November 11, 2021

COVID-19 Worsened Environment for Media in Southern Africa, Especially Print Journalism

HARARE, ZIMBABWE — New research finds that the COVID-19 pandemic has hurt the financial viability of media outlets in southern Africa, with print media being the worst hit.

Launching the report, researcher Reginald Rumney, a journalism professor at Rhodes University in South Africa, said the media in the region had been drastically affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This crisis, particularly the lockdowns and restrictions on movements, forced audiences online all to consume broadcast news,” Rumney said. “Newspapers and magazines were hard hit. And of course, with a decline in circulation came a huge decline in revenue and retrenchment of staff and a big a restructuring of the newspaper industry across the region. A lot of papers were forced to go online, stop printing completely. Retrenchments were dramatic.”

In Zimbabwe, Alpha Media Holdings, which publishes NewsDay, the Zimbabwe Independent and The Standard, stopped printing paper copies of its newspapers for months, moving all the publications online. All of its staff received a 50% pay cut, while those not directly involved in e-paper production were put on leave.

In South Africa, Associated Media Publishing stopped publishing its magazines, which included Cosmopolitan, House & Leisure and Women on Wheels, while Caxton and CTP Publishers & Printers announced closure of its magazine division.

South Africa’s weekly Mail & Guardian kept publishing but said some advertisers had canceled their campaigns.

Rumney said without a dramatic turnaround or external assistance such as donor funds, most media houses in southern Africa will not get out of the hole that the coronavirus put them in.

Joanah Gadzikwa, a media professor in South Africa, said the pandemic had caused a “redefinition of the media industry” in southern Africa that could have a harmful effect on the region’s societies.

“The death or decline in circulation figures is worrisome,” Gadzikwa said. “What do we think should be the way forward? Because news is something that we cannot not have in our societies. A lot is happening in Zimbabwe, in southern Africa, that if issues do not see the light of print like this, we are heading towards another catastrophe. The pandemic has thrown everything upside down, but when things remain in [the] dark, it becomes a huge problem.”

The issue has extra resonance in Zimbabwe, where advocates for the media say authorities have assaulted journalists in the line of duty.

Nigel Nyamutumbu, the head of Media Alliance of Zimbabwe, said, “In terms of Zimbabwe, you find that on one hand, we have a problem of money, we have a problem of resources. We have also the problem of politics, political will, where you can actually talk of the statutory instruments that were used to enforce the lockdowns. Where you also use the weaponization of the COVID-19 to actually clamp down in a calculated manner some civil liberties, including that of free expression, and including that of media freedom, which by extension obviously affects media sustainability.”

Nyamutumbu said one cannot have a thriving media in an unconducive operating environment.

And right now, even with COVID-19 slowly coming under control, southern Africa is not a conducive environment for print journalism.

Source: Voice of America

November 11, 2021

Chinese Leaders Issue Official History to Elevate Xi, Extend Rule

China’s leaders have approved a resolution on the history of the ruling Communist Party that was expected to set the stage for President Xi Jinping to extend his rule next year.

The official Xinhua News Agency said the resolution on the major achievements and historical experience of the party was adopted during a four-day meeting of its Central Committee that ended Thursday.

The move is expected to give Xi status beside the ruling Communist Party’s most important figures. The statement is only the third statement of its kind in the party’s 100-year history after one issued under Mao Zedong, who led the party to power in 1949, and Deng Xiaoping, who launched reforms that turned China into an economic powerhouse.

Issuing a similar statement under Xi would confirm he has amassed enough authority to ignore two-decade-old party practice that says he should step down next year when his second five-year term as general secretary ends.

The party removed term limits on Xi’s post as president in 2018, indicating his intention to stay in power.

The history statement is expected to emphasize the party’s successes in overseeing China’s economic rise and likely ignore deadly political violence in its early decades in power and growing complaints about human rights abuses.

When term limits on the presidency were abolished in 2018, officials told reporters Xi might need more time to make sure economic and other reforms were carried out.

Xi faces no obvious rivals, but a bid to say in power has the potential to alienate younger party figures who might see their chances for promotion diminished.

Also, political scientists point to the experience of other countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America and warn long periods of one-person rule lead to worse official decisions and economic performance.

Xi has used his control of the party’s vast propaganda apparatus to promote his image.

State media associate him with national successes including fighting the coronavirus, China’s rise as a technology creator and last year’s successful lunar mission to bring back moon rocks.

The 1981 assessment under Deng distanced the party from the violent upheaval of the ultra-radical 1966-76 Cultural Revolution.

By contrast, Xi has promoted a positive image of the party’s early decades in power and called for it to revive its “original mission” as China’s leading economic, political and cultural force.

Source: Voice of America

November 11, 2021

Witnesses at Iran Tribunal Describe Lost Children, Injuries, Abuses

Witnesses, human rights lawyers, international prosecutors and academics gathered Thursday in London for the second day of the Iran Atrocities Tribunal to investigate how mostly peaceful protests turned violent two years ago.

Iranian security forces killed hundreds and arrested thousands of people who were demonstrating against a sudden spike in fuel prices in mid-November 2019. The Iranian government raised the subsidized price of gasoline by 50%, angering Iranians facing high unemployment, inflation and heavy U.S. sanctions.

Appearing virtually and in person at a conference hall in Westminster, the witnesses described in detail the deadly crackdown by authorities two years ago. Some spoke live, others via taped testimonies, with many wearing masks and sunglasses to conceal their identities for fear of reprisals by the Iranian government against family members.

Some showed photos of dead children. One woman, grasping a picture of her son with his own children, asked during the opening session Wednesday whom she could turn to without help from Iranian courts.

“I don’t know what to do and where to go,” she said. “In this world, isn’t there anyone who can hear my cries?”

Former police officer testifies

Thursday’s session featured a former Iranian police officer — identified only as “Witness 195” — who recalled intelligence agents “spraying the protesters with bullets.” Another person, “Witness 366,” showed X-rays of bullets lodged near his lungs.

The tribunal is organized by civil society groups Justice for Iran, Iran Human Rights and Ensemble Contre la Peine de Mort (Together Against the Death Penalty) and will hear evidence from more than 160 witnesses over four days but carries no legal standing.

As the tribunal proceeds, Amnesty International called Thursday for the international community to listen carefully.

“The hearings at the International People’s Tribunal on Iran’s Atrocities of November 2019 are crucial for ensuring that these atrocities do not fade into memory,” Heba Morayef, the human rights organization’s regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, said in a statement. “Crucially, the tribunal must spur U.N. member states into action.”

Raha Bahreini, an Amnesty International researcher and human rights lawyer, said during Thursday’s session that many protesters were sexually assaulted, tortured and executed by Iranian forces two years ago.

On its website, the Iran Atrocities Tribunal, also known as the Aban Tribunal, says its panelists will determine whether Iranian security forces violated international law and will identify perpetrators after proceedings wrap up November 14. Their findings will be released in early 2022.

24 more victims

Amnesty International also updated its list of people killed in the crackdown. It added 24 newly identified names to the database, which now lists 323 Iranians killed in protests across the country November 15-19, 2019.

One of these victims was Pejman Gholipour Malati, an 18-year-old shot in Tehran. His mother, Mahboubeh Ramazani, spoke at Wednesday’s tribunal via recorded video, surrounded by decorations to mark her son’s 20th birthday.

“We want justice. Hear our cries,” she said. “Tell us who killed our children. … We lost our loved ones in our own homeland.”

Ramazani’s camera panned to a neatly made bed: “My son’s empty bed that I see every day,” she said. Then black pants hanging from a door: “Clothes of Pejman I hanged here, in case he returns one day.” A red box crossed with white ribbon: “My son’s bloody clothes are in that box. They’d removed them in the hospital. There were holes in them.”

Source: Voice of America

November 11, 2021

Students to Return to Class After Cameroon University Bombing

YAOUNDÉ, CAMEROON — On Thursday, fewer than 2,000 of the 14,000 students enrolled at the University of Buea showed up for class, a day after about a dozen students were injured when police say someone set off an explosive device at the school in western Cameroon.

The governor of Cameroon’s southwest region, Bernard Okalia Bilai, urged everyone to return, saying the military has been deployed to protect students and staff members.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, but the government blames separatist groups. Buea is an English-speaking town in Cameroon’s southwest region. Government troops and separatists have been fighting each other in the region since 2017, when teachers and lawyers protested alleged discrimination at the hands of the French-speaking majority. The military reacted with a crackdown and separatist groups took up weapons, saying they want the western regions to be an independent country.

Horace Ngomo Manga, the vice chancellor of the University of Buea, said the IED exploded at the school’s amphitheater on Wednesday evening.

“So far, we have one male student and eleven female students at the solidarity clinic, where they are following up treatment,” he said. “The students are being carried one by one for X-rays for further investigations into the depth of their injuries.”

The military said that last month, separatists warned all schools and universities in Buea to seal their doors but gave no further explanation.

Bilai said students should not be intimidated by the explosion, and that education is crucial to the country’s future and must be allowed to continue without interruption.

“We must bear in mind that we are dealing with the education of our children who are the leaders of tomorrow,” he said. “I therefore expect everyone to support the educational sector by denouncing any form of disorder which could disrupt the smooth functioning of our schools.”

However, some on campus are uneasy after the explosion. Ekane Manga, a lecturer at the university, said the presence of soldiers on campus may have invited fighters to attack the institution.

“There should be coordination amidst the ranks of the soldiers because having people with guns around students is not the best thing,” he told VOA.

Separatists in Cameroon have attacked and closed hundreds of schools in recent years, but authorities say this is the first time they have set off an IED at a university.

Source: Voice of America

November 11, 2021

Kenya Disbands National Football Body Over Corruption

Kenya on Thursday disbanded its national football federation over corruption allegations and said it may seek to prosecute any guilty officials.

The move was swiftly rejected by the suspended head of the Football Kenya Federation (FKF), who denied there had been any wrongdoing.

Sports Minister Amina Mohamed said the action was taken after a government investigation into FKF finances revealed it had failed to account for funds received from the government and other sponsors.

She said in a statement there would be a further probe to “establish the extent to which the misappropriation of funds in FKF may have occurred, with a view of prosecuting those who may be found culpable”.

The minister named a 15-member caretaker committee to run the federation’s affairs until fresh elections are held in six months’ time.

But suspended FKF chief Nick Mwendwa vowed to fight the move.

“I am still… in charge of the FKF. We won’t accept the decision taken by the sports ministry,” Mwendwa told a press conference.

“The FKF reject the (caretaker) committee, and we will carry on with our operations as usual. This means all football activities in the country continue as scheduled and FKF remains in charge.

Mwendwa denied that the federation had failed to account for government funds.

“FKF fully complied with the inspection process ordered by the minister, and (provided) detailed and operational documents from the year 2016 to date. But regrettably the inspectors had no serious interest in scrutinizing our documents.”

The government investigation launched two weeks ago sought to determine if 244 million shillings ($2.2 million) given to the federation was used as intended to prepare the national Harambee Stars team for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) finals in Egypt.

Thursday’s government move may put Kenya at loggerheads with FIFA which prohibits government interference in the affairs of local federations.

Mohamed said Kenya had informed FIFA about the outcome of the government investigation.

The Harambee Stars played Uganda in a 2022 World Cup qualifier in Kampala on Thursday, a match that ended in a 1-1 draw.

Kenya is mathematically out of the running for the Qatar finals after two big losses to group leaders Mali and draws against Uganda and Rwanda.

Source: Voice of America

November 11, 2021

Rights Groups’ Tribunal on Iran’s 2019 Protests Crackdown in London Renews Accountability Calls

WASHINGTON/LONDON — Iran is facing renewed scrutiny for its deadly suppression of nationwide protests in 2019, as a London tribunal organized by rights groups began hearing testimony Wednesday from relatives of those killed and others regarding alleged crimes committed in the crackdown.

The event known as an international people’s tribunal opened in London’s Church House conference center. Its goal is to investigate alleged Iranian atrocities, including the alleged killing by security forces of hundreds of protesters and wounding of thousands more during the November 2019 protests.

A panel of human rights law and international relations experts from Britain, Indonesia, Libya, South Africa and the United States led the first day of the tribunal, scheduled to last until Sunday. The hearings are organized by three rights groups including London-based Justice for Iran, Oslo-based Iran Human Rights and Paris-based Together against the Death Penalty.

In a TV interview with VOA Persian from the venue, the tribunal’s co-counsel Hamid Sabi said the panelists will hear statements from about 160 witnesses vetted by him and fellow co-counsel Regina Paulose during the five-day event.

The counsels’ role is to gather evidence from the witnesses and provide it to tribunal panelists.

“We gave priority [to getting statements from] families whose loved ones were killed, wounded or imprisoned,” Sabi said. “We also prioritized testimony from eyewitnesses to the crackdown,” he added.

Iran’s government sparked the nationwide demonstrations on November 15, 2019, by ordering a 50% increase in the subsidized price of gasoline, further straining the finances of Iranians facing high unemployment and inflation in a shrinking economy under heavy U.S. sanctions. Rights activists have said Iranian security forces killed hundreds of people and arrested thousands more while crushing the mostly peaceful protests, in which some people also damaged public buildings and businesses.

In Iran’s only acknowledgement of the scale of the killings to date, then-Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli told state television in May 2020 that the death toll was around 200.

Nahid Shirpisheh, whose 27-year-old son, Pouya Bakhtiari, was killed by a gunshot to the head while protesting in the northern city of Karaj, spoke to the panel by video from Iran. Shirpisheh said she and members of her family have been repeatedly intimidated and detained by Iranian authorities in retaliation for publicly campaigning for justice for Pouya. She said her ex-husband and Pouya’s father, Manouchehr Bakhtiari, is currently in prison for his activism.

Iranian rights activist Masih Alinejad, host of VOA Persian’s Tablet TV program, testified in person at the tribunal. She said she also heard from sources in Iran that authorities have been harassing relatives of slain protesters, including by making them bury their loved ones in remote places.

At the start of Monday’s hearing, the panelists said they had sent letters to 133 Iranian officials, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, accusing them of grave human rights violations and crimes against humanity in suppressing the 2019 protests. The letters invited the officials to present evidence in their defense but no responses were received, the panelists said.

A VOA reporter in London visited the Iranian consulate in the city’s Kensington district Tuesday, seeking comment about the tribunal. The reporter identified himself as affiliated with VOA and asked for a comment after an Iranian consulate staffer opened the door. A male staff member would not respond and escorted the reporter out.

Holly Dagres, a London-based Iran analyst for the Atlantic Council, told VOA it was notable that Iranians provided live video testimony to the tribunal from inside Iran at the risk of angering the Iranian government.

“It demonstrates just how desperate the families of the victims are to have their voices heard, as they seek accountability and justice, that they are willing to risk their own safety, especially with the Islamic Republic actively trying to silence them,” she said.

Amnesty International, which is based in London, was to present its latest findings about Iran’s crackdown on the November 2019 protests to the tribunal Thursday. The group’s Middle East and North Africa director, Heba Morayef, said in a statement provided to VOA Wednesday that the tribunal is a crucial step toward ending impunity for the Iranian perpetrators of the alleged atrocities.

“Crucially, the tribunal must spur U.N. member states into action, both at the current session of the U.N. General Assembly and the next session of the U.N. Human Rights Council, to pave the way for the accountability that is so desperately needed,” Morayef said.

Jason Brodsky, policy director for U.S. advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran, said in a VOA interview that the international community has not taken action on the issue because it is too focused on trying to revive restraints on Iran’s nuclear program under a 2015 deal between Tehran and world powers. The United States and Iran have said they are seeking a mutual return to compliance with the deal after Washington withdrew from it in 2018 under the administration of former President Donald Trump and Iran retaliated by openly violating constraints on its nuclear activities a year later.

“The international community spends most of its time chasing after Iranian diplomats on the nuclear deal, but it does not spend a lot of time on the stories that we heard today and that we’ll be hearing in the coming days. And that has to change,” Brodsky said, noting that Iran’s deputy foreign minister and lead nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri Kan was scheduled to be in London on Thursday for talks with British officials.

The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden has said it is willing to ease some U.S. sanctions on Iran in return for Tehran restoring full compliance with measures designed to prevent it from developing nuclear weapons. Tehran has denied seeking nuclear arms under cover of a civilian energy program.

Brodsky said U.S. offers to ease sanctions on Iran, whose leaders have been accused by the tribunal of committing crimes against humanity, send a “mixed and concerning message” about Biden’s pledge to also prioritize human rights in his foreign policy.

The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to a VOA request for comment about whether the tribunal will influence the U.S. to tighten human rights-related sanctions on Iran.

Source: Voice of America