The friends of slain Senegalese student protester, Mamadou Diop, say that the 32-year-old master’s student was against injustice and that is why he was protesting against President Abdoulaye Wade’s bid for a third term of office.

Since the start of the Jan. 27 demonstrations, protesting against President Abdoulaye Wade’s bid for a third term of office, four people were killed. Credit: Jedi Ramalapa/IPS

On Jan. 31, the opposition movement and local protestors, including students, gathered at the Place de Obelix to voice their anger at the Constitutional Councils’ validation of Wade’s bid for a third term. The incumbent president is 85 and has ruled Senegal since 2000.

The protests turned violent and one student, Diop, was killed. Diop’s best friend and classmate, 29-year-old Bacary Sejnane, told IPS that he saw his friend’s death on television.

“I saw a very big police car approach where the crowds had gathered, and we saw a man on the floor. He tried to get up but he couldn’t. We saw that the car ran over him,” said Sejnane. “When they said his name on television, it was Mamadou Diop, my friend.” According to Senegal’s Red Cross, the vehicle that ran over Diop was a water cannon truck.

Diop was completing his Masters in Modern Literature at the Sheik Anta Diop University, and was a devoted disciple of a popular section of the Mauride, a strain of the Muslim brotherhood with many followers in Senegal.

He had a wife and two young daughters. He loved to study and was a leader in his class and worked tirelessly to improve learning conditions at the university.

“He was against injustice,” said Sejnane reflectively, “That’s why he was at the Place de Obelix.”

Diop was a well-known student at the university, so when students heard of his death, they gathered in a group and marched to the hospital where his body was kept. The police stopped them and clashing ensued.

The avenue on which Sheik Anta Diop University sits saw scenes reminiscent of a civil war during the protest. Students barricaded parts of the avenue using whatever they could find; huge boulders, stones, and even wooden crates used as shop stalls by street traders.

Since the start of the Jan. 27 demonstrations, spearheaded by the June 23 Movement (M23), a movement of youth and civil society, four people including a police man have lost their lives and several others have been injured from clashes with police, Senegal’s Red Cross reported.

“I think that people are angry because they knew that President Abdoulaye Wade cannot take on another mandate,” said Chrystelle Ndaya a former student at the university, now an independent journalist. “President Abdoulaye Wade is old and he must go. He doesn’t have the mind of a young person. People want change.”

“It’s the first time we start to see students revolting like this,” she said almost it disbelief.

The Constitutional Council’s decision, which also invalidated international singer Youssou N’dour’s bid for the top seat in government, has many Senegalese angered.

In addition, during the last three to five years of Wade’s administration life has become progressively harder for many Senegalese. The cost of basic commodities has more than tripled. Bread, oil, gas, petrol, rice and sugar are now very expensive for most Senegalese.

Ndaya said these commodities have become so expensive that some families can only afford one meal a day.

But Mamadou Ba, who is completing his Masters in Sociology at the Sheik Anta Diop University, thinks the issue is beyond bread and butter. “I think it’s a moral issue, it’s about recovering some dignity and respect from a leader who has given us his word.”

Ba said that Wade had promised to step down from office, if Senegal’s citizens mandated him to.

“I think the students feel that if they let this one go by, without making sure that their anger is heard, it will be like agreeing to be lied to for the rest of your life,” he said.

“These protests were meant to give consciousness to the citizens, it is not calling people to violence,” said Ba, who has so far stayed away from the protests. “But I think they know that if they show pictures of the opposition behaving violently, it might change people minds about who to vote for. Senegalese are not violent people, they are very quiet.”

M23 has vowed to maintain protests until Wade rescinds his candidacy for the Feb. 26 elections.

But Sjenane does not believe these revolts, as he calls them, can be compared to the Arab Spring protests seen in Egypt and other African countries. Because he says: “Senegalese are not violent, we respect democracy and the rule of law.”

But it was the same rule of law that killed his friend. “Police are here to keep order, and it’s good that they do, but sometimes people also need to express themselves,” he added in response.

By Jedi Ramalapa
JOHANNESBURG, Apr 15 2010 (IPS)

Sudan’s National Electoral Commission says problems are limited to a few constituencies. But election monitors have observed irregularities across the country.

The African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies (ACJPS) reports numerous violations of electoral procedure. These include late, misprinted or insufficient ballot papers, candidates appearing on the ballot in more than one constitutency; voters being unable to find their names on lists and election observers in at least one case being denied entry to voting centres.

ACJPS is a non-profit organisation that monitors human rights violations in Sudan, and works both nationally and internationally towards legal reforms to address them.

The Centre’s executive director, Osman Hummaida, argues the problems are so serious and widespread that the elections cannot be considered free and fair. He says that a truly independent electoral commission is needed to review electoral irregularities and plot a way forward.

Excerpts of the interview follow.

Q: What does it mean that the elections are going ahead despite the flaws in the process? A: It proves that the National Election Commission (NEC) is not completely independent of the National Congress Party (NCP).

If all political parties, including civil society, are calling for the postponement of these elections in order to creative a more conducive environment where free and fair elections can take place, and they don’t want to listen to anyone – it mean means that they are determined to support the ruling party.

The technical irregularities are just massive; the level of corruption and rigging that has been reported throughout the first two days is unbelievable. Even if we want to ignore some of these other irregularities, the technical and logistical irregularities alone are enough to have these election postponed as they are far from being free and fair.

Q: How widespread are these irregularities? A: It’s happening throughout the country, it’s massive. There is no part of the country or constituency that has not been affected or where party symbols have not omitted altogether or completely mixed up.

Due to this, many party candidates from among the few still in the race have withdrawn from the elections.

Q: Will the extension of the voting dates from three to five, help to rectify some of these problems? A: I think the problems are now beyond being rectified.

People have already voted for parties and candidates using wrong symbols. There is no way that that could be rectified. There are other technical problems related to registration and access to voting centres including earlier problems involving political candidates’ rights to campaign.

These are serious issues which need serious consideration. And without setting up an independent commission to look into these numerous problems, I think this exercise is just a waste of resources Sudanese people.

Q: The Ummah Party, the strongest political party in the west of the country, is boycotting the election. Who will Darfuris be voting for? A: I don’t think the Darfuris are really taking part in these elections; the turnout has been very low. Even in big towns and cities where people have participated, symbols have been changed and activists and observers have been removed (from polling centres).

In western Darfur there are reports of cars without number plates transporting ballot boxes without being accompanied by observers or any election officials, and the explanation for that is has been, “it’s a mistake that they’ve been moved out of there”.

So this gives an impression that they are not serious about this election when it comes to Darfur as well.

Q: The South’s champions, the Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement, have also boycotted the election. Does this indicate that their focus is on the referendum next year? A: That is general perception, that they will allow the elections to continue, in keeping with the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) schedule, which would mean that the referendum should take place in January next year. Because the National Congress Party has threatened to delay the referendum if the elections are postponed.

However it is my belief that if we allow the NCP to rig the national election, they could well do the same with the referendum. The referendum would not represent the real will of the people of the South. If they manage to manipulate the will of all Sudanese people during the election now, nothing will stop them then.

Q: What do you think the outcome of this election will be? A: I think it will just bring confusion and frustration. We hope that if there is any violence associated with it, it could be contained. But for sure it would not bring any favorable outcomes for the future of Sudan or reducing the conflict in Darfur.

In some areas there has been a large turn-out because people don’t have access to media. Especially since the Sudanese government continues to arrest people distributing information about boycotts in some have areas.

Excerpt:

The 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) ended one of Africa’s longest and complex civil wars, with nominal agreement reached on security, wealth sharing, and governance issues. But there are renewed fears that conflict could erupt again in the country as divisions between the north and the south deepen.

SPLA soldiers in the Abyei area during North-South tension in June 2008 Credit: Timothy McKulka/IRIN

Academics attending the Sudan Studies Conference in Pretoria, South Africa, say unity for the troubled country will be almost impossible to achieve. The conference was the eighth in a series of high level academic conferences on the Sudan.

Scholars from Sudan and around the world were discussing the future of the country beyond 2011, when the CPA agreed between the National Islamic Front/National Congress Party (NIF/NCP) regime in Khartoum and the southern Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) expires.

Adam Cholong, an SPLM member of the national assembly in Khartoum, says 90, if not 99 percent of the people in South Sudan want independence from the Northern government. But, he says, the Khartoum government is deliberately frustrating this aspiration, slowing down the drafting of legislation that will allow a 2011 referendum on the future of the south.

“The government in North Sudan seems to know that quite a number of South Sudanese people will vote for independence in the referendum,” he said, adding that this is the reason why, the government has now stated that in addition to achieving a simple majority vote of yes to independence, there has to be an extremely high turn-out of voters in the referendum.

Khartoum began by demanding a 75 percent yes vote to confirm South Sudanese independence, before agreeing that 50 percent plus one will be enough, so long as a minimum of two thirds of registered voters will have to cast their ballots.

It’s the latest skirmish in negotiations over the details of the crucial referendum which are already two years behind schedule.

Religious differences are also a huge stumbling block in a country now governed – Muslim and Christian alike – by shariah law. The experts assembled in Pretoria say this still remains a big question mark.

Sudan has a majority Muslim population, but the imposition of shariah throughout the country by the Numayri government in 1983 was a factor that precipitated civil war.

Carolyn Fluehr-Lobban, an expert in Islamic law and society based at Rhode Island College in the United States, says during the negotiation of a peace agreement in 2004, it was decided that there would be shariah in the north and secularism in the south.

“Many people were sceptical about that because, millions of southerners, most of them non-Muslims, who had fled to the North as a result of the civil war would now have to be subjected to shariah law.”

Since the CPA was finalised in 2005, says Fluehr-Lobban, the Khartoum government has demonstrated little political will to implement this provision.

“What my research has shown from 2004 to now is that harsh punishments – not the cutting off of hands anymore, but lashing for criminal offences, improper dress for women, the brewing of alcohol – have continued to be practiced on non-Muslims in the capital city and IDP camps.”

A commission to deal with the status of non-Muslims in Khartoum was put together a few years ago, but it has not been effective. The question of the law will have to be resolved regardless of how the referendum goes in 2011.

“If they decide to unite, they would have to adopt a more secular society. If they separate, there would still be the question of the large population of non-Muslims living in the north,” says Fluehr-Lobban.

Negotiating agreement on such matters is not helped by frequent stand-offs at the highest levels. Cholong says SPLM MPs have had to boycott cabinet meetings because the NIF/NCP refused to discuss vital issues like the referendum law, national security and the redrawing of North-South borders.

He sees no future for a united Sudan. “Unity is the cause of the civil conflict in the country. “Unity (of the country) has been the core of conflict, and it’s clearly not what people want, otherwise would have been peace in Sudan.”

By Jedi Ramalapa
JOHANNESBURG, Nov 18 2009 (IPS)

Women in developing countries are among the most vulnerable to the effects of crisis – be that climate change, food price hikes, the HIV/AIDS pandemic or the global recession. It is becoming more commonplace to hear women’s testimony, but are women’s voices heard when it comes to deciding on solutions?

Ingrid Srinath: 'There really is a different approach that female leaders in civil society bring to conversations.' Credit:

IPS spoke to Ingrid Srinath, chief executive officer and secretary general of CIVICUS World Alliance for Citizen Participation, about women’s exclusion from decision-making in global forums. Excerpts of the interview follow.

IPS: How do you think the issue of women and climate change has been dealt with so far? INGRID SRINATH: I think with most of the global issues we’re dealing with, whether it’s climate or financial reform or any of those global issues, women continue to be under-represented.

In the climate debate, this is partly structural. I think civil society per se is largely marginal and within civil society at some level women continue to be marginalised.

Especially when the debate gets technical, there is an attempt with some of these global issues to make the focus of the debate the economic impact, and restrict it to (questions of) where is the money is going come from to fund mitigation and adaptation, rather than take a holistic view of the impact of any of these crises.

And as soon as that happens, there is a tendency for this to become more Northern, more male, more technical, and then marginalise women even further.

IPS: Women are often used as the human face to demonstrate the effects of climate change or other forms of suffering. Is this how the gender issue within the climate change debate should be discussed or dealt with? IS: Well, there’s up sides and down sides (to this).

At the U.N. meetings in September, the fact that so many of the so-called climate witnesses were women, and they were able to tell these really compelling stories of the impact they’re already feeling – not something that’s going to happen in 2020 or 2050, but the day-to-day struggles they are having already as a consequence of climate change – these were very powerful pieces of communication.

But when in that sort of forum, these are the only women’s voices you hear, it’s almost like you’re relegating women to being the emotional content of the debate, saying that the other stuff, the intellectual stuff will be done by the men.

So there is a reinforcement of stereotypes there, and we have to be really careful about how we manage these conversations as civil society and not carry out our own forms of exploitation, using women as window dressing to our arguments.

IPS: Since taking over from Kumi Naidoo as CEO and secretary-general of CIVICUS, do you think your role within the organization is different, because you are a woman? IS: I can’t help it. My world view is my world view and it’s certainly shaped by, amongst other things, the fact that I am a woman.

I come from India which is one of the most deeply patriarchal societies in the world. I don’t think that there’s any society, anywhere, where women and girls suffer more than in India.

I think also, while all generalisations are in a sense untrue, there really is a different approach that female leaders in civil society bring to conversations. And this is not simply about constantly insisting that women’s voices be heard. It’s not simply being an advocate for women’s issues; it’s not simply being the token woman on some panel comprising of middle aged white men, or being the token Southern women in some of these discussions.

It’s really about bringing a perspective that is more about sustainability – more about a 360 degree view of what’s happening; focusing on building better relationships across civil society and between civil society and other sectors; bringing all our alleged skills as women in fostering dialogue and taking a more collaborative approach. So I think it’s a combination of things that you bring to these conversations.

IPS: What has been your main mandate since joining CIVICUS in 2008? IS: Civicus is in some ways, a very small tree which casts this very big shadow. Somewhere you need to make sure that the tree is really nurtured as well.

I mean we have opportunities now that we’ve never had before. The paradigm has shifted; it is no longer possible as in the last three decades to say there is no alternative to market fundamentalism. The doors are open to have conversations about what the new  economic paradigm looks like, what the new political paradigm looks like, and civil society is very much part of those conversations.

It’s been a roller coaster but I can’t think of a better first year for anyone in any organisation.

IPS: Where in Africa are civil society organisations most at risk? IS: The most immediate threats are in Ethiopia, Uganda, and Zambia. Those are the ones that we’re fighting currently.

But there’s always the domino effect. Each time a country is permitted to get away with repressing or restraining civil society, it encourages others to do the same. It lowers the bar on what’s acceptable.

That’s something we need to guard against across the continent. As we saw with the War on Terror when the West lowered its bar, that then permitted or at least provided a fig leaf to a bunch of people across the world, including in Africa, to say, “Oh, but you know what I’m doing is peanuts compared to what the Americans are doing or the British are doing or what the so-called bastions of democracy are doing.”

Similarly within the continent to have countries hold the line is really critical because that then sets the standards that everyone else is judged by.

Excerpt:

While economists at a prominent South African bank are excited about burgeoning investment by Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) in Africa, they are vague on the question of the extent to which it will benefit the majority of Africans. Ensuring this, they believe, is the responsibility of African states themselves.

“A country like China is also a developing country, so things like corporate social responsibility are novel ideas for Chinese companies,” said Standard Bank economist, Jeremy Stevens, speaking at a briefing the bank held yesterday on BRIC-Africa relations.

“When they come to Africa and they do a business deal where they negotiate terms that benefit them in purely capitalist ways, and then they leave and get criticised… I don’t see how it should be China’s responsibility to bargain (on behalf of) the African side.

“One, we need to know what China is doing and understand that. Two, we need to get our house in order so that when we negotiate with China we sing from the same hymn sheet,” added Stevens. “Africa needs to know what it wants. So far it’s come with its head hanging down to the negotiating table.”

Even though African states have historically negotiated from a restricted position, he believes it’s largely their own fault. The continent needs to seize the moment to ensure that it benefits proportionately from trade relations with BRIC. Moreover, African states need to change their trade policies and negotiate as a region instead of what boils down to a short-sighted nationalist race.

“At FOCAC (the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation) in 2003, China knew what it wanted. Africa, one, didn’t know; two, hadn’t agreed; three, hadn’t communicated with each other,” argued Stevens. “I don’t see how this becomes China’s fault. China is being what the world expects it to be: less communist and more liberal capitalist.”

Standard Bank economist for Brazil and India Simon Freemantle and Stevens explained that the seismic shift in world trade means that the BRIC trading bloc needs Africa as much as Africa needs them. Freemantle belaboured the point that it’s not longer “BRIC in Africa” but “BRIC and Africa”.

“The story of BRIC and Africa has only just begun. While trade between BRIC and Africa is declining, it is on account of the current economic climate. It has declined marginally — less than the traditional markets,” added Freemantle.

Stevens posited that Africa has a good bargaining position where it can pit BRICS and its traditional trade partners against each other to get the best deal.

Thanks to the huge appetite of the BRIC emerging market economies, they have set their sights on Africa to help them become major forces in the global economy. The BRIC will collectively outstrip the G7 in the next 40 years.

Group economist at Standard Bank Goolam Ballim explained that Africa has become “a vital market” to the BRIC trading bloc, which has increased its trade with the continent significantly from 3.5 billion dollars in 2000 to 166 billion dollars in 2008.

China and Africa

China has identified Africa as its strategic economic, trade and political partner, leading to unprecedented trade with the continent. China dominates the BRIC-Africa trade flows, doubling trade with the continent year on year.

In nominal terms, China-Africa trade increased from 3.5 billion dollars in 1990 to over 100 billion dollar in 2008, grabbing the lion’s share (two thirds) of Africa’s total BRIC trade. Twenty African states identify China in their top five of export destinations, with 32 countries in the continent listing China in their top five import sources.

“China-Africa trade has doubled every year, with 10 percent of all of Africa’s exports going to China,” according to Stevens.

Russia and Africa

The Russian rush for African “gold” has been preceded by its ideological ties dating back to the cold war. In 2003, Russia, a latecomer to the emerging market club, increased its trade with Africa by 30 percent, focusing largely on trade with countries in the northern parts of the continent.

But Stevens cautioned that Russia’s late arrival should not lead to the former superpower being underestimated. “Russia’s ties with Africa are not longer defined by its shared ideology with the continent but have become more trade and economically driven.”

Brazil and Africa

In 2005, Brazilian president Luiz “Lula” da Silva during a visit to Senegal stated that Brazil has a political, historical and moral obligation towards Africa and apologised for Brazil’s role in the African slave trade. Since then da Silva has used diplomacy and collaborative agreements to couch trade deals in Africa. He has visited the continent eight times between 2003 and 2009.

“Lula’s outspoken desire to create greater bargaining power for the Global South in multilateral forums is indicative of his desire to conduct good politics,” said Freemantle.

“In this third world alignment, Africa with its 54 states presents significant voting power in multilateral forums when it comes to trade talks. Brazil needs that assistance,” added Freemantle.

In 2008, trade with Brazil was approximately 26.3 billion dollars, making Brazil Africa’s 10th most significant global trading partner. Freemantle said the figure is important given the continent’s traditional partners and the manner with which Brazil has entered the African market.

“Brazil’s trading partnerships are relatively narrow concentrated but substantial. African exports to Brazil are overwhelmingly focused on energy intensive countries: Angola, Nigeria and Algeria “according to Freemantle.

India and Africa

India’s trade with Africa has been marked by private trade with companies on the continent, especially South Africa. India’s trade with Africa increased by a massive 1,000 percent over the past decade, driven in large part by its emerging multinationals such as Tata, Ranbaxy, Mahindra & Mahindra, Reliance and ArcelorMittal.

India’s trade is also buoyed by its energy needs. India is the fifth largest consumer of energy in the world.

“There is no doubt that India views Africa as a major economic and diplomatic priority, not only to secure energy assets but to grow key sectors in Africa in order to boost bilateral trade. For India, the more advanced African economies are, the greater the bilateral trade prospects,” added Freemantle. “Africa’s growth is very much in India’s best interest.”