By Kylie M Tsudama

Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

ZIGUINCHOR, Senegal – An attack on separatist rebels on Sunday night left one dead and five injured.  More recent fighting left three dead and nine more wounded.

Government soldiers are fighting with Casamance Movement of Democratic Forces (MFDC) in the southern part of the country in Casamance province.

“When advancing our forces came under enemy fire and we lost a man.  Five others were wounded, including two seriously,” said an unnamed military officer.

The Senegalese army has been just south of Ziguinchor, Casamance’s main city, for several days raiding MFDC bases trying to clear them out.  Last week, two government soldiers were killed.

“We are continuing our operations,” said Colonel Ousmane Sar, army spokesman.  “[Rebels] are hanging on to their ground at all costs.  [As] long as there is resistance, we will continue to clear the area.”

On Monday morning, new fighting broke out about 110 miles east of Ziguinchor near the border of Guinea-Bissau.

“This morning, [the military] learned of the presence of armed elements in the area,” said a military source.  “Soldiers in place in Sareyoba went to the area to check.  The [rebels] opened fire on them and they responded.  There was an exchange of fire but calm quickly returned.”

When Senegal’s President Abdoulaye Wade came into power ten years ago, he promised that the Casamance rebellion would be resolved in “100 days.”  Last week, Wade said he was talking to some separatist rebels “who want peace.”

The separatist movement has been divided since Father Augustin Diamacoune Senghor, the MFDC leader, died in January 2007.

Clashes between the government forces and the separatist rebels have increased in the last six months, despite a 2004 peace accord, and at least fifteen soldiers have been killed by rebels in that time.

For more information, please see:

Africasia – Clashes Intensify Between Senegal Army, Separatists – 22 March 2010

VOA – Senegalese Army Tries to Sweep Out Rebel Bases in Casamance – 22 March 2010

Africasia – Senegalese Soldier Killed in Attack on Separatist Rebels – 21 March 2010

By Jennifer M. Haralambides
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa – Sunday, as South Africa marked the 50^th anniversary of one of the darkest days of the Apartheid era, its current Deputy President called for an end to recent violent protests that have engulfed the country.    Rather than use violence, Deputy President Kagame Motlanthe charged South Africans to learn from the lessons of the past and use the democratic institutions available . . . to voice our grievances and demands.”  Mr. Molanthe called upon his citizens to protect everyone’s human rights and to learn from the lessons of the past, especially in light of the current situation in many South African townships.

Street protests have become commonplace in the townships of South Africa over the last two months, with residents speaking out against poor living conditions.  Protesters have also risen up, arming themselves with rocks and stones against housing conditions, lack of basic services and jobs.  In response, police have used everything from water cannons to rubber bullets in order to try and get the protesters to disperse.

Deputy President Motlanthe’s remarks came during the 50^th Anniversary commemoration of the Sharpeville Massacre, one of the turning points in the struggle against apartheid.  At Sharpeville fifty years ago three hundred plus citizens, protesting the pass laws, were fired upon by apartheid police.  The pass laws required black citizens to carry identification documents at all times. Sixty-nine protesting South Africans died as a result, many of whom were shot in the back by the apartheid-era police.

The Deputy President called upon his constituents to remember the lessons of the past by upholding the South African constitution and ensuring “the progressive realization of the socio-economic rights as envisaged in the Bill of Rights.”  He went on to say that “as government working with our social partners, we must strive to improve the quality of life of all our people by providing shelter, basic amenities, education, and security.”

His statements were refuted, however, by opposition party members, many of which claim that Motlanthe’s African National Congress (ANC)is the country’s greatest threat to human rights, and not the solution, as they claim.  Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille, for one, accused the ANC of greed, cronyism and power abuse.  And Jan Bosman, representative for the civil rights group, Afrikanerbond, noted that “[i]t is becoming more and more a government that blindly approves or condones abuses against the Constitution and the Bill of Rights by not acting against any abuse or breach.”

For more information, please see:

ABC News  – South African Commemorates Sharpeville Massacre – 21 March 2010

News24.com –Hounor Sharpeville, Defend Rights – 21 March 2010

Reuters – End Violent South African Protests – 21 March 2010

BBC News – South Africa Commemorates Sharpeville Massacre of 1960 – 21 March 2010

By Kylie M Tsudama

Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

LAGOS, Nigeria – The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) detonated two car bombs near the Nigerian government building in Warri in southern Nigeria.

MEND is the main armed rebel group in the region.

“Two car bombs were detonated,” MEND spokesman Jomo Gbomo said in response to the attacks.  “The third was called off after the operative in charge realized people were running in panic towards the car with the bombs.”

According to Linus Chima, a government spokesman, no government officials were injured in the explosions.  It is not yet known if anyone else was injured.

“It was a plan to scuttle the peace talks,” he said.

Delta State Commissioner for Information Oma Djebah said that the bombs were planted in vehicles about 650 feet away from the building where three state governors and the minister for the Niger Delta were meeting.  Their meeting was planned in order to strategize with militants who were given amnesty for agreeing to drop their arms.

“The people of the Niger Delta will not be intimidated or deterred by the act of a few opposed to a peaceful and non-violent approach to resolving the historic grievances of the region,” said Djebah.  “We assure that we will not be deterred in our determination to fast-track our development for our people.”

He added, “We are not moved by the act of the faceless human persons, we will continue to be focused.  The state governor has order [sic] all participant [sic] to move to a new venue and as I speak to Nigerians, the conference is ongoing.”

MEND, however, had warned the government of the attacks.

“In our usual effort to prevent the loss of innocent life, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta advises the immediate evacuation of the Government House annex Warri and its immediate surroundings up to the Delta state Broadcasting Corporation,” said a MEND statement.  “Organizers and participants at this jamboree will ignore this warning at their peril.”

This is the first attack that MEND has claimed responsibility for since January, when it called off a cease-fire with the government citing lack of progress.  MEND wants local control over the Delta’s petroleum resources.

“In the coming days, we will carry out a number of attacks against installations and oil companies across the Niger Delta and will spread out to companies such as Total [a major producer in the Nigerian hydrocarbons industry] which has been spared in the past,” Gbomo warns.  “We hope the actions which will follow will persuade Mr. Uduaghan [Delta State Governor] that we exist outside of cyberspace.”

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera – Car Bombs Hit Nigeria Oil City – 15 March 2010

Business Week – Nigeria Oil City Hit By Explosion After Rebel Warning – 15 March 2010

CNN – Rebel Group Bombs Nigerian Government Building – 15 March 2010

Reuters – Q+A-The Implications of Bomb Attaacks in Nigeria’s Oil Delta -15 March 2010

Xinhua – Bombing Occurs in Nigeria Despite Amnesty Conference – 15 March 2010

By Kylie M Tsudama

Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

Red Cross Sees Food Crisis in Zimbabwe

HARARE, Zimbabwe – According to the Red Cross, nearly 2.2 million people are in need of food aid.  That number is set to rise due to expected food shortages caused by the poor harvest this year.

Because of poor rains, many crops did not harvest soon enough.  At least eleven percent of the maize crop planted in the 2009/2010 season has been “declared a complete write-off,” according to agency reports.  Maize is a staple crop in Zimbabwe.

“In some parts of the country, the food situation is as bad as many of our volunteers and staff have ever seen it,” said Secretary General of the Zimbabwe Red Cross Society Emma Kundishora.  “In Masvingo, for example, the rains didn’t come in time and the crops have already died.”

In December 2009, the International Red Cross appealed for 38.4 million Swiss francs (33.2 million US dollars) to continue its food operations.  The group is short, however, nearly $25 million.

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe blamed the new farmers for the bad harvest, saying that they failed to obtain the proper irrigation for their crops.  Mugabe’s critics, however, blame the President because of land reforms that took white-owned farm lands and gave them to black people “to resettle blacks kicked off their land during British colonization.”  Critics believe that the reforms caused the best lands to be unharvested and gave farmlands to people who were unprepared to harvest them.

The food crisis is especially hard for those that are sick, especially those with HIV.  People affected with the virus are more needy for the nutrients in food, which keep their strength up.

“Hunger is an especially brutal experience for these people. In recent years, for example, we have seen many people default on their anti-retroviral treatment because the drugs are too toxic without food,” Kundishora said.

Zimbabwe was once called “the breadbasket of Africa,” offering much of the country’s food supply.

For more information, please see:

AFP – Two Million Need Food Aid in Zimbabwe: Red Cross – 11 March 2010

CBC News – Failed Harvest Deepens Zimbabwe Food Crisis – 11 March 2010

VOA – Red Cross Says 2.2 Million Zimbabweans Need Food Aid as Poor Harvest Looms – 11 March 2010