Voci dal mondo

Fonti BBC e MISNA

Lingue: Francese e Italiano (in basso)

Le gouvernement ivoirien a décidé de créer "une commission nationale d'enquête à l'effet de faire la lumière sur toutes les
violations des droits de l'Homme commises pendant la crise post-électorale", selon un communiqué du porte-parole du gouvernement.

Le président Alassane Ouattara avait déjà promis que les violations ne resteraient pas impunies, y compris celles commises par les forces qui lui sont fidèles.

L'ONU ainsi que des organisations de défense des droits de l'homme ont indiqué que les deux camps, c'est à dire celui d'Alassane Ouattara et de Laurent Gbagbo, l'ancien président, ont commis des crimes contre l'humanité.

Les Etats-Unis avaient indiqué mercredi que la Côte d'Ivoirecomptait quelque 500 mille déplacés de Côte d'Ivoire.

 

AFRICAN VIEWPOINT: SEPTEMBER'S KINGS

Who is giving advice to whom?

By BBCnews Africa

In our series of viewpoints from African journalists, Zimbabwean filmmaker and columnist Farai Sevenzo considers the difference between kings and presidents. September. How we all love to remember September, or can't get away from her many memories.
Some dates in September refuse to recede into the distant past and keep popping up in one macabre anniversary or another.

Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote
The lion king only has to roar and his police force dutifully arrest and deport trade unionists, journalists and troublemakers” End Quote Reaching back we can learn that this is the month in which Emperor Haile Selassie was overthrown in Ethiopia on 12 September 1974; that General Jan Smuts died on 11 September 1950 of a natural old age while his compatriot Steve Biko was brutally murdered on 12 September 1977; that in this auspicious month 16 September saw the abolition of slavery in all French territories in 1848. But in this 21st Century, September's dominating date is one Tuesday morning when religions collided in two skyscrapers over America's city of migrants. All other dates, for now, must take a back seat. And so last week was dominated by a man in Florida threatening the mad act of burning the Koran to commemorate the mad act of 11 September 2001. September is also the month of the birth of the kingdom of Swaziland.

'Exercise in envy'
While most of Africa's kingdoms were felled in the age of colonialism, 6 September 1968 saw the establishment of a tiny kingdom surrounded by rolling hills and ruled over by one absolute monarch whose word was law. Now 42, the kingdom is run by King Mswati III, also 42. Two years ago when the kingdom celebrated its 40th anniversary of independence, the celebrations were known as "40/40" - for the young king was the kingdom, and the kingdom the young king. Such absolute power, say his critics, is out of step with the age of democracy. The king can appoint the prime minister, he is not overly keen on political opposition and trade unions from within the kingdom and their international colleagues in Cosatu over in South Africa have been constantly denied active space to operate. What is it about the young king that gets democratic forces and human rights bodies so annoyed? Swaziland's young girls parade before the king, who can choose one as his wife Watching the Swazi reed dance the other day, at which the monarch - already married to 13 women - chooses another wife should he want one, it struck me that being a guest at such an occasion must truly be an exercise in envy. There you are, say, as an 85-year-old Robert Mugabe, special guest to the young royal, watching your 40-something host being presented with the finest specimens of womanhood in all of southern Africa and all he has to do is pick one. Having done so, he speeds off in one of his many BMWs to spend an evening with his new companion or perhaps all 14 of them. How charmed can his life be?

Jailed for stating facts
And when the so-called forces of change and democracy squeal like the rats they are for more democracy, for the curbing of his authority, the lion king only has to roar and his police force dutifully arrest and deport trade unionists, journalists and troublemakers. Should King Mswati spend more time in a gym?
The king's prime minister, unlike your own, can even publicly declare that such upstarts should be beaten on the soles of their feet and jailed - for as an African, he knows it is better to be ruled by one lion instead of 1,000 rats. Not for King Mswati III the messy recriminations of a hypocritical world, no sanctions for him, just shopping trip after uninterrupted shopping trip in any city for him and his lovely wives.
How could you not envy such a man? If there is one thing you could criticise, it would be that at only 42, King Mswati III needs to build himself a gym for the good living is beginning to show in his weight, and his own breasts are beginning to compete for the attentions of the cameras with those of his dancing maidens. Those who question the king's lavish lifestyle complain that the man flaunts his wealth in a country whose 1.1 million people are surrounded by poverty, that he has long been judge and executioner, that his ministers disregard the relentless pain caused by Aids - HIV is reported to affect 26% of the adult population - and consider such figures associated with the disease to be the invention of pharmaceutical companies. The king's ministers and advisors are princes of the Swazi royal house, they have no qualms in safeguarding the status quo and sub-Saharan Africa's last absolute monarchy remains absolute because the world's attention is often elsewhere. Yet those who rule us can sometimes be kings with another name - president seems the 21st Century's favourite synonym for such men of power - and it is possible in today's Africa to find oneself in prison for calling your president an old man, even when nature and fact would agree with you. And should King Mswati III live to be 50 on the occasion of his country's 50th anniversary eight Septembers from now, you can rest assured that his guests will include all the presidents from the last celebrations, safe in the knowledge that their own "kingdoms" will return them to power too, for democracy can be like God himself saying: "Don't go anywhere, your country needs you". And so as September rolls on with her heavy memories, what lessons would King Mswati give to the world? Surely men like him would know how to deal with a troublesome pastor from Florida keen on lighting up the world by torching a holy book? If Pastor Jones was in Mbabane, how many of us would have protested if the Swazi Prime Minister, Barnabas Dlamini, had taken a pedal with spikes to the souls of Mr Jones' feet? Any pastor would know how to walk the path of peace then, wouldn't he?

World hunger 'hits one billion'
The director general of the FAO said the level of hunger.

One billion people throughout the world suffer from hunger, a figure which has increased by 100 million because of the global financial crisis, says the UN.
The UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said the figure was a record high.
Persistently high food prices have also contributed to the hunger crisis.
Most of the world's undernourished live in developing countriesThe director general of the FAO said the level of hunger, one-sixth of the world's population, posed a "serious risk" to world peace and security.
The UN said almost all of the world's undernourished live in developing countries, with the most, some 642 million people, living in the Asia-Pacific region.
In sub-Saharan Africa, the next worst-hit region, the figure stands at 265 million.
Just 15 million people are left hungry in the developed world.
"The silent hunger crisis - affecting one-sixth of all of humanity - poses a serious risk for world peace and security," said Jacques Diouf.
"We urgently need to forge a broad consensus on the total and rapid eradication of hunger in the world and to take the necessary actions."
'Contradiction'
The increase in the number of hungry people was blamed on lower incomes and increased unemployment, which in turn reduced access to food by the poor, the UN agency said.
But it contrasted sharply with evidence that much of the developed world is richer than ever before.


"It's the first time in human history that we have so many hungry people in the world," said FAO spokesman Kostas Stamoulis, director of the organisation's development department.
"And that's a contradiction, because a lot of the world is very rich despite the economic crisis."
Mr Diouf urged governments to provide development and economic assistance to boost agriculture, particularly by smallholder farmers.
"Investment in agriculture must be increased because for the majority of poor countries a healthy agricultural sector is essential to overcome poverty and hunger and is a pre-requisite for overall economic growth," he said.
Urban poor would probably face the most severe problems in coping with the global recession, the UN warned, because lower export demand and reduced foreign investment were more likely to hit urban jobs harder.
Many migrants to urban areas would be likely to return to rural areas, it added, transferring the burden.
Incomes have also dropped "substantially" in some developing countries where families depend on remittances from relatives working abroad.
With the financial crisis hitting all parts of the world more or less simultaneously, developing countries have less room to adjust, the UN agency says.
Food prices
Among the pressures is the reality that borrowing from international capital markets is "more limited" in a global crisis, the FAO said.
Food costs in developing countries now seem more expensive, despite prices in world markets declining during the food and fuel crisis of 2006-08, it added.
They remained on average 24% higher in real terms by the end of 2008 compared to 2006.
"For poor consumers, who spend up to 60% of their incomes on staple foods, this means a strong reduction in their effective purchasing power," the FAO said.

L'enfer des prisons zimbabwéennes
Le Zimbabwé demande une aide pour ses détenus, selon un documentaire télévisé qui montre les conditions effroyables qui prévalent dans les prisons du pays.

BBC Afrique

Pendant des mois, les auteurs de documentaire sud-africain ont filmé la vie dans ces établissements, où selon eux des dizaines de détenus meurent chaque jour de faim et de maladie.
Le flm est intitulé "Hell hole": le Trou d'enfer. Son réalisateur, Johann Abrahams, déclare à la BBC que le gouvernement zimbabwéen demande maintenant une aide pour remédier à la situation.
"Les Zimbabwéens ont besoin d'une aide humanitaire pour acheter de la nourriture et des vêtements, et fournir une assistance juridique pour les prisonniers" précise Johann Abrahams, de la South African Broadcasting Corporation, la principale compagnie de radio / télédiffusion en Afrique du Sud.
Dans le documentaire de la SABC, les prisonniers déclarent par exemple que les bien-portants et les malades doivent dormir côte à côte dans des cellules insalubres et surpeuplées.

Conditions insalubres
Le film montre aussi comment le personnel pénitentiaire a converti certaines cellules pour en faire des "salles d'hôpital" pour les mourants.
Dans des morgues rudimentaires, construites dans les terres des prisons, les corps de détenus "pourrissent par-terre, couverts de vers".
"Ils n'ont pas les moyens de faire face eux-mêmes à la situation" explique Johann Abrahams. "Ils reconnaissent que le problème est grave, et c'est bien sûr l'ancien gouvernement (du président Robert Mugabé) qui devrait répondre à ces questions".
L'an dernier, la Zimbabwe Association for Crime Prevention and Rehabilitation of the Offender (association zimbabwéenne pour la prévention du crime et la réhabilitation des délinquents) précisait dans un rapport que le pays comptait 55 prisons. Le document précisait que ces établissements étaient conçus pour accuellir environ 170.000 détenus, mais qu'on estime à plus de 35.000 le nombre des personnes incarcérées.
Si le Zimbabwé demande effectivement une aide pour faire face à cette crise, ce ne sera pas le premier appel lancé par le nouveau gouvernement d'union nationale.

Des écoles ont ouvert (ou réouvert) leurs portes
Message d'espoir
Dans un article publié récemment par le journal britannique le Times, le premier ministre Morgan Tsvangirai demande aux bailleurs de fonds et aux partenaires commerciaux du Zimbabwé de soutenir l'action de son équipe.
Il affirme que depuis son entrée en fonctions en février dernier, des progrès "modestes mais significaifs" ont déjà pu être accomplis.
Tout en reconnaissant que le gouvernemement qu'il dirige n'est pas parfait, il annonce notamment: "nous avons commencé à verser des allocations mensuelles aux fonctionnaires pour permettre au secteur public de redémarrer, et pour donner un coup de pouce essentiel à l'économie'.
Morgan Tsvangirai poursuit: "nous avons supervisé l'ouverture d'hôpitaux et d'écoles, freiné l'hyperinflation, réduit les prix de produits de première nécessité, et rationalisé les tarifs des services publics".
"Mais ce qui est plus important", selon lui, "c'est que cette nouvelle donne politique a rendu l'espoir à un pays qui avait perdu tout optimisme et toute confiance dans l'avenir".
Et Morgan Tsvangirai ajoute qu'il veut voir le Zimbabwé, qui actuellement a besoin d'une aide d'urgence, devenir un jour un pays attirant pour les investisseurs occidentaux.

RDC: une faction du CNDP déclare la fin de la guerre

Thomas Fessy

Lors d’une réunion tenue vendredi à Goma en présence du ministre congolais de l’Intérieur et du chef de l’armée rwandaise, cette faction dissidente du mouvement rebelle s’est mise à la disposition de l’armée congolaise et s’est dite prête à participer au plan conjoint, signé en décembre dernier entre le Congo et le Rwanda, contre les milices hutu-rwandaises des FDLR.

Il coraggio della verità
Una lettera aperta dell’Arcivescovo di Bukavu
S.E. François-Xavier MAROY

Emergenza Congo
Alcune testimonianze raccapriccianti sulla sporca ed intricata guerra del Kivu

Parla Aniceto Battani,
Presidente Associazione Comunità Mamma della Pace di Modena

“Il 22 settembre scorso mi trovavo all’aeroporto di Goma alle ore 12 per attendere l’aereo che, nel contesto del Pellegrinaggio, mi doveva portare a Butembo, ma, nonostante le varie assicurazioni, che l’aereo era in volo e sarebbe arrivato da un momento all’altro, atterrò solo alle 17, pochi minuti prima che l’aeroporto chiudesse per i voli civili. Ho passato quindi cinque ore nella sala d’imbarco.
Un’ampia vetrata mi permetteva di vedere tutto ciò che accadeva sulla pista. Era un continuo atterrare e decollare di aerei, alcuni dell’ Agenzia Onu, Caschi Blu, altri anonimi. Proprio davanti a me potevo osservare alcuni grossi aerei che scaricavano pesanti casse di legno dentro le quali, senza grande immaginazione, vi erano armi e munizioni da guerra. Le casse poi, venivano frettolosamente caricate su camion militari sotto il controllo dei Caschi Blu.
Mi sono chiesto da dove venissero ed a chi fossero destinate queste armi, scaricate in così gran numero, non certamente all’esercito regolare congolese che ha scarpe rotte, divise lacerate e, da quattro mesi, non riceve nemmeno la sera paga mensile di 10 dollari e tanto meno agli alleati Mai-Mai che in alcuni casi usano armi rudimentali; ma neanche ai Caschi Blu che hanno il compito, col loro contingente di 7.000 uomini di semplice osservatori non avendo alcun mandato di intervenire in azioni belliche. In cinque ore sono stati scaricati almeno quattro grossi aerei.
Giro la mie domande ad un passeggero di Goma che mi era accanto a me, anche lui in attesa dell’aereo. Costui, con molta tranquillità, mi dice che spesso l’aeroporto di Goma viene chiuso per dare spazio a questi carichi di morte e che la maggior parte delle armi sono destinate al Generale congolese, dissidente, Nkundaed ai suoi compagni, appoggiati dal vicino Rwanda e che da anni saccheggiano le montagne attorno a Goma spogliandole dei suoi minerali più preziosi: coltan , casserite, diamanti, oro, uranio coi quali possono pagare le costose armi che provengono certamente da altri paesi dove risiedono le grandi multinazionali. Sono proprio queste ultime che hanno l’interesse a fomentare la guerra, a mantenere l’instabilità nella regione attorno ai giacimenti minerari, infatti, nel disordine e quando lo Stato sovrano è completamente assente, è più facile fare i propri interessi privati. Mi informava, tra l’altro, che il Generale Nkunda possiede proprio a Goma i due distributori di benzina più importanti. Questo signore poi, precisava che del traffico illecito dei minerali, che partono per destinazioni sconosciute, sono a conoscenza non solo tutti gli abitanti di Goma, ma anche quelli di tutta la martoriata regione del Kivu e le stesse autorità governative…
Di giorno arrivano le armi, e di notte, partono aerei carichi di minerali preziosi per destinazioni ignote.
Il mio interlocutore, molto informato, affermava che l’80% della produzione mondiale di coltan, minerale rarissimo ed indispensabile per lo sviluppo della tecnologia del computer, telefoni cellulari, apparati di missili e di satelliti, viene estratto in Congo e soprattutto nel Kivu. Il coltan, oggi, è più prezioso dell’oro e dei diamanti, viene esportato clandestinamente ed è la causa principale dell’inizio ostilità con il Rwanda.
Terminava poi le sue importanti informazioni, facendomi notare che tutti i conflitti si svolgono nei corridoi economici e nelle zone dove si estrae questo minerale e che l’esercito di Nkunda, grazie ad aiuti che vengono da lontano, e che alimentando così l’industria delle armi, è ben equipaggiato e con 4.000 uomini, si permette di sfidare l’intero esercito congolese di circa 100.000 uomini. Un esercito, quello congolese, non equipaggiato, senza paga, spesso affamato e molto sfiduciato. Ringrazio l’ignoto e gentile signore per le preziose informazioni e faccio una riflessione.
Ma se le armi entrano illegalmente e vengono pagate con i minerali preziosi rubati al Congo, a questo punto mi chiedo, come mai lo Stato è completamente assente e le autorità congolesi non intervengono per sanare questa situazione che ha dell’incredibile? Come mai Il Generale ribelle Nkunda si permette di gestire i due distributori più importanti nella stessa città di Goma e, nonostante diversi mandati internazionali di cattura per crimini di guerra contro l’umanità gli è concesso di gironzolare indisturbato, dove vuole, senza che venga arrestato e questo anche per le vie di Goma? Potrebbe venir arrestato con facilità in qualsiasi momento. Come mai ciò non avviene?...

Domande inquietanti che fanno capire come, a ragione, l’Arcivescovo di Bukavu, Sua Eccellenza Mons. François_Xavier Maroy Rusengo, come da notizia diffusa recentemente da Radio Vaticana, sia duramente intervenuto scrivendo una lettera aperta ai primi di novembre 2008, al neo-eletto Primo Ministro congolese. Il Presule che è anche l’Ordinario della
Diocesi dove risiedono due Comunità Mamma della Pace, denunciava apertamente, tra l’altro, che: “…iI dramma congolese ha delle implicazionieconomiche e politiche a livello internazionale, nazionale e locale”. Da questo è chiaro che la guerra del Congo non è una guerra di etnie, come si vuol far credere, bensì di grandi interessi per lo sfruttamento delle enormi ricchezze del suo sottosuolo; una guerra che coinvolge diversi paesi stranieri con le loro multinazionali. Ma la Comunità internazionale tace… Ironia della sorte: sono proprio le enormi ricchezze naturali che rendono il Paese sempre più povero


Per saperne di più: Comunità Mamma della Pace, o visita il sito www.comunitamammadellapace.org

Guinée équatoriale: La richesse pétrolière et les risques

A première vue, le pays n’a rien d’un lieu qui mérite d’être l’enjeu d’une bataille.
La Guinée équatoriale est un Etat chaud et humide au large de l’Afrique de l’ouest. Sa capitale, Malabo, est un mélange de vieux bâtiments coloniaux et de bidonvilles

by Richard Bilton

L'Afrique "menacée d'assèchement "

Certaines régions de l'Afrique sont déjà arides et sèches. Mais la situation risque de s'aggraver du fait du réchauffement planétaire, si l'on en croit deux études qu'a lu pour nous Richard Black, spécialiste des questions écologiques pour le site web de la BBC

 

 

Le rapporteur de l'ONU sur le droit à l'alimentation a condamné l'utilisation, de plus en plus croissante, de terres, jusque-là réservées aux cultures vivrières, pour la production de Biocarburants.

Jean Ziegler a plaidé pour un moratoire de l'ONU sur cette pratique qu'il qualifiée de "crime contre l'humanité", et qui fait monter les cours mondiaux des denrées alimentaires.

S'exprimant au siège de l'ONU à New York, le rapporteur spécial a indiqué que "la ruée soudaine et mal inspirée vers la conversion de nourriture comme le maïs, le blé, le sucre et huile de palme -- en biocarburants est une recette pour le désastre"

John Githongo: "dans certains cas, les violences sont orchestrées"

Au Kenya, les pourparlers entre les dirigeants du pays et l'opposition progressent, semble-t-il. Un espoir, peut-être, de règlement de la crise qui a suivi les élections de décembre. Depuis, plus de 650 personnes ont été tuées et 250.000 autres ont fui leurs domiciles. John Githongo connaît bien la situation au Kenya, et nous donne son analyse.