Ethnic Clashes Erupt in South Sudan’s Jonglei State

By Erica Smith 
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa 

JUBA, South Sudan — Fresh clashes have erupted between rival tribes in South Sudan’s Jonglei state, South Sudanese officials said Thursday. Officials did not give information on the number of causalities. South Sudan army spokesman Col. Philip Aguer reported that the violence has erupted between the rival Lou Nuer and Murle tribes in Pibor county which is also hosting a military assault against a rebel group led by renegade colonel David Yau Yau.

South Sudan army troops (photo courtesy of UN News Centre

Col. Aguer said that the South Sudan army had not been given orders to intervene in the clashes because they are communal difficulties that should be handle by civilian authorities, such as the police. “If there are two communities fighting how do you separate them with firearms?” Aguer asked. “Since these are civilians fighting civilians we think it is the (civilian) authority that should come up with a decision.”

The United States Embassy in Juba was quick to condemned this line of reasoning and issued a statement calling on government and army leaders to urge armed youth to lay down their weapons. “We are deeply disappointed the SPLA did not establish a posture appropriate to defend civilians in vulnerable areas, despite advance warning of the mobilization of armed youth which has led to the current violence,” the statement said. “The lack of action to protect civilians constitutes an egregious abdication of responsibility by the SPLA and the civilian government.”

The United States Department of State further called on South Sudan to “…meet its obligation to ensure the safety and security of all civilians, and to protect and respect their universal human rights regardless of their background or ethnicity. The Government also has an obligation to hold accountable those individuals responsible for the violence and who have committed human rights abuses – including members of the security forces – through transparent judicial processes that respect the rule of law. We continue to encourage the parties to the conflict to implement the resolutions agreed at the All Jonglei Peace Conference, and to work toward peace, reconciliation, and tolerance.”

The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) also expressed deep concern about the reports of ethnic violence. “The mission calls on the leaders of all Jonglei communities and their youth, as well as on national and state authorities, to exercise maximum restraint and urgently engage in reconciliation efforts.” UNMIISS is trying to verify reports of violence and asses population movements through the use of aerial reconnaissance flights but their effectiveness is hampered by inadequate air assets.

South Sudan celebrated its second independence anniversary last Tuesday.

 

For further information, please see:

All Africa — South Sudan: Amid Reports of Fresh Clashes in Jonglei State, UN Mission Urges Restraint — 12 July 2013

Reuters — U.S. expresses ‘deep concern’ about South Sudan violence — 12 July 2013

Sudan Tribune — US condemns violent attacks in South Sudan’s Jonglei state — 12 July 2013

US Department of State — On-Going Violence in Jonglei State, South Sudan — 12 July 2013

Fox News — Fresh round of ethnic clashes erupt on South Sudan’s Jonglei state, death toll not known — 11 July 2013

Washington Post —Fresh round of ethnic clashes erupt in South Sudan’s Jonglei state, death toll not known — 11 July 2013

UN Peacekeepers Killed in Darfur Ambush

By Danielle L. Gwozdz
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

KHARTOUM, Sudan – Seven UN peacekeepers, all Tanzanian, were killed in an attack in Darfur by an unidentified rebel group, while seventeen people were injured, Sunday at 9:00 am.  This has been the worst single attack in Sudan for the past five years.  Many blame government-linked militia for this ambush.

Peacekeepers with the UN African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) (courtesy of AFP)

The peacekeepers were part of the UN African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID), which started in 2007.

“We don’t have any doubt that the act was done by government militia, because militiaare deployed in Khor Abeche area,” said Abdullah Moursal, spokesman for the Sudan Liberation Army’s Minni Minnawi faction.  “This area is completely under government control.”

The authorities denied suggestions from local sources that the attack appeared to have been planned and carried out by government-linked forces.

However, a humanitarian source expressed doubt that rebels would have carried out the attack on UNAMID.  “When people are killed, probably it’s more militia,” he said, asking for anonymity from AFP.   “The only thing they will do in future is to make sure they stay safe, rather than investigating anything.”

But UNAMID chief Chambas blamed inter-ethnic fighting for most of the violence.

The attack occurred when police and military personnel were on patrol, moving between bases.

Spokesman Christopher Cycmanick said the incident happened as the peacekeepers were on patrol about 16 miles west from a second base in South Darfur.  Mr. Cycmanick told the BBC a large group of armed men had attacked the peacekeepers and there had been an intense exchange of gunfire. He said it was not yet known who the attackers were.

UN leader Ban Ki-moon was outraged about the killings.  Ban sent “deepest sympathies” to the families of the dead and the Tanzanian government.

“The secretary general was outraged to learn of a deadly attack on peacekeepers in Darfur which occurred this morning,” said UN spokesman Martin Nesirky.

“The UNAMID team came under heavy fire from a large unidentified group. Following an extended firefight, the patrol was extracted by UNAMID reinforcements”, a statement from WORLD said.

About 50 UNAMID members have now died in hostile action since the mission began in late 2007. Before Saturday’s attack, six peacekeepers had been killed in Darfur since October.

An estimated 300,000 people have been displaced by violence in Darfur this year; more than in the last two years combined.

 

For further information, please visit:

The Daily Star — Militia behind deadly Darfur peacekeeper ambush: rebels — 14 July 2013

WORLD — Seven UN peacekeepers killed in Darfur ambush –14 July 2013

KBC — UN peacekeepers killed in Darfur — 14 July 2013

BBC News — UN peacekeepers killed in Sudan’s Darfur — 13 July 2013

msn news — Seven peacekeepers killed in Darfur ambush  — 13 July 2013

Yahoo! News — Seven peacekeepers killed in Darfur ambush — 13 July 2013

 

Rebel Attack Forces Over 30,000 Congolese to Flee

By Danielle L. Gwozdz
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of the Congo – 30,000 refugees flee the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to neighboring Uganda after a rebel attack.  Al-Qaeda linked  rebels, the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), killed and also kidnapped some people, while others crossed into Uganda to save their lives.  This attack raises fears of a renewed campaign and a refugee influx.

A mother carries her baby to a refugee camp (courtesy of AFP)

“We heard rumours there were rebels coming but we did nothing,” Evaketi Tibalumanya, a Congolese Refugee, told Al Jazeera, holding one of her nine children in her lap.  “Then they came by surprise at night.  They caught a person and killed him.  We escaped death because we ran away.”

Ugandan army spokesman Paddy Ankunda stated that troops have been sent to reinforce positions along the border with Congo.

“We have deployed enough forces on our common border to ensure these terrorists (ADF) do not cross the line, because Uganda is their target,” Ankunda told AFP.

Uganda worries that an unchecked build-up of the ADF could pose a major threat to its Lake Albert region where crude reserves have been discovered (estimated at 3.5 billion barrels), and production of this is expected to commence soon.

The Ugandan military also fear that ADF may have gained attack skills from al Shabaab, the al-Qaeda linked insurgent group operating in Samalia, which could now be used in Uganda.

“They’ve been training on IEDs . . . they’re planning to use small bombs on the population. We’re taking that very seriously because that means that given the porousness of our borders, they can easily sneak in sleeper cells inside our towns and attack our people,” Ankunda said.

The ADF waged an insurgency against Kampala in the late 1990s from its bases in the Ruwenzori Mountains and across the frontier in the eastern Congo jungle. The ADF was blamed for a series of deadly blasts in the capital.

A government offensive that ended in 2001 killed many of ADF’s top commanders, quelled the uprising and pushed its remnants deeper into eastern Congo.

The group had since kept largely silent and carried out only minor attacks on villages and units of Congo’s army.

Aid groups and the Ugandan government are struggling to cope with an influx that took them by surprise.

“People have no food, they have no shelter, they are sleeping in the open. The classrooms that have been provided by the government are not adequate enough to accommodate the huge number of people,” Richard Nsubuga of the Uganda Red Cross told Al Jazeera.

Ugandan soldiers kept a close watch on the refugees as they crossed the border and Paddy Ankunda told a news conference that the military was worried the rebels might join the influx disguised as refugees.

For further information, please visit:

Aljazeera — Congo refugees pour into Uganda after attack — 13 July 2013

Yahoo! News — Over 30,000 Congolese flee rebel attacks to Uganda: UN — 13 July 2013

IOL — Congo attack stirs Ugandan fears — 12 July 2013

BBC News —  Congo flee after Uganda’s ADF attack Kamango — 12 July 2013

Reuters — Uganda army says fears rebels influx after eastern Congo attack — 12 July 2013

The Daily Star — Ugandan rebels attack eastern Congolese town — 12 July 2013

 

 

Russia Convicts Dead Man, Seeks His Alleged Accomplice

By Ben Kopp
Impunity Watch, Europe

MOSCOW, Russia – Against the views of the European Union and Amnesty International, Russia found Sergei Magnitsky guilty of tax evasion in the country’s first posthumous trial. In absentia, Russia also found guilty Magnitsky’s boss, William Browder.

Sergei Magnitsky was convicted of tax evasion four years after his alleged murder in prison. (Photo courtesy of Telegraph)

Before his arrest, Sergei Magnitsky campaigned against corruption, and believed that he uncovered a tax scam involving several interior ministry officials, who allegedly stole 150 million Euros. In turn, Russian officials accused Magnitsky and Browder of creating their own tax scheme to defraud the government. As a British Citizen and resident, Browder was neither physically detained nor likely to be extradited under the circumstances.

While in prison, Magnitsky claimed that he was mistreated and denied medical care in attempt to make him confess to tax evasion. In 2009, at age 37, Magnitsky died of untreated illnesses. The Kremlin’s human rights council added that evidence demonstrate Magnitsky had been beaten to death. However, President Vladimir Putin dismissed allegations of torture and mistreatment. According to Putin, Magnitsky died of heart failure.

Under a July 2011 ruling by the Russian Constitutional Court, posthumous trials became possible. Nevertheless, Amnesty International stated that in prosecuting Magnitsky, Russia “set a dangerous precedent that could open a whole new chapter in Russia’s worsening human rights record.”

In agreement, the European Union said the trial sent “a disturbing message to those who fight corruption in Russia.”

Browder remarked that the verdict which convicted Magnitsky and himself would “go down in history as one of the most shameful moments for Russia since the days of Josef Stalin.”

Browder’s Hermitage Capital said in a statement: “This show trial confirms that Vladimir Putin is ready to sacrifice his international credibility to protect corrupt officials who murdered an innocent lawyer and stole $230 million from the Russian state.”

In the US, Browder had lobbied for the Magnitsky Act, which became law in December 2012. Under the Magnitsky Act, the US blacklists Russian officials believed to have been involved in Magnitsky’s death or severe human rights abuses against other persons, and freezes that person’s assets. In response, Russia created its own blacklist of US officials involved in Guantanamo, and further prohibited Americans from adopting Russian children.

Following Magnitsky’s conviction, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Baer encouraged consideration of expanding the blacklist against Russia. “My bureau has been involved in producing the first list, and we do see it as an ongoing project and we plan to add names to the list,” Baer said.

“We have explained repeatedly that the “war of blacklists” started by Washington is unquestionably a dead end, dooming Russian-US relations to fruitless confrontation,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a heated statement. The ministry went on to point out that the Prism surveillance documents released by Edward Snowden provide several names that Russia could use to expand its blacklist against the US.

Without even the aid of Interpol, Russia’s battle for its officials may stop short of Browder. However, in disregarding international reputation, Russia will win control over its people.

For further information, please see:

Guardian – Sergei Magnitsky Trial: This is Putin’s Kind of Justice – July 13, 2013

Voice of Russia – Russia Reacts Angrily to US Threat to Expand Magnitsky List – July 13, 2013

Euronews – Russian Lawyer Magnitsky Found Guilty of Tax Fraud Four Years after Death – July 11, 2013

Reuters – Russia Convicts Lawyer Magnitsky in Posthumous Trial – July 11, 2013

RT – Court Finds Magnitsky, Bowder Guilty of Tax Evasion — July 11, 2013

Telegraph – Russia Finds Sergei Magnitsky Guilty of Tax Evasion – July 11, 2013

Thousands of Workers in Brazil Protest for Better Conditions

By Ellis R. Cortez
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BRASILIA, Brazil –  On July 11th, tens of thousands of workers blocked key highways and staged mainly peaceful marches across Brazil in a day of industrial action called by trade unions to demand better working conditions and tougher government measures to contain rising inflation.

Members of various labor unions block a road in Sao Paulo, Brazil on July 11, 2013. (Photo Courtesy of AFP)

The “National Day of Struggle” was called by the country’s top five labor federations. The unions demanded better wages, a 40-hour working week, job security, improved public transportation, as well as more investment in public health and education.

Industry workers, shopkeepers, civil servants, teachers and even hospital staff took to the streets nationwide. Demonstrators blocked roads and around 40 highways in 18 of the country’s 26 states, as well as access to several ports. The crowds were smaller than in last month’s protests, which brought more than a million people onto the streets.

In Brazil’s largest city, Sao Paulo, an estimated 5,000 people hoisting flags and banners blocked traffic on several roads, including Via Dutra, which is Brazil’s most important highway because it connects Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. In Brasilia, thousands demonstrated in front of the the National Congress and in Campo Grande, deep in Brazil’s interior, 35,000 demonstrated.

Among companies affected were General Motors, where a 24-hour strike was in effect, and Embraer, Brazil’s top plane maker. In many cities, public transportation was brought to a near standstill. Banks and shops had been closed for fear of looting and ransacking. Several schools were closed and in some hospitals around the country, only emergency services were operating.

Demonstrators also disrupted Brazil’s busiest port, Santos. Workers at Santos, which is also Latin America’s largest port, were complaining that Embraport, the largest Brazilian private multi-modal port terminal, is not hiring through the state-run labor management agency OGMO, which places union members in jobs. The workers fear that bypassing OGMO will make it possible for private companies to recruit non-unionized workers who will accept lower wages.

The protests were largely peaceful during the day. However, in Rio de Janeiro a group of masked protesters threw Molotov cocktails and rocks at police. The police pushed them back with teargas. The masked group sparked the clashes in a side street and then took refuge in a peaceful march in which union leaders called for calm and sang the national anthem. Due to the violence, the march was dispersed before it reached its final destination, and at least 12 people, including two minors, were arrested.

For more information please see:

France 24 – Brazil protest draws smaller crowds than June rallies – 12 July 2013

BBC – Brazil protests: Tens of thousands in union-led strikes – 12 July 2013

France 24 – Brazil workers protest nationwide for better conditions – 11 July 2013

La Nacion – Paro en Brasil: sin trasporte público y con rutas bloqueadas – 11 July 2013

The Guardian – Thousands on streets in Brazil protests – 11 July 2013