Cadiz to welcome persecuted journalists.

Legend has it that Cadiz was founded as a result of the mythical 12 labours of Hercules which included separating Europe from Africa. The first settlers came here after their oracle advised them to construct a city overlooking the Atlantic between the Pillars of Hercules.

Santiago and his colleague

What we know as historical fact is that this is the oldest continuously inhabited city in Europe. The Phoenicians established a trading post here in 1,100 BC and called the town Gadir (meaning enclosure), a name which later transmuted to Gades under the Romans..

Journalists in this particular city have decided to offer a refuge to colleagues fleeing persecution and torture from their own homeland due to the exercise of their profession.

The Cadiz Press Association ( http://www.prensacadiz.org/) with the help of the ( http://www.ifj.org/) has decided to build a house that will host journalists seeking refuge and asylum in Spain and the (http://www.nuj.org/) will provide some technical and referral support to the project. This cooperation has been materialised on Wednesday 16 March by the signing agreement between the Cadiz Press Association ( APC) and the International Federation of Journalists. 

Fernando Santiago Munoz, the acting president of APC and Jim Boumelha for the Ifj have both signed the cooperation agreement in the presence of the general Secretary of the Nuj, Jeremy Dear and his deputy Michelle Stanistreet.

Jim and Santiago signing agreement

Pete Murray and Donnacha Delong, president and deputy were also present at the ceremony that took place in the conference room situated at the fifth floor at the Headland House in London.

Jeremy explained to the spanish colleagues how the Nuj has been involved in campagnings in order to avoid one of his member been removed from the UK and also highlighted the support that asylum seeker members are receiving from the union...

On the agreement it is said that the APC undertakes to promote the construction and complete fitting-out of the journalists`house and also to provide sufficient staff for its operation and security.

 Journalists will be admitted in that house on condition that their asylum application has been approved by Spanish authorities and that they have the status of refugee. They will receive necessary services to pursue their journalistic work and also will have to learn the language that will be a criteria to integrate the community.

There are 16 rooms that are going to be funded by media groups in Spain in a scale of 50% of the management and the other 50% will be donated and collected through the European fund for refugee and other International federation of journalists. Funds will help the maintenance and the complete function of the House.  

The Ifj will put forward names and specific cases of journalists needing or requesting protection to the Journalists`House. The Spanish initiative comes after French and German and the Ifj hopes that other European countries will follow these examples of housing persecuted journalists.

Cameroon accused of systematic use of torture

Cables show US was secretly briefed on abuse of civilians in the North-West and South-West of Cameroon.

Us official has evidence of widespread torture by Cameroonian police and security armed forces and were secretly briefed by Pearce Corps volunteers staff working in Agroforestery, community development, education and health, about the systematic abuse of prisoners, detainees in police custody, journalists on special assignment and political activists in the areas, according to leaked diplomatic cables released last night.

The dispatches, obtained by website Wikileaks, reveal that US diplomats in Yaounde for a long period of time were briefed since 2000 by the International Committee of the Red Cross ( ICRC), the Pearce Corps Volunteers about the use of electrocution ( in some police cell and military police cell as well...) instrumental beatings and sexual humiliation against hundreds of detainees, specially women who have been involved in politics activities against the will of their husbands and also those tried to express their view in current affairs.

Janet E Garvey, former US Ambassador in Cameroon

 Others cables show that as recently as 2007, American diplomats were concerned about widespread human rights abuses by armed secret and security forces, who they said relied on torture for confessions. In Cameroon, cables show that journalists are often targeted for these technicals of getting information from them.

The revelations will be intensely embarrassing for Paul Biya who takes pride in its status as the longest president in Cameroon and the one who brought peace and stability and economic growth and come at a time of the end of the year wishes ahead of the next presidential election in the country. The embassy reported the ICRC concluded that Cameroon condones torture and that the torture victims were civilians. The ICRC and the Pearce Corps Volunteers have a long standing policy of engaging directly with government and avoiding the media, so the briefing remained secret.

Human rights abuses included security force torture, beatings, and other abuses, particularly of detainees and prisoners. Prison conditions were harsh and life threatening. Authorities arbitrarily arrested and detained citizens advocating secession, local human rights monitors and activists, persons not carrying government-issued identity cards, and other citizens. There were incidents of prolonged and sometimes incommunicado pretrial detention and infringement on privacy rights.

The government restricted freedoms of speech, press, assembly, and association, and harassed journalists. The government also impeded freedom of movement. Other problems included widespread official corruption; societal violence and discrimination against women;there were reports that security forces committed unlawful killings.

There were also some incidents of officers using excessive force; however, the government rarely prosecuted the officers responsible. The cables reveal a careful US policy of pressure in Yaounde, while maintaining a strictly neutral stance. These cables were sent by Robert P Jackson, Janet E Garvey, Niels Marquardt, George M Staples, Mrs Judi Marquardt, all former Us ambassador in Cameroon and Lahoma Smith Romocki as the director of the Pearce corps volunteers.The cables note that officials are unable to verify with evidence the claims against some report of human right abuses.

Telling the true story of Zimbabwe.

Foster Dongozi, the actual secretary general of the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists is in UK for an informative meeting about the situation back home and the realities facing journalists and human rights activists and trade unionists. 

In his mission, he is  with Jennifer Dube, a colleague journalist from The Standard, a weekly newspaper published in Harare. It was a great pleasure to meet face to face with those two colleagues journalists from Zimbabwe. Right Foster is now a trade unionist and comrade and Jennifer is a female journalist working in a macho environment in Harare.

In Zimbabwe, female journalist are not yet recognised by the work that they are doing and are still in low paid compare to their male colleagues. They are still treated as second class worker and Dube is trying to proof that they are wrong and that they should change their view and mind.

They brought here the true story of the situation in Zimbabwe as it happening today and what possibly could happened tomorrow as the coalition government is not doing so well and journalists also are being targeting by those in power. 

Jennifer Dube at the end of her visit at the Nuj HQ

Foster will have the opportunity now to act as an ambassador for a free and independent Zimbabwe from torture, intimidation, arbitrary arrest of journalist and human rights activists and political killing of opponents when he will meet with the Commonwealth parliamentary group and others government department in relation with Zimbabwe.

This visit arrived at the moment the coalition government has decided to renew with his policy of deportation and removal of  failed asylum seekers from Zimbabwe  back home. The Homer Office said that, Zimbabwe is now a safe country to send his own people back. But Dube had another idea about what the Home Office missed totally in their assessment of a safe country.

They met with Zimbabwe diaspora in Glasgow last Monday, November 22 where they had opportunity to explain to them the reality and the true story back home. Those who attend the meeting organised by the Nuj Glasgow Branch have been informed and received evidence of what it is really happening back home there. After that they went to Dublin...

In a day of high political drama on the domestic political and economic front Minister of State for Development Aid, Mr Peter Power, met ZUJ General Secretary Foster Dongozi  and ZUJ Jennifer Dube in Dublin along with Irish Secretary Séamus Dooley. 

Foster and Dube in discussion

Mr Power offered to seek support at EU level for the promotion of human rights in Zimbabwe and stressed the importance of an independent media in the country. He expressed his shock at the treatment of journalists in Zimbabwe and asked that the NUJ would brief the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs on developments.

Michelle Stanistreet, NUJ Deputy General Secretary, travelled with the delegation from London to Glasgow and then to Dublin.

UK Government to act on human rights abuses in cameroon

The latest UK-Parliamentary Human Rights Group report on Cameroon found out that too many people are afraid to report crimes and corruption to authorities.


 Sadly this is the reality in Cameroon and less is done by those who are in total control of the power. As this report details, members of the parliamentary human rights group met with many people who described in their own words enforced disappearances, unlawful arrests and detention, organised beatings in police and military police cells and jails, house-burnings in the night and torture by specialised armed forces.

 An extreme culture of impunity has been installed in Cameroon ,especially for military police and armed forces. This is mean that most  people are too afraid to report crimes and even those with courage reported do not generally result in thorough investigation and prosecution.

Lord Frank Judd, one of the writer of the Parliamentary Human Rights Group finding mission report , and president of Africa Inequality and Millennium Development Goals campaign


There have been in recent months a small change of tactic after the international community complaint to the United Nations meeting about human rights abuses committed in Cameroon by military police and armed forces. Few of them have been sent in prison and other are still walking free on the streets.

 There is no real Parliamentary scrutiny or transparency over what President Biya  and his Government are doing, not helped by the fact that 75%  of the National Assembly is on the hands of the ruling party, the Cameroon people democratic movement ( CPDM) where all members belong to the same party (CPDM). Cameroonian`s own Human Rights Ombudsman is hostile to the concept of independent NGOs holding the Government to account.

One Ntarikon`s villager told us: "Biya  laws do not protect me"." You cannot take a police officer who verbally abuse you and even torture you to court and face a simple trial, just because they think that they are above the law and they can do to you whatever they want to..This is what it is happening in the North-West of Cameroon even there is a little change of that behaviour..But for how long?". .

Turning a blind eye to human rights abuses under the misplaced assumption that Cameroon  is stable under Paul Biya and his armed forces general council 's iron regime only stores up problems for the future.