U.S. Peace Corps Pulls Out of Mauritania

August 17, 2009

By Jennifer M. Haralambides
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

NOUAKCHOTT, Mauritania – The Peace Corps has withdrawn its workers from Mauritania due to fears over security after recent attacks.

The Peace Corps, which has operated in Mauritania for over 40 years, announced that it has moved its volunteers out of Mauritania and into the nearby training center in Senegal. The exact amount of people who will be moved is unknown, but the statement issued by the Peace Corps said there were roughly 141 volunteers in Mauritania, mainly in rural areas.

“Although it is the agency’s position that the volunteers are relatively safe in their communities and villages, it is potentially dangerous for them to travel safely in the country,” said the statement issued August 12th.

The U.S. government-backed group said on its website that the volunteer program in Mauritania would remain suspended until the security conditions improve, if at all.

On June 23, an American was shot dead in the Mauritanian’s capital city during an attack claimed by an al-Qaeda affiliate group. Subsequently, on August 8th, a suicide bomber killed himself by setting off a bomb aimed at two French gendarmes from the French embassy. Three people were killed during the bombing that took place just days after President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, who vowed to make the fight against al-Qaeda a priority, was sworn in.

The Peace Corps volunteers were in the country attempting to help Mauritania boost their agricultural production, combat widespread erosion, and bolster health and education programs.

For more information, please see:

AFP – U.S. Peace Corps Pulls Out of Mauritania – 17 August 2009

AP – U.S. Peace Corps Pulls Out Mauritania Volunteers – 17 August 2009

BBC – U.S. Aid Workers Leave Mauritania – 17 August 2009

Reuters – U.S. Peace Corps Pulls Volunteers From Mauritania – 17 August 2009

Police Raid “Nigerian Taliban” Group in Niger

August 16, 2009

By Jennifer M. Haralambides
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

KANO, Nigeria – Nigerian police take more than 600 people into custody after raiding an isolated Muslim community in Western Niger.

On Saturday morning a team of 1,000 officers raided the Darul Islam community. Police say no weapons were found and there was no resistance to the arrests.

This raid comes in the wake of the violent uprising of the Boko Haram Islamist group that has taken the lives of hundreds of people. Some sources say that the authorities may be taking advantage of a possible way to disperse the Darul Islam (House of Islam) community.

“Our action of evacuating members of the sect from Darul Islam is necessary to forestall any religious crisis in the (central) state of Niger,” said state police commissioner, Mike Zukoumor.

Much of the recent bloodshed involving the Boko Haram has occurred in the Nigerian city of Maiduguri and the officials have taken action. One of the men taken away by the police told sources that local people were being taken away and questioned.

“We have not eaten anything since we were brought here and we have women and children among us,” said a Darul Islam resident.

Zukoumor said that those who are suspected of being involved in the self named “Nigerian Taliban” group are being kept in a government technical college and questioned about their activities. The suspects could face prosecution if their activities are found to be detrimental to religious peace in the state.

Although the group has not been found to be engaged in any illegal activity just yet, the authorities are trying to establish the identity and nationality of the members of the Darul Islam community.

The United Nations human rights chief, Navi Pillay, and human rights groups like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have called on the government to investigate the security forces’ role in this religious violence.

For more information, please see:

AFP – Nigerian Police Raid Islamic Sect Compound – 16 August 2009

BBC – Nigeria Police Raid Muslim Sect – 16 August 2009

Newstime Africa – Police in Nigeria Target Another Muslim Sect – 16 August 2009

Reuters – Nigerian Police Raid Islamic Sect, Detain Hundreds – 16 August 2009

Jordanian Woman Killed for Marrying Without Family Permission

August 16, 2009

By Meredith Lee-Clark
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

AMMAN, Jordan – A 23-year-old pregnant woman was reportedly killed by her brother for marrying without her family’s permission. On August 13, the 30-year-old man was charged with premeditated murder and illegal possession of weapons.

Jihad al-Diridi, the prosecutor who filed the charges, said the unnamed woman got married two years ago and had a baby boy. The woman had reportedly reconciled with her parents, who invited her to another brother’s wedding on August 12, where the woman was killed. Al-Diridi said the charged brother shot his sister in the head and abdomen after the wedding reception. The woman’s husband was beaten by two other brothers, who were later charged with assisting in the crime.

After the killing, the brother who shot the woman walked to the nearest police station, turned himself in, and handed over his gun. Sources said the man told police he had killed his sister “to cleanse his family’s honor.”

This “honor killing” was the second in two days in Amman. The first such killing happened on August 11, when a 39-year-old man killed his 16-year-old niece. The girl had been raped eleven months ago by two relatives and had become pregnant. The uncle reportedly learned of the rape on August 8 and “decided to kill her in the name of family honor,” according to a source. The girl was shot nine times in the head in her family home. The uncle was charged with premeditated murder.

Fifteen honor killings have been reported in Jordan so far this year. An average of twenty Jordanian women are killed each year by relatives who claim to be protecting the family honor, despite government attempts to curb the murders. The Jordanian Parliament has refused to strengthen the penal code to create harsher sentences for the crimes.

For more information, please see:

Richmond Times-Dispatch – Jordanian Man Charged with Killing Pregnant Sister – 13 August 2009

Straits Times – Man Charged for Killing Sister – 13 August 2009

Vancouver Sun – Jordan Woman Killed for Marrying Without Permission – 13 August 2009

Jordan Times – Man Charged with Premeditated Murder of his 16-Year-Old Niece – 12 August 2009

Huffington Post – Jordanian Man Accused of Stabbing Pregnant Sister – 12 April 2009

Taliban Threats Discourage Afghan Voters

August 16, 2009

By Alishba I. Kassim
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

TARAKAI, Afghanistan – A group of Taliban fighters made an announcement in a nearby village bazaar a few days ago, threatening to cut off the inked finger of anyone that votes in the upcoming election.

Local villagers told media that they would not participate in the upcoming presidential election. “We can’t vote. Everybody knows it. We are farmers, and we cannot do a thing against the Taliban,” said Hakamatullah, a farmer in the Tarakai area.

The situation is no different in the Pashtun heartland of eastern and southern Afghanistan where the Taliban exert significant authority. There too, many villagers have been warned against going to the polls. Conditions have been so chaotic that many Afghans have been unable to register to vote. The Pashtuns make up about 40 percent of Afghanistan’s population, and doubts regarding their participation are casting a dark cloud over the elections.

The Taliban leadership released the following statement last month with regards to the upcoming election, “Afghans must boycott the deceitful American project and head for the trenches of holy war. The holy warriors have to defeat this evil project, carry out operations against enemy centers, prevent people from participating in elections, and block all major and minor roads before Election Day.” In other released messages since then, Taliban insurgents have been claiming responsibility for the deaths of Hamid Karzai’s and Abdullah Abdullah’s campaign workers.

The U.S. has deployed additional marines to protect the villagers so voting can continue as planned, but local officials are still doubtful, “When you leave here, the Taliban will come at night and ask us why we are talking to you,” a villager named Abdul Razzaq said. “If we don’t cooperate, they will kill us.”

For more information, please see:

CBS – Tension Rises in Afghanistan – August 16 , 2009

The Australian – Taliban Threat to Afghanistan Election – August 16, 2 009

The New York Times – Fear of Taliban Discourages Afghan Voters– August 16, 2009

LRA Peace Negotiator Quits

August 15, 2009

By Kylie M Tsudama
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

KAMPALA, Uganda – David Matsanga resigned on Friday from his post as chief negotiator for the Lord’s Resistance Army in order to run for President in the country’s 2011 elections.

“I decided to resign as the chief negotiator and leader of the LRA peace delegation,” he said. “I will return to Uganda to challenge for the presidency in 2011. I will take my stake for president of the Republic of Uganda as an independent candidate. I will unseat President (Yoweri) Museveni with a campaign for peace.”

Matsanga was a controversial negotiator for the LRA. During peace talks in southern Sudan he claimed to have ended the conflict in northern Uganda with a peace agreement.

“I have fulfilled my mandate,” said Matsanga. “The mandate was to silence the guns in northern Uganda and I have done it.”

However, LRA leader Joseph Kony was promised to Ugandan and United Nations officials for a peace agreement signing but he repeatedly failed to appear. Ugandan officials lost confidence in Matsanga with the faltering peace process. According to Paddy Ankunda, a former Ugandan military spokesman who also participated in southern Sudan, Matsanga was a “comedian” who never communicated with Kony.

Negotiation team member Justine Labeja also resigned. The two cited President Museveni and Kony’s lack of commitment to peace agreements aimed at ending Uganda’s decades-long civil war as the reason for their resignations. They said they could not “chase” Kony through the Central African Republic for his signature and that the Ugandan government failed to grant a ceasefire that would have allowed Kony to come out and sign the Final Peace Agreement (FPA).

“Museveni says Kony must sign the FPA, but he has refused to grant him a temporary ceasefire. How does he expect Kony to sign the agreement?,” Matsanga said.

The peace talks lasted from 2006 to 2008 and a final agreement was made. In April, President Museveni went to Sudan to sign the agreement but chief negotiator Salva Kiir postponed the signing when Kony failed to come.

Kony has previously been indicted by the International Criminal Court on 12 counts of crimes against humanity and 21 counts of war crimes.

For more information, please see:

AFP – Uganda Rebel Negotiator Says to Run for President – 15 August 2009

AllAfrica – Uganda: LRA Team in Peace Talks Resigns – 15 August 2009

VOA – Chief Negotiator for Ugandan Rebel Leader Quits – 15 August 2009