By Jennifer M. Haralambides
Impunity Watch Reporter,  Africa

LOME, Togo – European Union has concerns over Togo’s presidential election regarding transparency in the collation of results.

Both the ruling and opposition parties are claiming victory in this election.  Because of this uncertainty, many fear renewed violence in the west African nation.

Togo’s independent electoral commission (CENI) said that the official results will be published on Saturday.

Jean-Pierre Fabre, Togo’s opposition presidential candidate, has alleged “irregularities” in the voting procedures, referencing such things as stuffing ballot boxes.  The ruling party as rejected these claims and is now accusing the opposition of trying to spark violence between the two groups.

The Rally of the Togolese People (RPT) party has been ruling for over forty years while the opposition has been campaigning on a platform of change.  President Faure Gnassingbe is seeking his second five-year term.

Taxi driver and opposition supporter Felix Amelo warned, “People are tensely awaiting the results because if there is no change, there will again be destruction.”

Local police and the electoral commission have said that there were no incidents recorded during the polling process.

“In all, voting went very well.  There were more rumors than incidents,” said senior police commissioner Abalo Assih.

Looming fear is stemming from the violence that followed the election of Gnassingbe in 2005 that lead to hundreds of deaths, the United Nations putting the number between 400 and 500.

For more information, please see:

AFP – Togo’s Ruling, Opposition Parties Claim Victory in Vote – 5 March 2010

BBC – EU Observer Fears Over Togo Poll – 5 March 2010

Business Week – Togo’s Ruling Party Calls Opposition Win Claim “Unacceptable” –  2010

AP – Story of 2 Families at Heart of Togo’s Election – 3 March 2010

By Jared Kleinman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

PARIS, France — French police arrested Agathe Habyarimana Tuesday, the widow of Juvenal Habyarimana, the Rwandan president whose plane was shot down in 1994, setting off the massacre of 800,000 Tutsi and moderate Hutu. Agathe Habyarimana, who had been living in a Paris suburb for the past 12 years after fleeing her country, is wanted for trial in her homeland as one of the alleged masterminds of the 1994 genocide.

French police were acting on an international arrest warrant issued by Rwanda when they turned up at Habyarimana’s home in Courcouronnes, south of Paris, shortly before 8:00 am. The Tutsi-led government in Kigali has accused the 68-year-old woman of being a member of the “akazu” Hutu inner circle that planned the mass killings, a charge she has steadfastly denied.

Her arrest came a week after President Nicolas Sarkozy visited Kigali to seal the restoration of diplomatic ties between France and Rwanda after a three-year break. Kigali broke off relations with Paris in late 2006 after a French anti-terrorist judge implicated President Paul Kagame’s entourage in Habyarimana’s assassination.

During his trip, Sarkozy stopped short of offering an apology but admitted that France had made “mistakes” by failing to recognize the scale of the killings. After touring the genocide memorial, Sarkozy said France would do everything possible to ensure that “all those responsible for the genocide are found and are punished.”

Habyarimana’s lawyer, Philippe Meilhac, said the arrest of the widow dubbed “Lady Genocide” by some rights groups was directly linked to Sarkozy’s Kigali visit last week. “You can’t not draw a link,” said Meilhac. “The extradition request from Kigali dates back to November and was obviously re-activated” after Sarkozy returned from Rwanda.

Habyarimana was refused political asylum in 2004 and lost a final appeal in October before the State Council because French judges had found she was a central figure in the Hutu government that orchestrated the genocide. It was unclear if Mrs. Habyarimana would be extradited because France has refused to hand over other suspects for fear they would not receive fair trial.

Meilhac said that Habyarimana will fight extradition and that “if she must be heard, she asks that it be in a French or international court.” “She considers that Rwandan criminal courts are not sufficiently independent or impartial,” said Meilhac.

France has transferred three Rwandan suspects to Tanzania to face prosecution before an international tribunal, but judges have so far refused to extradite genocide suspects to Kigali.

For more information, please see:

The New Times – Agathe Habyarimana Arrested for Genocide – 3 March 2010

New York Times – Widow of a Rwandan Leader Is Arrested – 2 March 2010

AFP – Rwandan Leader’s Widow Arrested in France – 2 March 2010

ARUSHA, Rwanda – Justin Mugenzi, the former Rwandan Commerce Ministe filed a motion February 25^th to reopen his defense case in his trial for a 1994 genocide. Mugenzi’s defense filed a brief with the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) claiming that the prosecution withheld documents that might have an impact on a finding of guilt. The documents were given to Mugenzi’s defense February 18^th, but the statements in the documents were allegedly made one-year before the trial began. The motion also requests that the prosecution be instructed to conduct a review of all materials in its possession to determine if additional disclosures to the defense are necessary.

For more information, please see:

allAfrica .com – Rwanda: Ex- Minister Wants His Case Re-Opened – February 29 2008

By Kylie M Tsudama

Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

MONROVIA, Liberia – In the midst of violence, the United Nations has sent peacekeepers to the northern Liberia village of Voinjama in Lofa County, where the government has imposed a curfew.

Clashes were sparked by the death of a Christian student in the Konean village near Voinjoma.  Her body was found “with body parts extracted” near a mosque.

“A few days ago a girl named Korpu Kamara went missing and were on a search for her, but yesterday she was found dead with bullet (wounds) on her body,” said Joseph Wulu.

Following the discovery, students in Konean went on a rampage and destroyed a mosque.

“In reaction the Muslims of Voinjama went on a rampage and burned down churches, including the Catholic mission,” Wulu said.

Media reports that two mosques, one church, and other properties have been burned down.  Witnesses have identified the Catholic, Baptist, and Episcopal churches in the area as those that have been burned down.  Additionally, a doctor at Talawayon hospital in Voinjama reported that four people died and another eighteen were being treated for injuries.

The outbreak of violence is said to have been a clash between Muslims and Christians.  This is the third violent outbreak between the two communities this year.

The UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) dispatched police and military personnel to help the Liberia National Police.  UNMIL called on “all the peace committees and local security committees to take the appropriate measures to contain the situation and act according to their designated objectives.”

Since 2003, UNMIL has had peacekeepers stationed in Liberia tasked with restoring peace.  Last year the UN Security Council extended the mandate in order for UNMIL to be authorized to assist Liberia with its 2011 elections.

For more information, please see:

Washington Post – Curfew in North Liberia After Religious Clashes – 27 February 2010

AFP – UN Peacekeepers Sent to Probe Religious Clashes in Liberia – 26 February 2010

UN News Centre – UN Blue Helmets Sent to Scene of Violence in North-West Liberia – 26 February 2010

By Jennifer M. Haralambides
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast – Opposition leaders say they are ready to join a new unity government that will end a stand off that has threatened the country’s peace process.

Two weeks ago President Gbagbo dissolved the standing governmental body, accusing it of fraud and of being controlled by the opposition party.   This dissolution caused deadly protests.

On Friday morning, Gbagbo announced the appointment of a new election commission, headed by a member of the opposition and tasked with preparing long delayed elections.

“We are satisfied with this first stage of the re-installation of the independent electoral commission, which will now go back to work,” said opposition spokesman Alphonse Djedje Mady.

After the announcement, Alassene Ouattara, senior opposition leader,  told reporters that opposition groups had agreed to take the eleven seats reserved for them in the twenty-seven member cabinet.

At the heart of this dispute is the issue of voter registration.  The previous electoral commission head and member of the opposition Democratic Party of Ivory Coast (PDCI), Robert Mambe, was accused of fraudulently trying to add around 429,000 names to the electoral roll.  That decision delayed elections that were already over six years overdue, provoking a public outcry that led to violence in the streets and a handful of deaths.  Mambe has denied the allegations.

Even though the new head of the electoral commission, Youssouf Bakayoko, also comes from the PDCI, he will be forced to abandon all political activity.

This new government includes many of the same people involved in the previous government, and the independent electoral commission also remains much the same.

No new date has been set for the much anticipated elections, although officials hope they can be held sometime in April or May.

“If it means peace can come back to your country then I guess that’s good . . . . We’re really tired of all this,” said fruit seller Odette Brou.

For more information, please see:

AFP – I. Coast Opposition Agrees to Join Government – 26 February 2010

BBC – Ivory Coast Opposition to Join New Unity Government – 26 February 2010

Reuters – Ivory Coast Opposition to Join Govt., End Protests – 27 February 2010