By Myriam Clerge
Impunity Watch Reporter, Eastern and Southern Africa

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia – Yesterday, the UN Secretary for Humanitarian Affairs, John Holmes, concluded a one-week tour of the Horn of Africa, which included Somalia, Eritrea and Ethiopia. Holmes visit only reiterated the desperate and devastating conditions that are continuously issued in news reports. Somalia and Ethiopia’s Somali region, Ogaden, are in desperate humanitarian need, mainly the result of “serious international crimes.”

Conflict between the Ethiopian government and the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), a rebel movement that claims it is fighting for self-determination for the region, continue to mount. For several months the ONLF has urged the UN to investigate allegations of man-made famine and genocide. According to Human Rights Watch, governmental officials, such as Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, are ignoring the rampant violations of human rights. Reports and interviews by the humanitarian group has found that the Ethiopian troops are burning villages, sexually abusing women and girls, imposing trade and commercial blockages, and stealing livestock, a vital asset for the predominantly pastoralist community.

Despite such claims and the urge by Human Rights Watch for the UN to follow-up on the allegations, Holmes responded by passing the request to the Ethiopian government. After his visit to the region, Holmes said the humanitarian crisis in Ogaden is not catastrophic and could be averted, although 953,000 are in need of help. After meeting with Meles, Holmes received assurance from governmental officials that the needs of the people will be addressed.  Following the meeting, allegations were released that troops were employing terror tactics such as hanging civilians to crackdown on insurgents. The ONLF spokesman, Abdulrahman Mahdi, says Holmes visit was “stage-managed” by the government to hide the truth that 99% of the people in the country-side are starving and soldiers were killing people “like goats.”

Prime Minister Meles dismisses all claims of a humanitarian crisis, saying a crisis “didn’t exist. Doesn’t exist. Will not exist” in the region. The Ethiopian government accuses the ONLF of being terrorists funded by Eritrea, its rival and neighbor.

For more information, please see:

AllAfrica.com- UN- Atrocities Fuel Worsening Crisis in Horn of Africa – 3 December 2007

CNN- Ethiopians Says Soldiers Killing Villagers ‘Like Goats’ – 29 November 2007

AllAfrica.com – UN Presses Country t o Probe Ogaden Allegations – 30 November 2007

BBC- Ethiopia Assures No Ogaden Famine  – 28 November 2007

Yahoo News- Ethiopian Rebels Claim Army Hanging Civilians in Ogaden – 29 November 2007

KHARTOUM, Sudan – Gillian Gibbons, the British teacher jailed in Sudan last week for naming a class teddy bear Muhammad, was freed this morning after serving four of her fifteen day sentence.  The crime under Sudan’s Islamic Sharia law could have resulted in punishment of up to 40 public lashes, six months in prison, and a fine. 

Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir pardoned Gibbons after a meeting this morning with two British Muslims from the House of Lords.   A senior presidential adviser said al-Bashir insisted that Ms. Gibbons received a “fair trial” but that she was pardoned as a result of efforts by the British Muslim delegation.

Ms. Gibbons had been in custody for a total of eight days and was transferred to the British embassy in Khartoum.  In a statement made this morning, Ms. Gibbons said “I have great respect for the Islamic religion and would not knowingly offend anyone and I am sorry if I caused any distress.”   

For more information, please see:

BBC News – Teddy row teacher freed from jail – 3 December 2007

Guardian Unlimited – Briton Pardoned in Sudan Islam Insult – 3 December 2007

KHARTOUM, Sudan – Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir will meet with a British delegation on Monday to discuss a possible pardon for the teacher imprisoned in Sudan for allowing her students to name a teddy bear Muhammad.   

Gillian Gibbons was sentenced on Thursday to 15 days in jail and subsequent deportation for insulting Islam.  The following day hundreds of people protested what they viewed as a lenient sentence for a crime that can carry a punishment of up to six months in prison and 40 public lashings.  Following the demonstrations, Gibbons was transferred to a new secret location. 

The influential Council of Islamic Scholars in Sudan have protested a release of Gibbons, saying it would “wound the sensibilities of Muslims in Sudan.”  “If the government retracts this judgment … this would be a very bad precedent and it would have very bad consequences on the reputation of the state … not only in Sudan but also outside Sudan” said Council Spokesman al-Sheikh Mohammad Abdel Karim. 

For more information, please see:

International Herald Tribune – Sudan’s president to discuss possible pardon in bear-naming case – 2 December 2007

Guardian Unlimited – Teddy row peers to meet president – 2 December 2007

Christian Science Monitor – Teddy Trouble: Hopes Rise for British Teacher Jailed in Sudan – 2 December 2007

Canada.com – U.K. lawmakers to meet Sudan president over teacher – 2 December 2007

THE HAGUE, Netherlands – Last night the border deadline passed between Ethiopia and Eritrea. For several months, both Ethiopia and Eritrea have accused the other of violating the 2002 border resolution which ended the 1999-2000 war that took the lives of roughly 70,000 people. The United Nation decision granted the disputed town of Badme to Eritrea. The terms of the resolution required that the countries physically mark the boundary by the end of this month or the International Boundary Commission would draw it on maps themselves and let it stand.

As of last night, neither side agreed to an altered border decision. Therefore the commission issued a statement that the 2002 border it set “continues as the only valid legal description of the boundary”. The commission is now dissolved but a United Nations peacekeeping force (UNMEE) of 1,700 troops will remain in the area until 2008 since both sides have armed troops positioned in the demilitarized buffer zone.

The United Nations and the United States have urged both sides to exercise restraint and remain calm during these tense moments.

For more information please see:

BBC – Eritrea- Ethiopia Deadline Expires – 30 November 2007

Yahoo News – Ethiopia, Eritrea Can’t Agree on Border – 30 November 2007

KAMPALA, Uganda – Amnesty International released a report yesterday accusing Uganda’s justice system of “tacitly condoning and protecting suspected perpetrators” of rape and other sexual abuses against women and girls in the north.  Most victims do not report crimes due to a fear of intimidation, hostility, and ridicule from the community, as well as state inaction in granting redress. 

Amnesty International says the northern area of Uganda has a “culture of impunity” surrounding rape cases.  “Many women and girls in northern Uganda suffer sexual and gender-based violence committed by state actors, including official authorities and military officers, and non-state actors within the family and community.”  While the government was commended for establishing a functional justice system, the report called for more action regarding violence against women. 

For more information, please see:

BBC News – Ugandan justice ‘fails on rape’ – 30 November 2007

AFP – War ebbs but rape still rife in Uganda – 30 November 2007

AllAfrica.com – Uganda: Sexual Abuse Survivors in North Denied Justice – 30 November 2007

VOA News – Amnesty Accuses Northern Ugandan Authorities of Failing Women – 30 November 2007