About Us
Mission Statement
Rules of Conduct
 
Name:
Pswd:
Remember Me
Register
 

Africa on the Cusp
Author: BobR    Date: 05/30/2012 13:35:36

Being an election year, it's easy to overlook the fact that there is a whole other world out there with its own stories and problems. One of the least-covered areas on this planet by our news media is Africa. Back in the 80s, there were all kinds of conscious-raising events to help the starving people of that continent. Since that time, the war and genocide have been ravaging numerous countries, with very little coverage by the "lamestream" media (except for - you know - oil-producing countries like Libya).

Perhaps this will change with an announcement that caused my jaw to hit the floor: Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe chosen to be UN ‘leader for tourism’:
With a line-up that includes Drew Barrymore, David Beckham, Orlando Bloom, and Ricky Martin, the UN’s choice of ambassadors has been known to cause raised eyebrows or the odd smirk.

Seldom, however, has there been such anger, or questioning of the organisation’s credibility, as that greeting the appointment of a new international envoy for tourism: Robert Mugabe.

Improbable as it seems, the Zimbabwean president, who is widely accused of ethnic cleansing, rigging elections, terrorising opposition, controlling media and presiding over a collapsed economy, has been endorsed as a champion of efforts to boost global holidaymaking.

This is a serious WTF??? moment. Mugabe should be in jail. Unless your holiday plans include rape and machete attacks, there is no reason to think this dictator should be anywhere near a vacation center.

This got me looking into other stories that we have covered in the past. That includes the Congo and Kony and the Lord's Resistance Army (that Rush Limbaugh supported). The brutal problems in that country have been brought to light with the Kony 2012 campaign. Last fall, Limbaugh threw his support behind the LRA, mostly because he is an idiot, and thought it would be a good way to smear President Obama as a "closet Muslim". Had he looked behind the name, he'd realize that it involved conscripting children as soldiers, and using rape as a weapon.

There is some good news there, though. In March, one of the leaders (Thomas Luganga) was convicted in International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity. This was the first conviction by this court, created 10 years ago for just these sorts of things.

In a different court, former leader of Liberia Charles Taylor was sentenced today to 50 years in prison by an international war crimes court in the Netherlands for his war crimes. One hopes that this conviction and sentencing (along with Luganga's) gives some comfort to the victims of their reigns of terror, and gives pause to others considering repeating their actions. Kony needs to be next.

Perhaps these are the first steps to moving Africa from chaos and bloodshed to some semblence of society. That, however, will require more coverage by the media, more concern from the rest of the world, and action from our international bodies. These are the sorts of things our treaties are made for.
 

46 comments (Latest Comment: 05/30/2012 21:19:50 by Raine)
   Perma Link

Share This!

Furl it!
Spurl
NewsVine
Reddit
Technorati