News Africa Extended

News Africa Extended

Zim cops tried to abduct activist’s brother

Posted: 10 Jun 2016 10:35 AM PDT

Police in Harare attempted to abduct Partson Dzamara, younger brother to Itai Dzamara, who was abducted in March last year, a court heard.

|||

Harare - Police in Harare on Wednesday night attempted to abduct Partson Dzamara, younger brother to Itai Dzamara, who was abducted in March last year, his lawyer told a Harare Magistrate Friday.

Partson, who was taking part in a 16 days and 16 nights sit-in at Africa Unity Square in Harare to protest against the mismanagement of the economy by the Zanu PF government, was later arrested with four other activists on charges of robbery and attempting to defeat the course of justice.

The lawyer for the activists, Obey Shava of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, told the court when they appeared for initial remand that his clients, Dzamara, Pride Mukono, Oliver Chikumba, Tatenda Mombeyarara and Zvikomborero Haruzivishe had been assaulted by the police on arrest.

Shava said one detective assistant inspector Chafa of the Zimbabwe police law and order section, in the company of two plain clothes officers, had attempted to abduct Partson Dzamara but had abandoned their mission after Chafa realized he had been identified by Dzamara.

Shava said the police had attempted from the first day of occupation of the square to threaten the accused persons and discourage them from continuing with their action but they had continued notwithstanding.

“Having failed to disperse the accused, an unmarked vehicle arrived at the square and the person who was driving ordered the two gentlemen dressed in plain clothes to bundle first (Partson) and fifth (Haruzivishe) into the vehicle. The accused resisted and while resisting first accused identified the driver as one detective assistant inspector Chafa of the law and order section,” he said.

Shava said Dzamara had positively identified Chafa as it was not his first time to encounter the officer and there was no way he could have mistaken his identity.

He alleged Chafa had sped off at high speed on realizing that he had been identified, adding this was disturbing especially coming from law enforcement agents in a country where there was a history of abductions carried out by people driving unmarked vehicles.

Dzamara and the four other activists appeared before Magistrate Tendai Mahwe. They each face one charge of robbery and another of attempting to defeat the course of justice and were granted $500 bail each on each charge.

The state alleged the group had attacked two women who were passing through the Africa Unity Square and robbed them of their bags and $30 cash on the night of June 8.

The women are said to have screamed for help and were assisted by constables Nyazema, Nhidza and Makona who were patrolling the area.

The state further alleged that the group tried to resist arrest and stole a service cap and button stick from one of the constables. The state said the items allegedly stolen from police were later found in possession of Dzamara, while the bags were allegedly found at the crime scene.

African News Agency

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

DRC opposition parties demand Kabila quit

Posted: 10 Jun 2016 08:49 AM PDT

Opposition parties said they had forged an alliance and demanded that President Joseph Kabila quit when his term expires.

|||

Brussels - Opposition parties in the Democratic Republic of Congo early on Friday said they had forged an alliance and demanded that President Joseph Kabila quit when his term expires in December.

After a two-day closed-doors meeting in Belgium, the groups issued a statement saying they had set up a joint organisation called “Rassemblement,” or “Rally” in English.

Its goal “is to realise the struggle of the Congolese people for change and a state of law,” they said.

They also issued a warning to Kabila, in power since 2001 and who is widely believed to want a third term, in contravention of the constitution which allows only two.

If Kabila stays in power beyond December 19, when his second term elapses, this would be deemed “a constitutional coup d'etat,” they said.

A so-called committee of wise men headed by veteran opposition figure Etienne Tshisekedi will be set up to coordinate decisions.

Tshisekedi, 83, an opposition leader since the rule of strongman Mobutu Sese Seko, came second to Kabila in a fraud-tainted 2011 election.

The meeting at a hotel in Genval near Brussels was called by Tshisekedi who has been convalescing in Belgium since 2014.

Earlier, Tshisekedi told delegates they were gathered “as patriots to exchange views on the grave crisis affecting our country.”

“More than ever, we must be united to get rid of you know who,” he said.

At the same time, the opposition must be mindful of the possible dangers and get the president “to leave quietly... and not expose the people to bullets,” he said.

Tshisekedi said the opposition could consider dialogue with Kabila but only on certain conditions - respect for the constitution, release of political prisoners and oversight by the international community to make sure any agreement was enforced.

No date has yet been set for the country's new election, and late last year Kabila said he hoped to organise a “national dialogue” aimed at reaching a wide consensus ahead of any poll.

Tensions have been soaring in the DRC in recent months over fears that Kabila will postpone elections to extend his time in office.

Moise Katumbi, a leading DR Congo opposition figure who has announced his candidacy for the presidency, had been expected to attend the Brussels meeting but sent his closest advisers instead, organisers said.

Katumbi quit the DRC in May ostensibly for medical treatment and is now staying in Britain.

He left his country a day after the government announced he would be tried for endangering state security.

AFP

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Zim cops arrest 15 during anti-Mugabe protest

Posted: 10 Jun 2016 08:49 AM PDT

Zimbabwean police arrested 15 people, including a journalist, during a public protest against President Robert Mugabe, a lawyer said.

|||

Harare - Zimbabwean police arrested 15 people, including a journalist and the brother of a missing political activist, during a public protest against President Robert Mugabe, a lawyer said on Friday.

Opposition is mounting against the 92-year-old Mugabe, whose decades in office have been marked by economic decline, repression of dissent, claims of vote-rigging, mass unemployment and emigration.

“Some were arrested last night. Some, earlier,” lawyer Obey Shava told AFP.

“The charges are robbery and obstructing or defeating the course of justice.”

Shava said police rounded up the activists while they were holding a vigil in Africa Unity Square in central Harare calling upon Mugabe, in power since 1980, to step down.

The police claimed the protesters had robbed a woman passing by.

“These are trumped up charges to instil fear and discourage people from occupying Africa Unity Square,” the lawyer said.

The square has been the venue of a series of protests over the disappearance of political activist Itai Dzamara who was abducted in March last year, allegedly by military intelligence agents.

His brother Patson, who was among those arrested, last week released a picture he said showed the missing man being held at an undisclosed location.

The army has denied responsibility for Dzamara's abduction.

The journalist arrested at the protest was Paidamoyo Muzulu of NewsDay.

A group of churches, including the Zimbabwe Christian Alliance, the Prayer Network of Zimbabwe and the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace, on Thursday joined a chorus of demands that Mugabe should quit.

“There is a clear indication and consensus that President Robert Mugabe has failed us. We feel very strongly that he too old to continue,” the convenor of the meeting, Pastor Ancelimo Magaya, told local media.

AFP

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Gambian opposition leader ‘will boycott trial’

Posted: 10 Jun 2016 05:17 AM PDT

A Gambian opposition leader on trial since April for participating in a protest has said he is a victim of political persecution.

|||

Dakar - A Gambian opposition leader on trial since April for participating in a protest has said he is a victim of political persecution and will boycott the proceedings.

Ousainou Darboe, a lawyer, was arrested after taking part along with other senior members of the United Democratic Party (UDP) in a small protest near the capital Banjul.

The UDP said 50 people had been arrested after the protests in two round-ups, which the United Nations and the United States condemned. It says it fears that three of the detainees are dead, including senior party official Solo Sandeng.

Twenty UDP officials including Darboe are being tried for holding a protest without a permit.

Protests are rare in Gambia, a sliver of territory almost encircled by Senegal, where President Yahya Jammeh has ruled for two decades since seizing power in a bloodless coup.

Rights groups say he has been cracking down on opposition figures with an eye on December's election, where he will seek his fifth term, having scrapped term limits; Jammeh once told a journalist he could rule for “a billion years”.

Lawyers for Darboe and for the other party leaders walked out of the courtroom on Thursday.

“This is a political case, a case against me and my party supporters,” Darboe said on Thursday. “We will not participate in this trial to legitimise our pre-arranged conviction.”

A police officer told the court on Thursday that protesters had refused to disperse and started throwing rocks, at which point the police fired tear gas at them.

The U.S. Senate held a hearing on Wednesday in which the question of imposing sanctions on Gambian leaders was raised. The next day, the Gambian government withdrew police protection from the American embassy, the embassy said.

Reuters

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Seized marijuana destroyed in Tanzania

Posted: 10 Jun 2016 05:17 AM PDT

Police reportedly seized and destroyed 26 tons of marijuana in a crackdown operation carried out in northern Tanzania’s region of Arusha.

|||

Arusha, Tanzania - Police have seized and destroyed 26 tons of marijuana in a crackdown operation carried out on the slopes of Mount Meru, in northern Tanzania’s region of Arusha, authorities said Friday.

Charles Mkumbo, Arusha Regional Police Commander, said here that the confiscation of those bags is a result of one-month crackdown operation in the region.

Mkumbo said 269 bags of marijuana were seized in different locations across Arumeru, the notorious district for marijuana farming in northern Tanzania.

This is the biggest seizure of the illicit drugs in recent years in the East African nation.

The regional police chief described the operation as successful and the seized bags of cannabis have been destroyed at the Muriet dumpsite, located a few kilometres from Arusha City Centre.

“Most of the bags were found while left unattended by farmers and drug dealers in the area. Some of the of perpetrators managed to run away, but the operation is ongoing,” the Mkumbo said.

Before getting into the operation, the official said police mapped the notorious area for producing marijuana in the area.

Mkumbo called on all people involved in marijuana farming to look for other ventures as police will leave no stone unturned.

Arusha is one of the key marijuana producing areas in Tanzania. Other regions in which the most cannabis is cultivated are Morogoro, Iringa, Tabora, Mara, Rukwa, Ruvuma, and Tanga.

Most of the marijuana grown in the country are illegally sold in major cities and as far as neighbouring Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, and Sudan.

With a population of nearly 50 million, Tanzania ranked fourth in the world as a producer of dried marijuana as well as producing significant quantities of khat.

Xinhua

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

SL war crimes convict dies in Rwanda prison

Posted: 10 Jun 2016 05:17 AM PDT

A Sierra Leone war crimes convict died in Rwandan prison before completing his 50-year jail term, prison authorities confirmed.

|||

Kigali - A Sierra Leone war crimes convict died in Rwandan prison before completing his 50-year jail term, prison authorities confirmed on Thursday.

Alex Tamba Brima, aged 45, died at King Faisal Hospital in Kigali where he had been admitted for the past one month, according to Hillary Sengabo, spokesperson for Rwanda Correctional Services.

Tamba is a former Sierra Leonean military commander who was involved in a coup that ousted president Ahmad Tejan Kabbah in 1997.

Seven war crimes convicts of the United Nations Special Court for Sierra Leone have been incarcerated in Rwanda since 2009, at the Mpanga Prison in southern Rwanda.

They were sentenced to varying jail terms.

Brima was convicted of multiple counts including terrorism, extermination, murder, crimes against humanity, and war crimes.

Sengabo said prison authorities had written to police to conduct an autopsy and wrote a letter to the Special Court for Sierra Leone informing them of the death in line with the Memorandum of Understanding signed between Rwanda and Sierra Leone on hosting of the inmates.

He said Rwanda will facilitate the repatriation of the body as per the terms of the agreement.

Xinhua

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Groups push for abolition of death penalty

Posted: 10 Jun 2016 05:17 AM PDT

About ten civil society groups launched a campaign aimed at pushing for the abolition of death penalty in Burkina Faso.

|||

Ouagadougou - About ten civil society groups in Burkina Faso on Thursday launched a campaign aimed at pushing for the abolition of death penalty in the West African country where about 13 people have been sentenced to hang.

According to spokesman Urbain Yameogo on behalf of the ten civil society groups, all organisations engaged in the national coalition against the death sentence “have a firm conviction that the death penalty in our legal provisions is unconstitutional.”

Yameogo said the groups was alarmed by the recent increase in death sentences in Burkina Faso.

He attributed this situation to the rise in large scale crime such as terrorism and other atrocious crimes that negatively influence public opinion against the push for abolition of death penalty.

Despite having the death penalty in its statute books, Burkina Faso has not hanged anyone since 1988.

However, 13 people are currently awaiting their execution after being sentenced to death.

The latest case occurred in July last year when an army officer was sentenced to hang after killing his ex-girlfriend.

In 2015, a bill proposing abolition of death penalty was introduced in Parliament by the then head of the National Transition Council Cheriff Sy.

The bill was supported by Burkina Faso Bar Association as well as civil society organisations.

“The best reward we can give to the country in the year 2016, which has been declared the African Year of Human Rights, with a Particular Focus on the Rights of Women, is to completely abolish death penalty,” Yameogo said.

Xinhua

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Libya forces battle IS in Sirte

Posted: 10 Jun 2016 01:53 AM PDT

The battle for Sirte raged after unity government forces pushed into the centre of the city and predicted it could fall within days.

|||

Sirte - The battle for Sirte, the Islamic State group's stronghold in Libya, raged on Thursday after unity government forces pushed into the centre of the city and predicted it could fall within days.

The United States welcomed the advance on Sirte, the hometown of ousted dictator Muammar Gaddafi, which has also been in the sights of forces of a rival authority in eastern Libya.

The loss of Sirte would amount to a huge setback for IS, which is also faced with battlefield losses in Syria and Iraq.

“The armed forces entered Sirte. They are currently in the centre, where clashes continue with Daesh,” said Mohamad Ghassri, spokesman for the forces of the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA), using another name for IS.

“The operation will not last much longer. I think we'll be able to announce the liberation of Sirte in two or three days,” he told AFP.

Brett McGurk, US President Barack Obama's special envoy to the international coalition fighting IS, confirmed the advance.

“GNA aligned forces now making rapid advances against ISIL (IS) in Libya and beginning to enter its stronghold in Sirte,” he tweeted.

Tightening the noose on IS, air strikes targeted the area around a conference centre where the jihadists had set up a command post, while the GNA's navy said it was in control of the waters off the eastern city.

A US Defence Department spokesman welcomed the advance.

“We certainly are encouraged by the progress we see those government forces making,” Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said.

“The fact that they are now under pressure in Libya... we think is a good thing and suggests that the Government of National Accord and the forces supporting that government are making progress.”

Aziz Issa, a hospital spokesman in Misrata, east of Tripoli, said 115 fighters had been killed and 300 wounded in the anti-IS assault since mid-May.

Stepping up the operation, the GNA's navy has taken control of the coast of Sirte as part of the offensive, said Rida Issa, its commander for central Libya.

“Our forces control the entire coast of Sirte. They (IS jihadists) will not be able to flee by sea,” he told AFP.

Naval forces had supported the offensive, he said, including by “carrying out operations to open the way for ground forces to advance along the coast”.

On Wednesday, the unity government said its forces had captured two barracks from the jihadists near Sirte, which IS has held since 2014.

Analysts have advised caution over the decline of the Islamic State group.

“Soon IS will be driven out of Sirte. However, that definitely would not be the end of the group in Libya,” said Mohamed Eljareh of the Rafik Hariri Centre for the Middle East.

“If ISIS (IS) is defeated in Sirte, we expect an increase in attacks against oil installations to the south and also in the cities of Misrata and Tripoli.”

Since launching the offensive against IS in mid-May, GNA forces have taken the town of Abu Grein, the power plant of Sirte and three barracks 20 kilometres from the city centre.

And on Thursday they announced the capture of the town of Harawa, 70 kilometres to the east of Sirte.

There has been no independent confirmation of the announced GNA advances over the past three weeks because of the absence of journalists on the ground.

Foreign intelligence services estimate IS has 5,000 fighters in Libya but its strength inside Sirte and the number of civilians living in the city are unavailable.

GNA forces are mostly made up of militias from western cities that have sided with the unity government of prime minister-designate Fayez al-Sarraj and the guards of oil installations that IS has repeatedly tried to seize.

Eljareh said the GNA still faced serious challenges even if it captured Sirte.

“What will happen to all the forces mobilised against IS,” he asked.

“There is a risk that they turn against each other.”

AFP

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Italy: 2 000 migrants rescued off Libya

Posted: 10 Jun 2016 12:49 AM PDT

Around 2 000 migrants were plucked to safety off the coast of Libya in the latest series of rescue operations in the Mediterranean, the Italian coastguard said.

|||

Around 2 000 migrants were plucked to safety off the coast of Libya in the latest series of rescue operations in the Mediterranean on Thursday, the Italian coastguard said.

“The coastguards have coordinated 15 rescue operations, about 2 000 migrants are safe and sound,” they said, adding that Italian navy vessels and ships from the EU's Frontex border agency and its Sophia military operation helped with the efforts.

More than 800 migrants were already rescued off Libya on Wednesday, mainly by vessels chartered by the aid groups Doctors Without Borders (MSF), SOS Mediterranee, MOAS and SeaWatch.

The United Nations' refugee agency estimates that over 48 000 migrants, most of them sub-Saharan Africans, have arrived in Italy since the start of the year in search of a better life in Europe.

A similar number made the treacherous sea journey over the same period last year.

But unlike previous years, new arrivals are increasingly finding themselves marooned in overcrowded camps in Italy as countries further north have shut their borders, effectively blocking their overland passage into the rest of Europe.

Charities such as MSF, Oxfam and Save the Children have expressed mounting concern over the dire living conditions for those stranded as a result of the bottlenecks - which have also emerged along the Greek border.

AFP

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Congo calls HRW report on killings 'biased'

Posted: 10 Jun 2016 12:45 AM PDT

A HRW report accusing Congolese soldiers of killing 18 people while serving as UN and AU peacekeepers in CAR was slammed as “biased.”

|||

Brazzaville - The Republic of Congo said on Thursday a Human Rights Watch report accusing Congolese soldiers of killing 18 people while serving as United Nations and African Union peacekeepers in Central African Republic was “biased.”

“I note with regret that the Human Rights Watch report is biased and accusatory,” Communication Minister Thierry Moungalla told a news conference.

“If I am not mistaken, it doesn't include any indication and (...) it's not even scientific. We don't give credence to this report.”

Justice Minister Pierre Mabiala said the government would set up a special commission at the criminal court of Brazzaville to hold a trial shortly.

There will be “in the treatment of this case no miscarriage of justice, no impunity (...) as the report of Human Rights Watch seems to claim gratuitously,” he said.

In its report released on Tuesday, Human Rights Watch said Congolese soldiers had tortured to death two anti-balaka leaders in Central African Republic in December 2013, publicly executed another two suspected anti-balaka in February 2014, and beaten two civilians to death in June 2015.

The New York-based rights group also said a mass grave found near a base once occupied by Congolese troops in the town of Boali was found to contain the remains of 12 people identified as having been detained by the peacekeepers on March 24, 2014.

Neither the United Nations nor countries hosting U.N. missions have the authority to prosecute foreign peacekeepers. Punishment is the responsibility of countries contributing troops, but critics claim they often fail to pursue allegations.

Reuters

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now