A week in political activism

#FreeAJstaff - SANEF wants Egypt suspended from AU

Protests erupted across the web and the world when an Egyptian court condemned three Al-Jazeera journalists to prison sentences of seven years or more on Monday.

The South African National Editors’ Forum (SANEF) has released a statement critical of Egypt’s actions. “What started off as the dawn of the Arab Spring has turned into a nightmare where freedoms of Egyptian people are treated with disdain by the ruling military-aligned government,” SANEF said.

After being jailed for 175 days, journalists Peter Greste, Mohamed Adel Fahmy, and Baher Mohamed were convicted on Monday in Cairo. Charges included assisting the Muslim Brotherhood, which the government has named a terrorist organisation. They were first detained in December while reporting on the coup that deposed Mohamed Morsi.

“The sentencing of the journalists comes as African leaders gather in Equitorial Guinea for a summit of heads of state and governments.” SANEF urges the African Union Commission to ensure that the summit condemns the journalists’ sentencing. It also requests that Egypt’s participation in the AU be suspended.

#DemandAccountabilitySA

African civil society organisations are demanding that Minister of International Relations and Cooperation in South Africa, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, set a date for the Regional Seminar on Human Rights, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity and Expression in Africa.

The coalition behind the #DemandAccountabilitySA movement includes African Men for Sexual Health and Rights, Coalition of African Lesbians, and Love Not Hate Campaign. They have launched a change.org petition. The government had agreed to hold such a seminar as a discussion space for ending violence based on gender identity and sexual orientation. African states, human rights groups, and civil society organisations would be present to discuss discriminatory laws and practices.

Other world regions have hosted similar seminars, and African organisations are concerned about South Africa’s delay in honoring its commitment. In a press release, Ingrid Lynch of The Love, Not Hate Campaign said, “The continued delays in convening this seminar raises questions about South Africa’s commitment to leadership on ending violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. We can no longer ignore this on-going crisis in South Africa and the rest of the continent.”

PASSOP speaks out against xenophobia in De Doorns

People Against Suffering, Oppression and Poverty (PASSOP) hosted an event in De Doorns to discuss community cohesion on Tuesday 24 June. Owen Maromo, PASSOP area coordinator for De Doorns said the event was about getting locals and foreign immigrants to live together in the community without having xenophobia.

The event was conducted by PASSOP workers from Cape Town and held in a Catholic Church auditorium. “It was a good gathering. The community responded,” Maromo said. Over 100 people attended the event, and PASSOP will likely host two or three more events in the future, Maromo said.

CER Tackles Environmental Hazards in Mpumalanga

The presence of numerous opencast coal mines and coal-fired power stations in Mpumalanga has made for some of the world’s highest air pollution levels. Currently in these areas, respiratory illnesses abound and drinking water is often polluted. To more thoroughly research these health concerns, the Centre for Environmental Rights (CER), Greenpeace, groundWork, and other local activists teamed up to investigate and raise awareness of the effects of pollution.

CER spoke with locals, hosted public workshops about environmental rights, and encouraged residents to report degradation that may have resulted from companies’ noncompliance with environmental standards.