AUCKLAND, New Zealand – Maori have worked for six years toward getting Mount Maunganui, known by the Maori name Mauao, given back to them.  Mauao is an extinct volcanic cone that rises above the town of Mount Maunganui, a suburb of Tauranga.  Mauao is a former Maori pa, a fortified village from the 19th century or earlier.

The proposed bill would hand over Mauao to three Maori iwi.  ["Iwi" is a term roughly similar to "clan".]  A clause in the proposed bill seems to suggest that the Crown would still own Mauao after the handover.  The Crown claims that the clause at issue refers only to public safety and that the Crown will take responsibility if someone gets injured on the mountain, which is a popular hiking spot open to the public.  Read more...

By Myriam Clerge
Impunity Watch Reporter, Eastern and Southern Africa

NAIROBI, Kenya – It took a few minutes on Sunday, after Kenya’s president, Mwai Kibaki, was declared the victor of an intense and controversial election, for the country to fly into a rage. More than 100 people have been killed across Kenya in protest blamed on the disputed presidential election. Mwai Kibaki was officially re-elected president while Raila Odinga, the opposition, rejected the results saying he was robbed of victory by electoral fraud.  Read more...

By Laura Zuber
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

El-ARISH, Egypt – Following a pilgrimage to Mecca, two thousand Palestinians are stranded in Egypt as a result of a dispute on their re-entry into Gaza.  The Egyptian and Israeli governments would like the pilgrims to return to Gaza via the Israeli controlled Aouja crossing, to ensure that weapons or money are not smuggled into Gaza.

However, Palestinians insist that the pilgrims be allowed to re-enter via the Egyptian controlled Rafah crossing.  The Rafah crossing is the only entry into Gaza which is not controlled by Israel.  In mid-December, the Egyptian government permitted the pilgrims to exit Gaza through the Rafah crossing, despite Israeli protests against it.  Read more...

By Sarah C. LaBelle
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Oceania

HONIARA, Solomon Islands – Julian Moti, former attorney general for the Solomon Islands, was extradited to Australia on Thursday, where he was promptly arrested.  The Fiji-born Moti is an Australian citizen who is facing a charge of child sex tourism for an incident in Vanuatu in 1997.  Moti eluded Australian authorities in Papua New Guinea before fleeing to the Solomons, where he was made attorney general.  However, last week the government changed over and the new government is not as friendly to Moti as their predecessor and has said for their entire campaign that they intended to return Moti to Australia.  Read more...

The Kurds have promised to continue fighting Turkey until they are promised equal rights including the right to teach the Kurdish language in public schools.  Suzdar Avista a local Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) leader stated that “We will not surrender, and if Turkey continues its aggression against our bases and kills civilians we will respond, we’ll begin fighting inside Turkey.” (International Herald Tribune)

Some locals have remained in the area despite the constant shelling.  They have condemned the Turkish actions.  They believe that the purpose of the attacks has only to improve the morale of the Turkish people, rather than actually eliminate the PKK rebels.  Read more...

Bahrain has extended its amnesty deadline for illegal workers to January 31, 2008.  The purpose of the extending the deadline is enable illegal workers to stay in Bahrain or leave the country without having to pay high penalties for violating their contracts.  The amnesty was issued as a response to the reported abuses of migrant workers.

The government stated that the amnesty has been successful and that 80% of the illegal workers have benefited from the amnesty.  Around 12,000 workers have already left the country and 22,000 workers legalized their stay.  However, the government is committed to helping the remaining 20%  of illegal workers through amnesty and has promised to launch an “inspection campaign next week to ensure that no one is working in Bahrain illegally.”  Read more...

By Kevin Kim
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

RABAT, Morocco – Human Rights Watch on Friday urged the Moroccan Ministry of Justice to investigate the police beating and intimidation of two human rights activists in Western Sahara. More importantly, the New York-based rights organization expressed “concern that the action is part of a broader attack on human rights monitoring by the authorities in the Western Sahara region.”  Read more...

NAIROBI, Kenya – The electoral commission has declared that Kenya’s President Mwai Kibaki won Thursday’s contested election, amid accusations by opposition leader Raila Odinga that Mr. Kibaki used electoral fraud to win.  Opposition protesters in Nairobi began riots minutes after the announcement.  Mr. Kibaki won with 4,584,721 votes, more than 230,000 more than Mr. Odinga. 

President Kibaki was sworn in for his second five-year term an hour after the announcement was made.  He described the election as “free and fair” and urged all political parties to “accept the verdict of the people.”   Read more...

By Elizabeth Costner
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Africa

KHARTOUM, Sudan – Sudan has accused Chad of bombing its territory and sending troops across their shared border, and warned that Khartoum may have to retaliate. Sudan’s Foreign Ministry stated on Saturday that the Friday bombing followed similar attacks in West Darfur earlier this month and in April. Chad’s Foreign Minister Ahmat Allam-mi defended the bombing as necessary to counter Darfur fighters he claimed were preparing to attack Chad’s forces.  Chad denies sending any troops into Sudanese territory.  Read more...

KHARTOUM, Sudan – A joint survey carried out by the government and the United Nations found that child malnutrition rates have reached their highest level in three years in war-torn Darfur.  The overall malnutrition rate reached 16.1 per cent this year, compared to 12.9 per cent last year. 

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) continuing insecurity is one of the primary causes.  Access to those in need is compromised due to fighting and violence against civilians and aid workers.  Other contributing causes are poor feeding practices, inadequate sanitation, low health coverage, and low coverage of special feeding programs.   Read more...