Two photographers, Tsvangirai Mukwazhi of the Associated Press and Paul Cadenhead of Reuters were arrested on 15 September at the offices of The Daily News. The two were taking photos of the police seizing The Daily News’s computers and other equipment. They were immediately arrested and taken to the Harare Central police station were they were charged under the Miscellaneous Offences Act, section 7 for allegedly interfering with police work.

Recent media reports have revealed that some African countries are pushing for Zimbabwe’s readmission into the Commonwealth Councils in December alleging that the country’s state of affairs has improved. But the situation on the ground, particularly the continued erosion of basic human rights, proves otherwise. For example, The Daily News reported on September 9 that Martin Mukaro of Chitungwiza was arrested for faxing documents containing information on pre-election conditions at a phone shop at Manica House in Harare. He was charged with breaching the repressive Public Order and Security Act (POSA) and is currently out of custody on $10,000.00 bail.

In this edition: A brief profile of the WTO, Oxfam brings together G8 heads for breakfast in Cancun, Limiting citizen expression at the WTO, Suicide and protest at the WTO. To subscribe or unsubscribe please email [email protected]

This discussion list has been created to facilitate the exchange and sharing of information by African Civil Society Organisations on the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Process and Summit. You can subscribe by filling out the form provided at the website link provided.

In many rural towns and villages in the Commonwealth technology is unknown and not accessible. In an attempt to bridge the digital divide, more than sixty women entrepreneurs in Kenya's Eastern and North Eastern Provinces are getting a chance to join in the technological revolution through exposure to computers.

During the last decade of the Internet boom in North America and Europe, business leaders in the Western Cape Province of South Africa hoped that Cape Town could become the next great centre of the ICT revolution. The conditions were certainly ripe. Several local universities had been churning out a steady flow of computer engineers for a number of years. Many Cape Town residents speak English, which would make communication with most of the leading ICT industry easier. The stunning geography and weather had already prompted a steady stream of foreign tourists to the Province. However, the grim reality was that most South African engineers and other highly skilled workers were leaving the country in droves, costing the country billions of Rand.

When Andy Rabagliati started working to deliver Internet access to some poor rural schools in South Africa, he chose Linux and other open-source software. With open source he could do things he couldn't do with commercial, proprietary software and save money. In Africa, in Asia, in much of the world - especially in the developing nations - open source is looking like the best way to usher in the information age.

A lawyer, who was grilled about her sexual lifestyle when she applied for a job with the Film and Publications Board, is to receive an out-of-court settlement - two years after the incident. Gauteng attorney Kerry Williams had applied for a job as an examiner with the board in June 2001 to classify films and "represent the young, white, gay constituency".

Even critics of massive spending on computer and Internet technology in Africa, at what they fear is at the expense of poverty alleviation efforts, are conceding that so-called ”New Media” are helping Africans economically. Computers linked to the worldwide information web via the Internet are also helping efforts to promote democratisation and gender empowerment.

e Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) says it is deeply concerned about the state of press freedom in the Central African Republic. One journalist, Michel Ngokpele, publication director of the privately owned French-language daily Le Quotidien de Bangui, is languishing in prison after receiving a six-month sentence on June 26 for defamation and "inciting ethnic hatred," both deemed offences under the Central African Republic's Press Law.

This lifestyles variety radio show, created by youth for youth, airs on the University of Nambia Radio 97.4 FM and can be heard throughout Windhoek. The programmes address different types of lifestyle issues that youth face - alcohol and drug abuse, dating, date rape, staying healthy, and avoiding and preventing STD and HIV infection.

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has described the recent police attack on journalists across the country as a clandestine approach to censor the press, and called for the immediate arrest and prosecution of those behind the acts. The union was reacting to the police brutalisation recently of a photojournalist, Mr. Akintunde Akinleye of the Daily Independent newspaper, a Lagos-based national tabloid.

Adili means integrity in Kiswahili and is a fortnightly news service containing news and views on corruption in Kenya. All interviews in Adili are exclusives to TI-Kenya. Subscribe online at http://www.tikenya.org/newsletter.asp or by sending an email to [email protected]

Kabissa has made available an updated version of its highly successful TIME TO GET ONLINE self-learning materials for African civil society organisations. Kabissa developed the materials to help civil society activists and organizers to get online, learn the essential "steps to success on the Internet" and to integrate the Internet into their organisations. The materials follow Kabissa's proven methodology for going through the four steps of connecting to and taking advantage of the benefits of the Internet: connecting, accessing, interacting and advocating.

For many across the globe, the word "activist" creates images of individuals hanging out in the top of a 200 year old tree or perhaps picketers with hand written poster boards. While true in some cases, activists of all shapes and sizes are increasingly making use of high tech tools to intensify their message. Wired news acknowledged this widespread trend in a recent article highlighting the technology activists will be using at the World Trade Organisation's meeting this month in Cancun. (Sourced from PoliticsOnline, http://www.PoliticsOnline.com)

Some online advocates are concerned that anti-spam measures will end the free flow of information - the first principle of the Internet. Marv Johnson, legislative council for the American Civil Liberties Union, worries that the ability to speak anonymously on the Internet is put at risk by legislation that makes it illegal to mask a sender's identity or forge routing information. This would criminalize the actions of people who have a legitimate reason to hide their identities, for instance dissidents under oppressive regimes, closeted gay teens, or government whistle-blowers.

Currently, most computer translators are for major European and Asian languages. But what could be possible if there were translators for the languages of Africa?
* Better communication within the continent?
* Easier sharing of information among diverse communities?
* Expedited translation of materials for education and development?
The page available through this link seeks to highlight these possibilities, but more importantly to promote discussion of ongoing projects to develop translators for diverse African languages.

In celebration of the International Year of Freshwater, CIVICUS focuses on issues relating to water and people: Freshwater issues around the globe; The growing thirst for water; Indian communities forced to drink Coke; Call for nominations to the CIVICUS Board; Classifieds; and CIVICUS World Assembly. To subscribe email [email protected].

In a joint protest, the Media Foundation for West Africa and ARTICLE 19 reiterated their concerns over the Enforcement of the Act establishing the National Media Commission of The Gambia. A letter by the groups calls on media and human rights organisations to support the Gambia Press Union in their boycott of the Media Commission until the present Act is repealed. Radical revisions need to be made in order for the legislation to meet international press freedom standards and to ensure media freedom in The Gambia, they say.

A lobby group operating under the wing of the Catholic Church in Kenya wants three books withdrawn from the school syllabus, saying they are "morally objectionable." The lobby group, Parent's Caucus, claims that sections of Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe's "A Man of the People" and S. A Mohammed's "Kiu" and "Kitumbua Kimeingia Mchanga" - all set-books for the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education Examinations (KCSE) - are sexually explicit and contain pornographic material.