Hundreds of people have marched through the streets to protest against the Shabab, a militant Islamist insurgent group, in one of the largest demonstrations in years. The leaders of the protest are members of the Sufi clerics, who have driven the Shabab out of serveal towns before in central Somalia. They also signed an agreement with the government to help them in an upcoming offensive against the Shebab.
The conflict between these two segments of the Islam has been going on for a long time, in 2008 the Shabab desecrated the graves of renowned Sufi clerics in areas under their control, pushing Sufi followers to take up arms. The Sufi version of Islam, which is more mystical and centered on an “inner jihad,” is one of the more popular sects in Somalia. The Shebab is known for their harsh interpretations of Islam. In the past they have amputated the hands of thieves, stoned adulterers and flogged women for not being fully veiled. ---------------------------------
MOGADISHU, Somalia - Hundreds of enraged protesters marched through the streets of Mogadishu on Monday to protest against the Shabab, a militant Islamist insurgent group, in one of the largest demonstrations in recent years. The group has shocked the local people by imposing amputations and digging up the graves of revered Islamic clerics. Men, women and children flooded the rubble strewn center of town and shouted out slogans against the Shabab, who have steadily alienated the population by imposing amputations and digging up the graves of revered Islamic clerics.
“We don’t want grave diggers and we don’t want the Shabab!” the protesters yelled. The protest was led by a moderate Islamist group of Sufi clerics who have driven the Shabab out of several towns in central Somalia. Sheik Abdulkadir Mohamed Somow, one of the Sufi clerics, told the crowd that their group, AhluSunna Wal Jama, “will not tolerate further the Shabab’s grave excavation activities in Mogadishu” and he called upon Somalis to wage holy war against the Shabab.
Ahlu Sunna Wal Jama recently signed a power sharing agreement with the transitional federal government, which controls only a small fraction of the Mogadishu, the capital. The agreement was intended to help the government go on the offensive against the Shabab in a planned upcoming military operation, which will most likely involve thousands of African Union peacekeepers. The Shabab recently dug up at least seven graves of renowned Sufi clerics, according to Somali media reports. In 2008, the Shabab desecrated the graves of renowned Sufi clerics in areas under their control, pushing Sufi followers to take up arms. The Sufi version of Islam, which is more mystical and centered on an “inner jihad,” is one of the more popular sects in Somalia.
The recent grave desecrations in some of Mogadishu’s neighborhoods seemed to make more people turn against the Shabab, who were already losing popular support because of their harsh interpretations of Islam. The Shabab and their allies control more than half of south-central Somalia and have amputated the hands of thieves, stoned adulterers and flogged women for not being fully veiled. They have also killed many civilians, including students, with suicide bombs, and have recruited foreigners, including Americans, to fight for them. Somalia has been mired in chaos since 1991, when clan militias toppled the central government and then turned on each other.
Guinea-Bissau PM resumes duty after detained by soldiers
-------------- A top African Union official has urged the wes-t African nation of Guinea-Bissau to refrain f-rom actions that would undermine democracy aft-er army officers briefly detained the prime minister. Military officers also seized the nation's arm-y chief in the incident Thursday, highlighting an apparent power struggle in a country rocked by political and military turbulence over the years. The country is among the poorest in the world, being ranked the 175th out of 177 nations in the U.N. Development Program's Human Developme-nt Index With a jagged Atlantic coastline, Guinea-Bissau is chosen by traffickers as a major hub for the flow of cocaine from Latin America to Europe.
----------------
BISSAU, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Guinea-Bissau Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Junior has resumed his duty after arrested by mutineers earlier in the week, local media reported on Saturday morning.
The soldiers who entered the office of the prime minister and detained him on Thursday left the building the next day. Gomes Junior then went to meet with President Malam Bacai Sanha, who expressed trust in him and asked him to remain on the post, according to local press and radio.
The resumption of Gomes Junior's work as the prime minister was reportedly the most important topic in the talks.
Reports also said the former chief of defense staff, General Jose Zamora Induta, was still confined to the air base near the capital Bissau.
Induta and 40 other officers were also arrested in Thursday's mutiny, in which deputy army chief Antonio Indjai replaced him.
Despite the rebellious move which was denounced by many as a coup, Indjai on the same day declared the army was still submissive to political powers.
The detention went parallel with the release of the former head of marines, the rear admiral Jose Americo Bubo Na Tchute, who had been accused of plotting a coup in August 2008. The ex-chief of Guinea-Bissau's marines took refuge at the UN office in Guinea-Bissau known as UNOGBIS after returning to Guinea- Bissau in a canoe from Gambia on Dec. 28, 2009.
Earth Hour, the annual worldwide call for action against climate change organised by WWF, was held on March 27, 2010 at 8:30pm, drawing in 120 nations, 1,700 municipalities and hundreds of millions of people.
First started in Sidney in 2007, it has become an annual event of switching off the lights for an hour to make people be more alert of climate change around the globe. Now in its fourth year, organisers expected the number of participants to reach close to a billion.
As last year's Copenhagen summit left only disappointments, this year's Earth Hour is said to be particularly important to let others know that people are still concerned of global climate change.
This year, several countries have newly signed up for this global event, from Saudi Arabia to Mongolia and Nepal. In particular, China will be joining the event in greater scale for it could not do so last year due to anniversary of the Tibetan unrest in 2008. ----------------------------------------------
The biggest turn-off in human history will start at 8.30pm tomorrow in Chatham, a tiny South Pacific island with only 12 street lamps. Almost 25 hours later, but at 9.30pm the same day, it will finish on the other side of the international dateline in the Galapagos Islands, where scientists will share a candle-lit dinner with several hundred residents and environmental activists.
In between, Earth Hour , the annual worldwide call for action against climate change, will spread darkness across all seven continents, drawing in 120 nations, 1,700 municipalities and hundreds of millions of people.
In the UK, many hotels and restaurants will be offering special candle-lit dinners where guests will be able to see well-known sites plunge into blackness, including Big Ben, Edinburgh castle, the Millennium stadium in Cardiff, Belfast city hall, Durham cathedral, St Paul's cathedral and the London Eye.
Now in its fourth year, the event organised by WWF, has spread an ever widening expanse of hour-long darkness. Two million people took part at the first switch-off in Sydney in 2007. Last year, hundreds of millions participated in 88 countries. This year, organisers expect the figure to be close to a billion.
Beijing's Forbidden City and London's Houses of Parliament, the Eiffel Tower, the Hiroshima peace memorial, the Empire State Building, Rio de Janeiro's Christ the Redeemer statue, and the world's tallest building, Burj Khalifa. will all plunge into darkness.
Nations that have signed up for the first time this year include Saudi Arabia, long seen as resistant to climate change action, Mongolia, Nepal and the Czech Republic.
Another debutant is a first group of participants from Antarctica: the Davis Research Station, which is home to several dozen scientists who presumably will not be also switching off their heaters in -10 degrees Celsius.James Leape, international director general of WWF, said the worldwide event was particularly important after the disappointment of the climate conference in Copenhagen last year. "There was a sense after Copenhagen that we, as a world, had lost momentum," he said. "One of the important things about this year is that it is a chance for people to say 'Hey, we are still concerned about climate change.' A lot of people are looking for an opportunity. If they speak out by themselves, it may not make much of an impact, but through this shared action of Earth Hour, they have a platform to speak."
(article cont'd) Leape is in Beijing to attend a darkening ceremony at the Forbidden City, the 600-year-old symbol of Chinese power.
Last year, China's support for Earth Hour clashed, time-wise, with the anniversary of the Tibetan unrest in 2008, prompting some organisations, including Peking university, to warn students not to get involved.
This year, with no such complications, participation is enthusiastic. Fifteen Chinese cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu and Dalian, have signed up. Pandas in Sichuan will be involved, along with cartoon characters in Hong Kong, and rock bands in Xiamen. Chinese organisers are using the event to kick-off a "low-carbon lifestyle week" aimed at persuading consumers in the world's most populous country not to follow the wasteful example of developed nations.
The message is catching on at the grassroots. Among the events in the former Chinese capital of Xian, will be a free unplugged music concert.
Across the world, people are expected to mark the event in ways that reflect the diversity, creativity and inequality of the human population. In cities like Tokyo, Seoul and New York, netizens are being asked to record landmark buildings' switch-off on their mobile phones and upload them online.
In Zimbabwe, hundreds of children will join a candle-lit picnic at Victoria Falls. In Canada, an Earth Hour Blackberry application has proved a hit. Elsewhere, the world's highest paid supermodel, Gisele Bündchen, and World Cup-winning footballer Francesco Totti will act as spokespeople for the event, along with South Africa's archbishop Desmond Tutu.
Not everywhere is going dark. Tanzania initially did not sign up because few would notice a switch off in Dar es Salaam and other cities where only 10% of people have electricity. Instead, WWF organised a "switch on" of solar energy for a local school last year. It will scale this up to 20 schools this year.In Madagascar, 99% of the country has no electricity and people are frightened to be on the streets after dark because of the instability that has followed the political crisis. But WWF says residents have asked to participate.
"There are only 12 street lights on the Chatham Islands and for safety reasons these will remain on," said Pickles. Organisers said locals would enjoy making the news, but the event would have to compete with a 21st birthday party at the one hotel in town.
"A lot of people will be there," said Lee Barry, Earth Hour Project Manager in New Zealand. "Hopefully someone will remember to turn the lights off." ------------------------------------------- http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/mar/26/energy-climate-change
Desmond Tutu leads fight to halt anti-gay terror sweeping Africa.
In Africa the battle against the criminalization of gay rights has been joined by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and more than 60 civil society and human rights groups. They especially oppose Uganda's proposed punishment against gay sexual actions that range from a life sentence to the death penalty. Also with them is the Human Rights Watch group.
Also in Malawi, after getting married in december, the "first" gay couple to seek marriage in the country will be put on trial this week
Last month, Zimbabwe's prime minister, Tsuvangirai also commented how there is no place for "some men who want to breathe into other men's ears". Although his political party, the Movement for Democratic Change, has commented how there should be no involvement from political leaders into one's private life choice, it is a hard thing to accept gay rights in this kind of heavily chritian community, with the evangleican churches also interfering. ---------------------------- Battle has been joined against the criminalisation of homosexuality in Africa. Last week, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and more than 60 civil society and human rights groups called on Uganda to reject proposed punishments for gay sex that range from life imprisonment to the death penalty.
Activists in Malawi were steeled by pressure from Human Rights Watch for the dropping of a case against the first gay couple to seek marriage in the conservative country. Steve Monjeza, 26, and 20-year-old Tiwonge Chimbalanga will stand trial this week after holding a traditional ceremony last December.
Human Rights Watch said: "The case is an affront to essential principles of non-discrimination and equality. It singles out two people as criminals simply because they love each other."
The case has focused attention on a homophobic backlash sweeping Africa, partly because gay men and lesbians are becoming more assertive about their rights, partly because of intolerance fanned by interventions from evangelical churches in America.
Last month the challenge was put in context when the Zimbabwean prime minister, Morgan Tsvangirai, often lionised by western liberals, backed President Robert Mugabe's position that gay rights could have no place in the national constitution.
Tsvangirai was widely quoted as saying: "The president has spoken about gay rights, about some men who want to breathe into other men's ears. I don't agree with that. Why would you look for men when our women make up 52% of our population? Men are much fewer than women."
His party, the Movement for Democratic Change, has made commitments that the state should not interfere in the private lives of its citizens, but Tsvangirai's remark probably owed something to realpolitik: support for gay rights could be a huge vote-loser in a heavily Christian society where homosexual activity is outlawed.
Gay sex is illegal in 36 countries in Africa. In Kenya recently, police raided a gay wedding and arrested guests. South Africa is often regarded as a beacon of hope because it was the first country on the continent to legalise same-sex marriage. Yet campaigners say the fight against bigotry is far from over, pointing to incidents of murder and so-called "corrective rape" against lesbians. Last year, Lulu Xingwana, the arts and culture minister, walked out of an exhibition because it featured photographs of nude lesbian couples that she found "immoral" and "against nation-building".
A favourite claim among critics of homosexuality is that it is an import from the decadent west and alien to African culture. But this has been challenged by historical evidence of homosexual people and practices being accepted in traditional societies before the arrival of European settlers.
In a recent column in the Guardian, Blessing-Miles Tendi cited the Azande people in the north-east of what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where it was acceptable for kings, princes and soldiers to take young male lovers.
In fact, argue campaigners such as Peter Tatchell, is it not homosexuality but rather the laws against it that were imposed Africa by the west. Many African states are using the very laws introduced by European colonialists more than a century ago to persecute gay men and lesbians today.
David Smith, Johannesburg --------------- http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/apr/04/homosexual-africa-arrest-desmond-tutu
A very down to earth* kind of guy. I'm an environmental sociologist interested in establishing material and organizational sustainability worldwide. I'm always looking for interesting materials/technologies, inspiring ideas, or institutional examples of sustainability to inspire others to recognize their choices now. To be fatalistic about an unsustainable world is a sign of a captive mind, given all our options.
*(If "earth" is defined in a planetary sense, concerning comparative historical knowledge and interest in the past 10,000 years or so anywhere...) See both blogs.
Sam Wijnants
ReplyDeleteSomalis Protest Against Shabab in Mogadishu:
Hundreds of people have marched through the streets to protest against the Shabab, a militant Islamist insurgent group, in one of the largest demonstrations in years.
The leaders of the protest are members of the Sufi clerics, who have driven the Shabab out of serveal towns before in central Somalia. They also signed an agreement with the government to help them in an upcoming offensive against the Shebab.
The conflict between these two segments of the Islam has been going on for a long time, in 2008 the Shabab desecrated the graves of renowned Sufi clerics in areas under their control, pushing Sufi followers to take up arms. The Sufi version of Islam, which is more mystical and centered on an “inner jihad,” is one of the more popular sects in Somalia. The Shebab is known for their harsh interpretations of Islam. In the past they have amputated the hands of thieves, stoned adulterers and flogged women for not being fully veiled.
---------------------------------
MOGADISHU, Somalia - Hundreds of enraged protesters marched through the streets of Mogadishu on Monday to protest against the Shabab, a militant Islamist insurgent group, in one of the largest demonstrations in recent years. The group has shocked the local people by imposing amputations and digging up the graves of revered Islamic clerics.
Men, women and children flooded the rubble strewn center of town and shouted out slogans against the Shabab, who have steadily alienated the population by imposing amputations and digging up the graves of revered Islamic clerics.
“We don’t want grave diggers and we don’t want the Shabab!” the protesters yelled.
The protest was led by a moderate Islamist group of Sufi clerics who have driven the Shabab out of several towns in central Somalia. Sheik Abdulkadir Mohamed Somow, one of the Sufi clerics, told the crowd that their group, AhluSunna Wal Jama, “will not tolerate further the Shabab’s grave excavation activities in Mogadishu” and he called upon Somalis to wage holy war against the Shabab.
Ahlu Sunna Wal Jama recently signed a power sharing agreement with the transitional federal government, which controls only a small fraction of the Mogadishu, the capital. The agreement was intended to help the government go on the offensive against the Shabab in a planned upcoming military operation, which will most likely involve thousands of African Union peacekeepers.
The Shabab recently dug up at least seven graves of renowned Sufi clerics, according to Somali media reports. In 2008, the Shabab desecrated the graves of renowned Sufi clerics in areas under their control, pushing Sufi followers to take up arms. The Sufi version of Islam, which is more mystical and centered on an “inner jihad,” is one of the more popular sects in Somalia.
The recent grave desecrations in some of Mogadishu’s neighborhoods seemed to make more people turn against the Shabab, who were already losing popular support because of their harsh interpretations of Islam. The Shabab and their allies control more than half of south-central Somalia and have amputated the hands of thieves, stoned adulterers and flogged women for not being fully veiled. They have also killed many civilians, including students, with suicide bombs, and have recruited foreigners, including Americans, to fight for them.
Somalia has been mired in chaos since 1991, when clan militias toppled the central government and then turned on each other.
----------------
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/30/world/africa/30shabab.html?scp=3&sq=protest&st=cse
ZhangYu (04/04)
ReplyDeleteGuinea-Bissau PM resumes duty after detained by soldiers
--------------
A top African Union official has urged the wes-t African nation of Guinea-Bissau to refrain f-rom actions that would undermine democracy aft-er army officers briefly detained the prime minister.
Military officers also seized the nation's arm-y chief in the incident Thursday, highlighting an apparent power struggle in a country rocked by political and military turbulence over the years.
The country is among the poorest in the world, being ranked the 175th out of 177 nations in the U.N. Development Program's Human Developme-nt Index
With a jagged Atlantic coastline, Guinea-Bissau is chosen by traffickers as a major hub for the flow of cocaine from Latin America to Europe.
----------------
BISSAU, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Guinea-Bissau Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Junior has resumed his duty after arrested by mutineers earlier in the week, local media reported on Saturday morning.
The soldiers who entered the office of the prime minister and detained him on Thursday left the building the next day. Gomes Junior then went to meet with President Malam Bacai Sanha, who expressed trust in him and asked him to remain on the post, according to local press and radio.
The resumption of Gomes Junior's work as the prime minister was reportedly the most important topic in the talks.
Reports also said the former chief of defense staff, General Jose Zamora Induta, was still confined to the air base near the capital Bissau.
Induta and 40 other officers were also arrested in Thursday's mutiny, in which deputy army chief Antonio Indjai replaced him.
Despite the rebellious move which was denounced by many as a coup, Indjai on the same day declared the army was still submissive to political powers.
The detention went parallel with the release of the former head of marines, the rear admiral Jose Americo Bubo Na Tchute, who had been accused of plotting a coup in August 2008. The ex-chief of Guinea-Bissau's marines took refuge at the UN office in Guinea-Bissau known as UNOGBIS after returning to Guinea- Bissau in a canoe from Gambia on Dec. 28, 2009.
-------------
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-04/03/c_13236277.htm
DaSol Lyu
ReplyDeleteEarth Hour - climate change campaigners urge global switch-off (Mar. 26, 2010)
--------------
Earth Hour, the annual worldwide call for action against climate change organised by WWF, was held on March 27, 2010 at 8:30pm, drawing in 120 nations, 1,700 municipalities and hundreds of millions of people.
First started in Sidney in 2007, it has become an annual event of switching off the lights for an hour to make people be more alert of climate change around the globe. Now in its fourth year, organisers expected the number of participants to reach close to a billion.
As last year's Copenhagen summit left only disappointments, this year's Earth Hour is said to be particularly important to let others know that people are still concerned of global climate change.
This year, several countries have newly signed up for this global event, from Saudi Arabia to Mongolia and Nepal. In particular, China will be joining the event in greater scale for it could not do so last year due to anniversary of the Tibetan unrest in 2008.
----------------------------------------------
The biggest turn-off in human history will start at 8.30pm tomorrow in Chatham, a tiny South Pacific island with only 12 street lamps. Almost 25 hours later, but at 9.30pm the same day, it will finish on the other side of the international dateline in the Galapagos Islands, where scientists will share a candle-lit dinner with several hundred residents and environmental activists.
In between, Earth Hour , the annual worldwide call for action against climate change, will spread darkness across all seven continents, drawing in 120 nations, 1,700 municipalities and hundreds of millions of people.
In the UK, many hotels and restaurants will be offering special candle-lit dinners where guests will be able to see well-known sites plunge into blackness, including Big Ben, Edinburgh castle, the Millennium stadium in Cardiff, Belfast city hall, Durham cathedral, St Paul's cathedral and the London Eye.
Now in its fourth year, the event organised by WWF, has spread an ever widening expanse of hour-long darkness. Two million people took part at the first switch-off in Sydney in 2007. Last year, hundreds of millions participated in 88 countries. This year, organisers expect the figure to be close to a billion.
Beijing's Forbidden City and London's Houses of Parliament, the Eiffel Tower, the Hiroshima peace memorial, the Empire State Building, Rio de Janeiro's Christ the Redeemer statue, and the world's tallest building, Burj Khalifa. will all plunge into darkness.
Nations that have signed up for the first time this year include Saudi Arabia, long seen as resistant to climate change action, Mongolia, Nepal and the Czech Republic.
Another debutant is a first group of participants from Antarctica: the Davis Research Station, which is home to several dozen scientists who presumably will not be also switching off their heaters in -10 degrees Celsius.James Leape, international director general of WWF, said the worldwide event was particularly important after the disappointment of the climate conference in Copenhagen last year. "There was a sense after Copenhagen that we, as a world, had lost momentum," he said. "One of the important things about this year is that it is a chance for people to say 'Hey, we are still concerned about climate change.' A lot of people are looking for an opportunity. If they speak out by themselves, it may not make much of an impact, but through this shared action of Earth Hour, they have a platform to speak."
(article cont'd)
ReplyDeleteLeape is in Beijing to attend a darkening ceremony at the Forbidden City, the 600-year-old symbol of Chinese power.
Last year, China's support for Earth Hour clashed, time-wise, with the anniversary of the Tibetan unrest in 2008, prompting some organisations, including Peking university, to warn students not to get involved.
This year, with no such complications, participation is enthusiastic. Fifteen Chinese cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu and Dalian, have signed up. Pandas in Sichuan will be involved, along with cartoon characters in Hong Kong, and rock bands in Xiamen. Chinese organisers are using the event to kick-off a "low-carbon lifestyle week" aimed at persuading consumers in the world's most populous country not to follow the wasteful example of developed nations.
The message is catching on at the grassroots. Among the events in the former Chinese capital of Xian, will be a free unplugged music concert.
Across the world, people are expected to mark the event in ways that reflect the diversity, creativity and inequality of the human population. In cities like Tokyo, Seoul and New York, netizens are being asked to record landmark buildings' switch-off on their mobile phones and upload them online.
In Zimbabwe, hundreds of children will join a candle-lit picnic at Victoria Falls. In Canada, an Earth Hour Blackberry application has proved a hit. Elsewhere, the world's highest paid supermodel, Gisele Bündchen, and World Cup-winning footballer Francesco Totti will act as spokespeople for the event, along with South Africa's archbishop Desmond Tutu.
Not everywhere is going dark. Tanzania initially did not sign up because few would notice a switch off in Dar es Salaam and other cities where only 10% of people have electricity. Instead, WWF organised a "switch on" of solar energy for a local school last year. It will scale this up to 20 schools this year.In Madagascar, 99% of the country has no electricity and people are frightened to be on the streets after dark because of the instability that has followed the political crisis. But WWF says residents have asked to participate.
"There are only 12 street lights on the Chatham Islands and for safety reasons these will remain on," said Pickles. Organisers said locals would enjoy making the news, but the event would have to compete with a 21st birthday party at the one hotel in town.
"A lot of people will be there," said Lee Barry, Earth Hour Project Manager in New Zealand. "Hopefully someone will remember to turn the lights off."
-------------------------------------------
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/mar/26/energy-climate-change
Valerie Raeymaekers
ReplyDeleteDesmond Tutu leads fight to halt anti-gay terror sweeping Africa.
In Africa the battle against the criminalization of gay rights has been joined by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and more than 60 civil society and human rights groups. They especially oppose Uganda's proposed punishment against gay sexual actions that range from a life sentence to the death penalty. Also with them is the Human Rights Watch group.
Also in Malawi, after getting married in december, the "first" gay couple to seek marriage in the country will be put on trial this week
Last month, Zimbabwe's prime minister, Tsuvangirai also commented how there is no place for "some men who want to breathe into other men's ears". Although his political party, the Movement for Democratic Change, has commented how there should be no involvement from political leaders into one's private life choice, it is a hard thing to accept gay rights in this kind of heavily chritian community, with the evangleican churches also interfering.
----------------------------
Battle has been joined against the criminalisation of homosexuality in Africa. Last week, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and more than 60 civil society and human rights groups called on Uganda to reject proposed punishments for gay sex that range from life imprisonment to the death penalty.
Activists in Malawi were steeled by pressure from Human Rights Watch for the dropping of a case against the first gay couple to seek marriage in the conservative country. Steve Monjeza, 26, and 20-year-old Tiwonge Chimbalanga will stand trial this week after holding a traditional ceremony last December.
Human Rights Watch said: "The case is an affront to essential principles of non-discrimination and equality. It singles out two people as criminals simply because they love each other."
The case has focused attention on a homophobic backlash sweeping Africa, partly because gay men and lesbians are becoming more assertive about their rights, partly because of intolerance fanned by interventions from evangelical churches in America.
Last month the challenge was put in context when the Zimbabwean prime minister, Morgan Tsvangirai, often lionised by western liberals, backed President Robert Mugabe's position that gay rights could have no place in the national constitution.
Tsvangirai was widely quoted as saying: "The president has spoken about gay rights, about some men who want to breathe into other men's ears. I don't agree with that. Why would you look for men when our women make up 52% of our population? Men are much fewer than women."
His party, the Movement for Democratic Change, has made commitments that the state should not interfere in the private lives of its citizens, but Tsvangirai's remark probably owed something to realpolitik: support for gay rights could be a huge vote-loser in a heavily Christian society where homosexual activity is outlawed.
Gay sex is illegal in 36 countries in Africa. In Kenya recently, police raided a gay wedding and arrested guests. South Africa is often regarded as a beacon of hope because it was the first country on the continent to legalise same-sex marriage. Yet campaigners say the fight against bigotry is far from over, pointing to incidents of murder and so-called "corrective rape" against lesbians. Last year, Lulu Xingwana, the arts and culture minister, walked out of an exhibition because it featured photographs of nude lesbian couples that she found "immoral" and "against nation-building".
A favourite claim among critics of homosexuality is that it is an import from the decadent west and alien to African culture. But this has been challenged by historical evidence of homosexual people and practices being accepted in traditional societies before the arrival of European settlers.
ReplyDeleteIn a recent column in the Guardian, Blessing-Miles Tendi cited the Azande people in the north-east of what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where it was acceptable for kings, princes and soldiers to take young male lovers.
In fact, argue campaigners such as Peter Tatchell, is it not homosexuality but rather the laws against it that were imposed Africa by the west. Many African states are using the very laws introduced by European colonialists more than a century ago to persecute gay men and lesbians today.
David Smith, Johannesburg
---------------
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/apr/04/homosexual-africa-arrest-desmond-tutu