By Impunity Watch Africa

Escalating violence in Darfur has caused 160,000 people to be forced out of their homes and 4.2 million to aid relief since January.  Attacks against relief works have increased 150 percent in the past year according to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).  In June, one out of every six convoys leaving capitals in Darfur were attacked or ambushed by “armed groups,” generally bandits or anti-government rebels.  OCHA states that since January, 64 vehicles have been hijacked and 132 staff temporarily detained.

“This kind of lawlessness by armed groups of different political affiliations has forced relief organizations to suspend programming and relocate out of dangerous environments on 15 occasions, temporarily depriving over 1 million beneficiaries of life-saving assistance,” OCHA said.

U.N. and African envoys have set a August deadline to start peace negotiations and have called an international meeting in Libya July 15-16 to hopefully move the process along.  Invitations have been sent to Sudan, Chad, Egypt, Eritrea, the Arab League, the US, and UN Security Council’s other four permanent members, as well as key donors.  The hope is to begin negotiations towards ending this 4-year conflict that has killed more than 200,000 people and displaced 2.5 million.

Sudan has previously agreed to a UN-African Union hybrid peacekeeping force of 20,000 troops and police.  However, this force is not expected to be in place until next year, when it will help the current 7,000 member AU force.

For more information, please see:

Reuters – Darfur Actors to Discuss Road Map for Peace – 11 July 2007

AllAfrica – Attacks On Aid Workers in Darfur Threatening Relief Efforts, Warns UN Official – 10 July 2007

Relief Web – The Humanitarian Community in Darfur Under Increasing Pressure – 10 July 2007

Reuters – Violence overwhelms relief workers in Darfur – 10 July 2007

Yahoo – Darfur Conference Called for Mid-July – 05 July 2007

By Meryl White

Impunity Watch, Africa

In Monrovia, the main port capital of Liberia, dozens of police officers have been injured in a clash between rival police forces and seaport police. Twenty two police officers have been hospitalized and eighteen officers were seriously injured. The clash erupted when regular police officers went to the port on suspicious reports that seaport police were stealing fuel shipments.

At the port, the police director, Beatrice Munah Sieh, was taken hostage by the seaport police. Curious onlookers watched, as the sea police threw stones at the regular police reinforcements. Ultimately United Nation troops were able to end the fighting. Red trails of blood mark the ground where the violent clash took place.This clash is the first bloody battle between rival police forces since Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf was elected to office last year promising to end corruption in Liberia.

Moreover, just recently, more than 3,500 officers have graduated from Liberia’s Police Academy. UN police have been supporting and mentoring members of the new LNP police force to ensure that Liberia’s security force is properly trained and will ensure citizen’s rights. The force was implemented to “improve the rule of law in the West African country and help the nation rehabilitate after more than a decade of brutal civil war.”

Currently, more than 15,000 UN peacekeepers are stationed in Liberia to try to alleviate destruction that resulted from a decade of civil war. Moreover, UN forces are trying to implement a peaceful return to stability and democracy in a region which was poorly damaged by ex-President Charles Taylor.

For more information, please see:

Independent – Dozens Injured in Brawl at Liberia Ports – 10 July 2007

BBC – Rival Liberia Police Forces Clash – 09 July 2007

UN News Centre – Liberia: Liberia And UN Mission Achieve Key Target in Police Recruitment – 09 July 2007

By Myriam Clerge

Impunity Watch, Africa

Two weeks ago, Zimbabwe’s Industry Minister Obert Mpofu ordered businesses to cut the prices of certain commodities in half. In an effort to curb the country’s inflation rate, now well beyond 5000 %, Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mbeka threatened to seize and nationalize companies if they were found to be profiteering. However, many businesses defied the government imposed price cut.

On Saturday, the crackdown began on defiant businesses.Since Monday, 1,328 shop owners and business managers have been arrested. Among those arrested were two directors of Zimbabwe’s main food distributor and fast food chain.

Earlier economists warned that the price cut would only lead to empty shelves and the closure of more businesses. That premonition has come true. The sudden drop in prices led to stampedes, bulk purchases and panic buying of staple commodities. Unable to replace food sold at below cost prices, bread, meat and fuel have run dry.

Buses, ordered to reduce fares by three-fourths, are simply abandoning routes. Businesses, incurring significant losses, are expected to make huge lay-off since workers are failing to go to work.

In just two weeks, the economy is coming to a standstill and many blame the President.

The effects of food shortages hit the country’s main university in Harare, the University of Zimbabwe. Thousands of students were evicted, this past weekend, when they protested against a decision to deny them food for not paying their fees.

Students were ordered to pay an extra one million dollars (4,000 US dollars), for an extended semester after a strike by lecturers shortened the semester. According to Benjamin Nyandoro, the spokesman for the Zimbabwe’s National Student Union, many of those evicted lived on campus because they had no friends or family in the area. Now they have no choice but to sleep in the streets.

For more information please see:

BBC – Mass Zimbabwe Arrest Over Prices – 09 July 2007

Yahoo – Price Cut Paralyzing Zimbabwe Economy – 09 July 2007

Yahoo – 1,300 Arrested in Zimbabwe Prices Crackdown –  09 July 2007

Yahoo – Zimbabwe University Evicts Students Following Food Riots – 09 July 2007

By Impunity Watch Africa

Charles Taylor, the former Liberian president on trial at The Hague for war crimes committed in Sierra Leone, finally broke his boycott of the court Tuesday.  At Tuesday’s hearing Taylor plead not guilty to a slightly amended charge and the court explained their reasoning behind delaying the trial yet again until August 20.   Taylor has caused delays and problems with the trial since the opening statements in June when he failed to show up and instead sent a letter to the judge firing his lawyer and failing to recognize the court’s authority.   The most recent delay was due to the fact that Taylor had not yet been appointed a new attorney.

A court official on Friday released the details of the money Taylor will receive for his defense.  Taylor will receive a package worth $100,000 per month.  This package includes $70,000 per month for the legal team.  He will also get a senior investigator and office space in The Hague, Sierra Leone, and Liberia.  This package is almost three times higher than any other case at the special court and twice as high as any at the Yugoslavia tribunal.   Taylor is entitled to receive the funds because the court has ruled that he is indigent, despite the fact that United Nations experts suggest he has millions of dollars hidden in bank accounts throughout the world.

Taylor has repeatedly requested that a top-UK attorney known as a Queen’s Counsel represent him. Stephen Kay, a leading British barrister who represented Slobodan Milosevic at the International Criminal Court for the former Yugoslavia until Milosevic’s death in March 2006, has been in talks with the Special Court for Sierra Leone to take over Taylor’s defense.

Meanwhile, the Sierra Leone Court Monitoring Group (SLCMP) issued a statement Tuesday that the Special Court violated a United Nations Security Council Resolution after the Court failed to broadcast the hearing.  Resolution 1688 requires the Court to make the trial accessible to the people of West Africa, including Sierra Leone, through a video link.   SLCMP stated that Tuesday’s hearing was for yet another delay, which further delayed justice for the people who suffered during the civil war.  Those people deserve to hear the proceedings, so that they can understand the workings of the judicial court and know what is going on.   Head of Press and Public Affairs at the Special Court responded that the failure to broadcast is not due to a desire to violate the Resolution nor a lack of seriousness by the Court, but rather a technical problem that is beyond their making.  He promised that the issued will be solved by the time the proceedings begin in earnest in August.

For more information, please see:

Independent – War Crimes Trial Gives Taylor More Legal Funds – 07 July 2007

Institute for War and Peace – Milosevic Lawyer in Talks Over Taylor Defense – 06 July 2007

International Herald Tribune – Court grants Taylor More Money for Defense in Sierra Leone War Crimes Trial – 06 July 2007

AllAfrica – Special Court Violates UN Resolution – 05 July 2007

By Meryl White

Impunity Watch, Africa

On Thursday July 5th, Margaret Hill, the three year old daughter of an expatriate worker was kidnapped by gun men in the Niger Delta. Hill was seized on her way to school in Port Harcout. Her kidnapping follows that of five oil workers who were captured on Wednesday. Hill is the third child to be kidnapped by Nigerian militants in the past three weeks, as militants have been targeting children of wealthy oil workers and Nigerian state legislators. The first two children that were captured were set free unharmed after ransom payments were paid on their behalf.

UK’s Foreign Office has called for the “immediate safe release” of young Hill. A spokesman for the office stated, “We do not know who took her. We are in contact with her parents and are providing assistance. High Commission officials are in contact with the Nigerian authorities.”

The kidnappers contacted Mrs. Hill and allowed her to speak to her baby. Mrs Hill reported that the kidnappers arranged a meeting in a town in Bayelsa State in the Niger Delta region to allow for her husband to swap positions with the baby. The kidnappers gave the Hills three hours to arrive or young Hill would be killed. However, the police have not been able to identify the perpetrators or find the place of meeting.

Presently, The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend), which is the region’s most prominent military group has offered to help find the girl. The group wrote in an email sent to the Associated Press that “We will join in the hunt for the monsters who carried out this abduction and mete out adequate punishment for this crime – We abhor all forms of violence against women and children.” Moreover, according to Mrs. Hill, the gun men have demanded money and talks will ensue in order to secure the release of the young child.

For more information, please see:

BBC – Threat to Kill Missing UK Girl – 06 July 2007

CNN – Girl’s Kidnapper’s Demand Money – 06 July 2007

BBC – Three Year Old Seized in Nigeria – 05 July 2007