Heads of State's inhumanity (Obama, Zuma) crosses continents

Unchecked power’s pervasive, unspeakable cruelty… No Land an Island …

Editing, re-reporting by Carolyn Bennett

Fomr President of South Africa
(1994-1999)
Nelson Mandela

When Nelson Mandela was elected President of South Africa, his government was faced with a seemingly insurmountable task: providing a better life for those who had suffered under Apartheid, reads promotion material for the new film, "Dear Mandela." The cornerstone of Mandela’s ‘unbreakable promise’ was an ambitious plan to ensure housing for all. 

Eighteen years later, as the NUMBER OF FAMILIES LIVING IN SLUMS HAS DOUBLED, a frightening tale of betrayal is unfolding. The government is trying to ‘eradicate the slums’ by evicting shack dwellers from their homes at gunpoint, in scenes eerily reminiscent of apartheid-era forced removals. 

“DEAR MANDELA” brings to film the everyday lives of three dynamic leaders of a new social movement made up of South Africa’s poorest challenging the evictions on the streets and in the courts. Determined to stop the evictions, Mazwi, Zama and Mnikelo met with their communities by candlelight to study and debate new housing legislation. 

Shack dwellers discovered that the innocuous-sounding 'Slums Act' legalized mass evictions and violated the rights enshrined in the country’s landmark Constitution. The activists challenged the Slums Act all the way to the highest court in the land - the hallowed Constitutional Court. http://www.dearmandela.com/?q=node/2

  

President of South Africa
(2009-)
Jacob Zuma

JACOB ZUMA is the current president of the Republic of South Africa (2009 - ). He is the head of state and head of government under South Africa’s Constitution. From 1961 to 1994, the head of state was called the State President. Nelson Mandela held the presidency from 1994 until 1999.

U.S. President Barack Obama’s immigrant deportations

U.S. President
Barack Obama

Just released figures from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) show that during the first nine months of FY 2010, 279,035 non-U.S. citizens were removed from the United States as a result of ICE enforcement. This number is ten (10) percent more than the same period during FY 2008 — the last fiscal year of the Bush administration. 

This represents an almost DOUBLING OF THE RATE OF REMOVALS that have taken place during the past five years, http://trac.syr.edu/immigration/reports/234/

U.S. President Barack Obama’s  killer drone attacks

Fomr U.S. Congressman
(D-Ohio)
Dennis Kucinich

President Bush authorized about 50 non-battlefield drone strikes. President Obama has launched MORE THAN FIVE TIMES AS MANY DRONE STRIKES ─ all in Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia. The count at year-end from both was 411 strikes and 3,430 DEAD, according to a new paper (Micah Zenko, Council on Foreign Relations) “Reforming U.S. Drone Strike Policies.” http://tdn.com/news/opinion/columnists/ramsey-on-drones-obama-is-bush/article_56bc1cec-77d3-11e2-bd17-001a4bcf887a.html

Sources and notes

"Dear Mandela" film Screenings

March 7-9, 2013 - New Jersey, USA

 Women's History Month film festival

 http://www.wim-n.com

March 18 - 24, 2013 - Luxor, EGYPT

 Luxor African Film Festival

 http://www.luxorafricanfilmfestival.com

March 21 - 27, 2013 - BOTSWANA

 Botswana Human Rights Film Festival

April 4, 2013 - San Francisco, USA

 5:30pm. University of San Francisco Human Rights Film Festival

May 8 - 12, 2013 - Helsinki, FINLAND

 4th Helsinki African Film Festival

 http://www.haff.fi

April 20, 2013 - Kansas, USA

 8:30pm. Africa World Documentary Film Festival

 University of Kansas

 Full program at: http://bit.ly/12RA7kr

June 21 - 23, 2013 - Lille, FRANCE

 International Black Film Festival of Lille, Metropole

 http://www.fifblm.com

 http://www.dearmandela.com/?q=node/74

"Obama deported more immigrants than (George W.) Bush," http://www.latinbayarea.com/blog/obama-deported-more-immigrants-than-bush


"Current ICE Removals of Noncitizens Exceed Numbers Under Bush Administration," http://trac.syr.edu/immigration/reports/234/


"Ramsey: On drones, Barack Obama is George Bush, published: February 14, 2013 10:19 AM,  by BRUCE RAMSEY, The Seattle Times (MCT), http://www.newsday.com/opinion/oped/ramsey-on-drones-barack-obama-is-george-bush-1.4646561

KPFA Evening News (Weekend), http://www.kpfa.org/kpfa-evening-news-weekend

Wikipedia notes on office terms of Zuma and Mandela
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