office.

The European Union has suspended aid to the West African uranium-rich nation.

The president of the African Union (AU) holds Israel responsible for all the woes facing Africa, calling on member-states to cut diplomatic ties with Tel Aviv.

Israel is "behind all of Africa's conflicts," Muammar Gaddafi said on Monday and demanded the closure of all Israeli embassies across Africa.

The Libyan leader, who holds the rotating AU presidency described Israel as a "gang" which uses the "protection of minorities as an excuse to launch conflicts."

Gaddafi made the remarks at a meeting of 30 African leaders, who had convened in Tripoli for a one-day summit on the continent's trouble spots, including Sudan's Darfur and Somalia.

Israel has acknowledged operating what it called a forward policy in Africa between the 1960s and 1980s, intervening in wars from Ethiopia to Uganda and Sudan, he stressed.

"As African brothers, we must find solutions to stop the superpowers who are pillaging our continent," the president of the AU added.

The one-day meeting ended without any agreement on concrete steps. The leaders merely adopted a 'Tripoli Declaration' and a plan of action 'to find urgent solutions to crises and conflicts' in Africa.

That plan urges member-states who have pledged to contribute troops to reinforce the AU peacekeeping force in Somalia (AMISOM) to honor their promises "rapidly".

A powerful commander in western Somalia has stepped down from his governmental post, saying Ethiopia has renewed military involvement in his country.

Sheikh Abdirahman Ibrahim Ma'ow, the de facto governor of Hiraan province and an influential member of the ruling Union of Islamic Courts (UIC), announced on Monday that he would no longer back the transitional federal government (TFG).

"As of today, we clearly state that we are withdrawing our backing and can no longer be considered pro-government," Sheikh Ma'ow told reporters at a press conference in the town of Beledweyn, the provincial capital of the Hiran region.

The top commander called the TFG "weak", adding that it was incapable of implementing "Shari'ah law" across the war-torn Horn of Africa country.

Sheikh Ma'ow made no secret of his irritation over the deployment of Ethiopian troop in Somalia.

"I am not happy with the intervention of foreign forces, particularly Ethiopian forces in Somalia," he said.

Hundreds of Ethiopian forces poured into Beledweyn over the weekend, with more than 20 military trucks, driving west towards the Somalia-Ethiopia international border, Radio Garowe reported.

The deployment follows a joint military effort by pro-government forces and Ethiopian troops to retake southwestern Somalia form al-Shabaab militants.

According to Somali officials, the Ethiopian soldiers have now retreated from bases around Beletwein. However, unconfirmed reports say some Ethiopian army units have not yet withdrawn.

Addis Ababa has repeatedly rerjected the presence of its forces on Somali soil.

5 August 2009
Nairobi — The United States on Wednesday threatened to impose sanctions on Kenya's leaders if they continue to block the formation of a special tribunal to try election violence suspects.

In a strong message delivered behind closed doors by the US Secretary of State, Mrs Hillary Clinton on Wednesday, American President Barrack Obama asked the leaders to show their determination to end impunity and punish those responsible for the violence.

Cabinet ministers who attended the talks later told the Nation that Mrs Clinton made it quite clear that she was delivering a message from Mr Obama.

However, an Office of the President official, who did not wish to be identified discussing confidential matters of state, said a considerable part of the one-and-a-half hour meeting at the KICC in Nairobi dwelt on Somalia and how to deal with the threat of terrorism.

He said he formed the impression that America approved of the fact that Kenya's President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga were working together more closely.

However, it was impatient at the slow pace of reforms and wanted them to push forward the agenda against impunity.

The meeting was attended by President Kibaki, Mr Odinga, Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka, Cabinet ministers George Saitoti, Moses Wetang'ula, James Orengo, Mutula Kilonzo and US ambassador Michael Ranneberger.

Mrs Clinton is in the country to attend the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) forum, which seeks ways to improve trade between the continent and America.

Mrs Clinton, America's top diplomat, went into the high-level meeting with the Kenyan leaders immediately after President Kibaki officially opened the Agoa talks.

Ministers and other officials familiar with the deliberations said though the US acknowledged Kenya's importance to US interests in the region, it was concerned at the failure by the government to put in place laws establishing a local tribunal.

According to sources, Mrs Clinton challenged President Kibaki and Mr Odinga to provide leadership in establishing the tribunal.

A report by the Waki commission of inquiry said 1,133 people were killed and 650,000 evicted from their homes in the violence which has tarnished Kenya's reputation and hurt the economy.

Addressing a joint press conference with Mr Wetang'ula after the meeting, Mrs Clinton said: "We are clearly disappointed that prosecutions have not taken place one and a half years later.

"This, therefore, means that all relevant authorities must take their responsibilities seriously."
On the formation of a tribunal she said: "This process takes a lot of political will and leadership. This is why we are saying that a local tribunal be established. This is best for Kenya."

She referred to the question of visa bans during the press conference when she said: "These are options that are always available and open to us. We, however, hope that we don't get to that point".

However, Mrs Clinton acknowledged the difficulty in trying those who masterminded the violence.

"How do you go about prosecuting these individuals without fanning more violence from their supporters?" she posed.

On Tuesday, the US embassy in Nairobi criticised last week's Cabinet decision to throw out two draft Bills on the local tribunal. The US, the statement said, would take action against those blocking the punishment of leaders named in the Waki list.

The British High Commissioner, Mr Robert Macaire, had voiced similar criticism.

Last week, Cabinet said it will reform the Judiciary and use the High Court to punish the perpetrators of the violence. However, the ministers left the door open for the International Criminal Court to try some of the key suspects.

The government has at times looked helpless in the face of a Parliament determined to ensure that a local tribunal is not formed.

Majority of MPs want the perpetrators tried at The Hague.

Though Mrs Clinton welcomed the establishment of the Truth Justice and Reconciliation Commission, she said the public would not be satisfied if it failed to offer "real justice".

She added that the absence of strong, democratic and effective institutions had encouraged impunity, abuses of human rights and lack of respect for the rule of law.

In his remarks while opening the Agoa talks, President Kibaki said the reform agenda was on course and would be completed "within the shortest time possible".

The government, he said, intended to significantly reform its security, judicial and democratic processes and attain full accountability for all its actions.

"These and other reforms are genuinely Kenyan, who are also driving them forward in earnest for the good of all," said the President.

During the private meeting, ministers said the President did not respond to Mrs Clinton but Mr Odinga said that it would be futile for the government to take the Bills on a local to a hostile Parliament that had vowed to throw them out.

Mr Musyoka said the government was committed to reforms as outlined in the National Accord.

During the joint press conference, Mr Wetang'ula agreed with Mrs Clinton that the country required an "internal solution" on the question of how to punish the masterminds of the violence.

"It would be a welcome sign to see people prosecuted in our local courts," he said.

Briefing journalists on the meeting between the US delegation and top Kenyan officials, Mr Wetang'ula said insecurity in Somalia, travel advisories regularly issued by the US against Kenya, the millennium challenge account and piracy in the Gulf of Aden were discussed in the closed-door talks.

5 August 2009
Abuja — President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua has ordered a probe of the death of Boko Haram leader, Mohammed Yusuf, an incident that has raised questions of extra-judicial killing by security agents.

This comes as a security source confirmed to THISDAY that a similar group opposed to Western education has been traced to Niger State.
There were conflicting reports regarding the circumstances that led to the death of Yusuf. While the police claimed he died in a shoot-out, a BBC photo of the sect leader in handcuffs proved he was taken alive and might have been slain by security agents.

But the president disclosed at the State House yesterday that the National Security Adviser (NSA) had been directed to commence an investigation and submit the report before the end of the week.

Yar'adua spoke at a joint press conference with the visiting Republic of Benin President Boni Yayi. The president stated that his action was in keeping with his administration's policy of the rule of law.

"This is an incident that will be investigated together with all the events that have happened," said the president.

"Yesterday, I directed the NSA to carry out a post-mortem with the security agencies as a first step, so that we can have a full report of what happened during the crisis, including how the leader of Boko Haram was killed, the circumstances under which he was killed," he added.

The president said the report would be examined and appropriate actions taken. Describing the incident as a "serious issue," he stated that the report would determine if further investigation is needed.

Yar'Adua added: "I have been emphasizing since this administration came into power on our uncompromising stance on the rule of law. And everybody in this country, and all the officials, are aware, clearly and unambiguously of the stance of this administration on the rule of law and indeed my personal commitment and firm belief that it is rule of law that will anchor good governance and progress in this country."

The president who was in Brazil on official trip while the sectarian conflict was raging, explained that he met with all security agencies upon his return and that a course of action was chosen. He stressed the importance of having the facts rather than acting impulsively.
Meanwhile, the name of the group that has been traced to Niger State cannot be immediately identified. However, a reliable source disclosed that the joint security networks of the security agents are keeping tabs on members of this sect.

Fresh facts have also emerged on how Yusuf raised funds to run the operations of the group. It was gathered that apart from hefty sponsorship from wealthy individuals and sympathizers, among them a Kano-based indigene, Yusuf levied his 540,000 strong membership N1 each per day.

THISDAY gathered that from this levy, the slain sect leader might have raised about N16.2 million monthly and N5.9 billion annually.

Also, Yusuf was said to have acquired an 80-kilometre expanse of land in Maiduguri for farming, as part of the strategy to raise extra funds. But a security report to Governor Ali Modu Sheriff of Borno State for the confiscation of the property was ignored.

The security report had among other things raised concerns that the slain sect leader might convert part of the land to other use. THISDAY further gathered that the Kano-based businessman had gone to court to forestall his prosecution after investigations linked some of Boko Haram's funds to his bank accounts. He won the case.

The same businessman was alleged to have sponsored some youths to train in Mauritania. A security source close to the Boko Haram investigations told THISDAY that when it was imminent that the group would slug it out with security agents, the sect had contemplated two options: go on self-exile to Afghanistan or Saudi Arabia or embark on a Jihad.

The source said that when it became apparent to the leaders that the Saudi government would not be favourably disposed to granting them entry and that the immigration arrangements to Afghanistan were not working out, they resorted to a Jihad.

Besides, the South East Muslim Organization (SEMO) has condemned the Boko Haram mayhem.

Rising from its sixth National Executive meeting in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, yesterday, SEMO said the crisis was not consistent with the teachings and principles of Islam. The group maintained that Islamic faith abhors violence. Therefore, the sect could not claim to be protecting the Muslim community either in the North or any part of the country, said SEMO.

In a seven-point communiqué issued after their meeting attended by the national coordinator, state coordinators in the five states of the South-east among other representatives of Islamic organizations in the zone, the organization advised the perpetrators to change their position while urging the Nigeria Islamic stakeholders to sensitize the public in order to curtail fundamentalism.

Amy Musgrave

23 July 2009

Johannesburg — SA IS set to experience more strikes with workers protesting at Massmart Holding's retail stores tomorrow and Telkom employees threatening similar action next week.

Already thousands of employees are striking in the paper and pulp, industrial chemical, pharmaceutical, and consumer goods sectors, severely affecting operations at companies.

Although most companies have said they cannot give in to labour's demands for better wage increases due to the recession, unions are arguing that they continue to make profits and cannot justify increases that are below the inflation rate.

The South African Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers' Union (Saccawu) will embark on a day's protest at Makro and Massdiscounters (Game and Dion) tomorrow.

Saccawu spokesman Mike Abrahams said yesterday parties had been unable to agree on wage increases at Makro, and had an unresolved dispute with Massdiscounters over unilateral changes to terms of employment.

The union's demands include a R460 or 8,5% increase -- whichever is higher -- while the company is offering R460 across the board.

At Telkom, the Communication Workers' Union (CWU) is set to endorse a strike after its national working committee meeting tomorrow.

"Shop stewards are currently consolidating what form of action we must take. But members are eager to take up the fight," CWU general secretary Gallant Roberts said yesterday.

The CWU wants Telkom to adjust employees' salary scales and then grant a 7,5% raise on the new scales backdated to April 1. However, Telkom is offering 7,5% on the current salary scales with promises of implementing the new salary bands in October. "This means that the discriminatory salary disparity will remain unchanged and continue to disadvantage our members," Roberts said.

In response Telkom spokesman Meshack Dlamini said informal talks were taking place between the parties and formal discussions would be held within the next week or so.

Meanwhile, the Congress of South African Trade Unions has come out in support of the Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood and Allied Workers' Union's (Ceppwawu's) mass action, warning that if employers do not better their wage offer, the federation's 2-million members will come out in support of its affiliate.

Factories owned by Tiger Brands , Mondi and Sasol are being affected by the protests, Ceppwawu said. Workers are seeking wage increases of as much as 13,6%. Employers have offered between 7,5% and 8% .

Mining unions were considering an improved offer to gold mineworkers of a 10% increase for lower category employees and 9% for others made last night by Chamber of Mines gold producers after talks under the eye of the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration.

[img align=right width=200]http://tokyocherie.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/on-strike-sign1.jpg?w=300&h=180[/img]Amy Musgrave

23 July 2009

Johannesburg — SA IS set to experience more strikes with workers protesting at Massmart Holding's retail stores tomorrow and Telkom employees threatening similar action next week.

Already thousands of employees are striking in the paper and pulp, industrial chemical, pharmaceutical, and consumer goods sectors, severely affecting operations at companies.

Although most companies have said they cannot give in to labour's demands for better wage increases due to the recession, unions are arguing that they continue to make profits and cannot justify increases that are below the inflation rate.

The South African Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers' Union (Saccawu) will embark on a day's protest at Makro and Massdiscounters (Game and Dion) tomorrow.

Saccawu spokesman Mike Abrahams said yesterday parties had been unable to agree on wage increases at Makro, and had an unresolved dispute with Massdiscounters over unilateral changes to terms of employment.

The union's demands include a R460 or 8,5% increase -- whichever is higher -- while the company is offering R460 across the board.

At Telkom, the Communication Workers' Union (CWU) is set to endorse a strike after its national working committee meeting tomorrow.

"Shop stewards are currently consolidating what form of action we must take. But members are eager to take up the fight," CWU general secretary Gallant Roberts said yesterday.

The CWU wants Telkom to adjust employees' salary scales and then grant a 7,5% raise on the new scales backdated to April 1. However, Telkom is offering 7,5% on the current salary scales with promises of implementing the new salary bands in October. "This means that the discriminatory salary disparity will remain unchanged and continue to disadvantage our members," Roberts said.

In response Telkom spokesman Meshack Dlamini said informal talks were taking place between the parties and formal discussions would be held within the next week or so.

Meanwhile, the Congress of South African Trade Unions has come out in support of the Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood and Allied Workers' Union's (Ceppwawu's) mass action, warning that if employers do not better their wage offer, the federation's 2-million members will come out in support of its affiliate.

Factories owned by Tiger Brands , Mondi and Sasol are being affected by the protests, Ceppwawu said. Workers are seeking wage increases of as much as 13,6%. Employers have offered between 7,5% and 8% .

Mining unions were considering an improved offer to gold mineworkers of a 10% increase for lower category employees and 9% for others made last night by Chamber of Mines gold producers after talks under the eye of the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration.

Congo-Kinshasa: Concern Over Anonymous Witnesses

Jacques Kahorha

22 July 2009

Bogoro — Ituri villagers fear that ICC trials cannot be fair if witness identities remain secret.

Villagers in Ituri province in north-eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC, which has suffered years of ethnic fighting, have voiced concerns about the use of anonymous witnesses in the trial of Thomas Lubanga at the International Criminal Court, ICC.

So far 30 witnesses have appeared in the trial, 25 of whom have received protective measures in order to conceal their identities. Their names are never used, and their voices and faces are distorted.

There is a fear that if the identities of witnesses testifying against certain militia groups are made public, they may be subject to revenge attacks.

"Our experience is that there is often a persistent threat to those associated with investigations into human rights abuses," Anneke van Woudenberg, a senior researcher for the DRC at Human Rights Watch, told IWPR, "Witness protection programmes are essential to fair and impartial trials throughout the world."

But people in Bogoro - a town that suffered appalling atrocities in 2003, when militiamen killed and raped civilians, leaving some imprisoned in a room filled with corpses - say they need to know the identities of people testifying in trials. Proceedings at the court in The Hague are broadcast locally.

Concealing witness identities has contributed to local suspicion that the ICC trials are unfair, with some claiming that witness testimony is manipulated by payment from either the prosecution or defence.

"We want to know who these witnesses are," Jean de Dieu Ngabu Safari, a teacher in Bogoro, told ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo, when he visited the region between July 8 and 11. "They are from Kinshasa and other provinces, but speak on behalf of Bogoro and other places in Ituri."

Moreno-Ocampo met leaders of ethnic groups in the region, human rights activists, and other local groups. He also spoke with people in Bunia town, Bogoro and Zumbe villages.

Lubanga, whose trial began in January, is from Djiba in Ituri district. He is charged with recruiting, conscripting, and using child soldiers in the ethnic conflicts that raged throughout the Ituri region between 2002 and 2003.The trials of two other men also from Ituri - Germain Katanga and Mathieu Ngudjolo - are due to begin in September.

One resident of Bogoro, Mateso, told IWPR, "We want to know who the parents of these witnesses are and if possible their village or town ... If the ICC continues working in this way, we will request that the trial be transferred here."

Mateso warned about the dangers of a return to conflict if the ICC is not perceived to be conducting its trials in a fair and transparent way.

"Our prisoners, whether they are from the Lendu or Hema tribes, do not know those witnesses who are hiding themselves behind the curtain and changing their voices," he said. "This injustice is hurting us a lot."

Moreno-Ocampo was asked to explain how decisions are made witness protection.

"We make an assessment of witnesses' risk," he said, "We have to know if anybody can attack them. We need to know if they are traumatised or not. Women who have been raped, or parents who have seen their children killed, cannot appear before the trial."

But Jean-Bosco Lalo, president of the Civil Society of Bunia, pointed out that witnesses who publicly testified in previous trials held in Bunia, involving people who were allegedly directly responsible for committing crimes on the ground, did not face any problems.

Moreno-Ocampo hit back by saying, "It is my responsibility to protect the witnesses and I will not reveal their names. But the accused and the defence lawyers know them."

Catherine Mabile, Lubanga's defence lawyer, told IWPR that she recognised the problems of witness anonymity, but said that the lawyers were not responsible for the situation.

"Information was given to judges that witnesses were running a risk of pressure and threats," she said. "That is the reason why they decided some protection measures for witnesses."

Mateso claimed that there have been cases of witnesses giving false testimony in return for financial gain.

"We are not paying any person who gives testimony," Moreno-Ocampo said. "We are only paying money for the trip to Holland and other places where the witness is in a system of protection."

Van Woudenberg of Human Rights Watch thinks that more could be done to alleviate the fears of local villages that justice is not being done by making the trials easier to follow.

"I have seen proceedings, with voice and face distortion measures in place, that are almost impossible to follow," she said. "The French voice-over is often too fast and uses language that is too complex. This has no doubt contributed to the overall sense of injustice."

On July 14, the prosecution rested its case in the Lubanga trial. The defence is expected to begin its case in October, after the summer recess, though a precise date has not yet been set.

Jacques Kahorha is an IWPR trainee.

An international tribunal has cut the size of the disputed Abyei region of Sudan, rejecting the formal claims of both north and south Sudan and slicing at least 18,000 square kilometres from the disputed territory.

A tribunal of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled Wednesday that a boundaries commission set up under the 2005 north-south peace accord had exceeded its mandate, and moved the region's northern border about 25 kilometres to the south. It also reduced the size of the region to the east and west.

The tribunal's cuts excluded from Abyei more than 45,000 square kilometres of land formally claimed at the tribunal by the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A), which dominates southern Sudan. But the newly-drawn boundaries nevertheless render Abyei more than twice the size formally advocated by the northern government.

The area is rich in oil. The issue of oil rights was not addressed by the tribunal, but The Associated Press reported from The Hague that a spokesman for the Khartoum-based government in the north called its ruling a victory.

"We welcome the fact that the oil fields are now excluded from the Abyei area, particularly the Heglig oil field," AP quoted him as saying.

Abyei is in central Sudan, lying roughly between the north and the south. Its residents will have the right in 2011 to decide in a referendum whether they want to be part of northern or southern Sudan.

The Hague tribunal was at pains to emphasize that its decision did not affect the grazing rights of either the Ngok Dinka people who live in the heart of Abyei, popularly held to support the government of Southern Sudan, or the Misseriya people to the north.

It pointed out that a protocol on Abyei which formed part of Sudan's Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) of 2005 guaranteed the traditional rights of the Misseriya and other nomads to graze cattle and move across the Abyei area.

The decision would therefore not have any impact on these people's lives, said the presiding arbitrator, Professor Pierre-Marie Dupuy of France. "Grazing rights will not change... boundaries are not barriers," he added.

The Abyei protocol of the CPA provided that a boundaries commission should demarcate Abyei, which was defined as "the area of the nine Ngok Dinka chiefdoms transferred to Kordofan (a province of Sudan) in 1905." The commission's decision was referred to international arbitration when the Sudanese government contested it.

The tribunal comprised five arbitrators, two appointed by either side and one, the presiding arbitrator, appointed by the court. Four of the arbitrators endorsed the ruling, including the two appointed by the SPLM/A and one appointed by the Khartoum government.

But the fifth, a Sudanese government appointee, attacked the majority in a scathing dissent in which he accused his fellow panelists of "dabbling into compromise" and of failing "utterly" to take into account the rights of the Misseriya.

The AP quoted Riek Machar Teny, deputy chairman of the SPLM, as saying: "I think the decision is balanced. We are committed to respecting it... I think this is going to consolidate peace in Sudan. It is a victory for the Sudanese people and a victory for peace."

The members of the tribunal were: Judge Awn Al-Khasawneh of Jordan (the dissenting panelist) and Professor Gerhard Hafner of Austria (both appointed by the Sudanese government); Professor W. Michael Reisman and Judge Stephen W. Schwebel of the United States (appointed by the SPLM/A) and Professor Dupuy, appointed by the court.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200907220688.html

Ahamefula Ogbu, Juliana Taiwo and Chinwe Ochu

1 July 2009

Lagos — Federal Government's offer of amnesty to Niger Delta militants has suffered yet another setback as the Joint Task Force (JTF), the military body responsible for security in the oil-producing region, has stopped attempts by displaced persons to return to their villages.

The amnesty offer, which has already been met with scepticism by some militant groups and opinion leaders in the region, was also criticised yesterday by Amnesty International, a human rights advocacy organisation, which said it would not work as it is only "treating the symptoms and not the root cause" of the problem.

Militants who trooped into the Atlantic Hall of the Presidential Hotel in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, venue of the stakeholders meeting with the Presidential Committee on Amnesty and Disarmament yesterday, said even though they welcomed President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua's offer, the continued heavy presence of the JTF in the region had increased their scepticism about the sincerity of government.

A government official who attended the meeting told THISDAY last night that the militants who attended the meeting complained particularly about the refusal of men of JTF to allow the indigenes of the villages recently attacked by JTF, who are now in Warri, to return to their community.

The source said: "There was a lot of scepticism from the hundreds that turned out at the stakeholders meeting today because of the security situation. A lot of them said if the men of the JTF would not allow the people of Oporoza, Okerenkoko and Abiteye who were displaced and had been in Warri to return to the community, they are suspicious that they would be killed as soon as they surrender.

"There are a lot of military men crawling along Port Harcourt for instance and government must find a way of withdrawing some of them if it wants to build trust. I mean the people of Oporoza want to go back to their community from Warri where they have been putting up, but they are not allowed to go back by the JTF and that is making the militants not secure.

"The President must create enabling environment for them (militants) to trust the government enough to come out and embrace the amnesty else this presidential committee will be wasting tax payers' money and the desired result will not be achieved."

And after a prolonged silence over the fate of the white paper on the recommendations of the Niger Delta Technical Committee headed by Mr. Ledum Mitte, the Chairman of the Amnesty Implementation Committee, Air Vice-Marshal Lucky Araribe, has explained that the present state of the region was the reason behind its non-release.

He said at the stakeholders meeting yesterday that with the militants still up in arms against the Federal Government and the general state of insecurity, "how the white paper would have been implemented?"

He said the process of disarmament which had started with the amnesty proclamation would pave the way for its implementation when released.

This was as the Chairman of the Technical Committee and President of Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP), Mitte, while suggesting ways of making the amnesty programme work, said JTF also needs amnesty because of the atrocities committed by soldiers in the Niger Delta.

Responding to the submissions of Hon. Uche Onyeaguocha, who is lawyer to the Okirika warlord, Ateke Tom, that most of the people who were swarming them now hope to benefit from the N50 billion announced for the programme, Araribe replied that the entire money would not spent by the Committee.

According to him, the bulk of the money would be expended by the Niger Delta Ministry in addition to their budget. He pointed out that those who were aiming at the money had missed the point since when viewed against the continuity of some of the programmes; the money might not mean much.

Also in attendance were reformed militants and repentant cultists such as Commander Zero from Oluasi Creek in Bayelsa State who lamented that though they heard the message and intended to inform their colleagues in the creeks, but the JTF had blocked all routes and taken over their homes.

One Onwuchekwa lampooned the government for luring him out with unfulfilled promises.

Some suggested that fishing implements be provided, especially fishing trawlers to enable their people go into the high seas to fish as pollution from oil exploration had spoiled aquatic endowments.

On its part, Amnesty International said the amnesty package "gives impunity to the human rights abusers", ranging from the military operatives of JTF to the militants perpetuating violence in that region.

"These packages do not work because nobody is held accountable and it gives impunity to human rights abuses. There should be accountability of the JTF for their actions. It is obvious that the government is trying to seek solutions for this problem, but it is clear that the package will only succeed in treating the symptom and not the root cause. So, I think that the Amnesty package will work, but it legitimises the human rights abuses in the Niger Delta. We condemn the human rights abuses by the government security forces and those of the militants that engage in killing and displacement of innocent citizens," the report said.

The report was contained in a major news report entitled: "Petroleum, Pollution and Poverty in the Niger Delta", released yesterday in Abuja co-authored by Audrey Gaughran, Amnesty International's Head of Business and Human Rights.

She called the situation in the Niger Delta a "human rights tragedy".

According to her, "the people of the Niger Delta have seen their human rights abused by oil companies that their government cannot or will not hold to account. The Niger Delta provides a stark example of the lack of accountability of a government to its people and of multinational companies' almost total lack of accountability when it comes to the impact of their operations on human rights."

She decried the state of affairs surrounding the existence of the Niger Delta indigenes, stating that the human rights impact of pollution in the Niger Delta is greatly under-reported.

"People living in the Niger Delta have to drink, cook with and wash in polluted water. They eat fish contaminated with oil and other toxins - if they are lucky enough to be able to still find fish. The land they farm on is being destroyed. After oil spills, the air they breathe smells of oil, gas and other pollutants. People complain of breathing problems and skin lesions - and yet neither the government nor the oil companies monitor the human impacts of oil pollution," said Gaughran.

She stated that protecting the rights of a citizenry is an international obligation for any government and the Federal Government had failed in that duty, since it had failed to assign responsibility to the different players in the situation.

"The Nigerian government is aware of the risks that oil-related pollution poses for human rights, but has failed to take measures to ensure those rights are not harmed. Despite the widespread pollution of the Niger Delta's land, rivers and creeks - and the many complaints from people living in the region - we could find almost no government data on the impact on humans of any aspect of oil pollution in the Niger Delta," she added.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200907010008.html

More than 170,000 people have been displaced from the Somali capital, Mogadishu, since early May when fresh fighting broke out began between Government forces and insurgents, the United Nations humanitarian wing reported today.

In addition to those uprooted from their homes, the fighting between Government forces and the Al-Shabaab and Hisb-ul-Islam groups have also led to some 250 deaths, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Despite the ongoing fighting and insecurity, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said humanitarian agencies, including UNHCR, the World Food Programme (WFP) and the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), have continued to provide urgently needed life-saving assistance to the affected population.

Most of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) have moved to safer areas within Mogadishu or to makeshift camps on the capital's outskirts. UNHCR reported last week that an additional 45,000 people have fled towards the Afgooye corridor, 30 kilometres south-east of Mogadishu, joining 400,000 other IDPs who have been displaced since 2007.

In a related development, WFP reported that since late 2007, when naval escorts started protecting ships loaded with WFP food heading to Somalia, not a single ship carrying the agency's food has been attacked by pirates. This has helped to ensure that a vital lifeline to some 3.5 million need people in need is kept open.

Under the European Union's Atalanta operation, which started in December last year, WFP has been able to deliver more than 240,000 metric tons of food into Somalia, through Mogadishu, Merka, Bossaso, and Berbera ports.

WFP said it remains extremely grateful to the EU for committing itself to escorting ships carrying the agency's food for this year.

However, WFP is worried about any rise in Somali piracy attacks against ships carrying humanitarian assistance and commercial cargoes to the port of Mombasa in neighbouring Kenya.

Meanwhile, OCHA is also warning that drought is endangering the livelihoods of more than 700,000 pastoralists in Somalia.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200906300957.html

Statistics from the Department of Geological Services (DGS) indicate that 111 Chinese private entities currently hold exploration licences in Botswana, up from nearly zero four years ago.

In bursting onto the Botswana mining sector, Chinese companies are vying with traditional Oriental rival, Japan, whose companies have also increased their presence on the Botswana mining scene.

According to the Chief Geologist at DGS, Johannes Tsimako, Chinese companies are being drawn to Botswana by the need to source and develop raw materials for their own industries. Thus, the major minerals Chinese companies are exploring for are copper, nickel, uranium and coal, among others.

"The key attraction is the need for raw materials for their own industries," Tsimako says. "They need to increase their supplies of metals - lead, zinc and other minerals. The Chinese are venturing into areas which have huge potential for exploration and development of these resources." Data trends from the DGS show that while a few years ago Chinese companies were content with holding equity or being in joint ventures with exploration companies in Botswana, they now focus on full control of their exploration activities.

"They are after ownership of the company exploring, perhaps because of the challenges they have experienced in joint ventures," Tsimako points out. "The Chinese companies would prefer to hold 100 percent equity in the company holding ground and would rather own the exploration licence themselves. Even if they bought into an existing company, they would want to take it over."

It is understood the Chinese private companies are partly encouraged by government funding. These companies are being empowered to source and develop raw materials in response to demand in their home country which has declined marginally this year due to the global recession. Import demand in China has been driven by that government's multi-billion US dollar stimulus plan designed to maintain development growth despite the reduced export earnings due to weaker international markets. With Botswana fast emerging as the new uranium destination, Chinese companies are eager to move into this sector and satisfy the huge demand for energy in their country. It is reported that China has a state-approved plan to improve its power generation capacity, which will drive up demand for uranium for reactors. China currently has 12 nuclear reactors under construction, with another 33 planned and another 80 proposed. By January last year, the Oriental giant had 11 operating nuclear reactors.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200906291417.html

Just ahead of this week’s African Union summit in Libya, South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma has advocated an old and discredited approach for dealing with African heads of state facing international justice, write Comfort Ero and Piers Pigou.

When a leader of South Africa’s ruling African National Congress speaks on such critical issues as impunity for the perpetrators of human rights violations, the rest of Africa listens. We listen because we recall with passion how apartheid was dismantled, ushering in a new era of democracy for South Africa.

So it comes as a shock that President Jacob Zuma used the recent meeting of the World Economic Forum for Africa to call for a continental policy favouring impunity. Sharing a roundtable conversation with President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, Zuma proclaimed that the “world has changed” and that we must “do things differently and … not emphasise punishment” in dealing with leading perpetrators of serious crimes.

His statement is embarrassing and retrogressive, especially because the world has indeed changed – but not in the ways Zuma assumed.

What has changed is that over the last two decades a global consensus has grown that amnesty for violent crimes is morally and legally unacceptable. Africa led this change in many respects, and the newly-democratised South Africa enthusiastically supported the creation of the International Criminal Court in 2002.

What Zuma now proposes is not a “new” approach but an old and discredited one that would reinforce outdated visions of an Africa which resists human rights and is willing to tolerate the worst forms of brutality.

At a time when Radovan Karadzic is being brought before the International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia, Charles Taylor faces justice before the Special Court for Sierra Leone, and Peru has tried and convicted Alberto Fujimori, Zuma has chosen to make the worst kind of rationalization for African exceptionalism.

Even worse, Zuma’s statement was made just ahead of this week’s African Union summit in Libya, which has on its draft agenda at least two reports dealing with attempts to bring to trial African heads of state. Zuma’s “new” approach, coming just as the continent faces pressures from some of its leaders to thwart justice, threatens to undermine the legitimacy of international humanitarian law.

Zuma’s approach would protect the perpetrators and architects of violence at the expense of redress for their victims. Not only is no thought given to providing reparation to victims of such violence, but their right to see justice done would be extinguished. When societies fail to make victims’ needs a priority, those societies risk new cycles of violence.

President Zuma did not distinguish between short-term peace processes and durable peacebuilding. His “bold approach” would do more to promote political violence as a means of gaining power than promote peace. He would invite leaders of political violence to look forward to impunity and a mansion in a neighbouring state.

Zuma presents this position – a safe retirement home for African despots – as being “for the sake of our people,” when clearly this protection is antithetical to the public interest. His position suggests that domestic, regional and international legal commitments can be airbrushed away, cloaked under the rubric of the pragmatic notions of what best serves Africa.

Many commentators assume Zuma’s remarks refer mainly to President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe. Zuma is indeed faced with a serious problem in Zimbabwe that is likely to be resolved only when Mugabe is persuaded to step aside.

Mugabe’s decision to leave the scene will likely depend on guarantees of impunity being extended to members of his inner circle. That is all the more reason that accountability should not be bargained away. Prospects for sustainable transformation in Zimbabwe require more, not less accountability, extending to economic crimes and corruption.

Perhaps Zuma’s public remarks are a tactical gamble, presenting himself as “on side” with the recalcitrant leaders while knowing full well that Africa’s political leadership can provide no meaningful guarantees of impunity. If this benign interpretation is true, is it worth the egg that has landed on his face as a result of appearing an apologist for the continent’s perpetrators?

Comfort Ero is deputy director of the Africa Program of the International Center for Transitional Justice. Piers Pigou is a senior associate at the ICTJ.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200906291356.html

Presidential elections took place in Guinea-Bissau in an atmosphere of calm on Sunday despite tensions generated by the assassination of President Joao Bernado Vieira by the military.

Le Potentiel reports that voting began at 07h00 (GMT) and closed ten hours later in the country of 1.3 million. Counting, which began immediately after the voting ended, was scheduled to carry on through the night. Provisional results are awaited in the coming days.

According to Johan Van Hecke, the head of the European Union observer mission, turn-out was lower than for the 2008 legislative elections. Heavy rains, especially in Bissau, were part of but not the only reason for the low poll. Hecke is the head of a 21-man mission, which visited 80 of the 2,700 polling stations around the country.

Three candidates, all former heads of state, have distinguished themselves among the 11 candidates who stood.
They are Bacaï Sanha (1999-2000) of the Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde, which was the ruling party before the advent of multi-party rule, Kumba Yala (2000-2003) of the Socialist party, and Henrique Rosa (2003-2005), who is an independent candidate.

It is hoped the election will bring some stability to a country plagued by political instability for nearly 10 years. Guinea-Bissau is widely regarded as one of the poorest in the world.

Report from the original French adapted and translated by Michael Tantoh.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200906291357.html

    

   LAGOS, June 28 (Xinhua) -- Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua expressed his welcome to the reported acceptance of his amnesty offer by four leading militant groups in the Niger Delta region.
    According to the Guardian report published Sunday, the president, who did not mention the militants, said their embrace of the amnesty was a sign that peace could be achieved in the Niger Delta to enable the government to focus on the development of the region.
    Representatives of Ateke Tom, Farah Dagogo, Soboma George and Ebikabowei Victor Ben (alia Boyloaf) issued a statement on Friday indicating their acceptance of the amnesty.
    The four factions have links to the main umbrella militant group, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND),which is in reality a loose coalition of armed gangs.
    However, they said they would not surrender their weapons until holding talks with the president to know the actual package of the amnesty and secure the assurances of the president that he was sincere with the gesture.
    "We accept peace as encapsulated in the said offer of amnesty," they said in a joint statement.
    "Depending on the outcome (of the meeting with Yar'Adua), the leaders will then announce when they will begin to hand over the arms and ammunitions in their possession to the Federal Government," the statement added.
    Yar'Adua said Saturday his offer was part of the government determination for peace and security that would enable the administration to focus on the development of the country on the platform of his seven-point agenda.
    He urged other militants to emulate them for the overall peace and development of the Niger Delta.
    The president last Thursday offered a 60-day amnesty (from Aug.6 to Oct. 4) to gunmen in the Niger Delta, who have been responsible for pipeline bombings, attacks on oil and gas installations and the kidnapping of industry workers over the past three years.
    The amnesty proposal could mean that militants suspend a month-old campaign of attacks which have shut down at least 133,000 barrels of oil production per day.
    The unrest has prevented the world's 10th biggest oil producer from pumping nearly half of its capacity of 3 million barrels per day, costing Nigeria billions of dollars in oil revenues.
    Nigeria's chief of staff, Marshal Paul Dike, said the forces would observe a ceasefire and respect all the terms of the amnesty, but he warned that the army would respond, if attacked.
    However, MEND vowed to continue its arms struggle, describing the president's offer of amnesty as bait aimed at destroying the group's agitation for greater autonomy over the oil-rich Niger Delta, the Nation newspaper reported Sunday.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-06/29/content_11616264.htm
 

A Yemenia airline Airbus A310 is reported to have crashed in the Indian Ocean near the Comoros Islands.

The crash follows a month after another Airbus, operated by Air France, went down in the Atlantic Ocean while flying from Brazil, killing 228 passengers.

The plane which crashed last night disappeared from radar screens between Yemen and the Comores, according to airport sources. It was carrying 142 passengers and 11 crew members, who had originally boarded the flight at Roissy (Paris) and Marseille in France.

Some bodies have been found near the Comoros and a French search team has been dispatched. According to sources, the plane had on board 66 French citizens, 40 of whom boarded at Roissy and 26 at Marignane (Marseille).

French sources said the weather was cloudy and windy at the time of the accident. The French transport secretary, Dominique Bussereau, confirmed on the Europe 1 television channel that the crash might have been caused by bad weather. Sources said the control tower in the Comores did all it could to help the plane, but in vain.

Yemenia is not a blacklisted airline in France, so the government will in one way or another be part of the investigation, Bussereau said. Two battalions from the national marines have already been sent to the Comores.

Yemen has announced that some bodies have been found. According to a Yemeni official, the aircraft had failed to land on its first attempt and was about to try a second time when it crashed. But Bussereau warned that this information was unverified informations.

Report translated from the original French by Michael Tantoh.

* The airline announced on its website that the aircraft was flight number IY626, travelling from Sana’a in Yemen to Moroni in the Comores. The aircraft was an Airbus 310-300, it said.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200906300586.html