by Erica Smith
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

HARARE, Zimbabwe – Human Rights Watch has issued a new report accusing the Zimbabwean military and security forces of interfering with the upcoming election. The security forces are believed to be working to secure the reelection of current president Robert Mugabe and the Zanu-PF party.

The report comes as Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, Mr. Mugabe’s opponent, says there is not enough time to institute security reforms before the court mandated election deadline of July 31st. The current government is a unity government formed between Zanu-PF and Mr. Tsvangirai’s party Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) after the 2008 election.

Security forces were also accused of intimidation and interference in the 2008 elections.  Mr. Tsvangirai ran against Mr. Mugabe in 2008 and won the first round of voting but did not win enough votes to secure the election. Mr. Tsvangirai boycotted the second round of voting because his supporters were being targeted by security forces. Mr. Mugabe went on to win another term but had to form a unity government with MDC.

The new report details how security forces have openly supported Mr. Mugabe and have refused to meet with Mr. Tsvangirai about his security concerns. On May 4th, the Zimbabwe Defense Forces commander, Gen. Constantine Chiwenga told The Sunday Mail: “We have no time to meet sellouts. Clearly Tsvangirai is a psychiatric patient who needs a competent psychiatrist.” Police Commissioner General Augustine Chihuri has also said that the security forces would never meet with Tsvangirai and that anyone who reported on the issue risked being arrested.

The Human Rights Watch investigation has found that the army has deployed soldiers across the country to beat and intimidate anyone they believe to be a supporter of MDC.  The army has been accused of using food distribution programs and army research projects to gain admission into people’s homes and other areas. One MDC supporter told HRW:  “When I said I had voted in favor of the draft constitution they then asked me why I was wearing an MDC t-shirt and before I could respond they began to punch and kick me all over my body. They said I must vote for ZANU-PF in the coming elections without fail or they would come back for me.”

“Zimbabwe’s laws and constitution require neutrality and impartiality from the security forces but the security forces have shown no sign of meeting their obligations,”  Tiseke Kasambala, Africa advocacy director at Human Rights Watch said .  “The government needs to send a clear message by disciplining and prosecuting security force personnel and soldiers who violate the law for political reasons.”

 

For more information, please see:

Human Rights Watch – The Elephant in the Room – 5 June 2013

Human Rights Watch – Zimbabwe: Security Forces Pose Election Risk – 5 June 2013

BBC News – Zimbabwe’s Tsvangirai wants polls delayed for reforms – 5 June 2013

Aljazeera – Rights group slams Zimbabwe security forces – 5 June 2013

Zimbabwe Independent – Security reforms: Elephant in the room – 7 June 2013

 

By Danielle Gwozdz
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia – Around 10,000 Ethiopians gathered in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, on Sunday to protest for the release of jailed journalists and activists.

Some protestors carried banners reading “Justice! Justice! Justice!” or pictures of imprisoned opposition figures. Others chanted: “we call for respect of the constitution.”

Yilekal Getachew, the chairman of the opposition party Semayawi (blue) that organized this protest, stated “We have repeatedly asked the government to release political leaders, journalists and those who asked the government not to intervene in religious affairs.” Further, he said, “If these questions are not resolved and no progress is made in the next three months, we will organize more protests. It is the beginning of our struggle.”

The demonstrators also seek action against unemployment, inflation, and corruption.

The government is able to jail journalists and activists because of the 2009 anti-terrorism law. This law states that anyone caught publishing information that could induce readers into acts of terrorism would be liable to be jailed for terms from 10 to 20 years.

Last year an Ethiopian court sentenced 20 journalists, opposition figures, and others, to jail for conspiring with rebels to destroy the government. In addition, last year 49 Ethiopian journalists were in exile and 72 newspapers had been closed.

However, Communications Minister Bereket denied  the protestors’ allegations. He stated that, “There are no political prisoners. There are only people who have been charged with criminal offenses.”

Further, Bereket said, “We don’t have any qualms about the protesters exercising their rights, but when you see the character of the demands, calls to give up the trials and release persons who are behind bars, convicted of criminal offenses, it is both unethical and unacceptable. Also, the government cannot interfere and release people suspected of criminal offenses. We will have to wait until the courts give verdicts.”

Although Ethiopia’s economy is one of the fastest growing economies in Africa, it is often criticized for preventing opposition and the media.

 

For further information, please see:

BBC News — Ethiopian Protestors Take to Streets — 2 June 2013

The Guardian — Ethiopian Human Rights Protestors Take to Streets in Addis Ababa — 2 June 2013

The Huffington Post — Ethiopia: Thousands Protest Political Repression — 2 June 2013

Reuters — Thousands March for Rights in Rare Ethiopia Protest — 2 June 2013

 

 

 

By Erica Smith
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

NAIROBI, Kenya — A new 68-page report from Human Rights Watch alleges that some 1,000 Somali refugees have been abused and arbitrarily detained by Kenyan police over the course of 10 weeks. The police abuse is believed to be retaliation for grenade attacks carried out in a mainly Somali section of Nairobi.

The police raids were carried out in accordance with a government plan to relocate Somali refugees from Eastleigh, or “Little Mogadishu”, to a large refugee camp outside of the city. Kenyan officials believe that moving the refugees will improve national security in the wake of attacks that are believed to have been carried out by Somalis.

Somalis report that police ransacked their homes, carried out beatings, and demanded cash payment. Seven women are believed to have been raped by the police and the refugees were repeatedly called ‘terrorists’.

Ubah Abdi Warsame, a 32 year-old mother of five, told Aljazeera that she was beaten by the police and then detained in squalid conditions for eight hours until a friend could pay the $60 bribe to get her released. “We’d got used to hassle from the police and paying small bribes,” Warsame, 32, said. “But when they started searching houses, beating Somalis and taking them to the cells, it was quite terrifying. I have nightmares because of the beatings I got from police.”

The police refute the allegations contained in the report. Police spokesman Masood Mwinyi told Sabahi that “The allegations by the refugees against [police] who protect them are total lies and unbelievable… It can never be that our way of operation is through torture, rape, extortion, arbitrary arrests and detentions. Our orders and policy is to protect everyone within our borders irrespective of social standing. If we were that bad as the report puts it, then I doubt we would be the largest hosts of refugees worldwide.” The police are to release a more comprehensive statement in the coming days.

Police in Kenya have a history of human rights and impunity issues that instigated police reform in 2010. Before the reforms the president had the power to hire and fire police chiefs which often lead to the harassment of political enemies and dissenters. A culture of corruption and bribe taking still exist as police officers are often underpaid, live in poor conditions, and are under-equipped and understaffed.

 

For more information, please see:

Washington Post — Kenya police accused of abuse, torture, rape of Somali refugees after terror attacks — 29 May 2013

Aljazeera —  ’10 weeks of hell’ for Somalis in Kenya — 29 May 2013

Sahabi — Kenyan police deny abuse allegations, watchdog agency to weigh in — 31 May 2013

Human Rights Watch — Kenya: Police Abuse Nairobi’s Refugees — 29 May 2013

Human Rights Watch — “You Are All Terrorists” — 30 May 2013

By Danielle Gwozdz
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

NIAMEY, NIGER – Suicide bombers affiliated with the jihadist Mujao group (movement for unity and jihad in West Africa) attacked two locations in Niger around 5:30 A.M. on May 23.

The first attack occurred at a barracks in Agadez, the largest city in northern Niger.  This attack killed about 19 people, including 18 soldiers and one civilian.  The suicide bombers drove a Toyota truck through the barrier of the town’s military base and detonated the explosives when soldiers opened fire. An Agadez resident, Barka Sofa, said he heard a strong explosion outside the army base, followed by heavy weapons’ fire. A local journalist reported heavy damage inside the camp.

The second attack occurred 30 minutes later and 150 miles north of Agadez in the Somair mines in the town of Arlit.  One person died and roughly 50 people were injured, mostly security agents at the mine.  A man driving a 4×4 packed with explosives had been mixed in with Somair workers.  Once his vehicle was in front of the mine he blew up the vehicle.

The mine in Arlit is controlled by a French-run operation, Avera, the world’s second largest uranium producer, which extracts more than one-third of uranium from Niger and has been operating there for more than 40 years. Areva stated that the mine had been “badly damaged” and they were forced to stop production.

Four of the Mujao attackers died in the explosions, while one is still alive and is holding four army officers hostage.

The jihadist Mujao group is part of a loose Islamist coalition which seized control of North Mali last year before being ousted by a French-led offensive in January.  Niger has been singled out because of its role in the military intervention in Mali and for its relationship with France and the United States, which signed an agreement this year to establish a new military base in the country.

A jihadist Mujao spokesman stated that they attacked these two locations in Niger because they were “enemies of Islam” and referred to Niger and France’s involvement in combating Islamists in Mali.

This attack occurred four months after a previous terrorist attack in neighboring Algeria.  Al-Qaeda linked militants seized a desert gas plant in a siege that left 38 hostages dead and had been in retaliation against the intervention in Mali.

Niger states that the attacks had been an inevitable consequence of the government’s decisions to intervene in Mali.  However, it states that the intervention had not been a mistake because it shares borders with Mali and would have been affected by the crisis regardless of its intervention.

French President Francois Hollande vowed to help Niger “destroy” the militants and would back all efforts of Niger to stop the hostage situation. However, it will not intervene as it had in Mali, but has the same willingness to cooperate to fight against terrorism.

 

For further information, please see:

BBC News – Niger Suicide Bombers Target Areva Mine and Barracks – 24 May 2013

Africa Review – 19 Killed in Niger Suicide Bomb Strike – 23 May 2013

The Dawn News – At Least 20 Killed in Al Qaeda-Linked Militant Attacks in Niger – 23 May 2013

The Guardian – Suicide Attacks Rock Niger – 23 May 2013

Ahram Online – Islamist Bombers Kill 20 in Niger Attacks, Seize Hostages – 23 May 2013

Yahoo! News – Islamist Bombers Kill 20 in Niger, Seize Hostages – 23 May 2013

 

By Ryan Aliman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

ABUJA, Nigeria – Militant Islamist group Boko Haram just released a video where the group claimed responsibility for the recent attacks and hostage-taking in Nigeria.

Acquired by the AFP news agency last week, the video features Abubakar Shekau – the alleged leader of the Nigerian extremist group. Speaking in the Hausa language, Shekau personally admitted that it was his group who led the latest attacks on the northeastern region of the country.

“We are the ones that carried out the Bama attack,” Shekau said, referring to the May 7 assault in a village at Borno state near Nigeria’s north-eastern border with Cameroon. During the raid, 55 people, including soldiers and local law enforcers, were killed and 105 prisoners were freed on a police station, military barracks and government buildings.

“We also carried out the attack in Baga,” he added. This time he was referring to the April 16 raid in the town near Lake Chad which caused the death of approximately 200 people.

Seated on a rug with a kalashnikov resting behind his right shoulder, Shekau accused the army of illegally detaining the relatives of Boko Haram members, saying their release was a prerequisite for any truce. He further pointed out the excessive force employed by the soldiers in retaliating to the group.

“It was you, the security agents that went into town the following day and burnt homes and killed people at will,” Shekau said.

The military have reportedly told the press that it killed at least 30 Boko Haram members during the Baga assault. However, Shekau staunchly denied this in the video, saying, “none of our people were killed in Baga.”

Half way through the 12-minute video message, the screen splits, showing Shekau on the left with a group of unidentified women and children on the right.

“We kidnapped some women and children, including teenage girls,” he said.

According to Shekau, these people are currently held hostage in retaliation for the relatives of several Boko Haram members who were arrested by the army. Reports say that soldiers detained women, as well as children and infants, related to the group’s members in Kano, Bauchi and Damaturu.

“In a single house in Damaturu, eight of our women and 14 children were arrested. . . . As long as we do not see our women and children we will never release these women and children,” Shekau threatened.

The Boko Haram leader did not disclose the number and names of the women and children captured by his group.

 

For further information, please see:

African Spotlight – Boko Haram kidnaps women and children, releases hostage video – 13 May 2013

AFP – Nigeria Islamist video claims attacks, shows hostages – 13 May 2013

BBC News – Nigeria’s Boko Haram releases hostage video – 13 May 2013

TVC News – Nigeria: Boko Haram releases hostage video, claims recent attacks – 13 May 2013