Abstract

Editorials

The article presents information on several socio-political developments from across the world. The young Nigerians who set fire to tires and did battle with police in the slums of Lagos were convinced Moshood Abiola's death just prior to his expected release from prison was no accident. Democracy activists like Wole Soyinka felt the same way. Abiola, who had collapsed during a meeting with a U.S. delegation, was described as having suffered an apparent heart attack--but one of his daughters said he didn't have a heart condition, and no autopsy could dispel suspicions that Nigeria's generals sought to eliminate the threat Abiola posed to their power. Rape is being systematically used by Burma's military as part of a policy of ethnic cleansing, according to interviews with rights workers and exiled pro-democracy officials. Bolstering those contentions are seven recent reports, including one by EarthRights International, a legal rights group, accusing Burma's military of "the savage domination of women outside the scope of acceptable wartime conduct."