Africa

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Gambians wait in line to vote during the presidential election in Banjul, Gambia, December 1, 2016.

© 2016 Reuters

(Nairobi) – Gambian authorities should respect the rights of Gambians to peacefully express their views on the outcome of the December 1, 2016 presidential election. Prior to the vote, incumbent President Yahya Jammeh warned that protests against the election would not be permitted and the government blocked internet communications and international calls.

Although the two-week election campaign was peaceful, and included many large opposition and government rallies, President Jammeh responded to a November 29 media query about possible protests following the elections, saying, “In this country we don’t allow demonstrations.” At about 8 p.m. on November 30, the government blocked all internet services in Gambia as well as incoming and outgoing international calls. Online messaging services, such as WhatsApp and Viber, have been blocked for several weeks.

“The rights of Gambians from across the political spectrum should be respected regardless of the election outcome,” said Babatunde Olugboji, deputy program director at Human Rights Watch. “The government must publicly endorse the right to peaceful assembly and end the telecommunications ban.”

The election is the fifth time that Jammeh has sought a new five-year term since coming to power in a 1994 coup. Human Rights Watch raised concerns about the fairness of the election in a November 2 report, describing how Jammeh secured a political advantage through a crackdown on the opposition, domination of state media, and the use of state resources for campaigning.

Jammeh faced two challengers for president: Adama Barrow, the representative of a coalition of eight opposition parties, and Mama Kandeh, of the opposition party Gambian Democratic Congress. Election results are expected to be announced in the evening of December 1 or on December 2. The candidate who won the most votes will be the winner, with no second-round voting.

Jammeh’s threat to prohibit demonstrations heightens the risk of arbitrary arrests and other serious human rights abuses, particularly after the election results are announced. In April and May, Gambian security forces arbitrarily arrested more than 90 opposition activists for participating in peaceful protests, with dozens beaten at the time of arrest or while in detention. 30 protesters were later sentenced to three-year prison terms. Two opposition activists have died in custody, at least one as a result of torture by security forces.

The government’s clampdown on the internet and international phone calls will harm Gambians’ abilities to share information with media organizations and nongovernmental groups outside the country, including reports of human rights violations. The Gambian government has a long track record of intimidating journalists, which has made news and nongovernmental organizations outside the country a vital source of information.

On November 4, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, which has its headquarters in Banjul, called on the Gambian government to ensure that elections are free, fair, and peaceful, refrain from the use of excessive and disproportionate force against protesters, and immediately lift all restrictions to internet and social media networks.

The Gambian government should immediately end all blocks on the internet and telephone communications. As the election results are announced, Gambian police should whenever possible allow peaceful demonstrations to occur, even if they are unplanned or spontaneous.

Law enforcement officials, in carrying out their duties, should as far as possible use non-violent means before resorting to the use of force. If it is absolutely necessary to disperse demonstrators because of an imminent threat to public order, the security forces should use the minimum force necessary in accordance with the United Nations Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials.

“The government’s communications cutoff and threatened protest ban are only likely to increase tensions between the government and opposition groups,” Olugboji said. “Gambians’ rights to express their political opinions free from government interference do not end once the election is over.”

Snatched schoolgirls and suicide bomb blasts have long been the enduring images of Nigeria’s Boko Haram conflict. But now the violence is represented by thousands of new faces: those of starving children.

Scenes like these haven’t been seen here since the 1967-70 war with secessionist Biafra.

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Women and children gather at the water point at an internally displaced people’s camp in Maiduguri, Nigeria, December, 1, 2016. © 2016 Reuters

 

As many as 4.5 million people need food aid in the northeast of the country, according to the UN’s World Food Programme. It warns that “famine-like conditions” may be occurring in remote pockets of certain states. Food shortages are the inevitable consequence of the seven-year insurgency that has displaced more than 2.5 million people.

Several planting seasons have passed with little farming activity in the affected states of Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa. The conflict areas are hard to reach, but reports hint at the deliberate destruction of farm production by both sides, as well as the targeting of civilians.

Restrictions The Nigerian government’s focus on an almost exclusively military response has Boko Haram on the run. With the help of neighboring countries – Chad, Cameroon, and Niger – most of the territory previously held by the insurgents has been recovered.

But one major problem is that this military success has not been accompanied by a rigorous de-mining program. Fear of Boko Haram mines means far from all the land is back in production, in what is an agriculturally rich region.

The insurgents are also an ever-present threat in the countryside, beyond the villages and towns. That has limited the humanitarian response to this crisis, as well as the return of government services.

Fearing infiltration, the authorities have severely restricted movement around the settlements they have recaptured. Residents, mostly women and children, have been evacuated into camps strictly supervised by security forces. That has had a severe impact on the rural economy, along with people’s freedom of movement.

Take Baga, a fishing settlement in northern Borno State, for example. It was recovered by government forces in April 2015, after its near-destruction by Boko Haram. But because of the security restrictions imposed by the army, fishing has ground to a halt and trade with local communities is prevented. Baga is running out of food.

Internment The displacement camps and temporary settlements in Borno, most of them crammed into the state capital, Maiduguri, have become huge internment centers. Food supplies from the meagre harvests in areas less affected by the conflict and relief materials donated by international and local aid organizations fall woefully short of the needs of the displaced population.   As though the problems posed by the shortages are not bad enough, the distribution of relief material is fraught with allegations of corruption, mismanagement, fraud, and outright theft by government officials.   And rather than conducting transparent investigations and addressing the problems, the federal and state authorities in charge of the camps have issued blanket and vague denials.   Need for transparency In July, a state official in Maiduguri told me that she could not discuss the food supply for displaced people because the government had declared the issue a “state secret.”

That response echoes the National Emergency Management Agency’s denial of a Médecins Sans Frontières report highlighting the health crisis in June among the displaced in the town of Bama, where it said up to 30 people were dying daily from hunger and disease.

The head of NEMA, the federal agency responsible for responding to internal crises, accused MSF of using the report as a ploy to attract donor funding.

It was therefore gratifying to see the federal government respond quickly and positively to a Human Rights Watch report that detailed the sexual exploitation and abuse of displaced women and girls by government officials. Police and intelligence officers were swiftly deployed to investigate.

This response should set the tone for improved conduct by all officials tasked with protecting and supporting displaced people. It presents a great opportunity to institutionalize reforms in the vetting and training of staff, reforms that priorities accountability.

Long way to go Aid programming must include gender and human rights awareness, and allow for the thorough monitoring and investigation of abuse and misconduct, including in food distribution.   There is still a long way to go. The latest news from Maiduguri is that the state authorities – apparently unhappy about the negative publicity that followed the sexual abuse report – have tightened restrictions around the camps.

With “many of the warning signals of impending genocide” already present in South Sudan and amid a “mindboggling” scale of rape of women and girls, a team of United Nations human rights experts called on the international community to take immediate action to avert mass bloodshed, as they wrapped up a 10-day visit to the crisis-riven country.

Crystal Palace's Pape Souare says he does not know if he will recover fully from the injuries he sustained in a car crash in September.

Ethnic cleansing is taking place in South Sudan, a UN panel says, warning of possible genocide.

The Gambia bans the internet and international phone calls, as President Jammeh seeks a fifth term.

Next week Ghana will vote in presidential and parliamentary elections and the economy is a key issue.

An Ethiopia opposition leader is arrested under the state of emergency after he returns from Europe.

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Cameroon players' union chief Geremi vows to address the lack of contract copies for local players in the country as uncovered by FIFPro.

In 1988 around 140 countries took part in the first World Aids Day to raise awareness of the epidemic

November 30, 2016 (JUBA) United Nations Official for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) said aid workers increasingly face "bureaucratic impediments", and called on South Sudanese authorities to ensure unfettered access to the needy in the affected areas.

The conflict in South Sudan has triggered a humanitarian crisis with 2.3 million people forced from their homes and 4.6 million in need of emergency food (AFP Photo/Tony Karumba)

Eugene Owusu, the Humanitarian Coordinator for South Sudan and deputy head of UN mission in the country, said agencies registered more than cases of blockage to aid work in November.

"They (humanitarian organizations) continue to face obstacles and challenges which hamper their efforts. This must stop," said Owusu in a statement extended to Sudan Tribune on Wednesday.

Such impediments and other bureaucratic constraints, negatively efforts to reach people in need.

Of 91 cases registered between November 1 to November 28, sixty eight were involved violence against humanitarian personnel/assets, while eighteen involved interference in humanitarian action, including interference in administrative matters, illegal or arbitrary taxation expulsion of staff. Humanitarian workers were also denied access to areas outside of Yei, a town witnessing some violence since July, in Central Equatoria and Wau town in Western Bahr El Ghazal, where tens of thousands of people are in need of assistance and protection.

Owusu said steps such President Salva Kiir's establishment of Humanitarian High-Level Oversight Committee are "appreciative" but more should be done.

“These recent events are a major concern and it is vital that we see the commitments made in high-level fora fully translate into real, tangible and immediate improvements in the operating environment for aid workers on the frontlines of humanitarian action," he said.

Humanitarian needs in South Sudan continue to rise as a result of conflict and economic decline, OCHA said. There are three million people displaced since fighting broke out in December 2013, including 1.9 million who are internally displaced and more than 1.1 million who have fled to neighbouring countries as refugees.

OCHA said it has reached some 4.1 million people in 2016 through various humanitarian organizations with assistance and protection across the country, including in some of the most remote areas. Owusu said the government and opposition should also play their role in washing access to needy people.

“I call on all parties to allow free, safe and unhindered humanitarian access so that our colleagues can reach and assist people whose lives have been torn apart by this crisis. Regardless of where they are in the country, civilians in need have a right to receive help," he added.

(ST)

November 30, 2016 (JUBA) - The world's youngest country is on the brink of catastrophe, a three-member United Nations Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan warned at the end of a 10-day visit.

Adama Dieng, UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, addresses a press conference in Juba on Friday 11, 2016 (UNMISS Photo)

“The stage is being set for a repeat of what happened in Rwanda and the international community is under an obligation to prevent it,” the Commission chairperson, Yasmin Sooka warned Wednesday.

The official specifically cited disturbing indicators such as an increase in hate speech, a crackdown on the media and civil society, deepening divisions between the country's 64 tribes, renewed recruitment in a country already awash with guns and the proliferation of armed groups aligned to both sides in armed conflict.

“There is already a steady process of ethnic cleansing underway in several areas of South Sudan using starvation, gang rape and the burning of villages; everywhere we went across this country we heard villagers saying they are ready to shed blood to get their land back,” said Sooka.

“Many told us it's already reached a point of no return”, she added.

Ken Scott, a member of the commission, advocated for the urgency in the need to establish the hybrid court promised for South Sudan.

“Large parts of the country literally have no functioning courts and even the traditional reconciliation methods are now breaking down with the result that it's a free for all”, he stated.

During their 10-day visit, the Commission reportedly met several displaced women in the Juba camp who were allegedly gang raped in the July attacks and have yet to receive adequate medical treatment for resulting complications, four months later.

“The scale of rape of women and girls perpetrated by all armed groups in South Sudan is utterly unacceptable and is frankly mind boggling,” stressed Sooka.

“Aid workers describe gang rape as so prevalent that it's become ‘normal' in this warped environment but what does that say about us that we accept this and thereby condemn these women to this unspeakable fate?” she added.

In Wau town, where ethnic tension remains high, civilians reportedly gave graphic accounts of how their husbands and children were robbed and murdered by soldiers from the army during violence in June in which at least 53 people were killed.

“The impact of this spreading violence is much more widespread and serious than earlier thought,” said Commissioner Godfrey Musila who visited the area.

Meanwhile, the three-member UN Commission of experts suggested a number of steps that is said the international community should take immediately to avert mass bloodshed. Among such measures, it said, is to expedite the immediate arrival of the 4,000 strong Regional Protection Force in South Sudan, ensure the force is not restricted only to the capital, freeze assets, enact targeted sanctions and implement an arms embargo.

(ST)

November 30, 2016 (JUBA) - The IGAD joint ceasefire monitoring mechanism announced the arrival of its team to the troubled Yei town in Central Equatoria were reports mention about insecurity and grave human rights violations.

The South Sudanese army (SPLA) has been attempting to quell a rebellion led by former vice-president Riek Machar since December 2013 (AFP)

Last Monday, South Sudanese security forces prevented a CTSAMM team had been prevented from travelling to Yei to assess the security situation there after reports about clashes between armed groups and the government forces but also attacks on civilians.

At the time, the CTSAMM said the incident took place while had obtained the needed authorisations and informed all the concerned authorities, including the Joint Military Ceasefire Commission.

"The CTSAMM team have now successfully carried out their journey and reached Yei Town today, the 30th November, 2016. The team will now undertake a five day mission in the area," said a short communiqué extended to Sudan Tribune on Wednesday.

The monitoring mission added the move came after "after multiple discussions between the CTSAMM leadership and the authorities".

South Sudanese authorities often speak about unilateral decision by officers on the ground, and point it was not a deliberate act.

(ST)

November 30, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - The Central Committee of the Sudanese Pharmacists (CCSP) said it would go on a partial strike and organize a protest on Thursday to reject drug price increase and demand release of its detained members.

Earlier in November, Central Bank of Sudan (CBoS) announced it will no longer provide US dollar for drug importation at rate of 7,5 Sudanese pounds (SDG) forcing pharmaceutical companies to buy the dollar from the black market at 17,5 pounds.

Following the CBoS's decision, the Sudan Pharmacy Council (SPC) issued a new list showing the drug price has drastically increased by 100 to 300 percent.

The decision stirred a large wave of protests across Sudan. Also, some two hundred private pharmacies in Khartoum went on partial strike and closed their doors from 09:00 am to 05:00 pm last week in protest against the government's move.

In a statement extended to Sudan Tribune on Wednesday, the CCSP said that pharmacies at hospitals and medical insurance pharmacies would continue to provide the service to the needy during the partial strike on Thursday.

The CCSP added that it would organize a peaceful sit-in at the premises of the Pharmacists House at 11:00 am (local time) on Thursday to express refusal for the increase of drug price and demand release of the detained pharmacists.

The statement pointed to the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) continued daily summoning and detention of three CCSP members including Hatim al-Da'ak, Baha al-Din Ahmed al-Hag and Al-Tayeb Bukhari.

“These repeated harassments and detentions wouldn't distract or hold us back from the main goal of rejecting and peacefully resisting the decision to lift subsidies on medicine” read the statement.

The CCSP said it would escalate resistance and continue to go on partial strikes for longer periods of time if its demands were not met, saying the decision to increase drug price has already been implemented.

It described the statements by the Health Minister Bahar Idris Abu Garda about the cancellation of the new drug price list as mere “deception” and “malicious attempt”, saying he didn't announce any decision to reinstate drug subsidy.

In an emergency press conference on Friday, Abu Garda announced that President Omer al-Bashir sacked the secretary general of the SPC and cancelled a new list of drug price he recently issued.

Large segments of the Sudanese people had engaged in a three-day civil disobedience act from 27 to 29 November to protest the recent austerity measures and the lack of freedoms.

(ST)

November 30, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Sudan's National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) on Wednesday has continued its mass confiscations campaign against newspapers and seized copies of five dailies prompting some journalists to go on strike.

Sudanese journalists demonstrate outside Al-Tayyar's building in Khartoum on 20 July 2014 (ST)

Mass confiscation has emerged as a new technique of punishment by the NISS which tend to accuse affected newspapers of disseminating news that adversely impact on national security.

At dawn on Wednesday, the NISS seized print runs of Al-Tayyar, Al-Jareeda, Al-Ayam, Al-Youm Al-Tali and Al-Watan newspapers from the printing house without giving reasons.

It is noteworthy that Al-Jareeda and Al-Ayam have been seized three times during this week while Al-Youm Al-Tali and Al-Tayyar were confiscated twice.

Also, authorities ordered to close down the independent Omdurman TV station on Sunday.

Media sources say the NISS has intensified crackdown on newspapers for publishing news reports and articles on the nationwide civil disobedience act which took place between 27 and 29 November.

Meanwhile, the Sudanese Journalists Network (SJN) on Wednesday went on strike to protest the continued mass confiscations of newspapers.

In a statement extended to Sudan Tribune, the unofficial union, which is a pro-democratic group of independent journalists, called on Editors-in-Chiefs and publishers to participate in the strike in order to stop NISS's crackdown on press.

Sudanese newspapers complain of the far reaching powers of the NISS which routinely punishes dailies through confiscation or suspension.

Following the lift of pre-publication censorship, the NISS started punishing newspapers retroactively by seizing copies of newspapers that breach unwritten red lines inflicting financial and moral losses on these media houses.

In February 2015, it seized copies of 14 newspapers from printing press without giving reasons.

Journalists say that NISS uses seizures of print copies of newspapers, not only to censor the media but also to weaken them economically.

(ST)

November 30, 2016 (JUBA) – Representatives of the United States and United Nations warned on Wednesday of possibilities of tension escalating in war-torn South Sudan as well as potentials of violence.

Arms and light weapons have been used by both warring parties in South Sudan to commit abuses (Photo courtesy of SSANSA)

“We have credible information that the South Sudanese government is currently targeting civilians in Central Equatoria and preparing for large-scale attacks in the coming days or weeks,” Keith Harper, the U.S representative at the UN Human Rights Council, said.

A similar warning, Voice of America (VOA) reported, was also made by the U.S ambassador to the world body, Samantha Power.

“We are raising the alarm. We are calling on the government of South Sudan not to move forward with the offensive they have planned,” Power told VOA.

But, in a separate interview with the Associated Press, South Sudan's envoy to the UN, Kuol Alor Kuol Arop denied there was a build-up of forces or plans for offensives.

South Sudan is on the brink of catastrophe, a three-member UN Commission on Human Rights warned at the end of a ten-day visit.

“The stage is being set for a repeat of what happened in Rwanda and the international community is under an obligation to prevent it,” the chairperson of the Commission, Yasmin Sooka announced.

The official, in a statement, cited disturbing indicators such as an increase in hate speech, a crackdown on the media and civil society, deepening divisions between the country's 64 tribes, renewed recruitment in a country already awash with guns and the proliferation of armed groups aligned to both sides in armed conflict.

“There is already a steady process of ethnic cleansing underway in several areas of South Sudan using starvation, gang rape and the burning of villages; everywhere we went across this country we heard villagers saying they are ready to shed blood to get their land back,” said Sooka.

“Many told us it's already reached a point of no return”, she stressed.

The UN team of experts, also outlined a number of steps that the international community should take immediately to avert mass bloodshed, including the expedition of the immediate arrival of the 4,000 strong Regional Protection Force in South Sudan, ensure that the force is not restricted only to the capital, freeze assets, enact targeted sanctions and implement arms embargo on South Sudan.

“It is also urgent to set up the hybrid court promised for South Sudan,” said Ken Scott, a member of the UN Commission.

“Large parts of the country literally have no functioning courts and even the traditional reconciliation methods are now breaking down with the result that it's a free for all”, he added.

The Commission, which is due to report to the Human Rights Council in March, visited Bentiu in oil-rich Unity State where more than a hundred thousand people are sheltering in a UN protected camp.

(ST)

Palliative care nurse Lucy Finch talks about how witnessing an agonising death led her to set up Malawi's first hospice.

Gambian voters use marbles instead of ballot papers to vote in their presidential election in 1 December.

Large clinical trial for a vaccine to protect against HIV transmission is underway in South Africa.