By Tyler Campbell

Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

 

OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso – As of yesterday, Burkina Faso is officially under new leadership. The military announced it had dissolved the government and removed the sitting president days before the election, which was scheduled to take place on October 11. The presidential guard seized the president, prime minister, and other government officials during a cabinet meeting this Wednesday. It is not clear what has become of these government officials at this time.

Shortly after the seizer the guard took to radio and television signals to announce that they were now in control of the country. The presidential guard had been very vocal about its disagreement with the interim government that was running the country. The guard has heavy ties with the previous president, Blaise Compaore. He had been in control for 27 years until finally being ousted by public up rising the year before. The presidential guard’s main issue with the interim government was its decision to block any members of the ex-president’s party from running in the October election. This move could likely be an attempt for ex-president Blaise Compaore to regain power, or keep control within party lines.

 

This coup has had some immediate negative consequences for the country. The boarders of Burkina Faso have been shut down. The presidential guard has also put a curfew in place. The coup and these actions by the guard have been met with heavy rioting in the nations capitol.

 

These riots have left ten dead so far. An unverified claim blamed these deaths on shots fired by the presidential guard. Along with these deaths have come an unknown number of rioters being arrested.

 

Cheriff Sy the transitional parliamentary speaker has become the unofficial leader of the opposition to this coup. After declaring himself the leader of Burkina Faso he asked its people to rise up and fight this oppositional government. Saying, “We are in a resistance situation against adversity.”

 

The U.S. and French governments have both expressed concern and condemnation about the actions of the presidential guard. However, military action by either of these nations against the coup is very unlikely at this time. This could change if the situation with ISIS continue to worsen. Burkina Faso was one of the most important allies of these two nations in their fight against Islamist extremism.

 

For now it is fully up to the citizens of Burkina Faso to once again rise up and expel an illegitimate regime, like they did in 2014. In those riots the citizens of Burkina Faso eventually ended up setting fire to the capitol building and homes of then president, Blaise Compaore. We shall see if this level of violence will be needed to overthrow the presidential guard this time around.

 

For more information, please see:

 

Huffington Post – Military In Burkina Faso Confirms Coup And Dissolves Government – 17 September 2015

 

The Guardian – Coup in Burkina Faso as military takes over country ahead of elections – 17 September 2015

 

BBC – Burkina Faso coup sparks deadly street protests – 17 September 2015

 

CNN – Burkina Faso: Military takes over after presidential guards detain President – 17 September 2015

 

The New York Times – Violent Protests Topple Government in Burkina Faso – 30 October 2014

 

 

By Tyler Campbell

Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

 

ALGIERS, Algeria – This Tuesday marked the opening day of the Defence and Security Equipment Industry (DSEI) show. This is one of the world’s largest arms and securities fairs in world and it is held every two years in London. This is a massive event were more than 1,500 companies show off their best and latest weapons of war. On the guest list to the event are some of the biggest repeat offenders in human and civil rights violations.

There were 61 countries officially invited to the event. Out of these 61 countries 14 of them have authoritarian leadership. More troubling is that the UN has flagged 23 of these 61 countries for serious child rights violations, including the use of child soldiers. Notable African countries with questionable human rights records on the list were Egypt, Angola and Algeria.

 

These invitations come in stark and almost ironic contrast to the message the European parliament was trying to send some of these countries only four days earlier. In debates about the British arms industry parliament talked about Azerbaijan and Angola, two countries with an invitation to the DSEI. The deteriorating situation of human rights in Angola was one topic that got touched upon.

 

This type of hypocrisy is not a new trend for the British arms industry. Britain has been selling arms to the Democratic Republic of the Congo since 2010. This is one nation that has a long record of recruiting and using child soldiers. Another country, Saudi Arabia, has had its own problems with civil rights and continues to be Britain’s leading arms customer. In past years at the DSEI, devices clearly against British law have even been offered up for sale.

 

These problems have not gone unnoticed by London protesters. Human rights activist protested and attempted to block the set up of the event. They also have a protest schedule for each day the event is going on. Advertisements on the sides of buses around London have been replaced with “These visitors make huge amounts of money from weapons and equipment that kill people all over the world.”

 

The other side of the debate continues to say that this event and the British arms industry are important sections of the economy and are essential to jobs and a growing GDP. This is most likely not an understatement. The UK has continued to be the world’s second largest defense exporter, behind only the United States. For this to change it will take aggressive action and legislation by parliament.

 

 

 

For more information, please see:

EurActive – Nations using child soldiers are invited to British arms fair – 14 September 2015

 

Yahoo News – Mega arms fair met with protest in Britain – 15 September 2015

 

Global Information Network – Nations using child soldiers among guests at UK arms fair – 15 September 2015

 

Defense One – UK Invites ‘Countries of Concern’ To Shop for Weapons in London – 15 September 2015

By Tyler Campbell

Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

TRIPOLI, Libya – Two Hundred people are feared dead off the coast of Libya this week after a refugee boat sank while taking the perilous journey across the Mediterranean Sea toward Italy. This was the second refugee boat to sink this last week. Another boat, also full of refugees had gone down the day before.  This is one of the most heavily traveled refugee routes out of Africa toward Europe and it has seen an increase in the number of refugees that never make it when compared to last year. According to the International Organization for Migration approximately 2,373 people have died trying to reach Europe this year. This is compared to the 3,281 people that died all of last year trying to make the same trip.

The first boat that capsized was a smaller fishing vessel believed to be carrying 100 people. The second larger boat was said to be carrying nearly 400 passengers when it sank the next day. Some sources reported that people were trapped in the cargo hold of the larger vessel when it went down on Thursday.

As of August 29th, 105 people had been declared dead with hundreds of others still missing. Rescue efforts have been working since the boats went down and have successfully recovered 200 people.  Heading the rescue efforts is Libya’s Red Crescent Society, a disaster relief group in Zuwara. The LRCS is an organization that relies primarily on volunteers for its mission. Many of these volunteers are not trained or prepared to handle human remains. However, with little to no involvement from the Liberian government they have had to head the continuing rescue mission of saving these refugees.

The city of Zuwara is a popular port for refugee boats to begin the trip toward Italy. It is one of Libya’s most northern cities and lies just over 300 miles away from the tip of Italy. Separating these two is the unpredictable Mediterranean Sea. The unseaworthy and overcrowded boats along with this dangerous section of the Sea make it an extremely perilous journey for refugees.

Even though it is a dangerous trip the number of people willing to take it has continued to climb. In the first nine months of this year 300,000 people had attempted to cross the Mediterranean into Europe. The total number of people who attempted to cross in 2014 was only 219,000.

The reason for the increasing number of refugees is long and growing. The main drivers are the escape from war, persecution and poverty. The three nations with ties to the greatest number of refugees fleeing to this section of the Mediterranean are Syria, Nigeria, and Eritrea.

 

For More Information, Please See:

Al Jazeera – About 200 feared dead in Libya refugee boat disaster – 29 August 2015

CNN – Dozens of Migrants die as boat capsize off Libya – 29 August 2015

BBC News – Migrant crisis: Libya boats sink off Zuwara carrying hundreds – 28 August 2015

CNN – Tide of Death: Migrants’ bodies wash ashore in Libya – 27 August 2015

By: Tyler Campbell

Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

 

 

CAIRO, Egypt – –

On Saturday an Egyptian judge sentenced three Al-Jazeera English reporters to three years in prison. The three men, Mohamed Fahmy, Baher Mohamed and Peter Greste appealed this ruling and spent 400 days in jail until released on bail by Egypt’s highest court in January, when it granted them a retrial. This case has some important international connections. Mohamed Fahmy is a Canadian national and Peter Greste is an Australian journalist so any ruling by an Egyptian court could seriously affect the men’s abilities to continue as international journalists.

The three men on trial. (Photo courtesy of The Hindu)

Media and civil right groups around the world are loudly criticizing the verdict as baseless and politically motivated by the current Egyptian regime. This is the same regime that took power two years ago when the military removed president Mohamed Morsi from office. Since the regime change the climate for journalist in Egypt has steadily become more unfavorable. Last Saturday when the Judge read the sentences, the original charge of collusion with a terrorist organization was not present. Instead they are being imprisoned for operating without a broadcast license and broadcasting false news with the intentions of harming Egypt. The journalists stand by that they were just doing their jobs and are now being prosecuted for it by current Egyptian leadership.

The lack of evidence, and the nature of said evidence provided by the prosecution seems to give some credence to the idea that the ruling was politically motivated. For instance one of the pieces of evidence offered by the prosecution was the music video of “Somebody that I used to Know” by Gote. Not only are civil rights groups questioning the ruling but governments around the world have expressed concern. The U.S. State Department said it was “deeply disappointed” with the court’s ruling. State Department spokesman John Kirby said, “The freedom of the press to investigate, report, and comment even when its perspective is unpopular or disputed is fundamental to any free society and essential to democratic development.” The Australian government has also pledged its support to Greste. Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said she would “continue to pursue all diplomatic avenues with my Egyptian counterpart to clear Greste’s name.” The ruling is rather troubling for the state of media rights in Egypt. It looks like they have traded one oppressive regime for another. How the current President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi will handle these calls for action by the world remains to be seen.

For more information, please see: 

The Guardian — Al-Jazeera journalists sentenced to three years in prison by Egyptian court—

29 August 2015

CNN —Egyptian court sentences 3 Al Jazeera journalists to prison—30 August 2015

Al Jazzeera–FAQ: Al Jazeera’s journalists on trial in Egypt—29 August 2015

The Hindu—Egypt sentences 3 Al-Jazeera reporters to 3 years in prison—29 August 2015