Pambazuka News 706: We can’t breathe! Violence on women, Blacks and the poor
Pambazuka News 706: We can’t breathe! Violence on women, Blacks and the poor
As DR Congo continues to be rattled by one of the worst and longest humanitarian crises of the century, the thousands of Internally Displaced Persons seem to slowly slide into the forgotten portion of international consciousness. A visit to IDPs camps in North Kivu reminds of the very real plight they continue to be in.
The issue of Black people being victims of systemic brutality, oppression and murder at the hands of the police is not limited to the United States. It is a global problem. If we are ever going to stop this barbaric use of authority to trample the civil and human rights of Black people we must open our eyes to what it happening on an international scale.
The increasing popularity of SWAPO as reflected in the 2014 general elections results does not make sense, especially in a situation of ever-worsening socio-economic conditions and massive corruption. What it does show, however, is that liberal democratic balloting is not some neutral event but a reflection of power relations that serve as a camouflage for social inequality.
The Embassy of the State of Palestine in Tanzania condemns in the strongest terms the Israel’s extrajudicial killing of Palestinian Minister and Head of the Committee against the Wall and Settlements, Mr. Ziad Abu Ein.
The United Nations says one in three women will be beaten, coerced into sex or abused by a partner in her lifetime. Women are increasing resisting.
When the police are perceived by citizens of colour as the police, jury and executioner, it is time to pull off the Constitution and demand accountability. A peace officer can never bring peace by a trigger-happy use of the implements of war.
The Government of Kenya is proposing major changes to several laws to facilitate its war against terrorism in the wake of deadly attacks. Kenyans should be worried that some of the changes may entail abridgment of their rights and freedoms guaranteed in the constitution.
President Bill Clinton once said, “There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America.” If that is so, America needs to gather all the good it has to end civil disregard and disrespect for blacks.
The Emerging Powers in Africa Project is issuing a call for grant proposals. The grants are aimed at examining the political, economic, social and cultural impact of the emerging powers footprint in Africa. The grant is specifically related to empowering civil society actors in gaining the appropriate knowledge and developing the necessary tools to articulate an informed perspective on the emerging powers in Africa and the corresponding impact. Click for details.
Pambazuka News 705: Killing Black People: Racism in 'the land of the free'
Pambazuka News 705: Killing Black People: Racism in 'the land of the free'
While Black people waited for the indictment of white officer Darren Wilson who killed an unarmed Black youth in August, more Blacks were shot dead. Eventually Wilson was exonerated, sparking outrage across the country. The grand jury’s decision doesn’t surprise most Black people who are struggling for justice.
The countries reeling under the Ebola outbreak were recovering from prolonged conflict that had destroyed health infrastructures. Additionally, in the 1980s through the 1990s, these countries implemented neo-liberal reforms imposed by IMF and World Bank, whereby welfare systems were abandoned in exchange for donor support.
Killer cop Darren Wilson’s increased renown and profiteering from the death of Micheal Brown is very much a product of contemporary American society’s attitudes toward media, fame, race, and class.
There is a lot going on in Africa: Boko Haram crisis in Nigeria, the Ebola crisis, armed conflict in South Sudan, rhetoric of ‘Africa arising’, the dramatic exit of Blaise Compaore, presidential elections... Many of these are issues that tend to make people get too serious and stressed. Uganda’s star comedia Anne Kansiime is offering people some respite.
Washington has engineered attacks on other nations around the world accusing them of human rights violations. Yet the administration has initiated no concrete programs to improve the plight of African Americans, particularly young black men. Every 28 hours, an unarmed black citizen is killed.
5 December marks the 90th birthday of revolutionary anti-apartheid icon and pan-Africanist Mangaliso Robert Sobukwe. This tribute is an introduction to a new book on him.
In this edited version of a new introduction to Assata Shakur’s autobiography, Prof Gumede points out that centuries of colonialism, slavery and apartheid have left a legacy of institutional racism, whereby dark skins are often instinctively prejudiced in societies across the globe. Racism is also endemic in global relations between nations.
Since independence on 28 November 1960, Mauritania has put in place a system of exclusion of its black population, promoting the affirmation of an exclusively Arab identity and the negation of the country’s African foundations
Protection of transnational corporate property rights, including the objectionable constitutional treatment of the corporations as “juristic persons” with the same rights as us humans, is one reason SA corporations have become the world’s fraud champs. But there are grounds for hope in fighting them.
In last week’s elections in Namibia, the ruling South West African People’s Organisation (SWAPO) won a landslide 80 percent of the vote up from 75 percent. How did the independence party achieve this?
The international response - more so from the US - to the Ebola crisis in West Africa has little to do with aiding Africa, but rather ensuring control over its resource wealth. Where will the cooperation or competition between US and China leave Africans?
Following the second attack in Mandera Town in Kenya in less than two weeks, leading to the death of 36 people, Kenya’s police chief announced his retirement and the Internal Security Cabinet Secretary was removed. But this is not enough to improve security.
Retired Professor Hirji, a book addict, has bought copies with frayed, half-torn or missing pages. He has on occasion received via mail a book other than the one ordered. But buying a fake book? Only in Dar es Salaam!
Bunge la Mwananchi has revolutionized grassroots politics in Kenya since the 1990s. Against the backdrop of elite politics and entrenched neo-liberalism, the movement has created a critical space for democratic participation from below and its impact has been far-reaching. Part II of this article appears next week.
On 2 December, a farmworker was assaulted and freedom of association denied on a WIETA farm outside Robertson, South Africa.
The American State’s response to the mass discontent in the aftermath of the non-indictment of murderer of Michael Brown demonstrates the heavy-handed use of violence to deny the people the human rights to peacefully assemble and freedom of association. This is consistent with the historical uses of violence to control and suppress opposition.
Human rights defender Mr Rashid Shikhaldeen Abash continues to remain in detention without charge for more than two months
There is no need for more task forces or advisory commissions. The police must stop killing black people with impunity and nothing will make that less likely to happen than the sight of Wilson and his partners in crime sitting in federal prisons.
Pambazuka News 704: Dismantling the one-party Planet
Pambazuka News 704: Dismantling the one-party Planet
Many observers, including Paul Kagame’s critics of his horrendous human rights record, seem to have swallowed his storyline that he has built a formidable economic powerhouse. But the facts and figures expose the myth.
Led by Western self-interest, NATO embarked on a massive military intervention in Libya in 2011 that leaves many lessons for the Global South. Above all stands the lesson that Western military intervention cannot bring about the desired change, but rather creates failed states.
Despite the existence of 54 independent states in Africa, today the principal struggle is against a new and more insidious form of exploitation and oppression, neo-colonialism. Africa must move towards socialist development in order to ensure its future.
The powerful are now united in a global hegemonic project of neo-liberalism. And everyone else pursues their own profits or growth to the detriment of everything around us under the fundamental capitalist tenet of self-interest.
The commission of enquiry is both politically inconvenient and fundamentally important for justice and healing in Guyana. It is important that the friends and family of Walter Rodney internationally remain vigilant to ensure that the full truth of the circumstances surrounding the his assassination are brought to light.
A World Bank report makes the incredible claim that the South African Treasury has been exceedingly generous in social spending. With that, neoliberals can now justify social spending caps or even cuts. In reality, though, South Africa has the fourth lowest public social spending amongst the world’s largest 40 countries.
A recent article published by Pambazuka News raises many issues that relate to Rwanda’s internal politics under President Paul Kagame. But through misrepresentations, the authors reached conclusions that are untenable with regard to three key legal issues.
To celebrate its 20th anniversary the UN International Tribunal for Rwanda, based in the Tanzanian city of Arusha, has created a documentary, narrated by an American actor, to trumpet its achievements. But to one critic, the ICTR only succeeded in bolstering the Kagame regime through victor’s justice.
Who is a feminist? And what does it mean to identify oneself as such? This poem provides a persuasive perspective for answering these and related questions.
Funds are needed to fight Ebola; yes, people are suffering; yes, it can be good to “do good”. But it is never good to parade the suffering of others without their consent, especially when showing them stripped of dignity.
Nigeria is facing its worst existential crisis since the Biafra war. There is no alternative other than approaching the Boko Haram threat as a war.
The late leader was not a visionary. No one can point out to exactly what he stood for in the transformation of the Zambian nation. In their search for a leader to replace Sata, Zambians must awaken to the reality that a person’s popularity is not sufficient.
There are legitimate concerns in the Afrikan community and among police accountability advocates about racist policing in racialized working-class communities. After years of denial, racial profiling of Afrikans by the cops in Toronto is now a well-documented fact.
A negotiated, relatively “peaceful” resolution of the conflict is impossible. People who believe that Israel would grant sovereignty and respect the human rights of Palestinians within the context of either a one or two state solution are either naive regarding the nature of Israel’s settler project or are fundamentally dishonest.
The latest unbelievably thoughtless statements by President Uhuru Kenyatta about runaway insecurity in Kenya are testimony enough that the lives of citizens mean little to him. It was not their votes that put him to power, but his wealth and tribe.
Despite the determination on the part of the powers that be to push the UPOV-compliant Plant Breeders' Bill and GMOs down the throats of Ghanaians, they have been compelled by the mounting local and international pressure to beat a retreat
The events of 31st October 2014, leading to the popular uprising in Burkina Faso that removed Blaise Compaore from power, constitute a turning point for the entire region, and probably Africa as a whole.
Is it that some racially privileged white people must experience the atrocities that unprivileged non-whites live on a daily basis for the French society to be moved to show concern regarding some of the injustices in French society? Remy’s case shows once more that nothing has changed much since the Second World War.
Pambazuka News 703: Transitional justice in Africa: Knowledge, narratives and practice
Pambazuka News 703: Transitional justice in Africa: Knowledge, narratives and practice
The debate around how to deal with Zimbabwe’s violent past is currently dominated by the transitional justice model and the human rights discourse which accompanies it. But an analysis of the country’s history as well as its present moment presents different ways of considering ideas of justice and healing – ways that may be better suited to Zimbabwe’s particular circumstances.
Kenya’s transitional justice processes have been crudely politicized to protect the interests of the powerful. The country typifies the dilemma that plagues most African countries today. While most of the regimes are beginning to acknowledge that there have been atrocities, human rights abuses and various forms of injustice, they simultanesouly appear to be perplexed by the demands for peace and justice.
The flashy branding of the transitional justice process as ‘TJ’ does more to keep oppressive systems in place than to bring real progress where it is needed. Transitional justice must be used as a catalyst to foment real, case-by-case systemic changes instead of as a one-size-fits-all neoliberal template.
Transitional Justice has rarely taken into account all forms of oppression, economic discrimination, globalized injustice and a wider understanding of dignity and freedom. African societies need to theorize on transitional justice holistically in order to create social transformation.
The quest for justice for past wrongs is often hindered by restrictions on which violations to investigate and how far back to look into history. Across Africa, tjustice mechanisms tend to restrict themselves to uncontested periods and rarely probe into complex injustices.
Sustainable and lasting peace in Africa’s conflict states would be better guaranteed if transitional justice included the rule of law, separation of powers, electoral reforms, decentralization and a democratic ethos nurtured by free media and a vibrant civil society.
For transitional justice to be relevant and effective it must be informed by local understandings of justice. The form of justice should be informed by local priorities as identified by victims and survivors.
A reflective poem by a Kenyan activist who visited Mukura Massacre Memorial site in Soroti region of Uganda where on July 11, 1989, the 106th battalion of the National Resistance Army (NRA) allegedly rounded up 300 men from Mukura and other surrounding areas and incarcerated some of them in a train wagon. These men were suspected of being rebel collaborators against the NRA regime, but there is little evidence to suggest that most of them were anything other than innocent civilians.
Transitional Justice seeks to enable societies to come to terms with legacies of large-scale past abuse, in order to secure accountability, serve justice and achieve reconciliation towards a future that is democratic and free from violence, but its groundings and mechanisms are fraught with multiple dilemmas.
Africa’s newest nation has been engulfed in violent conflict for a year now. It is sad that the freedom struggle that lasted so long has not translated into quality life for the majority of the citizens. The root causes of this must be addressed – and they have everything to do with failed leadership.
The oral history tour took transitional justice practitioners, activists and scholars out of the comfort zone into reality: To engage directly with survivors, hear their personal stories and appreciate their lived experiences as they pursue justice and reconstruction within complex social, economic and political infrastructures.
It will be impossible to reconstruct Somalia without addressing its complex past. Yet the current definition of transitional justice appears too narrow to be beneficial, since it limits the space for local-based procedures in favour of Western concepts like the state, rule of law and democracy.
Pambazuka News 702: Killers and liberators: Kagame, Compaore and Sankara
Pambazuka News 702: Killers and liberators: Kagame, Compaore and Sankara
With diminished state funding and a management that does not seem to be competent in handling its affairs, the once famous Makerere University risks losing its stature in East Africa and beyond. But it is not too late to stop the slide.
The militant sect has continued its violent campaign against the Nigerian people and state, amidst reports of secret negotiations with the government to end the carnage. Despite many criticisms, the government should intensify the negotiations to save lives.
Western powers have been devastating Africa’s land, resources and populations for centuries. Africans must now throw off that legacy by first understanding it and then making the best use of their continent’s assets without the detrimental western intervention.
A recent festival of arts, culture and conversations sought to move debates about East Africa’s integration away from elite spaces to the grassroots. It was an insightful experience whose basic message was that without active involvement of the region’s peoples the East African Community remains an elite dream.
How did Oscar Pistorius get away with a slap on the wrist for killing another human being? The answer lies in the fact that Pistorius killed a white woman and subsequently, in his defence, appealed to white angst about crime, using mental images of the proverbial "native bogeyman".
There has been much speculation on the death of the former military leader of Burkina Faso, Thomas Sankara.
Now that his successor, Blaise Compare, has been removed from power, it is high time that the international community should seriously consider starting the investigations to know who really killed Sankara.
Exactly a year since Typhoon Haiyan swept through central Philippines, a group of civil society organizations remembers the victims and survivors of one of the strongest and most fatal tropical cyclones ever recorded and declares Nov. 8 as International Day for Climate-Affected Communities.
This call for proposals is open to NGOs, CSOs, NGO networks and social movements who seek to popularize, monitor and advocate for the ratification of key African Union legal instruments and implementation of policy standards in
Cameroon.
Find details in English .
The French version is here.
President Compaoré, like many African Heads of State, was more interested in clinging to power than in the needs of his people. Modifying the constitution to stay in power became the ultimate goal for Compaoré. But the people reisted and won.
In overthrowing Blaise Compaoré, the people of Burkina Faso have revived the revolutionary dream of Thomas Sankara whom he killed. Their uprising was against the old ties to imperialist governments and financial institutions, the old relationships of exploitation and the abuse of public office to amass personal wealth at the expense of the people.
A problem peasant women face is invisibility in the feminist and women’s movements. A second problem is the weakness with which the food sovereignty concept has dealt with the challenges of feminism.
Although the events in Burkina Faso have sparked hope among African workers, farmers and youth throughout the region and beyond, it remains to be seen whether the new leader, with his American links, will deliver a political program of anti-capitalist development for the gains of the popular struggle to win concrete results
Civil society’s response to Ambassador Macharia Kamau’s statement to the 69th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on 30th October 2014 regarding the Report of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to the UNGA.
Neither the state nor the corporate sector, let alone civil society, is monolithic. There comes a time when various sections of these entities come in unison on matters of national interest. This is Tanzanians ought to learn from Norway.
The current government has often made it clear that some of the rights Kenyans enjoy are at best an inconvenience and at worst a risk to national security. The regime’s reactionaries seem determined to create a militarized authoritarian state wrapped in the national flag and all the rituals and propagandised narratives of virulent nationalism.
Rwanda has banned the BBC for airing a documentary that reveals the Big Lie told by Paul Kagame and his cronies about what happened in Rwanda in 1994. Kagame and his RPF have for 20 years concealed their primary role in setting off the genocide – in which most victims were Hutus and not Tutsis, contrary to State propaganda amplified by international media and powerful Kagame-Power enablers. With publication of a new book, this Big Lie is being dismantled.
In order to assess the state of open democracy in Africa, one first needs to look at the very definition of democracy. The same countries which brought slavery and colonialism to Africa are now the aggressive champions of ‘democracy’ around the world. We need to acknowledge our own pre-colonial democratic processes and focus on the issue of economic capture of party politics.
Pambazuka News 701: 'You cannot kill ideas: The return of Thomas Sankara
Pambazuka News 701: 'You cannot kill ideas: The return of Thomas Sankara
Africa’s handling of the Ebola crisis reveals its collapsed institutions and failed leadership. What is more, the epidemic underlines the need to work harder for a really united Africa.
The proposed law, an almost exact replica of Sudan’s security laws, would grant the already dreaded agency entirely unfettered power to spy on private communications, to search and seize property without a warrant, to arrest and detain innocent people without explanation, and to use physical force – in other words torture.
There are renewed efforts by the Jubilee Coalition government in Kenya to silence all critical voices. The latest initiative targets the country’s vocal civil society. This must be resisted.
The Nigerian government’s successful handling of Ebola contrasts sharply with its blunders in tackling Boko Haram. One factor in that disparity is whose interests were at stake in each case: Ebola had the potential to kill indiscriminately across classes, while Boko Haram has so far directly affected mostly lower classes.
Sierra Leone under President Ernest Bai Koroma is a country in disarray. The country is chaotic because it is controlled by a political class that is opposed to the strengthening of democratic institutions. Ignorant and ultimately short-sighted, Ernest Koroma sees the presidency as a business enterprise that can break the law without fear of prosecution.
Why would anyone want to make profit from something as basic to human life as food? The capitalist system transforms human needs into commodities, rights into privileges. The present agricultural model must be fought in favour of an alternative that places at its core people’s needs and respect for the land
Abahlali have vowed to stand in solidarity with the Congolese refugees in South Africa and the Congolese citizens who face unending abuse and butchering in their country.
The documentary is about the first Pan-African Cultural Festival in the continent that took place in Algiers, seven years after Algeria’s independence. The radical gathering was a genuine meeting of African cultures united in their denunciations of colonialism and fights for freedom.
cc pz How much are Tanzania’s artists giving voice to the varied and changing cultural landscape of identity, values and beliefs in this globally influenced but locally anchored, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world?
The Pan-Africanism Working Group in Germany expresses solidarity with the people of Burkina Faso following the successful revolt against Blaise Compaore.
The Burkinabe uprising against the Compaore dictatorship was apeople-driven and led by civil society and opposition political parties. The military cannot and should not be allowed to seize power in a context in which they played no role.
Mozambique’s elections on 15 October were once again won by FRELIMO. When the results are put under scrutiny, however, they reveal the longstanding opposition party RENAMO to have been the real winners, bouncing back as Mozambiques strongest opposition party – a position which was seen by many to be under threat from the newer MDM.
The UK’s public institution responsible for financing projects in developing countries has been channelling millions of pounds through companies that use tax havens.
AFSA appeals to ARIPO member states for postponement of diplomatic conference and for urgent consultations with small-holder farmers
Groundbreaking research uncovers the ‘darker side’ of the global green economy.
The right to life is a basic human right. Anita, a 4-year-old girl, was robbed of this extremely important right. She will never grow up to fulfill her dreams and actualize her full potential. She is no more!
Ethiopia’s already limited space for civil society and human rights defenders is undergoing further contraction, warn CIVICUS, The East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project, and the Ethiopia Human Rights Project (EHRP).
The November issue of the International Refugee Rights Initiative’s Refugee Legal Aid Newsletter (formerly the Fahamu Refugee Legal Aid Newsletter) is out. Find the full newsletter .
Zambia’s president Michael Sata who died last week was unremarkable in leadership credentials in the short period of his rule. His attitude towards media freedom and freedom of expression exposed his authoritarian streak.
Ethiopia’s sovereign debt has grown in recent years to unsustainable levels likely to create problems for the economy. The external debt especially has not been matched by a vibrant and diversified export sector.
The constitution is clear on who should be Acting President when the head of state dies. So, Zambians should stay calm during this period of mourning and wait to chose their next president when the time comes.
The popular uprising that toppled the Compaore regime last week echoed the revolution by Sankara on August 4, 1983. In the 27 years since Sankara’s assassination, the country’s mineral wealth and other resources have benefited only a small elite and transnational corporations based in the imperialist states of the West.
The uprising of the masses in Burkina Faso proves Western arms and support doesn't guranatee unrestrained tyrannical control
Last week SA's leading alternative to state broadcasting saw its integrity self-destruct. Personality battles are getting most attention but problems caused by structural conflicts of interests must be raised, investigated and resolved, as a leading example of malevolent state-corporate cronyism.
Mazrui’s scholarship is vast thematically and theoretically, but above all, challenges positivist conceptions of hegemonic, universal and objective truths. His early work revealed the political, social and cultural function and limitations in established knowledge; later, Mazrui actively challenged and undermined constructed truths.
As the country grapples with colonial legacies, neo-colonial infringements, corruption, socio-economic hurdles and democratization challenges, the struggle of its citizens for UN accountability may carry lessons for the Africa.