Beautiful Horizons

I Hate To Say I Told You So

Yesterday I made this comment about Ceuta and Melilla, Spain's enclaves in Africa:

Meanwhile, one thing is abundantly clear: no matter how high the fences are built, no matter whether the bullets are rubber from the Spanish side or lead from the Moroccan side and no matter how rough the seas in the Straits of Gibraltar are, the truly desperate will still risk life and limb to improve their lot in life.

Today, here's what happened in Melilla:

More than 300 Africans tore through a razor-wire fence separating Morocco from the Spanish enclave of Melilla on Monday, clashing with police in the latest wave of undocumented immigrants seeking a foothold in Europe.

Officials said an estimated 650 people tried to cross, and about 350 succeeded, in the predawn surge into Melilla, a small, crowded enclave on Morocco's northern coast. Police on both sides were overwhelmed.

"There were just too many of us," said Fofama Issa, a 28-year-old man from Mali, sitting barefoot in an overflowing holding facility after the melee.

"There were just too many of us." And they can't bear living in desperation any more.

The Border of Desperation; The Border of Hope

My vote for least reported on international story over the past few weeks (outside media of the countries impacted) are the recent attempts by illegal immigrants, mainly from sub-Saharan Africa, to break into the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla and enter the European Union.

Ceuta and Melilla are two Spanish cities on the north coast of Africa. Ceuta is close to Tangier and Tetouan and Melilla is about 200 miles further east, almost directly opposite Almería. They have been Spanish territory and hold a special place in the hearts of the right-wing in Spain as these were territories under Franco's administration when he launched his coup against the Spanish Republic.

Their strategic location also makes them appealing to illegal immigrants from Africa whose desperate hope for a better life is illustrated no more poignantly than by this individual whose body arrived on the shores of Tarifa, Spain:

That picture may also be one of the primary reasons why the attempts to enter Spain through Ceuta and Melilla are on the increase. Five years ago Mércia and I took a side trip to Morocco from Spain. We had originally planned to leave through Tarifa and go directly to Tangier, but were advised that we could only make the passage from Tarifa if we had EU passports.

That was certainly a disappointment as it meant that we could not stay in the lovely moorish city of Tarifa (a favorite destination for windsurfers), but instead had to stay in the unpleasant (to put it mildly) port city of Algeciras. We crossed to Ceuta the next day and crossed into Morocco from Ceuta, politically leaving Europe for Africa overland - in Africa. Ceuta seemed a pleasant enouugh place, but one wonders what the strategic relevance it has for Spain these days, other than a cheap place for Moroccans to buy goods and try to bring them back to Morocco. On the way to Tetouan we saw numerous cars marked "douane" (customs in French) stopping cars that had been leaving Ceuta for spot inspections. On the ferry going back to Algeciras and upon exiting we had to show our passports.

Without taking a position on it either yea or nay, it's worth noting that when Spaniards clamor for the return of Gibraltar from British to Spanish hands, the British quickly raise the case of Ceuta and Melilla. The arguments for and against are made here.

Meanwhile, one thing is abundantly clear: no matter how high the fences are built, no matter whether the bullets are rubber from the Spanish side or lead from the Moroccan side and no matter how rough the seas in the Straits of Gibraltar are, the truly desperate will still risk life and limb to improve their lot in life.

Death of a Human Rights Defender

The situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo continues to slide off the radar despite the horrific cruelty of the violence there. Yesterday it claimed a hero:

The Congolese government must immediately start thorough and independent investigations into yesterday’s assassination of human rights activist Pascal Kabungulu Kibembi, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and Front Line said today. Pascal Kabungulu was the Secretary-General of Héritiers de la Justice (Heirs of Justice), a leading human rights organization in the Democratic Republic of Congo. He was also the Vice-President of the regional umbrella Ligue des Droits de l’Homme dans la Région des Grands Lacs (LDGL).

Pascal Kabungulu was assassinated in his home in Bukavu, eastern Congo, in the early hours of July 31. Three armed men in uniform broke into his house, dragged him out of his bedroom and shot him in front of his family. Family members reported that just before his execution the attackers said, “We were looking for you and today is the day of your death.” The men stole Mr. Kabungulu’s laptop, a TV and a tape recorder.

“Pascal Kabungulu was a highly regarded and courageous defender of human rights who gave hope to ordinary people afflicted by war and misery,” the three international human rights organizations said in a joint statement. “Killing a human rights defender means spreading fear across whole communities in Congo.”

Of course that last sentence explains the entire purpose of Kabungulu's murder. From King Leopold to Belgium to Mobutu to the Kabila's, this nation has only known suffering.

 

Three Books on Africa - Two to Recommend Heartily

Over the past couple of months I read three books on Africa: Aidan Hartley's The Zanzibar Chest, Howard W. French's, A Continent for the Taking : The Tragedy and Hope of Africa andPaul Theroux's Dark Star Safari: Overland From Cairo to Capetown.

Of the three I really enjoyed Hartley's book the most. Hartley has a love for Africa that imbues the book with a certain sadness, but a strong sense of admiration for the continent's beauty and its potential. No rosy glasses for Hartley, just the sense that one gets from someone who despite being the descendant of a British colonist feels strongly at one with the land, the culture and the people.

French's book also shares a strong love for Africa and a hot rage at the kleptocrats and criminals that have slurped greedily at the trough. His white-hot rejoinder to Charles Taylor at a press conference is a thing of beauty:

"Isn't it outrageous for someone who has drugged small boys, given them guns and trained them to kill to call this God's war? . . . How dare you call the destruction of your country in this manner and the killing of two hundred thousand people God's war?"

I could have hugged him for that.

Theroux's book, while an absorbing read was a bit dyspeptic to me. Theroux was in Africa in the Peace Corps and has a love for the continent as well, but his rage at the injustice, corruption, kleptocracy and suffering, while tempered periodically with paeans to the continent's beauty, gives me the impression that he must be a very difficult person with whom to travel. One can only stomach so much condescension.

So I recommend Hartley and French heartily. Theroux is worth reading, but be prepared for the bile.

How to Have Allegations of Genocide Against You Softpedaled

Well, one way certainly appears to be to promise the Bush administration that you have the goods on terrorists and are willing to coöperate. I really don't have much to add to this other than to shake my head. Unfortunately, Ken Silverstein's original article (which seemed to get very little media attention) is no longer available for free, but an interview with Silverstein is available here.

This pasrt of Hentoff's article references Silverstein's article:

For example, in its April 29 article, "Official Pariah Sudan Valuable to America's War on Terrorism," the Los Angeles Times added: "Last month, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice sent a letter to the Bashir government calling for steps to end the conflict in Darfur."

This part of her letter was pro forma because, as the L.A. Times continues, "the letter, reviewed by the Times . . . also said the administration hoped to establish a 'fruitful relationship' with Sudan and looked forward to continued 'close cooperation' on terrorism." (Emphasis added.)

Hentoff promises more in next week's column.

Here's More Proof

David Adesnik pointed me to this story about how Charles Taylor is still up to no good in exile and how, despite his asylum agreement with Nigeria, he is still meddling in Liberian affairs. David asks "why isn't our government trying to stop him?"

Here's the answer, David: this emperor has no clothes. The Bush administration has the attention span of a gnat and when you consider how it washed its hands of Haiti after Aristide was out of the picture and how it has largely paid little attention to the Americas and scant more to Africa (other than Sudan), why should this surprise anyone?

Riggs Bank - The African Angle

One aspect of the sleaze that appears to have engulfed Riggs Bank that I neglected to mention is their support for the corrupt regime of Equatorial Guinea.

Edward at Obsidian Wings also has an excellent post on the subject.

As for me I'm really beginning to think that one of nature's cruelest tricks is a summer cold. Back tomorrow.

Some Good News

For the reactionaries who have consistently raised alarms about universal jurisdiction for crimes against humanity - and you know who you are - , here's another fine example of truth speaking to power and winning out over hysteria:

Today's verdict in the Rotterdam trial of an accused Congolese torturer will help make the Netherlands a 'no-go' zone for perpetrators of serious human rights crimes, Human Rights Watch said. Sebastien Nzapali, an officer in the army of the former dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, was convicted of torture committed in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1995 and 1996. This was the first trial under the Netherlands' 1988 Implementation Act to the United Nations Convention against Torture. "With today's conviction, the Netherlands becomes a 'no-go' zone for people who commit serious human rights crimes," said Richard Dicker, director of the International Justice program at Human Rights Watch. "We hope Dutch authorities will energetically follow up this precedent."

As the press release indicates, the prosecutors really did their homework on this:

A multidisciplinary police task force took on the case, bringing together the Immigration Services, the National Intelligence Service, the Military Intelligence Service, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Dutch officials spent several months pursuing an investigation in the Democratic Republic of Congo in collaboration with Congolese authorities and Congolese non-governmental organizations. A Dutch magistrate and the lawyer for the accused went to Congo in February to facilitate the questioning of witnesses; no witness was required to travel to the Netherlands.

It's also worth noting that the International Criminal Court could not have pursued this case because of when the torture took place and the ICC can only prosecute acts committed after July 2002. Kudos to the Dutch authorities for devoting the time and effort to have justice done.

This is Interesting

This might answer some questions:

Embarrassed officials disclosed Thursday that the United Nations was unknowingly holding an airplane black box shipped here from Africa after the 1994 crash that killed the presidents of Rwanda and Burundi and set off the massacre of hundreds of thousands of Rwandans.

I'm sure some of the reactionary UN bashers will probably be frothing at the mouth that this is further evidence of the UN's uselessness, but it seems to me that it is only evidence of an individual and not institutional failure. This will be worth following to see if anything further can be gleaned from it.

What's Next: The Tonton Macoutes Working at the TSA?

Courtesy of The Whiskey Bar, comes this depressing news:

In its effort to relieve overstretched U.S. troops in Iraq, the Bush administration has hired a private security company staffed with former henchmen of South Africa’s apartheid regime.

The reliance on apartheid enforcers was highlighted by an attack in Iraq last month that killed one South African security officer and wounded another who worked for the subsidiary of a firm called Erinys International. Both men once served in South African paramilitary units dedicated to the violent repression of apartheid opponents.

François Strydom, who was killed in the January 28 bombing of a hotel in Baghdad, was a former member of the Koevoet, a notoriously brutal counterinsurgency arm of the South African military that operated in Namibia during the neighboring state’s fight for independence in the 1980s. His colleague Deon Gouws, who was injured in the attack, is a former officer of the Vlakplaas, a secret police unit in South Africa.

“It is just a horrible thought that such people are working for the Americans in Iraq,” said Richard Goldstone, a recently retired justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa and former chief prosecutor of the United Nations International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda.

The South Africans are also appalled at the CPA's sloppy vetting of the contracting:

South African security companies working outside the country are required by law to register with the National Conventional Arms Control Committee. According to South African lawmaker Raenette Taljaard, however, the committee did not receive an authorization application from Erinys International. “A lot of the South Africans doing mercenary work or working for private military companies were involved in Apartheid-era repression,” she said. “This is a big concern and it is just bad for South Africa’s reputation.” The chairman of the committee said in a statement after the January 28 incident that any violation of the law would be referred to prosecutors for further investigation.

To no one's surprise, the Pentagon and the CPA did not comment on this.