new internationalist

AFRICA The Organization of African Unity meets in Sirte, Libya, and agrees to work towards a United States of Africa. The Sirte Declaration calls for rapid establishment of a pan-African parliament, monetary union and an African Court of Justice. An African Union constitution will be drawn up for adoption by 2001.

DR CONGO Leaders of rival factions fighting the Kabila Government sign a ceasefire. But squabbles break out immediately, not least because the rebels and neighbouring countries are fighting not just against Kabila but over the country’s gold and diamonds.

BRAZIL Hélder Câmara dies – the former Archbishop of Olinda and Recife was a tireless defender of the poor and a founding parent of ‘liberation theology’. His death is marked by three days of official national mourning. Centre-right Senator Hildebrando Pascoal is arrested and expelled from office for being the leader of a drugs cartel and running a death squad.

BURMA Two British pro-democracy activists are among those tried and imprisoned in Burma as the regime successfully clamps down to avert a planned pro-democracy uprising on 9/9/99 (in numerological memory of the massacre of democrats on 8/8/88).

UGANDA Medical researcher Francis Mmiro discovers a low-cost drug that will cut the chances of mothers with hiv passing the infection on to their children. If approved by the WHO the drug – nevirapine – could be used in Africa at a fraction of the cost of AZT and 3TC.

ZIMBABWE Spearheaded by the trade union congress, a new political party is launched – the first serious challenge to President Mugabe’s monopoly of political power. Italy and the Netherlands suspend aid programmes in protest at financial irregularities.

EAST TIMOR Free at last - but what a cost The end of the Indonesian occupation of East Timor after almost a quarter-century of repression should have been a cause of great celebration. Through the bitter years – from the genocide that killed a quarter of the population to the last decade when Western nations have continued not just to appease Indonesia but to sell it arms and planes – the East Timorese kept the faith in their own independence. And in the 1990s, against all odds, their cause gathered momentum. The pressure exerted by international solidarity groups played a key part in this. JAN BANNING / PANOS PICTURES Yet when the crowning moment came at last and the East Timorese could vote in a referendum in August this year, things went terribly wrong. The first suggestion that Indonesia might allow a plebiscite on self-determination came from President Habibie in January. Meanwhile the army prepared: ruthless head of military intelligence General Makarim was dispatched to East Timor; pro-Jakarta militia leaders were promised logistical support, weapons and money. In March East Timorese spokesperson José Ramos Horta warned: ‘If the UN simply relies on the will of the Indonesian side and pushes ahead with the vote, bloodshed is almost certain.’ Yet in May the UN announced that responsibility for ensuring a ‘secure and safe’ environment for the vote would lie with the Indonesian military. In July a secret meeting of militia and military leaders laid plans for targeting pro-independence activists after the referendum. Militia leaders were given a list of 370 people to eliminate; all UN staff and foreign journalists were to be forced out. Though the referendum was postponed for three weeks to allow UN monitors to ‘improve security’, by the time of the vote on 30 August the intimidation was still evident – as was the unarmed powerlessness of the meagre UN contingent. Despite the threats, the voter turn-out (98.6 per cent) was as miraculous as the majority for independence was clear(78.5 per cent). News of the result unleashed a tidal wave of murder which appalled the world. At least 7,000 were massacred and almost all the 800,000 population were forced to flee their homes; rampaging militias were estimated to have destroyed or damaged 70 per cent of all the buildings in East Timor. The need for a serious UN peacekeeping force was clear to all, yet even as the holocaust reached its peak Western nations made the acquiescence of the Indonesian Government the overarching priority. When the diplomatic knots were finally untied an 8,000-strong Australian-led UN force was dispatched to Dili on 20 September, at least two weeks too late. There will be an interim UN administration for two years, though the effective leader of East Timor, ex-guerrilla José Xanana Gusmao, is now in Dili after seven years under arrest. Gusmao is working to secure the return of 150,000 refugees still in makeshift camps over the border in West Timor. But at least when he saw off the last Indonesian troops at the airport in October it was finally possible to look to the future with some optimism.

CHINA The one-child policy is relaxed for the first time since its introduction in the early 1980s. The jail term of Tibetan nun Nagawang Sangdrol is extended from 3 to 20 years due to her protests in prison.

IRAN Four people are sentenced to death for taking part in pro-democracy demonstrations.

RUSSIA / CHECHNYA Five explosions in Moscow apartment blocks in two weeks kill 300 people and are blamed on Chechen terrorists. Russia bombs Grozny airport as well as alleged rebel bases and deploys 30,000 troops on the border. Chechnya denies responsibility for the bombs but says the terrorists were provoked by Russian bombing in Dagestan.

SOUTH AFRICA Thabo Mbeki’s Government wins the first round in its battle with the US and pharmaceutical transnationals to provide cheap generic drugs, particularly for people with AIDS. A new TV campaign raises awareness of rape – a woman is raped every 20 seconds somewhere in South Africa, the highest incidence in the world.

BANGLADESH A general strike against the Hasina Government paralyzes much of the country.

ALGERIA President Bouteflika holds a referendum on his plans to end the civil war by offering a limited amnesty – and wins a reported 98.63-per-cent approval.

NORTH KOREA The US eases sanctions after nearly half a century as North Korea undertakes not to test a new long range nuclear missile capable of reaching Hawaii and Alaska.

TAIWAN A major earthquake leaves over 4,000 hurt and 100,000 homeless.

CHILE A British court upholds General Pinochet’s extradition to Spain. The list of atrocities during his dictatorship takes 16 minutes to read out in court.

WORLD The Jubilee 2000 debt-relief campaign unveils its biggest celebrity supporter as the Pope joins musicians David Bowie, Bono and Bob Geldof in launching the next phase. US President Clinton makes a sweeping promise to forgive all debts to the US of countries that seriously combat poverty.

TURKEY Despite pleas for peace and reconciliation from imprisoned Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan, the Turkish army launches a new offensive against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq.

CONGO-BRAZZAVILLE Fighting intensifies between government troops and the ‘Ninja’ rebels led by former Prime Minister Bernard Kolelas.

ANGOLA The Government steps up its offensive against Unita, aiming to break the siege of major cities by the rebels. Refugees flee from the fighting into already overcrowded and hungry areas.

MALAYSIA The trial for sodomy of former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is suspended after he claims he is being poisoned with arsenic in prison.

SRI LANKA Government forces suffer high casualties in an abortive offensive against the Tamil Tiger rebels in the north-west. Tamil Tigers massacre 61 Buddhist villagers in the south-eastern district of Amparai.

KYRGYZSTAN Fighting rages between government troops and guerrillas who have taken 13 people hostage and captured three villages. The Kyrgyz Government describes them as Uzbek Islamic rebels; the Uzbek Government claims they are rebels from Tajikistan.

PHILIPPINES The Government announces it will dismantle the dangerous Bataan nuclear-power plant, which was built by the Marcos regime at a cost of $2.3 billion but was so unsafe that it never went into operation.