Sean Sinclair-Day's Blog
Posted by Sean Sinclair-Day
According to a report by Human Rights Forum , an independent organization based in Harare, 5,307 human rights violations in Zimbabwe during the first of 2007. This figure is almost double the number during the first half of 2006. The report was published on ZimOnline, an independent Zimbabwean news service working from South Africa.
The group, which consists of 16 NGOs, detailed the abuses which included 328 cases of torture, 481 assaults by the state, 802 instances of unlawful arrest and detention, 935 incidents of political victimization and intimidation, and 1,935 infringements on freedom of expression and movement. There were also two politically linked deaths in the report.
The highest profile case this year occurred in March when Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the opposition, was hospitalized after being assaulted and arrested while on his way to attend a prayer meeting.
President Robert Mugabe has watched Zimbabwe's inflation soar as people and business have struggled to survive. Earlier this year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimated that Zimbabwe's inflation would reach 4,000 percent. The official inflation is 4,500 percent and now the IMF predicts that it could rise to 100,000 percent by the end of the year.
Posted by Sean Sinclair-Day
The July issue of Vanity Fair is devoted to the world's most troubled and diverse continent. Annie Liebovitz paired 21 people to create 20 different "historic covers." The faces on the front include President George W. Bush, Oprah Winfrey, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Muhammad Ali, Bill and Melinda Gates and Maya Angelou in this special African issue, which will not be available much longer.
Musician and anti-poverty advocate, Paul "Bono" Hewson, the issue's guest editor, says they are "trying to bring some sex appeal to the idea of wanting to change the world." Inside, the unreserved activist, who has campaigned for third world debt relief and awareness for the AIDS pandemic, asks America's 2008 presidential candidates what they would do for Africa. Seven Democratic hopefuls and six Republican challengers share their thoughts on this complicated question.
Highlights
Other articles focus on a wide variety of captivating stories. Jeffrey Sachs's $200 Billion Dream by Nina Munk explores the economist's vision of eradicating extreme poverty. Millions perish each year because of utter destitution but "the basic truth," states Sachs, "is that for less than a percent of the income of the rich world nobody has to die of poverty on the planet."
China's insatiable thirst for oil is examined in Enter China, the Giant. Sebastian Junger's piece looks at how the Chinese-African codependency has contributed to regional conflict and has kept the violence simmering in Darfur.
In The Lazarus Effect shows how more affordable anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs have transformed and extended the lives of thousands. In 2002, only 50,000 Africans had ARVs. Now, 1.34 million are being treated.
Other features include Hollywood icon, Brad Pitt, interviewing Desmond Tutu as well as Bill Clinton's observations of Nelson Mandela's HIV/AIDS crusade. The Continental Shelf will be enlightening for those who want to know about the fresh voices emerging from a new generation of African writers.
Spirit of Africa
It is hard to ignore African poverty, disease and corruption but in Spirit of Africa, Vanity Fair profiles 71 Africans who continue to inspire and offer a more moving glimpse of those on the continent. Amongst these leaders, economists, artists and athletes are Liberia's Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, writer Ishmael Beah, Angelique Kidjo, in addition to a host of African filmmakers and the Ivory Coast Football team.
Posted by Sean Sinclair-Day
Puntland, the self-proclaimed autonomous region of northern Somalia, has avoided much of the violence and anarchy that has enveloped the south over the past 16 years. Hunger has been the most critical issue affecting this part of the Horn of Africa and food problems may get even worse as crops are now being devoured by swarms of locusts.
In some cases, the scale of the plague has been so immense that witnesses say locusts have blotted out the sun and sky. In Puntland, millions of the ravenous insects have stripped bare hundreds of acres of mango, orange and pawpaw orchards. Some families sell fruit and vegetable as their sole means of income but these pests have now rendered people dumbfounded and powerless.
The price of some produce has quickly doubled and some locals fear they may soon have to do without fruit altogether. Many defenseless farmers report that their farms and orchards have been destroyed as locusts continue to ravage new harvests, "eating anything that is green."
These particular locusts, known in the region as Luga Case or "red legs," are the most destructive of the genus and have not been seen in the area in over 20 years. The United Nations' Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) have been consulted by the Desert Locust Control Organization for Eastern Africa but, presently, there appears to be no pesticide to combat the insect. A sample of the menace has been sent abroad in order to determine which chemical can be used to prevent further damage.
The FAO has also reported other outbreaks in Eritrea, Sudan, Saudi Arabia and Yemen.
[Using information from Reuters and the United Nations Integrated Regional Information Networks.]
Posted by Sean Sinclair-Day
June 20 marked World Refugee Day and, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), there was a 14 percent increase in the global refugee population. This figure is largely due to the sectarian turmoil that has prompted many to flee Iraq but
The UNHCR says that there are 9.9 million refugees worldwide. Below are the refugee totals for 2006 (with a couple of current amendments) as well as some other numbers regarding internally displaced people (IDP) estimated by the Norwegian Refugee Council.
TOP REFUGEE COUNTRIES OF ORIGIN
1. Afghanistan - 2.1 million
2. Iraq - 1.5 million (now 2.2 million)
3. Sudan - 686,000
4. Somalia - 460,000
5. Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) - about 400,000
5. Burundi - about 400,000
In Sudan's western Darfur region, conflict persists but President Omar al-Bashir appears to have finally agreed to accept a UN force to help the struggling African Union (AU) peacekeepers. Many Darfuris have fled into neighbouring Chad. A recent curfew imposed in Mogadishu suggests that fighting is far from over between Islamic militants, clans and the Ethiopian-backed Somali government. Most Somali refugees have escaped into Kenya.
The 1998-2002 civil war in DRC is officially over but insecurity in eastern provinces has prevented people from returning. Burundi's 13-year civil war, which ended in 2006, caused the exodus of hundreds of thousands into Tanzania. The process of refugee repatriation continues.
PEOPLE INTERNALLY DISPLACED BY CONFLICT
There are a total of 24.5 million IDPs, 12.9 million of whom are protected or assisted by the UNHCR.
MAIN COUNTRIES WITH INTERNALLY DISPLACED PEOPLE:
1. Colombia - 3 million
2. Iraq - 1.8 million (now more than 2 million)
3. Uganda - 1.6 million
4. Sudan - 5 million (of whom UNHCR assists 1.3 million)
5. DRC - 1.1 million
Another deadline is approaching for the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) to assemble in Ri-Kwangba, a camp in southern Sudan. If this occurs, after nearly one year of problematic negotiations, it could put an end to Uganda's 20-year civil war in the north. But reintegrating 1.6 million IDPs into society, many of whom grew up in the camps, will pose new difficulties.
Posted by Sean Sinclair-Day
On June 9, 2007, Ousmane Sembène, one of Africa's filmmaking pioneers died at his home in Senegal at the age of 84. Many even referred to him as the "father" of African cinema. As a writer, he was also influential attaining the same recognition as Africa's giants of literature, Chinua Achebe and Wole Soyinka.
Expelled from school at an early age, Sembène still developed a love for reading that would turn him into a self-educated writer. Sembène collected material for his stories through his diverse experiences working in France and Africa as, among other things, an apprentice mechanic, plumber, carpenter, docker and bricklayer. In 1944, he was drafted by the French Army in World War II.
By the 1960s Sembène had realized the potential for film to reach wider audiences than literature and traveled to Moscow to study filmmaking. His first feature-length film, "La Noire de..." (1966) is commonly referred to as the first African film.
Former Senegalese president, Abdlu Diouf, saw Sembène as a "fervent defender of liberty and social justice." While his cinematic endeavours would occasionally cause controversy with French and Senegalese authorities for his representations of French colonialism and African corruption, he was celebrated internationally and inspired many African directors.
Ousmane Sembène will be remembered by his peers as a man who encouraged Africa to realize its identity and confront its cultural destiny during the continent's postcolonial emergence. His impressive oeuvre consists of five novels, five collections of short stories, four short films, nine features, and four documentaries
Quotes from Ousmane Sembène
"The development of Africa will not happen without the effective participation of women. Our forefathers' image of women must be buried once for all."
"At a moral level, I don't think we have any lesson to learn from Europe."
"I benefited from a synthesis of values - in the house, the compound, the country and Koranic and French schools. We conserved our own culture; we had nightly gatherings with tales. Now I call it my own theater."
"Bread came wrapped in French newspapers. Each time my father unwrapped a baguette, he asked me to read to him."
