Detainees return from Israel after 16 years, witnessed by Reem Haddad.
May 2004's Issue
Diamond rings. Garden furniture. Mobile phones and gaming consoles. Africa is vastly rich in natural resources-the gems, the metals, the minerals - essential to the manufacture of these consumer items in Western markets. But is this wealth a blessing or a curse for the poorest continent?
Many of the wars that have ravaged the continent over the last decade-such as in Liberia, the Congo, Sierra Leone and Angola - have been fuelled by the demand for control over diamonds, timber, gold, minerals and oil.
In this month’s NI we find out whether the consumer goods you buy are the loot of bloody conflict -and what you can do about this scandal.
Every month, we put up a selection of articles from the magazine. To enjoy the complete magazine, subscribe and receive three free issues and a world map. Or buy a digital subscription which gives you unlimited access to all magazines since 2007 and for a year after purchase on your computer or mobile device, in their original full-colour design.
Featured in issue 367
Rainbow Warriors
Gays are the rainbow warriors, delivering some of the best news in human history, believes Eduardo Galeano.
- Eduardo Galeano
- 1 May 2004
- 0
Iqbal Hossain
A street-sweeper’s lot, photographed by Iqbal Hossain, with words by Faysal Ahmed Dadon from Bangladesh.
- Iqbal Hossain and Faysal Dadon
- 1 May 2004
- 0
War Crimes
Médecins Sans Frontières medic Helen Clarkson finds sexual violence being used as a weapon of war in the Congo.
- 1 May 2004
- 0
The looting of the Congo
Colette Braekman uncovers what lies at the heart of the world’s deadliest war.
- 1 May 2004
- 0
The scramble for Africa
Katharine Ainger traces the connections between the Western World’s prosperity and Africa’s misery.
- 1 May 2004
- 0
Decolonization and us
Resisting the military dictatorship in Pakistan is a priority, writes Aasim Sajjad Akhtar, but that doesn’t mean taking refuge in colonial institutions.
- Aasim Sajjad Akhtar
- 1 May 2004
- 0
Interview with Daud Sharifa Khanam
Indian villager Daud Sharifa Khanam’s dream is to build a mosque for women – with a female priest.
- Vanessa Baird
- 1 May 2004
- 1
Diamonds in the rough
The action so far on ’conflict diamonds’ is welcome, but Janine Roberts argues that there is much more to be done – and urgently.
- 1 May 2004
- 0
From Homebreakers to Jailbreakers
From Homebreakers to Jailbreakers by Southall Black Sisters
- Shaila Shah
- 1 May 2004
- 0
Pre-Emptive Empire: A Guide to Bush's Kingdom
Pre-Emptive Empire by Saul Landau
- Phil England
- 1 May 2004
- 0
Fuelling the Fire
Alice Blondel argues that ’conflict timber’ is as serious an issue as diamonds.
- 1 May 2004
- 0
The arms smugglers
Wairagala Wakabi exposes the lucrative smuggling networks of guns, gold and gems in the Great Lakes region.
- 1 May 2004
- 0
The Trots
You’ll find them at any industrial dispute, any anti-war demo, armed with party-line placards and keen to take over the show. Meet the Trots.
- 1 May 2004
- 0
Migrants demand equality in South Korea
migrant workers battle for rights in South Korea
- Robin Maddock
- 1 May 2004
- 0
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