International aid and development agencies, World Vision and Action on Disability and Development (ADD), welcome the formal adoption of the UN Convention on the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities. The Convention draws together for the first time the human rights of disabled people.

FEATURE: We bring you highlights of the year and give you reasons for continuing to support Pambazuka News
COMMENT AND ANALYSIS:
- There has been an increase in violence against aid workers in Darfur. Eva Dadrian argues that for international development aid to be effective, peace must be restored first to Darfur.
- WSF is a few weeks away. Onyango Oloo writes that social movements want to see the WSF being transformed into a space for organizing and mobilizing against the nefarious forces of neo-liberalism.
- Dieu-Donné WEDI DJAMBA explores what reconciliation means for the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)
PODCASTS: Safaa Elagib Adam from the Sudanes Community Development Association talks to from Pambazuka News
PAN AFRICAN POSTCARD: Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem celebrates the intellectual achievements of Issa Shivji, 'a legend in his own lifetime.'
BLOGGING AFRICA: Sokari Ekine reviews the film ‘Blood Diamonds’.
WORLD SOCIAL FORUM: What is the WSF?
CONFLICT AND EMERGENCIES: Links to news on Sudan, Somalia, Chad, Nigeria and the CAR
HUMAN RIGHTS: Darfur demands sanctions, not words
WOMEN AND GENDER: Annan’s legacy for women
REFUGEES AND FORCED MIGRATION: Refugee camps after dark
ELECTIONS AND GOVERNANCE: Gabonese go to the polls
DEVELOPMENT: Beware of China-Africa economic ties
CORRUPTION: Tackle corruption not critics
HEALTH AND HIV/AIDS: Libya HIV death penalties condemned
ENVIRONMENT: New drive for the environment in Zanzibar
MEDIA AND FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION: Egyptian Blogger Abdel Kareem Nabil Suleiman has spent six weeks in custody
NEWS FROM THE DIASPORA: Germany’s black community demand demolition of racist statue
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The article ‘The Psychosis of Denial: Response to The anatomy of Zimbabwe’s problems’ reflects the thinking of an analytical mind. The psychological problem facing many Africans is fear of annihilation by the Euro/Asian forces. For the past 3000 years, Africa has been under attack by these various alien forces. Zimbabwe is just one of the last to put up a valiant fight. But we must understand that even when our governments give in to white/Arab supremacy, they are still sanctioned and marginalized. Occupied Sudan, Kemit and Mauritania come to mind as a few of the nations now under the control by alien forces. Others on the continent as well as the Diaspora also operate under the direction of the Euro/American ideological sphere of influence. There are few places on this earth where Africans are completely free to build and prosper because of either alien influences or incompetence by so-called leaders. We, as a people, will achieve prosperity throughout the world once we have rid ourselves of all alien influences and allow our ancestors to guide us, as our ancestors did in the past. We must develop our own indigenous economic system that serves the needs of our people. It is incumbent that we master the vital skills of Science, Engineering and Medicine in order to build the types of governments as existed in the past. We must look to the past to find solutions for the future.

Dieu-Donné WEDI DJAMBA explores what reconciliation means for the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Reconciliation will not only allow Congolese people as a community to know the truth about their past in order to build a better future but also will heal their wounds, writes Wedi Djamba.

Introduction

With the election of Joseph Kabila as the fourth president of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the DRC started a new era. This era is the Third republic. For a country dealing with a legacy of two undemocratic regimes (theMobutu regime of 1965-1997 and the L.D. Kabila regime of 1997-2001) and two deadly wars (1996-1997 and 1998-2002) many challenges are faced by the elected president and his government. Amongst them is the reconciliation of the Congolese people. In this regard, many Congolese define reconciliation wrongly in terms of power-sharing while others define it through the words “forgive and forget”.

To achieve national reconciliation it takes more than power-sharing between politicians or the use of the words “forgive and forget”. Indeed, the DRC is emerging from two wars that affected her deeply and is also recovering from the legacy of dictatorship. During those two eras (war and dictatorship) many human rights violations occurred and many injustices were experienced by the population. Congolese people were divided and many disappeared. In this regard, many families are still trying to find out what happened to their loved ones.

Therefore, to move on from the past it is important to turn the page of the history. But first, there is a need to read this page. [1] Indeed, reading the page of the past allows for understanding the past mistakes in order to avoid them in the future. For a country like the DRC, the amnesia is the worst option because it is the best way for people to repeat the same mistakes. George Santayana [2], so often quoted in relation to Nazism and the Holocaust, confirmed this view when he said, `Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it’. Consequently the DRC has to read the page of her history before turning it.

Furthermore, in the DRC, reconciliation is a process which needs to know who did what. In this regard, Alex Boraine [3] argues that transparency, accountability and truth are essential ingredients in any nation which seeks integrity, the consolidation of democracy and a culture of human rights.

Accountability

Alex Boraine argues that: “For the sake of justice, for stability and the restoration of dignity to victims, there must be accountability for the past”. [4] Indeed, all these years of the reign of undemocratic regimes and two deadly wars have left the DRC with thousands of victims but also the same amount of perpetrators. All past abuses and its victims and perpetrators has to be disclosed in order to heal the wounds of the victims and to send a deterrent message to the perpetrators.

The accountability for past abuses can be made judicially or extra-judicially. It is not possible to prosecute everybody in case of the mass abuses. Therefore, there is a need to hold those responsible for the past abuses accountable through other mechanisms such as removal from office, retirement or an obligation to apologize publicly for the wrong done. In this regard, to set up an independent commission to deal with the issue, is important.

Furthermore, accountability for the past in the DRC will draw the line between the past characterized by injustice and impunity and the Third republic that has just been born. The sentence “the recreation is over” used by the elected president, Joseph Kabila expresses the willingness to draw a line between a wrong past and the new era. And this line should start by holding accountable all those implicated in the past abuse.

Reparation

In the restorative justice perspective, reparation is defined as including any form of compensation, ex-gratia payment, restitution, rehabilitation or recognition. [5]

Reparations aim to redress injustices suffered by one or several individuals or communities. In the context of the mass past abuses in the DRC, reparations can be granted by the court through a judicial process but also by the national authority. Currently it is utopian for those victims to expect any reparation from the judicial process because firstly this involves fees which the majority cannot afford and secondly the judicial system in the DRC as noticed by Human Rights Watch [6], is in state of disarray. Thirdly, the judicial system is corrupt and was listed among the four most corrupt institutions during the transitional period in the DRC by the report of Observatoire du Code d’Ethique Professionnelle (OCEP) [7] (an anti-corruption commission set up by the state department). Therefore, the only way for the thousands of victims of past abuses to expect any reparation is through and from the government. This reparation will not change the pain suffered in the past, but will help victims to face the future.

In addition, reparations aim to restore the dignity of the victims and to heal their wounds. Indeed, in the DRC any reparation to the victims of past abuses will be an acknowledgement of their pain and a condemnation of the abuse they suffered.

The government should grant individuals reparations such as money, rebuilding of houses, free health care, free education to the children of victims, free treatment for the victims of rape or those affected by HIV/AIDS in the wake of the rape. They should also grant symbolic reparations such as building a memorial statue for those victims, or dedicating a memorial day to those victims.

Reparations will not only help victims to turn the page of the past but will also pave the way for the reconciliation process between victims and perpetrators, in particular and between the Congolese people in general.

Telling the truth

Telling the truth about terrible events is a prerequisite both for the restoration of social order and for the healing of individual victims. When truth is finally recognised, survivors can begin their recovery. [8] Furthermore, the research for truth and a commitment to truth must be undertaken by the entire nation: ordinary people, government, agencies, poets, writers, historians, academics, and whoever cares about the future. [9]

Indeed, many injustices and conflicts that occurred in the past decades left thousands of victims and divided the Congolese community as a whole. The past in the DRC is filled with plenty of mass violations of human rights - atrocities such as mass killing, rape, burning of houses, disappearance, torture or ethnic cleansing such as the conflict between Kasai community against Katanga community in 1992-1993 in Katanga province; and the conflict between Hema community and Lendu community in Ituri District between 2001 and now.

The road to reconciliation between victims and their perpetrators, or between communities, passes through a truth telling. In this regard, George Bizos [10] argues: ”It is not possible to simply forget the past, it will sooner or later come back to haunt the nation.”

Furthermore, truth telling will not only allow Congolese people to know the truth about their past in order to build a better future but also will heal their wounds. Indeed, the disclosure of the past will help many families to know what happened to their loved ones and finally to end their long mourning.

In addition, truth telling is an opportunity for those who committed any abuse to cleanse themselves of the ghosts of the past by acknowledging their wrong doings, asking for forgiveness and for the victims to forgive them. Thus, Congolese as a whole can say ‘never again’ for what happened and then turn the page of the past. To do so the establishment of a forum for national reconciliation becomes urgent.

Conclusion

This paper analysed the conditions for reconciliation in the DRC. Congolese people need to move on from the past. But they need to look back in order to move forward. Looking back has to be a national concern. This will include accountability for the past abuses, the reparation for victims of those past abuses and truth telling involving victims, their perpetrators, and all divided communities as well. Reconciliation which leads to the national unity in the DRC comes at this price.

• Dieu-Donné WEDI DJAMBA is a lawyer(Advocate)at the Lubumbashi Bar association/DRC; Independent consultant; Assistant lecturer in a College of Law in Lubumbashi/ DRC; Human Rights Activist and Writer. Tel:+243812485222;+27738362921 ; Fax:+18016727206 Email: [email][email protected]; [email][email protected]

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

References:

[1] Alex Boraine, ’A country unmasked’ ,Oxford University press, 2000,p5
[2] Alex Boraine,op.cit,p4
[3] Alex Boraine,op.cit,p8
[4] Alex Boraine,op.cit,p8
[5] Wendy Orr, `Reparation delayed is healing retarded’, in Charles Villa-Vicencio and Wilhelm Verwerd (eds), Looking back reaching forward: Reflections n the Truth and Reconciliation commission of South Africa ,Cape Town :UCT,2000, p239
[6] William W.Burke-White, “International Criminal Court, Complementarity in practice: The International Criminal Court as Part of a System of Multi-level Global Governance in the Democratic Republic of Congo”,Leiden Journal of international Law 18( 2005),p576
[7] Radio Okapi,`Quatre services de l’Etat indexes dans la lutte contre la corruption’,http://www.radiookapi.net/article.php?id=6202>,accessed 10 december 2006.
[8] Nomfundo Walaza, ’Insufficient healing and reparation’ in Charles Villa-Vicencio and Wilhelm Verwoerd,(eds) op. cit p253.
[9] Alex Boraine,op.cit, p8
[10] Georges Bizos ’Why prosecution is necessary’, in Charles Villa-Vicencio and Erik Doxtader,(eds), The provocations of Amnesty: Memory, justice and impunity, Institute for Justice and Reconciliation,2003, p5

At least 200,000 people are estimated to have died since the Darfur conflict between government forces, allied militias and rebels seeking autonomy began in 2003. Aid workers have also been attacked, and their vehicles and communication equipment stolen. Eva Dadrian writes that for international development aid to be effective, peace must be restored first to Darfur.

Throughout the Darfur crisis, Sudan has disputed accusations, accused everybody except the pro-government Janjaweed militias, played for time, pledged and promised but never delivered. It has even managed to stave off UN intervention. Darfur is entering its fourth year of conflict and turmoil and there are no more excuses to be made, say observers.

Despite calls for action from the United Nations (UN), aid agencies and human rights organisations, Africans have consistently resisted any action which would be critical of the Sudanese government, in the name of African solidarity. But patience seems to have run out even from a very complacent African Union, and not long ago, President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria warned of possible genocide in the region. Now, President Omar el Bashir has until the end of the year to disarm the Janjaweed, and accept a hybrid AU-UN peacekeeping force in Darfur or face the consequences.

Addressing the African-Caribbean-Pacific conference held recently in Khartoum, President al Bashir said that the situation in Darfur is “under control” and that peace has been restored in the province. In reality, the situation in Darfur is far from being "under control" as claimed by the Sudanese strong man. The rebellion continues and a new group has emerged and taken up arms against Khartoum.

Reported to belong to Darfur Arab tribes, the Popular Forces Troops (PFT) say they are fighting against the “marginalisation” of the region. It is not yet known whether they will join forces with the rebel groups that did not sign the Abuja Peace agreement. However, the PFT is reported to have made a statement saying that “Darfur Arab groups believe that Darfur people are fighting for a just cause”.

In the meantime, the only group which signed the Abuja Peace agreement with the government last May (the Sudan Liberation Army), has threatened to pull out of the deal if Khartoum-backed militias “continue to be armed and to attack civilians”. In addition, fresh fighting has erupted between the Sudanese government troops and the National Redemption Front (NRF), an umbrella group of the rebel factions that did not sign the Abuja peace agreement in May.

Sitting in Addis Ababa last week, the AU Joint Ceasefire Commission (JCC) decided that the disarmament of the Janjaweed in the war-torn Darfur region "be started immediately." That decision was made upon the assessment of a confidential report presented to the JCC by General Luke Aprezi, the commander of the AMIS (African Union Mission in Sudan) peacekeeping force. The report testifies clearly and without ambiguity hat the Janjaweed had recently increased their attacks. It also draws the attention of the JCC to the fact that "the re-emergence of the Janjaweed also negatively affected the security situation." Although Khartoum continues to deny it, General Luke Aprezi’s report says, “The Sudanese government continues to arm the Janjaweed."

Back in 2004, at the height of the conflict, I wrote that the Sudanese armed forces and other paramilitary units, i.e. the government-backed Janjaweed, have simultaneously targeted civilians, allegedly accused of supporting the rebellion. Despite promises and pledges from the government, the Janjaweed are still being armed and still targeting civilians. Only last month, the Janjaweed were again in action against civilians. This time the attacks took place near the Chadian borders.

Both the AU and the United Nations confirmed this recent military campaign and said that the Janjaweed militia has targeted “civilians and particularly children”. More than 70 civilians were reported killed. Western monitors have also reported that the Sudanese Air Force has also been deployed in the offensive and bombed villages along the border with Chad. No circumstances can justify deliberate attacks on civilians, or military operations that endanger civilian lives. These recent attacks were grave violations of human rights and the laws of war, and they happened despite the recent pledge by the government to dismantle the Janjaweed and honour a UN Security Council resolution that banned bombing raids in Darfur.

President Al Bashir has consistently rejected the deployment of an extended peacekeeping force on the grounds that his government is capable of maintaining peace in the region. He went as far as declaring that the presence of any UN force would be like “an invasion” or that the West is interested neither in human rights nor in the plight of the people of Darfur, but seeking to invade Sudan only so it could plunder its resources. Sudanese government officials have also warned that the war-torn province could become “a new battlefield for jihadists”.

There is no doubt that the disarmament depends on “ the political will of the Sudanese government” says Monique Mukaruliza, deputy head of the peace mission, but the pressure is building up and it appears that even Sudan’s African supporters have given up on Khartoum’s long-lasting diplomatic game.

That game is almost over. An “informal” consensus seems to have been reached by the AU, the international community and the UN to put further pressure on Sudan.

As the AU Joint Ceasefire Commission was sitting in Addis Ababa, 15 former foreign ministers wrote a proposal for Darfur. Published in the Financial Times of London (18 December 2006), the proposal, signed by amongst others: Joschka Fisher (Germany) Ismail Cem (Turkey) Gareth Evans (Australia), Erik Derycke of Belgium, Lamberto Dini of Italy, Bronislaw Geremek of Poland, Rosario Green of Mexico, Surin Pitsuwan of Thailand, Hubert Vedrine of France and Ana Palacio of Spain, says that a “fully observed ceasefire leading to a sustained political settlement would be the best way to save lives in the war-ravaged region.”

In the interim, says the proposal, the international community will need to convince President al-Bashir that his best interests would be served by allowing the “African Union peacekeeping force to be strengthened with financial, logistical and other support from the United Nations.”

The option of sanctions, the so-called “consequences” mentioned by the JCC communiqué, is clearly stated in the foreign ministers’ proposal. They reckon that sanctions would force a change of policy by Khartoum. “As former diplomats, we support one last effort to persuade Khartoum to accept the proposal for a hybrid force. If by the year's end Mr Bashir still refuses or, more likely, continues pretending to agree one day and saying no the next, he should pay a stiff price."

That price, or the consequences should first include targeted multilateral sanctions [such as travel bans and asset freezes] directed at military and civilian leaders who are responsible for the violence. The second step should be measures to target revenue from Sudan's oil sales, coupled with an embargo on the sale of equipment to that country's petroleum industry, and thirdly, steps to be taken to close offshore accounts affiliated with the government-majority party, including militias.

In addition, the International Criminal Court should up its investigations into those who order or commit crimes against humanity in Darfur. However, unless these sanctions are “multilateral” they will have no effect on the Sudanese government. Extensive diplomatic efforts by the AU and the international community are being made to persuade Sudan’s African, Arab and Asian allies to help change President al Bashir’s mind and to reach an agreement for a “hybrid” AU-UN force to be sent in 2007. Before being asked to leave Sudan, in October 2006, Jan Egeland, the United Nations humanitarian chief, made a similar plea and called on African, Arab and Asian countries to urge Sudan to accept a UN peacekeeping force in Darfur.

The Addis Ababa-Abuja broad diplomatic coalition, which benefits from the support of the AU, the Arab League and the UN Security Council, has recommended a hybrid force that would combine AU personnel with financial, logistics and other support from the United Nations. The plan is 1) to strengthen the capacity of the AU monitors, 2) to provide for increased logistical support to the embattled African contingent and 3) to see the deployment of a hybrid AU-UN peacekeeping force yet to be formally approved by Sudan.

Pressure is also mounting from the International Criminal Court (ICC), as Luis Moreno Ocampo, the chief prosecutor for ICC, announced that his investigation has collected enough evidence to prove “who are the most responsible for the crimes committed in Darfur” in 2003 and 2004. It was during that period that the highest number of crimes were committed, by all parties involved in the conflict. The chief prosecutor has also asked the Sudanese government to facilitate a visit by his team in January 2007 to gather information on the 14 arrests made by the GoS.

However, it seems that the people indicted by the GoS are not the same people the ICC is investigating. Under the Rome statute, the prosecutor must first assess whether the government is building the same case. Ocampo has already asked the Sudanese government for an update on their national proceedings, regarding the arrest of 14 people by the Sudanese authorities.

Furthermore, as the UN Human Rights Council is preparing to send a high-level team of human rights experts to Darfur, news reports have quoted Mohamed Ali al-Mardhi, the Sudanese minister of justice, as saying that he was “ready to cooperate with a UN fact-finding team due to investigate human rights abuses in war-torn Darfur.”

According to Al-Mardhi, “the authorities have nothing to hide” and all obstacles will be removed in order “to allow the team of experts to probe cases of rights violations in the western region”.

Collective decision-making is very well, and there is no doubt in my mind that as Africans, we have to stand for African sovereignty and reject any outside interference in our own affairs. But my question is whether in the name of that same sovereignty, we should allow our governments to kill Africans and destroy entire communities, making hundreds of thousands of people flee their homes and become refugees or IDPs (internally displaced people), facing starvation and life threatening diseases? It is indeed in the name of their sovereignty that successive governments in Khartoum have waged wars against their own people: for more than twenty years in Southern Sudan and now for almost four years in Darfur.

Observers and aid agencies continue to remind us that Security Council resolution 1706 was written under the enforcement chapter of the United Nations, therefore the UN force could intervene “regardless of what the government of Sudan wants”. But this is not, and this cannot be, the preferred option. Sudan must agree to let the hybrid AU-UN into Darfur where the humanitarian situation is deteriorating as aid agencies have announced that they had to pull out 650 staff from Darfur and Chad, because of security fears. The evacuation of the aid workers, even if temporarily, means disrupting supplies of food and medicines to hundreds of thousands of people.

Some African political analysts say that the so-called "international peacekeeping force" is a “euphemism for foreign military intervention which is destined to have disastrous repercussions for the people of Darfur and Sudan as a whole.” Let us be honest and look into the past 50 years of Sudan history. The only disastrous repercussions for the people of Sudan are the centralised, hegemonic, dictatorial, elitist and undemocratic policies of successive Sudanese governments who have ruled the country since independence.

Some observers suspect that oil is the main “motivation” behind the heightened interest of the international community and specifically that of Washington. Yet, there is no geological evidence of oil reserves in Darfur. Academics and some diplomats are behind the spread of these false reports. If one looks into the oil issue, one can see that China, Malaysia and India hold the concession rights for oil development and exploration in Southern Sudan and in the Kordofan province.

For my part, I have always believed that the fighting in Darfur should not be seen as an isolated issue, but in a wider regional context. The entire Sahel region, from Mauritania to Sudan, faces a common problem: droughts and underdevelopment that lead to a scramble over the meagre resources between nomadic tribes and pastoralists, mainly Arabs or Arabised, and African non-Arab agriculturalists and farmers. This has been the situation since the 1960s. Only sustainable development assistance to the entire region of the Sahel can help quell current and future clashes between those communities. But before sending any international development aid, peace must be restored to Darfur.

• Eva Dadrian is an independent broadcaster and Political and Country Risk Analyst for print and broadcast media.

• Please send comments to or comment online at www.pambazuka.org

Citizens in the African state of Gabon have begun voting in parliamentary elections with Omar Bongo, the current president, looking to maintain his hold on power. Voting got under way slowly across the former French colony, with many of the largely Christian population preferring to attend mass before going to vote.

Nigeria's ruling Peoples Democratic Party has chosen Umaru Yar'Adua, governor of the northern Katsina State, as its candidate for the April 2007 presidential election. The vote will choose a successor to Olusegun Obasanjo, whose second four-year term is coming to an end and who is constitutionally barred from standing again.

Moves to extend President Robert Mugabe's tenure of office by two years are being seen by civil society and opposition groups as a consequence of the messy presidential succession battle being waged in the ruling ZANU-PF party. At its annual conference this week in the capital, Harare, ZANU-PF is expected to confer an extension of office on the president - a post Mugabe, 82, has held since 1980, when Zimbabwe gained independence from Britain.

Joseph Kabila won Congo's first democratic presidential elections in decades, but now the 35-year-old former guerrilla leader faces the daunting task of rebuilding from scratch a country almost the size of western Europe. Apart from resettling internally displaced people (IDPs) and refugees in neighbouring countries, he needs to address widespread insecurity and human-rights abuses, including sexual violence committed by government troops and different militias, and reintegrate ex-combatants into society.

The film Blood Diamonds is the focus of a number of blog posts this week. 'Black Star Journal' - Black Star Journal () comments on an article in the Christian Science Monitor that a “self policing process appears to be cleaning up the industry” which he sees as a model for NGOs to effect positive change in international affairs.

“This is called enlightened self-interest. The diamond industry didn't adopt these regulations because it suddenly had a tinge of guilt. Selling diamonds is an amoral activity. But activists made it so doing the right thing morally was the best thing for the industry's bottom line. In the end, a diamond boycott would hurt those engaging in legitimate mining, such as Botswana, Africa's oldest democracy.”

In contrast, 'The Benin Epilogue Part 1' - Benin Epilogue Part 1 (http://africareadyforbusiness.blogspot.com/2006/12/different-perspective-on-africas.html) writes that many of the diamonds coming out of Africa may not be “blood diamonds”. He also uses Botswana as an example of ethically and morally produced diamonds:

“This article seemed interesting to me because Botswana enjoys one of Africa's highest per capita incomes and derives the bulk of it's income from diamonds. Additionally, Botswana recently experienced a slight reduction in foreign direct investment in it's diamond industry. However, this was not due to press associated with ‘blood diamonds’. In fact this contraction was due to a statement made by a diamond executive at a leading diamond cutting and polishing company about Botswana's diamond supply. It just illustrates the sensitivity of small developing economies to damaging public relations.”

What is missing from both these posts, is that Botswana-produced diamonds may themselves not be morally tainted. However because of Botswana’s legal production of diamonds, the country is used by illegal diamond traders to sell their blood diamonds from countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo.

'France Watch' - France Watch (http://www.francewatcher.org/2006/12/en_fin_fout_le_.html) reports on the end of the UN mandate in Ivory Coast and more specifically the French forces like ‘Force Licorne’ who he believes have contributed to the conflict through their involvement in the internal affairs of the country:

“These French troops have never ceased to meddle in the internal affairs of the Ivory Coast. They have supported the rebels of the North from the beginning; offered them weapons and supplies; marketed and transported their stolen goods; and plotted innumerable coups and outrages. They opened fire on unarmed, peaceful demonstrators in November 2004, killing many and wounding more. Just three days ago the French forces planned and supported an attempted coup in the Ivory Coast, bent on assassinating many of the key leadership figures of the country. When that failed they spirited the coup leader out to France on French military transport. It is clear that the root of any solution of the Ivory Coast dilemma must start with the rapid and complete removal of the Force Licorne from the Ivory Coast.”

'The Big Pharaoh' - The Big Pharaoh (http://www.bigpharaoh.com/2006/12/18/welcome-to-islams-1400-years-old-schism) looks back on the recent rise of the 1400 year old schism between Sunni and Shia Islam. He believes the two groups are on the verge of a war that will engulf the whole region:

“Two major events brought the Shia genie out of the bottle. The first was in 1979 when an old Iranian Shia cleric (who asked Oriana Fallaci who Mozart and Beethoven were) managed to overthrow one of the most powerful regimes in the Middle East. The entire Arab Sunni world, the West, and the Soviets worked on keeping this genie engulfed within Iran's borders by supporting Saddam Hussein during the Iraq-Iran war. The genie slipped through though, jumped over Iraq, and landed on the friendly land of Syria. It got leaked to Lebanon during the civil war and the genie mutilated into Hezbollah.”

'African Bullets and Honey' - African Bullets and Honey (http://bulletsandhoney.wordpress.com/2006/12/15/dr-de-cock-praises-the-cut) comments on the recent study on Kenya and Uganda by the National Institutes of Health that male circumcision might reduce the risk of contracting the HIV virus. However he quotes a report from a few years ago that states exactly the opposite – that not only does circumcision not lead to lower rates of infection, but there is actually a higher incidence in circumcised males:

“Anyway, hard on the heels of the pro-circumcision study, two of the larger HIV/AIDS funds are considering paying for The Cut in high-risk countries. Daniel Halperin, a Harvard HIV specialist extraordinaire, excitedly responded, ‘I have no doubt that as word of this gets around, millions of African men will want to get circumcised, and that will save many lives.’ That is the kind of enthusiasm displayed by a man who got The Cut as an infant in a bright shiny hospital. Not as a teenager by a circumciser who declared the use of aesthetic to be unmanly as yours truly lay trouser-less, sweating onto the cold plastic of the hospital cot and praying to the gods for a last minute reprieve and failing that at least an injection of painkiller.”

As he says, once word gets around, traditional and western medical doctors are going to be making a lot of money from men desperate to get circumcised in the belief that this will save them from contracting the virus. What are the implications here for safe sex? Will these men abandon all thoughts of using condoms? It seems to me that there are many implications attached to this report which have just not been thought through and might hinder, rather than help, the fight against HIV/AIDS.

Rethabile writing on 'Black Looks' - Black Looks
(http://www.blacklooks.org/2006/12/they_feared_you_steven.html)
remembers Steve Biko on the anniversary of his birthday by way of a letter:

“We do not want to be reminded that it is we, the indigenous people, who are poor and exploited in the land of our birth. These are concepts which the Black Consciousness approach wishes to eradicate from the black man’s mind before our society is driven to chaos by irresponsible people from Coca-cola and hamburger cultural backgrounds.”

“They feared you, hence they killed you. The new ideas you were working out jangled their nerves, and you became a problem without a solution, just like we all were. But they couldn’t get the whole black nation to slip on a bar of soap. No. That was reserved for top problems like you.”

• Sokari Ekine produces the blog Black Looks, http://www.blacklooks.org/

• Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at http://www.pambazuka.org/

Liberia’s Forestry Development Authority is preparing a new bidding process for logging concessions following the lifting in October of the United Nations Security Council’s three-year ban on Liberian timber exports. “We expect this will create about 10,000 jobs,” Richie Grear, the government’s forest bureau spokesman, told IRIN.

Zimbabwe must undertake widespread reforms in order to prevent a worsening of the country's dire economic problems, the IMF has said. On Tuesday (19 December 2006), the IMF released a statement asking Zimbabwe to cut and prioritise its public spending, undertake structural reform and improve its international relations, saying such changes are "urgent".

The government of Angola, which yesterday joined the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), should publicly account for how it spends the country’s massive oil wealth instead of harassing citizens who criticize corruption, Human Rights Watch said today (15 December 2006).

When the United Nations Peacebuilding Commission meets with representatives of the Burundian government tomorrow, this new UN body designed to promote recovery for countries after armed conflicts should emphasize the crucial need for human rights protection in Burundi, Human Rights Watch said today (11 December 2006).

Members of Parliament and Civil Society Organisations of 12 countries met recently under the theme: “The new and the old loans in Africa – what role for Parliamentarians in Africa and Europe?” The meeting was concerned by the continuing net resource outflows of capital from Africa to the North and the increasing marginalisation of the continent.

The General Assembly this week adopted a landmark disability convention, the first human rights treaty of the twenty-first century and one that Kofi Annan said represents the “dawn of a new era” for around 650 million people worldwide living with disabilities. Mr. Annan, along with Assembly President, other UN officials and civil society members that lobbied for the pact, urged Member States to quickly ratify the convention, which covers rights to education, health, work and other protective measures.

How does one summarise the year 2006 in a few words? It’s been a year of hope and dashed-hopes. The Democratic Republic of Congo held its first democratic elections since the country’s independence in 1960. In Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe is making moves to extend his tenure of office as president by a further two years. In Nigeria, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) is waging a struggle to have access to the wealth generated by the oil found in the area. In the Sudan, the Janjaweed continues killing and causing destruction in Darfur. China has become a major economic - and political - player on the continent. Amidst all of this, Africans celebrated in June the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and the first anniversary in November of the coming into force of the AU Protocol on the Rights on Women in Africa.

But is has also been a year in which Pambazuka News has helped the voices of those engaged in the struggles for social justice be heard through the cacophony of stereotypes that normally fills the mainstream media. In 48 issues of the English language version, and 17 of the French language version, over 200 authors have written more than 270 articles.

This rich collection of analyses and commentaries has also given rise to two books that will be available at the World Social Forum in Nairobi in January: 'Grace, tenacity and eloquence: the struggle for women’s rights in Africa' and 'African Perspectives on China in Africa'.

And to complement that, there have been 14 podcasts featuring the voices of activists committed to expanding freedoms in Africa.

Pambazuka News has become a critical means for organisations in Africa to exchange information, to forge networks of solidarity, and to open much needed debate about major developments in the region. This community - connected through Pambazuka News - is unique to the continent.

All this has been done on a shoestring. We’ve been generously supported by loyal funders (see the acknowledgements at the bottom of this newsletter), but we rely primarily on the generosity of our authors and readers to really make Pambazuka News what it is today. Pambazuka News is able to do what it does because it remains independent. And to retain that independence, we continue to need your support. You can support Pambazuka News in many ways: by writing articles or reviewing books; telling your friends and colleagues about Pambazuka News; by distributing articles to others; by volunteering your time. But if you don’t have time or inclination to do such things, you can support us by making a regular donation to Pambazuka News.

You can donate to Pambazuka News at

Your donation will make a real difference to ensuring the long-term survival of Pambazuka News.

And to remind you of some of the highlights of the year here is a selection of 12 feature articles from 2006. You can read these and some 40,000 other news, resources and analyses at www.pambazuka.org

HAITI: A COUP REGIME, HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES AND THE HIDDEN HAND OF WASHINGTON
Ben Terrall

'To its everlasting discredit, in 2004 the UN sent troops to Haiti when a U.S. marine occupation became politically untenable. In effect, this international presence, consisting of soldiers from more than twenty countries, comprises an occupation force that legitimizes the current coup regime and controls dissidents unwilling to accept the new status quo. And, as a Chilean officer told me in Cap Hatien in December 2004, the troops are ‘trained as soldiers, so it is very hard for us to not react in a military fashion.’ A Haitian activist I spoke to who identifies himself as a member of Lavalas told me that one useful thing the UN has done in Haiti is to bring in health care. Unfortunately, he noted sardonically, the treatment only comes after UN troops shoot civilians.'
-- Pambazuka News 239: 26 January 2006

CHINA IN AFRICA – THE NEW IMPERIALISM?
Stephen Marks

'China’s increased presence in Africa is part of a wider effort to ‘create a paradigm of globalisation that favours China’. In the past China’s African presence benefited from a shared history as an object of European imperialism and its ideological commitment to anti-imperialism and national liberation. China’s declared principles of respect for national sovereignty and non-interference in internal affairs appealed not only as a contrast with the suspect motives of former colonial powers, but for less elevated reasons to rulers threatened with internal dissent. But more recently China’s policy has shifted from Cold War ideology to a more classical pursuit of economic self-interest in the form of access to raw materials, markets and spheres of influence through investment, trade and military assistance - to the point where China can be suspected of pursuing the goals of any classical imperialist.'
-- Pambazuka News 244: 02 March 2006

ZIMBABWE 2006 – WE ALL FALL DOWN
Mary Ndlovu

'Every year since 2000, Zimbabweans have wondered: ‘Will this be it, will this be the year when it all ends, when Humpty Dumpty finally totters off the wall?’ And if it is, what will it mean for each one of us, and for the nation as a whole – healing, restoration and return to ‘normality’, or deepened chaos, insecurity and catastrophe? We listen to talk about elections in 2008 and 2010 and deep down nurture a hope that there will be no more ZANU PF elections. But even deeper down we fear that even if there aren’t, things will never come right again, not in our life-times, unless we are still very young. Several years ago, as Zimbabwe left the gentler rapids and began its headlong rush towards the precipice, some people declared loudly that we had reached the bottom and could now only go up. How deluded they were.'
-- Pambazuka News 248: 30 March 2006

DRC’S POTENTIAL: LIGHTING THE CONTINENT FROM CAPE TO CAIRO
Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja

'The DRC cannot play a positive role in Africa’s development as long as it remains a dependent territory with approximately 60 percent of its national budget, over US$400 million for its national elections and virtually all of its development policy decisions coming from external sources. Elections, in this context, are not an exercise in self-determination but a ritual designed to justify external control through weak and non-patriotic elements of the political class. To play an emancipatory role with respect to Africa’s development, the DRC must complete its transition from colonialism to genuine independence as a sovereign nation with its own social project and capacity to make and implement its own development policies.'
-- Pambazuka News 261: 21 July 2006

THE POLITICS OF OIL AND POVERTY
Emira Woods

'It is almost impossible to imagine, as we sit in a well lit, fully functioning gas station on Main Street, USA, that a community blessed with oil riches under its soil could look as impoverished as Yenagoa in the Nigerian state of Bayelsa. Yenagoa is the site of one of Nigeria 's first oil wells, built in pre-independence 1956. Yet as in many communities in Nigeria’s oil rich Delta region, most people of Yenagoa live in mud huts. Some reside only a few feet away from the oil wells. But they lack electricity and indoor toilets. They have no hospitals, no running water, no schools. And there is unemployment too. Oil companies like Royal Dutch Shell, BP, Chevron, and Exxon Mobil bring in foreign workers for even the most menial jobs.'
-- Pambazuka News 272: 05 October 2006

MEND: ANATOMY OF A PEOPLES’ MILITIA
Ike Okonta

'The first thing that strikes you on meeting members of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) militia is the ease with which they move about in Warri metropolis, and also in the creek villages, indicating clearly that they are amongst people who not only identify with their cause but also go out of their way to offer them protection and safe havens during attacks by Nigerian soldiers. However, their movements are constrained by the ever-prowling soldiers. The second thing you notice is that the militants, or the ones elected by the others to respond to your questions, are articulate, well-educated, and conversant with latest political developments in Nigeria and other parts of the world.'
-- Pambazuka News 275/6/7: 02 November 2006

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

IN PART ONE

FEATURE:
- Firoze Manji explains why this special issue of China has been launched as a taster to a forthcoming book.

-Stephen Marks asks what is the true nature of Chinese involvement in Africa? Is it colonialism revisited?

COMMENT AND ANALYSIS:
- John Rocha examines some of the implications for Africa related to both positive and negative aspects and the meaning of China’s involvement for Nepad’s African Peer Review Mechanism.

- Anabela Lemos and Daniel Ribeiro write, after so many years of being colonised by the Portuguese, “are we now being colonised again, in the name of development but under the new flag of ‘economic partnerships with China’?”

- Ali Askouri argues that China's presence in Sudan ought to be challenged on all fronts. “China must be made aware that its opportunistic involvement with dictatorship carries a price for trade and investment inside China”

- John Karumbidza writes that the benefits that Zimbabwe has gained for trading with China include the political preservation of Mugabe reign and personal aggrandizement through corruption and kickbacks by his ZANU PF cronies.

AND IN PART TWO:

- Moreblessings Chidaushe cautions that while China might assist Africa to a certain degree, it is not, will not and should not be expected to solve all of Africa’s problems.

- Michelle Chan-Fishel points out that the Chinese low-price development model comes at a very high cost. “The untold story of China’s rapid economic growth is one characterised by vast levels of income disparity, unfair treatment of workers and lost livelihoods, especially in the rural areas.”

- The question of whether China can ‘prosper where others have failed’ could be inverted: “can Africa benefit in longer term, more sustainable and more representative ways from China’s enhanced attention and links with Africa in ways that departure from established patterns with external powers?,” writes Daniel Large.

- Ndubisi Obiorah points out that while China's rapidly expanding engagement in Africa is enthusiastically welcomed by African governments and some African intellectuals, “China's relations with Africa's governments is often perceived among human rights NGOs and Western commentators as increasingly problematic for governance and human rights in Africa.”

- Kwesi Kwaa Prah speaks to Pambazuka News about the history of Chinese engagement in Africa. You can also hear the interview in a special Pambazuka News Podcast.

- BLOGGING AFRICA: Sokari Ekine reports that the South African Chinese community is going to court to demand that they be racially reclassified as either as a so-called “coloured” or black.

Mobile phone technologies have taken Africa by storm. The technology has raised new possibilities for activism by human rights and social justice organisations and for service delivery in fields such as health care, banking and agricultural information.

In 2007, Fahamu and Tactical Tech will hold a conference in Nairobi, Kenya, that will aim to enable those using mobile phone technologies in activism or service delivery work to exchange their experiences of using the technology in the African context and plan strategies to support their work. The conference will explore areas related to the use of mobile technology in the African context, future trends, best practice and available tools and resources.

If you have used mobile phones in your work or are planning to use mobile phones, Fahamu would like to hear from you. Please click on the link for more details.

OFFICIAL CHINA WEBSITES

Peoples Daily online in English

Official website of China-Africa summit
http://english.focacsummit.org/

Xinhua News Agency website in English
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/

http://www.chinese-embassy.org.za/
chinese embassy in South Africa

UNOFFICIAL AND SEMI-OFFICIAL SITES

‘Afroshanghai.com: the African community in Shanghai and China’
Shanghai-based website anbd blog for African and Afro-American expats in China.
http://www.afroshanghai.com/

http://chinadigitaltimes.net
‘a collaborative news website covering China's social and political transition and its emerging role in the world. ...Our goal is to harness the distributive power of the Internet to advance the world's understanding of China...China's democratic transition, sustainable development and peaceful emergence in the global community’. Run by the Berkeley China Internet Project in the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California, Berkeley.

China Dialogue: China and the world discuss the environment’
Edited by Isabel Hilton and based in London and Beijing it describes itself as ‘the world’s first fully bilingual website devoted to the environment’. With a joint British-Chinese board. it is part-financed by the UK Government as part a series of ‘sustainable development dialogues’[see ]http://www.sustainable-development.gov.uk/international/dialogues/">
http://www.chinadialogue.net/

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

‘China Business’ - the special China section of the Hong Kong-based Asia Times Online
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China_Business.html

Business Report - South Africa.
http://www.busrep.co.za/

THINKTANKS AND NEWS SERVICES

African Geopolitics; ‘world leaders and international experts express their views on African affairs’
‘the first bilingual quarterly on African affairs’
http://www.african-geopolitics.org/home_english.htm
also http://www.african-geopolitics.org/home_french.htm

The Jamestown Foundation. ‘mission is to inform and educate policy makers and the broader policy community about events and trends in those societies which are strategically or tactically important to the United States and which frequently restrict access to such information’.
http://www.jamestown.org/

Africa Confidential is one of the longest-established specialist publications on Africa, with a considerable reputation for being first with the in depth news on significant political, economic and security developments across the continent.

...all our contributors write for us on the basis of strict anonymity, a principle that was established from the outset in 1960 to ensure writers’ personal safety in the turbulent, early years of post-colonial African independence. Hence the newsletter’s title’.

CAMPAIGNS AND NGOs

‘Global Witness campaigns to achieve real change by challenging established thinking on seemingly intractable global issues. We work to highlight the link between the exploitation of natural resources and human rights abuses, particularly where the resources such as timber, diamonds and oil are used to fund and perpetuate conflict and corruption’.
http://www.globalwitness.org/

Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative [EITI]
The EITI supports improved governance in resource-rich countries through the full publication and verification of company payments and government revenues from oil, gas and mining.
campaigns.
http://www.eitransparency.org/

Human Rights Watch is dedicated to protecting the human rights of people around the world.
We stand with victims and activists to prevent discrimination, to uphold political freedom, to protect people from inhumane conduct in wartime, and to bring offenders to justice.
http://www.hrw.org/

Friends of the Earth defends the planet and champions a healthy and just world. Active in 70 countries, Friends of the Earth has the world's largest network of environmental groups.
http://www.foe.org/

Global Timber.‘Provides information and statistics on the global trade in wood-based products, especially that from Africa and East Asia [and] insights into trade in Illegal Timber particularly in relation to importing countries such as Japan, the UK, and the USA’.
http://www.globaltimber.org.uk/

Reuters Foundation - alerting humanitarians to emergencies.
http://www.alertnet.org/

SPECIAL ISSUES

‘China in Africa’
Special issue of South African Journal of International Affairs Vol 13 No.1 Summer-Autumn 2006
ISSN: 1022-0461
see also the Institute’s website at www.ippr.org