The president visits Ruhango. Photo: PaulKagame on Flickr

The East African nation of Rwanda has come a long way since a horrific genocide 16 years ago resulted in the death of around 800,000 Tutsis, as well as “moderate” Hutus who opposed the genocidaires.

President Paul Kagame’s Tutsi-dominated government has achieved economic, political, and military stability at a time when many surrounding governments face major crises. Many Western admirers look at the Rwandan president as a model leader in the developing world.

Martin Savidge hosts journalist and author Stephen Kinzer and human rights activist Noel Twagiramungu to discuss:

• Post-genocide politics: moving forward, justice & ethnic divisions
• Regional rivalries: security concerns, Rwandan alliances & Congo wars
• Big Picture/U.S.: Sarkozy visit, Clinton regrets & Obama policies

Guests:

Stephen Kinzer is a foreign correspondent who has covered more than 50 countries on five continents for The New York Times and Boston Globe. Kinzer’s most recent book is A Thousand Hills: Rwanda’s Rebirth and the Man Who Dreamed It.

Noel Twagiramungu, a PhD student at Tufts University’s Fletcher School, worked as a rights activist in Rwanda from 1991 until he fled in 2004. As general secretary of the Rwandan League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights, Twagiramungu documented government abuses.

Credits:
Host: Martin Savidge
Producer: Ben Piven
Associate Producer: Connie Kargbo

Last year, Daljit Dhaliwal visited Bhopal while reporting in India. She toured the site of the tragedy and saw how the people of the area still live with the aftermath.

In this extended interview, Lalit Shastri, a journalist for The Hindu newspaper, describes how he arrived in Bhopal the night before the accident to take an accounting exam.  What he saw changed his life — he went on to become a journalist and an author who writes frequently about the tragedy.

Watch a Sights & Sounds video of the devastation that remains in Bhopal.

Martin Savidge continues the interview discussing how Abdinur reports in his country amid threat and intimidation. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, 15 journalists have died in Somalia in connection with their work in the last two years. Many journalists have fled the country and only few report from inside Somalia. They also discuss what the extent of the international community’s involvement and the worsening security situation that is driving NGOs and aid organizations out of Somalia.

Somali Pirates

Connie Kargbo is an associate producer at Worldfocus and a native of Sierra Leone. She writes here of the story behind Somali piracy.

There is news today that Somali pirates have hijacked a Chinese fishing vessel in the waters off the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean — a move that seems to be expanding their reach to the east.

Last week, Somali pirates who had hijacked a Spanish fishing vessel with 36 crew members on board in early October demanded a ransom of $4 million in exchange for the release of the hostages.

The ransom demand is average — pirates these days usually request between $2 and $6 million for the release of ships and hostages. The difference is that the pirates are calling the $4 million a payment for illegally fishing off the coast of Somalia.  It may come as a surprise to some but this little-known dispute about Somalia’s fishing industry is at the root of the ongoing pirate situation today.

When Somalia’s central government was overthrown in 1991 the country quickly deteriorated into what many are now calling a failed state.  With the lack of central leadership and ongoing clan warfare, law enforcement took a backseat to the violence.

This lawlessness spread to the coast of Somalia with the arrival of  illegal foreign fishing vessels.  Many of these vessels did not have the proper rights to fish in these waters, but the lack of regulation made it easy for them to fish to their hearts content. Some of these ships were owned by countries now patrolling the coast of Somalia, the country’s police chief said Wednesday.

This illegal industry in turn began to hurt local Somali fishermen who were dependent on the fish they caught. Competition from foreign fishermen depleted fish resources and also brought toxic waste to Somali waters.

Fearing for their livelihoods, local fisherman began patrolling off the coast of Somalia and fining ships that were found to be illegally fishing in the area. Just as some illegal foreign fishing vessels found an untapped and lucrative zone to make money, in time the Somalis who patrolled the coast exploited their newly found money-making opportunity.

What began as a way for Somalis to protect their livelihood eventually became the livelihood.  Reprimands and small fines for ships found illegally fishing became hijackings and million dollar ransoms on any ship that was caught, regardless of whether or not the ships actions were illegal.  And so pirates were born off the coast of Somalia.

Nowadays most Somali pirates are not former fisherman but stealth businessmen looking to make a buck. And while illegal fishing vessels have largely been replaced by foreign navies patrolling the coast on the lookout for pirates, within Somalia the problems of rampant violence and insecurity still persist.  Until there is an overhaul of the country’s fundamental problems, crime along the coast of Somalia will largely be a reflection of the country’s internal conflict.

- Connie Kargbo

Connie Kargbo is an associate producer at Worldfocus and a native of Sierra Leone.  She blogs here about her opinion on Africa and climate change policy.

Floods are thought to be one of the more severe effects of climate change. Dakar, Senegal. Photo: IRIN

Throughout history Africa has repeatedly gotten the short end of the stick. Colonialism left the continent decades behind other developing regions. Diamonds mined deep in the heart of Africa breed bloody conflicts as they flee the continent to adorn the fingers of westerners.

There is a chance now to change the script.

World leaders gather next week at the UN General Assembly to discuss climate change and prepare for the larger climate change conference in Copenhagen in December. The Copenhagen conference is seeking to produce a successor to the Kyoto Protocol environment treaty.  This time, Africa has come out with its boxing gloves ready to fight for the best climate change deal for the continent.

African leaders have read the scientific studies and seem well aware of the stark facts behind the effects of climate change.  Despite how little their countries contribute to the overall global carbon emissions, according to a recent development report out by the World Bank developing nations will bear 75-80 percent of the cost of our changing climate.  This seemingly unfair contradiction is why African leaders such as Ethiopia’s Meles Zenawi are defiantly threatening to walk out of the Copenhagen conference in December if Africa’s demand for monetary compensation from carbon-intensive rich countries is not appropriately addressed. In his own words, “”if needs be we are prepared to walk out of any negotiations that threaten to be another rape of our continent.” South Africa, one of the world’s top polluters, has entered the ring as well stressing that it will not sacrifice economic growth for the sake of reducing carbon emissions.

Although these various approaches to securing a better deal for Africa are controversial, one thing seems constant: Africa is unified as the Copenhagen meeting nears. It’s been a long time coming.

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