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Actualité :
La France a-t-elle besoin de l’Afrique ?
Dossier : Afrique, Etat et démocratie
Etat-ethnique ou Etat-Nation ?
Rwanda : comment la démocratie a conduit au génocide
Sahel : comment la démocratie entretient la guerre
Histoire :
Algérie : relire Daniel Lefeuvre
En 1830, la France s'empare du trésor du dey d'Alger


Editorial de Bernard Lugan

L’histoire de ces dernières décennies montre qu’en Afrique, démocratie = ethno-mathématique électorale, avec pour résultat que les ethnies les plus nombreuses remportent automatiquement les élections. Voilà pourquoi, au lieu d’éteindre les incendies, les scrutins électoraux les ravivent. Plus que jamais, il importe donc de méditer cette profonde réflexion que le Gouverneur général de l’AOF fit en 1953, et qui n’est pas une découverte pour les lecteurs de l’Afrique Réelle : « Moins d’élections et plus d’ethnographie, et tout le monde y trouvera son compte » … 
Plus de trois décennies après l’injonction faite à l’Afrique par François Mitterrand lors de son « discours de La Baule » le 20 juin 1990, la démocratie qu’il postulait être le remède aux maux du continent n’y a en effet apporté, ni développement économique, ni stabilité politique, et encore moins sécurité. Ce terrible échec explique pourquoi des pays comme le Mali, le Burkina Faso, la Guinée, le Tchad et la Centrafrique, ont décidé de se donner ou de se redonner des régimes autoritaires. 
Or, si la démocratie électorale a échoué en Afrique, c’est en raison de l’inadéquation entre des réalités socio-politiques communautaires enracinées et un système politique importé à base individualiste. Comment le greffon démocratique individualiste aurait-il d’ailleurs pu prendre en Afrique sud-saharienne où, traditionnellement, l’autorité ne se partageait pas, où la séparation des pouvoirs était inconnue, et où les chefs détenaient à travers leur personne à la fois l’auctoritas et la potestas ? Comment a-t ‘on pu faire croire aux Africains que la transposition de la démocratie occidentale était possible sans qu’auparavant il ait été réfléchi à la création de contre-pouvoirs, au mode de représentation et d’association au gouvernement des peuples minoritaires condamnés par l’ethno-mathématique électorale à être pour l’éternité écartés du pouvoir ? 
L’exemple du Sahel est parlant : comme ils sont minoritaires, les pasteurs, notamment les Touareg et les Peul qui, à la veille de la colonisation étaient les dominants, sont aujourd’hui exclus du pouvoir par les urnes. Pour eux, la « solution » électorale n’est donc qu’une farce puisqu’elle ne fait que confirmer à chaque scrutin les pourcentages ethniques, légitimant ainsi le pouvoir de ceux dont les femmes sont les plus fécondes. Acculés par la démocratie à être pour l’éternité des sous-citoyens, dès la décennie 1960, ils ont donc pris les armes. 
Enfermés dans la bulle idéologique du « démocratique d’abord », ceux qui font la politique africaine de la France n’ont pas voulu prendre en compte l’évidence qui est qu’ici, les rapports entre les populations nordistes et les populations sudistes répondent à des constantes millénaires, et que les structures civilisationnelles reposent sur les groupes, non sur les individus, ce qui interdit de ce fait toute transposition de notre individualisme politique électoral.

Quelque 158 000 personnes ont manifesté, vendredi dans toute la France, pour la défense du 1er-Mai férié et chômé et pour des hausses de salaires, dont 24 000 à Paris, selon le ministère de l'Intérieur. La CGT a pour sa part comptabilisé plus de 300 000 manifestants, dont environ 100 000 dans la capitale. Voici le fil de la journée.

It's clear what the United States is getting out of its new critical minerals initiative, but less obvious how Manila stands to gain from it.

Les syndicats du Monténégro se mobilisent pour une revalorisation de la Convention collective générale, normalement indexée sur le coût de la vie, mais qui n'a pas été révisée depuis treize ans, malgré la forte inflation. Ils dénoncent aussi le « mépris » du gouvernement pour le dialogue social.

- Le fil de l'Info / Monténégro, Economie, Société, Politique, Vijesti, Social

By Farhana Haque Rahman
TORONTO, Canada, May 1 2026 (IPS)

Press freedom is on the retreat across much of the world.

As documented by recent global surveys authored by the UN and media institutes, the erosion of an independent, fearless and diversified press is a trend that has worsened for well over a decade.

Farhana Haque Rahman

Its corrosive course has run in tandem with the weakening of democracies and the rise of autocrats, a surge in violence and persecution targeting journalists, cuts in government funding, the rise of largely unregulated social media oligarchs now facilitating AI-augmented fake news, and a concentration of media ownership among cronies close to centres of power.

Delivering the 2026 Reuters Memorial Lecture on March 9, Carlos Dada, Salvadoran editor of El Faro, now operating in exile, did not mince his words:

“A far-right, populist, autocratic wave is taking the world by storm and breaking all the rules, and journalists, as in every authoritarian regime or dictatorship, no matter its ideological foundations, are labelled as enemies. Journalism is being criminalized, and our colleagues are being imprisoned or killed.”

Just days earlier, El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele was described by the Autonomous University of Barcelona as imposing one of the most restrictive environments for press freedom in Latin America through a “model of techno-populist authoritarianism”.

World Press Freedom Day, on May 3, has adopted as its declared theme: “Shaping a Future at Peace: Promoting Press Freedom for Human Rights, Development, and Security” – a challenging title given the wars, turmoil and economic crises currently besetting the world.

UNESCO, co-hosting the 2026 conference with the Zambian government in Lusaka on May 4-5, has itself charted a sharp decline in freedom of expression globally. Its 2022/2025 World Trends Report, Journalism: Shaping a World at Peace cites an increase in physical attacks, digital threats, and a surge in self-censorship among journalists.

This crisis is summed up by UNESCO as a “historically significant and unprecedented shift”, noting that for the first time in 20 years non-democratic regimes outnumber democracies. Some 72 percent of the world’s population lives under “non-democratic rule”, the highest proportion since 1978.

This decline in press freedom, plurality and diversity “mirrors broader patterns: weakened parliaments and judicial institutions, falling levels of public trust, and deepening polarization. It has also coincided with setbacks in equality, alongside rising hostility toward environmental journalists, scientists, and researchers”, UNESCO’s report says.

It also warns how “the growing dominance of major technology companies – and the consequences of their shifting policies and practices – have created fertile ground for hate speech and disinformation to spread online.”

In its World Press Freedom Index for 2025, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) says physical attacks against journalists are the most visible violations of press freedom but “economic pressure is also a major, more insidious problem”.

“Much of this is due to ownership concentration, pressure from advertisers and financial backers, and public aid that is restricted, absent or allocated in an opaque manner,” RSF states. “Today’s news media are caught between preserving their editorial independence and ensuring their economic survival.”

“For the first time in the history of the Index, the conditions for practising journalism are ‘difficult’ or ‘very serious’ in over half of the world’s countries and satisfactory in fewer than one in four.”

World Press Freedom Day goes back to a 1993 decision by the UN General Assembly to commemorate the Declaration of Windhoek, a statement of free press principles produced by African journalists in 1991.

But as RSF notes, press freedom in Sub-Saharan Africa is experiencing a worrying decline. The economic score of the index deteriorated in 80 percent of countries in the region.

Overall Eritrea (180th) remained the worst-ranking country. The Democratic Republic of the Congo fell 10 places to 133rd as its economic indicator plummeted. Conflict zones saw sharp declines in press freedom in Burkina Faso, Sudan and Mali with newsrooms forced to self-censor, shut down or go into exile.

“The hyper-concentration of media ownership in the hands of political figures or business elites without safeguards for editorial independence remains a recurring problem,” RSF says, citing issues in Cameroon, Nigeria and Rwanda.

Nonetheless higher-ranking countries, such as South Africa, Namibia, Cape Verde and Gabon “provide rays of hope”, RSF adds.

A clear casualty of the toxic combo of autocratic populists, media-owning cronies and dwindling budgets is coverage of climate change. Even normally heavy-hitting media groups are cutting back their reporting of the global climate crisis in another blow to the key SDG Target of promoting public access to information.

China remains the “world’s largest jail for journalists”, ranking 178th on RSF’s global press freedom index, one place above North Korea.

Bangladesh ranked 149th in the World Press Freedom Index. Following the parliamentary elections in February this year, RSF has urged the new Bangladeshi government to put an end to arbitrary detentions, the instrumentalization of the justice system and impunity for crimes against journalists. Such abuses have caused lasting damage to the country’s press.

Summing up the state of the press following Perugia’s annual International Journalism Festival in April, Carole Cadwalladr, investigative journalist for The Nerve — a “fearless, female-founded, truly independent [UK] media title” – commented: “There’s “not much light in these dark times” while referencing the killing by Israeli forces of over 200 Palestinian journalists and media workers since the Hamas attacks on Israel in October 2023.

But she did feel an “energy” at the festival held in the Italian hill-top city.

“All across the world, there are journalists doing the hard yards of trying to hold power to account,” she wrote. “And increasingly, this is being done by small, insurgent new outlets that are sprouting up because there is a gap that needs to be filled.”

Or as Dada, editor of El Salvador’s exiled El Faro, declared in his lecture:

“We are journalists in resistance. In resistance to the violation of our rights, the shuttering of public information… resistance to limitless power. We practised journalism in democracy for a quarter century. That era is gone. Today, we are a newsroom in resistance.”

Farhana Haque Rahman is Senior Vice President of IPS Inter Press Service and Executive Director IPS Noram; she served as the elected Director General of IPS from 2015-2019. A journalist and communications expert, she is a former senior official of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and the International Fund for Agricultural Development.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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Credit: UN Photo/Loey Felipe

By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, May 1 2026 (IPS)

A longstanding rule bars international civil servants from publicly taking a political stand against member states, even against those accused of human rights violations, war crimes and genocide (and even barring staffers from participating in political demonstrations outside the UN).

And more importantly, the rules also forbid UN staffers from campaigning for– or against– candidates for secretary general, including the current race for a new UNSG.

Perhaps that’s a price one has to pay—forfeiting the right to political expression– when you are an international civil servant. But is it worth the sacrifice?

A new circular to UN staffers, released April 29, reiterates these restrictions cautioning against any participation in the run-up to the election of a new Secretary-General later this year.

“As recent and ongoing wars and conflicts continue, the UN remains indispensable as a platform for dialogue, human rights, and collective action and all staff play a vital role in this effort.

While it is understandable that many staff members feel compelled to share views about events that are unfolding, including in personal fora such as social media, we must be mindful at all times of our rights and duties as international civil servants, which require us to act independently and impartially,” says the circular.

Four candidates in the running for the next UN Secretary-General; Michelle Bachelet (Chile), Rafael Grossi (Argentina), Rebeca Grynspan (Costa Rica), and Macky Sall (Senegal). Credit: United Nations

This applies to all public communications (including those shared through personal social media accounts) related to ongoing crises, political matters, and other elections and electoral processes, which should be framed in a manner that is consistent with the Organization’s positions and the statements of the Secretary-General.

Recent instances have also highlighted the need for particular caution with regard to public expressions of support for candidates in the selection process for the Secretary-General.

“Any such expressions—whether explicit or implicit—may be perceived as inconsistent with the independence and impartiality required of international civil servants and risk undermining the integrity of the process”, the circular cautions.

‘Disclaimers indicating that views are expressed in a personal capacity do not absolve us of our obligations under the Staff Regulations and Rules. The standards of conduct apply irrespective of the platform used or the capacity in which views are expressed,” the circular warns.

Dr Palitha Kohona, a former Chief of the UN Treaty Section, told Inter Press Service (IPS):
“It is undoubted that international civil servants must remain above national and sectarian differences. It is this quality that makes them and the Organization credible. Sometimes it may become difficult to remain silent in the face of gross abuses, and these circumstances present a dilemma”.

In this context, he pointed out, it is most important to bear in mind Article 101 of the Charter.

During the time of SG Kofi Annan (1997-2006), a more relaxed atmosphere prevailed and staff were permitted to express their views within their own areas of responsibility.

“Then again, one is constrained to ask whether staff should remain mute when the very fundamentals of the Charter are being violated. Whether they be human rights, or the prohibition or the threat of the use of force, or the commitment to live in peace and harmony,” he argued.

The leadership of the Organization must provide the guidelines within which the staff could express themselves. But not the wishy-washy stuff that we are increasingly getting used to.

But will the leadership ever call a spade a spade, declared Dr Kohona, a former Sri Lankan Permanent Representative to the UN, and until recently, Ambassador to China.

Samir Sanbar, a former Assistant Secretary-General and head of the Department of Public Information (DPI) told IPS: “I recall taking an “Oath of Office”‘ to “exercise in all loyalty, discretion and conscience the functions entrusted to me as an international civil servant of the United Nations, to discharge these functions and regulate my conduct with the interests of the united Nations only in view. and not to seek or accept instructions in regard to the performance of my duties from any government or other authority external to the Organization”.

I am not clear, he said, whether that oath is currently required particularly after several former government officials joined the Secretariat.

Supporting a particular candidate proposed by a government –as officially required– for the post of Secretary General would be contrary to that oath of international civil service, he pointed out.

Recounting his strong personal relationship with a former Secretary-General, Sanbar said: “Kofi Annan was my closest United Nations colleague as we started our work at the same time and progressed together when he headed Peace keeping and I headed Public Information.”

He visited me at home on a Sunday evening, said Sanbar, to inform me of his candidacy for Secretary-General yet graciously agreed that my contacts with the media would not indicate public support until he was elected when we walked to the photo unit on the eighth floor for an official portrait.

Meanwhile, the UN circular also says : “We, as staff members must adhere to the policies set out in the Status, basic rights and duties of United Nations staff members; outside activities. The guidelines for the personal use of social media also include a number of useful tips including on privacy settings, liking or sharing posts, and reminders on information that has not been made public.’

In particular, staff regulation 1.2 (f) provides: “While staff members’ personal views and convictions, including their political and religious convictions, remain inviolable, staff members shall ensure that those views and convictions do not adversely affect their official duties or the interests of the United Nations.

They shall conduct themselves at all times in a manner befitting their status as international civil servants and shall not engage in any activity that is incompatible with the proper discharge of their duties with the United Nations.

They shall avoid any action and, in particular, any kind of public pronouncement that may adversely reflect on their status, or on the integrity, independence and impartiality that are required by that status.”

The “2026 Guidance on Political Activities” issued on iSeek by the UN Ethics Office provides more guidance.

“We, as staff members, are obliged to comply with these provisions. Failure to do so can result in the initiation of a disciplinary process, which may result in disciplinary sanctions being imposed.”

Given the above, please also be aware, in accordance with staff rule 10.1 “Failure by staff members to comply with their obligations under the Charter of the United Nations, the Staff Regulations and Rules or other relevant administrative issuances or to observe the standards of conduct expected of an international civil servant may amount to misconduct and may lead to the institution of a disciplinary process and the imposition of disciplinary measures for misconduct.”

In addition, affiliate (non-staff) personnel must also comply with the principles set out under the terms and conditions of their engagement as well as the administrative instructions that govern their modality of engagement such as ST/AI/2020/10 on United Nations Internship Programme, ST/AI/2013/4 on Consultants and Individual Contractors, ST/AI/231/Rev.1 on Non-Reimbursable Loan Experts, ST/AI/1999/6 on Gratis Personnel, and the MOU and Conditions of Service guidelines for UN Volunteers.

“This reminder is issued in the interest of protecting both individual staff members and the Organization, and to ensure that the United Nations continues to be perceived as an impartial and trusted institution by Member States and the public”.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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The Phnom Penh Appeals Court upheld Kem Sokha's 27-year house arrest sentence, while imposing a further five-year travel ban.

À l'occasion des habituelles manifestations du 1er-Mai, les syndicats ont dénoncé vendredi la remise en cause du caractère férié et chômé de la journée et demandé d'urgence des augmentations salariales, face au retour de l'inflation provoqué par la guerre au Moyen-Orient.

The announcement is part of a concerted PR push currently being undertaken by the new "civilian" government in Naypyidaw.

The zero-tariff regime gives China's soft power a boost, but may lead to uneven gains, say analysts.

Az anyanyelű internetes források kutatásával a szokásosnál részletesebb képet kínál Benedek Levente a minapi thai-kambodzsai háború fast jet bevetéseiről, köztük a thai Gripenek első, fegyveralkalmazással is járó éles akciójáról (a típus első éles bevetései Líbia felett, mint ismert, A-A őrjáratozó és felderítő feladatra korlátozódtak) a 2026 májusi Aeromagazinban. 

A friss számból szintén kiemelném Szórád Tamás barátom élő anyagát az MH-hoz átkerült egykori légimentő mókusok tíz éves szolgálatáról:

 

Zord

For over 30 years, the Philippines has tried – and struggled – to bolster its defense capabilities. What went wrong?

Emmanuel Macron s'est félicité jeudi du "succès" du vaste exercice militaire Orion, auquel il a assisté dans l'est de la France pour sa conclusion, et qui constitue, selon lui, "un signal clair envoyé tout à la fois à nos alliés et à nos adversaires".