Africabeat

Uganda: Andrew Mwenda arrested (again)

Controversial Ugandan journalist (and TEDster), Andrew Mwenda has been arrested along with two other staffers at the Independent, where Mwenda is managing editor.

According to the newspaper spokesman quoted in the Reuters story, Bob Kasango, "We think the government is not happy with a story The Independence published in a recent issue exposing atrocities committed by government forces during the war."

From The Independent's website:

In a two-pronged operation, police and operatives from the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI), Joint Anti-Terrorism Taskforce (JATT) and the Black Mamba squad raided The Independent again, exactly a month after the first raid.    

 

 

It is 9.30am on Saturday April 26 and The Independent’s Managing Editor Andrew Mwenda is driving from his home along Golf Course Road in Kololo for the Capital Gang programme on Capital FM radio. As he climbs up Coral Crescent Rise towards Lower Kololo Terrace, two suspicious cars come from in front of him, the front one towards him at breakneck speed. Thinking that perhaps the driver had lost control, he stops and tries to reverse when suddenly three other cars appear from behind, one knocking his rear bumper.

Read more at the TED blog

(Thanks for alerting me to this, Juliana)

Batwa People of Eastern Congo

The Batwa people were traditionally hunter-gatherers.  In Eastern Congo, they lived off what the forest provided, until prolonged warfare and the creation of national parks ended their way of life.  Neglected by the government, shunned by other ethnic groups, the Batwa live on the margins of Congolese society.  They have no knowledge of agriculture or animal husbandry.  They have never participated in a cash economy.  They live in temporary villages in constant fear of being driven out by real estate developers or the government.  They build their houses out of sticks and leaves and die of things like too much rain.  There are about 3,000 living in the area around Goma.  They want dignity, they want a way to live as others live, but how?  No one can simply give that to them.

In August, I met an American girl in Kigali with a friend named Morgan, a student at the Université de Goma.  On a whim, I went to eastern Congo, ostensibly to climb a volcano and see some gorillas, all  because Morgan knew a guy who knew a guy who could get me a good rate. Morgan also happened to be one of the most extraordinary individuals I've ever met--a law student, an eldest son, the founder of his own NGO, and a good guy to have around the next time Mt. Nyiragongo erupts--and so on a second whim, I made a promise I intend to keep to Morgan and 3,000+ people. Needless to say, I never did get to see the gorillas. 

In a series of posts, learn about the Batwa, the support Morgan's NGO needs to help them, and how I hope to mobilize that support while avoiding all those pitfalls of aid I love to critique, but to which I can offer no easy solutions.

Hinga Norman is Dead

OK, not like I'm mourning or anything, but according to Reuters, Hinga Norman has just died on an operating table in Darkar. 

Mr. Norman for those of you who are unfamiliar with his work, was a former leader of the Sierra Leonean government's Civil Defense Forces during the civil war, and presided over a special militia of Kamajor fighters who were accused of slaughtering civilians believed to be rebel sympathizers and consuming their remains.  Norman was standing trial at the Special Court for Sierra Leone, and I have a number of friends and acquaintances who were involved in his case, in one way or another. 

His prosecution was highly controversial since many Sierra Leoneans believed the government - whatever the atrocities they may have committed - ultimately protected them from the rebels and  brought piece to the country.

Rest in peace, Hinga Norman.  And may the tens of thousands who died in that war do the same.

China in Africa: On the Hypocrisy of Western Criticism

While I have the feeling that Elaine Meinel Supkis is just a little more to the left than I am, her blog,  Diplomacy: Winning Without Killing, is always worth a read.  Most recently, she offers a very funny and unforgiving look at why so much of American and European criticism of China - while valid - is also shamelessly hypocritical.

China's Role in the Darfur Genocide

Western countries argue that China is undermining its efforts to force the Sudanese government to end the genocide in Darfur.  Sudan currently sells more than half of its oil to China, and bids for all rights always include aid, loans, infrastructure and...weapons.

Darfur: On Divestment

A lot of happenings this week on the Darfur front.  I have a roundup at my World News site which you can read there. 

My takeaway?  I love how the entire Bush administration is mobilizing to "Save Darfur" even as it has worked to bury proposed legislation that is the centerpiece of a divestment campaign that would force American investors to pull money out of any company doing business in Sudan. 

I suppose words are cheaper than turning one's back to one's oil buddies.

The less cynical voice in my head wonders if U.S. divestment would be enough to push the Khartoum's hand and agree to allow UN peacekeepers into the country.  (I don't have all the figures so I cannot even begin to guess, although apparently the equity at stake is reportedly in the tens of billions.)  Maybe the Bush administration is just waiting and seeing if it can convince the Chinese to use their "moral suasion" (i.e., soaring oil demand) to get the Sudanese government on board, and divestment might only piss the Chinese off. 

Oil companies that would be affected by  American divestment include: PetroChina, Sinopec, ABB, Alstom, Siemens, Schlumberger, Tatneft of Russia, Italy's Finmeccanica, Weir Group of the UK, and Shell. 

Yup...on second thought, my vote is on the oil vote.

Street Children Paid to Attend Election Rallies in the DRC

I was just reading this IRIN article from a few days back which details how children were paid by various political parties in the DRC to attend election rallies, and often ended up getting seriously injured or killed when those rallies turned violent.

I have a hard time deciding whether this is another sinister case of exploitation, rampant in fragile and impoverished socities, that is somewhere along the same lines of using children as soldiers or sex workers.  Clearly paying children to march in a rally is nothing so extreme, and yet it disturbs me that these political parties would take advantage of street children's poverty to swell attendance at rallies, and in the process, put these children into harm's way.

Children pariticpating in a political rally in the Congo: ©  Eddy Isango/IRIN

In Africa, China Trade Brings Growth, Unease (Washington Post)

In Africa, China Trade Brings Growth, Unease, Washington Post

"Chinese companies have developed a reputation for going where others won't because of political, environmental or ethical concerns, or because profit margins are too slim. State-owned companies in China, analysts say, have the ability to forgo short-term profits in pursuit of the government's long-term strategic interests."

As I've said before, what's different about China's engagement with Africa, as compared to Western powers, is that the Chinese are willing to go where others aren't and to take a long view in an environment where most are trying to make money or build nations on unrealistic 3, 5, and 10 year plans.

The head of the Africa Division for Human Rights Watch, however, thinks China's indiscriminate investment is a bad thing:

"Wherever there are resources, the Chinese are going to go there...They see no evil. They hear no evil. That's very bad for Africans."

Yes, it's bad that China's investment in African nations will help to sustain unaccountable or abusive leaders, and it's clear that the Chinese policy of non-interference in nations' internal affairs suit their national interests: finding new markets for their products and new sources of raw materials to sustain China's industrial expansion.

But I'm still hoping that infrastructure and social investments, even if they are self-interested, will have important spillover effects.  Small farmers will be able to more easily get their crops to market, children will have better healthcare and more access to schools, and that in the long run (I hope) will be good for Africa.

China turns toward Africa

This post contains commentary followed by an extensive list of articles on China's role in Africa.

China's interests in Africa have long been known, but in the last six months, there has been an amazing proliferation of "China goes to Africa" articles in the international media.   

While the rest of the world often views Africa in the context of a donor-recipient relationship, China views Africa as a central part of its strategic plan, most notably for its oil reserves (China’s demand for oil far outstrips its supply) and for its markets for manufactured goods. The Chinese perceive American influence in Africa to be less entrenched than it is in the rest of the world, thus offering unique opportunities for China to pursue its economic interests.   

Is the Conflict in Darfur Genocide?

“If language is not correct, then what is said is not what is meant; if what is said is not what is meant, then what must be done remains undone; if this remains undone, morals and art will deteriorate; if justice goes astray, the people will stand about in helpless confusion. Hence there must be no arbitrariness in what is said. This matters above everything.”  The Analects of Confucius - On Rectifying Names

When George Clooney was in Darfur (the same week as the fictitious doctors of ER made their pilgrimage), I read a number of Op-Eds in American and British newspapers asking whether the conflict in Darfur is really a "genocide."

I have a poll over at World News which asks just that question.

I did not offer my own opinion there, as I'm not one for attempting to influence the way people vote in internet polls.  But of course, I do have one.

I am not a lawyer, and I hardly consider myself qualified to make any determination of whether the Darfur conflict meets the legal definition of genocide.  Darfur is not as clear-cut a case of genocide as Rwanda was, and I do have my own doubts about whether the killings, forced migration, and starvation are really as ethnically-motivated as the media often suggests.

But does it really matter?   Should that really have an ounce of bearing on what our other nations' reponsibilities or actions should be?

Humans - and politicians in particular - often use language not in the service of truth, but to confuse others or to advance their own agendas (just ask George Orwell).

And so getting wrapped up in a word, when words are so easily manipulated and hold different meanings for whoever uses them, detracts from the problem at hand: that there are people dying and suffering in Darfur and the international community is either incapable or unwilling to do anything - at least anything adequate - about it.  And in my view, addressing that truth is much more important than dissecting the debate that is happening around it. 

To put it another way, if someone is pointing a gun at your friend's head, do you try and take away the gun, or ask the bystanders what kind of caliber they think the gun is?  Do you really have to rectify the name of the gun before you act?

Technorati Tags: Darfur, Genocide, Sudan, Chad, Africa, Civil War, Save Darfur