MARCH 2002
-
Wednesday, 27th March,2002
JEAN-MARIE COLOMBANI INTERVIEW
Next month, the French will make the
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trip to the ballot box for the first
round of France`s presidential
elections. The two main contenders in
a field of around 20 are the old
warhorses, President Jacques Chirac
and Prime Minister Lionel Jospin. With
polls suggesting that as many as one
in three voters are refusing to reveal
their intentions, the contest is being
watched closely in the newly
integrated Europe. Jean-Marie
Colombani is one of France`s most
influential voices. As editor in chief
and CEO of `Le Monde` newspaper, he
has a ringside seat for the
presidential bout. I spoke with him on
a recent visit to Australia -
Wednesday, 27th March,2002
GEORGE GITTOES` AFGHANISTAN
And now another perspective on
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beleaguered Afghanistan, which
suffered yet another blow yesterday,
with a devastating earthquake killing
thousands. Australia`s premier war
artist, George Gittoes, has just
returned from his latest visit to
Afghanistan. There, he recorded images
of despair. Afghanistan, he says, has
become a hell on earth. Bronwyn Adcock
spoke with George Gittoes on his
return. -
Wednesday, 27th March,2002
TAHMEENA FARYAL INTERVIEW
Hamid Karzai, the leader of
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Afghanistan`s interim government, has
won many friends in foreign capitals
for his cool management of a country
in desperate need. His appointment
followed the defeat of the Taliban by
the coalition-backed Northern
Alliance. Their victory was to mark
the end of fundamentalist excesses.
Women, especially, would be liberated
from the all-covering garment known as
the `burqa`. This was the hope. But,
according to one group of Afghan
women, it was no more than a
pipedream. RAWA, the Revolutionary
Association of the Women of
Afghanistan, claims that life for
Afghan women today is no better than
it was. Fear still dominates their
existence. Tahmeena Faryal is a 23-
year-old Afghan, who, as RAWA`s
international representative, has
addressed the United Nations and the
US congress about conditions in her
country. Tahmeena Faryal is currently
visiting Australia. -
Wednesday, 27th March,2002
SINGAPORE - THE TUDUNG AFFAIR
Civil disobedience is almost unheard
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of in Singapore. So when four 6-year-
old girls challenged the city state`s
laws on dress, by wearing Muslim
headscarves to school, it sent shock
waves up and down the Malay peninsula.
In rigidly controlled Singapore this
is an act of rebellion that seriously
undermines government attempts to
establish a homogeneous national
identity. The consequences are
potentially explosive. The seemingly
inconsequential issue of what one
wears to school is placing serious
strains on the relationship with
neighbouring Malaysia. David O`Shea
reports. -
Wednesday, 27th March,2002
THIS WEEK: GEORGE GITTOES IN AFGHANISTAN
“To think that our government is
thinking of sending people back…how
can you send people back to a country
where everyone in the country is
anticipating civil war?” George
Gittoes on Australian plans to
repatriate Afghan refugees.
The Australian war artist George
Gittoes has just returned from six
weeks in Afghanistan. One of
Australia’s foremost figurative
painters, he has been documenting
conflict around the world for the last
decade and a half. In 1997 he was
awarded an Order of Australia for his
contribution to the Arts and
International Relations.
This is Gittoes third trip to
Afghanistan, this time in association
with Médecins Sans Frontières. He
says very little has change since he
was last in Afghanistan in 1999. “All
the women still have their burqas on.
They’re concerned that the Taliban
will come back.” He says that
discontent with the US supported
interim government, led by Hamid
Karzai, is strengthening the resolve
of the Taliban and Al Qaeda as they
regroup and plan.
Wherever I went there were stories
that the Northern Alliance, the
warlords are going into homes and
getting payback, they’re stealing
things, raping at will.
“Repatriation to Afghanistan is
unthinkable. The problem is too huge
already. You’ve got poor countries
like Pakistan who have something like
1 million refugees and they are
generous enough to keep them.”
Also this week:
Singapore rarely makes the news, but
in recent weeks the rigidly controlled
city state has been abuzz with reports
of terrorist bomb plots and the arrest
of tens of Singaporeans, who the
government says are linked to al-Qaeda.
The news has shaken Singapore`s
cherished sense of security and now,
there is an attack on the city state`s
national identity.
This is no ordinary rebellion. Four,
six year old girls, have been kicked
out of school for wearing the
traditional Muslim head scarf or
tudung.
It`s a struggle for rights that goes
to the heart and head of Singapore`s
national identity.
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That’s Dateline, this Wednesday March
27th at 8.30 pm. -
Wednesday, 20th March,2002
RWANDA
Next month it will be exactly eight
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years since the slaughter of hundreds
of thousands of people in the central
African state of Rwanda. To this day,
Rwandan authorities are hunting the
remnants of the rebel forces who
committed the slaughter. Those already
in custody are being taken before
village tribunals to face their
accusers and account for their crimes.
The Rwandan Government says it`s an
initiative that combines the people`s
thirst for justice with the need to
heal the nation. The BBC`s Andrew
Harding reports from Rwanda`s border
with the Congo. -
Wednesday, 20th March,2002
VIDAR HELGESEN INTERVIEW
The end to the conflict in Sri Lanka,
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if and when it does come, will in no
small part be due to the efforts of
Norway. For two years, the Norwegian
Government has tried to breech the
divide between the Sri Lankan
Government and the Tamil Tigers. As we
saw in Ginny Stein’s story ‘Tiger
Territory’, a permanent ceasefire
agreement brokered by Norway came into
effect last month and is holding. I
spoke a short time ago to the
Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister,
Vidar Helgesen, about why the two
sides are at last prepared to talk. -
Wednesday, 20th March,2002
SRI LANKA - TIGER TERRITORY
For the last 20 years, the Tamil
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Tigers have fought to establish a
separate state on the island nation of
Sri Lanka. In the process, 60,000
people have died and millions have
been made homeless. But, with a cease-
fire signed and peace talks imminent,
the people of this divided country
have real hope that the long, drawn-
out war may be over. With this
newfound optimism, the Tamil Tigers
have allowed access to their
stronghold for the first time in a
decade. Dateline`s Ginny Stein
travelled deep into Tiger territory to
prepare this report. -
Wednesday, 20th March,2002
THIS WEEK ON DATELINE: TIGER TERRITORY
For 20 years, in Asia`s most
intractable war, the Tamil Tigers have
fought to create "Eelam" - a separate
Tamil state - free of Sri Lanka and
the Sinhalese majority.
Ginny Stein travels further into
territory controlled by the Liberation
Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), in Sri
Lanka, than any outsider has for a
decade.
Sixty thousand people have died, tens
of thousands been injured and millions
made homeless as a result of the
conflict.
Last month the LTTE and a newly
elected Sri Lankan government signed a
ceasefire agreement and peace talks
are set to begin soon.
The easing of the conflict allowed
Ginny Stein to cross the border into
the Vanni - the Tamil`s stronghold
where an estimated 200,000 to 400,000
people live.
The psychological trauma of the war
has been accompanied by material
hardship with shortages ranging from
food, medication, fuel and building
materials to electricity and
telephones.
Stein is given unprecedented access to
a court run by the LTTE. While the
death penalty is banned in Sri Lanka,
it can be imposed by the Tamil court.
Only former Tiger fighters can qualify
to be judges, unlike the strictly
civilian police service.
Last December the Australian
government included the Tamil Tigers
on a list of banned terrorist
organizations.
The guerrillas reject the description
of them as terrorists. Commander
Nayagan comments, "The Australian
government should recognise the
liberation struggle and must
contribute fully in order to solve our
people`s problems.”
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That’s DATELINE, Wednesday March 20 at
8.30pm. -
Wednesday, 13th March,2002
KEEPERS OF THE LOST ART
On the dusty steppes of remote north-
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west Uzbekistan is one of the most
extraordinary museums in the world. It
is located in the autonomous republic
of Karakalpakstan, from where
foreigners and most Russians were
barred until the late 1980s. This made
the capital, Nukus, the perfect place
to `hide` tens of thousands of works
of art banned by Stalin’s regime.
Dateline’s Kim Traill reports from
Uzbekistan on a rare collection of
dissident art and the man who saved it
for the world. -
Wednesday, 13th March,2002
KASHMIR - VALLEY OF TEARS
Kashmir with its soaring mountains and
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deep, rugged valleys is one of the
most beautiful places on earth. It is
also the potential trigger for a
nuclear war. Cross-border terrorism
was the issue that brought nuclear-
armed neighbours - India and Pakistan -
to the brink of conflict late last
year. And the war rhetoric has
continued since then. In the last
decade, more than 30,000 people have
been killed in Kashmir. The dead
include Indian security forces and
militants as well as civilians caught
in the middle. Geoff Parish reports
from Indian-controlled Kashmir. -
Wednesday, 13th March,2002
THIS WEEK: KEEPER OF THE LOST ART
Tucked away on a dusty steppe of north-
west Uzbekistan is the world’s second
largest collection of Russian avant-
garde art. Its survival through
decades of Soviet repression is
testimony to the bravery and passion
of one man.
Until the opening up of Russia
under perestroika, foreigners
and most Russians were forbidden to
visit remote regions like Nukus,
capital of Karakalpakstan, a dusty
steppe in northwest Uzbekistan. But
this remoteness and accompanying lack
of political control, allowed Igor
Savitsky to gather tens of thousands
of dissident art works
Born into a rich, aristocratic family
in 1915, Mr Savitsky first came to
Uzbekistan in 1950 as an artist and
sketcher for an archaeological
expedition. Concerned that the
traditions and folklore of Uzbekistan
were disappearing under Stalin, he
talked the Ministry of Culture into
establishing a museum to preserve
local crafts.
The daughter of artist Irina Karavia
comments, “When the artists saw that
their work was not in vain, that
someone appreciated them, that was
already wonderful on a personal
level.”
Mr Savitsky died in 1984 but his
collection of 90,000 works of art
remains today. The Nukus gallery has
seven works by Lubov Popova, worth
millions of dollars. Despite being
under enormous financial strain, the
museum refuses to sell even one
painting to solve their problems.
Marina Babanazarova, current director
of the museum, explains, “For us it’s
a tremendously difficult thing, even
to think of it, because we know how
Savitsky was gathering this, what
efforts were put by him to gather this
collection. For us it’s a very
sensitive subject – it’s like to sell
your baby, somewhere.”
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That’s Dateline, this Wednesday, March
13 at 8.30 pm. -
Wednesday, 6th March,2002
OLUSEGUN OBASANJO INTERVIEW
The President did emerge this week as
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a leading voice in the move to find a
Commonwealth compromise on the issue
that split CHOGM. In the end, Zimbabwe
avoided suspension from the
Commonwealth, pending a report from
its observers at this weekend`s
election. The final decision on
Zimbabwe now rests with a troika of
leaders - Australia`s John Howard,
South Africa`s Thabo Mbeki and
President Obasanjo. I spoke with the
Nigerian leader during his visit to
the Coolum conference. -
Wednesday, 6th March,2002
NIGERIA BACKGROUNDER
Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo
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is a man with a remarkable career
history - military ruler, then
political prisoner, now democratically
elected president. The former general
has also taken on the role of African
statesman, meeting with both
Zimbabwe`s Robert Mugabe and his
political opponent, Morgan Tsvangirai,
in the lead-up to that country`s
election. In a moment, I will be
speaking with President Obasanjo about
the key role he played in this week`s
Commonwealth Heads of Government
meeting. But first, Nick Lazaredes
with this background report. -
Wednesday, 6th March,2002
HUGO CHAVEZ - NOT AN ORDINARY PRESIDENT
The President of Venezuela has been
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described as a case study in political
suicide. Hugo Chavez was elected with
a huge majority to lead a revolution
against the country`s power elite. But
today, an unprecedented alliance of
labour, business, church and political
leaders signed a 10-point plan to
drive him from office. During the past
month, four senior members of the
military have openly urged this former
soldier to step down. And US Secretary
of State Colin Powell has described
Hugo Chavez as a `serious irritant`.
Dateline’s Bentley Dean has just
returned from almost three months
profiling this complex and charismatic
man. -
Wednesday, 6th March,2002
THIS WEEK: HUGO CHAVEZ – MADMAN OR VISIONARY?
Since his 1998 election landslide,
Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez has
gone from popular revolutionary and
hero of the poor, to face mass
protests and persistent rumours of a
coup.
The leader of the world’s fourth
largest oil exporting country (and the
United States’ second biggest oil
supplier) is seen as one of the
world’s most radical heads of state.
Since coming to power, President
Chavez has called and won eight
referendums, allowing him to design a
new constitution and secure an
extended term in office. In a single
day, last November, Chavez decreed 49
laws. The two most controversial
concerned state appropriation of
unused land and its redistribution and
the doubling of tax on foreign oil
companies.
He has been no less unconventional on
foreign policy – championing
developing nations and supplying his
close ally, Cuba, with cheap oil. His
2000 tour of OPEC countries included
Iran, Libya and Iraq - the first
foreign leader to visit Saddam Hussein
since the Gulf War ended in 1991.
As the United States attacked
Afghanistan last year, President
Chavez appeared television with photos
of dead Afghan babies, whom he said
had been killed by American
bombs. “You cannot react to terror
with more terror – those children
aren’t responsible for anything.” The
United States immediately withdrew its
ambassador.
Now growing numbers of anti-Chavistas,
largely upper and middle class, are
taking to the streets, clashing with
the President’s equally militant
supporters.
President Chavez believes that this
split in Venezuelan society is both
necessary and inevitable – “Today’s
peaceful and democratic Venezuelan
revolution is the only way to restore
the life of the country …to lift the
living conditions of the majority who
were impoverished and marginalized for
a long time. That life of the country
I’d defend even with my life. You
defend life with life as you repay
love with love.”
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That’s Dateline, this Wednesday, March
6 at 8.30 pm.
