COLORI E SAPORI DEL MONDO

EMIGRANTI

ANGOLAN GROUP @ CISTERNA by chukbyke

The south African Group...by chukbyke

Thandy,Jacqueline and co at the  'sapori del mondo' show  Cisterna 20th March 2011

NO FLY ZONE

 

"No Fly Zone" in italiano vuol dire una zona in cui non si può volare. La risoluzione 1973dell'ONU si riferisce a questo. La sua applicazione in Libia è per lo meno estesa, presa un po' alla larga. Il primo intervento francese infatti ha colpito dei carri armati volanti vicino a Bengasi. Il carro armato volante è un'invenzione libica, la solita arma segreta dei dittatori, come la V2 di Hitler, il primo missile a distanza. Sarkozy non si è fatto sorprendere. Gli americani e gli inglesi hanno poi bombardato raso terra Tripoli e Sirte, in particolare si sono concentrati sul bunker volante di Gheddafi. Un'applicazione rigorosa della "No Fly Zone". Khamis, un figlio di Gheddafi, sarebbe stato ucciso a Tripoli. Testimoni oculari lo hanno visto mentre volava come Icaro nei cieli della Tripolitania a dispetto delle indicazioni delle Nazioni Unite. Se un ospedale si alzerà in volo, un missile tomahawk colpirà implacabile.
http://www.beppegrillo.it/2011/03/no_fly_zone/index.html

CISTERNA vs IL MONDO 19/03/2011

c

foto by chukbyke

Black Africans In Libya Cry Out For Help!

By panafricanistinternational.org

Africa | Fri, 04 Mar 2011

Rebels hold a young man at gunpoint, who they accuse of being a loyalist to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, between the towns of Brega and Ras Lanuf, March 3, 2011. REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic

Within the nooks and creeks, even difficult for the Libyans themselves to find them are most probably black Africans, scared stiff to sneak out of their hide-outs because of the inevitable confusion with “African mercenaries” and facing mob justice. reports coming out indicate that most of these people are living under very precarious conditions which include food and water.

Reports on Al Jazeera show a Ghanaian migrant who claims that black people are being caught, armed and sent to battle front, even though they might not have an idea about what the trigger is even meant for! The effect of the use of “foreign mercenaries”, if true, has completely poisoned the budding Libyan Revolution. The real weapon that has been unleashed by Gaddafi is not those miserable mercenaries, but the reduction of the dignity of the Libyan Revolution into an insane xenophobic tantrum. The people of Libya who have aided these Africans to escape, without even asking to be paid, need to be mentioned and thanked and to balance the perspectives, and encourage such positive tendencies still found within the Libyan communities and individuals who do not see all black Africans as mercenaries.

There is no need to allow this to draw a wedge between the democratic forces who are in charge of the on-going struggle to free themselves from the longest ruling dictator in the world. Gaddafi's only olive branch to Pan-Africanism has been under the condition that we crown him as our “King of Kings”. So we are not confused at all, and can understand why the good people of Libya would want to get rid of him. But the People's Revolution in Libya, unlike the ones in all the other Arab countries which have so far enjoyed our unalloyed solidarity, is being dangerously diluted with politically toxic and and extremely alarming systematic and sporadic attacks on black African migrants living in Libya.

The Pan-Africanist International was among the first international organisations that cried out as soon as the first violent attack on unarmed protesters occurred:

“We are shocked and horrified by the reckless abandon and the extents taken by the Libyan authorities, including reports of the hiring of foreign mercenaries to kill and maim peaceful protesters by a leader who prides himself as being “democratic” in his own Green Book!

As the third largest supplier of Europe's oil, and by far the biggest customer of Gadaffi, the carnage going on must be clearly condemned and further measures taken to ensure the will of the good people of Libya prevails!”

The International Solidarity Committee of the Pan-Africanist International stands firmly in support of the heroic people of Libya. We stand with them in this great hour of need! We urgently call upon the international community to do something now!” See: http://www.panafricanistinternational.org/

This time we call upon the leaders of civil societies in Libya to urgently take visible steps to restore the right of these Africans to the same human rights they are fighting for, otherwise their revolution is void ab initio. Already, people who never really liked what their limited understanding of what the Libyan revolution represents are furiously presenting all Libyans as racists. We know that this is certainly false. But as stories of harassments continue to pour out, these sentiments would be repeated across black Africa, particularly by those who want to create a wedge and frustrate the Pan-Africanist project.

We call upon Colonel Gaddafi to ensure the safety of black Africans. We believe that just as the Libyan government and the opposition are agreed upon their rejection of US offers of “No Fly Zone”, we call upon both sides of the warring parties to reject the maltreatment of foreign migrants who have been living peacefully and working to help improve the Libyan economy and to improve their own lives. We don't see this as a crime. The are your brothers and sisters. They need help. Please help them!

Forward Ever! Backwards Never!!!
Cheers!
–
Nana Akyea Mensah, The Odikro
Member, International Solidarity Committee
of the Pan-Africanist International
Read Stories:
http://rosebellkagumire.com/2011/03/03/a-mercenary-and-an-immigrant-a-story-of-africans-and-libya/A mercenary and an immigrant; a story of black Africans and Libya MARCH 3, 2011

A mercenary and an immigrant; a story of black Africans and Libya

by Rosebell
How do you prove that you are just an immigrant not a mercenary? It's a question I have been pondering on the week and it's a situation that thousands of Africans stuck in the Libya uprising have to deal with, that is if they are given chance.

Sub Saharan Africans had not surfaced much in the story of the protests and revolutions that have swept across North Africa until Libyans decided to take on Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, their leader for the last four decades.

Protests first broke out in Libya on 15 February 2011 and a few days after that the international media got its juicy story of foreign fighters working for Gaddafi. It wasn't long the term 'African mercenaries' came into full use.

To me it was like I was aback to one of my secondary school history classes about events in the 19th or 20th century and stories of African men taken to the fight in “world wars” where they had no idea.

Before the African mercenaries term was coined, there had been the African the migrant. The 'possible mass migration' of Africans to Europe was one of the very first stories about Africans and the Libya protests to hit the international scene. It was about the fear European countries had that Libya, one of the main routes forAfrican immigrants, could pose them a problem if it plunged in state of lawlessness.

Gaddafi who had been helpful in significantly reducing the numbers of African immigrants crossing to Europe through pacts with EU members, then rushed to use this as a bargaining chip as the protests spread. And the African the migrant at this point became both a weapon and a threat. Actually the BBC reporter based in Nairobi said “The fear with Libya is that sub-Saharan Africans will try to leave and there are more of them.”

Out of a population of about seven million people in Libya, about one million are believed to be from sub-Saharan African countries. There are no concrete figures. Reports claimed that about three quarters of these Africans are sort of on a waiting list to try by any means to cross to Europe.

After the story of the African -the immigrant, came the African -the mercenary as Gaddafi became increasingly violent and killing hundreds of Libyans. Social networks and twitter were abuzz with words African mercenaries, some with outright racial undertones. Some tweets suggested Gaddafi had “brought Africans to break into their homes and rape their women.”

I thought ok, recent African civil wars which have been characterised by rape used as weapon of war have not helped perceptions about the continent that often people want to project! This rape aspect has been repeated in many tweets although we are yet to see reports on actual cases of rape in the international media.

Today I watched Al Jazeera showing a tweet from Redafayr linking mercenaries to 20 African countries where Tamoil, a Libyan petroleum company operates. Today Reuters reported that the rebel National Libyan Council in Benghazi, the insurgent capital said it believed Niger, Mali and Kenya were sending troops to support Gaddafi, who is now directing his forces from Tripoli.

These kinds of statements can only further fuel anger among those opposed to Gaddafi and puts more lives of immigrants held up in houses and other hiding places in Libya at great danger. We have seen reports that indicate dozens of immigrants have so far been killed. These are not deaths inflicted on the 'Gaddafi's African mercenaries' but on African immigrants that have nothing to do with the parties in the conflict.

We have seen slow reaction and attention on international scene and on the part of the African Union and African countries on the mercenary issue. We have not seen bold statements against these xenophobic attacks.

In Uganda we have instead seen a national broadcaster sack two journalists over broadcasting of events in Libya and we don't expect much from government to try and tell the nation that there is no Ugandan Libya as a mercenary. In Zimbabwe, Bob is busy charging anyone who mentions anything close to Libya with treason. It's important that these countries come out and tell the world what is happening.

Kenya has done a lot to evacuate its citizens and others from the East African region. I know that an MP last week called on the country to investigate if young Kenyans who had gone to Islamic schools in Libya might be among the said mercenaries but yet to hear progress. Nigeria is continuing to evacuate its citizens from Libya but many other immigrants from other African countries are still stuck and governments are simply not doing much. I was shocked to see a Ugandan embassy employee saying if it hadn't been for Kenya she would have died in Libya.

U.N. officials have warned that the latest charges from the council in Benghazi could escalate attacks on African migrants in rebel-held areas. We are yet to see the full coverage of the story of the African 'the mercenary' in Libya. We have seen a few pictures that came from protesters but the story is one of the hard ones to get and it will probably take as long as the uprising itself to know the entire story.

While there have been reports of many kind Libyans volunteering to watch over those immigrants that made it to camps, generally many on the continent fear that the impact of racial discrimination not only against immigrants but also black Libyans will continue to be manifested alongside the story of the African mercenary.

We will take long to see a positive story for instance on what African immigrants have contributed to the Libyan economy and how their absence could be felt in either post Gaddafi or post protests Libya. Ultimately the absence of a sub Saharan media will continue to put the African story to hands of foreign media whose plates are often to full too do it justice.

Read more: http://www.bukisa.com/articles/461773_sub-saharan-africans-in-libya-bearing-the-brunt-of-the-uprising#ixzz1FagIm3kY

'Libya hires African mercenaries'
Libya has hired foreign mercenaries from French speaking African countries as crackdown on pro-democracy protesters has intensified, witnesses say.

Three buses full of mercenaries were seen in a small suburb of the capital city of Tripoli and elsewhere, a witnesses told Press TV on Tuesday.

People on the ground also said that mobile phones and the internet are jammed and there are only about 15 Soraya satellite phones among activists for communication.

This is while army warplanes bombed protesters in Tripoli early on Tuesday, according to the reports.

An activist said warplanes and helicopters are “indiscriminately bombing … There are many, many dead.”

The North African country is in turmoil since last week after people took to the streets to protest against the rule of Muammar Gaddafi.

In a short appearance on state-run television on Tuesday, Gaddafi rejected reports that he was fleeing to Venezuela, saying that he is in the Libyan capital.

Meanwhile, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay called for an international probe into Libya's violent crackdown on the protesters.

She also called for an immediate end to “unconscionable violations,” warning the Libyan authorities that the systematic attacks against civilians could amount to “crimes against humanity.”

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also urged Gaddafi to show restraint and stop the violence against the anti-government demonstrators immediately.

http://www.modernghana.com/newsp/318974/1/pagenum2/black-africans-in-libya-cry-out-for-help.html#continue

 

Una mostra di pittura sull'immigrazione

Una mostra di pittura sull'immigrazione

CARO CHARLES,

abbiamo bisogno del tuo aiuto..

Con la galleria La Mimosa, (cisterna di latina) stiamo organizzando una mostra di pittura sull'immigrazione, quindi sulla presenza degli stranieri che vivono sul territorio pontino "i colori del mondo" la cui inaugurazione ci sarà sabato 12 marzo (AIUTO)...
se conosci artisti (pittori/scultori) di etnie diverse, non italiani, che vivono nel lazio e sono interessati ad esporre ti chiediamo la cortesia di girare loro il messaggio e di metterli in contatto con noi con una certa URGENZA ....
Con la presente siamo ad informare che relativamente alla mostra I Colori del Mondo, gli artisti che vogliono prendere parte all'iniziativa, sono convocati per portare le proprie opere ( un massimo di 3 per artista) sabato 5 marzo ( chiamare e concordare gli orari per trovare la curatrice e gli organizzatori ELEONORA GENTILE 334/9833437 oppure PATRIZIO VERONESE 340/9706622)


Si possono portare le opere anche mercoledì 9 e giovedì 10 ( chiamare MARIO SPIGARIOL 329/7436995)
Ricordiamo inoltre che il tema dell'allestimento è il viaggio: le opere saranno divise per cromatismi:


1- PRIMA SEZIONE: La partenza e l'abbandono dalla terra natale: dominano i colori scuri


2- SECONDA SEZIONE viaggio/ la speranza/le illusioni/le aspettative: dominano rossi, i colori passionali di un viaggio magari sofferto ma vissuto con patos
3- TERZA SEZIONE l'arrivo/ nuova vita/: colori verdi della speranza , il bianco, l'oro....la speranza a nuova vita

CONTATTI:
Eleonora Gentile: 334/9833437
Patrizio Veronese: 340/9706622

Cordiali Saluti.
Eleonora Gentile


334/9833437

AFRICAN DIASPORA: REBELLION,DEMOCRACY AND DICTATORS

AFRICAN DIASPORA: REBELLION,DEMOCRACY AND DICTATORS

Security Council imposes sanctions on Libyan leadership (Update 1)

The United Nations Security Council on Sunday adopted a resolution imposing sanctions on Libya's leadership, a RIA Novosti correspondent reported.

The resolution introduces "targeted measures" against the current Libyan government. Sanctions, designed to end violence in the African state, include a total arms embargo, travel bans and a freeze of certain accounts.

The arms embargo was imposed on "arms and related materiel of all types, including weapons and ammunition, military vehicles and equipment, paramilitary equipment, and spare parts for the aforementioned," the resolution reads.

The travel ban list has 16 names, including 68-year-old Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, his four sons, daughter Aisha and ten ministers and top defense and intelligence officials, thought to be responsible for atrocities in the country. The asset freeze concerns only Gaddafi and his five family members.

The resolution also refers an investigation into possible crimes against humanity in the African state to the International Criminal Court.

The ICC prosecutor was invited to "address the Security Council within two months of the adoption of this resolution and every six months thereafter on actions taken pursuant to this resolution."

Russia's representative to the UN, Vitaly Churkin, said the resolution introduced "targeted and precise restrictive measures against those responsible for violence against civilians," but ruled out any possibility of military interference into Libya's domestic affairs.

"We resolutely call on the Libyan authorities to comply with the demands of the international community," Churkin said. "This is necessary to prevent a full-scale civil war and to preserve Libya's sovereignty and territorial integrity."

He said Russia, a veto-wielding Security Council member, supported the sanctions because of "serious concern over events in Libya."

"We condemn and consider absolutely inadmissible the use of military force against peaceful demonstrations," the Russian diplomat said.

The draft resolution was put forward by France, the United Kingdon, Germany and the United States.

According to various estimates, from 1,000 to 2,000 people have been killed since protests against the country's longtime ruler Muammar Gaddafi began on February 15. Gaddafi refused to cede power despite repeated calls from the international community.

NEW YORK, February 27 (RIA Novosti)

http://en.rian.ru/world/20110227/162777642.html


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SECURITY  COUNCIL UPDATE  REPORT
	25 February  2011  No. 3

Libya

Expected Council Action

During informal consultations on Thursday 24 February, Council members discussed taking action under Chapter VII of the UN Charter to impose deterrent measures against the Libyan regime.  There seemed to be wide support for moving down that track and the UK offered to draft some elements for further discussion once Council members had a further briefing today.  It is possible that a formal resolution could follow quite quickly, although procedural requirements mean that at least 24 hours must pass before a draft could be put to the vote.

A briefing on the situation in Libya by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is expected today at 3pm.

Key Recent Developments

On 25 February the Human Rights Council met on Libya. (Libya is a member of the Geneva-based body and this is the first time it has held a special session on one of its own members.)  The Geneva delegates endorsed High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay’s call for an international investigation. Pillay said “in brazen and continuing breach of international law, the crackdown in Libya of peaceful demonstrations is escalating alarmingly with reported mass killings, arbitrary arrests, detention and torture of protestors…tanks, helicopters and military aircraft have reportedly been used indiscriminately to attack the protestors, and that, according to some sources, thousands may have been killed or injured….under international law, any official, at any level, ordering or carrying out atrocities and attacks can be held criminally accountable and that widespread and systematic attacks against the civilian population may amount to crimes against humanity.”

Also on 25 February, NATO called an emergency meeting on Libya with NATO head Anders Fogh Rasmussen saying the immediate priority would be evacuation followed by humanitarian assistance.  Rasmussen also said that NATO can act as an enabler if individual states want to take action. He made no specific mention of a no-fly zone.  On 24 February Rasmussen had said that any intervention in Libya would require a clear Security Council mandate.

Further media reports on 25 February indicate that Rasmussen and EU head Catherine Ashton were expected to join an informal meeting of EU defense ministers and that the EU had agreed to a sanctions package against the Qaddafi regime.

On 22 February in New York, the Security Council issued a statement (SC/10180) on the situation in Libya. It condemned the use of force against civilians, expressed deep regret at the deaths of hundreds of civilians, called on Libya to meet its responsibility to protect civilians and respect international humanitarian law, called for humanitarian access, stressed the importance of accountability, expressed concern for the safety of foreign nationals and the Council’s intention to follow the situation closely.

The Council released this statement after a briefing on Libya the same day by the head of the UN Department of Political Affairs, B. Lynn Pascoe. The meeting was requested by the Libyan deputy permanent representative (the mission's charge d'affaires at the time) and there was strong support for such a meeting by European members of the Council.  It was a closed meeting under the agenda item "peace and security in Africa" with 75 member states, including the Libyan permanent representative, also in attendance (S/PV.6486).

On 21 February, Ibrahim Dabbashi, the deputy permanent representative at the Libyan mission to the UN, held a press conference publically breaking from Libyan leader Muammar al-Qaddafi’s regime and reporting the regime’s use of mercenaries to quell peaceful demonstrations.  Dabbashi called on the Security Council to take up the issue and institute a no-fly zone and refer the situation to the ICC to investigate war crimes being committed by Qaddafi's regime.  In remarks to the press after the Security Council’s meeting on 22 February Dabbashi characterised the Libyan regime’s actions as potentially genocidal. (Media reports indicate that Libyan envoys posted to Australia, Bangladesh, France, India, the US, the UN in New York and Geneva, and the Arab League have broken with the Qaddafi regime.)

On 22 February, the Arab League condemned the use of force against civilians and suspended Libya’s participation in the League until Libya meets its demands to immediately stop all violence. 

On 23 February the AU issued a statement condemning the use of force against civilians, urging the regime, in particular, to desist from making statements that could escalate the situation and decided to send a mission to Libya to assess the situation. 

On 22 February the Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, Francis Deng, and the Special Adviser on the Responsibility to Protect, Edward Luck, said in a joint statement “widespread and systematic attacks against civilian populations by military forces, mercenaries, and aircraft are egregious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law…if the reported nature and scale of such attacks are confirmed, they may well constitute crimes against humanity, for which national authorities should be held accountable.” 

Key Issues

An issue that has been regarded as a precursor to any action is the need for verifiable information and this has led to the request for a Secretariat briefing. For many members, however, the evidence of brutal violence, use of mercenaries and refugee flows are already well documented as is the impact on the region’s stability and indicate a clear threat to international peace and security.

A second issue is the nature of sanctions that would have a real impact on the Libyan regime. Targeted sanctions such as travel bans, asset freezes and arms embargoes are slow to have impact and in the current situation would be essentially symbolic.  Broader sanctions such as a ban on oil exports would have a real effect but raise issues for some Council members.

Also an issue is the capacity to enhance a sanctions resolution. A no-fly zone was proposed by Dabbashi.  There are clear precedents for such action in the former Yugoslavia and Iraq.  But such an option would need to be backed up by air assets and it is unclear if any country or NATO is willing to take this step.

Another issue is whether economic sanctions, if they were in place over a long period of time, would impact the local population and the related issue of humanitarian access. (The World Food Programme has said that Libya is a net food importer with limited agricultural production and recent events are putting the food chain at risk.)

Options

One option for the Council is adopting a resolution containing targeted sanctions against regime members, including also a ban on oil exports while violence continues and a no-fly zone to deter use of Libyan air assets against civilians. 

Another option is a resolution which contains only targeted sanctions such as asset freezes, travel bans and an arms embargo.

Another option is for the Council to demand humanitarian access to areas not under regime control in light of the responsibility to protect to warn the regime against blocking or attacking humanitarian action.

A further option is to discuss possible referral of the situation to the ICC at a later stage.

If a resolution will take some days to negotiate a possible immediate option is for the Council to issue a presidential statement signaling it was considering concrete measures to the situation in Libya.

Council and Wider Dynamics

A significant majority of Council members have reacted positively to the idea of imposing legal measures on the Libyan regime to deter further violence against civilians. Among the measures suggested have been targeted sanctions such as an assets freeze, travel bans and arms embargo but there also seems to be some interest in even stronger measures such as a no-fly zone, ICC references and language on the responsibility to protect.   However, in relation to a no-fly zone, there seem to be some concerns about progressing on this front until the safety of foreign nationals can be secured. 

A resolution imposing sanctions on the Libyan regime seems to be broadly supported by the Libyan mission to the UN in New York which publically broke ranks with the regime on 21 February.  There is also wide interest in the issue among the general UN membership indicated by the 75 member states participating in the Council’s 22 February closed meeting.

Regionally, both the Arab League and the AU have issued statements condemning the Libyan regime’s excessive use of force against civilians.  There also seems to be an Arab/African initiative in the General Assembly to vote Libya off the Human Rights Council. 

Russia and China seemed concerned about the need for verifiable information before further action is taken.  In that regard, the Secretary-General will be briefing on the Libyan situation later this afternoon. However, it seems that the broad support among wider UN member states, including in the Middle East, for concrete measures against the Qaddafi regime is an influential factor.

With the refugee flows and consistent media reports of aerial bombardments and mercenaries from Africa and Eastern Europe being used by the Libyan regime it seems that most if not all Council members are satisfied that the Libyan situation can now be clearly categorised as a threat to international peace and security.

The possibility of an embargo on oil exports doesn’t seem to have any significant support at this juncture.

The UK appears to be taking the lead on the issue.

UN Documents

Security Council Press Statement

SC/10180 (22 February 2010) condemned the use of force against civilians, called on Libya to meet its responsibility to protect civilians and stressed accountability.

Security Council Meeting Record

S/PV.6486 (22 February 2010) was an official communiqué listing the 75 member states who participated in the closed meeting.

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