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

By Myriam Clerge

Impunity Watch, Africa

After a month stranded in the borders, Kenya has finally decided to open its border to Somalia so that almost 140 UN aid truck may cross. However the WFP’s Somali spokesperson, Warsame, said that the trucks have not moved and they have been unable to receive official confirmation of Kenya’s decision.

In the meantime, acute malnutrition continues to rise in Gedo region, which borders Kenya. An estimated one million people in Somalia are in need of assistance according to the UN.

The UN was forced to use the Kenyan overland route after ships and crewmen were kidnapped and held at ransom at sea. Ethiopia has been plagued with violence since 1991 when it last had a government. Kenya closed it borders in January when Ethiopian soldiers began battling Islamists.

On Tuesday Somali gunmen shot a senior government official in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia and the most violent and heavily armed cities in the country. Just last month a district commissioner was also murdered. Almost every day a government official comes under attack despite mass arrests and curfews.

The government blames the string of suicide bombing and roadside explosion on members of the ousted Islamist movement.

The key to ending the conflict is solving the differences between religious and clan groups. However, that may prove to be an unattainable task. Simply inviting the nation’s largest clan, the Hawiye, took two hours on Monday without resolution.

A reconciliation conference is scheduled for July 15. However, neither government official nor Hawiye clan leaders are expected to attend. The major grievance of the Hawiye is the presence of foreign, Ethiopian, troops in the country. However the withdrawal of such troops is essentially government suicide. Neither Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf, the United Nations, nor Western diplomats see this as an option. The last time a new government was created from scratch, there was anarchy and violence for two year. Anarchy could possibly empower Islamists sympathetic to Al-Qaida.

Some feel that a bad government is better than none at all.

For more information please see:

BBC – Aid Trucks Allowed in to Somalia – 02 July 2007

Yahoo – Gunmen Slay Somali Official, Blast Kills Teen – 03, July 2007

Yahoo – Somali Elders Search for Peace – 02 July 2007

By Impunity Watch Africa

Charles Taylor, the former Liberian president on trial in The Hague for war crimes, appeared in the court for the first time Tuesday.  Wearing a blue suit and yellow tie, Taylor arrived twenty minutes late for a procedural hearing during which the judges explained why they had agreed to once again postpone the trial until August 20.

Taylor did not explain his decision to come to court, and the only words he spoke were to plead not guilty to the amended charge of sexual slavery.  The slightly amended charge is a crime against humanity and covers the abduction, rape, and use as sex slaves of an unknown number of women and girls.  Taylor has already pleaded not guilty to eleven charges in connection with his alleged control over armed rebels in Sierra Leone who murdered, raped, mutilated, and enslaved civilians.

The trial began with a day of opening statements on June 4, with a second day later that month. Taylor boycotted both days after firing his court-appointed attorney and claiming the court was not giving him a fair trial.  The first prosecution witnesses were due to be heard on Tuesday, but court officials responsible for ensuring a fair trial filed a motion last week to have the trial further delayed until Taylor received adequate counsel.  The judges agreed to postpone the trial until August 20 in order to give the new defense team, which has yet to be appointed, enough time to prepare.  In explaining the decision, presiding Judge Julia Sebutinde of Uganda stated that the court blamed officials in the court’s registry for not appointing new defense attorneys in time for the trial and that Taylor should not be punished for the “laxity of the registry.”

Prosecutor Stephen Rapp has voiced his disapproval of the decision, dismissing his concerns as administrative issues “blown out of proportion in order to create a reason for what we view as obstruction of justice in this case.”  He added that Taylor is receiving more money for his case, up to $2 million, than any other defendant charged by the court.

For more information, please see:

AllAfrica – Charles Taylor Appears at Trial – 03 July 2007

CNN – Liberia’s Taylor Appears in Court – 03 July 2007

International Herald Tribune – Charles Taylor Attends Hearing in War Crimes Trial – 03 July 2007

Reuters – Liberia’s Taylor Appears in Court After Boycott – 03 July 2007

Washington Post – Charles Taylor Attends Trial Hearing – 03 July 2007

By Myriam Clerge

Impunity Watch, Africa

South African public service called an end to the nearly month long strike Thursday when a majority of unions accepted a 7.5 percent pay offer from the government. The strike began June 1.

The strike, which was the longest and largest since the end of the apartheid regime in 1994, had a devastating effect. The protest showed 600,000 teachers, nurses and other civil servants walk off the job on June 1. Angry union members marched through major cities in demonstrations, while many schools closed due to teacher walkouts and public hospitals operated with help from army medical staffing. The strike was also becoming increasingly embarrassing for the ruling African National Congress.

Unions accuse President Thabo Mbeki of abandoning the poor through his pro-business policies. South Africa’s economy is booming but civil servants have complained their wages can barely keep up with rising prices.

The unions had demanded a 12 percent pay rise at the start of the strike while the government initially refused to budge from its offer of six percent. The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) said that the majority of unions had agreed to sign up to the government’s offer, which was formally placed on the table on June 22.

Others still had to consult their members while the main teachers union is not prepared to sign and will be in further talk with the government. President of the National Professional Teachers’ Union (NAPTOSA), Dave Balt said discussions over compensation for workers would take place over the next three months.

Schooling will not be affected due to teachers currently on their winter holiday. However, COSATU said all its members who have signed would now return to work.

For more information please see:

BBC – S Africa Unions Calls Off Strike – 28 June 2007

CNN – Crippling Four-Week Strike in South Africa Ends – 28 June 2007

Yahoo – South African Unions End Four-Week Strike – 28 June 2007

BBC – S Africa Unions Split Over Strike – 25 June 2007

By Meryl White

Impunity Watch, Africa

The LRA has carried out over 10,000 deaths in Uganda over the past twenty years. In northern Uganda, more than one million people have been displaced by the conflict and have been forced to settle in refugee camps. Furthermore, over 75,000 people have been abducted by LRA forces in the past two decades of insurgency.

The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels have initiated a peace deal with the Ugandan government in an attempt to settle a 20-year conflict. These discussions are part of a five-part peace process in attempt to end the civil war. These deals will promote “alternative justice mechanisms” to achieve reconciliation and justice.

Martin Ojul, head of the LRA delegation in Sudan, stated “We signed the agreement on reconciliation and accountability late last night, which moves us one step closer to a final peace agreement.”

Under the deal, the government and the rebels will support the use of the Ugandan justice system to combat human rights abuses. Rebels favor the use of Ugandan courts to protect suspected criminals from international search warrants issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands. Furthermore, they favor local justice because it less severe and will help to effectuate national reconciliation.

Nevertheless, the ICC has issued arrest warrants against LRA leader Joseph Kony, and his deputy commander Vincent Otti. Moreover, warrants have been issued against two senior rebels for mass murder, mutilation and for the use of child soldiers in the 20-year war.

For more information, please see:

AllAfrica – Uganda: 75,000 LRA Abductees Missing, Says Report – 02 July 2007

Reuters – Uganda, Rebels Agree Local Justice for War Crimes – July 2007

BBC – Uganda Rebels in New Peace Move – 30 June 2007