By Carolyn Abdenour
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

MONROVIA, Liberia – On Thursday, 22 September, vice presidential candidate and soccer star George Weah accused Liberia’s incumbent president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of buying votes and using government funds to campaign for the country presidential election on October 11, 2011.  On Friday, President Sirleaf’s spokesperson denied the allegations.

Weah made these allegations at a press conference held at the headquarters of his party, the Congress for Democratic Change (“CDC”), in Congo Town.  Cyrus Badio, President Sirleaf’s secretary, called the allegations “reckless and unsubstantiated.”

The allegations followed a report tht Weah and former prosecutor of the Special War Crimes Court for Sierra Leone Alan White signed a Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) to stir conflict if the CDC did not win the elections.  They believe former Secretary General Eugene Nagbe will damage the CDC’s chances of winning the election.  Last week, police charged three CDC members for throwing a gasoline bomb that burned Mr. Nagbe’s vehicle.

Weah asserts the CDC will win the election “very massively, because we carry the confidence of the people.”  He also calls upon the international community to monitor the elections to safeguard from fraudulent results.

Sirleaf face Weah and his running mate Winston Tubman along with fourteen additional challengers in the election.  The CDC is Liberia’s leading opposition political party to Sirleaf’s Unity Party (“UP”).

In 2005, Liberia elected Harvard-trained economist President Sirleaf as the first democratically elected female president in Africa.  Since the civil war in Liberia ended in 2003, United Nations (“UN”) Peacekeepers assist Liberians in maintaining peace in their country.

During the election’s debate, campaign, and candidate interactions, Liberian commentators call upon the candidates to mutually respect one another, behave civilly, and speak honestly to each other.  They also call upon the Ministry of Justice to investigate Weah’s claims against Sirleaf.

Weah demands free, fair, and transparent elections in Liberia.  However, when asked what his reaction would be if CDC lost the election, Weah answered “Freely and fairly, we will accept the result, because that will be the decision of the Liberian people and we will not overturn the decision.”

For further information, please see:
The Liberian Dialogue – The Ensuing Liberian Elections: A Word to the Candidates – 25 Sept 2011
The Liberian Dialogue – Weah’s Claims Must be Investigated – 24 Sept 2011
MENA FN – Weah – Ellen Will Be Defeated Massively – 23 Sept 2011
The Washington Post – Liberia Candidate Accuses President of Buying Votes; Spokesman Denies Claim – 23 Sept 2011

KAMPALA, Uganda – Uganda’s highest court has ordered a rebel commander from the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), charged with 53 counts of willful murder, should be granted amnesty and released. The high court’s ruling brings an abrupt end to the county’s first war crimes trial and is a significant blow to prosecutors trying to bring charges against the LRA’s leadership.

Uganda’s Constitutional Court has ruled that Thomas Kwoyelo , a former colonel in the Lord’s Resistance Army, is eligible for immunity even though he has been charged with 53 counts of murder against civilians, kidnapping, hostage taking, robbery, and destruction of personal property.  The charges stem from Mr. Kwoyelo’s participation in the LRA during the 20 year war in northern Uganda.  Mr. Kwoyelo, now 39, joined the LRA in 1987, and has been accused of leading raids against several villages in northern Uganda resulting in the deaths and abductions of numerous civilians between 1992 and 2005.

Mr. Kwoyelo has denied all of the charges and petitioned the Constitutional Court for amnesty. According to AFP, in reacting to the verdict granting his client amnesty, Mr. Kwoyelo’s defense attorney, Ben Ikilai said: “He is off the hook… The constitutional court has decided that he is supposed to be released because it was discriminatory not to grant him amnesty.” Mr. Ikilai went on to add that his client is anticipating an appeal from the prosecution and they will be prepared for it.

Thursday’s decision is based on an amnesty law that was enacted in 2000 and has already been used to pardon more than 10,000 LRA fighters.  Under the law, fighters who surrender and come back to Uganda peacefully will not be prosecuted for crimes they committed during the war.

According to the Ugandan government, Mr. Kwoyelo was taken into custody in March 2009 in Garamba forest in the Democratic Republic of Congo. He was arrested during a raid by regional forces against the LRA rebels who had left Northern Uganda two years earlier.  When he was capture, Mr. Kwoyelo was the fourth highest ranking official in the Lord Resistance Army.

Some of the LRA’s top commanders, including Joseph Kony, have escaped capture and continue to commit atrocities in neighboring countries.  Most recently, in July 2011, the LRA is suspected of killing 26 civilians and kidnapping 21 people, including 10 children in 53 different village raids in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Individually, Mr. Kory has been indicted by the International Criminal Court in The Hague for war crimes and faces a number of other charges including rape, murder, mutilation, and recruitment of child soldiers.

For more information, please see:

AFP — Uganda orders amnesty for LRA rebel commander – 22 September 2011

All Africa — Uganda: LRA’s Kwoyelo Ruling for Thursday – 21 September 2011

Amnesty International – Uganda’s amnesty for LRA commander a ‘setback’ for justice – 23 September 2011

Radio Netherlands Worldwide — Ugandan grants LRA rebel amnesty – 23 September 2011

UPI — LRA leader freed in Uganda –23 September 2011

By Carolyn Abdenour
Impunity Watch Reporter – Africa

ACCRA, Ghana – Last week, Ghanaian leaders and civil society groups gathered at the Towards Banning “Witches” Camps conference to develop a plan to abolish the six witch camps in the Northern Region.  Women and children reside in these witch camps after their communities banished them based on witchcraft accusations.  Deputy Minister for Women and Children’s Affairs Hajia Hawawu Boya Gariba plans to develop legislation to close witch camps, reintegrate women into their communities, and outlaw accusing women of being a witch.

However, witchcraft is not limited to the Northern Region.  Last year, five adults burned a 72-year old woman to death in Tema, a suburb of Ghana’s national capital Accra, because they believed she was a witch.  Another woman suffering from Alzheimer’s disease was tortured in Accra under witchcraft accusations after she got lost in the city.

Accusing a woman of witchcraft violates Section 5 of Ghana’s 1992 constitution, which ensures human rights and makes cultural practice that dehumanizes or injures the physical or mental health of a person illegal.  The constitution also states that a person is not guilty of a crime until a court of competent jurisdiction proves guilt.

A community member accuses the women of witchcraft when a sudden death, misfortune, or calamity occurs in the community, or based on the woman’s behavior resulting from old age, menopause, or psychological disorders.  A woman can be stoned, lynched, tortured, or banished from her community when she is accused.  After she is accused, the woman receives a trial to determine if she is a witch.  The trial consists of cutting the head off a chicken.  If the chicken lands face down or on its side, the woman is guilty.  If it falls on its back, the woman is innocent.

Once the trial is complete, the woman returns to her home or builds a new home at a “witch” camp.  The woman settles into a thatched mud hut with her possessions and children until she can reintegrate into her community, if ever.

Yaba Badoe directed and co-produced the film Witches of Gambaga.  This film depicts the stories of the women in the Gambaga Outcast Home in the Northern Region of Ghana.

Regarding the witchcraft accusations in Ghana, Ms. Gariba said, “The labeling of some of our kinsmen and women as witches and wizards and banishing them into camps where they live in inhuman and deplorable conditions is a violation of their fundamental human rights.”

For further information, please see:
Yaba Badoe – Witches of Gambaga –21 Sept 2011
GBC News – Abolish Witch Camps – 21 Sept 2011
Christian Science Monitor – Ghana aims to abolish witches’ camps – 15 Sept 2011
Ghanaian Chronicle – My Grandma is Not a Witch – 12 Sept 2011

By Daniel M. Austin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia – On Friday, September 16, human rights group Amnesty International and the European  Parliament called on the Eritrean government to release 11 former government officials who have been held incommunicado since 2001. The 12 detainees have not had any contact with the outside world since their arrest and none of the detainees have been formally charged with a crime since their detention began. Amnesty International is using the 10 year anniversary of the detainees’ arrest to remind international observers of President Isaias Afewerki’s repressive regime including the butal tactics that have been used to stifle freedom of expression and silence opposition figures.

The 11 detainees are described by Amnesty International as “prisoners of conscience.” The former government officials include Vice President Mahmoud Sherifo, Foreign Minister Haile Woldetensae, military Chief-of-staff Ogbe Abraha and several other officials who criticized President Isaias Afewerki and asked for democratic reforms.

Amnesty International is demanding: “The Eritrean authorities must immediately and unconditionally release 11 prominent politicians, including three former cabinet ministers, who have been held incommunicado without charge for 10 years.”  Along with calling for the release of these prisoners, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for Africa, Michelle Kagari is calling on the Eritrean government to provide the detainees with appropriate medical care, access to attorneys, and family members of the detainees with the location or prison where they loved ones are being held.

Along with calling for the release of these prisoners, Amnesty International is also highlighting the prison conditions under which these detainees are being housed.  Amnesty International describes the prison system in Eritrea as “notoriously dire.” In particular, inmates are housed in underground cells or in shipping containers, subject to extreme desert temperatures.

According to an Eritrean government official, Presidential adviser, Yemane Gebreab, the 11 people held in connection with the 2001 incident were not calling for government reforms but were arrested for threatening Eritrea’s national security. Mr. Gebreab told BBC’s Focus on Africa programme, “If they had succeeded in their plans Eritrea today would no longer exist as an independent sovereign state, or it would have been another Somalia.”

Consistently considered one of the world’s worst human rights offenders, Eritrea has repeatedly denied allegations of human rights abuses and has frequently denounced human rights workers as spies working for foreign intelligence agencies.

For more information, please see:

BBC News — Eritrea urged to free dissident Aster Fissehatsion – 16 September 2011

Reuters Africa — Amnesty calls for release of Eritrea officials – 16 September 2011

StarAFrica.com — Eritrea / Prisoners of conscience held for a decade must be released – 16 September 2011

Voice of America — Amnesty Intl; Demands Freedom for 11 Eritrean Politicians, Jailed Since 2001 – 15 September 2011

By Carolyn Abdenour
Impunity Watch Reporter – Africa

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa – Julius Malema, South Africa’s African National Congress (“ANC”) youth leader, accused South Africa’s courts of being racist on Wednesday, 14 September, after they convicted him of hate speech on Monday, 12 September.  The court held Malema’s signature song ‘Dubul ibhunu’ roused hatred.  Loosely translated, the song means, “Shoot the Boer”.

Judge Collin Lamont categorized the song as hate speech.  He banned people from using the song’s word in private or public.  However, ANC supporters began singing the song minutes after the ruling, and police did not arrest the singers outside the courtroom.

Afrikaner rights groups led by AfriForum filed a legal complaint to ban Malema from singing the song.  AfriForum believes the song incites violence towards the Afrikaners, a white minority ethnic group in South Africa who ruled the country under Apartheid.  Although the ANC and Malema stated they plan to appeal the verdict, the BBC reports analysts fear ANC will face difficulties disciplining him as this verdict increases his popularity.

The song discusses Afrikaners and farmers, and it became popular during the anti-apartheid movement.  Malema responded to the verdict with “Once again we find ourselves subjected to white minority approval.  Apartheid is being brought through the back door.”

Malema argues the song symbolizes the ongoing fight against oppression and injustice.  He asserts the word “Boer” refers to the Apartheid system, not Afrikaners.  Moreover, Malema emphasizes these songs should be protected by the law.  He intends to ask Parliament to protect these liberation songs as a part of the country’s anti-apartheid heritage.  Malema said “The judge alone takes the decision to ban the people’s song.  It’s an unfair practice which we must not just accept.  We must fight it.”

South Africa’s laws and liberal constitution written after Apartheid are interpreted by white judges appointed under Apartheid along with judges of all races appointed after Apartheid.  Malema, a black man, feels the government has not changed the judicial system enough after Apartheid.

The ANC is currently conducting disciplinary hearings against Malema for violating the ANC constitution, calling to overthrow the leader of Botswana, and undermining South Africa President Jacob Zuma.  The police are also investigating Malema for corrupting government contracts.

Malema believes he is a victim of a witch-hunt due to his opposition against Zuma.  However, Malema supported Zuma’s rise to power in 1999.

The court held Malema responsible for singing the song in public.  Malema responded that “Even if I wanted, I would not have the capacity (to compose it). I have got limitations. I sing badly, I have got no copyright (on it).”

For further information, please see:
BBC – South Africa’s Julius Malema denounces ‘racist’ courts – 14 Sept 11
IOL News – ANCYL to ‘demand legislation’ to protect song – 14 Sept 11
The Washington Post – South Africa: ANC youth leader calls courts racist after losing hate speech case – 14 Sept 11
Aljazeera – ‘Shoot the Boer’ freedom song banned – 12 Sept 11