By Jennifer M. Haralambides
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

HARARE, Zimbabwe – The trial of a Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s senior aide was adjourned in the Harare High Court on today so the judge could deliberate the admissibility of evidence that was allegedly gathered through torture.

The state’s key witness, Peter Michael Hitschmann, who was convicted of the illegal possession of weapons in 2007, alleges that he was tortured into implicating Bennett in the coup plot.  Bennett’s lawyers claim the state is insistent upon using the statements made by Hitschmann in order to show that Bennett planned to overthrow President Robert Mugabe.

Hitschmann was arrested in 2006 and initially accused of plotting to assassinate Mugabe.  Bennett had not been linked to the case until his arrest this past February.

The charges Bennett faces are for “possessing weapons for the purpose of terrorism.”  They carry a possible death sentence or life imprisonment if convicted.

Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party leaders deny any accusations of torture, saying it should be left to the judge to determine the merits of Bennett’s case.  Sources also say that Bennett has been a thorn in the side of Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party for some time.

Beatrice Mtetwa, Bennett’s defense attorney, said that Bennett “cannot have a fair trial if false, inadmissible and no[n] existent evidence is smuggled into the court.”

He [Hitschmann] has disowned that statement and does not want to testify for the state,” she added.

This trial comes at a critical time for the country because the Southern African Development Community has instructed Mugabe and Tsvangirai to resolve their differences with in the next 30 days.

Lovemore Matombo, the president of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Union, and another Mugabe critic, was also arrested Sunday night while addressing local union members.  Other local union leaders and national staff members were also arrested.

Tsvangirai’s party, The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), has called the prosecution of Bennett a “malicious prosecution” which caused the party to temporarily withdraw from the unity government with Mugabe last month.

The judge is expected to make his ruling on the admissibility of the evidence on Wednesday.

For more information, please see:

Aljazeera – Tsvangirai Aide’s Trial Adjourned – 9 November 2009

AFP – Zimbabwe Lawyer: Witness Tortured in Weapons Trial – 9 November 2009

AP – Trial for Top Zimbabwean PM’s Aide Gets Under Way – 9 November 2009

CNN – Mugabe Opponent Bennett’s Trial Adjourned – 9 November 2009

Daily Nation – Zimbabwe Minister’s Trial Begins – 9 November 2009

By Jennifer M. Haralambides
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

DR Congo – The Congolese army attacked villages where civilians gathered to receive measles vaccinations.

The aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) denounced the attacks in North Kivu as “an abuse of humanitarian action.”  Thousands of civilians were attacked when they visited sites set up specifically to combat a measles epidemic.  The clinics were set up in order to provide the vaccine to workers otherwise unable to access regions controlled by the Hutu Rebels.

The aid agency said the clinics were targeted despite the security guarantees surrounding the aid camps.  Now MSF fears the ramifications of this attack will affect future attempts to immunize the public.  The targeting of civilians has been a major concern for charities operating in the region.  United Nations (UN) support for the government has been dependent on it respecting the neutrality of civilians.

“We feel we were used as bait . . . . How will MSF be perceived by the population now?  Will our patients still feel safe enough to come for medical care?” Said Luis Encinas, head of MSF programs in Central Africa.

The UN army has been helping the Congolese government in the offensive against Rwandan rebels since January 2009.  Now, the Congolese government says the military operations have been suspended to allow for a UN inquiry into the allegations that Congolese soldiers were responsible for killing civilians.

A military spokesman for the Congo’s UN mission said the government was unaware of the incident.

The leaders of the rebel group, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), fled to the area in 1994 after being accused of taking part in Rwanda’s genocide and have since been fighting with the local Tutsi population.  There have also been reports that more than 7,000 women and girls have been raped and more than 900,000 people forced to flee their homes.

For more information, please see:

BBC – DR Congo Army “Used Aid as Bait” – 6 Friday 2009

Reuters – Congo Army Attacked Measle Vaccine Sites-Aid Agency – 6 November 2009

VOA – Thousand Flee Ethnic Violence in Northern DRC – 6 November 2009

By Kylie M Tsudama
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

MOGADISHU, Somalia – The Kenyan government has been accused of secretly recruiting and training youths from the north eastern region to fight for the Somali transition government against al-Shabaab.

The al-Shabaab militant group in Somalia has accused Kenyan leadership of secret recruitment of fighters amongst young Kenyan Somalis to fight the Islamist movement.  al-Shabaab Islamic administration representative Sheikh Hassan Yaqub said Kenya’s north eastern region members of parliament (MPs) are responsible for the recruitment.

“Somali MPs in Kenyan parliament are responsible for recruitment of fighters in Kenyan border towns and we are warning them,” said Yaqub.

In the last three weeks at least 200 Kenyans of Somali origin have been recruited.

Habiba Kosar, one of many parents speaking out, said her 18-year-old son is being trained in a Kenyan government security facility.

“My son was picked in the middle of the night.  He is being trained for Somalia.  We have never seen Somalia and have no connection with the country.  I just want my son back,” she said.

Parents in Kenya have petitioned the government and local leaders for return of their children.

“The parents are claiming that their sons are [being] secretly smuggled out of the town in the name of army recruitment.  It is shocking to hear that [the] Kenyan government has indulged itself in such activities which can cause [this] region great concerns,” said Mayor Mohammed Gabow of Garissa town, headquarters of Kenya’s north eastern province.

Gabow accused the government of luring young men with large sums of money because of the rampant unemployment.

Both the Kenyan and Somali transitional government deny these claims.

“This is cheap propaganda disseminated by some militia groups in Somalia,” said a spokesman.  “What I am aware of is that the Kenya government and, by extension the Kenya police, has been, and will continue to be, training Somali youths to serve as policemen in their country.”

Kenyan authorities are accused of directly supporting the recruitment drive.

Escaped recruit Sharmarke Abdi said he escaped after two weeks of training alongside hundreds of Kenyan and Somali youths.

“We were told that the United Nations was supporting the recruitment.  We were transported in government vehicles.  We began training immediately.  Some of the trainers were from Somalia,” he said.

Conflict in Somalia continues as Islamist fighters and transitional government troops keep fighting.  Most recently, two have been killed and five others injured after heavy fighting with bitter shelling.  Islamists are fighting in favor of converting to an Islamic state while the current President is heading a transitional government.

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera – Youth Lured to Fight in Somalia – 07 November 2009

All Africa – Somalia: Fighting Kills Two, Wounds Five Others in North Mogadishu – 07 November 2009

Garowe Online – Somalia: Al-Shabaab Accuses Kenyan MPs Over Youth Recruitment – 07 November 2009

Impunity Watch – Kenya Recruiting Soldiers in Somalia – 25 October 2009