One of Three Missing Chadian Political Opposition Members Reappears in Cameroon

One of Three Missing Chadian Political Opposition Members Reappears in Cameroon

By M. Brandon Maggiore
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Africa

YAOUNDE, Cameroon – Ngarlejy Yorongar has reappeared in Yaoundé, the capital of Cameroon, after disappearing 3 February when armed uniformed men took him into custody at his residence. Yorongar is a deputy in the Chadian assembly and was a candidate in the 2001 presidential election running against the Chadian president.

The seizure of Yoronger occurred during a government crackdown when rebels tried unsuccessfully to take power of the country. Another politician, former Chadian President Ibni Oumar Mahamat Saleh, is still missing. According to an e-mail received by Agence France Press (AFP) sent by a Chadian opposition representative in France, Yorongar said it would be a miracle if Ibni is alive after an alleged beating by the Chadian Presidential Guard.

Yoranger needed medical treatment upon his arrival in Cameroon according to Yorangar’s oldest son who spoke with Yoranger via telephone. The details of his release in Chad and his arrival in Cameroon are disputed at this time.

The Chadian government announced it would launch an investigation into the disappearance of the missing politicians and the coup attempt by the rebels. State run radio said it will create a commission “to investigate and produce information on people declared missing and into damage sustained by the state and the population in districts occupied by the forces of aggression.”  President Deby announced the creation of the international commission upon the termination of the visit of French president Nicholas Sarkozy. The commission will include representatives from the African Union, France, the European Union, and the organization of French-speaking nations. There is concern that the commission will not be neutral because it will be led by parliamentary speaker Nassour Ouaidou, a close aide to President Deby.

Chad will remain under a state of emergency until at least 15 March 2008. The state of emergency permits house to house searches and a crackdown on media outlets.

For more information, please see:

LeMonde.fr – Un des trois opposants tchadiens disparus réapparaît au Cameroun – 3 March 2008-03-03

AFP – Missing Chad opposition leader in Cameroon: sources – 3 February 2008

AFP – Chad opposition leader ‘safe abroad’; Ndjamena launches probe – 3 February 2008

Impunity Watch – Human Rights Groups Urge Chad to Release Suspected Prisoners – 27 February 2008

Yoranger.com – Biographie – accessed 3 March 2008

BRIEF: U.S. Missile Strike in Somalia

The United States has confirmed that it fired a missile at a terrorist target in southern Somalia near Dhoobley.  The strike near the Kenyan border in a region controlled by Islamists was a “known terrorist target” according to a U.S. official. The strike occurred during the night between March second and third. Residents next to the house targeted said that the house was totally destroyed and three planes were flying overhead. Residents in the town have fled or are staying under trees in fear that another strike might occur.

The U.S. has not confirmed any casualties but local officials state four people were killed. LeMonde reports that three strikes were made, two of which targeted residences. The U.S. conducted two strikes in Somalia in 2007 aimed at terrorist targets. The U.S. later confirmed that none of those targeted were hit. Local government officials stated that one-hundred people were killed in the January 2007 strike which targeted two targets.

For more information, please see:

CNN.com – U.S. official: Missiles fired at Somalia terror target – 3 March 2008

LeMonde.fr – Un raid aérien américain en Somalie aurait fait quatre morts, selon les chefs locaux – 3 March 2008

BRIEF: UN Chief Calls for Gaza Ceasefire

GAZA CITY, Gaza – UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has called on Israel and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip to halt the violence that has escalated over the past few days. Troops killed at least 96 people over four days, with more than 60 people dead on Saturday alone – one third of those killed estimated to be children.

Addressing an emergency session of the Security Council in New York on Sunday, Ban condemned Israel’s “excessive” use of force and called Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel “acts of terrorism.” Ban said: “While recognizing Israel’s right to defend itself, I condemn the disproportionate and excessive use of force that has killed and injured so many civilians, including children.” Ban also condemned Palestinian rocket attacks that triggered one of the bloodiest days in Gaza since Israel withdrew in 2005. “I condemn Palestinian rocket attacks and call for the immediate cessation of such acts of terrorism,” he said.

Although members of the Security Council are currently discussing a draft resolution regarding the conflict in Gaza, its completion will likely take more than a few days. Libyan delegation representing the Palestinians has put forward a draft, but it is expected to be rejected because the resolution condemns Israel’s killing of civilians without mentioning the Palestinian rocket fire. Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is due to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert this week to try to revive peace talks.

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera – UN chief deplores Gaza assault – 2 March 2008

BBC News – UN chief condemns Gaza violence – 2 March 2008

Voice of America – UN Security Council condemns violence in Gaza – 2 March 2008

70 Armed Arab Nomads Reportedly Killed in Sudan

By M. Brandon Maggiore
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Africa

ABYEI REGION, Sudan – Reports Sunday of fighting between Misseriya tribesmen and fighters from the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) indicate 70 armed Arab nomads were killed in the oil-rich Abyei border region of Sudan. The actual number of dead and injured is disputed at this time.

The SPLM, a former rebel force, has shared power with the National Congress Party (NCP) since 2005. The SPLM governs the semi-autonomous Abyei region in southern Sudan. Eward Lino, spokesman for the SPLM , has accused the NCP of supporting the Misseriya in order to prevent the delineation of the border and prevent the countries census from taking place. The census is to start April 15th and last two weeks. The census is necessary to prepare for Sudan’s first democratic election in twenty-two years.

The Misseriya claims the SPLM remains in their territory and stated that as long as the SPLM is in Misseriyan territory problems will continue.

This is the second clash in the region since the 21st of December 2007. On that date, an Arab militia supported by Khartoum attacked an SPLA camp. One-hundred people were killed in that conflict.

The UN mission in Sudan is very concerned over the recent clashes and there is concern that the tensions, if not resolved, will threaten the 2005 peace agreement that ended the countries twenty-one-year north-south civil war in which two million people were killed. The civil war placed the Islamic Khartoum government against the largely animus and Christian rebels in the south.

For more information, please see:

BBC News – Arab nomads dead in Sudan clashes – 2 March 2008

Reuters – Dozens killed as Sudan nomads clash with ex-rebels – 2 March 2008

LeMonde.fr – Des affrontements entre nomades et ex-rebelles font 78 morts au sud Soudan – 2 March 2008

Israel Warns of Gaza Invasion; 32 Palestinians Killed

By Laura Zuber
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Middle East

GAZA CITY, Gaza –On February 29, the violence between the Israeli military and Gazan militants continued to escalate.  According to the BBC, 32 Palestinians were killed in night raids conducted on February 29 and early morning raids on March 1.  Yedioth News reports that “seven children, three women, two unarmed men and 20 gunmen… were killed in the IDF operation Saturday (March 1).”

The March 1 IDF operation targeted militants in the Jabaliya refugee camp.  Two children, a sister and brother, were killed when the Jabaliya refugee camp was struck.  Also, a father and his 19-year-old son, died in an air strike outside their home.  Later, two teenaged sisters were killed.  The Israeli military reports that five IDF soldiers were “lightly wounded” in the operation.

On February 29, one year old Malak al-Kafarna died of injuries sustained after a missile landed near her home in Beit Hanoun.  Hamas claims that her death was caused by an an Israeli surface-to-surface missile, which injured four other civilians.  However, Reuters reports that residents in the area state that “improvised rockets fired by militants at Israel have fallen short and landed inside Palestinian territory.”  This seems to suggest that Kafarna’s death was caused by Palestinian rocket fire.

Despite the increase in Israeli operations in Gaza, militants continue to launch rockets at Israel.  According to the Times, militants have fired nearly 130 rockets into Israel since February 26, when the violence between Israel and Gaza began to escalate.

Several of the rockets fired landed in Ashkelon, a large city located about 20km north of Gaza.  While Ashkelon is occasionally a target of the longer-range rockets, never has so many rockets been fired at it in one day.  One rocket struck a housing complex and another landed near a school and injured a student.

Following the rocket attacks on February 28, Israel’s Deputy Defense Minister, Matan Vilnai, stated that “the more Qassam fire intensifies and the rockets reach a longer range, they (the Palestinians) will bring upon themselves a bigger holocaust because we will use all our might to defend ourselves.”  In this statement, Vilnai used the Hebrew word “shoah”, which is generally restricted to describe the Nazi genocide against European Jews during World War II.

Israeli officials acted quickly to clarify Vilnai’s use of the word “shoah” and its connection with the Holocaust.  Eytan Guinsburg,Vilnai’s spokesperson, commented that “the minister used the Hebrew term ‘shoah’ which means ‘catastrophe’ and in this context does not refer to the ‘the Shoah’ – the Holocaust.”  Also, Israel’s foreign ministry spokesman, Arye Mekel, said that “Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai used the Hebrew phrase that included the term ‘shoah’ in the sense of a disaster or a catastrophe, and not in the sense of a holocaust.”

However, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak supported the underlying theme of Vilnai’s statement and stated that Israel is close to launching a full scale offensive in Gaza.  During a closed-door meeting on February 28, it is reported that Barak said that a “major ground operation is real and tangible. We are not afraid of it.”  In addition, Israeli defense officials said that preparations for a large-scale ground offensive to storm Gaza are complete.

While there is support for a large scale operation into Gaza, many Israelis fear that such an operation will lead to Israel being dragged back into a “costly, long-term military occupation of Gaza.  Also, in 2006, Israel received international criticism for an offensive operation into Gaza that resulted in hundreds of civilian deaths.  The five month incursion also failed to stop the rocket fire from Gaza.

Palestinians, both from Hamas and Fatah, condemn Israel’s recent actions.  Thousands of Palestinians throughout Gaza demonstrated against the recent air strikes.  In a rally by the Jabaliya refugee camp, a child in funeral shroud held a sign that read “They’ve killed my right to childhood.”

On February 29, former Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniya, spoke after afternoon prayers at a mosque in Gaza City.  He told worshippers that “Gaza today faces a real war, a crazy war led by the enemy against our people.”

In addition, Nabil Abu Rdainah, a spokesman for Mahmoud Abbas, stated that Israel’s military actions “meant only one thing: the Israeli government … aims to destroy the peace process.”  Israeli Arab Knesset members called on Abbas to cease the peace talks with Israeli Prime Minister Olmert in order to create a political crisis.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is scheduled to visit the Middle East next week to support the peace talks between Abbas and Olmert.

For more information, please see:
Associated Press – Israel Warns of Disaster in Gaza – 1 March 2008

BBC – New Israeli Raids on Gaza Kill 32 – 1 March 2008

The Guardian – Israeli Raids on Gaza Kill 32 – 1 March 2008

Ha’aretz – Meshal: Gaza is “Real Holocaust”; PA Threatens to Halt Peace Talks– 1 March 2008

Telegraph – Israeli Minister Vows Palestinian “Holocaust” – 1 March 2008

Times (London) – Israel Threatens to Unleash “Holocaust” in Gaza – 1 March 2008

Yedioth News – Abbas: IDF’s Gaza Operation Worse than a Holocaust – 1 March 2008 l

AFP – Thousands of Gazans Protest over Deadly Israeli Raids – 29 February 2008

Al Jazeera – Israel Warns of Gaza Invasion – 29 February 2008

Reuters – Gaza Child, Bombmaker die in Gaza Missile Strikes – 29 February 2008