News Africa Extended

News Africa Extended

Bemba back in ICC dock for bribing witnesses

Posted: 31 May 2016 07:05 AM PDT

Convicted war criminal Jean-Pierre Bemba found himself back in the dock at the ICC - this time accused of bribing witnesses.

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Convicted Congolese war criminal Jean-Pierre Bemba found himself back in the dock at the International Criminal Court on Tuesday - this time accused of bribing witnesses and falsifying evidence.

Prosecutors at the first such trial in ICC history said the alleged bribery and forgery was a sign of “how far the accused were prepared to go to hide their illegal behaviour.”

Bemba stands accused, along with two of his lawyers and an MP from his party, of presenting fake documents to the court and giving backhanders to witnesses in his warcrimes trial.

In March, the ICC convicted the former militia chief of warcrimes and crimes against humanity for rapes, mass murders and looting from late 2002 to March 2003 in the neighbouring Central African Republic.

His rebel militia from northern Democratic Republic of Congo went on a rampage through part of the CAR after he sent some 1,500 men to prop up then president Ange-Felix Patasse, who was nonetheless ousted in a March 2003 coup.

“Bemba had a lot to lose in his trial: his stature, his standing, his political power, the possibility of a successful presidential election, his freedom,” prosecution lawyer Kweku Vanderpuye told the court.

According to the prosecution, eight witnesses have already admitted to perjury and two of them were bribed just hours before leaving for the court in The Hague.

Bemba's defence team was due to address the court later on Tuesday.

AFP

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Unite against IS, Libyan armed groups urged

Posted: 31 May 2016 07:02 AM PDT

The UN's special envoy on Libya, Martin Kobler, called on all the country's armed groups to unite against the Islamic State group.

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The UN's special envoy on Libya called on Tuesday on all the country's armed groups to unite against the Islamic State (IS) group.

“The fight against Daesh, which is the number one enemy, must be a Libyan fight and a united fight,” said Martin Kobler, using an Arabic acronym for IS, after meeting French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault in Paris.

He said the rival administrations that have established themselves since the fall of long-time dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 should “unite their efforts” into a single army.

“A national Libyan army must be put in place,” agreed Ayrault, while accepting that this was still “a long way off”.

The IS group has built a stronghold in Sirte, a city 400 kilometres east of Tripoli.

Kobler and Ayrault reaffirmed their support for the UN-backed unity government set up in the capital two months ago.

The unity government has military assets and the backing of key economic institutions, but is vehemently opposed by a rival administration in the east, which controls several militias and parts of the national army loyal to controversial General Khalifa Haftar.

AFP

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Alleged blasphemy riot claims 4 in Nigeria

Posted: 31 May 2016 07:02 AM PDT

Two days of violence over an alleged blasphemy by a Christian trader against Prophet Mohammed left at least four dead, a report said.

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At least four people were killed in central Nigeria in two days of violence over an alleged blasphemy by a Christian trader against Prophet Mohammed, residents told AFP on Tuesday.

Abdullahi Sallau said a Muslim mob killed one person on Sunday and three on Monday in the town of Pandogari in Niger state “following blasphemous remarks by a Christian against the Prophet”.

One of those killed was Methodus Chimaije Emmanuel, the 24-year-old who posted comments on his Facebook page, said Sallau, who lives in the town. His account was supported by another local.

Emmanuel, whose parents were from Nigeria's mainly Christian south but who was born and raised in Pandogari, had gone into hiding following the post but was found.

“The crowd took the law into their hands and mobbed him to death despite the revulsion expressed by his parents over the online comments,” said Misbahu Malami, who lives locally.

Soldiers and police have made arrests and imposed an overnight curfew to restore calm after crowds went on the rampage, looting shops, burning a church and demanding the suspects' release.

Sallau said soldiers opened fire and killed three while three others were injured. The military said one of the dead was a member of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps.

Army spokesman Major NC Agwu confirmed that Emmanuel was killed by a mob “on (the) allegation of posting a blasphemous statement about Prophet Mohammad on the social media”.

Soldiers “quickly intervened and restored law and order while a dusk-to-dawn curfew was imposed in the town” but the mob on Monday took over a major road, prompting further deployments, he said.

“Regrettably, one church, one house and a shop were burnt while 25 other shops were looted following the violence,” added Agwu.

Prophet Mohammed is the most revered figure in Islam and blasphemy against him is punishable with death under Islamic law.

Previous allegations of blasphemy against the Prophet have seen deadly sectarian clashes before in Nigeria, which is almost evenly split between Muslims in the north and Christians in the south.

In 2002 riots broke out in the northern city of Kaduna between Muslim and Christian residents over a planned Miss World pageant to which many Muslims were opposed.

The riots were fuelled by comments in a Nigerian newspaper article.

Days of violence left more than 200 people dead.

In 1987, hundreds were killed in the town of Kafanchan, also in Kaduna, following an alleged blasphemy by a Christian evangelist.

In January this year, an Islamic court in the northern city of Kano sentenced a Muslim cleric to death for blasphemy after comments he made last year sparked violent protests.

AFP

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Egyptian teen dies during banned FGM

Posted: 31 May 2016 02:25 AM PDT

Prosecutors are investigating the death of a teenage girl during a female circumcision operation at a private hospital, officials said.

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Cairo - Egyptian prosecutors are investigating the death of a teenage girl during a female circumcision operation at a private hospital, health ministry and prosecution officials said on Monday.

Seventeen-year-old Mayar Mohamed Mousa died in El Canal hospital on Sunday while under full anaesthesia in the province of Suez, said Lotfi Abdel-Samee, the health ministry undersecretary in the province.

“This is something that the law has prohibited,” stressed Abdel-Samee.

Despite the ban in 2008, female genital mutilation (FGM) is still widespread in Egypt, especially in rural areas. It is practiced among Muslims as well as Egypt's minority Christians.

The law led to the first prison sentence against a doctor in Egypt in January last year, with the girl's father in that case given a three-month suspended sentence.

On SUnday, Mousa's sister had just undergone the operation before she was sent in for surgery.

The girls' mother is a nurse, while their late father was a surgeon.

The operation was being carried out by a registered female doctor, according to Abdel-Samee.

Authorities shut down the hospital on Monday after transferring patients to other hospitals as prosecutors questioned the hospital manager and medical staff involved in the operation, Abdel-Samee said.

They have also spoken to the mother, a prosecution official said.

The case was opened after a health inspector reported the circumstances of the girl's death.

Medical examiners have carried out an autopsy, and are due to report the cause of death, said Abdel-Samee.

While 200 million women and girls worldwide have been subjected to the practise, there have been major strides in Egypt, as well as Liberia, Burkina Faso, and Kenya against FGM, according to Claudia Cappa, the lead author of a February UN children's agency report on the issue.

“The latest figures from the Egypt Demographic and Health Survey show that we're winning,” the United Nations Development Programme said in a report last year.

“Mothers' attitudes are changing, too,” UNDP said.

While 92 percent of mothers had undergone the procedure, only 35 percent of them “intend to circumcise their daughters,” according to the UNDP report.

Victims of the procedure are left to cope with a range of consequences from bleeding and pain while urinating, extreme discomfort during sex, fatal complications in childbirth and deep psychological trauma.

AFP

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Tears of joy as court jails Hissene Habre

Posted: 31 May 2016 02:21 AM PDT

Chad's former dictator was unrepentant even as he learned he would spend the rest of his life in prison for crimes committed during his brutal rule.

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Dakar - Hidden behind sunglasses and a white turban, Chad's former dictator was unrepentant on Monday even as he learned he would spend the rest of his life in prison for crimes committed during his brutal rule.

In contrast, survivors of Hissene Habre's eight-year reign of terror, in courtroom four of Dakar's Palace of Justice to hear the verdict, wept with joy as he was sentenced to life imprisonment for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

But Habre was in no mood for contrition, shouting: “Down with Francafrique!” as he was convicted, referring to France's continuing influence on former colonies like Chad and Senegal.

It was one of the few statements he made during his trial that began in Senegal on July 20 - the first time an African country has prosecuted the former leader of another for rights abuses.

The verdict has brought long-awaited closure to relatives of the up to 40 000 people killed as well as the many more kidnapped, raped or tortured during Habre's 1982-1990 term as president of Chad.

“The decision satisfies us perfectly. We won a victory today. Everyone is happy - widows, orphans, other victims,” said Fatima Oumar, a woman in her fifties whose husband was arrested in May 1989 and died a year later.

In the Chadian capital N'Djamena, up to 250 victims and their supporters gathered to watch the trial on television at their group's headquarters.

Women screamed with joy as the verdict was read out, embracing one another and shouting “We won!”, before taking to the streets and blocking traffic as they spread the news.

Habre greeted his supporters who, along with victims' relatives, had made the journey to the Senegalese capital, as he left the court for the first time as a guilty man under the watchful eye of a number of guards.

Throughout the trial, Habre has refused to recognise the authority of the court, declining to appoint his own lawyers to defend against the charges that he denied.

The judge, Burkina Faso's Gberdao Gustave Kam, condemned Habre's “insulting contempt” during the hearings.

“Habre showed no... compassion for his victims, nor expressed remorse,” he said.

“Besides a turban with which he constantly hid his face, the accused ended up wearing sunglasses to hide his eyes.”

After the verdict, guards moved in to protect the judges and prosecutors of the Extraordinary African Chambers (CAE), a special tribunal set up by the African Union under a deal with Senegal, from the public gallery.

Victims' groups who travelled to Dakar to hear the verdict were visibly moved by a judgement that comes a quarter century after the abuses they suffered.

“The feeling is one of complete satisfaction,” said Clement Abaifouta, president of the Habre survivors' association, known by the acronym AVCRHH.

“It's the crowning achievement of a long and hard fight against impunity. Today Africa has won. We say thank you to Senegal and to Africa for judging Africa,” he added.

AFP

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I Coast rights groups slam ex-first lady’s trial

Posted: 31 May 2016 02:21 AM PDT

Simone Gbagbo goes on trial for crimes against humanity, but rights groups acting as plaintiffs pulled out, blasting the proceedings as flawed.

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Abidjan - Ivory Coast's former first lady Simone Gbagbo goes on trial on Tuesday for crimes against humanity, but rights groups acting as plaintiffs in the case have pulled out, blasting the proceedings as flawed.

The wife of former president Laurent Gbagbo has already been handed a 20-year jail sentence for “attacking state authority” over her role in post-election violence in 2010 that left more than 3 000 people dead.

Accused of involvement in rights abuses against supporters of her husband's rival Alassane Ouattara to keep Gbagbo in the presidency, she faces allegations of crimes against prisoners of war, crimes against the civilian population and crimes against humanity.

But on Monday three rights groups, representing nearly 250 victims, said they would refuse to take part in the trial of the woman once known as the “Iron Lady” because of doubts over its “credibility”.

“Our lawyers have not had access to all stages of the procedures - how can they defend their case?” the head of one of the groups, the Ivorian League of Human Rights, told AFP.

Pierre Kouame Adjoumani said the trial lacked “relevance”, adding that Simone Gbagbo “is accused of crimes against humanity, something she could have only done through an organised group - so why is only she being judged?”

The trial is taking place in Ivory Coast's commercial hub Abidjan, where the 66-year-old former first lady is being held.

It opens just five days after the Supreme Court rejected her final appeal against the 20-year sentence she was handed last year in her first trial.

Ivory Coast, the world's top cocoa producer, suffered months of bloodshed after Laurent Gbagbo and his supporters refused to accept defeat to Ouattara in a 2010 election.

The violence was ultimately halted by an international military intervention under a UN mandate, led by former colonial power France, and the Gbagbos were arrested in April 2011.

Ouattara won a second presidential term in October in the nation's first peaceful vote for more than a decade.

Laurent Gbagbo is currently on trial for crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.

The ICC also wanted to prosecute his wife and issued a warrant for her arrest, but Ivorian authorities refused to hand her over, saying she would face a fair trial at home.

The decision was seen as a snub to the ICC, with Ouattara saying he would “not send any more Ivorians” to The Hague, insisting his country has an “operational justice system”.

But the rights groups that pulled out of the trial on Monday complained that the initial investigation into Simone Gbagbo's crimes was rushed and her first trial failed to establish her personal role in the violence.

Global body Human Rights Watch also complained that the Ouattara government has yet to carry out urgently-needed legal reforms, including a witness protection programme.

The president has also faced accusations that Simone Gbagbo's trial is a sign that his government only intends to prosecute crimes by pro-Gbagbo forces in the conflict, charges he rejects.

Human Rights Watch said the trial could be a “pivotal moment” for justice in Ivory Coast, a country yearning for stability following several years of civil war from 2002 that split the mainly Christian south and the largely Muslim north.

“However, for the trial to be meaningful to victims, it must be credible, fair, and followed by other trials that target high-level rights abusers from both sides of the 2010-2011 post-election crisis,” the group warned.

AFP

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Sudan deports hundreds of Eritreans: HRW

Posted: 31 May 2016 02:18 AM PDT

Sudan has deported hundreds of Eritreans back to the hardline government they fled contravening international law, Human Rights Watch said.

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Darfur - Sudan has deported hundreds of Eritreans back to the hardline government they fled contravening international law, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Tuesday.

Sudan is a key transit country for refugees hoping to reach Europe, and many of those sent back to Eritrea were arrested as they tried to cross from Sudan to Libya.

“Sudan is arresting and forcing Eritreans back into the hands of a repressive government without allowing refugees to seek protection,” said Gerry Simpson from HRW, warning they could “face abuse” on their return.

According to the United Nations, around 5 000 Eritreans risk their lives every month to flee the country.

“International law also prohibits the deportation, return, or forced expulsion of anyone to a place where they face a real risk to their life, or of torture or ill-treatment,” HRW said.

The deportations by Khartoum of at least 442 Eritreans - including six UN-registered refugees this month - comes as the European Union tries to work with Sudan to manage the tens of thousands hoping to cross the Mediterranean.

There was no immediate response from authorities in Khartoum or Asmara.

Eritrea, which borders Sudan, is accused of jailing thousands of political prisoners.

Refugees from the repressive Red Sea state have in recent years made up one of the largest contingents of people risking the dangerous journey to seek a new life in Europe.

“The EU is in the early stages of working with Sudan and other African countries to tighten their border controls, tackle refugee and migrant smuggling, and improve the lives of potential migrants in those countries,” HRW said.

“If Sudan wants to market itself as a refugee-rights-respecting nation, it's going about it the wrong way.”

Those who escape Eritrea describe crawling under razor wire, tiptoeing across minefields or sneaking past armed border guards in their bid for freedom.

AFP

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