Last weekend saw a continuation of the land and housing struggle of recent weeks in the Lavender Hill area of Cape Town, reports Indymedia South Africa. "On Saturday 19 November 2005, City Police and Cape Town City Council Law Enforcement arrived to mark shacks in the new settlement in St Montague Village. This settlement - which still lacks a name - is made up of about 500 families who settled on the land since last weekend (11 November 2005). On Friday they - along with many other Hillview and St Montague Village residents - were served with a court order prohibiting them from extending their shacks or putting up any further dwellings."

The Climate Justice Convergence Centre is a space where the voices of those struggling against oil and coal extraction, refineries, pollution 'offset' projects, a destabilized climate, oil wars and all the other effects of fossil fuel dependence can be heard. Photo-exhibitions, films, speakers and workshops will examine issues ranging from energy use to tree plantations to the World Bank, the G8, carbon trading, nuclear power and genetic engineering.

Deposits of uranium have been unearthed in Zimbabwe, the country's President Robert Mugabe has said. Mr Mugabe said Zimbabwe would use the uranium to boost its energy supplies, but would not pursue nuclear weapons. Zimbabwe has a chronic energy shortage, blamed on a lack of foreign currency for spare parts, and imports power from several neighbouring countries.

As reported by SciDev, climate change could upset the balance between insect crop pests and the 'natural enemies' that control their numbers, say researchers. This might make pest outbreaks more frequent and severe, particularly in the tropics where the climate is naturally more consistent, they warn in a study published this week (11 November) in the Proceedings of the National Academies of Science.

"On the occasion of the Living Lakes Africa Conference in Kisumu and Mbita we have been discussing the idea to start an African Lakes network in order to raise awareness about the problems of Africa's Lakes, share information, transfer successful model projects and start joint cross-border activities. A first step on the way to establishing such a network of African lakes and lake organisations (NGOs) would be to form a working group constituting a steering committee in order to manage the process forward. We all shall try to raise funding in order to establish a Secretariat in Africa. Any input on this issue is very much welcome. In the meantime our Living Lakes partner organisation Osienala will be serving as a second focal point."

President Yoweri Museveni's speech to the global conference on wetlands has angered delegates. Museveni criticised international environmentalists, accusing them of opposing development programmes to developing countries under the guise of environmental protection. Wetlands International chief executive officer Jane Madgwick said in a statement that she was shocked by the President's speech, adding that it was uncalled for.

Uganda has ratcheted up its efforts in developing its geothermal resources. According to technocrats in the energy ministry, the country is currently pursuing a vast programme that could see the nation feed geothermal electricity into its grid, in perhaps, less than half a decade. The development is part of an extensive government initiative to harness all possible sources of energy and in time, to permanently fix the continuing power supply instabilities.

In a historic judgment, the Federal High Court of Nigeria has ordered companies to stop gas flaring in the Niger Delta, as it violates guaranteed constitutional rights to life and dignity. In a case brought against the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (Shell), Justice C. V. Nwokorie ruled in Benin City that the damaging and wasteful practice of flaring by all the major companies, including ExxonMobil, ChevronTexaco, TotalFinaElf and Agip, as well as Shell, in joint ventures with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, cannot lawfully continue and must stop.

Source: Friends of the Earth

Is the water privatization heavily promoted by the International Financial Institutions, a good thing for the poorest in the developing countries? A new report by Nancy Alexander of the Citizen's network on essential services takes a skeptical view. A UN report, "Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: Liberalization of Trade in Services and Human Rights" claimed that increased foreign private investment in public services can upgrade national infrastructure, introduce new technology and provide employment. However, the report also argues that it can lead to negative impacts to the poorest.

Visitors to Mbeere district in Kenya's Central Province can hardly miss them: bags of charcoal laid on either side of the road. Those who sell the bags are far less visible, however. They hide in the surrounding dense vegetation, only appearing to make hurried sales. The reason for this secrecy? Fears of imminent arrest by officials who are trying to curb the illegal logging in Mount Kenya forest which supplies the wood used to make charcoal. There are fears that tree felling may decimate the 2,700 square kilometre forest, which serves as a catchment area for no less than 60 rivers.

Police and war veterans in Masvingo have looted farm equipment worth more than $15 billion from a commercial farm, four years after the farm was invaded, The Standard has learnt. The owner of the farm and equipment, Tilma Pepler, told The Standard that riot police led by Assistant Commissioner Loveness Ndanga pounced on his Rhodene home where he has kept the equipment since his eviction from the farm. He said they "looted" all the equipment. "Police and people I suspect to be war veterans came and seized all my farming equipment. They said it was an order from the government. They were led by assistant commissioner L Ndanga," Pepler said.

A fresh warning has been sounded on Lake Victoria's shrinking water levels. Scientists say the trend could spell doom to the East African region. The lake, they said in Arusha at a regional scientific conference, was losing its water at an alarming rate and called for urgent official interventions. Senior Kenyan, Ugandan and Tanzanian government officials, who were present, agreed and said the more than 30 million East Africans eking out a living from the basin could face starvation and other problems if the trend was not reversed.

Source: Nation Media

The Kruger National Park is concerned plans to enlarge the Massingir dam in Mozambique will destroy one of the world's largest breeding grounds for the Nile Crocodile. The higher dam wall and newly installed sluice gates would cause sediment to back up into the 8km-long Crocodile Gorge, said spokesperson for the Kruger National Park, Raymond Travers. The gorge is in the park and, while it is not generally accessible to tourists, it is the world's largest breeding ground for the Nile Crocodile, he said.

Malawi has pursued an agricultural-led development strategy since independence in 1964. This was a dual strategy which promoted estate agriculture for export earnings on the one hand, and smallholder agriculture for food security and subsistence needs. Following relatively successful growth in the early post-independence era, economic liberalisation policies in the 1980s and 1990s contributed to a worsening poverty situation which has yet to be remedied. For the full report, follow the link.

Ten years ago on this day, Ken Saro-Wiwa and nine other members of the Ogoni community were hanged by the regime of General Sani Abacha. Maja Daruwala, Director of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative asks what progress there has been in institutionalizing human rights in the Commonwealth since his death. Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Malta between 25th and the 27th of November would do well to remember what Ken Saro-Wiwa stood for and prepare to turn their rhetoric into reality.

Today, November 10th, marks ten years since Ken Saro-Wiwa, writer and environmental activist, was killed on the order of General Sani Abacha, the then President of Nigeria. Despite international condemnation, collective hand wringing and the promise of change, ten years on, we still live in a Commonwealth that too readily tolerates human rights abuses from among its own.

In Auckland, in 1995, the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting opened to the news that the Nigerian military regime had executed nine members of the Ogoni community, including Ken Saro-Wiwa. The Ogoni people are an ethnic minority living in Nigeria, whose lands have paid rich dividends from oil extraction since the 1950s. Saro-Wiwa had been involved in a non-violent campaign against environmental damage caused by multinational oil companies since, at 17 years old, he began writing letters to newspapers questioning the benefits that the discovery and extraction of oil would bring to the Ogoni people. Since that time, 900 million barrels of oil have been pumped from Ogoni lands and the Ogoni people remain poor and impoverished, even as oil flows through pipes strung across their farms and beside their homes.

In 1990, Saro-Wiwa founded the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP). In 1994, following the death of four Ogoni elders who were believed to be sympathetic to the military, he was arrested, held without charge and eventually accused of incitement to murder. Saro-Wiwa denied the charges but was imprisoned for over a year before being found guilty and sentenced to death. His trial was held before a tribunal assembled by the military government, described by then Prime Minister of the UK, John Major, as a ‘fraudulent trial, a bad verdict and an unjust sentence’. In Auckland, the leaders of the Commonwealth condemned Saro-Wiwa’s trial and execution, suspended Nigeria from the Commonwealth, and set about putting into practice its core values of good governance, democracy and the protection of human rights, as contained in the 1991 Commonwealth Harare Declaration. The Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group, or CMAG, has sprung from this work, and is mandated to investigate serious or ongoing violations of the Harare Principles.

In the ten years since Saro-Wiwa’s death, and the development of this mechanism to monitor adherence to the principles of democracy and human rights in the Commonwealth, some good work has been done. Ministerial missions have, for instance, been sent to Fiji, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sierra Leone, the Solomon Islands and the Gambia. Fiji, the Solomon Islands and Pakistan have all been suspended from the Commonwealth after breaching basic standards of democracy and human rights. However, CMAG, and the Commonwealth, could have, can, and must do much more to protect democracy and human rights among its people. Slow, incremental and hesitant change is no answer for those people who are suffering and vulnerable, but is merely a euphemism for a lack of political will to call an immediate halt to human rights violations. The protection of democracy and human rights is at the heart of the Commonwealth. It is time that we remember this, shout it from our rooftops, and put it into action.

Every two years – in time for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting – the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) produces a report on an issue of human rights concern common across the Commonwealth. This year, in its report entitled ‘Police Accountability: Too Important to Neglect, Too Urgent to Delay’, CHRI has asked governments to take practical steps toward ensuring that human and democratic rights are promoted through better and more accountable policing. Some of the best policing in the world exists in the Commonwealth, and also some of the worst. Too many police forces across the Commonwealth are too often cited for corruption, bias, and poor performance. Too many are cited for human rights violations ranging from excessive violence, abuse of power and discrimination to curbing democratic practices like freedom of speech.

This year, between the 25th and the 27th of November, the Commonwealth Heads of Government will once again meet to talk over the issues facing the Commonwealth, reach common ground, and form policy to direct its member states. Each Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting is an opportunity to go beyond rhetoric to reality. However, in the past, too many opportunities to make this happen have been squandered. Ten years on from Saro-Wiwa’s death, and ten years on from a renewed recognition of the importance of democracy and human rights to the countries and people of the Commonwealth, the Commonwealth Heads of Government have an opportunity to turn their words into action. As the Commonwealth Heads of Government prepare to meet in Malta in 2005, and remember the events and words of Auckland a decade ago, they must not be content to take comfort in incremental and gradual change. This is the comfort of the privileged and the curse of the suffering.

Issues related to safety, security and policing are increasingly growing in importance for both governments and individuals, and pose some of the most significant human rights challenges in the Commonwealth. A recognition of this, and a push for police accountability, by the Commonwealth Heads of Government this year would honour the sentiments enshrined in the principles of the Commonwealth and expressed at Auckland in 1995 and would also be a fitting memorial to Ken Saro-Wiwa.

The tenth anniversary of Saro-Wiwa’s death will be marked with remembrances around the world. His final play, ‘On the Death of Ken Saro-Wiwa’, written a few days before his execution, will be read and performed across the globe. In Canada, there will be a celebration of music and readings by writers and musicians. In London the winner of the Living Memorial, an art competition launched to commemorate him, will be announced. It is crucial that as we remember Saro-Wiwa, we also look forward to the future of our Commonwealth, and resolve to work harder to protect democracy and human rights. Saro-Wiwa stood up for the values that, as a Commonwealth, we stand for. We must remember this. And as the Commonwealth Heads of Government prepare to meet in Malta in 2005, and remember the events and words of Auckland a decade ago, they must also remember this, and prepare to turn the rhetoric of ten years into reality.

* Maja Daruwala is the Director of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, an independent, international NGO working for the practical realisation of human rights in the countries of the Commonwealth. For more information or to download the Police Accountability report, please visit:

* Please send comments to [email protected]

* For another recent Pambazuka News article about Ken Saro-Wiwa, please visit:
http://www.remembersarowiwa.com/lifeksw.htm

“Saro-Wiwa was born in October 1941, the eldest son of a prominent family in Ogoni, which is today in Rivers State, Nigeria. After leaving university he initially pursued an academic career. During the Biafran war (1967-1970) he was a Civilian Administrator for the Port of Bonny, near Ogoni in the Niger Delta. He went on to be a businessman, novelist and television producer. His long-running satirical TV series ‘Basi & Co’ was purported to be the most watched soap opera in Africa.

Two of his best known works were drawn from his observations and experiences of the Biafran war. His most famous work, ‘Sozaboy: a Novel in Rotten English’, is a harrowing tale of a naive village boy recruited into the army. ‘On a Darkling Plain’, is a diary of his experiences during the war.

Ken Saro-Wiwa was consistently concerned about the treatment of Ogoni within the Nigerian Federation and in 1973 was dismissed from his post as Regional Commissioner for Education in the Rivers State cabinet, for advocating greater Ogoni autonomy. Throughout his work he often made references to the exploitation he saw around him as the oil and gas industry took riches from the beneath the feet of the poor Ogoni farmers, and in return left them polluted and disenfranchised.”

For his full life history, please visit http://www.remembersarowiwa.com/lifeksw.htm

WEBSITES DEDICATED TO SARO-WIWA

http://www.november10th.com/
http://www.kensarowiwa.com/
http://www.remembersarowiwa.com

WEBSITES WITH INFORMATION ABOUT SARO-WIWA
http://www.seen.org/pages/rights.shtml
http://www.mosop.org/
http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/70334/
http://www.nu.ac.za/ccs/files/CCS_RREPORTS2_REPORT33.pdf

NEWS ABOUT SARO-WIWA
http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=255721&area=/insight/insight__africa/
http://www.commondreams.org/news2005/1107-15.htm
http://www.tribune.com.ng/051105/news05.htm

BLOGGERS ON SARO-WIWA

http://yawandmog.wordpress.com/2003/09/28/what-would-have-saved-ken-saro-wiwa/
http://xxcommunicator.blogspot.com/2005/11/ken-saro-wiwa-presente.html
http://okrasoup.typepad.com/black_looks/2005/11/remembering_ken.html

The European Commission this month presented its 'Strategy for Africa' to help the continent meet the UN's Millenium Development Goals by 2015. This envisages increasing development aid to Africa from the EU and its member states from Euros 17 bn in 2003 to Euros 23 bn in 2010. One of the priorities is the development of infrastructure to help Africa's integration in the world markets, reports SouthScan.

Chad's government said on Tuesday it had agreed a bill to put before parliament changing a law which safeguards oil profits for future generations, despite objections from the World Bank. The original law, agreed with the global lender, has been touted as a test case in Africa to show petro-dollars can help the poor, with 10 percent of oil revenues meant to be saved in a special overseas fund to fight poverty in the long term.

Mozambique's President Armando Guebuza began a three-day official visit to the nation's former ruler Portugal on Monday, November 7 which will focus on drawn-out talks to give Maputo a controlling stake in the giant Cahora Bassa hydroelectric dam. "We feel there are signs of a willingness to find a solution to the problem as quickly as possible," he said after holding talks with his Portuguese counterpart Jorge Sampaio.

It's a move which some say has created a "disaster in waiting." However, Kenya's government is refusing to alter its decision to downgrade Amboseli, a globally-renowned national park, to game reserve status. The decision was put into effect in October by Tourism and Wildlife Minister Morris Dzoro following a presidential order - and has resulted in Amboseli being placed under the control of a local authority, the Ol Kejuado County Council. Previously the park was managed by the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), the East African country's national conservation authority, which took charge of Amboseli in 1974.

Agricultural advances will help bring African countries out of their impoverished state more than huge financial aid packages, according to an expert working on new farming techniques there. "If you want to help Africa you have to support them do what they know best, and agriculture is what Africans know best simply because close to 80% of the people live in rural areas, and agriculture is the main occupation in the rural areas," said Dr. Dov Pasternak, director of the International Programme on Arid Land Crops.