---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Pambazuka Editor <[email protected]> Date: Thu, May 17, 2012 at 7:16 PM Subject: Pambazuka News 585: Of flowers, thorns and coups d'etat To: pambazuka-news <[email protected]>
PAMBAZUKA NEWS 585: OF FLOWERS, THORNS AND COUPS D'ETAT The authoritative electronic weekly newsletter and platform for social justice in Africa Pambazuka News is delivered free to you with the support of donations from Friends of Pambazuka. KEEP PAMBAZUKA FREE AND INDEPENDENT! BECOME A FRIEND OF PAMBAZUKA NOW! http://www.pambazuka.org/en/friends.php Follow Pambazuka @pambazuka Pambazuka News (English edition): ISSN 1753-6839 CONTENTS: 1. Features, 2. Announcements, 3. Comment & analysis, 4. Advocacy & campaigns, 5. Books & arts, 6. Letters & Opinions /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 1 Features THE REAL REASONS FOR THE COUP D'ETAT IN GUINEA-BISSAU Carlos Cardoso For Guinea-Bissau to achieve stability, there must be a return to constitutional order and a conclusion of presidential elections. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/82234 ****** OF FLOWERS AND THORNS: WHERE HAS 'PUBLIC' GONE IN PUBLIC SERVICE? Dale T. McKinley South Africa has to be one of the countries in the world where the majority of public sector workers are made millionaires every year - and that's not counting what many of them make on the side. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/82198 ****** PALESTINIAN SOLIDARITY: THE RESPONSIBILITY OF SOUTH AFRICAN INTELLECTUALS Nina Butler The South African academic community should break out of its "silent and inert", albeit sympathetic, posture toward the Palestinians and fully reject cooperation with Israeli institutions. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/82207 ****** THE INSOLVENT UNITED STATES BANKING SYSTEM: LESSONS FROM J.P. MORGAN CHASE Why the banks must be nationalized Horace Campbell As central bankers from China to Venezuela and from Argentina to Japan are seeking ways to exit from the contagion of the speculative trading of US bankers, progressive forces must renew the call for the nationalization of the big banks, which are supposed to be too big to fail. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/82237 ****** HAiTI, AFRICA, ARISTIDE: THE HISTORY OF ONE HUMANITY Jacques Depelchin The story of Haiti represents that of the Africa of today: trying to stand up, to reconstruct, to rebuild, she stumbles, hesitates, and sometimes retreats in the face of threats from the watchdogs seeking to liquidate humanity and replace it with a substitute known as humanitarianism. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/82223 ****** ANGOLA: COURT IGNORES MEDIA LAW IN JOURNALIST'S CASE Rafael Marques de Morais Something fishy is definitely going on in the belated trial of journalist Ramiro Aleixo over articles he wrote nearly five years ago. It is an extraordinary opportunity to evaluate the Angolan judicial system. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/82196 ****** ASIA IN MY LIFE Ngugi wa Thiong'o The celebrated Kenyan writer reflects on how much India has been an important thread in his life and in the wider anti-colonial struggle in Africa, and calls for greater interaction between Africa, Asia and South America to escape the long shadow of the 'Age of the European Empire'. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/82222 ****** NAWAL AL SAADAWI AND THE SKY OVER EGYPT Annar Cassam Dr Nawal al Saadawi's continued hope, after decades of persecution by the Egyptian political and religious authorities, and the as yet unfilled promise of Tahrir, offers inspiration to everyone challenging the violence and abuses of patriarchy and capitalism. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/82221 ****** OUR UGLY SECRET: ABORTION IN ZIMBABWE, ILLEGAL BUT THRIVING Sokwanele More than 70 000 illegal abortions are carried out in Zimbabwe every year, with Zimbabwean women running a 200 times greater risk of dying of abortion complications than their counterparts in South Africa, where the procedure is legal. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/82195 ****** SOMALIA: NO JUSTIFICATION FOR RATIFYING THE DRAFT CONSTITUTION Mohamud M Uluso Widespread opposition to the document stems from the way it was formulated in secret without public mandate or the input of Somali civil society, intellectuals and constitutional experts. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/82205 ****** UN THREATENS THE SOMALI DEMOCRATIC MOVEMENT Abdi Ismail Samatar Is the authority of the UN and regional bodies divine, such that it cannot be challenged by the Somali people? The only 'crime' the Somali democratic movement has committed is to dare dream of freedom in the land of its birth. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/82236 ****** BIAFRA GROUP FILES COMPLAINT AGAINST NIGERIA AT ICC Osita Ebiem Just as secessionist leader Odumegwu Ojukwu moved in 1967 to declare the independence of Biafra to protect his people from genocidal killings, the group is asking ICC to intervene on their behalf before they are completely exterminated. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/82197 ****** A NEW CONSTITUTION: LET ZIMBABWEANS DECIDE Dewa Mavhinga It is unfair for a small group of individuals to disenfranchise Zimbabweans through a premature campaign to abandon the constitutional review process without affording the people an opportunity to engage directly with the draft. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/82217 ****** NEITHER DEVIL NOR ANGEL: THE ROLE OF THE MEDIA IN SINO-AFRICAN RELATIONS Li Anshan The Chinese government is eager to balance the international media coverage of Chinese image and this approach is becoming more and more urgent for Beijing's strategy of engagement in Africa. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/82194 ****** REFLECTIONS ON THE LAGOS STATE GOVERNMENT'S ONSLAUGHT ON DOCTORS Kola Ibrahim A recent crackdown on doctors in Nigeria is symptomatic of a wider state attack on the working class. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/82235 ****** /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 2 Announcements GRAIN'S GROUNDBREAKING RESEARCH PUBLISHED FOR RIO+20 Press release Pambazuka Press and GRAIN 17 May 2012 Pan-African publisher Pambazuka Press in collaboration with GRAIN, a small international non-profit that works to support small farmers, is to launch a vital text in the studies of food, land and climate, The Great Food Robbery: How corporations control food, grab land and destroy the climate. Available worldwide in May 2012, this publication marks the five-week countdown to Rio+20, the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development. After the failure of the United Nations Climate Change Conference at Durban last December to formulate a united response strategy, there are mixed feelings on what Rio+20 will be able to achieve. But what is clear is that all participants will need to be well informed. 'Everyone should read The Great Food Robbery - every citizen, every political leader - to understand how agribusiness, which has created hunger and disease, is now contributing to the biggest resource grab since Columbus,' said Dr Vandana Shiva, physicist, internationally renowned activist and founder of Navdanya International. Shiva is one of many high profile academics from around the world who have endorsed The Great Food Robbery. Others include Dr. Hans Herren, Naomi Klein, Eric Holt-Gimenez, and UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Prof. Olivier De Schutter. Henk Hobbelink, of GRAIN, in his speech to the Swedish government upon receiving the Right Livelihood Award stated the latest trend in global land grabbing for outsourced food production is just one facet of a much greater attack. 'Land grabs for mining, tourism, biofuels, dam construction, infrastructure projects, timber and now carbon trading are all part of the same process, turning farmers into refugees on their own land.' The Great Food Robbery is an advocate for the rural communities that have fed the world for millennia. It examines how agribusiness is driving today's global food crisis and highlights the culpability of the industrial food system regarding the climate crisis, revealing how land grabbing is being fuelled by a financial industry unconcerned by its exploitation of the world's poorest. GRAIN has collected materials on topics ranging from agribusiness and food sovereignty to land grabbing and the climate crisis to produce The Great Food Robbery. It is an essential introduction to understanding the powers that are controlling our food system and crucially offers the means to challenge the status quo. It will be of interest to activists, academics, students, journalists, development and NGO professionals. FOR INTERVIEWS: Contact - Aaron O'Dowling-Keane (Ms.) Publishing and Marketing Coordinator, Pambazuka Press Tel: +44 (0)1865 727006 x204 Email: [email protected] http://www.pambazukapress.org - Dexter X Information worker, GRAIN Tel: +1 (0) 514 585 3987 Email: [email protected] http://www.grain.org NOTES TO EDITORS: GRAIN supports small farmers and social movements in their struggles for community-controlled and biodiversity-based food systems. In 2011, GRAIN was awarded the Right Livelihood Award (the Alternative Nobel Peace prize) for 'its worldwide work to protect the livelihoods and rights of farming communities and to expose the massive purchases of farmland in developing countries by foreign financial interests'. BOOK DETAILS 17 May 2012 9780857491138 Paperback GB pounds 14.95 / US dollars 24.95 / CAN dollars 24.95 216 x 279 mm 164 pp http://fahamubooks.org/book/?GCOI=90638100007280 https://twitter.com/pambazuka http://www.facebook.com/Pambazuka https://twitter.com/GRAIN_info http://www.facebook.com/pages/GRAIN/107084339242 ENDS. ****** HIGH-LEVEL COLLOQUIUM Democracy, governance and the Pan-African idea: Whither Africa? Date: 24th May 2012 Venue: UN Conference Centre, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia In honour of notable Pan-African civil activist - the late Dr. Tajudeen Abdul Raheem (6 January 1961 - 25 May 2009) PANELISTS 1. Prof. Horace Campbell 2. Prof. Mohamed Salih 3. Dr. Kayode Fayemi 4. Dr. Funmi Olonisakin 5. Mr. Napoleon Abdullahi 6. Dr. Patricia Daley 7. Mr. Brian Kagoro 8. Mr. Ahmed Rajab 9. Ms. Uduak Amimo For registration and attendance please contact : Ms. Abijah Yeshaneh (email: [email protected] or 011 544 3536) or Mr. Gideon Gamora (email: [email protected] or 011 544 5479). Last day for registration 21st May 2012. Organized by the Governance and Public Administration Division (GPAD/UNECA) ****** WOMEN'S RIGHTS MOVEMENT BUILDING BOOT CAMP Are you a Kenyan based community women's rights activist aspiring to strengthen and develop new knowledge and skills in movement building? Then the forthcoming Women's Rights Movement Building Boot Camp organised by Fahamu is for you. This one-week learning camp will develop knowledge and praxis on community organizing strategies, theories of change and much more. Follow this link for more details about the application process http://www.fahamu.org/node/255 ****** BUILDING RESTORATIVE INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE The ICC of the future 18th May, 2012 Royal Commonwealth Society in London 8.30-18.00hrs SPEAKERS INCLUDE: * Dr Alison Bisset * Prof Colm Campbell * Mrs Carla Ferstman* * Mr Courtney Griffiths* * Mr Donald Deya * Mrs Fatou Bensouda* * Prof. Hans Koeechler * Hon. Justice Awa Nana Daboya* * Mr Luis Moreno-Ocampo* * Prof. Maxdu Plessis * DrPaul Moorcraft * Dr Sarah Nouwen * Prof.Stephen Chan * Dr Suleiman Baldo * Prof. Susana Sa Couto * Prof. Tim Alley * Dr William Pace *To be confirmed As the ICC approaches its tenth anniversary and makes its first conviction, we cordially invite you to participate in an engaging and enlightening one- day debate to review the effectiveness of this highly controversial court. Through this forum we will assess the role of the court and its impact especially in Africa, where all of its indictments have been made. We will look at alternative solutions in the administration of justice to achieve reconciliation and the restoration of peace. Bringing together some of the most knowledgeable and experienced experts from the fields of law, academia and civil society, as well as policy makers, this unique one-day forum will seek to determine whether the court has met its mandate, how it works and its impact. We will also discuss what can and should be done to resolve and deal with some critical issues which affect the stability of many countries across Africa and the world. ATTENDANCE IS FREE BY INVITATION Registration is essential: http://www.ic-events.net/icc_of_the_future or contact Tomas Paquete at +44 (0) 20 7841 3237 or [email protected] Organised by IC Events ****** /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 3 Comment & analysis COMMEMORATING EMPIRE: A PERSONAL REMINISCENCE Marian Douglas-Ungaro 'I find myself marking these dates as if they were personal milestones because they are two of many landmarks, not only for the entire modern world, but for my own family'. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/82233 ****** RISING TRIBALISM IN SOUTH AFRICA: A REJOINDER Andrew M Manyevere Gumede is right in his conclusion that people will seek refuge in tribalism when democratic institutions are made to fail. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/82214 ****** TIME FOR RADICAL ACTION ON THE UNEMPLOYMENT CRISIS Ayanda Kota There are at least four million young people without jobs in South Africa. This is the country's worst crisis, yet some people still say that the ANC has done well with the economy. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/82228 ****** /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 4 Advocacy & campaigns AN OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT OBAMA ON THE EVE OF TALKS WITH ETHIOPIAN PRIME MINISTER MELES ZENAWI AT CAMP DAVID Oakland Institute Large-Scale Land Investments are violating human rights and undermine food security in Ethiopia. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/advocacy/82241 ****** ARTIST ZANELE MUHOLI'S PHOTOGRAPHY OF LGBTQI AFRICANS STOLEN 'I've dedicated my entire life to documenting queer lives. I wanted to make sure I document (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex) lives. All my major projects are gone.' -Zanele Muholi, Cape Town http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/advocacy/82224 ****** CALL FOR THE WORLD SOCIAL FORUM FREE PALESTINE 29 Nov.-1st December 2012 in Porto Alegre, Brazil The WSF Free Palestine will be a global encounter of broad-based popular and civil society mobilizations. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/advocacy/82203 ****** DARFURI ACTIVIST IMPRISONED, DEPORTATION FEARED Although Egypt is a signatory to international refugee conventions, it refuses to allow refugees to work in Egypt, often denies them residency, imprisons them without due process, and harasses their community leaders. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/advocacy/82200 ****** NIGERIA: MASSOB CONDEMNS IMPRISONMENT OF MEMBERS Okodili Ndidi The members were jailed for wearing the regalia of the defunct Republic of Biafra. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/advocacy/82202 ****** PALESTINIAN PRISONERS SCORE HEROIC VICTORY Struggle to end Israel's oppression and international complicity continues. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/advocacy/82204 ****** TRANS SUPPORT INITIATIVE - UGANDA COMMEMORATES THE INTERNATIONAL DAY AGAINST HOMOPHOBIA AND TRANSPHOBIA(IDAHOT) Transgender and intersex people in Uganda face physical and verbal abuse, are denied access to health services, are victims of blackmail and extortion as well as unlawful arrests and mob justice. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/advocacy/82225 ****** WE SUPPORT KNHRC'S RECOMMENDATIONS ON GAYS, SEX WORKERS Release Political Prisoners Trust press statement 'We oppose any attempt by sections of the religious sector to stifle informed, open and honest public debate on this important issue on the basis of their own perceptions and beliefs on private morality.' http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/advocacy/82201 ****** /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 5 Books & arts ALL LOVE BEGINS WITH SEEING Poetry and justice for all Shailja Patel Shailja Patel's unique artistry is a provocative global mash-up of genres. She's a slam poetry champion and star of her award-winning, one-woman play "Migritude" about the intricate webs of global migration and cultural identity. As an acclaimed poet of South Asian and Kenyan ancestry, through her fearless art she embodies the authentic voices of women, South Asians and Africans who are otherwise seldom heard. For her, the ultimate destination of poetry is justice -- too heart-breakingly beautiful to be denied. Listen Now Subscribe. It's free! Subscribe to the Bioneers Radio Series podcast. http://www.cyberears.com/podcasts/podcast_5566.xml ****** UAACC HEAL THE COMMUNITY TOUR 2012 Charlotte Hill O'Neal Charlotte Hill O'Neal aka Mama C, visual and spoken word artist, musician, filmmaker, long time community activist and co Director of United African Alliance Community Center UAACC based in Tanzania, East Africa is pleased to announce that plans for UAACC Heal the Community Tour 2012 have begun! Mama Charlotte will be visiting the United States starting from late September for up to three months. She will be available to visit your community or school to speak on more than two decades of UAACC outreach in America and East Africa including the UAACC Leaders of Tomorrow Children's Home program; screen unique and inspiring films; perform her music and poetry and spread the inspiration and love! To make arrangements to bring Mama Charlotte to your school or community contact her at: [email protected] Mama Charlotte was born in Kansas City, KS in 1951 and has lived in Africa with her husband Pete O'Neal, founder of both UAACC and Leaders of Tomorrow Children's Home (LTCH), since 1970. She is the mother of two children, Malcolm and Ann Wood 'Stormy'. ****** /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 6 Letters & Opinions OPEN LETTER AND RESPONSE TO UGANDA HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION Vincent Nuwagaba Do I have a right to a fair hearing? Do I have the right to freedom from torture, inhuman, cruel and degrading treatment? Do I have the right to live in dignity as a human being? That's what I demand. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/82220 ****** /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ Fahamu - Networks For Social Justice http://www.fahamu.org Pambazuka News is published by Fahamu Ltd. (c) Unless otherwise indicated, all materials published are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License. For further details see: http://www.pambazuka.org/en/about.php Pambazuka news can be viewed online: English language edition ( http://www.pambazuka.org/en ) Edicao em lingua Portuguesa ( http://www.pambazuka.org/pt ) Edition francaise ( http://www.pambazuka.org/fr ) RSS Feeds available at http://www.pambazuka.org/en/newsfeed.php Pambazuka News is published with the support of a number of funders, details of which can be obtained here ( http://www.pambazuka.org/en/about.php ) . To SUBSCRIBE or UNSUBSCRIBE go to: http://pambazuka.gn.apc.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/pambazuka-news or send a message to [email protected] with the word SUBSCRIBE or UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject line as appropriate. The views expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of Pambazuka News or Fahamu. 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