By Elizabeth Costner
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Africa

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone – A confidential presidential audit commissioned by newly elected President Ernest Bai Koroma was released today by the BBC.  The report details “grave inadequacies” in areas such as health care, tax collection and the security services and acknowledges that corruption is the “greatest impediment to the country’s development.” 

President Koroma has made dealing with corruption a priority, and has said that Sierra Leoneans may now take and judge him at his word.   Koroma will be formally inaugurated on Thursday, although he has been in office since September.  Koroma has already taken several steps to addressing the corruption issues in the country, and response has so far been positive.  However, Koroma still has much work to do. 

Human Rights Watch issued a letter today to Koroma advising him to urgently address pressing human rights concerns, particularly the “striking deficiencies in the judicial system and ongoing corruption.” 

Africa director Peter Takirambuddle said “The people of Sierra Leone have long suffered from a vicious cycle of corruption, economic decline, violence and immunity…President Koroma must articulate and implement a bold vision for improving Sierra Leone’s chronic human rights problems.  There is no time to waste.”

Among the issues that Human Rights Watch asked Koroma to address are deficiencies in the national judicial system, prison conditions, abusive police conduct, and widespread corruption. They have also called on Koroma to abolish the death penalty.

Sierra Leone is one of the poorest countries in Africa and is slowly recovering from a decade of brutal civil war that ended in 2001.  The war began in 1991 when rebels crossed into the country from Liberia and took control of the diamond fields.  After years of widespread human rights violations and atrocities, the rebels were eventually defeated by a United Nations peacekeeping force and a separate intervention by the British army.  Sierra Leone has since created a hybrid international court with the UN in order to try those most responsible for violations during the war. 

For more information, please see:

BBC News – S Leone ‘riddled with corruption’ – 14 November 2007

VOA News – Sierra Leone’s President Says Fighting Corruption is Priority – 14 November 2007

Human Rights Watch – Sierra Leone: New Leader Must Combat Injustice, Corruption – 14 November 2007

For more information on Sierra Leone, please see the following Impunity Watch reports: BRIEF: Special Court for Sierra Leone in Danger of Bankruptcy; Former CDF Leaders Sentenced in Sierra Leone; Sierra Leone Court’s Recent Verdicts Against Former CDF Leaders; Sentencing of Three Former Leaders of Sierra Leone’s Armed Forces Revolutionary Council; Forced Marriage a War Crime?

By Meryl White
Impunity Watch Reporter, Western and Central Africa

BAKASSI, Cameroon – Near the Nigerian border, more than 20 Cameroonian soldiers were killed when attackers wearing Nigerian military uniforms ambushed a boat. The Nigerian military has denied the attacks. Instead, Nigeria claims that militants from the oil rich Niger Delta were responsible. Presently, no group has claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Bakasi has been the site of bloody clashes between Nigeria and Cameroon since the 1990s. This area extends into the Gulf of Guinea contains up to 10% of the world’s oil and gas reserves. Moreover, the area is rich in fish.

More than one year ago, Nigeria gave the Bakassi peninsula to Cameroon to comply with a decision set forth by the International Court of Justice.

The Nigerian government speculates that the attack could have been conducted by the same militant group that had earlier attacked a nearby oil terminal run by Exxon Mobil. The Exxon Mobile attack follows the five-month ceasefire against workers of the oil industry. The ceasefire was an attempt for armed groups in the area to abandon their weapons and seek discussion with the Nigerian government.

The Nigerian Defense Spokesman stated “We are willing to cooperate with Cameroon to investigate this incident. All our resources are at their disposal to ensure that the criminals are brought to justice.”

For more information, please see:

BBC – Soldiers Killed in Cameroon Raid  – 13 November 2007

AllAfrica.com – Cameroon: Bakassi – More Than One Place, More Than One Problem – 13 November 2007

Reuters – Up to 21 Cameroon troops killed in Bakassi– 13 November 2007

KHARTOUM, Sudan – US Deputy Secretary of State John Negraponte and Nigeria’s Foreign Minister Ojo Madeukwe discussed today the importance of a rapid deployment of the joint AU-UN peacekeeping force to Sudan’s Darfur region.  The current 7,000 AU force is scheduled to be replaced with a 26,000 UN-AU force sometime next year.   

Meanwhile, the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon appealed to the Sudanese government and other members of state to facilitate the deployment. Ban expressed his concern over the increased security incidents and worries that continued delays in deployment could lead to further deterioration in the situation.   

The aim of the joint force is to end the fighting that has killed more than 200,000 people and displaced 2.5 million since ethnic African rebels began fighting the Arab-dominated government in 2003 on accusations of discrimination.  Sudan’s government is accused of retaliating with the use of Arab militias responsible for a large part of the violence, something the government continues to deny. 

For more information, please see:

International Herald Tribune – UN chief worried about continued delay in deployment of Darfur peacekeeping force – 12 November 2007

AFP – US, Nigeria discuss early deployment of hybrid force to Sudan – 12 November 2007

For more information on the Darfur conflict, please see the following Impunity Watch reports: Upcoming Peace Talks in Sudan in Jeopardy; New Atrocities in Darfur; Ceasefire Ends in Sudan; African Union Peacekeepers Attacked in Darfur; Ongoing Conflict in Sudan; ICC Prosecutor Demands Arrests in Sudan; Secretary General Urges Sudan President to Commit to Ceasefire; Peace Talks on Darfur Scheduled for October 

MOGADISHU, Somalia – Earlier today, security forces of the Somali transitional government entered the building of Radio Shabelle and ordered all the staff out. The broadcast and station was subsequently shut down without cause. Two of the station’s senior staff, Radio Director Ja’far Kuukay and Head of Programs Abdirahman Yusuf, publicly known Al-Adala, was briefly detained by the soldiers.

Shabelle is one of the leading independent radio stations remaining in Mogadishu. Earlier this year the government accused the radio station and several Somali news organizations of supporting the rebels.  Radio Shabelle has been ordered off the air several times. The station recently resumed broadcasting on October 3rd after being forced to shut down for 15 days.

Concerned about the growing press freedom crisis, the National Union of Somali Journalist (NUSOJ) has publicly denounced the actions of the interim government and informed them, again, that it is their international obligation to protect and respect journalists. Besides Iraq, Somalia is the most dangerous place for journalists in the world. Last month, Bashir Nor Gedi, the former manager of Radio Shabelle, was murdered in front of his home after being confined in the station for nearly a week because of threats. Bashir’s death marked the eighth journalist killed this year in Somalia

For more information please see:

AllAfrica.com – Somalia: Popular Radio Station Silenced, NUSOJ Strongly Protests – 12 November 2007

Impunity Watch – Gunned Down Journalist – 22 October 2007

By Elizabeth Costner
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Africa

KHARTOUM, Sudan – A high-level panel set up to resolve the political stand-off between south Sudan and the government has stopped working just days after it began.  The talks have reportedly failed due to disagreements over the oil-rich Abyei region.  The U.S. Sudan envoy, Andrew Natsios, stated that all of the differences have been resolved except for the status of the central Abyei region and the north-south border. 

The crisis began four weeks ago when the main southern party, Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), withdrew from the governing coalition.  SPLM accused Khartoum of failing to implement the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) that ended a 20-year conflict. 

SPLM’s Vice-President, Malek Agar, told journalists that the committee suspended its work due to differences on how to deal with disputed matters and the persistence in disagreements over the CPA.  However, Agar said the suspension of work was not “the end of dialogue” aimed at ending the crisis.  The committee is now waiting for instructions from President Omar al-Beshir and south’s First Vice President Salva Kiir. 

The 2005 CPA provided for six-year transition period in which the south would enjoy regional autonomy and participate in a national unity government in Khartoum.  In 2011 southerners will vote on whether they want to be independent or remain a part of Sudan. 

Sudan’s north-south civil war was Africa’s longest and resulted in the loss of 2 million people and the displacement of 4 million.  The war was between Khartoum’s Islamic government and the mostly Christian and animist southern rebels, and was complicated by religion, ideology, and oil. 

For more information, please see:

BBC News – Talks fail to end Sudan stand-off – 11 November 2007

Reuters – North-south Sudan talks fail to reconcile ex-foes – 11 November 2007

AFP – North-south Sudan talks stumble – 11 November 2007