Southern Africa:

* Government anti-Aids campaign threatens to sue Christian magazine
* ‘S.A. prison Aids deaths up by 750%’
* Major Ministers’ Conference in South Africa
* S.A. becoming world market for child sex
* Gay rights: judges chide government
* Woman in court for burying babies
* Concern over loveLife and Soul City
* Harare church protesters held
* Raped and killed for saying ‘No’
* Witch doctor gives explosives for aches & pains

* GOVERNMENT ANTI-AIDS CAMPAIGN THREATENS TO SUE CHRISTIAN MAGAZINE - 'LoveLife', the controversial teen-sex campaign funded with money intended for fighting AIDS has threatened to sue Christian activist Errol Naidoo and Today magazine. Today published an article by Naidoo on the campaign. According to the article Lovelife’s objective is to "promote healthy living and positive sexuality", but this "positive sexuality" has never clearly been defined. The driving force behind the formation of the Lovelife campaign is the Planned Parenthood Association (PPA), says Naidoo. "The core business of this organisation is the abortion of unborn babies and hundreds of thousands die in itsclinics throughout the world." Naidoo refers to Valerie Riches’ book "Sex and Social Engineering", which mentions that Margaret Sanger, founder of the International Planned Parenthood Federation in 1952, was a racist and eugenicist; and that one of the ‘reforms’ by Planned Parenthood and its networks has been the removal of parental duties and responsibilities in regard to sex education and the provision of contraceptives to under-aged children. Naidoo says that the unprecedented assault on marriage and the family that we are currently experiencing is not simply a national problem but a growing global phenomenon. "Following a thorough investigation of Lovelife’s modus operandi - including a meeting with their CEO David Harrison - I have arrived at the conclusion that this organisation presents the single biggest threat to parental authority since the sexual revolution of the sixties and seventies…" (Christianview, 26 February)

Your views on LoveLife's campaign and their threat of legal action can be sent to CEO David Harrison at davidh@lovelife.org.za ; Today magazine editorial@christians.co.za ; Errol Naidoo enaidoo@cpt.hispeople.org; Raymond Tucker (LoveLife's lawyer) raytuck@iafrica.com and your local newspaper. (to index)

* ‘S.A. PRISON AIDS DEATHS UP BY 750%’ - The number of Aids-related deaths in South African prisons was estimated to have grown by 750% since 1995, an Institute for Security Studies (ISS) research consultant said on 18 February. Six times more prisoners died of natural causes last year than in 1995, and 90 to 95 percent of the deaths were believed to have been Aids-related, KC Goyer told an ISS seminar in Pretoria. She estimated that 41.4 percent of the prison population was HIV-positive last year. Maria Mabena, acting director of health at the DCS, said that the department was planning to do a survey of HIV/Aids prevalence in prisons. Both Goyer and Mabena believed mandatory HIV testing of prisoners and segregating those who tested positive from the rest was out of the question. "In terms of the Constitution, everybody is equal before the law," said Mabena. Goyer added: "The conditions inside prison contribute to the progression of HIV and the onset of Aids and death." One of the high-risk factors inside prisons is overcrowding, which made it more difficult for warders to provide safety, resulting in more instances of rape and sexual assault. Goyer's recommendations included seeking alternatives to imprisonment for those awaiting trial and non-violent offenders. (Sapa, 19 February) (to index)

* MAJOR MINISTERS’ CONFERENCE IN SOUTH AFRICA – The 13^th Kwasizabantu Ministers’ Conference starts Monday (3 March) till Thursday and organisers say they are expecting approximately a thousand ministers and Christian leaders from Southern Africa and a some European countries. Speakers will incluce: include Prof.Dr. J-B Bieri from Paris, France (Prof of theology at IBE in Lamorlaye); Rev Piotri Zaremba from Poland, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Poznan, fastest growing congregation in a country where Evangelicals are considered to be a cult. Piotri, who has been appointed as Bible translator by the Baptist Union of Poland, is currently working on translating the New Testament from Greek to Polish; Prof Amir Kahn, Professor in International Law. South African speakers include Dr Isak Burger (President of the Apostolic Faith Mission of SA); Rev Joseph Chauke (Africa Youth Evangelism); Prof Flip Buys (Principal of Mukhanyo Theological College in KwaMhlanga, KwaNdebele and Extraordinary Professor in Missiology at PU for CHE) and Rev Erlo Stegen (Director of Kwasizabantu Mission) Registration can still be done online at www.kwasizabantu.com, or by tel: (032) 481 5500. (to index)

* S.A. BECOMING WORLD MARKET FOR CHILD SEX - South Africa has become a market for children sold into prostitution from Africa, Europe and the Far East, a report to the UN Commission on Human Rights said. Children from Angola, Mozambique, Senegal, Kenya, Ethiopia and Uganda, Eastern Europe, Thailand and China are being either lured or kidnapped here in unknown numbers to become prostitutes on the streets of Johannesburg and Cape Town, a report by experts to the commission said. Angolan, Congolese and Nigerian criminal rings are the ones responsible for much of the trafficking, but criminal elements from Bulgaria, Thailand, China and Russia are also said to be involved. The report was compiled by UN officials who visited South Africa last year to investigate the high incidents of abuse, rape and child prostitution in the country. "The very desperate food shortages in countries bordering South Africa is contributing to an increase in trafficking of children," the report said. Last year the South African Human Rights Commission found that almost one-third of children in the country had been sexually abused. Despite this, UN investigators found there is no adequate framework in the country for children who have been abused or are in need of treatment for Aids. (Iafrica.com, 19 February) (to index)

* GAY RIGHTS: JUDGES CHIDE GOVERNMENT - (South Africa) Constitutional Court judges chided the government on 27 February for a lack of urgency in addressing gaps left in legislation after same-sex relationships became "legally and socially accepted". Current legislation, declared unconstitutional by the Durban High Court, does not recognise as a parent a woman whose artificially fertilised ova were implanted in her lesbian life-partner's womb. The second woman gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl, about 18 months ago. This means that should the birth mother be so badly injured in an accident that she cannot care for the toddlers, her life-partner would have no legal say over their future, argued Andrea Gabriel, an advocate representing the twins’ rights. (Sapa, 28 February) (to index)

* WOMAN IN COURT FOR BURYING BABIES – (South Africa) A 33-year-old woman, who allegedly buried three of her children in the backyard of her Kagiso home on the West Rand, appeared in the Krugersdorp Magistrate's Court on 27 February. Rebecca Ngoasheng is charged with concealment of birth because the babies were not registered with the Department of Home Affairs, Gauteng police spokesperson Superintendent Milica Bezuidenhout said. The police dug up the remains of the babies, aged between three and four-months when they died, in the backyard of her Eagle Street home on February 18. This was after members of the West Rand child protection unit, acting on information received from the community, confronted the woman. The babies are believed to have been buried between 1997 and 2001 after they all fell ill and died. According to Daily News, 19 February, four of her other children, aged between 8 and 16, were traumatised by the discovery, as they had not known about the bodies concealed in their garden. Ngoasheng, who is said to have five other children, told a magistrate last week she suspected her children had died of Aids-related illnesses. (iafrica.com, 28 February) (to index)

* CONCERN OVER LOVELIFE AND SOUL CITY - The African Democratic Party has expressed concern that funds from the UN Global Fund on Aids, TB and Malaria are to be channelled through groups such as love Life and Soul City. ACDP spokesperson Cheryllyn Dudley said on 25 February that the "acceptance of proposals from loveLife and Soul City were of huge concern". "Both loveLife and Soul City convey irresponsible messages and encourage licentious sexual behaviour. There are many family-friendly organisations which, if funded, could launch excellent campaigns to accurately target HIV/Aids with the truth about life, love and sex," Dudley said. (The Star, 26 February) (to index)

* HARARE CHURCH PROTESTERS HELD – (Zimbabwe) Some 20 clergymen have been detained by police after attempting to protest in the Zimbabwean capital, Harare. An AFP news agency reporter saw the church men being loaded onto the back of an open vehicle and driven away accompanied by two police vehicles. The clergymen in suits and dog collars went to police headquarters carrying three wooden crosses seeking an apology for the arrest of one of their colleagues two weeks ago at a church. The clergymen wanted to hand over a petition to police chief Augustine Chihuri asking him "to ensure that the police force in the country performs its duties with respect for the church and every citizen of Zimbabwe". The outspoken Catholic Archbishop of Bulawayo, Pius Ncube, was also cautioned on 28 February by police over a service he held during which victims of torture gave testimonies. "If people are suffering... the church cannot excuse itself," Ncube told AFP. (BBCNews, 28 February) (to index)

* RAPED AND KILLED FOR SAYING ‘NO’ - Three Umvoti High School pupils who raped a fellow pupil, bludgeoned her to death and then threw her body down a cliff because she jilted one of them, were found guilty in the Pietermaritzburg High Court on 19 February. Nozipho Zuma was killed last April. Judge president Vuka Shabalala accepted evidence that the ‘unwelcome suitor’, who frequently visited Zuma’s home, often "forced himself on her" until she cried. (Natal Witness, 20 February) (to index)

* WITCH DOCTOR GIVES EXPLOSIVES FOR ACHES & PAINS – (South Africa) A Durban herbalist and an employee were arrested on 24 February for alleged possession of commercial explosives that they were reportedly selling to members of the public to cure "aches and pains". The explosive substance that the men were selling as an oral medication, was likely to cause "unstoppable diarrhoea" and possibly death, according to police spokesperson Superintendent Vishnu Naidoo. Naidoo said members of the police's Organised Crime Unit and metro police, acting on a tip-off, raided the herbalist's shop in central Durban and recovered 10 commercial blasting cartridges and 33 packets containing an explosive substance in the shop. Through ageing, the substance could explode on its own from excessive heat or shock and judging by the quantity recovered, the consequences would have been disastrous if it had exploded. The 44-year-old shop owner and his employee were apprehended. (News24.co.za, 24 February) (to index)

 

International:

* "Overzealous" evangelism prohibited in Cambodia
* Ethiopia : Evangelicals jailed without charges
* Two lawsuits against U.S. prison ministry
* UN’s global population estimate points to "Underpopulation"
* ‘Infertility in Russia flamed by centuries of abortion’
* Setback for anti-smoking treaty
* Transsexual marriage not invalidated
* More teens abstain

* "OVERZEALOUS" EVANGELISM PROHIBITED IN CAMBODIA - Christian groups have been banned from door-to-door witnessing and handing out tracts, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP). The move, announced 28 February, is intended to head off potential religious conflicts stirred up by what the government sees as "overzealous preaching of the faith" in some Khmer communities, the news agency said. A directive issued by the ministry of cults and religious affairs says that Christians may not go knocking on people's doors, "which is an interruption of daily life or may intrude on privacy in the community." Undersecretary of state Dok Narin said that some Christian groups "are not good" because they "force people to believe in Christianity," AFP reported. One ministry director said: "I don't think it's a blow for groups operating under the guidelines of government ministries. Activities done in a manner which are respective of other groups would not challenge that directive." (Charisma News service, 28 February) (to index)

* ETHIOPIA : EVANGELICALS JAILED WITHOUT CHARGES - Evangelical Christians in northern Ethiopia confirmed 20 February that instead of being released as expected, two local church elders jailed without charges for 10 months were remanded back to prison two days ago by a local court judge. Under Ethiopian law, Pentecostal church leaders Kiros Meles and Abebayeh Desalegn could only have remained under arrest if the prosecutor produced sufficient evidence before the court to press formal murder charges against them. Otherwise, since the legal period of detention without charges had long expired, the judge was required to release them. But instead, the hearing was postponed for two more weeks, repeating the cycle of delays surrounding the long-term detention of the two Protestant leaders. Meles, 46, and Desalegn, 35, were arrested after a two-day rampage last April against Maychew’s five evangelical churches by a mob of Orthodox church extremists. (Compass, 21 February) (to index)

* TWO LAWSUITS AGAINST U.S. PRISON MINISTRY - On February 12, two lawsuits were filed in Federal Court in Iowa against Prison Fellowship and the InnerChange Freedom Initiative (a Christ-centered prison program in Iowa and three other states). The lawsuits were filed by the Americans United for Separation of Church and State run by Barry Lynn, requesting Federal Court to shut down the Iowa IFI and block any kind of public funding for it (which, according to Prison Fellowship, only partially supports the program.) If the lawsuits are successful, the ministry’s work in Texas, Minnesota and Kansas will be shut down. Prison Fellowship says this comes at a time when they are seeing incredible results on their work. The re-offend rates for those in their Texas IFI program (now 6 years old) are less than 15%. This is unheard of in criminal justice – the average re-offend rates can range from 50% to 70%, according to Prison Fellowship. Included in their programme are people who had been guilty of murder, rape, embezzlement and drug dealing, but had not re-offended due to a total life-transformation through the power of Christ. (Prison Fellowship – Ministry Telegram, 14 February) (to index)

* UN’S GLOBAL POPULATION ESTIMATE POINTS TO "UNDERPOPULATION" – (New York) The United Nations on 26 February reduced its estimate of what the world's population will be in 2050 by 400 million, primarily because of the impact of the AIDS epidemic and lower than expected birth rates. At the dawn of the new Millennium, the U.N. Population Division forecast
that 9.3 billion people would inhabit the Earth at mid-century but a new revision of the estimate projects a lower population of 8.9 billion. ``For the first time, the United Nations Population Division projects that future fertility levels in most developing countries will likely fall below 2.1 children per woman, the level needed to ensure the long-term replacement of the population, at some point in the 21st century,'' said the forecast. By 2050, it projects that three out of four countries in less developed regions will have fertility levels below replacement levels. Thirty three countries are projected to be smaller at mid-century than today - Japan losing 14 percent of its population, Italy 22 percent of its population, and Bulgaria, Estonia, Georgia, Latvia, Russia and Ukraine between 30 and 50 percent of their populations. (Prolife Infonet, Associated Press, 26 February) (to index)

* INFERTILITY IN RUSSIA FLAMED BY CENTURIES OF ABORTION - (Moscow) The Soviet Union first legalized abortion during a widespread famine in 1920 (It was banned from 1936 – 55 under Stalin’s rule). A study in 1994 found that the average Russian woman had three abortions by the end of her child-bearing years. Now abortions are one of the primary causes of infertility in a country that is desperate to raise a plummeting birth rate, according to Vladimir Serov, chief gynecologist at the Russian Health Ministry. About 5 million - or 13 percent - of Russian married couples are infertile, and doctors report that diagnoses of infertility are on the rise. In nearly three out of four cases, infertility is attributed to the woman, typically because of complications from one or more abortions, according to Serov and other health experts. The abortion rate has been declining rapidly for 15 years because of the availability of contraceptives. Still the Health Ministry reports that for every live birth there are 1.7 abortions, compared with more than three births for every abortion in the United States. Russian health and demographics experts say the abortion legacy has created a problem greater than the private trauma of childless couples, because the resulting infertility contributes to a low birth rate. That trend and a soaring death rate are helping winnow Russia's population at a rapid rate. (Washington Post, 22 February) (to index)

* SETBACK FOR ANTI-SMOKING TREATY - The framework convention on tobacco control, which is being debated by more than 180 member states of the World Health Organisation (WHO), aims to impose a global ban on tobacco advertising and introduce new restrictions on the marketing of tobacco. But opposition to an advertising ban, most notably from the United States, has put the agreement in jeopardy. The US claims a total ban on tobacco advertising would be a violation of its constitutional commitment to free speech. Health activists, however, accuse the US of trying to protect the tobacco companies, pointing out that the US is home to Philip Morris, the world's biggest tobacco exporter. The negotiations in Geneva have been acrimonious. The framework convention is the first-ever attempt to draft a global anti-smoking treaty, and the WHO had high hopes for it. The WHO estimates that smoking kills almost five million people every year, and it says 70% of future tobacco-related deaths will come from the developing world. (BBCNews, 28 February) (to index)

* TRANSSEXUAL MARRIAGE NOT INVALIDATED - (Sydney) The Australian government of Prime Minister John Howard on 21 February lost a case that it had brought before the Family Court to invalidate transsexual marriage. The attorney-general wanted the court to rule that a marriage between a transsexual and a female was invalid because the transsexual was registered as female at birth. "Kevin" had irreversible surgery and hormone treatment and now lives and is recognised as a man. He has a birth certificate stating he is a male, a passport saying he is a male and he and Jennifer have had two children through in-vitro fertilisation. The court ruled that because Kevin was a man at the time of the marriage in 1999, the marriage was valid. The attorney general has the right to appeal to the High Court. (Sapa-DPA, 21 February) (to index)

* MORE TEENS ABSTAIN – (USA) According to a survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there's been a steady decline of teen sexual activity between the years 1991to 2001. ''What isn't balanced (in the media) is 'Gee, it's OK to be abstinent,' 'Gee, you don't have to be sexy to wear a brand of nail polish or wear a certain pair of shoes,''' said Anna Ramirez, chief of the office of family planning in the California Department of Health Services. The reasons teens are embracing virginity are hard to pinpoint. Faith, open discussions with parents and/or relatives, and abstinence-based programs in school may all be playing a role. Trisha Hoffman (20), wearing a "promise ring" of her commitment to abstinence till marriage, says ''A lot of people think it's like some stuck-up or nerdy kids made this vow because they couldn't get some,'' she said. ''It's not like that.'' She believes more abstinent teens are willing to talk about what they believe in, even when they encounter stereotypes. Though there has been differing opinions about programs in schools teaching abstinence, all agree that abstinence is the the only way to target the three epidemics facing today's youth: pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases and HIV. (Monterey County Herald, 9 February) (to index)