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CONTENTS:

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK:

1. World
2. Africa
3. Americas
4. Asia Pacific
5. Europe
6. Middle East
7. South Asia
8. Cyberterrorism and Information Warfare
9. Finance
10 Human Rights
11. Law and Legal Issues
12. Transportation
13. Weapons of Mass Destruction
14. Recently Published

FEATURE ARTICLE:
South Africa: Past, Present and Future, Part II

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK

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1. World

The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund released the "Global Monitoring Report 2004". It warns that "poor people in a large number of countries face little hope of emerging from lives of poverty and deprivation unless all actors in the development field-including governments in poor and rich countries alike-take urgent action now to address the root causes of poverty".
http://www.imf.org/external/np/sec/pr/2004/pr0485.htm

The World Bank's annual "World Development Indicators 2004" also demonstrates uneven progress. Although the proportion of people living in extreme poverty, on less than $1 a day, has dropped from 40 to 21 percent of the world's population, the proportion of poor has increased in many countries in Africa, Latin America, Eastern Europe and Central Asia. http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/NEWS/0,,contentMDK:20194973~menuPK:34463~pagePK:64003015~piPK:64003012~theSitePK:4607,00.html

The US General Accounting Office also looked at poverty last week. Their report "Challenges in Financing Poor Countries' Economic Growth and Debt Relief Targets" looked at the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative. They find that multilateral creditors have found it difficult to fund their commitments and that many poor countries are unlikely to achieve debt reduction targets because of significantly lower export earnings. http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-04-688T

Elsewhere, the UN has warned that the demands for peacekeeping missions are straining capacity. They emphasize the need for investment in post-conflict political and economic development and a concerted international effort to prevent flare-ups during recovery.

North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-il, joined a secret summit with Chinese authorities that concluded with a commitment to actively participate in multilateral talks about its nuclear program. The third round of talks, planned for June, seem likely to take place as planned.

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2. Africa

Algerian President Bouteflika has been sworn into his second term of office against a background of Islamic militancy and an unresolved conflict with the Berber minority. Bouteflika has called for talks with the Berbers and plans to open the records of some 7,000 people who "disappeared" during the civil war. Some 300 members of the Islamic militant Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) have laid down their arms and surrendered to Algerian authorities.

Angola has expelled thousands illegal diamond miners who crossed into the country from the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is estimated that 500,000 Congolese work illegally in northern diamond mines and more than 80,000 have been registered in DRC border provinces. There are reports that the mass expulsion has been accompanied by serious abuses, including strip-searching, theft, arbitrary detention and killing. There have been some cases in which the expelled miners have attacked Angolan refugees. http://www.msf.org/countries/page.cfm?articleid=78E2E8AE-2EB1-463B-B9FC8C748CBE8AB5

Burundi rebels of the National Liberation Forces (FNL) have declared a unilateral ceasefire.

In Central African Republic there was fighting between government forces and the fighters who had put President Bozize in power last year, resulting in an unknown number of casualties.

Democratic Republic of Congo officials have begun the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of some 330,000 ex-combatants in the east.

In western Ethiopia, a hand grenade attack in a school seriously injured 18 teenagers. The attacker is unknown, but members of the Oromo Liberation Front had been arrested near the school before the incident occurred.

Ivory Coast's opposition parties are holding a rally this weekend, although an official ban on demonstrations is still in place. UN peacekeepers will help security forces maintain order. The meeting is a ceremony for the up to 500 who died in demonstrations on March 25. A pro-government group, Young Patriots, associated with the previous violence will meet nearby.

Liberian fighters of the Movement for Democracy in Liberia (MODEL) have begun disarming.

In Malawi, people protesting the death by torture of a man in custody led to clashes with the police in which at least two people were killed.

In Nigeria's oil-rich Niger Delta, armed clashes between rival Ijaw and Itsekiri tribes as well as attacks by armed youths are escalating. An Ijaw militia force in several speedboats attacked a ferry of Ijaw and Urhobo passengers, killing ten. Five armed youths attacked an Agip oil facility and were shot dead by security guards. In a boat ambush, five people, including two US contractors, were killed.

South Africa's elections were declared free and fair, but the opposition Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) will challenge the ANC's runaway victory (70 percent) in court.

Only two weeks after commemorations of the Rwandan genocide, the UN Human Rights Commission watered down a resolution dealing with ethnic cleansing in Sudan's Darfur region, stopping short of a formal condemnation and arranging for further investigation. While some dispute the government-backed Arab militias' reign of terror described by the UN team and human rights organizations in the region, all agree that more than a million people have been displaced, more than 100,000 fled to Chad, and the need for humanitarian aid is urgent.
http://hrw.org/english/docs/2004/04/23/sudan8487.htm
http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu2/2/60chr/index.html http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=10508&Cr=sudan&Cr1=

Meanwhile, the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army and the government have deadlocked in peace discussions over power sharing and the use of Sharia law and mediators are working to develop a compromise. Talks between the government and the Darfur-based rebel groups Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and the Sudanese Liberation Movement are making little progress due to the government's attacks against civilians while talks are supposed to proceed.

In southern Sudan near the Ugandan border, the militia group Equatoria Defense Force (EDF) promises an all-out war against the Ugandan rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) because of LRA attacks inside Sudan.

Zimbabwe's President Mugabe hosted an anti-colonialism meeting of former African independence fighters to discuss land redistribution. The International Crisis Group has released "Zimbabwe: In Search of a New Strategy" that proposed a shift from an unachievable inter-party settlement to promoting a free and fair 2005 parliamentary election. http://www.crisisweb.org/home/index.cfm?id=2607&l=1

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3. Americas

"Democracy in Latin America", an important new report sponsored by the UN Development Program, finds a deep crisis of confidence in democracy throughout the region, where only half the people prefer democracy to authoritarian rule. http://www.undp.org/dpa/pressrelease/releases/2004/april/0421prodal.html

Argentina has issued an international arrest warrant against former president Carlos Menem for corruption during his 1989-99 rule.

A prison uprising in Brazil has left 14 dead; many brutally mutilated. The 5-day crisis ended when authorities agreed to replace the prison director and expand the overcrowded facility.

The Canadian government has ordered the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to obtain ministerial approval before sharing information with foreign intelligence agencies.

In Colombia, rival paramilitaries linked to the drugs trade attempted to assassinate Carlos Castano, the leader of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC). His whereabouts following the attempt early last week are unknown.

Cuba submitted then withdrew a proposed UN resolution calling for an investigation into conditions at Guantanamo Bay.

Haitian rebel leader Louis-Jodel Chamberlain has surrendered to police to demonstrate his confidence in the new government.

The secretive Mexican armed forces are revealed in part by new materials declassified by the US and provided through the National Security Archive in "The Blind Man and the Elephant: Reporting on the Mexican Military" http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB120/index.htm

The US House of Representatives approved a bill to hold special elections to fill vacancies within 45 days in extraordinary circumstances (the death of 100 or more members). http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/D?d108:20:./temp/~bd2aCV::

The US Supreme Court has begun hearings on two cases arising from the unlimited detention of "enemy combatants" at Guantanamo Bay, Rasul v. Bush and al Odah v. Rumsfeld. http://www.supremecourtus.gov/publicinfo/press/pr_04-13-04.html

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4. Asia Pacific

The Organization of the Islamic Conference has condemned US policies in Israel and Iraq but indicate they could contribute troops to Iraq if under UN auspices.
http://www.oic-oci.org/

Azerbaijan authorities have received a series of anonymous bomb threats over the past month. Although four arrests have been made, none linked to terrorism, authorities have expressed concern over potential threats from Islamic militants. The threats began after the attacks in Uzbekistan that killed.

China has confirmed new cases of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), including one death, and implemented strict travel screening procedures to try to preempt further spread. http://www.who.int/csr/don/2004_04_23/en/

East Timor has resumed negotiations with Australia over the maritime border. East Timor argues that the border should be halfway, but Australia wants to maintain the border previously agreed with Indonesia that gives them control over most of the rich oil and gas resources. Access to these reserves is crucial for the survival of East Timor. The country is desperately poor, without infrastructure, and has not other significant resources.

Fiji's first post-independence president, Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, has died age 83. He had been the dominant statesman of the region.

In the Indonesian Molucca Islands, fighting between Christians and Muslims has killed at least ten people.

Indonesia's former ruling party Golkar has chosen indicted war criminal General Wiranto, who had headed Suharto's military forces, as their presidential candidate.

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5. Europe

Albanian President Alfred Moisiu paid the first ever official visit to UN-administered Kosovo, a month after the violence between ethnic Albanians and Serbs that killed 19 and injured hundreds. He agreed with UN representative Harri Holkeri on the need to work for peace, democratization and integration, and attended a memorial service.

Meanwhile, Crisis International Group has published "Collapse in Kosovo". They say: "On 17 March 2004, the unstable foundations of four and a half years of gradual progress in Kosovo buckled and gave way. Within hours the province was immersed in anti-Serb and anti-UN rioting and had regressed to levels of violence not seen since 1999. By 18 March the violence mutated into the ethnic cleansing of entire minority villages and neighbourhoods. The mobs of Albanian youths, extremists and criminals exposed the UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) and the NATO-led peacekeeping force (KFOR) as very weak. Kosovo's provisional institutions of self-government (PISG), media and civil society afforded the rioters licence for mayhem. The international community urgently needs new policies -- on final status and socio-economic development alike -- or Kosovo instability may infect the entire region." http://www.crisisweb.org/home/index.cfm?l=1&id=2627

In Cyprus, another chance for reunification has been lost. Greek Cypriots voted overwhelmingly against the UN-backed proposal; Turkish Cypriots in favor. Turkey's support for the plan won favor at the EU, but it is Greek Cyprus that will join the community on May 1. The Greek position is deeply unpopular with the EU that has expressed criticism of their opposition to the reunification plan.

Denmark's Defense Minister Svend Aage Jansby has resigned following controversy over intelligence reports produced before the invasion of Iraq.

Slovaks elected former parliamentary leader Ivan Gasparovic, a moderate, as their new President. He defeated controversial ex-prime minister Vladimir Maciar.

Sweden has arrested four suspects of foreign origin that have been linked with Islamic extremist groups.

In the UK, a terrorist suspect known only as "G" has been released by the Special Immigration Appeal Commission to house arrest under strict restrictions because he had suffered severe mental health problems connected with his indefinite detention. He had been jailed since December 2001 without charge or trial. Home Secretary David Blunkett criticized the decision and may change the law to allow appeals through the courts.

Northern Ireland's Independent Monitoring Commission issued their first report, finding high levels of paramilitary violence continue. The bulk of murders are attributed to the Ulster Defense Association, while the Ulster Volunteer Force is associated with racial attacks, smuggling, theft, and extortion. Both they and other loyalist groups are associated with the drugs trade. The Provisional IRA is also linked to violence, including the abduction of dissident republic Bobby Tohill in February The government plans financial penalties on Sinn Fein and the Progressive Unionist Party for supporting these activities. Sinn Fein promises to fight the sanctions. http://www.nio.gov.uk/press/040420a.htm http://www.nio.gov.uk/pdf/imcreport.pdf

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6. Middle East

Bahrain has appointed the first woman, Nada Haffadh, to head a government ministry, that for health. Bahrain is the only Gulf state with female members of parliament.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has warned the US that Arab opinion is growing more negative because of the war in Iraq and support for Israel. He said that "There exists today a hatred never equaled in the region".
http://www.lemonde.fr/web/article/0,1-0@2-3212,36-361753,0.html (in French)

UN Middle East Envoy Roed-Larsen said that if the Gaza withdrawal is carried out in the right way it could lead to a new era in peacemaking; the wrong way could lead to more violence. http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2004/sc8071.doc.htm

In the Gaza Strip an unarmed Palestinian was shot dead after he crossed a barbed wire offense, possible to gather intelligence. An armed Palestinian was killed by a tank shell. Five Palestinian militants were shot dead in a gunfight. Following repeated Palestinian rocket fire Israeli Defense Force launched raids o counter the attacks, killing five armed militants and five civilians and wounding dozens

April in Iraq has seen an upsurge in violence and the worst casualty figures since the invasion began. Close to a hundred US troops have been killed, several coalition force members and contractors, and many times more civilians. Falluja is under siege and US administrator Paul Bremer described the situation in Najaf as "explosive". A dramatic coordinated boat attack aimed at oil export terminals was stopped short with few casualties. Bremer has "tweaked" the ban on employing former Baath party members to ensure the ban is applied fairly, which could allow reinstatement for those who have a clean record. http://www.cpa-iraq.org/ http://www.dod.mil/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/0,2759,423009,00.html (Special report with timeline)

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon says he is no longer bound by a promise to US President Bush not to harm Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, indicating he would be a desirable assassination target. Hamas leadership abroad, including those in Syria, have also been mentioned as assassination targets. The US said its position had not changed. Meanwhile, an inquiry is underway in the use of human shields by Israeli forces after a 13-year-old boy and three adult protesters were tied to border police vehicles during anti-barrier protests.

Jordanian police have shot dead three suspected militants accused of planning terrorist attacks, including a possible chemical bomb. Talks scheduled between King Abdullah of Jordan and US President Bush have been postponed as Jordan reviews Bush's support for Israeli policy and its territorial claims on the West Bank.

A suicide attack took place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on April 21. Two huge car bombs exploded outside police headquarters killed at least four people and wounded at least 148. The al-Haramain Brigades, a radical Islamic group associated with al Qaeda, claimed responsibility. Saudi security forces have increased their hunt for extremists. Gunfights with suspected militants killed five on Thursday and Friday, including four on the most wanted list.

In the West Bank, Palestinian leader forced 20 Palestinian militants wanted by Israel to leave his headquarters, where they had been taking refuge. Israeli troops in the West Bank have killed three militia chiefs of the al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade. Undercover border police killed three unarmed Palestinian suspects and wounded a fourth; a fourth was killed in another operation.

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7. South Asia

Afghanistan's militia commanders have been slow to disarm, an activity that is supposed to be completed before scheduled September elections. Arrests of suspected militants continue, as do their attacks, including at least two bombings last week that killed three. The UN refugee agency is closing 13 camps near the Pakistan border over the next few months because of security concerns (they are too close to active al Qaeda and Taliban areas), and will encourage their residents to return home.

Bangladesh's opposition party Awami League has called for the government to resign and has held large demonstrations. Police have arrested 5,000 people in connection with the protests.

India's general elections are beginning. More than 670 million people will vote in four phases over the next three weeks, in the first all-electronic election. The phases are partly devised to allow sufficient security, with more than two million officers deployed. There have been a number of serious attacks by rebel groups, particularly separatists. There have been several attempted assassinations, landmine explosions, acid throwing, and shootings. More peaceful measures include boycotts, although they are sometimes enforced by violent means. Particular areas of concern include Tripura, Manipur and Indian-administered Kashmir, which have all been targeted by separatist rebel militants.

Pakistan has stopped operations against tribes near the Afghan border that have been accused of sheltering al Qaeda and Taliban suspects. Parliamentary mediators facilitated an agreement between the two sides to resolve the issues (primarily turning over suspects) peacefully. As part of the deal, Pakistan military authorities have freed 50 tribesmen arrested last month and local tribes have begun handing in heavy weapons under an amnesty program.

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8. Cyberterrorism and Information Warfare

A fundamental flaw with the TCP/IP protocol has sent companies scrambling to repair the vulnerability that is related to resetting sessions with spoofed packets, making it possible to crash routers and disrupt internet traffic.
http://www.uniras.gov.uk/vuls/2004/236929/index.htm
http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/707/cisco-sa-20040420-tcp-ios.shtml

The Anti-Phishing working Group reports more than 400 phishing attacks in March, an increase of 43 percent. The Association for Payment Clearing Services says that the cost to British banks has been more than a million pounds and is expected to rise. http://www.antiphishing.org/

The Netsky-X worm looks for the top-level domain name and then sends messages in the appropriate language, sending poor translations in German, French, Italian, Portuguese, Norwegian, Polish, Finnish, Swedish, or English. If the domain is for the Turks and Caicos islands it includes the text " mutlu etmek okumak belgili tanimlik belge". It infects the computer and hijacks it to send to all emails it finds and can be used for launching a distributed denial of service attack. http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/[email protected]

The US General Accounting Office reviewed "Critical Infrastructure Protection: Establishing Effective Information Sharing with Infrastructure Sectors" through the Information Sharing and Analysis Centers (ISACs). Challenges include:
"increasing the percentage of entities within each sector that are members of its ISAC; building trusted relationships and processes to facilitate information sharing; overcoming barriers to information sharing, clarifying the roles and responsibilities of the various government and private sector entities that are involved in protecting critical infrastructures' and funding ISAC operations and activities".
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-04-699T

British Home Secretary Blunkett has proposed legislation to make possession of a false passport or driving license illegal and subject to a penalty of up to ten years in prison for an offense. This is an effort to combat identity theft, used in about a third of terrorist activities as well as other crimes. In a similar effort, 10,000 volunteers will undertake a trial of Britain's proposed biometric ID cards. http://www.passport.gov.uk/

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reached a settlement with Tower Records, who allegedly exposed customers' personal information in violation of its privacy policy and federal law. Tower is required to "implement an appropriate security program, and require audits of its Web site security every two years by a qualified third-party security professional for ten years". In a separate statement, the FTC testified to the need for protection against information security breaches, without seeing the need for additional legislation.
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2004/04/towerrecords.htm
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2004/04/cybersecurity.htm

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9. Finance

The US Treasury has lifted most sanctions imposed on Libya. http://www.ustreas.gov/press/releases/js1457.htm

During US Senate Banking Committee hearings the failure of Riggs Bank to report suspicious transactions and other issues of terrorist financing were raised.
http://banking.senate.gov/index.cfm?Fuseaction=Hearings.Detail&HearingID=109
http://banking.senate.gov/index.cfm?Fuseaction=Hearings.Detail&HearingID=110
http://www.riggsbank.com/Discover_Riggs/statement.html

The US Bush administration rejected an Internal Revenue Service request for more criminal financial investigators (from 160 to 240) to penetrate terrorist financing networks, an expense of $12 million.

Mexico's receipt of US financial crime information has been suspended after confidential information provided by FinCen was publicly released.

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10. Human Rights

The Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia unanimously agreed that the 1995 Srebrenica massacre was genocide:
"?Bosnia Serb forces carried out genocide against the Bosnian Muslims (?). Those who devise and implement genocide seek to deprive humanity of the manifold richness its nationalities, races, ethnicities and religions provide. This is a crime against all humankind, its harm being felt not only by the group targeted for destruction, but by all of humanity." Radislav Krstic has been found guilty of aiding and abetting genocide and sentenced to 35 years in prison. http://www.un.org/icty/latest/index.htm Krstic had argued the numbers (7,000) were too insignificant to be genocide.

The UN Security Council adopted a resolution condemning recruitment of child soldiers and requesting a monitoring mechanism be established. http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2004/sc8068.doc.htm
A new UNICEF report addresses the issues of child trafficking, calling for the travel industry to meet a new code of conduct. http://www.unicef.org/protection/index_fight_exploitation.html

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11. Law and Legal Issues

Abdelkader Bouziane was expelled from France and deported to his native Algeria for advocating wife beating. A French court has suspended the expulsion order but their decision will be appealed.

Hodi Fattoyev, head of the Bay'at Islamic extremist movement in Tajikistan, has been arrested in connection with alleged arson attacks, beating, and murder. Twelve other members of the group are also under arrest.

Nathaniel Heatwole pleaded guilty in US court to a federal misdemeanor. He hid box cutters aboard commercial flights last year to highlight airline security flaws. Heatwole provided a video that could be used to train airport personnel. He will be sentenced in June.

Jhoni Hendrawan, ("Idris") is the last suspect in the Bali bombing to go on trial. He is charged with helping plan and arrange both this and the Marriott bombing.

Faheem Khalid Lodhi was charged in Australia with seven terrorist offenses. Reports indicate he may have planned an ammonium nitrate bomb against the electricity grid. He has been linked to suspected al Qaeda figures.

Zacarias Moussaoui's trial can proceed in criminal court following a ruling by the US Court of Appeals. They ruled that the government could seek the death penalty, reversing the trial judge's decision, but also said that Moussaoui could gain access to statements made by three al Qaeda detainees who are held abroad.
http://www.ca4.uscourts.gov/moussaoui4792/moussaoui.htm
http://notablecases.vaed.uscourts.gov/1:01-cr-00455/Index.html

Al-Nagar has been arrested in Yemen for alleged involvement in the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole.

Captain Luther Ouali has been found guilty of masterminding a plot to overthrow Burkina Faso President Blaise Compaore from office last October. He has been sentenced to ten years in prison. Another six suspects received lesser sentences and six were acquitted.

Jen-Guy Talamoni, head of pro-independence Unione Nazionale Party in Corsica, has been detained by French authorities and is accused of extortion and racketeering to fund terrorist activities by channeling funds to nationalist groups.

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12. Transportation

The European Community and US Department of Homeland Security agreed to improve cargo security on a reciprocal basis including exchange of relevant information, and best practices and common standards of risk assessment, inspection and screening.
http://europa.eu.int/rapid/start/cgi/guesten.ksh?p_action.gettxt=gt&doc=IP/04/525|0|RAPID&lg=EN;

The European Parliament has voted to refer a draft agreement on the use of air passenger data shared with the US to the European Court of Justice.

The US House Subcommittee on Aviation heard testimony on airport screeners. They were told that both federal and private screeners performed poorly and are comparable to the failure rates from 1987. http://www.house.gov/transportation/ The committee recommended a more decentralized screening system to provide greater flexibility and innovation, under strong federal oversight. http://www.house.gov/transportation/

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13. Weapons of Mass Destruction

Ignatius T.S. Yu, et. al., report on " Evidence of Airborne Transmission of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Virus" in The New England Journal of Medicine, April 22, 2004. They conclude that " Airborne spread of the virus appears to explain this large community outbreak of SARS, and future efforts at prevention and control must take into consideration the potential for airborne spread of this virus". http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/short/350/17/1731

The Royal Society reported that Britain is poorly prepared for a chemical or biological attack and suggests establishing a new center to make the UK safer in this regard. http://www.royalsoc.ac.uk/news/

The US General Accounting Office (GAO) reported that "The Department of Defense (DOD) has treated ballistic missile defense as a priority since the mid-1980s and has invested tens of billions of dollars to research and develop such capabilities. In 2002 two key events transformed DOD's approach in this area: (1) the Secretary of Defense consolidated existing missile defense elements into a single acquisition program and placed them under the management of the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and (2) the President directed MDA to begin fielding an initial configuration, or block, of missile defense capabilities in 2004. MDA estimates it will need $53 billion between fiscal years 2004 and 2009 to continue the development, fielding, and evolution of ballistic missile defenses." It finds that the program tests are not reliable or complete, do not include life-cycle costs, and do not explain critical assumptions such as type and number of enemy decoys. The repetitive and scripted tests have achieved only 50 percent successful intercepts, offering no proven results. Furthermore, it is over budget, over cost and behind schedule.
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-04-409

The UN Security Council is debating a draft resolution on weapons nonproliferation to non-state actors. http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2004/sc8070.doc.htm

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14. Recently Published

Jagdish Bhagwati, "In Defense of Globalization" Oxford University Press

Chris McNab, "Network Security Assessment", O'Reilly

David Callahan, "The Cheating Culture" Harcourt

Kieron O'Hara, "Trust: From Socrates to Spin" Icon

Christine Rose, "Preaching Eugenics" Oxford University Press

Malise Ruthven, "Fundamentalism: The Search for Meaning" Oxford University Press

Craig Unger, "House of Bush, House of Saud: The Secret Relationship Between the World's Two Most Powerful Dynasties" Scribner

Adam Zamoyski, "1812: Napoleon's Fatal March on Moscow" Harper Collins (a/k/a "Moscow 1812", Harper Collins US in August)

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FEATURE ARTICLE: South Africa: Past, Present and Future, Part II

The Sharpeville massacres in 1960 were a turning point in South Africa. The apartheid government reacted to a civil rights demonstration with gunfire, killing 70 and wounding more than 180; most of them shot in the back. This didn't stop the movement, which continued with a peaceful march of 30,000 Africans on the Parliament. The government declared a state of emergency, arrested 18,000 demonstrators, including the leaders of the African National Congress (ANC) and the Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC), and outlawed both organizations.

With legitimate avenues closed, the ANC and PNC turned to violence. The military wing of the ANC (Umkhonto we Sizwe, or Spear of the Nation), targeted physical assets such as police stations and power plants. The militant wing of PNC, Poqo (Blacks Only), targeted people, particularly African chiefs and headmen they believed were collaborating with the hated government. A student group also emerged, called the African Resistance Movement. They also carried out attacks on strategic targets, including one at a railway station that resulted in at least one fatality. The Black Power movement in the US inspired another student campaign, the South African Students' Organization (SASO). Although SASO, led by medical student Steve Biko, advocated nonviolence, the government banned them as well, alleging they fomented terrorism.

The government reacted to all its opponents with a fierce campaign to crush the resistance, led by former Ossewabrandwag Nazis whose actions were supported with new security legislation that gave the police virtually unlimited powers of arrest and detention. The government further consolidated apartheid by establishing physical separation with African "homelands" with alternative political structures. Over the next 20 years, 3.5 million blacks were forcibly removed from areas designated for whites and sent to the already overcrowded "homelands". These measures restored investor confidence that had been dented by Sharpeville, and led to an economic boom, with large increases in foreign investment.

In 1974, the government decided to enforce a law that required Afrikaans to be equal to English as a medium of instruction. Black students began to boycott classes in protest against using Afrikaans, viewed as the language of oppression. In June 1976 a high school march in Soweto was met with tear gas and bullets, leaving three dead and dozens injured. The anger following this incident led to violent riots. Government buildings were attacked and burned down and during the clashes more than 600 people were killed, almost all Africans. Similar violence continued into the next year. 1977 also saw the death of Steve Biko as the result of injuries at the hands of the police who had tortured him during interrogation.

Despite the government's drastic efforts to consolidate and enforce apartheid, it wasn't working. Black consciousness was on the rise and discontent growing. The economy was dependent on blacks living in white areas, and as a result of natural population growth and migration, by 1980 there were twice as many blacks in South Africa's towns as there were whites. Only half lived in the homelands, desperately overcrowded and poor.

So desperately did the government hold onto the myth of Africans as rural dwellers whose only political rights were in these homelands, that three were made independent states and another six granted limited self-government in preparation for independence. None of these states received international recognition. In addition, they increased black disaffection.

External forces in the region also began to play a part. Portugal withdrew from Angola and Mozambique in 1975. Marxist Africans led the new independence governments and strongly opposed to apartheid. In 1975 South Africa invaded Angola; was forced back by Cuban troops but did maintain a military presence. South Africa's trusteeship over Namibia had been terminated in 1969 and the South-West African People's Organization (SWAPO) was fighting against the South African troops in that country. White Rhodesia became African-led Zimbabwe.

South Africa was no longer surrounded by white-dominated states. Instead, its vicious measures against political opposition and willingness to intervene in neighboring countries led to international condemnation. External investment declined, anti-apartheid campaigns including boycotts grew, and the economy was badly effected. The continued decline of the white population as a percentage of the whole was increasingly obvious and white South Africans also began to generate pressure for reform.

Limited reforms that came into effect in 1984 served to increase opposition among all races. Black trade unions took on a greater role in protests. Violence in the townships increased, including attacks against anything that represented apartheid, including black "collaborators". Violence in the homelands also broke out, between supporters and opponents of "independence". Foreign governments began to apply pressure for reform, sanctions were imposed, and international corporations began to withdraw their operations. A state of emergency was declared and police were again given expanded powers of arrest and detention. Censorship was expanded. Thousands of government troops were deployed in the townships and tens of thousands of people were detained.

Society was violently polarized. By the end of the decade it was clear the situation could not continue and that the black majority had to be brought into the political process. President FW de Klerk began to take measures. Nelson Mandela was freed on February 1, 1990 after 27 years in prison. Other ANC activists were freed, the ban on the ANC was lifted, and ANC exiles began to return. Public facilities desegregated, Namibia became independent, apartheid laws were dismantled, and international sanctions lifted.

Multi-party negotiations began. Extremists in both the ANC and pro-apartheid supporters provided a violent backdrop. A peace accord was signed in September 1991 but brutal attacks and murders (including necklacing), government corruption, and sabotage continued and threatened to derail the process. An interim constitution was agreed in 1993.

South Africans did this themselves. There were no international mediators proposing solutions. There were no international peacekeeping forces. They persisted despite the obstacles, including the persistent violence, supported by police complicity.

On April 27, 1994, South Africa's first non-racial elections were held. April 27 is now celebrated as Freedom Day.

Mandela became president and formed a Government of National Unity. The country rejoined the Commonwealth and the United Nations and all remaining sanctions were lifted. South Africans were free to begin a new era and to start to heal racial rifts and the legacies of violence. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission was a key component of this process. It provided a public forum for hearings on human rights crimes committed by both the government and the liberation movements under apartheid.

This year the third multi-party, multi-racial elections in South Africa were held, marking ten years of inclusive democracy.

Network South Africa 2004 describes significant achievements over the last decade that are worth a celebration:

Next week, we look at the challenges ahead.

Further Reading:

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