Photos from the 7-7-7 Campaign

The five accused of the murder of Eudy Simulane reappeared in court today. The hearing was initially delayed because accused number 5 was appearing in another court on charges of rape and robbery, which he was out on bail for . Once proceedings began, they were further bogged down by technical aspects related to the right of the accused to have legal representation and strategic tactics by one of the accused’s attorneys to have his client’s bail hearing heard separately.

Magistrate Betty Lesufi heard legal aid attorney Mr Mfingwane state he will only represent accused number 5 and not the other three as initially envisaged. In his explanation for this he said he couldn’t represent all four of them as they were pointing fingers at each other. He will continue to represent accused number 5, Tshepo Mphithi, who made a confession last week, the details of which are yet to be released. Mr Hoffman, the attorney for accused number 4, Themba Pitja, brought before the court the motion for his client’s bail hearing to be conducted separately to the others. He also requested that he not be put in the same jail cell due to the fact that his client was receiving threats from the other co-accused.

The state prosecutor, Mr Maloma, objected vehemently to Mr Hoffman’s request, stating that this denies the collective nature of this horrendous crime. Inside a fully packed court, the parents and family members of Eudy, together with activists from a broad base of social movements sat attentively, whilst over three hundred protestors picketed outside the court. Magistrate Lesuffi handed down her ruling on the two motions, citing section 3.4.2 of the Criminal Procedures Act, concluding that there is no reason why accused number 4’s bail hearing should be heard separately given the seriousness of the charges against all 5 of them. She further called on the Legal Aid Board to give preference to this case by assigning attorneys for accused numbers 1,2 & 3 soon. She granted the request for accused number 4 to be kept separately from the others and remanded the case to reconvene on the 26th May at 8:30am. Activists from the 777 Campaign are hoping that the accused will plea on that date but be remanded to remain in custody until judgement, and that there will be no delays in the further investigation and prosecution of this case. The Campaign calls on all activists to remain vigilant and continue to be a visible and vocal presence throughout this process.

Press Release via Alliance for the 777 Campaign National Coordination

Tags:
EUDY SIMELANE
LGBTI
South Africa
Rape + Murder

W.TEC launched the Networking For Success Project in Lagos, Nigeria……….Future projects need online volunteers to act as mentors, and cash, books, software, computers. Contact W.TEC via their website.

The Networking for Success project will teach women how to use Web 2.0 tools and other ICTs to effectively develop and advance their work. Participants will learn how to use these tools to initiate and manage projects; as well as identify networking opportunities with other organisations.

Blogger, Rosemary Ekosso’s novel “House of Fallen Women” is published by Langaa RPCIG in Cameroon. Also the African Books Collective now has a RSS feed or you can subscribe to email updates.

House of Falling Women is a powerful story about the oppressive weight and irrationality of tradition, gender and class inequality, a desperate yearning for freedom and dignity, and a journey of self discovery, empowerment, and redemption.”

The Struggle for the City on mass evictions in India resulting in thousands of “conservation refugees”.

While many governments now involve indigenous groups in environmental conservation, India is on the verge of creating what might become the largest mass eviction for conservation ever. Groups like India’s Adivasis have come to be called “conservation refugees.” But many conservationists now say conservation initiatives are doomed to fail without them.

This reminds me of the eviction of thousands of Basarwa people from the Kalahari Game Reserve by the Botswana government to make way for diamond mines and more recently to make way for tourists… More here.

Two new Palestinian initiatives - Palestine Think Tank and Yalla Palestine both started by Haitham Sabbah and friends.

The Palestine Think Tank is a

site containing news, analysis, art and more to further the cause of justice for Palestinians. It concentrates on many aspects of the resistance, but also focuses on the issues affecting the entire Middle East. ………. Contributors include Khalid Amayreh, Ramzy Baroud, Adib Kawar, Ernesto Paramo, Wael Al Saad, Nadia Hasan, Iqbal Tamimi, Richard Jones, Nahida Izzat, Razan Al Ghazzawi, Khaled Islaih, Steve Amsel, Ben Heine

Yalla Palestine is a social bookmarking site for Palestinian news. I liked this short piece on the Nakba from Desert Peace “Palestine Remembered - 60 Years Later”

“We came and turned the native Arabs into tragic refugees. And still we dare to slander and malign them, to besmirch their name. Instead of being deeply ashamed of what we did and trying to undo some of the evil we committed … we justify our terrible acts and even attempt to glorify them.”

Tags:

Web 2.0 + Nigeria
Conservation Refugees
Botswana
India
Palestine

It is a question that bothers me–WHY? WHY do we ask WHY? Especially when we are dealing with issues of women and abuse?

While this thought has occurred to me for a long time, two recent discussions on “BBC Africa Have Your Say” - “Is Mob Justice Justified?” and another on “Pambazuka News Podcast” -”Interview with women in North Kivu” triggered my attention back to this issue. In the February 7 2008interview with female victims of sexual violence and activists, women respondents narrate their ordeal to a Pambazuka field reporter. On, “Is Mob Justice Justified” aired on BBC Africa Have Your Say Tuesday 25 March, most callers supported mob justice arguably because of police corruption and distrust of the criminal justice system. Opponents argued that mob justice could target innocent people, it is barbaric or it interferes with the criminal justice system. Do we really need to ask for justifiability of mob justice against a criminal or perpetrators of violent physical and sexual crimes against women? to ask about justifiability? Should we ask victims to heinous crimes to narrate their ordeal in front of news cameras, courts of law or even researchers?

Believe me, I am a practitioner and activist for criminal justice and allowing the law to take its course. I believe in the constitution and in the inherent rights of people as humans. However, certain things are simply too disgusting for me to fathom. Why should we give a chance to people who violently abuse women, whether sexually or physically to tell us why and how they committed their criminal acts? Especially men who randomly and recklessly abuse females during war, using sex as a weapon of power. Do these men have female siblings, wives, grandmothers, mothers or female friends? Should we really give them a chance to face international criminal tribunals to narrate how they violently inserted male sexual organs, sticks, guns or rough objects inside women’s sexual organs? You will excuse me for being too graphic but this form of abuse bothers me graphically. Why should we grill female victims of this gross sexual abuse to narrate their ordeal to us on Pambazuka news or BBC Africa Have Your Say?
[Read more…]

Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) report on the political violence experienced by their members on Wednesday 19 March 2008 in Harare.

Another woman testified that she had been abducted from her home in Bulawayo with her 18-month-old grandchild at 4am by Law and Order officers. They threatened to kill her by throwing her and the child in a dam. She had also been seriously beaten across the breasts by police and had to undergo extended medical treatment. These testimonies are indicative of the experiences of peaceful activists and reflective of the physical and mental torture they undergo in fighting for their basic freedoms to be realised.

Links:

Sokwanele
Zim Chaiyo

Tags:
Zimbabwe

Sexworkers from across East Africa have been prevented from attending a workshop in Entebbe, Uganda organised by the OSI and Ugandan women’s organisation, Akina Mama wa Africa. The “ethics” minister didn’t like the idea of the women coming together to “devise ways of spreading their vice”. Sounds like he should get together with the organisers of the Million Woman March here in London -

“We call it a vice because in Uganda it’s an illegality which is punishable by seven years [in jail],” Ethics Minister Nsaba Buturo said when he announced the ban last week.

“Uganda’s made a decision that homosexuality, prostitution and those things are not our way of life. Anyone who violates them really will deserve what they get,” he added.

Tags:
Uganda
Sexworkers