Africa News Briefs

 

 Mar. 20 (GIN) - Six human rights activists are facing long sentences following their conviction for the crime of watching a video of Egypt’s “Arab Spring” uprising.

 

The six were initially charged with treason for looking at video footage of the Egyptian and Tunisian uprisings along with 45 other activists, but the charges were dropped to a lesser one of conspiracy to commit crime.

 

The arrests were carried out on Feb. 19 by state agents who confiscated laptops, DVD players and projectors at the video watching affair.

 

Harare Regional Magistrate, Kudakwashe Jarabini, said the state had proof beyond any reasonable doubt that the motive to watch the videos was to “arouse feelings of hostility” against the government and provoke violence. He said it would be an “insult” to a sound mind to call the meeting, “innocent.”

 

Responding to the questions after his conviction, Munyaradzi Gwisai, a University of Zimbabwe labor law lecturer said “to the ordinary people, this is not surprising. This is a staple of what is happening in Africa and across the world. So we take it as it comes, the struggle continues.”

 

Sentences are pending. w/pix of M. Gwisai

 

Mar. 20 (GIN) - Malawi, once a beacon of democracy and peace, shocked the human rights community with the revival of a colonial era law mandating jail for anyone who ‘insults’ the president. Neighboring Zambia and Zimbabwe are also under the spotlight for closing the democratic space.

 

Malawian President Bingu wa Mutharika, a former World Bank economist, warned he would not tolerate any “impudence” by the media or civil society. At the same time, Malawi’s police were breaking up demonstrations and arresting human rights activists and opposition politicians.

 

Presidential aspirant Atupele Muluzi, the son of former Malawian president Bakili Muluzi, was tear-gassed at a recent opposition rally. Angry Malawians responded by attacking a police station, beating up officers and looting their houses.

 

Nearly three-quarters of Malawi's population of 15.4 million people live on less than $2 a day.

 

Meanwhile, in near-by Zambia, the government was barely stopped in time as it tried to ‘de-register’ the main opposition Movement for Multiparty Democracy, which would have voided 53 seats in parliament held by the MMD.

 

Promises to public service workers to increase wages were canceled and President Michael Sata recently issued a threat to fire all the civil servants who refused a “meager” 4% pay raise.

 

And in Zimbabwe, a court this week convicted six activists for showing a video about the Arab Spring. They face up to 10 years in prison for “inciting violence” against the government – simply because they held a meeting to show a video of the street protests in Egypt and Tunisia last year.

 

Occupy movements of resistance have sprung up in Malawi and Zimbabwe. None could be found in Zambia at press time. w/pix of rally for A. Muluzi

 

Mar. 20 (GIN) – The human rights office at the United Nations has reported over 30 civilians killed in Kinshasa by the government’s army, police and elite Republican Guard.

 

The killings, tear gassing and arbitrary arrests took place after elections last year, according to a new UN report.

 

International observers say last November's disputed elections, won by President Joseph Kabila, were flawed. Results showed Kabila winning 100 percent of votes at some balloting stations, and more than 100 percent of registered voters taking part at other stations where he won.

 

President Kabila has admitted that there were mistakes in the electoral process, but said no poll was 100% perfect and rejected concerns that the results, criticised by Western observers, lacked credibility.

 

Meanwhile in a related development, the International Criminal Court this week convicted Thomas Lubanga, head of a rebel militia that enlisted boys and girls under 15, drugging them, and putting them to work killing his enemies.  “Unlike Joseph Kony, nobody ever made a viral video about Lubanga,” noted an editorial in the Los Angeles Times.  “The verdict is the first time an international trial has focused solely on the recruitment of underage soldiers. It will set a precedent useful in future trials.” w/pix of T. Lubanga

 

 

Mar. 20 (GIN) – Amidst much sobbing and wailing, followers of Pope Shenouda, the spiritual leader of Egypt’s Christian Copts, packed the St. Mark’s cathedral of Cairo for funeral rites after which the deceased church leader was flown to the Nile Delta northwest of Cairo and buried in a remote desert monastery.

 

The 88-year-old pope died on Saturday. Copts make up 10% of Egypt’s population and are the Middle East's largest Christian community.

 

Thousands greeted the motorcade carrying his body, and military police struggled to control the mourners trying to get into the monastery.

 

The patriarch spent more than three years in exile in the 1980s when the late Egyptian President Anwar Sadat accused him of fomenting sectarian strife. He was laid to rest in a white marble tomb with a cross on top.

 

“The Holy Pope was able to gain the love of even those who held different opinions and I believe this will be a difficult thing to replace," said Samir, one of the mourners.  

 

There is no timetable yet for finding a successor, who will be elected by a conclave of senior bishops. w/pix of Pope Shenouda

 

Mar. 20 (GIN) – Liberia’s legislature is considering stiff penalties including jail time for anyone caught practicing homosexuality.

 

President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, amidst growing controversy, said, “We’ve got certain traditional values in our society that we would like to preserve.” She added: “we like ourselves just the way we are.”

 

The anti-gay crusade appears to have been sparked by Jewel Taylor, a Senator and the wife of accused war criminal Charles Taylor. Unlike the bill in Uganda, the Liberian version does not include the death penalty.

 

Expressing regret at the move, Human Rights Watch senior West Africa Researcher, Corinne Dufka said, “Liberia has made considerable progress in consolidating democracy over the last five years, but the proposed bill to increase penalties for consensual same-sex activity is a regrettable step backward.”

 

She added: “Such laws not only violate the right to privacy and to nondiscrimination, they also serve as a distraction from addressing the many real problem facing Liberia, such as strengthening the judiciary, addressing poverty and ensuring good economic governance.”

 

Gay rights activist Archie Ponpon said: “Many attacks keep coming our way. We’re living to see the next year as a combat. We’re not going to back up, and I’m not afraid of death.” w/pix of A. Ponpon