June 9
SOUTH AFRICA:
S.Africa Court Rejects Bid to Return 'Mercenaries'
A South African court on Wednesday denied a request to bring 70 men held
by Zimbabwe as suspected mercenaries home to face trial, rejecting
lawyers' arguments they will not get a fair hearing in Harare.
Pretoria High Court Judge President Bernard Ngoepe said the demand for an
official extradition request by defense lawyers exceeded the court's
jurisdiction, adding that the matter should be left to the South African
and Zimbabwe governments.
"There is no evidence that the government has done nothing in resolving
the matter. It is not for us to decide where they must stand trial,"
Ngoepe said, dismissing the application.
The men, arrested in Zimbabwe in March, are accused of being linked to
another group being held in Equatorial Guinea on charges of plotting to
topple the government of the tiny oil-rich West African state.
The men, all of whom carry South African passports, deny the charges and
say they were a security detail on their way to guard mining operations in
the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Defense lawyer Francois Joubert said he planned to appeal the decision to
South Africa's Constitutional Court, the country's highest judicial
authority. He said the ruling left the men at risk of being sent for trial
in Equatorial Guinea, where they could face the death penalty. The country
is also widely accused of human rights abuses.
Zimbabwe authorities have not publicly commented on the possibility of
sending the men to Equatorial Guinea, although the 2 countries last month
signed an extradition accord that could pave the way for such a transfer.
"We are deeply disappointed. It now means that they can be extradited to
Equatorial Guinea. We shall be seeking leave to appeal to the
Constitutional Court. It could take weeks," Joubert said after the ruling.
Friends and family of the Zimbabwe group have urged the South African
government to intervene, saying they fear they may be sentenced to death
if put on trial in Equatorial Guinea.
South Africa has said it would let the law run its course in both
countries and only take action should the men face the death penalty,
which is outlawed under the South African constitution.
A spokeswoman for the families said judge Ngoepe's decision increased
uncertainties over the men's fate.
"They had pinned their hopes for justice on today's decision and it has
gone against them, I can't imagine where the judicial process will now
lead to," said Marge Pain, whose 60-year-old husband, Kim Pain, is among
the group.
"We have to look to the Constitutional Court but in the meantime it means
more weeks and weeks of languishing in jail for my husband and his
colleagues and they are innocent," she said as she sobbed quietly inside
Pretoria's Palace of Justice court building.
(source: Reuters)
AFGHANISTAN:
Playwright Puts Afghanistan on Trial for Graft
In Hamayoun Beriya's courtroom drama, a man who takes a bribe is sentenced
to hang while a killer gets off with a prison sentence.
The verdicts cause a gasp of surprise in the audience, before the judge
rises to justify with cold reason why the death penalty is needed to fight
systemic corruption in Afghanistan.
After the auditorium empties back onto the streets of Kabul, the 40-year-
old actor explains his frustration at the rampant graft afflicting every
level of Afghan society.
"Bribery among people is just an everyday act. You see it everywhere
here," Beriya told Reuters.
The Kabul University lecturer now wants to turn his drama, called "Jaza"
(Punishment), into a short film so that more people get the message.
"I could not sit idly by as an actor, and my best weapon was my mind and
my pen. I want to make a film of it in order to tell people how sinful a
crime bribery is."
Beriya's play would never have been staged under the Muslim hard-liners of
the Taliban, who ruled Afghanistan until they were driven out by a
U.S.-led invasion in late 2001.
But under the Taliban regime bribery was a small issue. People found
guilty of graft risked being demoted and whipped. Crime was low thanks in
part to the harsh punishments meted out.
While Beriya is enjoying new-found freedom of expression, he fears
mushrooming corruption will breed other, more serious crime. The
embezzler, the robber or even the killer can act with impunity if they are
able to buy their way out of trouble.
Corruption seems to be everywhere, from the policeman on the street
seeking a "sweetener" for turning a blind eye to a traffic offense to a
senior government official demanding a bribe in return for the use of land
for construction.
The problem goes to the highest levels. As an Afghan saying goes: "Water
is muddy from the source."
EVERYDAY REALITY
Afghan journalist Hafizullah Gardish recently documented cases of
corruption in Kabul, and heard countless complaints of bribery and
coercion involving police and other officials.
>From a gasoline station owner setting up his business, to street vendors
and pushcart owners, bribes from as little as 20 U.S. cents to as much as
thousands of dollars are commonplace. Employees at state utilities and
even the courts are not immune.
"People get away with paying a bribe, and the power of the gun also helps
if someone is caught grabbing someone's property or even killing someone,"
said a court official, who declined to be identified.
"We have received complaints from people. There are even some ministers
involved in this."
Miserly wages, as little as $30 a month for government workers, and the
violence of Afghanistan's recent past and its booming narco-economy
provide a breeding ground for graft.
A year ago Karzai vowed reforms to root out corruption and nepotism, amid
accusations that civil servants were often unqualified for the job and
encouraged bribes.
The state's lack of resources and its weakness mean it will take years to
change.
POLITICALLY RISKY
Typically, it is outsiders who are able to shine a spotlight on cases of
high-level corruption.
A presidential official, who asked not to be identified, said the Kabul
"municipality" had been accused of corruption.
"The president was approached by the (U.S.) ambassador about a complaint
from the U.S. authorities over the municipality's demand for a bribe in
return for a plot of land on which the Americans were building a hotel,"
he said. And last September, 30 houses belonging to junior defense
ministry officials were bulldozed in the Shir Pur neighborhood, near the
upmarket area of the capital where many diplomats live.
A U.N. official said families were given no time to clear belongings from
the mud brick homes they had lived in for decades.
Miloon Kothari, U.N. special rapporteur on the right to adequate housing,
accused Northern Alliance leader and Defense Minister Mohammad Qasim
Fahim, among others, of abusing the tenants' rights in a case
characterized as a land grab.
Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai called it a "crisis of governance."
The issue certainly alarmed Karzai.
Fahim, the most senior of the country's four vice president's and a
leading figure in the powerful Tajik ethnic minority, came under a cloud.
But he still holds his positions.
In March, however, Karzai replaced the mayor of Kabul, Mohammad Anwar
Jigdalak -- a member of the same political faction as Fahim.
Jigdalak denies any wrongdoing or that he was sacked.
Officials privately tell a different story, but no-one is saying openly
what happened, for fear of damaging the fabric of Karzai's government.
Lakhdar Brahimi, the former U.N. Secretary-General's Special
Representative to Afghanistan rebuked Kothari last year for naming those
responsible for graft, saying it was undiplomatic.
"Maybe it is good. But the U.N. very often cannot afford to do what is
good," he said.
Beriya the playwright and many of his countrymen would disagree.
(source: Reuters)
