By Impunity Watch Africa

Rebels in Niger released 30 wounded soldiers to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) today in the Sahara desert.  The rebel group Niger Movement for Justice (NMJ) has carried out a number of raids on military targets in the northern region.  Last week they killed 15 soldiers and took dozens hostage during a raid on a remote army outpost.   The 30 most seriously wounded were released, however several hostages still remain.

Niger is a former French colony whose vast desert has long been a location and hotbed of dissent, which has largely been beyond the government’s control. Niger’s government, more than 1,000 km away in the capital, is hoping to cash in on the vast reserves of uranium by granting dozens of new exploration permits, particularly to the Chinese.

The NMJ has come out strongly against this proposed plan.  A spokesman told Reuters that they “condemn what’s being done: giving extraction, exploitation and exploration permits to China. … They’re not welcome because they don’t work with locals, they don’t employ locals, and they respect the environment even less.”

The MNJ claims their campaign against the government is also in retaliation for the arbitrary arrests and killing of civilians in the north during security clampdowns. At least 33 soldiers have been killed since the rebels launched their campaign in February.

For more information please see:

BBC – Niger Rebels Free Wounded Troops – 29 June 2007

Independence – Niger rebels hand prisoners to Red Cross – 28 June 2007

Reuters – Niger rebels hand wounded prisoners to Red Cross – 28 June 2007

Reuters – Sahara Uranium – 27 June 2007

By Myriam Clerge

Impunity Watch, Africa

Zimbabwe is battling a down spiraling inflation rate. The official rate is 4,500 %, the highest in the world for a country not in war.

In an effort to curb inflation rates, which increased by 300 % in the last week alone, the government ordered a price cut on basic commodities such as bread, milk and oil. The price cut took effect on Tuesday. However, several struggling companies have ignored the governments order and continued raising prices.

In essence, the government is ordering factories to sell goods at prices lower than production costs. Reluctant to violate new laws prohibiting criticism of the government, one storeowner explained that it could not simply slash prices in the middle of production.

President Mugabe is blaming the West, specifically Britain, for persuading factories to defy price reduction in an effort to overthrow him. During the funeral of a top military official, Mugabe warned that if factories continued their “dirty tricks” he would seize and nationalize all companies.

In 2000, Mugabe forcibly seized white owned farms and gave them to the landless blacks. Critics blame this seizure for the present state of the economy. Furthermore, economists warn that price cut strategies will likely lead to shortages and factory closures. Economic analyst Tony Hawkins, suggests that Mugabe’s threat to seize companies is another ploy to win the 2008 election.

In the meantime, the United States and the European Union has imposed a travel ban and an asset freeze on President Mugabe and other leading officials.

For more information please see:

Yahoo – Mugabe Threatens to Seize Firms Over ‘Dirty Tricks’ – 27 June 2007

BBC – Zimbabwe to Cut Prices ‘By Half’ – 26 June 2007

Yahoo – Zimbabwe Government Orders Price Cuts – 26 June 2007

By Impunity Watch Africa

The trial against former Liberian President Charles Taylor was set to resume Monday in The Hague, however Taylor once again refused to attend.  When opening statements began on June 4, Taylor refused to appear in court, instead sending a letter to the judge calling the court “a charade that does injustice to the people of Sierra Leone.”  Taylor claimed he could not receive a fair trial and fired his attorney, Karim Khan, stating he wished to represent himself.  Following opening statements the trial was in recess until Monday, when witness testimony was scheduled to begin.

Monday brought neither new defense attorneys for Taylor, nor an appearance by the accused, and the trial was once again put on hold.  Justice Julie Sebutinde issued a terse warning against “undue delay” but was nevertheless forced to continue the trial until July 3.  The purpose of the delay is to appoint a new defense team to Taylor, who has claimed he will not appear in court until he is provided with enough resources to match those of the prosecution. He continues to assert that he will act as his own attorney unless he can be represented by a Queen’s Counsel (a high-level British lawyer).

The prosecution objected to the delay, stating that Taylor had intentionally tried to delay proceedings by waiting until the start of trial to fire his lawyer.  However, Justice Sebutinde ruled that adequate resources had to be provided to the defense and that the court’s registry has not moved quickly enough to ensure they were in place.

Taylor faces 11 charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and violations of international humanitarian law for acts which allegedly occurred during his involvement with the Sierra Leone civil war.

Last week the Sierra Leone Court issued its first verdicts, convicting three former Sierra Leonean military leaders on multiple counts of war crimes, including the first ever conviction by an international court for the use of child soldiers. The three men convicted were former leaders of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council, a group of former military officers who overthrew Sierra Leone’s government in 1997 and then teamed up with rebels to control the country.  Prosecutors allege the rebels were among those supported by Taylor.

For more information, please see:

AllAfrica – Liberia: Sebutinde Warns Taylor On Boycott – 26 June 2007

AllAfrica – Liberia: Defiant Taylor’s Request Granted – 26 June 2007

BBC – Liberia’s Taylor trial adjourned – 25 June 2007

CNN – Taylor Boycott Forces Delay – 25 June 2007

By Myriam Clerge

Impunity Watch, Africa

The violence in Somalia continues despite the curfew invoked by the government, effective this past Friday, after weeks of bloodshed. Anyone outside his or her home between 7 pm and 5 am will be arrested. Somalia’s intelligence chief Mohamed Warsame Darwish says the curfew is a necessary means to tackle the violence in the evening and secure the city.

The curfew comes after a bombing in the main Bakara market in Mogadishu on Thursday. At least five people were killed, four police officers and one civilian, when a masked man threw a grenade at several policemen patrolling the crowded marketplace in the capital of Somalia.

Somali policemen continue to be the targets of violence. Early last week two people were killed when insurgents attacked two police stations.

The government and its allied Ethiopian troops have been battling insurgents for nearly six months. The government has accused the Islamists and Mogadishu’s dominant Hawiye clan for Thursday’s bombing.

A national reconciliation conference is scheduled for next month and both the Hawiya clan and Islamists have been invited to create a peaceful resolution. However, neither group has elected to attend or discuss peace until Ethiopian troops are removed from the country.

The Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) controlled the government for six months last year until Ethiopian and government troops ousted the Islamic group.

In the meantime, as malnutrition increases in Somalia, about 140 UN trucks carrying food aid to Somalia were forced to remain in the Kenyan border for more than a month. Kenya closed its border to Somalia in January after hundreds of thousands migrated to the neighboring country following the increased violence. The Kenyan land route was chosen after pirate attacks threatened the safety of seamen and cargo.

Today, with the arrival of food and aid, at least three people were killed when hundreds of people stormed a police station where food was being handed out. One witness, whose brother was among the victims, reports that the police opened fire and killed five people. Another witness describes the killing as cold-blooded murder.

For more information please see:

BBC – Shooting at Somali Food Aid Crush – 25 June 2007

BBC – Somalia Food Aid Trucks Stranded – 22 June 2007

BBC – Curfew After Somali Grenade Blast – 21 June 2007

Yahoo – Somalia Violence Kills 6; Curfew Imposed – 21 June 2007

By Impunity Watch Africa

A recent report by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) has concluded that the conflict in Darfur is being driven and fueled by climate change and environmental degradation.  This report follows an eighteen-month study of Sudan and concludes that Darfur holds grim lessons not only for their own country, but for other countries at risk, particularly Chad and southern Africa.   The report also warns that the Darfur tragedy could be repeated throughout North Africa and the Middle East as the result of growing populations fighting over limited water supplies and resources.

The precarious peace signed between north and south Sudan in 2005 may be at risk, due to declining rainfall and the advancement of the Sahara.  The resulting tensions between farmers and herders over evaporating water holes and disappearing pastures threaten to reignite the half-century war.  The southern Nuba tribe has warned that they could “restart the war” because Arab nomads – themselves pushed south due to a drought – are cutting down their trees to feed their camels.

Estimates of casualties from the Darfur conflict range from 200,000 to 500,000.  The immediate cause was a regional rebellion, which the government responded to by recruiting Arab janjaweed militia members to ethnically cleanse the African population.  The UNEP study suggests that the actual genesis of the conflict is to be found in the decrease in rainfall and spreading desertification, and the resulting conflict between African farmers and Arab nomads fighting over water and land.

UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, stated to the Washington Post: “Almost invariably, we discuss Darfur in a convenient military and political shorthand – an ethnic conflict pitting Arab militias against black rebels and farmers. Look to its roots, though, and you discover a more complex dynamic. Amid the diverse social and political causes, the Darfur conflict began as an ecological crisis, arising at least in part from climate change.”

The Darfur crisis has in turn exacerbated the environmental degradation, sending more than two million refugees into camps.  Deforestation has accelerated and underground aquifers are being drained in order to support the large numbers.

The report contains recommendations and proposed measures that if implemented are estimated to cost $120 million over three to five years. The Sudanese GDP in 2005 was $85.5 billion.

For more information, please see:

The Age – Sudan war fueled by climate change: UN – 23 June 2007

Guardian – Darfur Conflict Heralds Era of Wars Triggered by Climate Change, UN Report Warns – 23 June 2007

All Africa.com – UN Report Says Environmental Degradation Triggering Tensions – 22 June 2007

BBC – Sudan ‘Must Address Climate Ills’ – 22 June 2007

VOA News – UN Program Finds Environment Degradation Triggers Conflict in Sudan – 22 June 2007

Mail & Guardian – UN: Environmental woes a cause of Sudan conflict – June 2007