By Kylie M Tsudama
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

THE HAGUE, Netherlands – During trial proceedings on August 4, Charles Taylor denied the existence of any secret bank accounts.  He is accused of hiding large sums of money in secret bank accounts around the world.  The money is said to have been gained through illicit diamond trading with Sierra Leonean rebels from the RUF (Revolutionary United Front).

“I challenge the prosecutor to bring any evidence of a bank account that I have — they know it’s a lie but they keep repeating it.  I ask anyone on this planet, if you know of any account that I opened or if you know anyone who was acting in my interest, you are obliged to come forward and say it,” said Taylor.  Adding, “What bank account has the UN found out for me?  Nobody ever brings factual evidence but it is repeated, repeated and repeated, and you can never put things straight.”

The prosecutor is and has been working with the UN Sanctions Committee to discover and recover any moneys and assets that might be hidden.  Taylor maintains that they will not find any and evidence proving his innocence might take a while to emerge.

“I may be dead and gone before somebody will say Taylor did not have any money or assets all over the world,” he said.

Taylor also denied allegations that he aided RUF in attacking diamond fields.  When questioned by lead defense counsel Courtenay Griffiths about what he had to gain from helping the rebels, he said, “absolutely nothing. The allegation is false. I had everything to lose in the process if anything like that happened.”

The former Liberian President also called on the United States and Britain to declassify and release radio intercepts.  He says that these recordings could clear him of the crimes charges and that the US has the power to “unravel this case.”

Charles Taylor is facing 11 counts of murder, rape, sexual enslavement, torture and recruiting child soldiers and of aiding Sierra Leonean rebels during the civil war that lasted from 1991-2002.

For more information, please see:

CharlesTaylorTrial.org – Taylor Tells Court He Has No Secret Bank Accounts; Says He Did Not Give Orders to RUF Commander Sam Bockarie – 08 August 2009

AP – Ex-Liberian Chief Pushes Back at US Government – 07 August 2009

AP – Ex-Liberian Prez Wants to Hear US Radio Intercepts – 06 August 2009

CharlesTaylorTrial.org – Taylor Dismisses Allegations of His Hidden Wealth as Lies – 04 August 2009

By Jennifer M. Haralambides
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

NAIROBI, Kenya – A human rights organization has called on the Kenyan government to improve security in northern Kenya in order to prevent killings and cattle rustling.

The Kenyan government’s human rights watch dog, the Kenyan National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) accused state agencies of being too lenient in dealing with the insecurity in the Upper Eastern region and challenges them to step it up.

KNCHR condemned the recent killings that occurred in Isiolo, Samburu, Tigania, Igembe, Garbatula and Laisamis, and announced that security forces have not taken appropriate action to detain those responsible.

“Insecurity in the region has brought development to a near standstill and we need to note that when people already have very little, the impact of insecurity in terms of the clashes takes them back to step one,” said KNCHR Commission Vice-Chairman Hassan Omar Hassan.

The insecurity has been fueled by increasing allegations that cattle rustling has been commercialized.  Sources say that more than 70 people, including security agents, have been killed and over 5,000 livestock stolen since December 2007. The commission also alleged a cover up by the local provincial administration and other security officials who are trying to make the situation appear less serious than it actually is.

There are currently thousands of cattle and goats grazing in the Shaba National Reserve and they are being protected by local militiamen.  The Kenya Red Cross said tension was also high between communities in Gambela where close to 10 people were killed and more than 1,700 families were displaced last month.

“The government must nip this crisis in the bud,” Hassan added. “This insecurity is further aggravated by alleged militia harbored in the park which endangers safety of the tourists,” he said.

For more information, please see:

Capital News – KNHCR Condemns Killings in Upper Eastern – 9 August 2009

Daily Nation – Boost Security to Avert Raids, Urges Group – 9 August 2009

Kenya Broadcasting Corporation – KNCHR Condemns Killing in North Eastern – 9 August 2009

By Dahee Nam
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Africa

BANJUL, Gambia – Six Gambian journalists were jailed for two years on Thursday for publishing a statement criticizing the president.  They were convicted of six counts of defamation and sedition.

Those convicted include three executive members of the Gambian Press Union, two reporters from The Point newspaper, and one from Foroyaa newspaper.  One of the journalists for The Point also contributed to Reuters.  The journalists were sentenced to two-year prison term and heavy fines after criticizing President Yahya Jammeh’s declaration that the government was not responsible for the 2004 death of prominent journalist Deyda Hydara.

Hydara, the editor and co-founder of The Point and the Gambia correspondent for Agence France-Presse, was killed by unidentified gunmen in his car on the outskirts of the capital city of Banjul in December, 2004.  He was also a member of Reporters Without Borders, which advocates freedom of the press.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the sentencing was a “politicized judgment,” saying that it “reflects a partisan judicial system controlled by the president.”

Gambia is regularly criticized for violating press freedom.  President Jammeh warned journalists last month against tarnishing Gambia’s image.

“Any journalist who thinks that he or she can write whatever he or she wants and go free, is making a big mistake. … If anybody is caught, he will be severely dealt with,” Jammeh said in a television interview.

“Nobody can write or say anything that does not favor Yahya Jammeh and his government. The few people who do it have been sentenced to jail or have been arrested or have been harassed, some of whom are not even journalists.  Even thought it’s the six journalists who have been sentenced to jail, it’s the whole issue of expression that is now dead, so to speak. That is now in a very serious situation,” Gambian journalist Amie Joof said.

For more information, please see:

BBC – Gambia Media Jail Terms ‘Unjust’ – 07 August 2009

Guardian – Six Journalists Jailed in Gambia – 07 August 2009

VOA – Six Gambian Journalists Jailed for Sedition – 07 August 2009

AFP – Six Gambian Journalists Jailed for Criticising the President – 6 August 2009

By Kylie M Tsudama
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

GOMA, DR Congo – In the rape capital of the world rape is being used as a weapon of war and instances of this atrocity have recently increased.

The American Bar Association (ABA) has reported that rapes are committed by both militias and police and military officers.  Ten percent of rape cases involve male survivors, according to the ABA sexual violence clinic in Goma.

Male rape is on a sudden incline since the joint military operations between Congo and Rwanda rebels began.  Rape is being used as a tactic to humiliate and dehumanize the Congolese people and force them into submission.

Most men are afraid of the social stigma attached to the homosexual act and fail to report rape or sexual abuse.  Most that do have suffered extreme abuse, including castration and assault leading to continued and severe bleeding.  Many men would rather die than report rape and some have.

Brandi Walker, aid worker at a local hospital, said, “Everywhere we go, people say men are getting raped, too.”

Male rape cases are greatly less in number than female rape cases but aid workers say it is a lot harder for men to recover.  According to Waker, a man’s identity is too connected to power and control.

“I’m laughed at. The people in my village say: ‘You’re no longer a man. Those people in the bush made you their wife,'” said one survivor.

Women for Women International, an aid organization based in Washington, focuses on how devastating rape is to society.  The organization trains top police and military officials.  They are learning how to prevent rape under their command.

“While we are an organization that values investment in women, you have to engage larger communities,” says Lyric Thompson, policy analyst at Women for Women. “In many places we work, the community leaders are men, so we use men’s position of influence. Our program in Congo is a model for other programs. It involves a huge paradigm shift from approaching men as the perpetrators – the enemy – to engaging them as allies; as fathers, sons, brothers.”

Last year the rape epidemic seemed to be easing but that has since disappeared.  Between 50,000 and 100,000 women have been raped in the past decade of conflict.

For more information, please see:

Ms. Magazine – Rape of Men Used as Weapon of War in Congo – 06 August 2009

VOA – Clinton Says DRC ‘Worst Example of Man’s Inhumanity to Women’ – 06 August 2009

NY Times – Symbol of Unhealed Congo: Male Rape Victims – 04 August 2009

Christian Science Monitor – Congo: Confronting Rape as a Weapon of War – 02 August 2009