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UN Slams Police Repression in the Bas Congo Province
On June 13, shortly after the conclusion of the visit of the French Vice Minister for Human Rights and francophonie, Rama Yade, the United Nations mission in the DRC released a damning report on the bloody police repression in the country's Bas Congo province.
The report documents the political and religious suppression of the "Bundu dia Kongo" (translated from Kikongo to mean the "Kingdom of Congo") on the part of the police in early-March 2008. According to the UN, the Congolese rapid response police unit and the integrated police unit were deployed to the province to counter Bundu dia Kongo's meetings. This came on the back of the movements’ attempts to usurp national control, and takeover certain remote areas of the province by replacing local authorities, policemen, magistrates, and priests with their own people. As history has shown, this process is actually quite a common feature of the Bas Congo region. Occurring roughly every two decades, the people of the Kongo tribe reportedly discover a new prophet who will speak out against authorities. It is little wonder that authorities would be worried about the movement of such a group - during Belgian colonial rule one such 'prophet' - Simon Kimbangu - founded a new church whose members nowadays amount to millions in the DRC. The current group, Bundu dia Kongo, was founded in the late 1980s by Moanda Nsemi, a physician turned MP. During the events in early-March, UN investigators report that over 100 people were killed at the hands of the police - four times the national authorities' estimate of 27. According to the witnesses, the police systematically destroyed the homes and churches of the members of Bundu dia Kongo, throwing corpses into the Congo river and looting, torturing and executing people without trial. The extent of the death toll has been attributed to the fact that the rebels were armed with only sticks and traditional weapons, against the heavily armed police. Read More |
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A Terrorist Revolution: Algeria under Attack
Algeria is facing a renewed onslaught by terrorists who are clearly seeking to overthrow virtually all segments of society in order to destabilise the state to finally unseat the Algerian Government.
The Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) aligned itself with Osama bin Laden in September 2006 and in January 2007 assumed a new name to reflect its new regional (and potential global) reach - Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). The start of 2008 has seen a worrying increase in the number of attacks. Suspected Islamist rebels killed five soldiers in an ambush on a military convoy east of Algiers in early January 2008, while a car-bomb attack on a police station killed two people and wounded 23 in a town east of the capital at the end of January 2008. According to security forces, nine government troops were killed in Algiers on Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 May 2008 in two separate attacks blamed on Islamic extremists. Six died in an ambush allegedly carried out by armed members of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), while the soldiers were in a truck patrolling Medea province, 90 km’s southwest of Algiers. Three others were killed on Monday 12 May 2008 in another ambush allegedly set by the same group 120 km’s east of Algiers in Bouira province. The extremists halted the patrol trucks by planting two bombs in their path before opening fire, the sources said. Read More |
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South African Xenophobia: Migrant women at an intersection of vulnerabilities
The recent xenophobic attacks in South Africa, which have displaced a large number of foreigners, migrant workers, refugees and asylum seekers, have shocked the international community. Following up the May 2008 newsletter, which focussed on the increase of migrant workers in Southern Africa, this month’s newsletter serves to emphasise the particular intersection of vulnerabilities at which female foreigners in Southern Africa stand. Many of these women have tireless courage, and have withstood difficulties and pressures in their home countries, as well as the intimidating experience of moving to another country, in this case South Africa, as they attempt to find ways to make a living for themselves and their families.
AN INTERSECTION OF VULNERABILITIES In their journeys as migrants, however, these women also face corrupt and evil people who exploit women who wish to cross the border. They are already vulnerable, as women, as foreign nationals, and often as unskilled labourers. The xenophobic attacks in South Africa are not unlike those that have occurred in other countries before, but because almost 50% of migrants in the South African Development Community (SADC) region are women, a gender perspective on the xenophobic attacks in South Africa is justified. A gender perspective also corresponds to the call of Romi Fuller, Project Manager of the Violence and Transition Project at the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation in South Africa, who called for a gendered focus on this issue in a recent opinion piece (2). In this article, Fuller laments the “double jeopardy” of women migrants, who are not only vulnerable as migrants, women and unskilled labourers, but also as subjects of the displaced anger and hatefulness of people who themselves were sheltered by other Africans not more than a few decades ago. Xenophobia targets women and children, says Fuller, because they represent the settling of foreigners in South Africa. Migrant men may be seen as temporary visitors, but if their families settle down, this is associated with serious and long-term impact on the host country. Read More |
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The Second Global Implementers’ Meeting, Kampala, June 2008
At the beginning of last month, from June 3rd to June 7th, Uganda hosted the second global HIV & AIDS Implementers Meeting at the Imperial Royale Hotel in Kampala. The five-day meeting was held under the theme, ‘Scaling Up Through Partnerships: Overcoming Obstacles to Implementation’, and was co-sponsored by the US Presidents Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the Global Fund, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Bank, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Global Network for People Living with HIV/AIDS (GNP+). The meeting attracted over 1,700 participants from more than 70 countries around the world.
The primary objectives of the meeting were to widely disseminate the lessons learned over the past year, focussing specifically on: the scaling up of prevention, treatment and care programmes; the building of local capacity; quality; and improving coordination among partners. The meeting also aimed to have a direct impact on HIV & AIDS programme implementation over the next year, through encouraging open dialogue about the future directions of HIV & AIDS programmes, best practices, and the identification of critical barriers. Prior to the meeting, Jimmy Kolker, chief of the HIV section at UNICEF, summed up the objectives of the meeting, stating that, "Coming together to share best practices will move us closer to an AIDS-free generation. Kampala will reaffirm the priority that the global community must continue to give to the fight against AIDS". PRESIDENT PAYS TRIBUTE TO PARTNERS, BUT CRITISISES DONOR REGULATIONS During his opening address, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni began by thanking global partners such as PEPFAR, the UN and the Global Fund, for their generous funding and support in the fight against HIV & AIDS, stating that “Without your support, we would not have reached where we are today". President Museveni paid special tribute to United States President George Bush for the recent increase in PEPFAR funding for Uganda, up from US$ 236 million to US$ 283 million. The President went on to assure donors that the previous mismanagement of funds would not be repeated. He was speaking specifically about the recent case of embezzlement by his former Health Minister, and said that, “mechanisms have been put in place to ensure proper use of the funds". Museveni also discussed recent challenges and progress made by Uganda, stressing that future programmes in HIV & AIDS prevention need to emphasise the importance of behaviour change and healthy living for all people, whether infected with HIV or not. Read More |
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Tensions rise between Kinshasa and Brussels - Could the Chinese element be to blame?
Despite the start of the European summer, relations between Brussels and Kinshasa seem to be cooling. While these relations have been progressively worsening for a while, the current impasse recently hit a new low with the visit in May of 3 Belgian Ministers to the Democratic Republic of Congo for a 4 day mission.
After what has been described as a difficult visit between the Belgian Ministers of Defence, Development and Foreign Affairs with President Joseph Kabila, Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Karel De Gucht, opened the usual diplomatic evening cocktail with a very critical speech. Focussing on "good governance", the Minister pointed out the need for a campaign against corruption, transparency in public tenders, improvement of financial management and the fight against sexual violence in Eastern Congo. In front of Congolese diplomats and officials, he completed his lecture on "good governance" by saying: "Good governance means contesting the privileges of high-ranking persons. One must expect fierce resistance from those who are sacrificing the well-being of the Congolese people for their own interest. Good governance can only be materialised with the full support of the Congolese government and this support must now be stated in words but also in acts." Back in Brussels, De Gucht continued this line of thought, talking about the "moral right" of Belgium to have a close look at politics in the DRC, given the fact that the Belgian development aid is reaching about € 200 million. Since then, relations between the 2 countries have been strained. A week after De Gucht's speech, the backlash appeared to begin: First, the Congolese government decided to close down its consulate in Antwerp; secondly, they ordered the DRC Ambassador to fly home for "consultations"; thirdly, the Belgian consulates of Lubumbashi and Bukavu were requested to be closed (the latter having only been inaugurated in November 2007); and lastly, it was announced by Kinshasa that a general review of the Belgian-supported development projects would be held. While this is certainly not the first time tensions between the 2 have flared up, it holds significance as the first time since Joseph Kabila took office. Read More |
