"This is a book about evil." With these words, Berkeley launches into a gripping exploration of some of the worst African atrocities of the past 20 years, which he has covered as a journalist for the Atlantic Monthly and other publications. Berkeley argues that the violence that has permeated these societies is born of the same evil that motivated Hitler to kill six million Jews: racially and ethnically based tyranny, which, he says, is the result of Western colonization, not "age-old" hatreds. Basic Books ISBN: 0465006418, 2001.

We wish to apologise to subscribers for not having sent the newsletter out last week. A dispute occurred over an editorial prepared by Firoze Manji of Fahamu on his analysis of the terrorist attacks on the US last week. Although it was initially proposed by all parties that the editorial be published in Firoze's name, Kabissa felt it was not appropriate to issue the Newsletter with that editorial. Instead the delayed Newsletter is being published this week with this explanatory editorial. The disputed editorial is published here as a letter to the editor (see below).

The dispute has highlighted the ambiguity around the title of this section as an Editorial implying a corporate position from the three institutions. In future, we propose that this section be called more precisely Opinion to reflect our intent to stimulate discussion and debate over critical events that concern Africa. Discussions are currently underway between the three parties to set mutually acceptable procedures for the production of the Newsletter.

Signed:Tobias Eigen, Kabissa; Firoze Manji, Fahamu; Alan Finlay, SANGONeT

The start of criminal proceedings against two Zambian journalists and two political figures on charges of defaming President Frederick Chiluba has triggered off a heated debate on the role of the media in societies undergoing transition.

First off all I wish to congratulat you on you growing newsletter. Growing in subscriptios, lenght, depth and most of all in quality. Reading your newsletter is almost enough to be posted on the international matters that matter. Despite all the the satisfaction I get from your newsletter, however, I do have 1 suggestion about the lay out: Is it possible to deliver your newsletter in a more reader friendly lay out, as a word document attached for instance?

WE REPLY: We very consciously designed the newsletter so that it is accessible to users that can read only plain text e-mail messages. The feedback from African subscribers has been, by and large, very positive since it provides them with all the information they need on a weekly basis in a single e-mail. Sending attachments creates problems for many of our subscribers in Africa. Also, not everyone has HTML enable email software, so we need to find a solution that will not exacerbate the digital divide. We welcome suggestions from our subscribers!

Scientific American features a special review of Nanotechnology, the science of miniature machines. It includes an article by K. Eric Drexler of the Foresight Institute (author of 'Engines of Creation and Nanosystems: Molecular Machinery, Manufacturing, and Computation'). Drexler speaks about the effects of molecular machinery upon society. Another article focuses upon future benefits to medical science.

The African Centre for Women, Information and Communications Technology (ACWICT) is pleased to announce the Horn of Africa Regional Conference on Women & ICT to be held in Nairobi, Kenya, at the United Nations Offices, Gigiri, from 11th - 15th February 2002. The aim of the conference is to raise awareness on ICTs amongst women in the Horn of Africa region and to explore opportunities for harnessing the technology to work as a tool for their development.

"In our view, the United States and the broader international community should make every effort to raise the odds that Zimbabwe's crisis can be resolved peacefully through free and fair elections. At the same time, however, there is a need for realism: Mugabe is highly unlikely to concede power through a relatively free and fair electoral process, and highly likely to resort to ever-higher levels of violence. Though a concerted international campaign is warranted to turn Mugabe off this course and onto a path that bring free and fair elections, we need to admit to ourselves that there is a high probability that effort may fail."

Zanu PF supporters and war veterans in Epworth are allegedly forcing residents to attend rallies ahead of the Presidential election early next year. "A register of party members is being used to attack those who do not appear on it," said Clayton Chikoti, a tuckshop owner. "It is assumed that if you do not appear on the register, then you are an MDC member."

by Peter Hazell and Lawrence Haddad. Based on an analysis of the links between agricultural research and poverty alleviation in different types of countries and rural regions, this discussion paper identifies six key priorities for a pro-poor agricultural research agenda.

Three weeks after the massive anti-globalization protests in Genoa and after two days of intense discussion on globalization and human rights, the UN Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights has adopted three resolutions calling into question the impact of key aspects of the lobalization process on human rights, and has demanded that bodies like the WTO take fuller account of human rights considerations.

On Thursday evening 16 August, two students were shot dead and 16 others were seriously injured at Gezira University, 115 miles south of Khartoum. The incident was sparked when non-Gezira students, militants of the Student National Congress (NC), marched in military uniform through the University campus chanting Islamic jihad slogans, and interrupted a political debate.

The Ethiopian Federal Supreme Court has once again adjourned the trial of former senior government officials, including former Defence Minister Siye Abraha, on charges of corruption, the pro-government Walta Information Centre reported on 16 August.

Global arms sales have grown for the third consecutive year, according to a new Congressional report. The developing world remains the primary market for conventional weapons and the United States, the chief supplier.

After the disgrace of Genoa, multinationals and European and international institutions targeted by "anti-globalisers" have a recurrent problem: how to discredit, weaken, manipulate and, if possible, annihilate the international citizens' movement which has disturbed the gatherings of the masters of the universe since Seattle.

Efforts to save the world's last, critically important forests, should initially focus on just a handful of countries, a new report has found. A unique satellite based survey of the planet's remaining unbroken forests, which include virgin, old growth and naturally regenerated woodlands, has found that more than 80 percent are located in just 15 countries.

Should globalization be resisted, embraced without question, or modified and tapped to advance the countries of the South? As it is with economies, culture and the environment, so it is with justice. Justice is no longer only local; it is going global. Globalization of justice has been spurred by the development of the concept of individual criminal responsibility for human rights crimes.

The September/October issue of Foreign Policy carries an investigative piece that is sharply critical of World Bank President James D. Wolfensohn's style of personalized management and costly embrace of trendy ideas.

Human Rights Watch said today that it expected the upcoming United Nations-sponsored World Conference Against Racism to lead to concrete programs to combat racial discrimination around the world.

Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos has announced he will not run in the next election. However, the ongoing instability in the country means that a date for that election remains far from clear. President dos Santos told the congress of the ruling MPLA that the election could take place in 2002 or 2003.

FIRE invites you to participate in the "FIRE-PLACE" August 28-Sept. 7, 2001 through its webpage. Featuring women from around the world talking about racism, FIRE will broadcast daily programmes from the WomensNet CyberCafe in Spanish, English and Portuguese under the title "Voices Without Brackets." Listeners may also participate in a "chat room" during the broadcasts.

As Burundi prepares to start, on 1 November 2001, a period of transitional government and institutional reform, Amnesty International today, in an eight-page appeal, Burundi: Preparing for peace, highlighted measures which should be implemented now by the current government, political leaders, leaders of armed political movements, civil society and the international community to protect human rights.

Participants at an anti-corruption seminar yesterday accused the Government of insincerity in the fight against corruption. They advised Kenyans to vote out the Government during next year's General Election.

The number of malnourished children in sub Saharan Africa will surge dramatically over the next 20 years unless efforts to tackle the roots of the problem get a cash boost, according to a gloomy assessment released by a food policy think tank yesterday.

The world's largest logging deal - between Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zimbabwe - has been helping to fuel the Congo's bloody conflict and threatens to undermine its fragile peace process, says a global resources watchdog.

The United States government is under fire following the release this week of declassified papers proving that Washington knew about Rwanda's impending 1994 genocide but did nothing to stop it.

All states involved in the slave trade should acknowledge their role and issue a formal apology to victims and their descendants, say campaigners
marking an international day of slave trade remembrance.

Can the use of the curriculum to promote sexual health in schools help check HIV/AIDS? Perhaps not. Unless gender equality is brought about, the fight against the deadly virus at the school level may be futile. This report poses some relevant questions.

Kenya loses 6,750 teachers a year to AIDS. Approximately 14 per cent of youth aged 10 to 24 are infected with HIV. Ther government should focus on the practical needs of children orphaned or left destitute hy HIV/AIDS. Safety nets in the cost of education should be created and high drop out rates could be curtailed by developing long term strategies that will ensure universal education.

This campaign seeks to rally people behind 10 principles to improve and protect the lives of children. The movement aims to build a groundswell of support, through actions and signature pledges, that will push leaders to renew and honour their commitments to children at the UN General Assembly’s Special Session on Children in New York, Sept 19-21. Pledge YOUR support for the 10 principles of the campaign at The Global Movement for Children website - or by e-mail.

Uganda's literacy rate has gone up by almost 10% over the last decade alone, an International Conference on Education and Poverty Eradication has heard.

Each day 1,600 women in poor countries die from pregnancy-related causes. Girls account for two thirds of children out of school, and two-thirds of illiterate adults are women. Oxfam is committed to changing this situation. Find out how in the latest issue of Links, our newsletter on gender.

World leaders promised to give every child a better life and a more hopeful future at a meeting in 1990. So what's the picture like 11 years later? This month the United Nations children's summit will try to answer these and other related questions.

Education is not a process that takes place in the confines of a school or college alone. It is a social process that involves home, school and the society as well. This paper argues for the need for partnership between the teachers, the administrators, the family and the community.

Corrupt people have no foot prints so it's up to the media to trace them, observed Human Rights Trust of Southern Africa (SAHRIT) executive director Philliat Matsheza.

Making a submission at a Transparency International -Zambia seminar on political parties' role in the fight against electoral corruption, Gen. Chinkuli said prior to 1991 the electorate never used to demand bribes for them to vote. Gen. Chinkuli said the practice to entice voters and giving them money and chitenge materials to canvas their votes only surfaced when the MMD came into power. "Chiluba brought corruption in 1991."

Love, in South Africa, can be a dangerous game for girls. Boys use violence in sexual relationships to assert their masculinity. The reliance by some boys, however, on excessive control of girlfriends belies their own vulnerability. How can the ‘normality’ of sexual violence be challenged?

Rape, sexual harassment, abuse, assault, homophobia – the list is endless. In South Africa, girls in particular are the victims of school-based violence. How can schools and their staff – part of the problem – become part of the solution?

The HIV positive women can now use the IUD contraceptive.Research into the effects and merits of use of the contraception. Researchers at the Family Health International ran trials on 156 women in Kenya and observed them at specified intervals. The results indicated that there were very little difference in side effects if any between HIV positive and HIV negative women.

If in all honesty, one acknowledges that there are world governments quite indisputably engaged: in acts of repression and of exploitation of their people, in fostering unnecessary military build-ups, in enacting and condoning fiscally irresponsible measures, in taking environmentally irresponsible decisions (or allowing a laissez-faire attitude on this...then I contend with others that withholding international bilateral or multilateral non-emergency assistance is justifiable in quite a few cases --unless certain minimum conditions are met by such recipient governments.

Economists at the IMF have warned of a "significant danger" of a global recession along the lines of those in the early 1980s and early 1990s, reports the Financial Times (p.16). A leaked draft version of the Fund's World Economic Outlook predicts the world economy will grow by 2.8 percent this year but states that there could be "a much deeper and more protracted global downturn."

Zimbabwe is facing a humanitarian disaster following the eviction of tens of thousands of black farm workers by government-backed militias, it was claimed on Friday.

Throughout the world, refugees, asylum seekers, migrants and internally displaced persons are the victims of racial discrimination, racist attacks, xenophobia and ethnic intolerance. Racism is both a cause and a product of forced displacement, and an obstacle to its solution. In 2000, some 150 million migrants were living outside their countries of birth. Of these, some 50 million people were forcibly displaced as a result of persecution, conflict, and human rights violations.

Are NGOs suited to advocacy? Traditionally, NGOs have been involved in hands-on development work, but in an effort to increase impact, UK NGOs are shifting towards advocacy and policy work. How do they grapple with issues of legitimacy, accountability, governance, and evaluation? Do they need to strengthen links between their operational activities and advocacy work, and mainstream advocacy within their overall activities?

Does the humanitarian community understand the relationship between finance, war and peace? How does the financial sector reinforce poverty and inequality and fuel conflict?

Decentralisation is trendy. Enthusiasts in donor agencies and academia see political legitimacy, democratisation, economic efficiency, lean government and poverty reduction as likely consequences of a decentralised government. Yet, is there hard evidence that decentralisation delivers the goods?

A lawsuit filed against the US company Pfizer alleges that it violated international law by testing an experimental drug on children during a meningitis epidemic in northern Nigeria in 1996, news organisations reported on Thursday.

The government of Sudan has written to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan requesting that the international community, and the United Nations in particular, condemn "the ongoing aggression by the rebel movement (Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army) against the Sudanese people in general, and the people in the south in particular."

A late donation to the World Food Programme (WFP) has guaranteed food rations to more than one million people in Angola until the end of December, according to WFP Public Affairs Officer in Luanda, Cristina Muller. However, Muller told IRIN on Thursday that there were still shortages on the horizon.