RSS 2.0 FeedSeptember 2009 Vol 11, Featured Articles, National News
UN expert on torture visits Zim next week
HARARE – United Nations (UN) special rapporteur on torture Manfred Nowak will next week visit Zimbabwe to gather “first-hand information about torture” in the African country where police are often accused of torturing political opponents of President Robert Mugabe.
HARARE – United Nations (UN) special rapporteur on torture Manfred Nowak will next week visit Zimbabwe to gather “first-hand information about torture” in the African country where police are often accused of torturing political opponents of President Robert Mugabe.
Nowak’s visit from October 28 to November 4 is at the invitation of Zimbabwe’s new coalition government, the first time that Harare has extended such an invitation to the UN torture rapporteur.
"This mission is a positive sign of the government of Zimbabwe's willingness to engage with the UN Human Rights system and permit open and unfettered access to places of detention," he said.
During his visit, Nowak is expected to meet with government officials, human rights and civic society groups.
He will present a report on Zimbabwe to the UN Human Rights Council with recommendations on how the council could help entrench a culture of human rights in a country that has witnessed violent elections accompanied by gross human rights abuses including torture over the past decade.
Prominent Zimbabwean human rights defender Jestina Mukoko and several other activists accused by the state of plotting to overthrow Mugabe say they were severely tortured by state security agents in a bid to force them to admit to the treason charges.
Zimbabwe’s Supreme Court has since ordered the state not to prosecute Mukoko on the treason charge because her rights were grossly violated when she was illegally abducted by police agents last year and later tortured.
More Featured Articles
CAUGHT CHEATING? HOW TO MOVE FORWARD AFTER BEING UNFAITHFUL
We all learn to look out for signs that our man is cheating, or subtle hints that he might be seeing someone else on the side, but what if you are the one that cheated? Assuming that you still want to work on your current relationship, we have 7 ways to move on successfully after you’ve been unfaithful. This is not a “loop-hole” and is not praised, but the reality is 14 percent of married women have had affairs at least once during their married lives and 17 percent of divorces in the United States are caused by infidelity. If you fall into this category, and don’t want to be part of the divorce statistic, take a look at these helpful steps.
Sure signs she's cheating on you
MARRIAGES often break down on account of husbands not being loyal to their wives.
Who wants to be a monkey?
A student has been left feeling a little red-faced after an embarrassing incident with a monkey made her a global star. Charmian Chen, who just happens to be a model, was visiting the Sacred Monkey Forest Ubud in Bali last month when two of the primates decided she was a little overdressed.The 22-year-old student, from Taiwan, was on holiday on the tropical Indonesian island feeding long-tailed macaques when she was singled out.
NYT: Robert Mugabe vs. Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe’s president, Robert Mugabe, and his party have been trying to blow up the power-sharing arrangement ever since neighboring states put it together last year. They are now perilously close to succeeding.
UN investigator urges protection of detainees
UNITED NATIONS — The U.N.'s top investigator on torture and punishment called Tuesday for a new U.N. convention to protect the rights of detainees, saying many are held for years and sometimes for a lifetime in inhuman and degrading conditions.
Africa’s leaders snubbed by Ibrahim Prize
IN A snub to recent former presidents and heads of state in Africa, organisers of a multimillion-dollar annual prize for good governance said yesterday they would not hand out the award this year.
New Radio Application Fees For Zimbabwe announced
Harare, - The newly constituted Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ) Board chaired by Tafataona Mahoso, has issued out a new set of broadcasting service regulations which includes new application fees.
Leona Lewis in tears after being punched in the face by a male fan at book signing
Leona Lewis was punched in the face at a book signing yesterday.
Zimbawean tradittional treatment now in use in UK hospitals
Rubbing sugar into wounds could cure painful infections including bedsores, research shows. The traditional African remedy is being trialled in British hospitals after a study led by a senior nurse raised in Zimbabwe.
Richard Mills: a sharp eye for the truth
12-year-old Shaheen al Edany looks through the bullet hole in a window of his home in Baghdad, Iraq
Positive women's football beats stigma
HARARE, - Janet Mpilime, 32, captain of the ARV Swallows, an all-woman football team based in the informal settlement of Epworth, 10km east of the Zimbabwean capital, Harare, has just led her team to a 2-1 victory over Sporting ART.
Gono: Improbable research: the hundred trillion dollar book
(Gono's Zimbabwe - from breadbasket to money basket) Gideon Gono, author of the new book Zimbabwe's Casino Economy – Extraordinary Measures for Extraordinary Challenges, displays a rare, perhaps unique, kind of scholarly reserve.
Botswana President Urges Democratic Reforms in African Trouble Spots
In an exclusive Voice of America interview, conducted last Thursday, shortly after Botswana marked its 43rd anniversary of independence (September 30), President Khama reflected on how Botswana can help countries beyond its borders, from Zimbabwe, to Kenya and Madagascar, to extend the benefits of democratic rule to their own peoples.
Opinion: Regime Change in Zimbabwe Legitimate
When citizens are schooled and empowered, it is difficult to oppress them. It becomes even harder for state actors to break the fortress created when such enlightened minds work in non-governmental organizations [NGO].
Khama a man of action
Gaborone - There's a story supporters of Botswana's President Ian Khama tell, which, while maybe embellished a little, gives a flavour of his leadership style.
Too poor to take tests
HARARE- Despite moves to salvage Zimbabwe's ailing education sector, exorbitant fees are keeping many poor students from writing the examinations that will allow them to gain a school-leaving certificate at the end of 2009.
Jestina Mukoko - "Not bitter, but better"
"I am a widowed mother, and what I went through brought a lot of trauma to my family, especially to my son, who did not know if he had lost the only remaining parent that he had."
Veld fires stoke food production fears
HARARE, - The increasing incidence of wild fires is eroding food production in Zimbabwe, which remains a food insecure country despite a turnaround in agricultural production.
