By Daniel M. Austin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

NIAMEY, Niger -On Thursday, a spokesman for al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, or AQIM, claimed responsibility for the abduction of two French nationals from a restaurant in Niamey, Niger’s capital.  The abduction, which occurred on January 7, ended when French Special Forces and Niger security personnel assaulted a convoy of vehicles containing the hostages. The hostages, along with several others were killed in the struggle. French government officials have not determined if the hostages were killed by the kidnappers before the firefight began or during the skirmish itself.

The two Frenchmen, Antoine de Leocour and Vincent Delory were forcibly removed from the eatery after two white pick-up trucks pulled up and the kidnappers stormed the restaurant. The two vehicles then left the Niger capital and began heading north towards the Mali-Niger border. It is believed that the convoy was headed to a region in southern Mali where AQIM has several hidden base camps. As the vehicles were reaching the border Niger security forces caught up to the kidnappers. The initial assault was conducted by Niger security forces and then French Special Forces arrived by helicopter and began shelling the vehicles from the air. According to the French government, the convoy’s movement was being monitored by French spy planes and Niger military personnel as it traveled towards the Mali border.

The firefight left both hostages dead along with four kidnappers and two men dressed in Niger military uniforms. It remains unclear if the two men wearing the military uniforms were killed in a friendly fire incident or were working with AQIM to help the kidnappers escape. Among the hostages, one was shot in the face at close range while the other died from burns, possibly when a gasoline storage tank exploded after being hit by a bullet from the French military.

Along with this incident, AQIM has claimed responsibility for kidnapping several other foreigners in the Sahel region. The Sahel region is an area that includes parts of Niger, Mali, Mauritania and Algeria. Authorities believe that AQIM has kidnapped and is holding five French citizens, a Togolese and a Madagascan in northern Mali. These individuals were kidnapped in September 2010 from Arlit, a uranium mining town in northern Niger.

For more information, please see:

AFP — One French Niger hostage burnt, other shot — 13 January 2011

AP — Report: al-Qaida claims Niger kidnapping — 13 January 2011

BBC Africa — Al-Qaeda claims responsibility for Niger kidnappings — 13 January 2011

The Telegraph — Al Qaeda claims kidnap of French hostages in Niger – 13 January 2011

By Laura Hirahara
Impunity Watch, Africa

KINSHASA, DR Congo- Government soldiers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) have been accused of the New Year’s Day mass rape in Fizi of over a dozen women.  The coordinated attack also left many more injured and included the looting and burning of several town homes and businesses.  A spokesperson for the military, Vianney Kazarama, has confirmed that eight soldiers have been arrested in connection with the attack.  Meanwhile, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has stated that thirty-six individuals were treated for rape at the Fizi hospital and the Doctors Without Borders (MSF) clinic in Fizi.  U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky said that among the suspects in custody, all are government soldiers and at least one is a ranking officer.
Rape as a weapon of war has been prevalent in DR Congo and under-reporting makes it difficult to track.  Of the almost 16,000 cases of war rape reported in 2008, 65% of those were children, most of them girls.  Unmarried women who are raped face being ostracized in their communities and are seen as undesirable for marriage.  Married women who are raped are routinely abandoned or divorced by their husbands.
This attack highlights a pattern of rape and looting by soldiers in DR Congo.  Last month, a Congolese military commander was ‘blacklisted’ by a U.N. Security Council committee for orchestrating mass rapes in the eastern regions of the country.  Several months prior, during the summer, hundreds were raped by Rwandan Hutu rebel forces and the Congolese troops who were fighting them.  Nicholas Kristoff, New York Times Reporter on human rights violations in Africa and Asia, has said of the human rights violations occurring in DR Congo, “…no humanitarian crisis generates so little attention per million corpses, or such a pathetic international response.”

For more information, please see;

AFP– DRCongo Troops Blamed For Rapes, Looting in Sud-Kivu– 12 Jan., 2011

Reuters Africa- Congo Soldiers Held Over Alleged Rapes, Looting- U.N.– 12 Jan., 2011

AllAfrica.com- Rape.  Re-rape.  Gang Rape.  But, Really, Who Cares?– 12 Jan., 2011

By Daniel M. Austin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

ARUSHA, Tanzania – On Thursday, January 6, Tanzanian security forces shot and killed two anti-government protesters at a political rally in the northern city of Arusha. Along with killing two protesters, security forces also arrested nearly fifty people including ten prominent anti-government leaders who belonged to the Chadema party, one of the nation’s main opposition groups.  The leaders were taken to a police station, charged with unlawful assembly and then released after making bail. 

The arrests came after members of the Chadema party began an unauthorized march protesting the most recent mayoral election in Arusha. Security forces had permitted the Chadema party to hold a meeting in the city; however, when the meeting turned into a protest march, the police stepped in and prevented the march from continuing. During the police intervention several leaders of the Chadema party were arrested and detained. Reacting to the arrest of their party leaders, several marchers attempted to storm the police station where their leaders were held. In the process, security forces shot into the gathering crowd, killing two people. Eventually security forces regained control of the police station and sealed off the area. The rest of the city was unaffected by this incident and continues to operate normally.

The clashes that took place in Arusha stem from political strife between the ruling CCM party and the Chadema party.  The Chadema party, which has a strong presence in Arusha, believes the mayoral election was rigged to favor Tanzania’s ruling CCM party.

Among the opposition leaders arrested were Chadema Chairman Freeman Mbowe and Secretary General of the Chadema party Willibrod Slaa. Mr.Slaa,  the leader of the Chadema party, had made an unsuccessful run for president of Tanzania in 2010. He ran against the sitting president Mr. Jakaya Kikwete, a member of the CCM party. The election, which was held on October 31, was plagued by low voter turnout, corruption, and numerous allegations of voter fraud.  After his victory, Mr. Kikwete promised to curb the power of opposition groups like the Chadema party.  Coincidentally the arrest of Mr. Slaa occurred several days after he made comments calling for Mr. Kikwete to step down because of a scandal involving energy contracts.

For more information, please see:

 AFP — Police kill least two at Tanzania protest – 7 January 2011

The Citizen – 2 Killed, Dozens hurt in Chadema protests – 6 January 2011

BBC Africa — Tanzania police kill two in Arusha at Chadema protest – 6 January 2011

Reuters – Tanzanian police kill two rioters, seize leaders -6 January 2011

By Laura Hirahara
Impunity Watch, Africa

FIZI, South Kivu, DR Congo– On New Year’s Day, approximately thirty-three women were raped during an attack in the Democratic Republic of Congo in the small town of Fizi, located in the eastern region of South Kivu.  The organization Doctors Without Borders (MSF) reported that at their hospital in Fizi, fourteen women were treated on January 3rd, and another nineteen the following day.  Two more individuals were transferred to Baraka Hospital, 32 km to the south.  One had been beaten in the head with a rock and the other was suffering from a gunshot wound to the chest.  Annemarie Loof, an official with MSF, said of the attack, “Women had been restrained with ropes or beaten unconscious with the butt of a gun before being attacked, some in front of their children.”

Violence between the residents of Fizi and the Congolese army (FARDC) had been escalating in the days before the attack after a boy in Fizi was fatally shot during an argument with two soldiers.  Later, residents of the town beat one of the soldiers to death.  Despite these clashes with the FARDC, none of the reporting agencies have confirmed who carried out the New Year’s Day attack.  In a statement made to Reuters AlertNet, Katrien Coppens, the  operations manager for MSF DRC stated, “Unfortunately it is a feature of the war in DRC but … this massive scale (of rape) in one day in a relatively small town is very shocking.”

Rape is a common weapon of war in the DR Congo and according to the U.N., 15,000 women were raped in Eastern Congo in 2009.  During that same year, MSF provided medical and psychological care for 5,600 rape victims in the North and South Kivu region.  As high as these numbers are, MSF and other humanitarian groups believe many more cases are unreported.  Last September the U.N. harshly criticized the Congolese government for failing to prevent a mass rape that took place between July 30 and August 2 and left 303 civilian victims in the Walikale region of Congo’s North Kivu province.  This attack, carried out by Rwandan and Congolese soldiers, occurred within a mile of a U.N. peacekeeper base.  The International Medical Corps. reported that during an attack on the town of Luvungi and five neighbouring villages, husbands were forced to watch their family members being raped while some victims were dragged into the forest.  After this most recent attack in Fizi, many fear the Congolese government is not doing enough to end war rape.  In the MSF report on Fizi, Loof said, “MSF is extremely concerned about the current situation in and around Fizi.  People are fleeing the area fearing further violent attacks.”

For more information, please see;

MSF- Press Release: MSF Treats Victims of Mass Rape on New Year’s Day in DRC– 6 Jan., 2011

CNN- Women Raped in Mass Attack in Congo, Humanitarian Group Says– 7 Jan., 2011

Reuters AlertNet- Gunmen Carry Out New Year Gang-Rape in Congo-MSF– 7 Jan., 2011

Guardian.co.uk- More Than 30 Women Raped and Beaten in DR Congo Attack– 7 Jan., 2011

By Laura Hirahara
Impunity Watch, Africa

NAIROBI, Kenya- Kenya’s Industrialization Minister Henry Kosgey, already under ICC indictment, stepped down from office today facing 12 counts of corruption and graft.  Most of these charges stem from the many vehicle exemptions he gave to individuals while in office.  Kenyan law dictates no vehicles over 8 years old are road-worthy and through these exemptions, many cars past the 8 year limit were given permits to operate.  Corruption and graft is a rampant problem in Kenya, a country ranked as the 20th most corrupt nation in the world by Transparency International.  Kosgey, who was arrested shortly after his resignation, has stated, “I wish to state that my actions in this matter are above reproach, because I have committed no wrongdoing,” adding that this was not a case of corruption “in the way that most people understand the term to mean.”

Despite his protestations of innocence, the Kenya Anti-Corruption Comission (KACC) is going forward with it’s prosecution of Kosgey.  In November, the KACC began questioning Kosgey in relation to his importation of older vehicles.  Kosgey’s arrest and subsequent bail come just one day after Kenya’s attorny general gave the KACC permission to prosecute Kosgey for abuses of office.  In an interview with CNN, Professor PLO Lumumba, head of the KACC, stated the importance of prosecuting corruption since it has become so ingrained in Kenyan society, affecting the basic survival of Kenyans and their access to services like medical care and education.  Said Kosgey,

[Y]ou cannot sustainably have a country where the policeman on the beat, the individual who visits the hospital, the young person who attends school, the business person who is seeking a permit, must pay certain undocumented monies as a condition to accessing those services.

Lumumba, in reference to Kosgey, went on in the interview to say that Kenya would not be extending special treatment to corrupt government officials at any level.

Kosgey is also facing charges from the ICC, along with 5 other Kenya cabinet members, related to the 2008 post election violence that left over 1,000 dead, three times as many injured and over 600,000 forcibly displaced.  He has vigourously denied the ICC charges as well but ICC Prosecutor Moreno Ocampo has named him as having the greatest share of responsibility.

For more information, please see;

Capital News- Kosgey Denies Graft Charges, Freed on Bail- 4 Jan., 2011

CNN- Crooked Top Officials Should Take Fall, Says Corruption Chief– 3 Jan., 2011

BBC- Kenyan Minister Facing Corruption Claims Resigns– 4 Jan., 2011