Archive for the 'Political Systems' Category

Diaspora africaine : Pour une organisation unitaire, démocratique et indépendante

La Diaspora a connu depuis la manifestation du 11 janvier 2008 contre les Accords de Partenariat Economiques (APE) à Bruxelles, une brutale accélération dans le processus de son organisation. Sékou Diabaté plaide ici pour une organisation unitaire, démocratique et indépendante de la 6eme région de l’Afrique. [Pambazuka]

Obama at the crossroads of a revolution?

In a nuanced article, Horace Campbell argues that Barrack Obama would only be trapped by a conservative and anti-people social and economic system if those “who are being drawn into the audacity of hope do not build their own political movement and political organization.” [Pambazuka]

Truth commissions and prosecutions: Two sides of the same coin?

Yav Katshung Joseph argues that as truth commissions multiply around the world it is important to look at their relationship to prosecutions and justice in an immediate and historical sense. Are TRC’s designed to generate more truth, more justice, reparations, and genuine institutional reform? Or are they designed to undermine the State’s and society’s legal, ethical and political obligations to their people? [Pambazuka]

TSCHAD: Menschenrechtler fordern eine Neuausrichtung der EUFOR Truppen

Täglich treffen derzeit im Osten des Tschad Soldaten der EUFOR-Truppe ein. Nach dem Putschversuch dreier Rebellentruppen gegen Präsident Idriss Déby Anfang Februar fordern die beiden bekannten Menschenrechts-Aktivistinnen Jaqueline Moudeïna und Delphine Djiraibe eine Neuausrichtung der europäischen Militärmission. Erschienen bei ips.

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Whiteness without apartheid: the limits of racial freedom

South Africa’s vital project of “transformation” needs to become a sustained effort to move beyond racial categories if it is to be a vehicle for the achievement of a democratic and equal society, says Achille Mbembe. [Open Democracy]

Understanding the Kenyan Opposition

By Mukoma Wa Ngugi. Much has been written about the Kenya elections — the rigging and the violence that has ensued, and the way to peace. But next to nothing has been written regarding the nature of Raila’s Orange Democratic Movement.

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Drama of the popular struggle for democracy in Kenya

This analysis by Horace Campbell argues that the calls for peace and reconciliation by the political and religious leaders will remain hollow until there are efforts to break from the recursive processes of looting, extra judicial killings, rape and violation of women, and general low respect for African lives. The analysis is presented as a drama of three acts. [Pambazuka]

The choices before us: Reflections on Mwai Kibaki and the 2007 Kenya General Elections

Ngugi Wa Thiong’o reflects on Mwai Kibaki’s presidency, the proliferation of what he terms paper parties, and the need for African democracy to speak for and to African peasants and workers - the marginalized majority. [Pambazuka]

Protocol on the rights of women in Africa: Second Anniversary

What gains and what challenges do we have two years after the entry into force of the protocol? This is the overall question that the various articles presented in this special issue of Pambazuka News aim at addressing. And what is clearly coming out is that the challenges outweigh the gains made so far, writes Faiza Mohamed. [Pambazuka]

Africa’s long road to rights

While setting the scene with an account of how and why Africa has developed its own system for protecting human and peoples’ rights, Hakima Abbas concludes that the success of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, in spite of ‘the seeming lack of political will on the part of African states and governments, lies primarily in the distinctive engagement of civil society. [Pambazuka]