Africa

Rights Activist Arrested in Western Sahara

By Kylie M Tsudama
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

RABAT, Morocco – Western Sahara rights activist Aminatou Haidar, 42, was arrested on Friday after arriving in Laayoune, capital of Western Sahara, from the Canary Islands.  On Saturday Moroccan authorities ejected her to the Spanish archipelago.

Haidar is accused of being linked to the Polisario rebel group.  She was arrested for allegedly refusing to follow police formalities.  According to Haidar, she was arrested at the airport when she listed Western Sahara as her country of residence on an entry form at Laayoune airport.

“After her stubborn refusal to follow normal police procedures and renouncing her Moroccan citizenship upon her arrival at Laayoune airport…Aminatou Haidar was sent back by plane Saturday to the Canary Islands,” said a security source.

Haidar, a mother of two, lives with her children in Laayoune.  She threatened to go on a hunger strike if she is not allowed to fly back on Sunday.  It is unclear whether or not she will be allowed to return because Moroccan authorities confiscated her passport when they arrested her.

A leading defender of human rights of the people in Western Sahara, known as Sahrawis, Haidar received the 2008 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Laureate.  Most recently she received the Civil Courage Prize from The Train Foundation in New York on October 21.

“This prize gives me the courage to pursue the non-violent struggle that I have been leading since I was 23,” she said.  “I have been threatened with arrest on my return.”

In 2005 Haidar became a symbol for non-violent protest when she nearly killed herself by going on a hunger strike after Moroccan authorities imprisoned her for nearly seven months.  Some of her admirers call her “Sahrawi Gandhi.”

Haidar frequently criticizes Morocco’s annexation of Western Sahara after Spanish colonial rule ended in 1975.  Her critique prompted the Polisario to rise up for independence of the territory.  Members of a seven-person group are to appear before a military tribunal in Rabat on charges of supporting secession after returning from a visit to Polisario refugee camps in Algeria on October 8.

Last week, King Mohammed VI warned “opponents of the territorial integrity of Morocco” that he would be cracking down, referring to Sahrawis supporting the Polisario Front.

For more information, please see:

AFP – Western Sahara Rights Activist Expelled From Morocco – 14 November 2009

AllAfrica – Human Rights Awardee Detained, Deported By Morocco – 14 November 2009

AFP – Polisario Militant Arrested in Morocco – 13 November 2009

ASVDH (The Sahrawi Association of Victims of Grave Human Rights Violations) – RFK Center Condemns Morocco’s Detention of Decorated Human Rights Defender, Amintou Haidar – 13 November 2009

ASVDH – Western Saharan Activist Wins Prestigious RFK Human Rights Award – 16 September 2008

Child Health Days Campaign Benefits Thousands of Somalis

By Jared Kleinman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

MOGADISHU, Somalia – At least 83,000 Somali children and women benefited from the Child Health Days Campaign carried out with United Nations support in the Afgooye corridor, which hosts displaced people who fled their homes due to the violence in the capital, Mogadishu.

Child Health Days was launched with the purpose to improve child survival rates in the violence-wracked country. The five-day campaign, carried out with the support of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Health Organization (WHO) and local non-governmental organizations (NGOs), reached at least 46,000 children under-five and 37,000 women of child-bearing age with critical health services, including vaccinations, vitamin supplements and hygiene education.

The 30-kilometre stretch of road west of Mogadishu is the world’s most densely populated settlement for internally displaced persons (IDPs), who live in harsh conditions and lack even the most basic social services, according to the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

The Child Health Days were launched in Somalia in December 2008 reaching over one million children under five and 800,000 women across the country during the first round. It is repeated every six months to help promote child survival and boost immunization rates, in addition to promoting demand for public health services among communities.

The large-scale campaign was made possible, despite poor infrastructure and lack of appropriate health facilities, thanks to the efforts of more than 200 vaccinators and 300 health workers.

Fighting since early May between Government forces and Al Shabaab and Hisb-ul-Islam has displaced around 160,000 IDPs in the strife-torn country. Around 3.7 million people, about half the population, are dependent on humanitarian aid due to the combined effects of conflict, drought, high food prices and the collapse of the local currency.

For more information, please see:

AllAfrica – Tens of Thousands of Women and Children Benefit From UN Health Initiative – 12 November 2009

UN News Center – UN Agencies Launch Next Round of Child Health Initiative in Somalia – 14 August 2009

AllAfrica – UN Agencies Launch Child Health Initiative – 14 August 2009

Prosecution’s Cross-Examination of Taylor Doesn’t Go As Planned

By Jonathan Ambaye
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa Desk

THE HAGUE,Netherlands-In his second day of cross-examination Charles Taylor was confronted with questions by the Prosecution that did not please him, or his defense counsel.  The Prosecution’s lead counsel, Ms. Brenda Hollis, asked Taylor questions about certain provisions in the Lome Peace Accord, which was a peace agreement signed between the Sierra Leonean government and the country’s main rebel group, the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), in 1999. It was when she attempted to present a copy of the agreement to Taylor to discuss specific provisions that benefitted the RUF, that Taylor’s defense counsel quickly objected to what he called an attempt to introduce “fresh evidence” after the case was closed.

The objection was sustained, and the presiding judge, Justice Richard Lussic reasoned that “the interests of justice require consideration of all evidence against the accused, but it was necessary to balance such need for justice with the fair trial rights of the accused.” The judges ruled that the prosecution could not introduce new evidence in the form of documents which had not been presented as part of the prosecution’s case and were not used by the defense in direct-examination of the accused.

The court however insisted that the Prosecution, instead draft a motion, allowing the defense an opportunity to respond about the inclusion of the Lome Accord. Upon that, the judges could make a ruling on whether the new documents could be introduced as part of the prosecution’s cross-examination of Taylor.

This ruling seems to have put a dent in the Prosecution’s strategy. This is evidenced by the Prosecution’s request the next day to adjourn early to allow more time to “rearrange” strategies for the cross examination of Taylor.

For more information please see:

All Africa – Judges Caution Prosecution On The Introduction of New Evidence – 11 November 2009

Charles Taylor Trial – Judges Caution Prosecution On The Introduction of New Evidence In The Cross-Examination of Charles Taylor – 11 November 2009

Charles Taylor Trial – Judges Give Prosecution More Time to Rearrange Strategies For The Cross-Examination of Charles Taylor – 12 November 2009

Most Recent Clash in Mogadishu Leaves 6 Dead and Thousands More Searching for Solace

By Jared Kleinman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

MOGADISHU, Somalia – Heavy fighting between Somali transitional government forces and rebel Al Shabaab militants have left at least six people dead and another 12 injured in Mogadishu.

The fighting broke out Saturday afternoon when heavily armed Al Shabaab militant fighters carried out attacks on government bases in the Mogadishu districts of Bondhere and Abdiaziz.

Residents said that most of the people who were killed and wounded were civilians. Those people who were killed died when mortar shelling and heavy weapons artillery landed in their Mogadishu neighborhoods.

The Somali capital has been ravaged in recent months by a string of deadly clashes between the Al Shabaab rebels and government troops backed by African Union troops. The Al Shabaab militants are intent on overthrowing the fragile UN-backed transitional government. Al-Shabaab and its allies currently control most of southern and central Somalia, while the government, helped by the AU force, just runs parts of Mogadishu.

Somalia has been crippled by over 18 years of civil war and has had no functioning government since the collapse of the Siad Barre regime in 1991. The years of fighting and anarchy have left some three million people, more than half of the country’s population, dependent on humanitarian aid, with nearly 300,000 refugees crammed into a few square kilometers at the Dadaab camp in northeastern Kenya alone.

Al-Shabaab wants foreign peacekeepers out of the country while Somalia’s transitional government wants more foreign support. Should the AU forces leave, thousands of Somali’s will suffer with out the AU’s humanitarian aid. Should the AU forces stay and maintain their foreign fortification against the Al-Shabaab insurgents, Al-Shabaab will continue its attacks.

For more information, please see:

Garowe Online – Civilians Killed in Fresh Mogadishu Clashes – 8 November 2009

PressTv – At least 6 dead in latest clashes in Mogadishu – 8 November 2009

Shabelle Media Network – Fighting Kills Two, Wounds Five Others in North Mogadishu – 7 November 2009

Taylor Says He Was Tricked By Nigeria Into Leaving Liberia

By Jonathan Ambaye
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa Desk

THE HAGUE, Netherlands-Today, prosecutors at The United Nation’s Special Court for Sierra Leone began their cross-examination of former Liberian President, Charles Taylor. Taylor is facing charges for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Taylor has been the defense’s first witness, and has spent the last thirteen weeks under direct examination of his defense attorneys. During the course of these thirteen weeks, much of it has involved Taylor dismissing the prosecution’s case against him as a series of lies.

With their first opportunity to respond to Taylor’s cries of “lies”, the prosecution opened their cross-examination of Taylor by asking, who was lying? In the course of questioning, the prosecution said, “Now Mr. Taylor, you have said to this bench throughout your direct examination that all of this evidence here before you, it’s all lies. And you have talked about how perhaps, cunning is not the word you used. But Mr. Taylor, it’s true isn’t it that of all the people who have come before these judges, you are the one who has the most reason to lie?”

Taylor subsequently responded by disagreeing with the prosecutor’s assertion that he is the one lying, because he has the most to lose. Taylor says, I have been truthful before this court. Unless you can point to me. I have told this court the truth. And I suggest that you point to me and present the evidentiary fact before this court that I am lying.”

Taylor is pleading not guilty to an eleven count indictment that includes murder, rape, enslavement, and conscription of child soldiers. Taylor’s defense attorneys today questioned the legality of Taylor being turned over to the court after he was granted political asylum in Nigeria. In conclusion of his defense testimony, Taylor said he agreed to resign as Liberian President in 2003 for the sake of peace, but was tricked by the “international community.” Taylor says in reference to the charges against him, “This was about regime change, and everything was put into place to accomplish that regime change.” Taylor later spoke of how he was repeatedly assured by other African leaders, specifically then Nigerian President, Olusegun Obasanjo that he was not going to be turned over to the Special Court.

Taylor is convinced that “Washington” and “London” were determined to see him stand trial, and thus he claims they influenced other African nations such as Nigeria to turn him over to the Special Court.

For more information please see:

BBC  – Charles Taylor “Duped” by Nigeria – 10 November 2009

Charles Taylor Trial – “I Decided That I Will Leave Liberia For The Sake of Peace” – 9 November 2009

VOA – Cross Examination Begins in War Crimes Trial of Former Liberian President – 10 November 2009