By: Danielle L. Gwozdz
Impunity Watch News Reporter, Africa

ASMARA, Eritrea – Up to 30,000 Eritreans have been abducted since 2007 and taken to Egypt’s Sinai to suffer torture and ransom demands, new research says.

The study, presented to the European parliament, says Eritrean and Sudanese security officers are plotting with the kidnap gangs.

The report focuses on the trafficking of refugees from the Horn of Africa who are targeted by criminal networks for extortion and exploitation. The report looks at the experiences of the refugees who have fled their countries looking for safety and security.

The captives are threatened with being sold to people traffickers if they do not raise tens of thousands of dollars. Some are freed if they raise the ransoms. Others are sold on to traffickers, even after money has changed hands, only to be tortured to extract further cash from relatives.

At least $600m has been extorted from families in ransom payments, the report says.

Eritrea has denied its officials are involved in the kidnappings. The report, however, says Eritrea’s Border Surveillance Unit (BSU) and Sudanese security officials are among the “actors” conspiring with the gangs that hold people hostage in the largely lawless Sinai.  

Most of those targeted are Eritrean refugees fleeing the country.

Almost every Eritrean knows somebody who has been held hostage.

“Their captors are opportunistic criminals looking to profit from their vulnerability,” the report says.

“[The victims] are then taken to the Sinai and sold, sometimes more than once, to Bedouin groups living in Sinai.”

These hostages include men, women, children, and infants fleeing from desperate circumstances in Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Sudan. An estimated 95% are from Eritrea.

Many of the hostages die in captivity or after their release. Some simply disappear – killed while being held, shot by border guards, or from just being lost in the desert.

The study interviewed an Eritrean woman living in Sweden who told them her son was abducted from the camp. He and six other children were forced into a car by a high-ranking Sawa military officer and driven into Sudan. Once there, they were made to call their parents, who were given three days to pay $7,500 or they would be sold to traffickers.

“[The hostages] are chained together without toilets or washing facilities and dehydrated, starved, and deprived of sleep,” the report says.

“They are subject to threats of death and organ harvesting . . . . Those who attempt to escape are severely tortured.”

The report said trafficking would have been impossible without the direct involvement of Eritrean security officials, given the “restrictions on movement within the country, the requirement of exit visas at the border and the shoot-to-kill policy for illegal border crossing.”

Eritrea’s UK ambassador said Eritrea is a “victim of human trafficking” and that the government was “working hard” to arrest and bring justice to justice criminal gangs operating along its border.

For more information, please visit:

BBC News – Thousands of Eritreans ‘abducted to Sinai for ransom’ – 4 December 2013
Free Republic – Thousands of Eritreans ‘abducted to Sinai for ransom’ – 6 December 2013
WADR – Thousands of Eritreans ‘abducted to Sinai for ransom’ – 5 December 2013
Agencia Angola Press – Thousands of Eritreans ‘abducted to Sinai for ransom’ – 7 December 2013
allAfrica – Eritrea: The Human Trafficking Cycle: Sinai and Beyond – 2 December 2013
The Guardian – Eritrea’s military is trafficking the nation’s children, report says – 3 December 2013

 

By: Danielle L. Gwozdz
Impunity Watch News Reporter, Africa

BANGUI, Central African Republic – A Christian militia is suspected to have killed 12 people, including children, and wounded 30 others in an attack in the Central African Republic (CAR), officials say.

The attacks appeared to have targeted a mainly Muslim community north of capital, Bangui, the officials said.

Those killed include a pregnant woman and 10 children.

The gang of Christians disemboweled the pregnant woman and slashed the children with machetes in the attack against Peuhl Muslims.

The attack comes with the UN Security Council set to vote on creating a large peacekeeping force for the impoverished country, where the transitional government has lost control since rebels forced the president flee in March.

The Council is to vote on Thursday on dispatching French reinforcement to restore order in CAR, which has slipped into chaos since mainly Muslim rebels seized power, leading to tit-for-tat sectarian violence.

The UN office did not give details on who was responsible but it warned of tensions between communities leading to a “climate of increasing violence” in the impoverished landlocked country, which is majority Christian.

Amy Martin, head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Bangui, said the attack occurred on Monday and that Christian militias known as “anti-balaka” appeared to have targeted Peul herders, who are mostly Muslim.

“It looks much more organized just than community defense groups,” she said, referring to the mainly Christian militia that have formed to counter abuses by the former rebels, who are known as Seleka.

Religious and ethnic attacks have led to warnings of genocide.

Hundreds of villages have been abandoned, with civilians hiding in the bush and pleading for outside intervention.

“At this stage, it is difficult to know whether the African force, with the support of French forces, will be able to do the work,” Mr Araud, France’s UN ambassador told reporters.

“If the African forces do the work there will be no need for a peacekeeping mission.”

One man whose child and wife were killed in the attack said his other child was being treated in the hospital. He said the Christians had fired shots but had mostly used machetes to attack the group.

Clashes are increasingly about religion and the UN Security Council is preparing to vote on developing a peacekeeping force for the country.

For more information, please visit:

BBC News – Central African Republic militia ‘killed’ children – 4 December 2013
International Business Times – Central African Republic: Christian Vigilantes Disembowel Pregnant Muslim and Kill 10 Children – 4 December 2013
Perth now news – Christians disembowel pregnant woman in attack in Central African Republic that killed 12 – 4 December 2013
iol news – Dozen killed in DRC attack – UN – 4 December 2013
Reuters – Twelve killed in Central African Republic attack – U.N – 3 December 2013

 

By: Danielle L. Gwozdz
Impunity Watch News Reporter, Africa

KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of Congo – About 39 to 41 military officers have been accused of war crimes. They are now on trial in eastern DR Congo.

Most of the charges relate to the mass rape and other acts of sexual violence against more than 130 women and girls in November 2012 by a retreating army.

The charges also include murder and looting, governor of North Kivu province, Julien Paluku, told AFP. He also said that judges had arrived from Kinshasa, the capital, to reinforce those in Goma, the eastern regional hub where the trial is taking place.

Correspondents say the military trial comes after months of international pressure after 23 soldiers were initially suspended but not charged.

The UN then threatened to stop funding army units suspected of abuses.

A high-ranking police officer said the tribunal’s verdict will be final. “There’s no appeal. They are definitely convicted, or if they are to be freed, they are freed.”

The soldiers at trial are mostly low-ranking officers.

According to a UN report, at least 102 women and 33 girls were victims of rape or other acts of sexual violence by government troops in the market town to the south of Goma.

The UN, in an interview, has explained that many families were and are separated as a result of those experiences. That raped women find themselves isolated and the harmony within the families broken. Entire communities become weakened and divided. This leads to an atmosphere of fear where the rebels become more powerful.

In October of this year, the UN peacekeeping force MONUSCO lamented that: “Almost a year after these incidents, none of the presumed perpetrators of these human rights violations has been brought to justice . . . in spite of the Congolese authorities’ commitment to persecute the perpetrators.”

Soldiers, who requested anonymity, admitted to the BBC in April that they had raped women in Minova, but said that they acted under orders from above.

The DR Congo government signed an accord with the UN in April to step up the fight against sexual abuse by armed soldiers and groups, which remains rampant.

The trial opens barely three weeks after the UN-backed Congolese army defeated the M23.

For more information, please visit:

BBC News – DR Congo officers in rape and war crimes trail – 20 November 2013
The Daily Star – Forty-one DR Congo soldiers go on trial for rape – 20 November 2013
allAfrica – Congo-Kinshasa: Q&A – Why ‘Rape Victims Must Talk About Their Trauma’ – 20 November 2013
Modern Ghana – Forty-one DR Congo soldiers go on trial for rape – 20 November 2013
Wopopular – Congo Soldiers Tried For Mass Rape – 20 November 2013

By: Danielle L. Gwozdz
Impunity Watch News Reporter, Africa

TRIPOLI, Libya – Renewed fighting between rival militias have erupted on the outskirts of the Libya capital of Tripoli. So far about 43 people have died because of these clashes.

On Friday more than 450 were injured due to clashes. The militias, however, have continued fighting. Government repeats calls of restraint.

Libya’s Prime Minister Ali Zeidan has appealed for calm as government forces struggle to control militias, Islamist militants, and other former fighters who refuse to surrender their arms after helping to oust Muammar Gaddafi.

The Foreign Ministry spokesperson has stressed the need for strengthening national unity and solidarity, as well as disarming the armed and irresponsible groups there.

Friday’s clashes occurred after protesters marched on the headquarters of the Misrata militia to demand it leave Tripoli, and were fired upon.

Zeidan urged that “No forces from outside Tripoli should attempt to enter the city because the situation is very tense and could escalate further.”

“The coming hours and days will be decisive for the history of Libya and the success of the revolution.”

Late on Saturday, local authorities in Tripoli announced a “three-day general strike in all public and private sectors starting Sunday” in response to the violence.

Misrata militiamen remained in a base near Tripoli airport on Saturday in a standoff with government forces and local pro government offices. But fighters often battle for control of local areas and remain loyal to their own commanders.

A militia group calling itself the Shield of Libya said on Saturday it had secured Ghargour and that the Misrata fighters had withdrawn.

There have been increasing demands from civilians that the militias – which emerged during the 2011 revolution – disband or join the army, in line with an end-of-the-year deadline set by the interim government in Tripoli.

Some militiamen have been given salaries and taken into the government security forces but many still remain loyal.

For further information, please visit:

BBC News – Rival Libya militias in fresh clashes near Tripoli – 16 November 2013
Kenya National Broadcaster – Fresh militia clashes erupt in Libya – 17 November 2013
The Telegraph – Death toll rises as fighting continues in Tripoli – 17 November 2013
The Independent – Fresh gun battles erupt in Tripoli as rival Libyan militias clash – 17 November 2013
IRNA – Iran: Strengthening national unity, disarming armed groups needed in Libya – 17 November 2013

 

By: Danielle L. Gwozdz
Impunity Watch News Reporter, Africa

MAPUTO, Mozambique – Mozambican officers have rescued 27 children being smuggled to South Africa.

The children were between the ages of 1 and 7.

Seven people were arrested for attempting to smuggle these children across the border to South Africa.

Children end up in the hands of smugglers when parents send their children to stay with relatives in South Africa during school holidays. Instead of going to their relatives, many of them end up being smuggled.

Many of the children also end up in the hands of criminal networks.

When parents send their children to South Africa, they risk the potential for the children to be smuggled and forced into prostitution, child labor, illegal adoption, or used in “witchcraft,” BBC reports.

One of the mothers, whose child was smuggled, denies any criminal intentions when she sent her child on a minibus with the group. This group was later arrested for smuggling.

“I always took my child with me to Johannesburg because she was attached to my now-expired passport. This time I could not secure money to get a passport for my child,” said the mother, who has not been named in the local media.

One of the arrested men alleged of trafficking the children denies they were smuggling children. He claims they were paid to bring the children to South Africa to spend the holiday season there.

However, the police are confident they were dealing with child trafficking.

“We are talking about children who are not authorized to cross the border without being accompanied by a relative,” police spokesman Emidio Mabunda said.

“Even with a relative, the child must have a passport or must be attached to a passport of a parent.”

Some of the children found were sent back to their families, whereas others were put into the care of the social welfare department.

For more information, please visit:

BBC News – Mozambique ‘child smuggling’ arrests at South Africa border – 12 November 2013
Ghana Visions – Mozambique Child Smuggling Arrests At South Africa Border – 12 November 2013
Local UK News – Mozambique ‘child smuggling’ arrests – 12 November 2013
NewsForAfrica.com – Mozambique ‘child smuggling’ arrests – 12 November 2013