Impunity Watch: Africa

Rebels Advance to Capital in Chad

By Meryl White
Impunity Watch Reporter, Western and Central Africa

N’Djamena, Chad - In eastern Chad, rebels are advancing towards the capital, N’Djamena, after seizing the central town of Bartha. In response, armed forces are attempting to intercept 300 vehicles that are heading towards the capital. Moreover, security forces have increased dramatically and children have been told to stay home from school. Also, the French embassy has closed a French school in the city.

The rebels are attempting to overthrow the President from power. In 2006, the rebels were able to reach the capital but they were repelled by government forces.

In the upcoming weeks, the European Union peace force is preparing to deploy troops to eastern Chad. 3,7000 peacekeepers will protect refugees from Sudan’s Darfur region and people displaced by the internal conflict.

Mahmat Hassan Boulmaye, a spokesman for the rebel group, the Union of Forces for Democracy (UFDD), has told the BBC that "Our troops are at 200km from N'Djamena. So far there hasn't been any clash with government forces, but this may happen soon, as the army has been sent to meet our troops. So it may well happen in the near future."

Makaila Nguebla, an exiled rebel spokesman, told VOA new “that the rebels are not afraid of Chad's army, and he predicts rebel fighters will make it to the capital.”

For more information, please see:

BBC - Chad rebels 'heading for capital' - 30 January 2008

VOA - Chad Army Sets Up Positions to Block New Rebel Offensive - 31 January 2008

IC Publications - UN chief alarmed by Sudan-Chad tension - 31 January 2008

BRIEF: Peace Talks in Kenya Delayed After Opposition Leader Killed

NAIROBI, Kenya - Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan suspended crisis talks in Kenya today after an opposition lawmaker was shot dead by a policeman, triggering further clashes which killed at least two.    The talks are scheduled to resume tomorrow, and current Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has said he will go to Kenya as well to help with the talks. 

National police chief Hussein Ali said lawmaker David Too was killed in a "crime of passion" over the traffic policeman's girlfriend.  Opposition leaders however have called it an assassination and see it as part of the country's deepening ethnic strife.  Following the death of Too, thousands of people from his Kalenjin ethnic group sought revenge and set houses on fire and blocked roads on the outskirts of town. 

Meanwhile, African leaders at a summit in Ethiopia have been told that they need to solve the crisis in Kenya.  African Union commission chairman Alpha Oumar Konare told them they could not sit by and that "[i]f Kenya burns, there will be nothing for tomorrow." 

Almost 1,000 people have died and more than 300,000 have been displaced following the disputed re-election of President Mwai Kibaki.  Opposition leader Raila Odinga lost the election and has refused to recognize the legitimacy of Kibaki's government.  His party has pressed for an electoral re-run, but the government continues to insist on dialogue.   

For more information, please see:

BBC News - Stop Kenya burning, says AU head - 31 January 2008

BBC News - Tension after Kenyan MP shot dead - 31 January 2008

AFP - Kenya crisis talks suspended after opposition MP shot dead - 31 January 2008

AP - Opposition Lawmaker Killed in Kenya - 31 January 2008

Rwandan Genocide Continues to Haunt the World

By Elizabeth Costner
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Africa

KIGALI, Rwanda – UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon visited a memorial for the victims of Rwanda’s 1994 genocide on Tuesday and said the Rwandan genocide “will haunt the United Nations and the international community for generations.”

Ki-moon observed a long moment of silence for the 800,000 people who died in the genocide, mainly members of President Paul Kagame’s Tutsi minority.   Ki-moon’s visit was the first for a UN secretary general since Kofi Annan visited in 2001.   There is still outstanding resentment towards the UN for failing to prevent the genocide, and Annan had on several occasions admitted to the body’s failure to take action. 

During his visit Ban Ki-moon pledged $10,000 from his personal resources to a fund set up by the Government to assist the survivors of the genocide and to educate hundreds of orphans.   

Ki-moon also stated that he supports Rwanda’s bid to receive and try genocide suspects from the Arusha based International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).  The ICTR’s mandate expires at the end of this year and Rwanda has requested to take over any remaining cases at that point.  The tribunal was created in 1995 and has completed 35 case, with five of them ending in acquittal.  Six suspects are currently awaiting trial and 27 are currently undergoing trial. 

Meanwhile, President Paul Kigame told Reuters today that military intervention may be the only way to halt the escalating ethnic violence in Kenya.  Civil unrest and violence in Kenya since the re-election of President Mwai Kibaki last month has killed an estimated 850 people.   Kagame warned that Kenya should learn from Rwanda’s bloody history.   “It starts with five deaths, then 10, then 50, shortly it grows to 100, then it goes to thousands … By the time you realise, it has a dimension that is wiping out life in villages and communities and is getting out of control and the whole political situation is a mess,” he said.  “It is not too late for Kenyans to look back and see how our country went down the drain in the past and I don’t think we would wish a similar thing for any country.”

For more information, please see:

AFP - Rwanda genocide will haunt world for generations: UN Chief – 29 January 2008

AllAfrica.com - Ban Ki-moon Says World Must Protect Civilians From Genocide – 29 January 2008

AllAfrica.com - Ki-Moon Backs Bid to Try ICTR Suspects – 30 January 2008

Reuters - Rwanda suggests military option for Kenya crisis – 30 January 2008

BBC News - Could Kenya become Rwanda? - 30 January 2008

Refugees Return to Mauritania After 18 Years in Exile

By Meryl White
Impunity Watch Reporter, Western and Central Africa

After 18 years spent in exile in Senegal, more than 100 black Mauritanian refugees will return home. These citizens were expelled from Mauritania after racial riots that took place in 1989. These race riots erupted in Mauritania and Senegal after a border dispute. Hundreds of people were killed, and others became the targets of attacks and land seizures. 35,000 black Mauritanians went into exile after ethnic purges were conducted by the Arab dominated government.

In November of last year, Mauritania and Senegal, signed a deal that allowed for a repatriation process monitored by the United Nations refugee agency. The deal will allow 12,000 refugees to return to Mauritania. The UN program will run until December 2008.

Francis Kpatinde, a representative of the UNHCR, reported the BBC that the repatriation process is voluntary, giving those who want to go home, the opportunity to do so. More than 24,000 people have expressed interest in returning home

The first volunteers were mostly women, children, and the elderly. The UNHCR will provide all refugees with assistance consisting of three months of food supply. Moreover, the UN will help the refugees reintegrate into society.

Refugees who have returned have received a mixed welcome. Khadi, a young man from Zouérat, the largest town in northern Mauritania stated “People are suffering and we lack everything. We don't have water, electricity or work. And we have to accommodate thousands more people! That's completely stupid.” Many are critical that these refugees will not be able to find food, land, and jobs.

For more information, please see:

BBC - Mauritanian refugees return home - 29 January 2008

BBC- Mauritania Country Profile   - 12 January 2008

Allafrica- Mauritania: First Refugees Returning From Senegal Get Mixed Welcome - 29 January 2008

BRIEF: Kenyan Opposition Leader Slain

NAIROBI, Kenya- The murder of an opposition leader today has triggered an on-set of violence again in Kenya. Mugabe Were, a lawmaker who won a seat in parliament, was shot to death as he drove home. Odinga claims the murder was a planned assassination given that Were had bullet wounds in both eyes. The police are treating his murder as a homicide but have not ruled out political motives. President Kibaki has condemned the killing and appeals for calm.

With the news of Were’s death, hundreds of men armed with machetes and clubs inset with nails gathered in Nairobi slums. One witness claimed the group dragged a Kikuyu doctor from his clinic and attacked him with machetes until “his head was off”. In the Mathare slum, volunteer aid worker Fospeter Oumaa witnessed a man dragged from his car and attacked with machetes. In the Kibera slum, homes dividing members of the Kikuyu and Luos tribes were set on fire.

Police have failed to control the violence throughout Kenya. Police on the ground and in helicopters fired at a mob of Kikuyus chasing hundreds of Luos outside the Naivasha Country Club. More deaths have been the results of police shooting than ethnic attacks. With the death rate at over 800, the Human Rights Groups have accused police officers of using excessive force.

Meanwhile, former UN chief Kofi Annan has begun formal talks of mediation. Annan says he hopes to resolve the immediate political issues within four weeks and the underlying ethnic crisis within a year.  Western donors have urged both sides to resolve the crisis, and consider a power-sharing solution or risk losing aid.

On Nairobi's Capital FM radio station, U.S Senator and Presidential Candidate Barack Obama, whose father is Kenyan, appealed for “Kenyan leaders to rise above party affiliations and past ambitions for the sake of peace.”

For more information please see:

Yahoo News- Opposition Lawmaker Killed in Kenya - 29 January 2008

Reuters: Africa – Annan Launches Kenya Mediation, Violence Spreads - 29 January 2008

Kenya’s Death Rate Soars as Violence Spreads

By Myriam Clerge
Impunity Watch Reporter, Eastern and Southern Africa

Photo by: Ben Curtis/ AP

NAIVASHA, Kenya – Violence erupts once again in Kenya, one month after the disputed December 27 presidential election. Hundreds of people in rival tribes wielding machetes, clubs, and hammers clashed in the streets of Naivasha, Nikura, and Kisumu earlier today. According to Baraka Karama, a journalist for independent Kenya Television in Kisumu, the streets were literally covered in blood.

For several weeks angry Lous supporter of Raila Odinga have blocked roads, set buses, homes and cars on fire and attacked members of President Mwai Kibaki’s Kikuyu tribe.

According to witnesses, a gang of youths killed four Kikuyus with machetes and stoned to death two others in the villages around Eldoret. Other witnesses claim another person was burned alive in a minibus. “We wish to find one, a Kikuyu. ... We will butcher them like a cow,” exclaimed David Babgy, 24.

In Naivasha this past weekend, thousands of armed Kikuyus confronted Luos, wanting revenge. At least 22 people were killed, nineteen of them Lous, after they were chased through a slum by a gang of Kikuyus and trapped in a shanty that they set on fire. According to a mortuary worker, 64 bodies laid in the morgue after this weekend’s clash.

The death toll has now passed the 800 mark.

The post election dispute has gone beyond the disputed presidential election, exposing a deep seated ethnic resentment. The bloodshed has been largely centered on the Rift Valley towns of Naivasha and Nakuru. After Kenya's 1963 Independence from Great Britain, President Jomo Kenyatta proclaimed the Rift Valley for his Kiyuyu people. Since then Kiyuyus have dominated politics and the economy through a patronage system and corruption. The December 27 presidential election has unearthed years of concealed resentment; pitting neighbors against one another.

Mediation efforts have failed and there appears to be no sign of relief. Kibaki claims the door of communication is open but that his presidency is not negotiable. Odinga has rejected a power-sharing strategy and remains adamant that Kibaka must step down from his position. Thus the dispute remains at a deadlock.

On Sunday, former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan sent a proposal to both sides, asking each to choose a team of three negotiators and a liason officer who will work to reach a solution that is agreeable to both sides. Annan, who organized the first meeting between Kibaki and Odinga last week, is urging both sides to be prepared to make hard decision in order to restore the country's stability.

Meanwhile, about 250,000 people are homeless. Schools have been closed for several weeks and used as shelters. Navisha, Kenya’s flower capital, and Nakuru, known for its wild-life filled lakes, has become war zones. The once picturesque tourist towns of Rift Valley are now no-go zones. The violence has resulted in slowed economic activity that will likely hit the tourism sector hard.

In 2007, Kenya earned 65.4 billion shillings in tourism. Last week, according to the Kenya Tourism Federation, the sector could be forced to lay off about half of its 250,000 employees to cope with losses arising from the unrest.

For more information please see:

MSNBC (AP) – Kenya Fighting Leaves Road ‘Covered in Blood’ - 28 January 2008

Reuters: Africa – Kenya’s Rift Valley Burns, Death Toll Soars - 28 January 2008

Yahoo News (AP) – Kenya Election Violence Spreads in West – 28 January 2008

Reuters: Africa – Violence Exposes Kenya’s Deep Ethnic Fault Lines - 28 January 2008

AllAfrica.com - Kenya: Rivals Given Roadmap to Peaceful End - 28 January 2008

Reuters: Africa – Kenya Shilling Recovers Losses vs Dollar, Unrest Weighs - 28 January 2008

BRIEF: Abuses of Children in Kenya on the Rise

NAIROBI, Kenya -  According to a press release issued by UNICEF yesterday, Kenya has seen a rise in child rapes since last month's disputed presidential election sparked violence and forced thousands into makeshift camps.  UNICEF spokeswoman Veronique Taveau told reports that overcrowding and lack of security at the camps are making women and children vulnerable to opportunistic sexual assaults.  Girls and women in the camp "trade sex for biscuits, protection, transportation, or are raped while trying to get to a latrine during the night."

The Gender Violence Recovery Center in Mombasa has seen a doubling of sexual violence cases since last month's elections, especially gang rapes of young girls and boys.  As a result of these attacks, there is a very high risk of HIV/AIDS spreading as many of the victims don't report the attacks and are therefore not getting treatment within the recommended 72 hours to prevent infection.   

UNICEF has dispatched more than $1.2 million in emergency supplies and has had teams on the ground since the violence began.  However, more funds are needed to protect children from violence and abuse and to help who have already been affected. 

800 people have died and a quarter of a million have been forced to flee their homes following the 27 December election which sparked violent clashes between supporters of President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga.

For more information, please see:

AFP - Sex attacks on the rise in Kenya: UNICEF - 26 January 2008

AP - UNICEF: Kenya Child Rapes on Rise - 26 January 2008

AllAfrica.com - Kenya: UNICEF Warns of Abuses Against Children - 25 January 2008

VOA News - UNICEF Reports Sexual Violence Increasing in Kenya - 25 January 2008

Update on the Charles Taylor Trial

By Elizabeth Costner
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Africa

THE HAGUE, Netherlands – The trial of former Liberian President Charles Taylor finished its third week with continued testimony from Father Chema, a Senior Researcher for Human Rights Watch, and a linkage witness.   

Father Chema continued his testimony regarding his work with child soldiers in Sierra Leone.  He detailed the rehabilitation programs and the progress the social workers have been able to make with the children.  While approximately 95 percent of the children have been rehabilitated, some were unable to overcome their addiction to drugs or would run away to rejoin their commanders.  Many of the girls had problems as well and would turn to prostitution. 

On a brief cross-examination, Defense Counsel Andrew Cayley worked to establish that child soldiers are used throughout many countries and that it is not a strictly African or Sierra Leonean or RUF practice. 

The next witness for the prosecution was Corrine Dufka, a Senior Researcher for the Africa Division of Human Rights Watch specializing in West Africa.  After the defense counsel strongly objected to the qualification of Ms. Dufka as an expert witness, and the Court ruled that any decision regarding her qualifications were premature, the prosecution began their examination.   

Ms. Dufka presented a report she prepared for the trial, which covers the period of 1998 to 2003/2004 and consists of first-hand victim and witness accounts.    The various documents and studies cited in her report cover the history of the conflict, abuses during armed conflict, war crimes by the Liberian government, and evidence of atrocities in Sierra Leone.   The Prosecution continued the direct examination with questions regarding sexual violence in Sierra Leone and Liberia. 

On cross-examination, Defense Counsel attempted to discredit Ms. Dufka as an expert witness and vigorously questioned her impartiality.   Following her testimony, the Prosecution asked the court to introduce her report into evidence, to which the Defense again objected.  The Court granted the Defense’s request for written submissions regarding her expert status, and the issue will be decided next week.

The Prosecution next called linkage witness Abu Keita.  Keita joined the AFL (Armed Forces of Liberia) in 1990.  When the Sierra Leonean army disarmed the AFL, Keita joined the LUDF (Liberia United Defense Force) in Sierra Leone.  The LUDF was founded to fight the RUF and received weapons from the Sierra Leonean government.   When the LUDF split Keita was a General with one of the branches until it was disarmed in 1996.  Keita testified as to Taylor’s involvement in RUF abuses.   He detailed the RUF activities outside of Sierra Leone, abuses against the peacekeeping forces, the use of diamond mines and child soldiers, the practice of performing amputations, and combatant deaths.

The defense counsel cross-examined Keita, attacking inconsistencies in his statements and his credibility. 
The Prosecution then called witness TF1-371, a protected witness who will give testimony in a closed session.

Yesterday Vamba Sherif, whose brother testified last week, told BBC that his family had received repeated death threats. 

For more information, please see:

Trial of Charles Taylor blog

BBC - ‘Death threats’ over Taylor trial – 25 January 2008

For more information on the Charles Taylor trial, please see the following Impunity Watch reports: Prosecution Case Continues in Charles Taylor Trial; Charles Taylor Trial Finishes First Week; Charles Taylor Trial begins; Charles Taylor Appointed New Lawyer; Charles Taylor Trial Delayed; Reactions to Beginning of Charles Taylor Trial; Thoughts on Charles Taylor Trial; Opening Day in Charles Taylor Trial

Genocide Feared in Kenya

By Myriam Clerge
Impunity Watch Reporter, Eastern and Southern Africa

NAIROBI, Kenya – Yesterday, President Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga met for the first time since the December 27 election that has triggered political and ethnic clashes. The talk was mediated by former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, in hopes of coming to a peaceful resolution to the dispute. Unfortunately, a solution was not resolved at the meeting.

In fact, Odinga claims he was offended by Kibaki's comment that he was Kenya’s “duly elected” president. Today, Odinga informed the press that he would not take a prime minister position under Kibaki and the only acceptable options were Kibaki’s resignation, a vote re-run, or a power-sharing leading to constitutional reform then a new election.

The post-election violence was another issue discussed at the meeting. Both sides expressed concerns and commitments to end the violence and yet each side accused the other of genocide.

Meanwhile, at least, twelve people were killed in Rift Valley after violence erupted in the town of Nakuru. Hundreds of people were taken to the hospital after members of President Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe and Luos and Kalenjins, who backed Odinga, fought in the street, burned homes and looted businesses. A curfew has been imposed.

As the inter-ethnic violence continues, fear of genocide increase. According to Reverend Cornelius Korir, the catholic bishop of Eldoret, near western Kenya, the attacks targeted specific ethnic groups and were thoroughly prepared and organized. The Human Rights Watch has also claimed that they have evidence “that ODM politicians and local leaders actively fomented some post-election violence.”

The incessant violence has caught the attention of the Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC).  The ICC was organized to exercise jurisdiction and prosecute incidents of serious crimes like genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression. As the number of deaths rise within Kenya's two largest ethnic groups, the ICC has taken the initiative to closely monitor the crisis. 

Kenya, a state party of the ICC, signed the Statute in August 1999. Despite Kenya’s membership, the ICC can only intervene if the case is not the subject of an investigation by national jurisdiction or the State is unwilling or incapable of prosecuting.

For more information please see:

Reuters: Africa- Worried Kenyans Fear More Rift Valley Bloodshed - 25 January 2008

AllAfrica.com – Kenya: Violence, Death and Justice - 23 January 2008

BBC- Kenya Ethnic Attack ‘Planned’ - 24 January 2008

Islamic Scholar on Trial for Terrorism in Nigeria

By Meryl White
Impunity Watch Reporter, Western and Central Africa

ABUJA, Nigeria-   An Islamic scholar who is accused of having ties to the terrorist network, Al-Qaeda, has appeared in an Abuja court. The defendant, Muhammed Ashafa, was arrested in 2004 in Pakistan. He was arrested on grounds of “reasonable suspicion” of planning terrorist attacks.  Security Services in Pakistan deported him to Nigeria last year.

According to the criminal information filed against Ashafa, he is suspected of gathering information and planning terrorist attacks on residences of Americans who live in Nigeria.

Ashafa’s lawyer, Mary Obegolu stated outside the court. "If they had reasonable suspicion why didn't they charge him in Pakistan? Where are the facts? Suspicion, no matter how great does not mean it is automatically a conviction."

Ashafa claims that he was tortured into confessing a terrorist attack that was targeted against America. He claims to have made 20 statements to the SSS “but all were torn and thrown into the dustbin because they did not reflect the necessary ingredients of the terrorism charge.”

Nevertheless, two agents from the State Security Services testified on Wednesday that Ashafa had signed the confession voluntarily. Moreover, presently, the Prosecutor has stated the prosecution will oppose any applications to bail on behalf of Ashafa.

For more information, please see:

All Africa - Nigeria: Accused Alleges Torture By SSS - 24 January 2008

BBC- Nigeria: Al Qaesa man in Court  - 24 January 2008

All Africa - Nigeria: Pandemonium in Court as Trial of Nigerian Leader of Al-Qaeda Begins - 23 February 2007