The Mozambican police on Friday afternoon forced the cancellation of a demonstration in central Maputo in solidarity with the people of Zimbabwe, on the grounds that not enough policemen were available to guarantee the security of the demonstration.
At very short notice a few dozen people gathered at Robert Mugabe Square on the Maputo seafront intending to march to the Zimbabwean embassy, in protest at the state-sponsored violence that reduced the second round of the presidential election to a bloodstained charade.
The demonstration was perfectly legal, since the organizers, the Mozambican Human Rights League (LDH) and the Centre for Mozambican and International Studies (CEMO), had informed the authorities of their intentions in good time. Nonetheless, the police said that the march could not go ahead, because the Maputo City Police Command was already providing security for a second demonstration elsewhere in this capital.
AIM was unaware of any other demonstration planned to coincide with the LDH/CEMO march. If such a demonstration took place, it escaped the notice of journalists, since there is no mention of it in Saturday’s issue of the Maputo daily “Noticias”. The police were unable to inform the protestors in Robert Mugabe Square of the nature of the second demonstration.
Possibly they were referring to a march by former workers of the port and rail company CFM, demanding further compensation from the company. But that took place on Friday morning, and so there was no clash of times.
The police told the organizers that, since the route of the march took it along busy central Maputo streets, and past embassies, and sensitive public buildings such as ministry’s and the office of President Armando Guebuza, it needed more policemen than were available to guarantee security and order.
Faced with this situation, the LDH and CEMO felt they had no alternative but to accept the police instruction, and ask the demonstrators to disperse.
“Our demonstration was not against the Mozambican authorities, and it was not against the Zimbabwean Embassy”, said LDH jurist Custodio Dumas. “It was a demonstration to say we are feeling what the Zimbabwean people are going through at this moment. We wanted to say to the Zimbabweans that what is happening to them also affects us, and we see no reason why a demonstration of this sort should not be authorized”.
A press release from CEMO pointed out that, because of the wave of violence gripping Zimbabwe, the United Nations, the African Union, and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) had all urged that the second round of the presidential election be postponed. CEMO itself had held two public debates in Maputo which had concluded that the conditions for holding a genuine election in Zimbabwe did not exist.
Some of the demonstrators, interviewed by Mozambican television stations, called for Robert Mugabe Square to be renamed. The square was given Mugabe’s name in 1981, during his first official visit to Mozambique (then as Prime Minister, under the Lancaster House constitution). At the time, Mugabe was regarded as the man who, with Mozambican backing, had liberated Zimbabwe: no-one in 1981 imagined what would happen 27 years later.

Prosecutors at the International Criminal Court in the Hague have charged two Congolese militia leaders with war crimes.
Germain Katanga and Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui are accused of planning and ordering an attack, in which more than 200 villagers were allegedly killed.
Reports say some of the victims were burned to death, and many women were forced to become sex slaves.
This is only the second case to be launched by the court, set up in 2002. The first trial, of another Congolese militia leader, Thomas Lubanga, has been suspended over concerns that evidence was withheld from the defence.
Decision
Mr Lubanga, who was on the other side of the Ituri conflict, may be released over concerns that the defence was denied access to some evidence.
Defence lawyers for Mr Katanga and Mr Ngudjolo have asked judges to suspend the case against them as the prosecution is using the same evidence.
However, the court has decided to go ahead with the hearing, as the proceedings are not as advanced.
A “confirmation of charges” is now set to take place at which evidence will be presented to support the charges, which include war crimes and crimes against humanity. These include murder, sexual slavery, rape, inhumane acts and recruiting child soldiers.
At the end of this process the court will have 60 days in which to decide whether or not to go to trial.
“Over 200 children, women, elderly and civilian men were killed,” in the north-eastern village of Bogoro, said Deputy Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda.
The Ituri conflict, which raged well after a wider peace accord officially ended Congo’s 1998-2003 war, pitted foreign-backed militias from the Hema and Lendu ethnic groups against one another.
Mr Katanga headed the Patriotic Forces of Resistance of Ituri (FRPI), while Mr Ngudjolo led the allied Front of Nationalists and Integrationists (FPI) militia.
The ICC, based in The Hague, was set up in 2002 as the world’s first permanent war crimes court.
It was designed to end the need for various ad hoc war crimes courts – including the chambers created to deal with war crimes committed in the former Yugoslavia and the genocide in Rwanda.

Madagascar has signed a series of environment agreements to protect unique forests and support local communities as part of a commitment by the government to ramp up environmental protection on the Indian Ocean island.
In its largest ever debt-for-nature swap, Madagascar signed a deal with France this month, in which US$20 million of debt owed to the former colonial power was put into a conservation fund, the Foundation for Protected Areas and Biodiversity (FPAB).
“Thanks to this, the money will go into the protection of the Malagasy environment instead of to France,” Nani Ratsifandrihamanana, the environment director of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) told IRIN.
Her organisation played a crucial role in brokering the deal that will help protect Madagascar’s forests, home to many of the world’s most fascinating creatures. Nearly all the island’s land mammals, over 90 percent of its reptiles and 80 percent of its plants are found nowhere else.
In a separate deal, Madagascar committed itself to selling nine million tons of carbon offsets to help protect its forests. The money will be used to protect the vast Makira forest, one of several under threat as a result of the poverty of the overwhelmingly rural population.
Scientists say deforestation in the tropics contributes to about 20 percent of all carbon dioxide emissions and that reducing deforestation is one of the quickest ways to fight climate change. Deforestation in Africa is twice as high as anywhere else in the world, where some 13 million hectares of forest are cleared every year.
Thanks to this, the money will go into the protection of the Malagasy environment
Conservation International (CI), a non-profit environmental group, said the main drivers of deforestation in Madagascar were slash-and-burn agriculture, charcoal production for use in towns and cities, mining, and the conversion of forest to plant maize.
Reducing deforestation is a hard battle to win because more than 75 percent of the island’s 18 million people are rural and depend on land and natural resources.
The new carbon credit deal, managed by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), based at the Bronx Zoo in the US, represents an innovative way to tackle the problem.
Offset schemes allow polluters to pay for emission cuts in other countries, while providing a source of precious foreign currency to developing countries.
The Malagasy government has had some success in forest protection in recent years and has been able to increase the number and size of protected areas. According to environmentalists, the rate of deforestation has been dramatically cut in some of these areas.

What is left of press freedom in Morocco? The first six months of 2008 have been marked by an avalanche of trials and repressive judicial and administrative decisions. At the same time, promises by Prime Minister Abbas El Fassi’s government to reform the press law have still not materialised. No bill has yet been submitted to the chamber of deputies.
“We are very worried by the deterioration in the press freedom situation in Morocco,” Reporters Without Borders said. “The mistrust that journalists feel towards the government has been reinforced by an increase in the number of prosecutions brought against them and the many other obstacles they have to face.”
Journalists were stunned when reporter Mostapha Hurmatallah of the weekly “Al Watan Al An” was returned to Casablanca’s Okacha prison on 19 February to finish the seven-month sentence he was given in 2007 for publishing the content of an intelligence agency memo. It made them aware of the danger they were all in.
Moroccan journalists have always had to worry about their safety. They now know they can go to prison if what they report challenges the official version. Hurmatallah’s editor, Abderrahim Ariri, got a suspended prison sentence but the eight army officers who allegedly leaked information to Hurmatallah were given long jail terms that have been seen as a warning to all who cooperate with the media.
Before being sent back to prison, Hurmatallah told Reporters Without Borders that his first spell of 56 days behind bars had left him with a “bitter taste” although conditions in prison had been relatively acceptable. “When I set about becoming a journalist, I never imagined that I might end up in prison because of what I wrote. This has been a brutal experience. I was very moved by all the campaigning on my behalf in Morocco and abroad, but prison is prison.”
There was no response to the request for a pardon that his family sent to King Mohammed and now he is due to be freed in July on completion of his sentence. However, on 18 March, the King did pardon blogger Fouad Mourtada, who had been sentenced to three years in prison for creating a spoof entry on the social networking website Facebook in the name of the king’s brother – a case which, despite the pardon, has traumatised the Moroccan blogosphere.
The courts rarely rule in favour of journalists, who increasingly doubt the judicial system’s independence. In March, the editor of the Arabic-language daily “Al-Massae”, Rachid Nini, was sentenced to pay six million dirhams (approx. 550,000 euros) in damages and a fine of 120,000 dirhams (approx. 11,000 euros) in a lawsuit brought by four judges. No court had ever ordered such a high damages award before. The case is due to be heard by an appeal court soon.
“Al-Massae” photographer Karim Selmaoui was questioned by members of the national department of criminal investigation in Casablanca for more than two hours on 16 June about a photo in the newspaper’s 28 May issue of a woman being manhandled by police during a demonstration. The police superintendent who appeared in the photo received threats after it was published.
Selmaoui told Reporters Without Borders he was interrogated about the circumstances in which he took the photo and how it came to be published in the foreign press. He was also questioned at length about his former work relationship with the French weekly “Le Journal”, especially as regards to the photos it used for its stories about the Moroccan government. “One can live without the press, but one cannot live without being safe,” one of the policemen told him.
Just as the trial of “Al Watan Al An”‘s editor and reporter caused a stir in 2007, the high-profile trial of Hassan Rachidi, Rabat bureau chief of the Qatar-based satellite TV station Al-Jazeera will start in July. He was charged him with “publishing false information” on 13 June because, according to the government, he deliberately omitted any reference to a government denial about the toll of dead and wounded in recent clashes in the southern city of Sidi Ifni.
The authorities seem to have no doubt about his guilt, as his press accreditation was withdrawn immediately after the charges were announced. In May, the government withdrew Al-Jazeera’s licence to broadcast directly by satellite from Morocco. This meant that its staff had to stop producing a daily news programme about the Maghreb countries which it had been broadcasting live from its Rabat studio. Rachidi will face a possible one-year prison sentence when his trial starts on 1 July.
Another current case concerns a request by Ahmed Herzenni, the president of the Consultative Council for Human Rights (CCDH), for a summary ruling to stop the Arabic-language daily “Al Jarida Al Oula” from continuing the series of previously unpublished interviews it began on 9 June. Senior Moroccan officials gave the interviews to Fairness and Reconciliation (IER), an entity that was dissolved in 2007 and replaced by the CCDH, and Herzenni insists they are confidential government documents. He is to argue his case in court on 18 June.
The trial of Ahmed Reda Benchemsi, the publisher of the weeklies “Tel Quel” and “Nichane”, is also due to resume in Casablanca on 3 September. He faces up to five years in prison for “disrespect for the king” under article 41 of the press law.
When a Reporters Without Borders delegation met with government spokesman and communications minister Khalid Naciri on 30 April in Rabat, he expressed a desire to introduce a new press law that would be “advanced” and “based on consensus.” According to Naciri, the proposed new law is still being discussed.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) is deeply concerned about the extent of the humanitarian crisis that is developing across Gauteng as a result of violent attacks on foreign nationals. A number of deplorable attacks over the weekend have reportedly led to the death of 12 people and the displacement of thousands more. We extend our deepest sympathies to those affected, displaced and traumatised by this tragedy.
In order to prevent this situation from deteriorating any further it is clear that the time has come to pursue a targeted intervention. Such an intervention should involve a two-pronged approach, with strategies both to contain the violence itself, and to relieve the suffering of those displaced by the attacks by setting up refugee camps in the affected areas.
The first step in this process is for the Minister of Home Affairs, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula to pull her head out of the sand and acknowledge both the causes and the extent of the crisis. Government’s attempts to formulate an adequate response and workable solutions to this stalemate hinge upon a full acknowledgement by the Minister that this is indeed an emergency, rather than the workings of a so-called “third force” or a rag-tag of unspecified “criminal elements”.
The Home Affairs Minister has a long history of denial of the extent of the humanitarian crisis caused by unregulated and predominantly illegal migration into South Africa, the majority of which stems from Zimbabwe. By presiding over one of the largest human migrations of the last quarter century, without any comprehensive plans on how to cope with the influx of millions of people into South Africa, government is largely responsible for helping to create the necessary conditions for the development of the current crisis.
During the course of last year a DA investigation at the Beit Bridge border post found that thousands of people were crossing into South Africa daily, with little or no adequately-formulated state response to the influx. We warned that a humanitarian crisis was imminent unless a series of measures – such as the establishment of a refugee camp there – were considered by government; our calls were dismissed as exaggerated and unwarranted.
It was clear then, as it is today that we are in need of innovative solutions to address this situation. The current ad-hoc approach to dealing with displaced foreign nationals in Gauteng is clearly not working, hundreds of people are gathering at police stations or other public facilities that are simply not equipped to cope with even their most basic needs. What is therefore required is the establishment of refugee camps in the worst affected areas so that people can be given access to food, shelter and medical care where required.
The establishment of these camps would also allow government to access the expertise and resources of UN agencies, such as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, in attempting to address this escalating catastrophe, as well as enabling aid agencies to render assistance to migrants in a relatively safe and regulated environment. These agencies could also prove invaluable in helping us to cope with the strain placed on our already over-stretched resources.
The South African government owes it both to citizens and to foreign nationals alike to ensure that it now commits itself to dealing not only with the immediate symptoms, but also with the more complex causes of the current xenophobia crisis.

The recent spate of violent attacks on foreign nationals in Alexandra and Diepsloot are the direct result of government’s failure to properly control and regulate immigration into South Africa. It was only a matter of time before resentment over the flood of millions of illegal immigrants would spill over into violent confrontation. The only way to avoid a humanitarian crisis under these circumstances is for government stop its denialism about the underlying causes of the problem and adopt measures that will see immigrants – legal or otherwise – treated in a dignified and appropriate way.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) will use tomorrow’s debate in the National Assembly (agreed to after a DA motion calling for a debate earlier this week) to identify a number of key issues that need to be dealt with in order to prevent future violent attacks.
• The need to bring to an end government’s denialism about the extent of the problem of xenophobia in South Africa. This started more than a year ago when targeted attacks on Somalis were dismissed as purely criminal acts and is evidenced today by government’s assertion that the violence in Alexandria has been instigated by a sinister third force.
• Addressing the security vacuum along South Africa’s borders which is the major contributor to unregulated migration into South Africa. There is no way we can cater for the humanitarian needs of immigrants when it is not even known how many people have entered South Africa.
• Taking responsibility for the foreign policy failure in Zimbabwe which has contributed to the fact that millions of Zimbabweans have fled into South Africa.
• Addressing the administrative shambles at the Department of Home Affairs. Fake IDs and passports have made it very easy to fraudently enter into South Africa. Furthermore, the department’s complete inability to efficiently process asylum seekers has contributed to enormous backlogs and compounded the humanitarian crisis.
• Eliminating corruption at various government departments which has led to the fraudulent accessing of welfare grants, housing subsidies etc.
• The commissioning of a survey to determine how many illegal immigrants there are in South Africa, where they are predominantly located, and developing solutions which will either see them properly integrated into South Africa or returned to their country of origin.
The rise of xenophobic attacks has reached boiling point and is likely to become a crisis if not addressed properly. No amount of smooth talking or number of indabas will resolve the problems that contribute to xenophobia unless the government is frank about its policy shortcomings.

Angola’s engagement in the eradication of anti-personnel landmines has been praised by Ottawa Convention member States that mentioned it as an example that should be emulated.
According to a communiqué from the National Inter-Sectoral Commission for Demining and Humanitarian Assistance (CNIDAH), delivered to ANGOP Thursday, the commend was expressed during the inter-sectoral meeting of the Convention’s member States, taking plance since Monday, April 23, in Geneva (Switzerland).
The source states that Angolan Government has been recognised for the compliance of the requirements of the fourth article of the Convention.
Balbina da Silva, national co-ordinator of CNIDAH landmines action programmes, is at the head of Angolan delegation to the meeting, which aims at analysing the general state and the implementation of the Ottawa Convention.
At the event, the Angolan team presented a project for destroying anti-personnel landmines, a programme that was implemented by CNIDAH in partnership with the Angolan Armed Forces and UNDP, funded by the Government and the European Commission.
The document also states that institutions engaged in actions against landmines in the country are examining a national plan of assistance to victims for a four-year period (2007/11), to start being implemented next September.
The Angolan delegation presented the state of implementation of the Nairobi (Kenya) Landmines Action-Plan, concerning the improvement of the conditions of assistance to the victims, such as socio-professional rehabilitation and reintegration.
In its 2003 report to international institutions involved in actions against landmines, Angola declared that it had 50,659 anti-personnel landmines in stock, before finding abandoned shell rooms in various regions of the country, thus increasing the number of landmines to 83,557.
During the landmines destruction process, the country considered the issue of protecting the environment, and recycled the disarmed explosive devices, using the metal and plastic elements as raw material for the manufacture of household utensils like buckets, dishes, hoes and cutlasses.

This morning’s statement by Cabinet spokesperson Themba Maseko that the government could not stop the shipment of a cache of arms to Zimbabwe because it has to “tread very carefully” in its relations with Zimbabwe is the surest sign yet that government has completely lost the plot on the Zimbabwe issue.
If the government allows a consignment of weapons (including rocket launchers and ammunition) to cross South African territory unhindered, and stands idly by while these weapons are used to suppress the Zimbabwean people, then any pretence that we are an honest broker in the Zimbabwean electoral process will be exposed once and for all for the sham that it is.
World leaders are growing increasingly impatient with the South African government’s inability to grasp the urgency and seriousness of the crisis in Zimbabwe. According to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the “very credibility of the democratic process in Africa” is at stake. A number of permanent members of the UN Security Council have also raised concerns about the escalating violence and political oppression taking place in Zimbabwe. It is being reported from within Zimbabwe that the ZANU-PF government has stepped up the deployment of the army, police and intelligence units countrywide in order to harass and intimidate supporters of the opposition.
In this context of increasing violence, it will be inexcusable for South Africa to fail to stop the shipment of weapons being delivered to Harare. Apart from the obvious moral imperatives for stopping the shipment, the government is also legally obliged to act. According to the National Conventional Arms Control Act (NCACA), anyone who conveys, freights, or transfers conventional weapons is required to apply for a conveyance permit, and permits must only be granted by the National Conventional Arms Control Committee (NCACC) after considering how those weapons will be used.
It clearly states in the Act that the NCACC must avoid transfers of weapons to governments that suppress human rights or where the weapons are likely to escalate conflict and endanger peace. The situation in Zimbabwe, by anyone’s standards, fails to meet these criteria.
The DA will urgently request that the Defence Portfolio Committee be briefed by the NCACC to explain without delay whether the necessary permit was granted and if so on what grounds.
The world’s astonishment at President Mbeki’s political defence of Robert Mugabe will likely turn into outright anger as we are now not only denying the existence of a crisis in Zimbabwe, but also actively facilitating the arming of an increasingly despotic and desperate regime.

Almost half a million Ivorians have received new birth certificates, the first step in a process to enable them to vote in national general elections scheduled for later this year, the United Nations Mission in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI) reported today.
Electoral officials with UNOCI said “good progress” has been made in formally identifying the population in Côte d’Ivoire since a round of UN-facilitated public hearings began across the country, which became divided in 2002 between the Government-controlled south and the rebel-held north.