News Africa Extended

News Africa Extended

I Coast court rejects appeal by ex-first lady

Posted: 27 May 2016 01:49 AM PDT

A top court rejected Simone Gbagbo's appeal against a 20-year sentence over her role in the deadly post-election violence, her lawyer said.

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Abidjan - Ivory Coast's supreme court has rejected former first lady Simone Gbagbo's appeal against a 20-year sentence over her role in the violence that followed the 2010 elections that her husband Laurent Gbagbo lost, her lawyer said.

“The supreme court on Thursday rejected our appeal,” Rodrigue Dadje told AFP, criticising it as a “political decision”.

Simone Gbagbo, currently being held in Abidjan, was sentenced in March 2015 to 20 years imprisonment after being convicted of “attacking state authority” over her role in the post-election violence, which left more than 3 000 people dead.

She was tried with 78 co-defendants for their part in the crisis caused by the refusal of former president Laurent Gbagbo to recognise Alassane Ouattara's victory in the November 2010 presidential election.

The former first lady is also due to go on trial on May 31 in Abidjan on charges of crimes against humanity related to the wave of post-election violence.

Laurent Gbagbo is currently on trial at the International Criminal Court in the Hague for war crimes also linked to the unrest that followed his refusal to step down.

Ivory Coast, the world's top cocoa producer, has struggled to return to normalcy after years of civil war, which effectively divided the country between the mainly Christian south and the largely Muslim north.

Ouattara finally took power in 2011 with help from former colonial ruler France and the arrest of the Gbagbos.

AFP

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Janjaweed militia slaughter 10 in Darfur mosque

Posted: 27 May 2016 01:49 AM PDT

A Sudanese rights organisation accused the Janjaweed mililtia group of killing 10 civilians inside Azrni mosque in West Darfur.

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Kampala - A Sudanese rights organisation has accused the Sudan government of supporting continued violence against civilians in Darfur.

The Sudan Democracy First Group (SDFG), based in Kampala, released a press statement on Thursday accusing the notorious government-backed Janjaweed mililtia group of killing 10 civilians and injuring another 10 inside Azrni mosque in West Darfur last Sunday.

“The Janjaweed committed this attack against the civilians of Azrni in retaliation, following friction between citizens and militiamen on Sunday morning after the militiamen refused to pay for goods and services at the local market,” read the SDFG statement.

“The attack happened in sight of government army troops who were deployed to the area following that friction.

“The victims included several youths, members of the graduates union, who were active in service provision and local development issues in the area,” said the SDFG.

“This killing of civilians at the Azrni mosque, which is further evidence of Khartoum’s brutality, is the latest in a long list of killings and crimes committed by the Sudanese Armed Forces and the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) militias.

Several weeks ago six children were killed in Hieban, South Kordofan/ Nuba Mountains, during a Sudanese government aerial bombardment.

The SDFG said NCP has adopted a strategy of “creating further chaos and suffering” in Darfur through the use of excessive violence against civilians, in order to drive these citizens from their homelands and replace them with new, pro-NCP settlers.

This strategy includes announcing in January the dismantling of IDP camps, conducting an administrative referendum in April, and calling for the expulsion of the international peace-keeping mission to Darfur (UNAMID), said SDFG.

The SDFG also claimed that continuous military campaign and aerial bombardments against villages around Jebel Marra, and other areas of Darfur are also part of this strategy.

The Janjaweed militia are fighting various Darfur rebel groups, including the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army and the Justice and Equality Movement, and are backed by the Sudanese government’s National Congress Party (NCP).

Since 2003 they have been one of the main players in the Darfur conflict, which has pitted the largely nomadic tribes against the sedentary population of the region in a battle over resources and land allocation.

– African News Agency

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Accountability essential for Libya peace - ICC

Posted: 27 May 2016 01:48 AM PDT

Justice, accountability and the deterrent effects of the law remain “critical components” for achieving lasting peace in Libya, the prosecutor of the ICC said.

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Kampala - Justice, accountability and the deterrent effects of the law remain “critical components” for achieving lasting peace in Libya, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) told the United Nations Security Council on Thursday.

ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda encouraged Libya’s government to give priority to devising effective plans and strategies to address atrocity crimes, and to invest in the relevant national institutions responsible for such work.

“This will demonstrate, in concrete terms, that justice and accountability constitute key government priorities underpinning efforts to ensure peace and stability in Libya, and that the victims will have the opportunity to seek redress through the Libyan courts,” said Bensouda as she presented her latest report on the situation in the country to the Council.

Bensouda said that the past six months had witnessed significant developments in Libya’s “slow and difficult” process towards the establishment of a unity government, and that her office hoped that the signing in December 2015 of the UN-brokered agreement “marks the beginning of the end of the long period of turmoil and conflict in Libya.”

Bensouda said her office is ready to work collaboratively with Libya’s Government of National Accord (GNA) in its efforts to build a secure, peaceful and prosperous Libya for all Libyan people.

Over the same period, her office’s investigation into the Libya situation had progressed, albeit at a slower pace than it would have liked due to lack of sufficient resources and the prevailing precarious security situation in the country, the prosecutor said.

Despite such challenges, her office’s investigations were continuing to yield positive results, in large part due to the cooperation of the Libyan Prosecutor-General’s office.

Her office was continuing to carefully analyse and assess the evidence in its possession to determine whether the requisite legal standards were met to request additional arrest warrants, the prosecutor said.

Turning to the situation in Libya, Bensouda said it requires collaboration and coordination between all relevant actors at the national, regional and international levels, as well as the support of the Council.

“Success in Libya therefore depends on the collective determination and will of all relevant actors to meaningfully contribute to the course of bringing perpetrators to justice and by so doing, help deter the commission of future crimes,” she said.

The threat of Da’esh or other groups proclaiming allegiance to al-Qaeda remained real and the consequences were too costly to be ignored, the prosecutor said.

Such consequences included instability and the dire humanitarian situation in Libya, which in turn result in mass migration and the spread of terrorism in the country and the region.

In that vein, the prosecutor reiterated calls to all national and international law enforcement agencies working on Libya to contact her office and join in its efforts to strengthen the network of law enforcement agencies that “aim to contribute to bringing an end to civilian suffering and destruction in Libya.”

“I remain convinced that increased cooperation between and amongst relevant actors as well as coordinated investigative activities are key for tackling national, transnational and international crimes that continue to plague Libya and for ensuring that those responsible for committing these crimes have no safe haven anywhere,” she said.

The prosecutor further urged the GNA to prioritise the transfer of Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi, the son of former dictator, to its own custody and facilitate his surrender to the ICC.

– African News Agency

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South Sudan detainees ‘on the verge of death’

Posted: 27 May 2016 01:46 AM PDT

Dozens of detainees held in dire conditions in poorly ventilated metal shipping containers are at risk of death, warned Amnesty International.

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Kampala - Dozens of detainees held in dire conditions in poorly ventilated metal shipping containers, fed only once or twice a week and given insufficient drinking water are at risk of death in South Sudan, warned Amnesty International (AI) on Thursday.

Information obtained by the organisation indicates these conditions have apparently resulted in the deaths of multiple detainees at the Gorom detention site, located about 20km south of the capital Juba.

Soldiers also periodically take detainees out of the containers to beat them.

“Detainees are suffering in appalling conditions and their overall treatment is nothing short of torture,” said Muthoni Wanyeki, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for East Africa, the Horn and the Great Lakes.

“This egregious disregard for human life and dignity must stop and for that to happen the detention site should be immediately shut down until conditions are brought into compliance with human rights standards.”

A satellite image of what Amnesty believes to be the detention site at Gorom shows four metal shipping containers arranged in an L shape, inside two perimeter fences.

According to information received by Amnesty, the four containers are used to house detainees and were brought to the site in early November 2015.

The detainees, most of whom are civilians and have not been charged with any offence, are accused of links to the former rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army-in Opposition (SPLM/A-IO), which is now part of the government of national unity.

They do not have access to family members, lawyers, or courts.

“All detainees should be released or charged and brought before independent courts. Civilian detainees should only be held in civilian detention facilities and tried by civilian courts,” said Wanyeki.

Amnesty International has written to Major-General Marial Nour, Director of Military Intelligence, requesting additional information about the Gorom detention site, including the conditions of detention, the names of individuals who are held there and those who have died.

The rights group has also written to President Salva Kiir informing him of the situation at Gorom, and calling on him, as commander-in-chief of the armed forces, to intervene and end the human rights violations at the site.

“President Kiir should order an independent investigation into this site and into military intelligence detention practices generally, with a view to reforming the practices and ensuring that those responsible for torture, death or enforced disappearances are held accountable,” said Wanyeki.

“Pending such investigations, President Kiir should immediately suspend those credibly suspected of responsibility.”

These revelations come barely two months after Amnesty International released a briefing detailing the deliberate suffocation of more than 60 men and boys in shipping containers in Leer, Unity State in October 2015 and calling for an end to unlawful killings by the armed forces.

– African News Agency

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#EgyptAir crash: Cairo vigil for victims

Posted: 26 May 2016 11:49 PM PDT

Hundreds gathered in Cairo for a candlelight vigil for the 66 people killed when an EgyptAir plane crashed into the Mediterranean.

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Cairo - Hundreds of people gathered on Thursday in Cairo for a candlelight vigil for the 66 people killed last week when an EgyptAir plane crashed into the Mediterranean in mysterious circumstances.

EgyptAir MS804 from Paris to Cairo disappeared from radar screens between the Greek island of Crete and the north coast of Egypt on May 19.

Investigators are still searching for the Airbus A320's two black boxes on the seabed as they seek answers as to why the aircraft went down.

Clutching bouquets of flowers, candles and the Egyptian flag, around 500 mourners assembled at the Cairo Opera House and observed a minute's silence in honour of the victims.

“We are here to pay respect to the souls of our victims and wish their families peace,” said Civil Aviation Minister Sherif Fathy.

A large panel bearing the names of the 66 victims was displayed at the memorial ceremony, which was also attended by cabin crew in EgyptAir uniforms.

“This is a message to the world that Egypt is a country of security and confidence and that people should not be afraid to come,” said Jihan Halawa, one of the mourners.

Among those aboard MS804 were 30 Egyptians, 15 French citizens, two Iraqis, two Canadians, and citizens from Algeria, Belgium, Britain, Chad, Portugal, Saudi Arabia and Sudan.

They also included a boy and two babies, and seven crew and three security personnel.

Egypt and France will hire two private firms to help the hunt for the black boxes, the French foreign ministry said on Thursday.

Aviation officials from the two countries have said it is too soon to determine what caused the disaster although a terror attack on the plane has not been ruled out.

They will share the costs for the search, which faces a race against the clock, as the flight data and voice recorders emit locator “pings” for no more than about a month.

AFP

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Britain plans to send navy ship to Libya

Posted: 26 May 2016 11:44 PM PDT

A royal Navy vessel could be sent into the waters off Libya to take on Islamic State arms-smugglers.

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A royal Navy vessel could be sent into the waters off Libya to take on Islamic State arms-smugglers.

In a dramatic escalation of Britain’s role, No 10 said it would seek UN approval to deploy a warship to turn back boats carrying either arms and migrants.

Libya has issued an appeal for Western powers to operate in its territory and, on Thursday night, David Cameron volunteering for the lead role at a summit of G7 world leaders in Japan.

The warship would join four Navy boats already in the region on a Nato mission operating outside Libyan territory.

Downing Street raised the alarming idea that IS fanatics are using the migrant route to get weapons out of Libya.

Officials stressed however the weapons were not destined for the EU.

Brussels and the UN are expected to approve the intervention that could take place within weeks.

Military planners have already been deployed to Rome.

Options include sending training ships for the Libyan coastguard to help tackle people smugglers, and sending ships with Royal Marines to intercept vessels suspected of carrying weapons.

A Navy source said: “If it is going to be in contested areas then we will need to think about who needs to be on board.”

Raffaello Pantucci, counter-terrorism expert at the Royal United Services Institute, warned of the dangers of sending vessels too close to shore.

“The ships will come up against small vessels, at worst manned by criminals or terrorists. It is possible you could see them in firefights,” he said.

A Government spokesman said the Prime Minister had told the G7 summit the migrant crisis was a global challenge requiring a comprehensive solution.

He said Britain would help the Libyan government “build the capacity of their coastguard to intercept boats”.

Daily Mail

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