ISS Today: 13 October:

Who calls the tune in Africa? Although political and military elites are the usual suspects, it is often the interests of foreign private corporations - in collusion with local elites – that have the potential to drown out the political voice of Africa’s people. The recently released Bribe Payers Index (BPI) gives weight to the argument that a popular route for Multinational Corporations to secure profit and influence in Africa remains through the payment of bribes.

The Standard

... Among the issues to be discussed at the forum — organised by the Institute for Security Studies, Small Arms Survey and RECSA — are research approaches to issues related to security.

SABC News

... Bjorn Moeller, a Denmark-based expert, has addressed police officers, diplomats from numerous embassies and NGOs at the Institute for Security Studies in Pretoria today.

This summary features highlights of ISS programme and staff activities during the week.

Regional Projects hosted a seminar on terrorism presented by Dr Bjorn Moeller, Senior Researcher from the Danish Institute of International Affairs this week. The programme will also present a seminar on the ANC succession race, hosted by the National Intelligence Agency.

Members of the Arms Management Programme will undertake research on small arms and light weapons in Mozambique; the rest of the team will be attending a research capacity building workshop in Nairobi. A joint meeting between the ISS, RECSA and EAPCCO representatives will also take place and will focus on reducing cattle rustling in East Africa. Mr Joseph Musoni, Regional Specialised Officer, Firearms and Explosives Desk of the Sub-Regional Bureau for Southern Africa will be visiting the ISS later in the month to discuss future cooperation.

The Crime and Justice Programme is attending roundtable discussions on ‘Responding to Crime and Insecurity in Southern Africa’.

The Defence Sector Programme will be meeting with the Netherlands DA to discuss HIV/AIDS in the armed forces. They continue preparing for the SA Army’s Vision 2020 Conference. Planning for the December CMR workshop that will be attended by parliamentarians of Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania is under way.

Southern African Human Security Programme. Some members of the programme will attend a food security seminar in Malawi. The programme will also be meeting with the Canadian High Commission on peace and security in Africa and will attend a SADC workshop in Maputo.

The Training for Peace Programme is sending a member to Liberia for research. They will also consult with SANWC on plans for the annual PSO seminar in November. Follow-up discussions will also be held on APSTA’s participation in the evaluation workshop of the RECAMP, planned for November 2007.

The Cape Town Office regional seminar on corruption and natural resource extraction is to be postponed by three weeks. Colleagues of the programme briefed a group from the Royal Defence College in London on corruption issues at the request of the British High Commission.

Nairobi Office colleagues are arranging a meeting between ISS/RECSA/EAPCOO at Panari to discuss a cattle rustling concept document.

The ICPAT Office in Addis Ababa is finalising preparations for a meeting with the Counter-Terrorism Task Force. The office also received a visit from the newly appointed Director of the African Centre for the Study and Research on Terrorism (ACSTR) based in Algiers. Meetings were also held with Ethiopian officials to discuss preparations in relation to the implementation of ICPAT. The Ambassador of Spain in Addis Ababa attended a briefing on the progress of ICPAT and firmly underlined the continuing nature of the Spanish support for the programme.

ISS Today: 11 October:

The recent trials of Jacob Zuma among other things witnessed large groups of people demonstrating support outside the courts in which he appeared. This is true for both his rape trial in Gauteng and the corruption trial in Kwa-Zulu Natal. There is not doubt that the demonstrators were exercising their constitutionally entrenched right to demonstrate. Also noteworthy is the fact that none of the presiding officers complained about the presence of these demonstrators outside the court building. The question, however, is: are such demonstrations conducive for the administration of justice?

ISS Today: 10 October

Last week in Grahamstown, there were a series of brutal rapes and murders reported. In any given week, reports of men murdering their spouses or raping women dominate the newspaper headlines here in South Africa.

SABCnews.com

The Institute for Security Studies (ISS) says more than 300 organised crime syndicates are working in South Africa and 10% of them specialise in cash-in-transit heists.

Reliefweb

... Asmara in turn acts 'on the basis that my enemy's enemy is my friend,' as Richard Cornwell of the Institute for Security Studies, based in South Africa, expressed it for ISN Security Watch.

ISS Today: 09 October

When the Pan-African Parliament was launched back in 2004, much was said about the role it would play in the continental scheme of things. Indeed, Article 3 of the Protocol to the Treaty Establishing the African Economic Community Relating to Pan-African Parliament details the objectives for which the PAP was established. Key among these include the responsibility for the continental parliament to “promote the principles of human rights in Africa” as well as “promote peace, security and stability”.