Responding to the momentum created by the proposals to reform the UN Commission on Human Rights, Amnesty International's Secretary General challenged all member states of the Commission to rise above national and regional interests and restore the credibility and legitimacy of the UN to protect victims of human rights abuse. "Responsibility to avoid selectivity and double standards rests with each member. Each member that calls on the Commission to address some human rights situation, but turns a blind eye to others; that supports or abstains from 'no-action motions', contributes to undermining the credibility of the Commission and fails in its obligation to address the human rights challenges of the moment."

Niger has jailed five leaders of recent protests against a new tax on basic food stuffs, and has charged them with plotting against the state and forming an unauthorised association, government officials said on Wednesday. The five were members of the “Coalition Against Costly Living,” an alliance of civil society groups that has staged two major protests so far this month against the government's imposition of a 19 percent value added tax (VAT) on basic foodstuffs and other essentials of life.

The UN Security Council has voted to apply sanctions on those who commit atrocities in Sudan's Darfur region. The US-drafted resolution, which passed 12-0 with abstentions from Russia, China and Algeria, is also aimed at strengthening an arms embargo on Sudan. A travel ban and an asset freeze will be imposed on those who hamper the peace process in Darfur.

Last Saturday 14 people were arrested on charges of public violence after 750 people from the Kennedy Road Informal Settlement in Claire Estate blockaded Umgeni Road with burning tyres for four hours. On the following Monday, Human Rights Day, 1 200 people tried to march to the Sydenham police station to demand that either the Kennedy Road 14 be released or else the entire community be arrested because "If they are criminal then we are all criminal". The march was dispersed with dogs and tear gas. "This is clearly one of the biggest and most militant protests to have shaken Durban in the post-apartheid era. But these events are not unique to Durban. Similar revolts have occurred in cities and towns across the country in recent months," states this article from the website of the Centre for Civil Society at the University of Kwazulu Natal in South Africa.

The desire for a platform to discuss the varied national challenges (political) facing Nigeria has been a strong wish of a large segment of the society. This desire cuts across language, religion, and ethnic affiliations amongst the average class, but grudgingly acceded to by the ruling elite. "My vision for civil society in Nigeria is such that we move from the position of debates, knowledge arrogance, posturing and grandstanding, to the position of concrete actions and steps on how to move the country forward," writes John Moru writes from ActionAid International Nigeria, Abuja.

A trail of looted diamonds, greased palms and suspect arms deals suggests Britain is betraying its calls for action by other rich nations to stop shady corporate dealing in Africa, activists say. British Prime Minister Tony Blair launched a detailed plan devised by his Africa Commission this month to reverse the continent’s descent into poverty, including measures to ensure foreign firms did not profit from war and corruption. But critics say Britain has failed to meet previous commitments to clamp down on activities, from bribery to dubious deals in African conflict zones, casting it as laggard rather than leader in enforcing corporate responsibility.

Fourteen African countries have abandoned planned negotiations for a new trade partnership with the European Union (EU). The move has effectively left Kenya and Zimbabwe to negotiate for the controversy-ridden Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAS). "The countries, all regarded as very poor and heavily indebted, have been unwilling to negotiate because they enjoy preferential treatment under 'everything but arms' clause' said Bernard Kagira, a trade consultant with the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

Zimbabweans are at the polls. Millions are hoping that Thursday 31 March will go down in history as a day when the will of the people is truly heard, where the voice of change is heard loud and clear. Indications in the run up to the elections indicate that it might not be so simple, with numerous factors contributing towards a situation where the polls are far from free and fair. Below is a summary of some of the events over the last seven days.

Thursday, 24 March

Allegations from civil society and the opposition are that the elections will not be free and fair and that Southern Africa Development Community guidelines on democratic elections have not been followed.

On this day, the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) says it is not happy with the slow accreditation of election monitors from civil society organisations.

Opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) spokesman Paul Themba-Nyathi expresses worry at the higher amount of polling stations in ZANU-PF rural strongholds.

The Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe reports that SW Radio broadcasts are still being deliberately jammed. The MMPZ reports that news coverage of the parties' campaigns continued to favour ZANU PF. For example, of 120 stories ZBH carried on campaigns, 99 (83%) were on ZANU- PF and 19 (16%) were on the MDC.

But Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Patrick Chinamasa says elections are on track.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=4629
http://www.mmpz.org.zw

Friday, 25 March

The National Association of Non-Governmental Organisations (NANGO) issues a statement saying there have been reports of increased surveillance of NGOs by people believed to be state agents and warns NGOs to improve their security awareness and take measures to minimise their exposure to being isolated and subjected to danger.

Robert Mugabe targets former king of spin Jonathan Moyo, one time ZANU-PF darling relegated to standing as an independent candidate after being kicked out of the party, by accusing him of plotting a military coup. Moyo, Mugabe claims, broke down and cried when confronted with the allegations.

http://www.zimbabwesituation.com/mar25b_2005.html#link8

Saturday, 26 March

Subtle intimidation and a history of brutality would prevent the elections from being free and fair, even though the run-up to the polls had been the most peaceful in years, says the MDC's Morgan Tsvangirai.

News reports allege that food is being used as a political weapon. The UKs independent newspaper alleges that four million people are starving in Zimbabwe and that opponents of Robert Mugabe are being turned away from emergency food rations.

Sunday, 27 March

Civil society network Sokwanele announces the launch of a specialist blog (http://www.sokwanele.com/blog/blog.html). The bloggers are based all around Zimbabwe and come from all walks of life. They will share their feelings on life in Zimbabwe in the run-up to Zimbabwe's parliamentary elections.

The Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition launches an election information centre. The purpose of the centre is to provide information on the election, monitoring the electoral process through documentation and regular visits to polling stations. For further information please get in touch on the following numbers: 091 288 605, 091 907 235, 011 612 860, 011 603 439, 011 755 600, 091 956 570, 091 266 430, 011 862 269, 011 862 804, 04 793 263

Meanwhile, Roy Bennett, who holds a seat in parliament but is serving a one year jail sentence for shoving the justice minister during a parliamentary debate, receives a boost when the electoral commission reverses a previous decision that banned him from running in the elections. Bennett's wife, Heather, will run for the elections in her husband's place.

Morgan Tsvangirai tells 25 000 supporters that he will jail Mugabe's inner circle.

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=68&art_id=qw1111823821…
http://www.iol.co.zaindex.phpset_id=1&click_id=68&art_id=vn200503261035… http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=68&art_id=qw1111928760…

Monday, 28 March

Catholic Archbishop of Bulawayo, Reverend Pius Ncube, enters the election fray by saying that the elections will not be free and fair and calling for a peaceful popular mass uprising against Robert Mugabe's government.

The MMPZ in its daily report says the Herald newspaper is continuing its partisan coverage of political parties' campaigns by reporting only on ZANU PF activities while ignoring those of the main opposition MDC, smaller opposition parties and independent candidates. "This resulted in the paper even ignoring a major MDC rally held at the Zimbabwe Grounds in Highfield, whose attendance many observers estimated at around 20,000," said the MMPZ.

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/africa/story.jsp?story=624261
http://www.mmpz.org.zw

Tuesday, 29 March

Mugabe hits back at Ncube, calling him a "halfwit". Mugabe said: "I don't know to which God he prays. His prayers are not as pious as his name suggests apparently. He is ... a halfwit. I don't know why the Vatican tolerates prayers of that nature."

Sokwanele (http://www.sokwanele.com) issues an edition of its regular 'Mauritius Watch' newsletter, concluding that "the elections are deeply flawed, in no way satisfy the SADC principles and guidelines, and cannot possibly be considered free and fair. The conclusion is based on systematic documentation of election violations according to the SADC adoption of the SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections in Mauritius on 17 August 2004.

Zvakwane (www.zvakwana.org) issues the latest edition of its highly-acclaimed activist newsletter, advocating for peaceful change in Zimbabwe.

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/africa/story.jsp?story=624462

Wednesday, 30 March

The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum issues its political violence report for the month of January, saying that the month saw a number of assaults on people who were exercising their constitutional right to freedom of expression, assembly and association. "The Human Rights Forum is deeply concerned that the trend to violate the right to freedom of expression, association and assembly, especially as the Parliamentary elections approach, will lead to the violation of the right to participate freely in the governance of one's country as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 21." Contact [email protected] for the full report.

Robert Mugabe dismisses the MDC as a British 'puppy' and expresses confidence that ZANU-PF will not only win the election, but increase its majority.

Complaints from the MDC about up to one million 'ghost voters' resurface, but the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission denies that the voters roll is flawed.

Old tensions over election monitoring teams –teams have in some cases been granted or denied accreditation according to their political affiliations - also come to the fore as the African National Congress (ANC) dominated South African team tells an opposition Democratic Alliance member of the team not to speak his mind.

www.kubatana.net, the homepage of the Zimbabwe NGO Network Alliance Project, updates its website with useful information about the polls and links to further news and information. Over the next few days www.kubatana.net will have photographs of the elections as well as election results and breaking news.

The Zimbabwe NGO Human Rights Forum issues a pre-election report saying that notwithstanding the reduction in violence, the current electoral conditions fall well short of the regional standards for elections introduced by the "SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections" adopted in Mauritius in 2004. Write to [email protected] for a copy of the report. Sokwanele also issues a summary of its Mauritius Watch newsletter.

http:/www.iol.co.zaindex.phpset_id=1&click_idh&art_id=vn20050330064037852C398… http://www.iol.co.zaindex.phpset_id=1&click_id=68&art_id=vn200503300802… http://www.iol.co.zaindex.phpset_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=vn200503300644…

The latest reports from Zimbabwe indicate a strong turn out on voting day. The MDC reported that one of its candidates in a southern Matabeleland stronghold had disappeared after an attack by ZANU-PF members. Results are expected within the next two days.

* Compiled by Pambazuka News.

"This is a wide ranging informative compilation of essays which offer the very best advocacy for Africa - by Africans."– Glenys Kinnock MEP

Pambazuka News, the electronic newsletter on social justice in Africa, has published an anthology of editorials that provide a perspective on development and social justice in Africa that rarely finds expression elsewhere. The collection constitutes a valuable record of the views of both African civil society activists and academics on key developments and events in the region during 2004, touching on issues of conflict, development, debt cancellation, women’s rights and the role of the international financial institutions in Africa.

SPECIAL PROMOTION FOR PAMBAZUKA NEWS SUBSCRIBERS

Readers in Africa can obtain a copy of the book from Mkuki na Nyota Publishers for US$ 15. Subscribers elsewhere can buy the book for UK Pounds 10 (normal price 17.95 pounds) for a limited period – until 30 April – provided you can prove that you are a subscriber to Pambazuka News. You must quote the words “Pambazuka News Subscriber Offer” and include your email address (so we can check whether you are a subscriber) and send your order to [email protected]

ISBN 9987417353 304pp. 2005 Mkuki na Nyota Publishers, Tanzania
(Editorials from Pambazuka News series, 1)

I have enjoyed reading the Zimbabwe issue of Pambazuka. Below, you will find a short paper that I dashed off on Mugabe which is up on my blogsite. (Readers can visit for this article)

The "Resource Book on TRIPS and Development", published in February 2005 by Cambridge University Press, is conceived as a guide to the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). It provides a detailed analysis of each provision of the Agreement, aiming at a sound understanding of WTO Members' rights and obligations. The purpose is to clarify the implications of TRIPS, especially highlighting the areas in which the treaty leaves leeway to Members for the pursuit of their own policy objectives, according to their respective levels of development.

World Youth Development and ICT (WYDI 2005) Conference Secretariat is pleased to announce the forthcoming conference to be held in Arusha from 11-12 August 2005 with a theme " Young People Creating Global Culture". The conference will bring more than 250 young professionals, community leaders, NGOs leaders, University students, ICT professionals, and all lovers of youths.

Paul Wolfowitz is unlikely to advance much-needed reforms at the World Bank, writes Mark Weisbrot, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, in Washington, D.C in this article from the website Counterpunch. "But until the other 183 countries that are members of this institution have a voice in its decisions, the World Bank is unlikely to live up to its mission of reducing poverty and improving living standards for developing countries - no matter which American is formally in charge," he concludes.

Trade negotiations have a focus on technical detail and this acts to exclude the radical and favour the mainstream and powerful. This lack of space for critical and alternative discourse on trade policy is an obstacle for those advocating on behalf of the poor, while a lack of funding for independent research on trade further hamstrings civil society organisations trying to make an input into international trade policy.

These are some of the conclusions of a paper from the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) that examines the way that a range of development actors view and engage with the arena of trade policy, focusing in particular on the challenges encountered by civil society actors participating in that arena.

The paper examines the views and perspectives of two sets of civil society actors (UK based international non-government organisations, and Ugandan and Kenyan civil society organisations) about their experiences and strategies of engagement and participation.

* Summarised by Pambazuka News from the Eldis e-newsletter (

U.N. Security Council members should urgently pass a new French-proposed resolution that would refer Darfur to the International Criminal Court, Human Rights Watch says. The United States should abstain on the vote if it decides not to vote in favor. Last week, the Security Council adopted a resolution establishing a U.N. peace-support mission for Sudan. This mission is to implement the Naivasha peace agreement, the accord ending the 21-year civil war between the Sudanese government and southern-based rebels. The peace-support mission will be deployed in the north and south of Sudan, but not in Darfur, where Sudanese forces and government-backed Janjaweed militias have been responsible for atrocities against civilians. The Security Council also delayed a vote on targeted sanctions and accountability for Darfur. These were initially included in a single resolution on Sudan.

The government of Mauritania has awarded its ministers a whopping six-fold pay increase in an attempt to clamp down on top level corruption as the West African country waits for its first offshore oilfields to come on stream later this year, officials said on Monday. They confirmed recent reports in the local media that 26 government ministers had been awarded a 633 percent pay rise to 950.000 Ouguiya (US$3,620), backdated to January.

Kenyan Nobel prizewinner, Professor Wangari Maathai, is to head a new body aimed at bringing "people power" to Africans, the African Union (AU) announced on Tuesday. Speaking at the launch of the Economic, Social and Cultural Council (ECOSOCC) at the AU headquarters in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, the AU commission chairman, Alpha Oumar Konare, said it represented an historic opportunity for African civil society.

The head of Ethiopia’s National Election Board (NEB) said on Monday that although over 25.6 million people had registered to vote in the country’s third-ever democratic ballot, some abuses of the registration process had occurred. Kemal Bedri, the NEB’s chairman, told reporters at the board’s headquarters in the capital, Addis Ababa, that irregularities had been reported in the south. Children had been registered to vote, and multiple ballots had been given to some people.

Nigeria has acquired a terrible worldwide reputation for corruption and financial crimes, including 419 scams. In this article, the BBC profiles Nuhu Ribadu, who was appointed to run the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, which was set up three years ago. He memorably told a reporter that his ambition was to bring the rich and the powerful to justice.

The main opposition party in Guinea-Bissau has chosen former president Kumba Yala as its candidate in presidential elections due on 19 June, even though Yala was banned from politics for five years following his overthrow in a bloodless 2003 coup. Yala, who was first elected president with a landslide majority in 2000, was overwhelmingly chosen as the presidential candidate of his Social Renovation Party (PRS) at a meeting of the party's national council on Saturday.