NEWS ARROUND PRISON AND LAW / AFRICA

06. JUNI 2005

LIBYIA

ein gericht hat 10 polizisten, die wegen folter angeklagt waren, freigesprochen.

Court clears cops of torture

Tripoli - A Libyan court on Tuesday has acquitted 10 police officers accused of having used torture to extract confessions from Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor, all sentenced to death for spreading the Aids virus. The six medical workers were condemned in May 2004 after being convicted of deliberately infecting more than 380 children, 47 of whom later died. At Tuesday's hearing, court president Judge Abdallah Aoun acquitted all nine police officers and a military doctor of allegations of torture.

One of the accused, Jomaa al-Meshri, said: "We always said we are innocent, and today's verdict reveals the truth." He said: "There is no torture in Libya. The West wants to politicise the affair, but we left it in the hands of the law." Defendants spend 6 years in jail The six medical workers pressed charges in January against the 10 Libyans, alleging that they tortured them to extract confessions to the spreading of Aids in a childrens' hospital in Benghazi. The defendants had spent six years in prison and blamed the Aids epidemics on poor hygiene at the hospital. The Libyan high court was due to rule on November 15 on whether it could hear their appeal against the death sentences. Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov visited Tripoli in late in May to discuss the case of the nurses with Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi.

[  news24.com

03. JUNI 2005

ZIBAWNE

laut polizei ist dies der letzte tag der kampagne gegen straßenhändler und illegale siedlungen . mehr als 22.000 menschen wurden verhaftet. Wie viele in den zwei wochen obdachlos wurden ist nicht bekannt.

Zimbabwe crackdown 'nearing end'

Zimbabwe's police say their operation against street traders and illegal housing has entered its final day. More than 22,000 people have been arrested and tens of thousands left homeless in the two-week crackdown. The government says the move is needed to clean up Zimbabwe's cities but some feel it is punishment for areas which voted for the opposition. The UN has demanded President Robert Mugabe stop the evictions, which it describes as a new form of "apartheid". Miloon Kothari, a UN expert on the right to adequate housing, said the clearances sought to banish the poor from the capital, Harare, turning it into a preserve of the wealthy classes. He warned that two to three million people - roughly a quarter of Zimbabwe's population - could be affected if the eviction drive continued. "Where do they go back to?" he said. "There is no resettlement being offered, no compensation being offered for the properties that have been destroyed." Lobby group Amnesty International has called for an end to the demolitions, which some are calling a "tsunami".

Appalled

Whole shantytowns and markets have been razed to the ground, while the police are now targeting houses illegally built on farms around Harare, some of which were seized under the government's controversial land reform programme. "Amnesty International is appalled by this flagrant disregard for human rights," said the group's Africa Programme, director Kolawole Olaniyan "Forced evictions without due process, legal protection, redress and appropriate relocation measures, are completely contrary to international human rights law." "Everything was destroyed without notice," Ernest Rautavaara told the Reuters news agency, standing in front of a half-demolished concrete building which was once a vegetable market. Harare resident Sabina Takawira said the demolitions would damage the standing of the ruling party, Zanu-PF. "I will never support Zanu-PF ever again," she told Reuters. Amnesty said it had received reports that people had been forced to pull down their own homes but police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena said this was a sign that people were co-operating with "Operation Restore Order". The police say the operation is targeted at criminals and black-marketeers who are subverting the economy.

No food aid

Reuters reports that open spaces in the poor Mbare district near Harare city centre have been turned into giant warehouses for goods salvaged from the police "tsunami". People are sleeping in the open, even though Zimbabwe's winter has begun. "We are suffering, we have nowhere to go. Our houses were destroyed," said Victoria Muchenje. "Our children are not going to school, we are sleeping outside everywhere... if you walk, everywhere you see people sleeping in the road." Meanwhile, Social Welfare Minister Nicholas Goche has denied that Zimbabwe needs food aid. He told state radio that the government had bought 1.2m tonnes of corn from South Africa to cover poor harvests. Earlier this week, World Food Programme chief James Morris said Zimbabwe faced "an enormous humanitarian crisis", with between 3 and 4 million people needing food aid in the next year. Mr Goche, however, said that Zimbabwe would welcome any food it was offered. Zimbabwe has been accused of manipulating food aid for political reasons - downplaying shortages ahead of elections and depriving opposition areas of food. The government denies that its seizure of white-owned farms has led to the food shortages. It blames poor rains and a Western plot to remove President Mugabe from power.

[  news.bbc.co.uk

01. JUNI 2005

SUDAN

erst wurde ein zweiter mitarbeiter von ärzte ohne grenzen festgenommen, dann wurde gesagt, das die klage gegen die beiden männer eingestellt wird. Grund der festnahmen war ein bericht über die vergewaltigung von frauen in darfur, der lt. der regierung falsch sei.

Sudan 'drops aid worker charges'

Charges are to be dropped against two aid workers in Sudan's Darfur region accused of falsifying a report on rape, diplomats say.

The arrests led to an international outcry, which the BBC's Jonah Fisher in Khartoum says seems to have forced the Sudanese government into a u-turn. Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail said he agreed that the pair should not have been arrested. The Medecins Sans Frontieres report said nearly 500 women had been raped. Two employees of MSF Holland - Vince Hoedt and Paul Foreman - have been charged over the report and could face up to three years in prison.

Climb-down

In the Netherlands, Sudan's ambassador was summoned to explain why his country were pressing charges against the heads of one of the aid agencies most prominent in helping the victims of two years of violence in Darfur. The Sudanese authorities deny accusations that they back the Arab Janjaweed militias alleged to have committed widespread atrocities, such as mass killings and mass rape. They also deny that the scale of the violence is as severe as reported by aid agencies. In Khartoum, United Nations special envoy Jan Pronk met both the president and foreign minister. He is said to have received assurances that all charges would be dropped. But our correspondent says that, having made such an example of MSF, the government has asked for a few days to arrange the climb-down.

'Smear campaign'

After meeting Mr Pronk, Mr Ismail refused to confirm that charges would be dropped, but said a resolution was in sight. "We agreed on two things: that these people should not be arrested, they are not now in custody, they have been released," he said.

MSF say they have not been told of the dropping of charges, but said there was no question of them either denying the report or providing the confidential medical records to back it up. The BBC's Martin Plaut, who recently travelled to Darfur, says that many Sudanese believe Western aid workers have given information on alleged human rights abuses in Darfur to the United Nations, which has passed a sealed list of 51 war crimes suspects to the International Criminal Court. On Tuesday, Mr Pronk condemned the "smear campaign" in Sudanese newspapers against aid workers, accusing them of fabricating reports of rape.

"MSF Holland and all the other MSF have saved many lives of Sudanese people," he said. Human Rights Watch Africa director Peter Takirambudde said Mr Foreman's arrest was "a perfect illustration of how far the Sudanese government is prepared to go to silence criticism and deny its own responsibility for massive atrocities in Darfur."

MSF says it has a significant presence in Darfur, with some 180 international staff and 3,000 local staff treating some one million patients. The UN says that about 180,000 people have died in the two-year conflict in Darfur, and more than two million driven from their homes.

[  news.bbc.co.uk

[  Second Sudan aid worker arrested / 31.MAI 2005

27. MAI 2005

ZIMBAWNE

bei der vor zwei wochen begonnenen "operation gegen illegale aktivitäten" sind 17.000 menschen, meist straßenverkäuferinnen und minibusfahrerinnen festgenommen worden. jetzt werden illegale siedlungen geräumt.

Zimbabwe police destroy shanties

Police in Zimbabwe have begun destroying shack settlements in the capital, Harare, as part of a plan to clean up the city. An opposition parliamentarian told the BBC that thousands of people had been left homeless. Police say the demolitions are part of an ongoing operation to deal with illegal activities across the country. They have arrested 17,000 people over the past two weeks, most of them street traders and minibus drivers. Homes torn down

Shack demolitions began in Harare on Thursday afternoon. On Friday morning, about 2,000 police were involved in the destruction of several poor settlements in the capital. In the Hatfield Extension area in the north of Harare, police dismantled more than 500 dwellings, and some shack dwellers were forced to tear down their own homes. Harare police commissioner Augustine Chihuri warned that any one resisting would be dealt with. Police say people evicted will be taken to alternative accommodation. But Trudy Stevenson, MP for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change in the constituency that includes Hatfield Extension, said people had nowhere to go, and that thousands were homeless.

She said she had been phoned on Thursday night by residents who said truckloads of police had arrived under cover of darkness. "They told me they were burning everything but I better not come as I might get shot in the darkness," Mrs Stevenson said.

[  bbc.co.uk

[  23.05.05 / Major Zimbabwe police crackdown

20.MAI 2005

SWAZILAND

ein neuer kinderfreundlicher gerichtsraum wurde eingerichtet um den bedürfnissen der kinder in vergewaltigungs- und mißbrauchprozessen gerecht zu werden.

Swaziland: New Court Eases Trauma for Child Victims

A new 'child-friendly' court is making it easier for underaged plaintiffs in rape and abuse cases to deal with previously frightening legal proceedings. "Children need protection during the entire case, from the initial contact with doctors and police to the trial, where there is confrontation with the person the child is accusing. We have made an environment that is comfortable for children," said Superintendent Leckinah Magagula of the Royal Swaziland Police Department. Situated inside the High Court building overlooking the city centre of Mbabane, the capital, an auxiliary room beside Court Room B is painted like a brightly coloured playroom, allowing children to relax in the presence of attorneys and counsellors, who are referred to as 'intermediaries'.

During the trial a child plaintiff monitors proceedings through headphones, which allows children to avoid the traumatic experience of confronting their alleged abusers face to face. "The concept of a child-friendly court was necessary because it was so hard on children to have to meet, again, the person who traumatised them. Children who have been raped can now testify in private, with the assistance of trained intermediaries," said Nonhlanhla Dlamini, Director of the Swaziland Action Group Against Abuse (SWAGAA). As the trial proceeds, lawyers pose questions to the child plaintiff, which he or she listens to on headphones in the auxiliary room. The intermediary seated beside the child then repeats the attorney's question. If there is any distortion in the question, the lawyers in the courtroom can object, and the corrected question is repeated to the child by the intermediary.

The child's response is captured by a video camera and shown on monitors in the courtroom, where the judge, lawyers, the accused and the public gallery see it. SWAGAA, which offers counselling, medical referral and legal advice to abuse victims, has been campaigning for a child-friendly way of handling abuse cases in courts. Prior to the NGO's founding in 1994, the concept of sexual abuse was scarcely understood in Swaziland, and the very idea of spousal abuse was considered impossible in this patriarchal country.

"When some of us were beginning to learn about issues pertaining to abuse of women and children, SWAGAA had already put up a magnitude of work to assist the voiceless. Without SWAGAA, it would never have dawned on some of us - the plight faced by children and women," said Attorney General Phesheya Dlamini. The attorney general's office, the NGO Save the Children and the Director of Public Prosecutions worked with SWAGAA to draft legislation establishing a children's court. Although the special court was publicly launched two years ago, it was not until late 2004 that enabling legislation was promulgated into law. Legislation allowing intermediaries to work in the children's court was only passed in March this year. "But the process of justice for child victims of abuse begins long before a court trail," said SWAGAA director Dlamini.

In February, the British High Commissioner's office, the National Emergency Response Committee on HIV/AIDS, and the United Nation's Children's Fund, sponsored a SWAGAA seminar for the human links required in a successful court battle - police, prosecutors, doctors, intermediaries and judges all attended a packed programme. "They learned of the trauma an abused child goes through, both physically and emotionally. What was happening in the past is that the involved parties pointed fingers at each other when abuse cases failed: the prosecutors said the police didn't collect sufficient evidence; the police said doctors were not adequately documenting abuse cases," Dlamini explained. Two prosecutions in the new children's court so far have resulted in convictions in both cases.

[  allafrica.com

20. APRIL 2005

TUNISIA

Tunesien: Ein Jahrzehnt in Isolationshaft
Behörden müssen Häftlingssituation verbessern

Tunisia
Crushing the person, crushing a movement:
The solitary confinement of political prisoners

(Tunis, 20. April, 2005) – Interviews mit ehemaligen Häftlingen in Tunesien würden enthüllen, dass einige mehr als zehn Jahre in Isolationshaft verbringen mussten, heißt es in einem neuen Bericht von Human Rights Watch, der am Mittwoch veröffentlicht wurde.

Der 39 Seiten umfassende Bericht „Tunisia: Crushing the Person, Crushing a Movement” (Tunesien: Menschen und eine Bewegung zerstören) erläutert, dass die Isolationshaft nicht aus strafrechtlichen Gründen verhängt worden sei. Viel mehr ginge es darum, die sich in Haft befindlichen Führer der verbotenen En Nahda-Partei zu bestrafen und zu demoralisieren. Das ganze sei Teil der Bemühungen der Regierung, die islamische Bewegung in Tunesien zu zerstören. „Die tunesische Regierung muss aufhören, politische Gefangene jahrelange in Isolationshaft zu sperren“, forderte Sarah Leah Whitson, Leiterin der Abteilung Naher Osten und Nordafrika von Human Rights Watch. „Es ist an der Zeit, dass Tunesien seine politischen Gefangenen begnadigt. Aber die Isolationshaft muss sofort aufgehoben werden.“

Freigelassene Führer von En Nahda erzählten, dass ihnen nie erklärt worden sei, warum und für wie lange sie in Isolationshaft sind oder wie sie dagegen Berufung einbringen könnten. Auch sei ihnen jeglicher Kontakt mit anderen Gefängnisinsassen verboten worden. Sie hätten auch keinen Zugang zu Ausbildungs- oder Kulturprogrammen gehabt und kaum Kontakt mit der Außenwelt. Ihre Familie hätte sie nur einmal pro Woche kurz besuchen dürfen. Langzeit-Isolationshaft, wie sie von Tunesien praktiziert wird, verletzt internationale Strafrechtsprinzipien. Selbst die tunesische Gesetzgebung erlaubt Isolationshaft für nur maximal zehn Tage. Außerdem verstößt Tunesien damit gegen das Verbot unmenschlicher Behandlung und Bestrafung. Darüber hinaus besteht der Verdacht auf Folter. Ohne soziale Kontakte und geistige Anregungen, kann es laut Strafrechtlern zu psychischen Störungen bei Häftlingen kommen.

„Man konnte nur mit dem Wärter sprechen. Aber es gab Zeiten, da redeten auch sie kein einziges Wort mit uns. Das dauerte von einigen Stunden bis zu einer Woche“, erzählte Ali Laaridh, der vergangenen November freigelassen wurde. „Egal ob man nach einem Medikament oder dem Doktor verlangt hat, es kam nicht einmal ein ‚Ja’ oder ‚Nein’. Nach und nach wurde man mutlos und verzweifelt. Man wollte sich selbst oder dem Wärter etwas antun, nur um zu beweisen, dass man existiert.“ Von den 500 politischen Gefangenen in Tunesien befänden sich 40 in Langzeit-Isolationshaft, heißt es in dem Bericht. Sie seien entweder in Einzelhaft oder würden sich mit zwei bis vier anderen Häftlingen eine Zelle teilen, ohne Kontakt zu anderen Insassen. Viele versuchten durch Hungerstreiks, ihre Lage zu verbessern. Hamadi Jebali, ein Journalist von En Nahda, der sich seit 1991 in Haft befindet, ist seit 9. April dieses Jahres im Hungerstreik.

Internationale Richtlinien für den Strafvollzug schreiben vor, dass Einzelhaft nur einige Tage dauern darf. Sie muss unter strenger Aufsicht, mit medizinischer Betreuung stattfinden und kann nur aus rechtmäßigen Gründen verhängt werden. Die ehemaligen Häftlinge schilderten, dass sie keine besondere medizinische Betreuung gehabt hätten. Außerdem seien die einzigen Erklärungen für ihre Isolation beiläufige Kommentare gewesen wie, „du könntest die anderen aufhetzen“ oder „ich bin nicht für die Entscheidung verantwortlich“. Alle Häftlinge, die sich in Tunesien in Langzeit-Isolationshaft befinden, sind Islamisten. Viele davon Führer der verbotenen En Nahda Partei. Nachdem Präsident Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali die Partei während seinen ersten Amtsjahren toleriert hatte, begann er 1990 ihre Mitglieder zu verfolgen. Laut tunesischer Regierung sei En Nahda eine extremistische Bewegung, die einen fundamentalistischen Staat anstrebe. 1992 verurteilte ein Militärgericht 265 Führer und Unterstützer von En Nahda, weil sie angeblich einen politischen Umsturz planten. Viele der sich in Isolationshaft befindenden Gefangenen gehörten zu dieser Gruppe.

Menschenrechtsorganisationen beschreiben die Verfahren von 1992 als unfair und kommen zu dem Schluss, dass es keine Beweise für die Vorbereitung eines Staatsstreichs gegeben habe. Weder die Angeklagten noch En Nahda könnten mit Gewalttaten in Verbindung gebracht werden. Auch gäbe es keine Hinweise auf Verhaltensweisen, die die Langzeit-Isolationshaft rechtfertigen könnten. Vor genau einem Jahr verkündete der tunesische Justiz- und Menschenrechtsminister, Béchir Tekkari, dass das Internationale Rote Kreuz Gefängnisbesuche machen dürfe. Doch Verhandlungen zwischen der Regierung und der Organisation haben bis jetzt keine Besuchserlaubnis zustande gebracht.

[  hrw-news-liste

download the report here:

[  Tunisia: Crushing the Person, Crushing a Movement.pdf

15. april 2005

EQUATORIAL GUINEA

laut einem amnestybericht sind mind. 70 insassen des black beach knastes vom hungertod bedroht.

Prisoners face death by starvation, says Amnesty

LIBREVILLE, 15 Apr 2005 (IRIN) - At least 70 prisoners being held in Equatorial Guinea?s notorious Black Beach prison outside the capital Malabo are facing death by starvation, Amnesty International said in a report this week.President Teodoro Obiang Nguema went on air to deny the allegation, saying on national radio that ?although there are many prisoners incarcerated at Black Beach, they are well treated.?

Amnesty said those most at risk in the former Spanish colony were dozens of political prisoners arrested last year who were being held without trial, and 15 foreign nationals who were deprived of contact with family and lawyers. Many were particularly at risk since they had been severely weakened by ill-treatment, torture and lack of adequate medical care for chronic illnesses, the London-based rights watchdog said in a statement.Among the prisoners are six Armenians and five South Africans convicted last November of preparing the ground for a mercenary invasion to overthrow Obiang. The former army officer has ruled the tiny oil-rich nation with an iron hand since he deposed and killed his uncle in a 1979 coup.Four Nigerians have also been held at Black Beach prison for several months without charge or trial and without their embassy being notified, Amnesty said.

Prison officials reduced the daily food ration for inmates in December from a cup of rice to one or two bread rolls, but since the end of February ?provision of any prison food at all has been sporadic,? the report said. ?Unless immediate action is taken, many of those detained at Black Beach prison will die,? said Kolawole Olaniyan, the director of Amnesty's Africa programme. ?Such near starvation, lack of medical attention and appalling prison conditions represent a scandalous failure by the Equatorial Guinea authorities to fulfil their most basic responsibilities under international law.?Both Amnesty and exiled opposition sources said prisoners often were dependent on food handed to prison guards by families.

This made the situation all the more difficult for foreigners and for people from the mainland part of Equatorial Guinea, 200 km to the southeast, since they had no family nearby, Amnesty said.Black Beach is situated on Bioko, a mountainous volcanic island formally known as Fernando Poo, where the country's offshore oil industry is based. Amnesty said all prisoners were kept in their cells for 24 hours a day and that foreign detainees were held with their hands and legs cuffed at all times.The foreigners were handed sentences of between 14 and 34 years in jail in November for their alleged role in an abortive invasion by South African mercenaries. Their trial was slammed as unfair at the time by Amnesty and the London-based International Bar Association.

Former South African soldier Nick du Toit, the alleged leader of the group, was the sole defendant to have initially confessed to a role in the conspiracy. He later said that his admission of guilt had been obtained by torture. Obiang, the present head of state, has been widely accused of corruption and human rights abuse during his 25-year rule of what used to be one of the world?s poorest nations.Equatorial Guinea now produces 350,000 barrels per day of oil and has become Africa?s third-biggest oil producer after Nigeria and Angola, but most of its 500,000 people still live in dire poverty.Although oil generates US $30,000 per year for every one of the Equatorial Guinea's 500,000 inhabitants - giving the country a gross domestic product per capita equivalent to that of Switzerland or Denmark - life expectancy remains low at 49 and less than half the population have access to clean drinking water, according the UN Human Development Index.

[  irinnews.org

10. april 2005

TOGO

bei auseinandersetzungen zwischen polizei und demonstrantinnen ist ein kind (3 jahre) durch den einsatz von tränengas erstickt, 21 menschen wurden schwer verletzt. am 8.april wurde der ehemalige premierminister wenige stunden nach seiner rückkehr aus einem 3 jährigen exil verhaftet.(Zur Zeit sind Wahlen, und die Auseinandersetzungen in diesem Kontext zu betrachten)

Togo police and youth clash in poll protest

Youths burned tyres and hurled stones at riot police in an opposition stronghold of Togo?s capital after security forces broke up a march held to demand a delay in this month?s presidential election.There were unconfirmed reports of protests in other parts of the former French colony with one opposition party claiming that there were two deaths in Yoto, northeast of the capital Lome.Some 2,000 protesters wearing T-shirts and scarves in the yellow colour of the main opposition party tried to march to the town hall in Lome to demand voting cards for the April 24 polls but police with batons blocked the protest by firing tear gas canisters.

Patrick Lawson, a member of the main Union of Forces for Change opposition party, said there were reports of injuries although no details were given.Togo slipped into chaos in February following the death of Gnassingbe Eyadema, an archetypal African "Big Man" who ruled the former French colony for 38 years, with little opposition.The army, in violation of the constitution, named his son, Faure Gnassingbe, as leader, sparking off deadly street protests. Gnassingbe, under intense international pressure, agreed to step down at the end of February and run for office in the election.A coalition of six opposition parties has demanded the poll be delayed, accusing authorities of "serious irregularities" in compiling voter lists as well as little time to organise the vote, called to resolve the crisis. Friday?s protest coincided with the start of official election campaigning. Togo?s interim President Abass Bonfoh had on the previous day called on all candidates to promote national unity in a country that had already suffered from political violence.

"I exhort you all to avoid, during this electoral period, the splits and excesses that could transform these polls into sterile confrontations, expressions of rancour and a settling of accounts," he said in a speech broadcast on state radio.Burnt tyres littered the streets in Be, which was also the scene of clashes between protesters and police on Wednesday. Opposition parties said a 3-year-old child was suffocated by tear gas and 21 others seriously injured in the chaos.Although there was no official confirmation of casualties, a human rights group said 19 people at a ruling party rally, also on Wednesday, were injured in attacks by opposition supporters.In a further sign of underlying political tension, a former prime minister and past critic of Eyadema, Gabriel Kodjo, was sent to jail on Friday, hours after he had returned from nearly three years in exile.Four men are running for president: Gnassingbe, opposition candidate Emmanuel Akitani-Bob, head of a small opposition party Harry Olympio, and businessman Nicolas Lawson.

[  eastandard.net

7. april 2005

BOTSWANA

um "die überbelegung der knäste zu verringern" hat das parlament ein neues gesetz eingeführt nachdem personen bis 50 zur prügelstrafe verurteilt werden.

BOTSWANA: Corporal punishment extended to women

GABORONE, 7 Apr 2005 (IRIN) - Individuals up to the age of 50, including women, can now be sentenced to flogging in Botswana, according to new legislation in the pipeline.The Customary Courts Amendment Bill, approved by parliament last week, allows chiefs administering traditional courts to sentence men and women up to the age of 50 years to corporal punishment.Under Botswana's customary laws, petty crimes are punishable by flogging the offender on the bare back - a practice that has drawn sharp criticism from rights campaigners.Earlier this year the African Commission on Human and People's Rights called for an end to the use of "inhuman and degrading" corporal and capital punishment.Botswana has argued that corporal punishment reduces overcrowding in its prisons. With 6,160 inmates, Botswana has almost double the number of prisoners its jails have been designed to hold.

While many Batswana have welcomed the bill, it has also been criticised by human rights organisations and opposition political parties. Botswana's constitution prohibits inhuman and degrading punishment, but makes exceptions allowing corporal punishment and the death penalty.The Botswana Centre for Human Rights, an NGO known as 'Ditshwanelo' in the local Setswana language, underlined the fact that the country was a signatory to the UN conventions on elimination of torture, and civil and political rights."This means that Botswana must not expose individuals to the dangers of torture, or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, by way of forced return, extradition, expulsion or refoulement," the rights advocacy group said in a statement.By retaining corporal punishment, Ditshwanelo said, Botswana has acted contrary to its development blueprint, Vision 2016, which calls for a "compassionate, just and caring nation" by the year 2016.

[  irinnews.org

16. märz 2005

NIGERIA

wer im gesundheitsbereich oder in der luftfahrt arbeitet und streikt kann zu 6 monaten knast verurteilt werden.

Go On Strike, Go to Jail

by Cosmas Ekpunobi Abuja

National Assembly breaks NLC monopoly

SENATE yesterday approved a six-month jail term for any health or aviation worker who participates in a strike just as it decentralised labour organisations in the country.Senate which adopted the report of the joint conference committee on the Trade Union Amendment Bill, also barred trade unions from compelling any worker to join in a strike.Senate insisted a full democratisation of the labour movement in the country through the expansion of opportunities for the registration of a federation of trade union as well as granting freedom to employees to decide which unions to join.

Presenting the report, chairman, Senate Committee on Labour, Senator Ewa-Bassey Henshaw, said that the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) was involved in the process that saw the outcome of the new version of the Trade Union Amendment Bill.The bill, otherwise called the anti-labour law, prescribed six months jail term for any health or aviation worker or those in essential services who participate in any strike.

It, however, empowered such workers to reseek redress at the arbitration panel or competent court, just as it resolved that various trade unions of different backgrounds can decide to federate.The bill was passed last year by both Senate and House of Representatives.The joint conference committee was raised by both chambers to harmonise their areas of differences in the bill.

But Senate, in adopting the report of the committee, approved that all registered trade unions, for the purposes of collective bargaining, shall raise an electoral college to elect members to represent them in any negotiations with government.The, bill, however provided that a trade union other than those in health or aviation, may through a simple majority vote, embark on a strike.

"No person, trade union or employer shall take part in a strike or lock out or engage in any conduct in contemplation unless the strike concerns a dispute that constitutes a dispute of right....""Or the strike or lock out concerns a dispute arising from a collective and fundamental breach of contract of employment," the bill also stated.

Reacting to the Senate decisions on the Bill, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), which spoke to Daily Champion last night through its vice president, Mr Fidelis Edeh, and assistant general secretary (information), Mr Owei Lakemfa, first on the jail matter, faulted the provision as unconstitutional.They said since the constitution allows for freedom of association and right to take collective decision, Senate cannot "decree" some workers as able to go on strike and others as "disabled".According to Edeh, "NLC'll wait till when issues requiring aviation and health issues come up and let's see who goes to jail."

International Labour Organisation (ILO), to which conventions Nigeria is a signatory, allows for right to work and withdraw one's services, the NLC chiefs said, adding "the Nigerian Constitution does not allow for forced labour as the Senate has just done."

[  allafrica.com

16. märz 2005

MAURITANIA

3 menschen wurden inhaftiert weil sie interviews und recherchen zur sklaverei machten. die frau, die als sklavin leben muß, wurde wieder zu ihren angebl. adoptiveltern zurück gebracht. in mauretanien ist die sklaverei seit 1981 verboten, kinder werden aber in einigen provinzen noch immer zur sklavenarbeit gezwungen. ( in dem artikel steht daß kinder die in zwangsarbeiterfamilien leben ebenfalls zwangsarbeit leisten müssen).

Mauritanian journalist arrested

A journalist in Mauritania has been arrested after interviewing a woman allegedly being kept as a slave, a media rights group says.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) in a statement on Tuesday said Muhammad al-Amin walad Mahmudi, a freelance journalist, was arrested on Sunday.RSF also condemned his detention. "The violation of the right to information once again shows the repressive will of the Mauritanian authorities, who, embarrassed by a message, send in the police to punish the messenger."

Taboo

Slavery, though practised, is an issue widely seen as taboo in Mauritania.Mauritanian officials confirmed the arrest but declined to comment further. The detained journalist's lawyer, Bah walad al-Bar said the case had gone before a regional court but was unlikely to be resolved for several days as the prosecutor was absent. It was not immediately clear what charges the journalist might face.Slavery was officially abolished in 1981 in Mauritania but is still practised in some areas, where children born into former slave families labour as forced domestic servants and farm workers without payment, rights groups say.

Walad Mahmudi was seized along with the wife of a senior opposition official and a teacher while they were researching a story on slavery near the town of Mederdra, in the south of the West African country, RSF said. The journalist had interviewed a young woman alleged to have been in forced labour who fled after being mistreated. But after reporting her case to the police, she was allegedly returned to her masters, according to local anti-slavery group SOS Esclaves.

[  english.aljazeera.net

26. februar 2005

SUDAN

soat meldet die festnahme zweier politischer aktivisten. wie immer werden den angehörigen keine auskünfte erteilt und es wird befürchtet das die gefangenen gefoltert werden.

[  Arbitrary Arrest and Incommunicado Detention of Civilians

24. februar 2005

SUDAN

bericht von human rights first zu festnahmen in darfur.

[  Sudanese Government Holds Darfur Human Rights Defender in Illegal Detention

23.februar 2005

EGYPT

ein artikel zu den festnahmen nach dem anschlag in taba, sinai.

[  human rights watch report:"Egypt: Mass Arrests and Torture in Sinai"

23. februar 2005

BOTSWANA

es wurde ein 4 m hoher , 500 km langer elektrischer zaun an der grenze zu simbawne gebaut, der im juni angeschaltet werden wird. außerdem werden 24 stunden lang sicherheitskräfte die grenze bewachen.

[  BOTSWANA: With xenophobia rising, electrified border fence hailed

1. februar 2005

MOZAMBIQUE

artikel über den knast in beira. in dem für 150 gefangene gebauten knast sind 630 menschen eingesperrt. 97 davon sind verurteilt, darunter auch 12 frauen . die meisten der gefangenen warten seit über 24 monaten auf ihren prozeß, einige noch länger. viele der gefangenen sind krank.

[  Hundreds of Prisoners Await Trial for Over Two Years