Still No Shame: Five Year Anniversary of NATO`s Illegal Destruction of Libya
by Patrick Henningsen
to read this excellent article please click on link below
Monthly Archives: October 2016
Historic Times – South Africa to Follow Burundi`s Lead
re posted from Presstv.com
South Africa announces decision to quit International Criminal Court
South Africa has joined Burundi in officially announcing its withdrawal from the International Criminal Court (ICC), saying its laws are incompatible with obligations under the ICC.
The South African government gave a formal notice of its intention to pull out of the ICC on Friday.
South Africa “found that its obligations with respect to the peaceful resolution of conflicts at times are incompatible with the interpretation given by the International Criminal Court,” the document, signed by International Relations Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, read.
Meanwhile, Justice Minister Michael Masutha told a media conference in the administrative capital, Pretoria, that the ICC’s obligations are inconsistent with laws giving sitting leaders diplomatic immunity.
“The Implementation of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court Act, 2002, is in conflict and inconsistent with the provisions of the Diplomatic Immunities and Privileges Act, 2001,” Masutha said.
South Africa says a bill over the matter, i.e. the withdrawal from ICC, will soon go to the country’s parliament.
The decision comes amid a dispute over last year’s visit by Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir to attend an African Union summit in Johannesburg. Bashir is wanted by the ICC over alleged war crimes. South Africa, however, said he had immunity as the head of a member state.
Nevertheless, the ICC criticized the South African government for its failure to arrest Bashir.
The announcement of the decision by South Africa to withdraw from the ICC sparked rapid criticism from the New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW).
South Africa’s proposed withdrawal “shows startling disregard for justice from a country long seen as a global leader on accountability for victims of the gravest crimes,” HRW said in a statement. “It’s important both for South Africa and the region that this runaway train be slowed down and South Africa’s hard-won legacy of standing with victims of mass atrocities be restored.”
South Africa is the second African country to declare its withdrawal from the ICC. Earlier this week, Burundi’s President Pierre Nkurunziza signed a decree to quit the court’s jurisdiction.
Namibia and Kenya have also raised the possibility of withdrawal from the ICC.
Some African governments say the ICC has shown a post-colonial bias against the continent’s leaders.
Burundi Leading the Fight Against Empire
re posted from Presstv.com
Burundi’s president signs decree to launch withdrawal from ICC
Burundi’s President Pierre Nkurunziza has signed a decree effectuating a parliamentary law that had called for the country to withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Nkurunziza signed off on the law on Tuesday, a week after lawmakers voted overwhelmingly to remove the county from The Hugue-based court’s jurisdiction.
The decree, published on the presidency’s website, said the decision would “come into immediate effect.”
Observers say a withdrawal from the ICC takes effect a year after the day the UN secretary-general is formally notified of a country’s intention to quit.
Burundi’s decision to quit the ICC follows a bitter dispute with the international community over the human rights situation in the East African country.
Burundi has been gripped in chaos since April 2015 when Nkurunziza decided to run for a third term in office, which he went on to win.
A vicious government crackdown on protesters and widespread violence followed, which some rights organizations estimate, has left more than 1,000 people dead.
In April, the ICC opened a preliminary investigation into reports of killings, imprisonment, torture, rape and other sexual violence, as well as enforced disappearances, by Burundian government forces.
Bujumbura was also infuriated by a damning UN report in September that detailed gross human rights abuses such as torture and sexual violence.
In reaction, Bujumbura barred three UN experts from conducting a probe into the country’s human rights violations inside Burundi.
The International Criminal Court was set up in 2002 to try war criminals and perpetrators of genocide.
The ICC has opened probes involving eight countries, all of them African, namely Kenya, the Ivory Coast, Libya, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, Uganda and Mali
Developing Egypt: Monetarism vs National Credit – the New Paradigm
re posted from LAROUCHEPAC.COM
https://larouchepac.com/20161019/developing-egypt-monetarism-vs-national-credit-new-paradigm
Developing Egypt: Monetarism vs National Credit – the New Paradigm
This week’s show features the participation of Hussein Askary, an organizer for economic development in the world, with a focus on the Middle East. Askary, a long-time associate of Lyndon LaRouche, discusses the successes and challenges facing Egypt, as a case study for the dueling economic paradigms of the present. Development cannot occur within a monetarist straitjacket, but requires the credit approach of the Lyndon LaRouche–Alexander Hamilton “Four Laws.”
For more on the Four Laws, see: lpac.co/four-laws
Hussein Askary’s proposal for Egyptian economic independence
Alexander Hamilton’s four reports to the Congress
National Dialogue Creates New Potential for Sudan
National Dialogue Creates New Potential for Sudan
image copyright L. Freeman
National Dialogue Creates New Potential for Sudan
By Lawrence Freeman, Political-Economic Analyst for Africa
Khartoum-Oct. 14 2016
On Monday October 10, Sudan celebrated the conclusion of the historic National Dialogue intended to give birth to a New Sudan and new constitution. Joining Sudan’s President Omar al Bashir on the dais were the heads of state from Egypt, Uganda, Chad and Mauritania, all who spoke in support of the agreement along with representatives from Russia, China, Ethiopia, and the Islamic Cooperation Organization.
image copyright L. Freeman
The following day, President Bashir was seen dancing at an outdoor rally in front of cheering crowds. A senior member of the ruling National Congress Party-(NCP) told this author that the significance of this agreement is second only to the founding of Sudan in 1956 when Sudan liberated itself from British colonialism.
President Bashir also announced extending the cease fire between government forces and military opposition groups in Darfur, Blue Nile, and South Kordorfan until the end of the year. Resolving the long standing internal armed conflict is essential for Sudan to proceed to the vital task of developing its flailing economy improving the living standards of its people.
image copyright L. Freeman
The lack of attendance and press coverage by the United States and Europe was notable, but not surprising. The US led sanctions against Sudan that are inflicting undue hardships on the population and strangling the Sudan economy remains a critical obstacle for Sudan’s advancement on the path of progress following the remarkable accomplishment of the National Dialogue.
The Monday conference and signing of the National Document in Friendship Hall is the culmination of a more than two year process that began in July 2013. Recognizing the need for the NCP to initiate a transformation of the country after suffering economic and political difficulties following the separation of South Sudan, President Bashir called for a far reaching and transparent National Dialogue in January 2014 to re-examine fundamental concerns of the population. These included issues of peace, unity, the economy, external relations, freedom of speech and press. One of the most important concepts that was addressed is that of citizenship and identity. As one member of the Umma Federal Party participating in the National Dialogue told me that they decided to reaffirm that “we are not Arab nor African, but Sudanese in Africa.”
image copyright L. Freeman
Seventy-four political parties and thirty-four armed movements joined the dialogue. Three armed rebel groups refused to sign the National Document; the JEM, the SLA, and the SPLM-N, but the opportunity for them to sign will remain open. The political side of the dialogue was conducted in the “seven plus seven plus one” discussions between the NCP and the opposition parties and movements. For the society at large, tribal leaders, religious groups, NGOs, unions, civil society, respected individuals, and citizens were invited to join the dialogue. Women represented a large minority-33% of participants in the process.
Sudanese from all parties and sections of society are hopeful that National Dialogue will finally lead to peace and stability in Sudan, which has been hampered by internal strife for approximately fifty of their sixty years of independence.
image copyright L. Freeman
A new constitution will be written with new laws to embody the fresh conceptions that have emerged from this multi-year process. Supported by the platform created by the National Dialogue, Sudan has a propitious moment to articulate and implement a visionary national economic program to realize its full economic potential and lift its people out of poverty.
To help unify the nation, which has suffered from years of civil conflict, all parties should coalesce around a program for investment in the most vital categories of infrastructure; electrical power, railroads, water management, roads and finally cultivate Sudan’s huge amount of fertile land that has never been fully exploited. Such an infrastructure led developmental approach will not only increase the productivity of the economy for the benefit of all citizens, but will provide meaningful productive employment that will give the youth hope for the future.
Sudan’s current participation in China’s Maritime Silk Road through Port Sudan provides an advantage for economic growth as China’s “One Belt-One Road” global infrastructure policy is already transforming the world. President, Xi Jinping has announced China’s intention to eliminate poverty in Africa. Let the New Sudan adopt this mission as well.
by Lawrence Freeman
contact author ikfreeman@prodigy.net
LA PAUVRETÉ EN AFRIQUE LE RÔLE DES ONG EN AFRIQUE
Source: Sebastien Perimony
LA PAUVRETÉ EN AFRIQUE LE RÔLE DES ONG EN AFRIQUE
Published on 11 Oct 2016
Emission de Roger Bongos “Face à L’Afrique”
Burundi Continues to Set the Standard of Genuine African Liberation
re posted from Presstv.com
http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2016/10/12/488760/Africa-Burundi-Bujumbura-Human-Rights-Violations-ICC
Burundi parliamentarians vote for ICC exit
The lower house of parliament in Burundi has voted for the country to pull out of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which has opened an investigation into alleged atrocities committed in the African country.
“The ICC is a tool being used to try and change power” in our country, Aloys Ntakirutimana, a lawmaker from the ruling party, said during a three-hour debate in the national assembly before voting on Wednesday.
During the pre-vote debates in parliament, a few lawmakers were for Burundi’s stay in the ICC. However, 94 parliamentarians voted in favor of an exit, two against and 14 abstained.
The upper house of parliament, or the senate, which is also dominated by the ruling party, will vote on the move. The decision then needs to be approved by President Pierre Nkurunziza.
Burundi plunged into crisis when Nkurunziza decided to run for a third term in office in April 2015. He won the presidential election.
A heavy-handed crackdown on dissent followed. Some human rights organizations estimate that the clampdown has left more than 1,000 people dead.
In April, Fatou Bensouda, an ICC prosecutor, launched a preliminary investigation into reports of “killing, imprisonment, torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence, as well as cases of enforced disappearances” in Burundi.
The initial probe is aimed at determining whether there is enough evidence to proceed to a full-blown investigation by the ICC, which could result in drawing up charges against those believed to be responsible for the violence.
Bensouda’s decision was followed by a convincing report by the United Nations rights experts released in September, detailing gross human rights abuses such as torture and sexual violence.
Ethnic violence between Hutu and Tutsi communities in Burundi has a long history and led to a 12-year civil war that ended in 2006.
Certain African countries accuse the ICC of unjustly targeting their leaders.
Kenya, whose president and vice president were both targeted with failed ICC prosecutions, has been urging all African countries to show resistance against the ICC.
The International Criminal Court was set up in 2002 to try war criminals and perpetrators of genocide.
The ICC has opened probes involving eight countries, all of them African, namely Kenya, the Ivory Coast, Libya, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, Uganda and Mali.
Burundi – Africa`s Real Revolutionaries who Stand Up Against Empire
re posted from Presstv.com
Burundi bans three UN human rights investigators from entering African country
Burundi has banned three United Nations investigators from entering its territory, after the trio presented a report which named officials allegedly involved in last year’s killing and torturing of political opposition.
The UN Human Rights Council had tasked the team in January with a probe into cases of rights abuses in Burundi, eight months after violence erupted in the country over a controversial decision by President Pierre Nkurunziza to run for a third term. Nkurunziza won the votes in July despite fierce opposition and rampant street demonstrations.
The trio, under a mission known as the United Nations Independent Investigation on Burundi (UNIIB), published their report on September 20. The report investigated alleged human rights violations in the country from April 15, 2015 to June 30, 2016.
According to the findings of the investigators, “gross violations are systematic and patterned and impunity is pervasive,” in the volatile African country during the period. They also warned that “given the country’s history, the danger of the crime of genocide also looms large.”
At least 1,000 deaths, including 564 cases of executions, have been verified during the span of time, the experts said, adding that torture, sexual abuse and arbitrary detention have happened “on a massive scale.”
Burundi has strongly rejected the claims in the report. Last week, the government also dismissed a UN decision to launch a commission of inquiry to identify perpetrators of killings and torture, arguing that it was based on a one-sided report, whose authors have been “politically motivated.”
Nkurunziza’s administration also said the report and its conclusions were based on anonymous and unverifiable sources.
An estimated 300,000 people were killed during a brutal civil war between majority Hutus and minority Tutsis from 1993 until 2006 in Burundi.
Kabila, Gertler and Hypocrisy in High Places
Kabila, Gertler and Hypocrisy in High Places
by africanagenda.net
image – diamondjubilee.hellomagazine.com
The US Justice Department has done something extraordinary. It has fined a Wall Street hedge fund for paying bribes to African ministers in exchange for mineral rights.
Och-Ziff have been fined under the U.S Foreign Corrupt Practices Act .The African countries involved include Libya, Guinea, Chad, Niger, and the DR Congo, but focus is on the DRC where the main 3 individuals highlighted in the case are Dan Gertler, President Joseph Kabila, and the late Katumba Mwanke, advisor to the president.
The fine is a paltry $413 million compared to the net wealth of Och-Ziff that at its height was worth $48 billion. The CEO and founder of Och-Ziff, Daniel Och, who is a multi billionaire will only pay $2,2 million.
Och-Ziff have been involved in the past in corruption scandals. In fact Och-Ziff is a by-word for criminal enterprise. The London based arm of Och-Ziff was involved in the BAE scandal. BAE Systems plc is a City of London multinational defence, security and aerospace company that narrowly escaped investigation by the UK Serious Fraud Office for corruption in the Al Yamamah Arms Deal which was the biggest arms deals in history with the world`s most brutal dictatorship and font of Wahhabi terrorism in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia. Tony Blair put a stop to the investigation.
So What`s the Big Deal of this scandal?
Unlike the Al-Yamamah scandal which never saw the light of justice, this court case against Och-Ziff is exposing a money trail to senior Congolese government officials and to the president Joseph Kabila himself, for accepting bribes from the likes of Och-Ziff front man Dan Gertler. Given that the bribing of politicians by MNCs happens on a daily basis all around the world and is a given fact of politics in America, Europe and Britain, what is the reason that this case in particular is receiving so much attention?
The real target of this scandal is President Kabila because he is steering the D.R. Congo in favour of Chinese investors and the US/UK financiers want to get rid of him and put a replacement in power. He is being made the fall-guy for corrupt MNC`s .
In effect this court case proves that the US Justice Department is corrupt and enforces the law when favourable to the US political elite and is currently being used to bring down foreign presidents.
Dan Gertler is a front man for Wall Street and City of London financiers. It has been commonly known for 20 years that Laurent Kabila, father of Joseph Kabila, handed over the diamond rights of the Congo to Dan Gertler after his inauguration as president in 1997 in obvious payment for finances rendered.
In 1997 Dan Gertler was 23 years old. Although Gertler is the grandson of Moshe Schnitzer , founder of Tel Aviv`s diamond industry and nephew of Schmeul Schnitzer, vice chairman of the World Diamond Council who oversees liasons between the Diamond Council, governments and the UN; still how can a 23 year-old come up with the money and know-how to finance the over-throw of Mobutu Sese Siko by Laurent Kabila and the ADFL.
Because it wasn`t Dan Gertler who financed the Rwandan invasion of the sovereign state of Zaire, it was the financiers of Wall Street and City of London through their criminal hedge funds such as Och-Ziff. The Rwandan coup of 1994 by murderous men such as President Paul Kagame, was also master-minded and financed by Washington. Who then continued to finance the RPF of the Kagame regime to invade Zaire using the cover of Congolese national Laurent Kabila and `his` army the ADFL.
Dan Gertler was not much more than a boy in 1997. He was the errand boy for the man he would take over from- Maurice Tempelsman, whose name is never mentioned in this latest scandal. Maurice Tempelsman was the go-to fixer for Anglo-American, DeBeers, Oppenheimer diamond interests in Zaire (DRC) under Mobutu Sese Siko. Templesman is on the Council on Foreign Relations, was in a relationship with Jackie Kennedy and sits on the Harvard School of Public Health AIDS Initiative amongst other prestigious roles. He is a far bigger and more sinister figure than other financiers like George Soros. It was Templesman who hired Larry Devlin in 1961 to advise the Mobutu government after the assassination of Patrice Lumumba. Larry Devlin was the CIA operative given the task of murdering Lumumba although he claims others did it. Tempelsman has been a director of the National Endowment for Democracy which funds Global Witness and other `humanitarian` George Soros organizations..
Global Witness exposed the dirty dealings of Dan Gertler in Congo. Gertler either turned rogue and handed mineral rights over to Chinese interests or he himself is the fall guy for the exposure. Glencore could profit from his downturn and Glencore is the main Rothschild owned City of London corporation involved in all resources-rich African countries.
One-sided Transparency
In a classic case of Problem Reaction Solution, after Global Witness exposed Dan Gertler`s dealings in the DRC along with a great deal of emotive propaganda, the issue of Conflict Minerals in Africa came to the public`s attention and George Soros started the organization called Publish What You Pay . This resulted in the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative . EITI called for all nations with valuable mineral resources be compelled to declare all deals and transactions to the British government and to major multinationals. This was announced as a measure to end corporate corruption in developing countries.
In reality on the part of the British government and the City of London extractive corporations, it is blatant coercion, blackmail and the violation of the sovereignty of African countries.
Guess who started EITI ?
“In 2002, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, in Johannesburg, announced he had accepted this Soros proposal. In 2003 Blair formed the EITI as a London-based global agency, which would seek to pull in the United States and would attempt to enforce open domination over world resources. Led originally by Anglo-Dutch Shell Oil, DeBeers, and Anglo American, EITI’s participating corporations now include include such mining companies as AngloGold Ashanti, Barrick Gold, BHP Billiton, DeBeers, Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold, Gold Fields, Katanga Mining Limited, Newmont, Rio Tinto; and oil companies such as Chevron, ConocoPhilips, Eni, ExxonMobil, Hess, Pemex, and Petrobras” [1]
Let`s hope that this scandal will back-fire on the financial cartel of Wall Street and the City of London elite, destroy the credibility of Och-Ziff and leave Africans to decide themselves on their future.
Sources :
[1] http://archive.larouchepac.com/node/6584/print -George Soros, Diamond Cartels, and the Push for Africa’s Destruction
1er Train Transcontinental pour l’Afrique ?
re posted from L`Afrique Avec Les Yeux Du Futur
http://www.sebastienperimony.fr/1er-train-transcontinental-pour-lafrique/
1er train transcontinental pour l’Afrique ?
Le Botswana, le Mozambique et le Zimbabwe signent un protocole d’accord pour la création d’un chemin de fer soutenu par la Chine.
Lors d’une réunion le 9 septembre à Bulawayo au Zimbabwe, les ministres du Mozambique, du Botswana et du Zimbabwe ont signé un protocole d’entente engageant les trois Etats à la création d’un chemin de fer de 600 millions de dollars dans les trois pays. Le projet sera soutenu par la Chine. Projet connu sous le nom de Chemin de fer Port en eaux profonde de Techobanine, la ligne de chemin de fer de 2000 kilomètres reliera les pays enclavés que sont le Zimbabwe et le Botswana avec le port Techobanine, près de Maputo au Mozambique. Le nouveau port permettra d’élargir massivement le transport de marchandises. Le port devrait être construit et financé par la Chine au prix de
7 milliards de dollars et devenir un centre industriel et logistique de premier plan pour la région. Les Chinois devraient également être impliqués dans le développement et le financement du chemin de fer qui transportera le charbon et l’uranium du Botswana vers le marché asiatique, en particulier pour la Chine et l’Inde. L’accord a été signé par Joram Gumbo, ministre des Transports et du développement des infrastructures du Zimbabwé,Carlos Alberto Mesquita, ministre des Transports et des communications du Mozambique, et Kitso Mokaila, ministre botswanais des Minéraux, de l’énergie et des ressources en eau. Le ministre Mokaila a indiqué que le projet aiderait le Botswana à développer les ressources de charbon inexploitées du pays et les réserves d’uranium récemment découvertes. Chacun des trois pays contribueront à hauteur de 200 millions de dollars. La prochaine étape sera la rédaction d’une étude de faisabilité détaillée. La construction du chemin de fer sera aux normes d’écartement de rails européennes, et sera la première étape dans le remplacement des voies de chamin de fer obsolètes qui avait été construites par les anciennes puissances coloniales, la Grande-Bretagne et le Portugal. Le Botswana a également établi un partenariat avec la Namibie pour la construction d’un chemin de fer vers Walvis Bay en Namibie. Ce chemin de fer est connu sous le nom Trans-Kalahari (1) et sera vraisemblablement orienté vers le marché européen. Comme il n’y a pas eu de croissance économique en Europe et dans la zone transatlantique, ce projet n’a pas été en mesure de recevoir pour l’instant les financements nécessaires. Si les deux chemins de fer étaient construit et que la liaison entre Gaborone et Francistown également rénovée et incluse dans ce projet, cela constituerait la première voie ferrée trans-continentale de l’Afrique.
(1) Le chemin de fer Trans-Kalahari (TKR) : les gouvernements du Botswana et de la Namibie ont signé un accord pour la construction du chemin de fer Trans-Kalahari (TKR), une ligne de transports lourds longue de 1.500 km reliant les bassins du Botswana avec la ligne déjà existante à Gobabis en Namibie. En plus de la nouvelle ligne du Botswana, le projet TKR impliquera la réhabilitation complète de la ligne TransNamib de Gobabis, via la capitale Windhoek, pour servir le nouveau port de Walvis Bay. Les coûts de construction pour le TKR sont estimés à 9,2 milliards de dollars. Le projet ferroviaire comprendrait un terminal de marchandises au port de Walvis Bay. Le terminal de charbon serait configuré pour traiter environ 65 millions de tonnes de charbon par an. Le chemin de fer permettra également d’élargir la capacité de fret sur les corridors de transport très encombrés au sein de la Communauté de développement de l’Afrique australe (SADC). Il est également prévu de fournir un meilleur accès aux marchés mondiaux pour d’autres pays enclavés de la région comme le Malawi, la Zambie et le Zimbabwe.
