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1996 |
...as seen from the perspective of the South |
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World Snow and cold kill at least 30 per cent of the world's 30-60million monarch butterflies at their wintering grounds in mountainous westernMexico. Egypt Following President Mubarak's party's win in the Decemberelections, a new cabinet headed by Prime Minister Kamal Ganzouri is sworn in. Itincludes the country's first female minister for the economy, Nawal el-Tatawi. Liberia According to aid workers, about 15,000 people fleeingrenewed fighting in north-western Liberia are threatened with starvation. Theclashes are between rebels of Roosevelt Johnson's Ulimo faction and themulti-national West African peacekeeping force deployed to enforce the ceasefirebetween Ulimo and the forces of Charles Taylor. Mexico Rafael Sebastian Guillen - a former university teacheridentified as Subcomandante Marcos a year ago - attends a forum on indigenousrights convened by his Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN). The forum'sdemands include indigenous control over local economies, justice, internalsecurity and the restoration of common land. Sri Lanka The Colombo Government dismisses the UNSecretary-General's offer of assistance for 400,000 refugees who are living inthe open during the monsoon. Turkey The 550 new Members of Parliament take office. The RefahParty, which wants an Islamic republic, is now Turkey's largest party with 158out of 550 seats. Guatemala Pro-business candidate Alvaro Arzu wins the Guatemalanpresidential election. Chechnya Heavily armed Chechen separatists take civilians hostage ina hospital in Dagestan and hold them for nearly a week in the village ofPervomiaskoye. Russia unleashes a blizzard of rockets on the village, killingdozens but still failing to capture everyone. The Council of Europe admitsRussia as a member despite the blitzing of Chechnya. Sudan For the first time since 1991, the Sudan People's LiberationArmy (SPLA) led by John Garang launches a successful offensive, recapturing aswathe of territory in Eastern Equatoria. The 13-year-old civil war has claimedthe lives of an estimated 1.3 million southerners. India bans the misuse of ultrasound and amniocentesis to determinethe sex of a foetus, in an attempt to limit deliberate abortions of girls - anoffence which will now carry a heavy fine or a three-year jail term. Brazil is widely criticized for changing its indigenous land-rightspolicy to give squatters as well as local authorities the right to challengereserve areas and claim compensation. The move will put 344 out of 554 Indianreserves up for grabs. Multinationals Labour organizations from more than 20 countrieslaunch a campaign to unionize workers at Toys R Us chains around the world. |
Burundi An estimated 7,000 people, some suffering from malnutritionor wounds caused by landmines, flee to neighbouring Zaire to escape fightingbetween Hutu and Tutsi ethnic groups. There are now more than 100,000Burundian refugees in Zaire. At least 15,000 Rwandan and Burundian refugeesenter Tanzania, fleeing fighting in Burundi; Tanzania eventually closes itsborder. Despite widespread fears of a looming civil war in Burundi, separate USand UN proposals for international military intervention are blocked by Franceand other countries. Lesotho King Moshoeshoe II, aged 57, is killed in a car accidentless than two years after regaining the throne. Iraq offers to renew talks with the UN on selling limited amounts ofoil to buy food for its suffering population. UN experts estimate that 4 millionIraqis (out of a total 20 million) face starvation. Kenya/Uganda The feuding neighbours are publicly reconciled whentheir leaders pledge to work together and revive the East African EconomicCommunity. Cambodia Government troops and Khmer Rouge guerrillas clash near theThai border in the heaviest fighting for six months. Vietnam clears the names of a further 9,000 boat people forrepatriation from Hong Kong; there are still 37,000 Vietnamese refugees in campsaround Asia. Beijing is keen for the 21,000 refugees in Hong Kong to berepatriated before it regains control from the British in 1997. World A week-long conference on landmines ends without agreement. Palestine Israel frees 800 Palestinians in an effort to boost PLOleader Yasser Arafat just before the first Palestinian elections. Arafat becomesthe first-ever elected leader of the Palestinians following elections held inthe West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem. Arafat's Fatah party wins 60 per cent ofthe seats in the new Palestinian parliament. Lebanon After a 13-year break, the Beirut stock exchange, once theMiddle East's busiest, resumes trading. North Korea 130,000 face starvation due to floods that have leftmany people homeless and substantially reduced crop yields. Russia Russia's Foreign Minister, Andrei Kozyrev, admired in theWest but reviled at home by conservatives, resigns. Nigeria The oil multinational, Shell, admits importing arms for thepolice. Some 35,000 people still await trial in Nigeria&s prisons. Niger The President is deposed as soldiers under Colonel Ibrahim Bar&Mainassara and his National Salvation Council seize control. Afghanistan The Red Cross airlifts 1,000 tonnes of food aid to thebesieged Afghan capital of Kabul, where more than a million people facestarvation. |
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Sri Lanka The financial centre of the capital Colombo is devastatedby a suicide-truck bomb that kills 72 people and wounds 1,500. The Tamil Tigersclaim responsibility. Government forces massacre the inhabitants of Kumarapuram,killing at least 24 Tamils. Nigeria 19 Ogonis - jailed for allegedly participating in the samemurders for which Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other men were hanged in November -smuggle a letter out of prison pleading for the Commonwealth to secure theirfreedom. Epidemics of spinal meningitis, gastroenteritis and germanmeasles kill at least 15,000 people in the north. Haiti Former prime minister Rene Preval is installed as President ofHaiti, marking the country's first-ever peaceful hand-over of power from onefreely elected president to another. Mexico Armed forces are brought in to remove protestors blocking 51oil wells owned by the state oil company Pemex. Philippines The nation is outraged as Sarah Balabagan, a Filipinamaid, receives the 100 lashes dealt her by a United Arab Emirates court forkilling the employer who raped her. She survives her punishment and is thenoffered thousands of dollars out of sympathy by a rich Filipino entrepreneur. Iraq/Russia Russia signs agreements for 'giant' projects to extractcrude oil in Iraq. This will help the country, which remains subject to UNeconomic sanctions, to rebuild its shattered power industry and infrastructure. |
Britain A tanker runs aground off South Wales, leaking 70,000 tonnesof oil into a marine bird sanctuary before being towed to safety. 25,000 birdsare killed by the 300-kilometre oil slick. Around 5,000 march against theconstruction of a road to bypass the town of Newbury. India Seven Indian cabinet ministers quit after being implicated ina bribery scandle that threatens to overturn PM Narasimha Rao's Government. MultinationalsWalt Disney is accused of having some of itsbrand-name clothes made in Third World sweatshops. Israel Under intense pressure from the Israeli Government,Palestinian security forces arrest 120 members of Hamas after two suicidebombers kill 24 people and wound almost 100. Cuba/US Cuba shoots down two private US planes, piloted byCuban-Americans, that it claimed were in its airspace. President Clintontightens sanctions. Equatorial Guinea President Teodoro Obiang Nguema claims 99 per centof the vote in a farcical presidential poll. Cambodia Haing Ngor, who was tortured by the Khmer Rouge, escapedand went on to win an Oscar in the film The Killing Fields, is shot deadin Los Angeles. China 100,000 people face starvation in blizzard-stricken Qinghaiprovince. |
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Bosnia The Bosnian Government moves into the suburbs, secures theroads and declares the siege of Sarajevo officially over. Chechnya Chechen rebels temporarily take back their capital, Grozny,more than a year after it was seized by Russian troops. Russian jets bombvillages in south-west Chechnya, while an estimated 10,000 refugees fleefighting in the Chechen town of Sernovodsk. More than 600 civilians are killedin fighting in the western village of Samashki. Russia Boris Yeltsin gives peasants the right to buy and sell landfor the first time since the Bolshevik Revolution. Sierra Leone Violence disrupts the first multi-party elections for20 years but they are won by Ahmad Tejan Kabbah of the Sierra Leone's People'sParty. Burundi The Clinton Administration in the US rejects calls for anarms embargo so as to prevent possible genocide. Iraq The UN Security Council decides to maintain sanctions on Iraqfor its failure to comply with UN resolutions on weapons. Iraq later stops UNinspectors examining a site near Baghdad. Turkey Turkey's two centre-right parties sign a coalition deal togovern the country thus preventing the Islamic Welfare Party from forming agovernment. One of Turkey's most famous writers, Mesut Yilmaz, is given asuspended 20-month jail term for an article that allegedly 'backed Kurdishseparatists and incited hatred' (see focus on the Kurds). Britain Gays are officially banned from the military after a Britishcourt overrules a judgement by the European Court. The Government's decision toexpel Saudi dissident Mohammed al-Mas'ari is overturned by a judge. The UN'sracism committee expresses 'serious concern' over the deaths of black people inpolice custody in Britain. Zambia The Paris Club, the Western creditors' forum, agrees to writeoff 67 per cent of Zambia's $550 million debt. Israel/Palestine Israel imposes a curfew on the 800,000 Palestinianswho live on the West Bank after the fourth suicide bomb in nine days kills 12Israelis in the heart of Tel Aviv. The border between Israel and the West Bankis sealed off with tanks. Under intense Israeli pressure Yasser Arafat hasarrested 600 Hamas militants and taken control of Hamas-run mosques, schools andcharities. Bangladesh The Government of Begum Zia resigns (focus on Bangladesh). Hong Kong 200 protesting Vietnamese refugees are taken from theircamps to prison to await forced repatriation. Liberia Heavy fighting breaks out in Kakata in the centre of thecountry, trapping 11 UN military observers. The civil war has killed 150,000people in seven years. |
Nigeria 3,386 people are killed by the meningitis epidemic innorthern Nigeria. Almost 19,000 people are infected. China/Taiwan In the build-up to Taiwan's first democraticpresidential elections, China continues 20 months of scare tactics by conductingmissile tests off Taiwan's coasts. With 150,000 Chinese troops massed on themainland, the US sends two warships to patrol the area. 20,000 Taiwanesedemonstrate in Taipei against China's war games. Finally Nationalist Partyleader Lee Teng-hui is re-elected. Indonesia Rioting in two mining towns in Irian Jaya/West Papuatemporarily closes the US-owned Gasberg mine, one of the world's biggest sourcesof copper and gold. Three people are killed and 15 injured when troops are sentin to break up demonstrations against the mine. US/CubaPresident Clinton signs into law the harshest-ever package ofeconomic measures against Cuba.The 'Helms-Burton' law is aimed at inhibitingforeign investment in Cuba. Canada threatens action at the World TradeOrganization. Mexico Ruben Figueroa Alcocer, governor of Guerrero state, is forcedto step down over the massacre last June by local police of 17 peasants. Sri Lanka A Sri Lankan helicopter-gunship fires on a group of Tamilrefugees in a camp 250 kilometres north of Colombo, killing at least 8 peopleand wounding 55. Lebanon Hezbollah fighters fire on Israeli posts in Israeli-occupiedsouth Lebanon in a show of scorn for the Anti-Terrorism Summit being held inIsrael. Zimbabwe Low voter turnout and the absence of any choice in Zimbabwe's presidential elections make President Robert Mugabe's victory ahollow one. Iran The more traditionalist of the country's two right-wing partieswins the election. Afghanistan The embattled President, Burhanuddin Rabbani, wins thebacking of one of his main rivals, mujahedin faction-leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. Benin Former dictator Mathieu Kerekou, the first African leader tobe ousted at the ballot box in the democracy movement of the early 1990s, isreturned to power in an upset at the polls, winning 59 per cent of the vote. Sudan Supporters of the country's leader, Lieutenant-General Omaral-Bashir, sweep to power in the parliamentary elections. Philippines More than 3,000 people are stranded in the centralPhilippines by a torrent of toxic mine waste which has poured into a river neartheir village. |
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Ukraine On the tenth anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster (focus on nuclear threat) the Ukraine reveals that itsmain hospital caring for the victims is now without heating because theonce-elite clinic cannot afford to pay its energy bills Lebanon/Israel In Operation Grapes of Wrath Israeli gunners respondto rocket attacks on northern Israel with an all-night assault on 15 Shia Muslimvillages in south Lebanon, forcing hundreds of families to flee. When guerrillascontinue to fire rockets, Israel responds by bombing Beirut and ordering 400,000villagers to leave southern Lebanon or face air and artillery attack. Israelknocks out two of Lebanon's main power plants and fires 4,000 shells into the UNzone alone & one hits a UN base which had become a sanctuary for civilianrefugees, killing 101 people. The UN claims the attack was deliberate. Hong Kong Thousands of Hong Kong residents queue for Britishpassports. This is their last chance before the colony is handed over to Chinain June 1997. Zaire Hutu militias and Zairean soldiers launch a pogrom againstTutsis in Zaire, driving hundreds of refugees into Rwanda (focuson Zaire/Rwanda). Liberia Aid agencies and diplomats are evacuated as fierce fightingbetween rival factions breaks out in the capital, Monrovia. More than 60,000 areleft homeless. The conflict among seven rebel factions has killed 150,000 peoplein the West African nation and left at least half the country's 2.3 millionpeople homeless. Turkey 90 Kurdish rebels and 27 soldiers are killed in some of thebloodiest fighting in the 12-year separatist campaign. Backed by a new array ofUS Black Hawk and Cobra helicopters, the Turkish military sends thousands oftroops to south-east Turkey to kill members of the Kurdish Workers' Party (focus on the Kurds). Sri Lanka President Chandrika Kumaratunga proclaims a nationwidestate of emergency which gives her sweeping legal and military powers, and bans journalists from covering the war against theTamil rebels. Tamil civilians in Thenmaratchi protest by forming a 30-kilometrehuman chain. Government forces launch an all-out attack on the area. Thousandsof Tamils escape to India. |
Chechnya Two battalions of Russian troops withdraw from Chechnya aspart of Boris Yeltsin's peace plan. But the aid agency M&decins SansFrontiDres witnesses Chechen women strapped to Russian tanks to prevent attacks,civilians forced to leave their dead behind, houses pillaged and burned, andvillagers shot indiscriminately. At least 50,000 have been killed in just 15months of fighting. Chechen leader Dzhokhar Dudayev is killed. Nigeria Hundreds of people demonstrate against the militarygovernment as a UN team tours the Ogoniland region to investigate the executionof writer and activist Ken Saro-Wiwa. Commonwealth nations agree to enforce arange of sanctions against the military regime. Jordan US jets are for the first time to use bases in Jordan toenforce the no-fly zone over southern Iraq. The arrival of 30 US fighters andover 1,000 airforce personnel marks a reversal of policy for Jordan. South Korea On the eve of elections, 20,000 students rally in Seoulto mourn the death of a classmate they say was murdered by police. President KimYoung Sam's party stages a surprising recovery at the polls to hold on to power- voters opted for stability following North Korean intrusions into theDemilitarized Zone between the two countries. Venezuela President Caldera announces a sweeping economic adjustmentprogramme. Germany The armed forces announce they are to abandon the use ofanti-personnel mines. Afghanistan More than 100 people are killed and 100,000 people hitby flooding brought on by heavy rains and melting snow. Sierra Leone The new government signs an historic ceasefire withrebel forces after five years of fighting that has claimed at least 10,000lives. Uganda The West Bank Nile Front - a guerrilla group led by ColonelJuma Oris, a former aide of Idi Amin - creates chaos in the far north of thecountry. President Museveni sends troops to 'crush and finish the rebels'; theyfail. |
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Israel Conservative Likud candidate Binyamin Netanyahu narrowlydefeats Labour's Shimon Perez in the election. Iraq The UN lets Iraq sell oil again - it says 50,000 children havedied as a result of sanctions since the Gulf War. Nigeria The UN posthumously elects Ogoni writer and activist KenSaro-Wiwa to its environmental roll of honour. The meningitis epidemic thatbegan in Nigeria has become the worst-ever outbreak in West Africa, infectingmore than 100,000 people and killing over 10,000. Uganda President Yoweri Museveni is re-elected by a landslide. Innorthern Uganda, however, opposition candidate Paul Ssemogerere wins over 80 percent of the vote. South Africa A permanent post-apartheid constitution is adopted inSouth Africa. Thousands of strikers march through Johannesburg and Cape Town,protesting against the inclusion of a clause in the new constitution thatenables employers to lock out striking workers. Burma The Burmese military junta arrests 44 pro-democracysupporters. Despite the crackdown, 10,000 people attend a speech bydemocracy-movement leader Aung San Suu Kyi. US/Cuba Canada and the European Union challenge US plans to imposesanctions against foreign companies that invest in Cuba. According toPresident Castro, the US blockade has cost Cuba $40 billion. Central Africa A cholera epidemic breaks out in Burundi, Rwanda,Zaire and Sudan. |
Liberia A ship carrying 4,000 Liberian refugees is allowedto land in Ghana. US warships defending their embassy move closer to shore asrival militias advance on each other. Turkey As many as 40,000 Turkish soldiers take part in securitysweeps against Kurdish separatists on either side of the Turkey-Iraq border (focus on the Kurds). India Phoolan Devi, the low-caste 'Bandit Queen'& who wasjailed for murdering the high-caste men who gang-raped her, is elected toParliament for the state of Uttar Pradesh. The right-wing Hindu party, the BJP,emerges as the largest party nationally. Its leader Atul Vaijpai becomestemporary Prime Minister but cannot form a government. So Deve Gowda, head of alarge coalition of secular parties, is sworn in as Prime Minister. Multinationals European clothing retailer C&A is to changeoperations in an effort to end its use of sweated labour. Sri Lanka Government forces occupy the Jaffna peninsula, strongholdof the Tamil Tigers. Tibet/China Tibetan monks clash violently with Chinese police overtough new regulations banning display of photos of the Dalai Lama. Venezuela Nearly 800,000 government workers go on strike in protestat the Government's failure to pay their salaries. Albania Thousands of opposition-party supporters, protesting allegedballot-rigging, demonstrate in the capital Tirana's central square where 300 areinjured by riot police. |
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Hong Kong Around 40,000 people demonstrate to mark the seventhanniversary of China's Tiananmen Square Massacre. South Africa Local government elections are held in Kwazulu Nataland are relatively free from the feared ANC-Inkatha violence. The ANC wins inmost urban areas, and Inkatha in the villages. The country is meanwhile battlingagainst the world's worst tuberculosis epidemic. Burundi The Red Cross pulls out amidst increased killing. Burma Despite a new ban on pro-democracy gatherings, 5,000 defyBurma's military junta and attend a major rally. It is revealed that childlabour is being used to build the new road to Mandalay. Indonesia Thousands demonstrate against the Government and insupport of opposition leader Megawati Sukarnoputri - daughter of Sukarno, thecharismatic figure who led the country until President Suharto's bloody coup in1965. Troops are sent in to break up the demonstration, but Megawati supportersstart a riot. Cuba Canada decides to go ahead with investments in Cuba despite thethreat of US sanctions. The Cuban Government announces plans to create its firstFree Trade Zone. Angola The Prime Minister is fired by President Dos Santos. Albania As a result of the demonstrations, a re-vote is held. Butthe ruling party wins again anyway. |
Turkey As Turkey sends yet more troops and helicopters into Iraq tohunt down Kurdish rebels, 2,000 Kurds in Turkish prisons go on hunger strike (focus on the Kurds). The fragile coalition holding theTurkish Government together collapses. World The UN Conference on Human Settlements meets in Istanbul for12 days but becomes mired in generalities. It says large-scale urban problemsmust be addressed at the local level and not by national governments andinternational organizations, which many see as an admission of defeat. Meanwhilehomeworkers achieve a major victory in the struggle to have their rightsprotected as the ILO signs its first-ever convention on homeworking. Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina of the Awami League defeats Prime MinisterKhaleda Zia in the election (focus on Bangladesh). Papua New Guinea After an eight-year battle, campaigning indigenousvillagers win a major victory when one of the world's largest miningconglomerates, Australia's Broken Hill Proprietary, agrees to compensate them tothe tune of millions of dollars for destroying their land and polluting theirwater supplies with copper and gold mining waste. China China has executed 1,000 people in the last two months as partof a massive crackdown on crime. Most are tried in public meetings - attended by1.75 million people - and their sentences applauded by cheering crowds. |
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Bosnia The War-Crimes Tribunal indicts Bosnian Serb leader RadovanKaradzic for atrocities committed during the war in Bosnia. Karadzic is forcedto resign as head of his party to save it being banned from the elections. Chechnya The war in Chechnya continues, with Russian planes shellingvillages and thousands of Chechen civilians dying. Afghanistan Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, leader of one of the warringmujahideen factions, becomes Prime Minister. Israel The new conservative Prime Minister, Binyamin Netanyahu,announces massive budget cuts in education and social services, liftsrestrictions on West Bank settlement by Israelis and introduces new lawsdisallowing visting rights for Palestinian prisoners. Israel continues to bombLebanon. Iraq A coup attempt against Saddam Hussein fails. Britain/Indonesia In a landmark legal judgment four women peacecampaigners are cleared of charges related to the $2.5 million worth of damagethey did by attacking a Hawk fighter with hammers. The jet was one of 24 due forexport to the military government in Indonesia. The women argued that the planewould be used to reinforce repression in East Timor and would thus flout both UNpolicy and international and British legislation against genocide. South Africa Nelson Mandela announces he won't run for a secondpresidential term. Sudan Around 700,000 people face starvation because the Governmenthas banned food aid. Burundi After heavy fighting, Tutsi troops stage a coup, murder theHutu president and take control. |
Burma ASEAN countries grant Burma 'observer status' and force the EUto drop its plans for sanctions. But the pro-democracy movement has a victorywhen Carlsberg drops its plans to establish a brewery in Burma. The Europeanowners of Heineken decide to follow suit, selling their shares in Heineken'sBurmese brewery; but Heineken's Singapore partners quickly buy up the shares. Sri Lanka The Tamil Tigers capture the Mullaitivu military base,killing 1,200 Sinhalese soldiers. The Government responds with a major offensiveagainst the town of Kilinochchi, most of which is destroyed by artillerybarrage. Colombia The US Government revokes President Samper's visa becauseof his failure to assist in the 'war against drugs'. Honduras Chiquita Bananas crack down on demonstrating workers. Bangladesh Floods submerge a third of the country, forcing millionsto flee their homes and killing 130. Mexico Attacks by masked and armed groups on villages and towns inthe state of Guerrero lead to reports of a new peasant guerrilla movement. World Climate scientists gather for a major conference on globalwarming. Mongolia Liberals win the elections with a 90-per-cent turn-out. Russia Boris Yeltsin is re-elected as President. Ecuador Populist candidate Abdala Bucaram wins the presidentialelections, beating the candidate advocating 'market reforms'. |
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Bosnia Muslims and Croats finally bury their differences and agreeto run a joint council in Mostar. But violence in the lead-up to generalelections causes scores of opposition candidates to drop out of the race. Chechnya Chechen separatists launch a massive offensive againstRussian troops. Thousands flee Grozny in fear of a Russian attack. The RussianVice-President, General Lebed, brokers a peace deal and a ceasefire is signed. Tajikistan Fierce fighting breaks out between warring factions. South Korea Former president Chun Doo-Hwan is sentenced to death andhis successor Roh Tae-woo jailed for 22 years for leading a coup and takingbribes. Israel/Palestine Huge strikes are held in Palestine in protestagainst the Israeli Government's announcement that hundreds of new homes will bebuilt on the West Bank for Israeli settlers - a blatant breach of the peaceagreement. Yasser Arafat bans the books of US-based Palestinian writer andintellectual Edward Said for being critical of him. Jordan Riots break out over a dramatic hike in bread prices. Iran The US launches air sorties over Iran because of Iranianaggression towards Kurds in Iraq (focus on the Kurds).Iran signs a $20-billion gas deal with Turkey. South Africa During his trial by the Truth Commission, formerpresident De Klerk finally accepts responsibility for human-rights violations.Ina show of strength, 5,000 anti-drug vigilantes march through the streets ofJohannesburg, protesting at the Government's inability to control drug-relatedcrimes. Police break up the demonstration with tear gas. |
Algeria Around 80 people are massacred by the Muslim extremistparty, the FIS. Burundi In the wake of the Tutsi coup, neighbouring Tanzaniatightens sanctions, while Kenya cuts off diplomatic relations with the country.Some 6,000 Hutu civilians are reported to have been killed during the coup,which led 8,000 Rwandan Hutu refugees to flee Burundi. Zimbabwe Around 5,000 civil servants go on strike in Zimbabwebecause they are being paid so little. Sri Lanka Over 200,000 people are displaced by fighting betweengovernment forces and the Tamil Tigers. Around 800 people flee to the Indianstate of Tamil Nadu. Indonesia As East Timor marks 20 years of occupation, the IndonesianGovernment intensifies its crackdown on opposition supporters in Java.Opposition leader Megawati Sukarnoputri is questioned by police about her rolein the July riots and 123 people are held in jail. There is a new outbreak ofanti-government rioting in the capital, Jakarta - and British-made tanks andwater guns are used to break them up. Megawati files charges against theGovernment in court. Mexico A gathering of over 3,000 Zapatista supporters from aroundthe world reaches its climax in La Realidad, Chiapas. Called the FirstIntercontinental Meeting Against Neoliberalism and for Humanity & or theEncuentro for short & it has brought together people from a wide variety ofsocial backgrounds and political affiliations. China 16,000 people in Inner Mongolia are placed under quarantine bythe Government due to a severe outbreak of cholera that has killed 120. SomaliaFollowing the death of militia leader Mohammed Farah Aideed,his son Hussein Aideed is chosen to succeed him as 'President'. |
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Algeria Around 80 people are massacred by the Muslim extremistparty, the FIS. Afghanistan Kabul falls to the Taliban, an army led by formertheological students who favour a particularly extreme form of Islamic law.Among its first acts are to hang the former President, Mohammed Najibullah, andto make it illegal for women to work, condemning thousands of widows and theirchildren to starvation. Male Afghan government employees are ordered to growbeards or else face punishment. Bosnia The election passes relatively peacefully though the resultsare bitterly contested. Muslim President Alija Izbetbegovic is the poll winner. Chechnya Following Russia's acceptance of a peace plan, Chechenseparatists celebrate what they see as 'victory' in the war, and form a congressto govern Chechnya. RussiaPresident Yeltsin names a new, reformist cabinet. Israel/Palestine The opening of an archeological tunnel beneath theAl-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, the third holiest site in Islam, sparks off violentriots. Four people are shot and 200 wounded in a gun battle between Israelitroops and Palestinians in the West Bank town of Ramallah. Hundreds are shot andat least a dozen killed as Palestinian youths besiege an Israeli garrison. Iraq/Kurds The US fires cruise missiles at southern Iraq inresponse to Iraqi-backed Kurdish attacks on UN-backed Kurds. Iraq backs down asUS air raids intensify (focus on the Kurds). Turkey/Kurds Thousands of Turkish troops shell Kurds in thesouth-east and attack them in their UN-designated safe area in Iraq. The UNannounces that the Kurdish enclave is in danger of famine. |
Lesotho Police open fire on 2,000 strikers, killing 10. Sudan Rioting breaks out in the capital Khartoum over breadshortages and a rise in food prices. Rwanda Hutu troops begin terrorizing Rwandan Tutsi refugees inZaire. Rwandan troops shell eastern Zaire (focus onZaire/Rwanda). Indonesia Opposition leader Megawati &s court case against theGovernment is rejected. Colombia The Vice President resigns, then 3.7 kilos of heroin arefound in President Samper's jet. Mexico The new PRA guerrillas continue to battle against themilitary in the southern Mexican state of Guerrero. The Army steps up itsretaliation. United StatesThe CIA is accused of cocaine trafficking. Pressstories allege that during the US-backed war on Sandinista Nicaragua cocaine wassmuggled out in CIA-protected planes, sold on US streets by CIA-protected drugdealers and the money then funnelled back to the Contras so they could buyweapons. World The IMF reneges on a plan to sell $2 billion of its $40billion gold reserves to ease Third World debt but promises the Paris Club itwill cut debt for poor nations somehow. The World Health Organization launches anew global campaign against epilepsy. Armenia After the ruling party once again wins the generalelections, there are widespread accusations of vote-rigging. Estonia becomes the first country to 'graduate' from the USAIDprogramme. |
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Zaire/Rwanda Fighting breaks out between the Zairean Army and theTutsi minority in the east of the country. Thousands of Hutu refugees leavetheir camps arousing worldwide fears of a humanitarian catastrophe on the scaleof the 1994 genocide in Rwanda and its aftermath (focus onZaire/Rwanda). Aotearoa/New Zealand The country's first general election held usingproportional representation produces no overall winner but doubles the number ofMaori Members of Parliament to 15. Bosnia The newly elected joint presidents meet in Sarajevo for thefirst time since the elections, but Bosnian Serb politicians boycott theinauguration of the new parliament. Bosnia and Serbia agree in Paris toestablish full diplomatic relations. A massive $425 million US arms shipmentarrives for the Muslim-Croat federation forces. Pakistan Benazir Bhutto announces that she will deal positively withthe Taliban Government in Afghanistan but denies having helped them in theirmilitary campaign. Thousands call for Bhutto to resign as foreign reservesplunge. Colombia A remote Andean tribe threatens mass suicide if oilcompanies start drilling in their region. Food prices in the capital rise by tenper cent when BogotD is cut off by guerrilla blockades. Around 200 soldiers andrebels from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) have been killedin the last few weeks during the bloodiest guerrilla offensive in the 30-yearhistory of the Colombian civil war. WorldThe World Bank donates $500m to its new fund to cut poornations' debt. The UN's imminent financial collapse is staved off bypayments from Russia and funds from the US congress. Costa Rica, Japan, Kenya,Portugal and Swedan are elected to the 15-member UN Security Council for atwo-year term beginning January 1997. Burma The military junta announces that it has detained 500supporters of the pro-democracy movement; the movement's leader Aung San Suu Kyiclaims that the number arrested is actually 800. Burmese people face tough jailsentences even for using the Internet. Total Oil is accused of condoninglarge-scale human-rights violations during the building of its natural-gaspipeline from Burma to Thailand. Afghanistan The Taliban capture a strategic base in the north of thecountry. General Rashid Dostrum drops his neutrality and allies himself with theanti-Taliban forces led by General Massoud. The two forces clash repeatedlyduring the next two weeks, as Massoud fights his way to within 20 kilometres ofKabul. It is announced that 600,000 Afghanis have been disabled by landmines inthe last ten years. Indonesia condemns the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to RomanCatholic Bishop Belo for his campaigning to end the conflict in East Timor andbans the other prize-winner, Jose Ramos Horta, from entering the country(1996 awards). |
Israel/Palestine A US-convened emergency summit fails to patch upthe peace agreement between Israel and Palestine. Mexico The Zapatistas challenge the Mexican Government to hold peacetalks. The elections of mayors and congresspeople in Guerrero state gopeacefully despite recent clashes between PRA guerrillas and the military. India The largest pro-India party in the embattled state of Kashmirwins a sweeping majority in the first local elections since the revolt began in1990. India's United Front Government reimposes central rule on the state ofUttar Pradesh after the Hindu BJP and its secular opponents fail to form acoalition. Heavy rain and flooding kill 113 and leave thousands homelessin the south of the country. Bangladesh Shahbuddin Ahmed is sworn in as Bangladesh's fourteenthpresident - though under the new constitution real power lies with the primeminister. South Africa General Magnus Malan, the former Defence Minister, isacquitted of conspiracy to murder. However, Colonel Eugene De Kock, commander ofapartheid South Africa's notorious Vlakplass police hit-squad, is found guiltyon 89 charges, including 6 murders, and sentenced to more than 200 years inprison. Multinationals BP is accused of collaborating with Colombian deathsquads and of causing grave damage to the environment. Zimbabwe The number of people dying each week from AIDS jumps from300 to 500. Cambodia Hundreds of hardline Khmer Rouge guerrillas defect toCambodian government forces. Africa According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, 13African countries face food shortages despite bumper harvests. Liberia Thousands of starving villagers ask for an end to food aidbecause it attracts warring guerrilla factions. Turkey plans to spend $150 billion on the military over the next 30years - roughly double current expenditure on what is already the second largestforce in NATO. Turkish troops kill 250 Kurds in a new offensive in the south (focus on the Kurds). Amnesty International singles Turkeyout for its human-rights record. 'Today we are saying enough is enough,' saysAmnesty head Pierre Sane. Vietnam bans most foreign employees of joint-venture and whollyforeign-owned companies from working in the country for more than three years.It also passes a law requiring foreign companies to train local replacements fortheir foreign staff. Russia President Yeltsin sacks General Lebed, his Chief of Security,for 'disruption'. Nicaragua Conservative candidate Arnoldo Aleman wins thepresidential elections, defeating Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega. |
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Algeria Muslim fundamentalists slaughter 31 people. At least 50,000people have been killed in Algeria by Islamic extremist groups since 1991. TheGovernment holds a referendum on a new constitution. Despite threats by theIslamic Armed Group (IAG) that people who voted for the new constitution wouldhave their necks wrung, 55 per cent of the electorate, or eight million people,do so. Russia President Boris Yeltsin successfully undergoes open- heartsurgery. Nigeria On the anniversary of writer and activist Ken Saro-Wiwa'sexecution, the European Union agrees to extend its sanctions against Nigeria fora further six months. India Around 1,000 people are killed by a cyclone in the Indianstate of Andrha Pradesh. Meanwhile in Bangalore 600 people are arrested forprotesting against the Miss World contest: the contest has sparked off hugedemonstrations and has had to be protected by 20,000 police. United States Bill Clinton wins a second term as US President. Burma A 200-strong mob, allegedly acting with the approval of theBurmese military, attacks cars carrying Aung San Suu Kyi and several of her keysupporters. Belgium Greenpeace boats block the first shipment of geneticallyaltered soyabeans from landing at the harbour in Ghent. The soyabeans have beengenetically engineered to survive massive applications of the pesticideRound-Up, which Greenpeace argues will encourage unwise pesticide usage. Manypeople have already had allergic reactions after eating the soyabeans. Afghanistan Around 45,000 people flee renewed fighting north ofKabul as the Taliban and opposition forces exchange tank, artillery and rocketfire. WorldThe UN Food Summit convenes in Rome, attended by 194 nations -although only 50 of these countries are represented by their heads of government(focus on World Food Summit). |
Uganda Tension increases in Central Africa region as Uganda accusesZaire of invading its territory and attacking a border post. Cambodia The IMF and World Bank suspend $47 million in aid, citingcontinuing concern over government logging policies that are rapidly decimatingthe country's forests. Thailand The New Aspiration Party of former army chief ChavalitYongchaiyudh wins the general election, but a six-party coalition will governthe country. The election followed the ousting of a corrupt government inSeptember and proved to be the dirtiest in Thai history: politicians handed outmore than a billion dollars to buy votes. Belarus Demonstrators clash with police in the capital, Minsk. Theyare among thousands protesting at President Lukashenko's attempt to gain controlof parliament and the higher courts and to extend his term by two years througha referendum. But his new sweeping powers are endorsed by the referendum - andwith his first use of them he closes down the opposition-dominated parliament. Zambia President Frederick Chiluba is easily re-elected amidstwidespread accusations of vote-buying; the opposition boycotted the election. United Arab Emirates bans marriage between UAE nationals andforeigners. Burundi Hundreds of Hutu refugees, forced home by the fighting ineastern Zaire, are butchered by the Tutsi army in Burundi. Pakistan The government of Benazir Bhutto is sacked by PresidentFarooq Leghari on the grounds of gross incompetence and corruption. Bhutto facescriminal charges in court. President Leghari also closes thenational assembly and sets new elections for February 1997. Former cricketerImran Khan's party will contest the elections. Serbia President Slobodan Milosevic attempts to annul oppositionvictories in the Belgrade city elections - and sparks the largestanti-government protests since the outbreak of war in former Yugoslavia in 1991,involving 100,000 demonstrators at their peak. Milosevic refuses to back down. |
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Aotearoa/New ZealandThe conservative National Party manages to forma coalition government with the tiny New Zealand First Party, whose Maorileader, Winston Peters becomes Deputy Prime Minister with responsibility forfinance. The charismatic Peters is seen by many as potentially the first MaoriPrime Minister. Uganda Ugandan troops occupy parts of north-eastern Zaire in pursuitof rebels who allegedly have their bases there. China/India For the first time since China invaded India andoccupied Tibet in 1950, the two Asian giants agree to scale down armed forcesalong their 2,500 mile border. Britain Massive annual increases in the levels of radioactivematerials are discovered in seafood as a result of new discharges from thenuclear-power plant at Sellafield. Palestine Palestinians take to the streets to protest against theIsraeli Government&s refusal to release political prisoners as agreed in thepeace accord. A new settlement project is agreed near the Palestinian city ofNablus. Burma The leaders of ASEAN, the Association of South East AsianNations, send a strong message that they will not tolerate foreign criticism oftheir human-rights records by confirming that Burma will be granted fullmembership. Meanwhile at least 2,000 Burmese University students stage thelargest demonstrations in Rangoon since 1988 to protest at police brutality. Belize British aid money to build a road in the remote south ofBelize threatens to bring about the wholesale clearance of Central America'slargest intact area of rainforest and start a battle with the region's MayanIndians, whose communal lands are being taken over. Moldova In the country's first parliamentary elections, PetruLucinschi is elected President. Serbia Milosevic temporarily shuts down Belgrade's last independentbroadcaster Radio B92 in an attempt to suppress dissent. Up to 50,000 peoplecontinue to demonstrate in the capital. Russia President Boris Yeltsin fires General Vladimir Semyonov,commander of Russia's land forces, for 'actions incompatible with his post'.Meanwhile an estimated 400,000 miners throughout Russia begin an open-endedstrike to protest at the fact that they have not been paid for several months. |
Iraq Signs agreements with international oil companies keen to buyIraqi crude under a resurrected UN oil-for-food plan. Guatemala The adversaries in Guatemala's civil war sign sign a peacepact ending the 36-year-long conflict that claimed 140,000 lives. Colombia A rightwing paramilitary group kills 84 people including apregnant woman. United States President Clinton names Madeleine Albright, aCzech-born refugee, as the US's first female Secretary of State. Tanzania The Government repatriates 500,000 Rwandan Huturefugees. Iran Three people are killed when hundreds of demonstrators clashwith the police in western Iran. The demonstrators ware protesting against thealleged murder of a Sunni Muslim leader by government agents. India 5,000 people are detained by the Indian police for protestingagainst the imprisonment of Jayalalitha, former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, oncorruption charges. Ecuador President Abdala Bucaram does a U-turn on his promises toaid the poor and appoints some of the country's richest men as advisers. Sierra Leone More than 150 people are killed less than a day afterPresident Ahmad Tejan Kabbah signs a peace accord with the leader of theRevolutionary United Front, to end five years of civil war. South Africa President Nelson Mandela signs South Africa's newabortion bill, replacing one of the world's toughest abortion laws with one ofthe most liberal. Tajikistan President Imamali Rakhmonov signs a cease-fire withIslamic opposition leader Sayid Abdullo Nuri. Bangladesh India and Bangladesh finally reach an agreement onsharing the waters of the Ganges River, settling a 20-year-old dispute. Peru Guerrillas of the Tupac Amaru group, dressed as waiters,bearing caviar and champagne, take hundreds hostage at a reception in theJapanese Ambassador's residence in Lima. They demand the release of 500political prisoners and improved jail conditions. World Ghana's Kofi Annan is appointed as UN Secretary-General toreplace Boutros Boutros Ghali. South Korea Riots erupt in the capital, Seoul, as thousands ofpeople protest against the Government&s attempt torestrict trade unions andlabour rights. |
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