Muncie Times, Muncie, Delaware County, 5 June 2003 — Page 20

Page 20 • The Muncie Times • June 5, 2003

AFRICAN BRIEFS

continued from page 11. massacres a vice-president of the Hutu militia group, the “Interahamwe”, that largely carried out the killings of some 800,000 Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus. He was sentenced by the ICTR on 6 December 1999 after he was found guilty on three charges - genocide, extermination as a crime against humanity and murder as a crime against humanity. According to an ICTR statement, the appeals court upheld the first two convictions but acquitted Rutaganda of murder as a crime against humanity after finding “inconsistencies” in witnesses’ evidence. However, it entered two new convictions for murder as a violation of Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions after ruling that the trial chamber had wrongly acquitted Rutaganda of war crimes relating to the killing of Tutsi refugees at a school. The ICTR said the two convictions represented the first time the tribunal had convicted a defendant of a war crime. Rutaganda’s lawyer had filed the appeal, accusing the trial chamber of being partial in delivering its judgement and of committing 10 general errors of law which undermined the fairness of the trial. The appeals court said it found no evidence of factual or legal errors to back the accusation. Rutaganda, a former businessman, was born in Masango commune of Gitarama province. He was arrested in October 1995 in Zambia and was transferred to the ICTR in May 1996.

REALITY TV AFRICA GETS UNDERWAY, A CONTINENT TUNES IN May 28 (GIN) - Twelve handsome young contestants - each from a different African nation - will compete for $100,000 in “Big Brother Africa” - a reality TV show which aired its first episode Sunday. Broadcasting to a potential audience of 20 million in 42 African countries, the show has the contestants locked in a house where they are not allowed any contact with the outside world and their actions are captured on film 24 hours a day. Highlights are shown on TV, and viewers vote for their least favorite contestant to leave the house. After 106 days, just one contestant will remain - and collect his or her prize money. The Reality TV formula has proved popular in numerous countries around the world, often making celebrities out of contestants. But this is the first time it has been tried on an entire continent. The six male and five female contestant - all of whom speak English - come from Ghana, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Angola and Botswana. And the contest is being hosted by South Africa. SOMALI BANTU REFUGEES ARRIVE IN DENVER AND PHOENIX 28 May (IRIN) - The first group of Somali Bantus who were living in Kenyan refugee camps for the past

decade have arrived in the American cities of Denver and PHOENIX. The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said this was the beginning of one of the biggest resettlement operations to take place from Africa, in which some 11,800 Somali Bantus will be resettled in the US. After weeks of cultural orientation classes, the first batch of 74 Somalis left Kenya last week. Another 150 are expected to travel before mid-June, the statement said. The Church World Service along with eight other voluntary agencies will oversee the resettlement program in the U.S. The refugees were originally scheduled to start arriving last year, but tightened security measures after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks pushed back the date. The Somali Bantus - a minority group whose physical, cultural and linguistic characteristics distinguish them from the Cushitic majority in Somalia - were considered for resettlement in the US, because they faced difficult circumstances in their country where they were treated as second class citizens, partly because they are descended from slaves. In the early 1990s, during civil war in Somalia, more than 10,000 Bantus fled to refugee camps in Kenya, where discrimination against them by major Somali clans continued. RWANDANS VOTE TO APPROVE NEW CONSTITUTION, PRESIDENTIAL VOTE TO FOLLOW

28 May (IRIN) - Rwandan president Paul Kagame said on Tuesday that presidential and parliamentary elections will be held in August and September respectively, the Rwanda News Agency (RNA) reported. The announcement followed the release of results from Monday’s referendum on a draft constitution, which showed that 93 percent of voters approved it. RNA quoted Kagame as saying it was no surprise that the population had voted massively in favor of the constitution, as it contained their own views. The new constitution aims to prevent a repeat of the 1994 genocide, in which some 800,000 Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus died, by preventing any one political party from assuming dominance, and by banning the incitement of ethnic hatred. The New York-based human rights group, Human Rights Watch (HRW), has criticized the constitution, saying that it includes significant powers to curtail civil rights, and that it favors Kagame's party, the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), the most powerful party in the country, because it effectively bans political campaigning at grassroots level. According to RNA, two candidates, Jean Nepomucere Nayinzira of the Parti Democratique Chretien, and former prime minister Augustin Twagiramungu, who lives in exile, have declared their intention to contest the presidency. Twagiramungu’s party, the Mouvement Democratique

Republicain (MDR), was recently banned after it was accused in a parliamentary report of pursuing a “divisive ideology”. BLACK SOUTH AFRICAN SETS RECORD CLIMBING MT EVEREST May 27 (GIN) - A 37-year-old South African this week became the first black person to climb to the top of Mount Everest, the world’s highest mountain. Sibusiso Vilane, a game warden, climbed through the night and at dawn on Monday arrived at the top of the 29,000ft (8,848m) peak. He had spent a week at Base Camp on the Nepalese mountain waiting for suitable weather and getting used to the climate and altitude. Speaking to South African news service SABC, Vilane said he climbed Everest “for black people and for Africa.” South African President Thabo Mbeki also claimed the climb as a victory for Africa. Speaking on Monday he said, “Today all Africans stand 8,848 meters tall.” This week marks the fiftieth anniversary of the first ever successful ascent of Everest by Edmund Hillary. A record number of people - about 100 - have been climbed the peak in the last week. These people include Lakba Gelu, a Sherpa who set a new record for the fastest ascent. Gelu made it in 11 hours: nearly two hours faster than the previous record time. Global Information Network 146 West 29th Street New York, NY 10001 212-244-3123 www. globalinfo. org