IRIN-SA Weekly Round-up 40 covering the period 2-8 October 1999

ANGOLA: De Beers stops all Angolan diamond purchases The giant South African-based diamond house De Beers, announced this week that it had placed a world-wide embargo on the purchase of diamonds from Angola in support of “the UN attempt to bring peace and stability” to the war-torn country. In a statement, the company said it was reviewing its buying operations in west and central Africa, notably the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Guinea. A company spokeswoman told IRIN the decision followed recent talks the chairman of the UN’s Angola sanctions committee, Robert Fowler, had held with Gary Ralfe, the managing director of De Beers, and Nicky Oppenheimer, chairman of its parent company, the mining conglomerate, Anglo-American. “This is to give our full and total support to the UN attempt to bring stability and peace to Angola,” she said. “We have been working closely with Ambassador Fowler on this.” “We deplore what is going on in Angola, and the implication that diamonds have funded that war,” the spokeswoman, Joan Braune, said. She also said the company purchasing agents at the diamond cutting and processing centre in Antwerp, Belgium, had also been instructed not to buy any more Angolan diamonds even if they were accompanied by Angolan government certificates of origin. The company declined to say what proportion of its income would be compromised by the decision. The De Beers statement said: “The company is equally concerned that, in addition to revenues from oil and other natural resources, some of the funds which had fuelled the war had been derived from the illegal sale of diamonds by the UNITA rebel movement. “But it was concerned that “legitimate business, particularly in developing nations”, should not be damaged by attempts to reduce income flowing into the coffers of rebel movements. Reacting to the decision, Alex Yearsley, a campaigner for Global Witness 2000, an NGO seeking to curb the financing of African wars through diamond sales, called it a step in the right direction: “This is a short-term solution to a long-term problem. We would like to know what concrete measures they intend to put in place.” Fighting threatens new harvest Fierce fighting between Angolan government forces and UNITA had displaced tens of thousands and threatened to worsen the country’s already dire food security situation, aid workers told IRIN this week. “The fighting is very bad, people are fleeing in every direction,” a humanitarian official said. “The people are escaping with nothing, even if they had seeds and tools, where are they going to plant?” The government’s long-awaited offensive has taken place just before the rainy season and is expected to drag on through the planting period, impacting on harvests in the fall. The situation was especially serious in the central highlands, a UNITA stronghold and formerly the country’s breadbasket. In the past three weeks, 30,000-45,000 displaced have arrived on the outskirts of Kuito, the provincial capital of Bie, camping out on barren terrain that lacks even grass to allow them to build shelters. “They are in terrible circumstances,” an aid worker said. “There is not enough grass, tents, there’s not enough of anything.” The displaced fled fighting north of Kuito, an area that has repeatedly changed hands between government and UNITA forces. “Our contingency plans had taken into consideration there was going to be a harvest,” the aid worker said. “Even if the war stops today, there are still going to be a lot of problems.” No UNITA ceasefire offer Meanwhile, the UNITA representative in Lisbon this week denied reports that rebel leader Jonas Savimbi had asked for a truce in the Angolan conflict. Rui Oliveira told Portuguese Renascenca radio, monitored by the BBC, that an alleged letter sent by Savimbi to President Jose Eduardo dos Santos does not exist. He said it was government propaganda, as were reports that the national army was in control of UNITA’s Bailundo headquarters. “The FAA (Angolan Armed Forces) have never taken Bailundo. They tried to take it, they were eight kilometres away but never took it. Bailundo remains under UNITA’s control.” Meanwhile, a UNITA communiqué has accused foreign governments and mercenaries of helping Luanda’s military effort. The statement, datelined Bailundo, alleged that Portugal is involved in operations planning, training and logistics. It claimed that Brazilian pilots had performed reconnaissance and bombing missions, and mercenaries from Eastern Europe, South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe had also been hired by the government. EU stops financing mine removal project The European Union said it will stop financing mine removal projects because of the resumption of war, the Angolan news agency reported this week. In an interview with Angola radio, Helder Cruz, director of the Institute for the Removal of Explosive and other Devices (Inaroe), said Angola had lost its financing because it was redirected to Mozambique, where the demining process had proved to be more successful. “Sadly the resumption of war meant that the project had to be sidelined and re-routed,” he said. According to the news reports the most noteworthy demining project was in Bie Province to clear farm land for displaced people. Protest over publisher’s detention The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) this week protested against the detention at the weekend of an Angolan newspaper editor, demanding that the authorities explain the action or charge or release him. William Tonet, the editor and publisher of the independent bi-weekly ‘Folha 8’, was detained at his home on Saturday in a pre-dawn raid by officers of the Department of Criminal Investigations (DNIC) which had failed so far to give any reason for the action. “One source said that Tonet was being held ‘for not paying fiscal duties’ to customs on a shipment of foreign goods which he imported into the country and that he was being investigated by the police’s Economic Crimes Unit,” MISA said in a statement. “Another source said that he was being held in connection with an article which appeared in ‘Folha 8’ last week and which alleged corrupt practices in the Economic Crimes Unit. Yet another source said that Tonet was being held by DNIC in connection with an article which quoted a press release from the UNITA rebel movement about the situation in the towns of Andulo and Bailundo in central Angola.” Tonet has been held on three other occasions since April this year, and was currently facing court action for alleged “slander, insulting the army, libel, incitement to subversion and desertion”. BOTSWANA: Gearing up for the election With just days to go before Botswana holds its seventh general elections, women’s groups are concerned that out of the more than 140 parliamentary candidates, only 11 are women - despite the fact that they represent at least 52 percent of the population. Of the four main political parties that will be contesting the elections, the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) has the most women candidates - six out of 40. Some commentators, though, see this as an encouraging development. “In the last parliament there were only four women MPs all of whom were BDP members, two of whom were specially appointed by the president in terms of the constitution,” a woman’s rights activist told IRIN. She added that there is no guarantee that the 11 women candidates would get enough votes to take them to parliament. Rape incidents on the increase The incidents of rape against women in Botswana are steadily on the increase, according to a new study published in the capital, Gaborone. The study said 58 percent of rape victims were between the ages of 11 and 20, while 41 percent were under the age of 16. The study also found that 81 percent of rapists were young men aged between 16 and 30. “What is not clear is the magnitude of incidents of rape countrywide, since many women don’t report this crime,” it said, adding that contrary to popular perception, two-thirds of the rapists are unknown to their victims, while only a third of rapes were found to have been committed by men known to the women, for example, an ex-lover, a relative, a neighbour or a teacher. “There is still a large number of men who believe that once the marriage has sanctioned the relationship, they can have automatic sex with their wives, even if their wives don’t give their consent,” the study added. ZIMBABWE: World Bank suspends aid The World Bank said this week that it had indefinitely postponed talks on a new US $140 million structural reform programme until the government got its programme with the IMF back on track. The IMF, which approved a standby loan of nearly US $193 million to Zimbabwe in August subject to the government meeting economic targets, has also reportedly asked for clarification from the government over Harare’s alleged overspending on the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) conflict. If there is evidence that the government had deliberately misled the IMF, “its going to impact on IMF and World Bank programmes which are themselves a precursor to other donor funding,” a Western diplomat told IRIN this week. Finance Minister Herbert Murerwa said an internal memo, which claimed Zimbabwe had spent US $166 million from January to June on the DRC war rather than the US $3 million a month it had told the IMF, had been quoted out of context. He said the memo, quoted by London’s ‘Financial Times’ this week, referred to the potential, rather than the actual costs of the intervention. A defence analyst told IRIN the US $166 million figure was “about right” for the total costs of keeping Zimbabwe’s 10,000-13,000 troops, plus tanks and aircraft, in the DRC. Meanwhile, the African Development Bank has signed a US $130 million loan with the Zimbabwe government to support economic development, news organisations said this week. Nurses threaten strike action The crisis in Zimbabwe’s hospitals could intensify with the country’s nurses threatening to join junior doctors on strike over pay and conditions. News reports this week said the Zimbabwe Nurses Association (ZINA) issued an ultimatum on Wednesday giving the government 14 days to improve their pay packages or face the prospect of hospitals closing altogether. The Hospital Doctors Association (HDA), which has staged a two-week strike which has forced government hospitals to turn back all but emergency cases, has petitioned parliament to hold an emergency debate to resolve the crisis. COMORO ISLANDS: New separatist concerns The territorial integrity and unity of the Comoro Islands as nation state was being undermined by a secessionist crisis in the island of Anjouan despite a peace accord signed earlier this year. In an address to the UN General Assembly last weekend, Souef Mohamed El-Amine, foreign minister of the Indian Ocean archipelago, said his government could not accept the secession or independence for Anjouan because it would result in the break-up of the country. “Three inter-island conferences have been held under the auspices of the Organisation of African Unity and the Arab League to try and resolve this crisis,” he said. “At the last conference in Antananarivo, Madagascar, an accord was reached providing for a new institutional framework which would respond to the aspirations of all Comorans, while guaranteeing both territorial integrity as well as a wide degree of autonomy for each island.” But, he said the “intransigence” of Anjouan representatives who were still to sign the accord had since led to anti-Anjouanese riots by “extremists” in the main island of Grande Comore. “The risk of a civil war, of popular discontent and the violent and forced separation of families have led the Army of National Development, because of the political inertia over there, to interpose themselves, prevent the worst and take in hand the destiny of the country,” he said. The foreign minister said the government remained determined to implement the OAU-mediated Antananarivo agreement. It provided for greater autonomy to the two smaller islands of Anjouan and Moheli, and the introduction of a three-year rotating presidency between the three islands within a federal structure. “The decisive stage has now been reached to implement the already published election calendar. It provides, among other things, for a popular constitutional referendum, local, parliamentary and presidential elections,” he said. The island of Mayotte had long since broken away, and the “amputation” of Anjouan would be even more threatening to national unity, the foreign minister said. In Addis Ababa, the OAU said this week it would dispatch a special representative to the Comoro Islands to ensure that all sides exercise restraint. In a statement, it called on the Anjouanese to sign the accord “without delay”. NAMIBIA: Fresh Caprivi asylum seekers enter Botswana A “trickle” of Caprivi asylum seekers continue to cross into Botswana from Namibia, some claiming to be active supporters of Caprivi separatist rebels, an African diplomat told IRIN this week. Between August and the end of September, 18 asylum seekers arrived in Botswana, with eight of them claiming to be involved “in one way or another” with the secessionist Caprivi Liberation Army (CLA). Over the past few weeks, a further 32 have arrived, with seven of them admitting CLA ties. Active involvement in criminal activities would make them excludable as refugees, the diplomat said. “It is understood that the Botswana government won’t be pronouncing on their eligibility until after the (16 October) elections,” he added. The envoy pointed out that the strong Namibian military presence in the towns of the Caprivi Strip means that “the situation is quiet, but its very difficult to say that it’s over and there could be (CLA) activity out in the bush.” Protests against proposed new dam Environmental groups and local leaders this week stepped up a campaign to stop the construction of a hydro-electric dam on the Cunene River in northern Namibia near the Angolan border saying the costs and environmental impact outweigh the benefits it would bring, news reports said. The campaigners who have written to government officials and potential donors such as the African Development Bank (ADB), said that because of inherent risks in such large projects, the proposed Epupa Dam had a high probability of low economic returns, ‘The Namibian’ said. Electricity imported from South Africa, it added, was still cheaper than the projected cost of the Epupa output. SOUTH AFRICA: Government condemns DRC ceasefire violations The South African government this week condemned “in the strongest possible terms” reports of weekend ceasefire violations in the DRC. A foreign affairs statement said it was reacting to news that DRC government forces had used tanks on Saturday to attack rebel positions 12 km from the southeastern town of Kabinda. It called on “all parties and signatories to the ceasefire agreement to put firm measures into place in order to prevent such actions, including the immediate implementation of the Joint Military Commission (JMC)”. According to a DPA dispatch, DRC government forces backed by Zimbabwean troops and Rwandan Hutu rebels, launched the attack on Munyenga, 180 km southeast of the key government-held diamond city of Mbuji-Mayi. It said the fighting had taken place close to Kabinda, where Zimbabwean forces have been under siege since June, for control of a strategic section of the road to Mbuji-Mayi. All sides have traded accusations of ceasefire violations since the agreement was signed in Lusaka, Zambia, in August. A senior Zambian official told IRIN on Monday that “in a ceasefire situation these violations are almost inevitable when people have been fighting for so long”. He said a JMC meeting was scheduled for Sunday, and once the commission was operational, “it would take care of these violations and see who’s responsible”. Zambia is a permanent observer to both the JMC and the political committee charged with organising an internal political settlement. Military concerned over DRC peacekeeping Meanwhile, South African defence forces were “twitchy” over a potential peacekeeping role in the DRC, security sources told IRIN this week. The heavy lift capacity of the air force has been reduced with half of its C-130 planes undergoing refurbishment. Only two army battalions are trained for a peacekeeping role, and the rest of the army is facing a difficult process of integration. While the South African government has championed the DRC peace process, “the military are more realistic over just how complicated it could get,” one analyst said. Cementing a special relationship The inaugural meeting of a South African-Nigerian commission, designed to cement the growing relationship between the two regional superpowers, opened in the Nigerian capital Abuja this week, news reports said. The binational commission, jointly chaired by South African Deputy President Jacob Zuma and Nigerian Vice-President Abubakar Atiku, aims to explore areas of cooperation over two days of talks that are expected to include a wide range of commercial and development agreements. The vision of a “strategic relationship”, a key policy goal of South African President Thabo Mbeki, is shared by Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo. According to Garth le Pere, director of the South African-based Institute of Global Dialogue, the new understanding - made possible by the Nigerian military’s return to the barracks in May - has both political and economic dimensions. “South Africa has a wider continental, if not global, vision of this relationship,” he told IRIN on Monday. It includes collaboration on conflict resolution in Africa, and a joint approach to strategic issues such as negotiations at the Seattle round of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in November. Economically, Nigeria’s development “has been retarded by a lost decade under military rule,” le Pere said. “There are so many comparative advantages the South African private sector has that could benefit both countries.” REGIONAL: Mbeki meets Sudanese rebel leader The leader of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), John Garang, held talks in the South African capital, Pretoria, last weekend with President Thabo Mbeki, news organisations reported. SAPA news agency quoted Garang as telling reporters: “We can learn a lot from South Africa on how to arrive at a new Sudan, the way they (the African National Congress) fought for democracy and freedom.” He said he had asked Mbeki for tips on how to get the support of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), which had been the peace mediator in Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia and Eritrea.