By Heba Girgis
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

CAPE TOWN, South Africa—Today, Wednesday February 6, 2013, a 17-year-old South African girl died of injuries inflicted on her in a gang rape several days before. Her death stimulated outrage today in a country that has one of the world’s highest levels of sexual violence.

The young victim had been sliced open from her navel to her genitals and left on a building site in the town of Bredasdorp, about 130 kilometers east of the country’s capital. The victim was able to identify one of her attackers before she died as the hospital staff who fought to save her life also counseled her due to the horrific nature of her injuries.

In the hours after the attack, the young girl was taken to three different hospitals—the town’s Otto du Plessis hospital, then the main hospital in Worcester, and finally the Tygerberg hospital.

Troy Martens of the ANC Women’s League said, “It is difficult to find reason behind the many different acts of gang rape, child rape, rape of the elderly, corrective rape and male rape.” The South African police figures and records show that about 64,000 sexual offense cases were reported last year, and that many attacks still go unreported.

South Africa’s statistics agency concluded 13 years ago, in the year 2000, that it had the highest reported rape rate of all 120 Interpol member countries. The report also recognized that even when suspects are caught, only about 12 percent of cases end in a conviction. With these statistics comes the reality that sexual crimes rarely spark outrage; until today.

The death of this young girl has sparked outrage in South African and has been condemned by female politicians of the country’s governing party. Martens argued that the women’s league and the other few women’s non-governmental organizations would no longer be the “lone voices crying out against rape.”

Martens continued saying, “Men and women need to join hands around this issue and fight this epidemic together. The Women’s league and a few women’s NGOs can no longer be the lone voices crying out against rape.”

 

For further information, please see:

BBC News – South African Gang Rape Murder Angers ANC Women – 6 February 2013

IOL News – Girl, 17, Identifies Attacker Before Dying – 6 February 2013

Reuters – South African 17-Year-Old Dies of Gang Rape Injuries – 6 February 2013

Voice of America – South African Teen Dies of Gang Rape Injuries – 6 February 2013

By Hannah Stewart
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

MOGADISHU, Somalia — A Somali woman who accused state security forces of rape and the journalist who interviewed her were each sentenced to a year in jail on Tuesday.  The judges held that Luul Ali Osman, 27, had falsely accused the government.  Human rights groups condemned the decision, stating that the government is attempting to conceal rampant sexual abuse of women by the security forces.

Osman was charged on multiple counts.  She faced charges for insulting a government body, inducing false evidence, simulating a criminal offense, and asserting a false accusation.  Freelance journalist Abdiaziz Abdinur was charged with insulting a government body, and inducing the woman to give false evidence.

During the trial, the judges refused to entertain evidence from three witnesses who intended to testify on behalf of Osman and Abdinur.  It was reported that the judges largely based their decision upon medical evidence that showed Osman was not raped.

The National Union of Somali Journalists described the trial as a suppression of press freedom.  Moreover, it expressed shock that Abdinur was convicted of entering Osman’s home without her husband’s permission, although he was never charged with that crime.

Three others charged in the case, including Osman’s husband, were acquitted Tuesday.  Osman’s prison term will be delayed, as she is currently breastfeeding her child.  Osman and Abdinur plan to appeal the court’s decision.

“The court’s decision to convict an alleged rape victim and the journalist who interviewed her is a terrible miscarriage of justice, and sends a chilling signal to victims of sexual assault in Somalia,” said Daniel Bekele, Africa director at Human Rights Watch.

Reporters Without Borders ranks Somalia 175th out of 179 countries surveyed in its 2012-2013 World Press Freedom Index.  This placed Somalia one place ahead of Syria.

In September, the international community applauded Somalia for its first peaceful elections since military dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was overthrown in 1991.  The United States State Department referred to the case as “a litmus test” for the future of Somalia.

Thus far, the international outcry surrounding the case serves as an embarrassment for current Somali president, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.  After the elections, the international community welcomed Mohamud as the beginning of a new era following decades of Somalian conflict and instability.

For more information, please see:

BBC News – Somali Woman Who Alleged Rape Given Jail Term – 5 February 2013

NY Daily News – Somali Court Sentences Rape Victim, Journalist to One-Year in Jail Over “False Accusations” – 5 February 2013

Reuters – Somali Court Sends Alleged Rape Victim and Journalist to Jail – 5 February 2013

The Guardian – Somali Woman is Jailed for a Year After Claiming She Was Raped – 5 February 2013

By Heba Girgis
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

KINSHASA, DR Congo—The Democratic Republic of Congo has already been struggling to stem unrest in its eastern region. Now another challenge arises. A newly formed armed rebel group has just announced its goal of seeking to topple President Kabila’s government regime.

This group claims to have the support of other civil society members as well as political figures from South Kivu and North Kivu. The group also claims to be striving for justice “for high treason” by the President. This group has entered a busy arena. DR Congo has already been trying to contain rebels from the M23 (Movement of March 23) group that have been fighting the DR Congo army since last May in a neighboring North Kivu province.

The new rebel group said that it wants the United Nations to help it organize “democratic elections and rapidly reinstate political order capable of reducing the misery of Congolese people, and build the foundations of a real republic with proper participatory democracy.”

The head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Franz Rauchenstein, noted that “many people have had to flee out of fear for their safety. Civilians have also suffered violence, looting and extortion,” he added.

Laetitia Courtois, the head of the ICRC sub-delegation in the province, also commented on the violence: “Violence between armed groups is now on the rise again in South Kivu. The fighting is getting closer and closer to the city of Bukavu. At the same time, clashes are affecting remote areas, such as the Kahale territory to the north of Bukavy, and the Walungu and Shabunda territories to the southwest.

During the month of January, the ICRC has transferred dozens of people wounded in the fighting from Walungu to nearby hospitals in Bukavu. The ICRC has also moved six severely malnourished children from the Kabare territory to Bukavu.

Over the past few decades, the DR Congo has faced many problems including extreme poverty, crumbling infrastructure, and a war in the east that has continued since 1998 and that has also left 5.5 million people dead.

In response to this violence, the United Nations have agreed to add another 2,000 soldiers to its already in place peace keeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This, what they call an “intervention brigade,” will help to tackle the armed group that have continued to prolong conflicts in the eastern part of the country.

 

For further information, please see:

The New Age – New Rebel Group Forms in DR Congo – 3 February 2013

PressTV – Humanitarian Situation Worsening in DRC – 3 February 2013

AllAfrica – Civilians Suffer Amid Shifting Centers of Violence – 1 February 2013

Political Analysis South Africa – UN Increases Commitment to the Democratic Republic of the Congo – 29 January 2013

By Ryan Aliman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

HARARE, Zimbabwe – Last week, a man was arrested for “photoshopping” a picture of President Robert Mugabe.

 

Zimbabwean police received information that Ronald Chikambure, a professional graphic designer, had a manipulated photo of the President posted on his office wall. In the photo, Chikambure’s head was said to be placed onto the body of President Mugabe while he was inspecting a guard of honor. The government then charged Chikambure with “undermining the authority of the President”.

According to the prosecution, what Chikambure allegedly did was against the country’s “insult laws”. “The picture had been edited to give a false impression to people who entered Chikambure’s office that it was him in the picture, and not the President,” prosecutor Stanley Ncube said during an interview with the local press.

However, when the police raided Chikambure’s office, they did not find the reported picture. Instead, they found a soft copy of the image, along with the photo editing software Photoshop, in his laptop.

Represented by his lawyer Jonathan Tsvangirai. Chikambure pleaded not guilty before Zvishavane magistrate Story Rushambwa during his hearing on Tuesday. Since then, he was remanded out of custody to February 14 on a 100USD bail.

Activist Phillip Pasirayi from the Centre for Community Development in Zimbabwe (CCDZ) told SW Radio Africa that Chikambure’s arrest is a mockery of justice and democracy. “We are still living in a dictatorship,” he exclaimed. “In an advanced democracy it is normal to criticize political leaders and government leaders in such a fashion. And the government should be drawing lessons from what the criticisms are about.”

He suggested that the government should “reflect on that which they are insulted by and address the concerns without restoring to insult laws to prosecute people.”

Pasirayi also speculated that this incident is part of the government’s scheme to intimidate its critics. “This strategy of muzzling people, it is a strategy of ZANU PF to silence critics, to silence civil society, to silence the media, to silence anyone,” he said.

Apparent in the increasing number of criminal cases under the “insult law” is the government’s growing “paranoia”, according to Pasirayi. Last year, a local carpenter was arrested for making a joke about President Mugabe. While watching a live coverage of President Mugabe’s 88th birthday celebrations, the carpenter reportedly suggested that the Zimbabwean leader must have had help blowing up his birthday candles.

“Making a joke, drawing a caricature or changing a picture for personal use should not be an offence,” Pasirayi finally added.

 

For further information, please see:

SW Radio Africa – Zim man charged over Photoshopped Mugabe image – 1 February 2013

News Zimbabwe – Photoshopped Mugabe snap lands man in court – 31 January 2013

All Africa – Zimbabwe: Insult Laws Stifle Debate – 1 August 2012

SW Radio Africa – Zim carpenter charged over Mugabe joke – 29 February 2012

By Hannah Stewart
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of the Congo — The Movement of March 23 (M23) rebels have been fighting the DRC army since May in the country’s fertile but highly unstable North Kivu province.  The UN published a report late last year that accused the rebels of serious atrocities: rape, murder, human rights violations, and forced recruitment.  M23 has dismissed the allegations at “cruelly biased.”

In April 2012, the M23 rebels launched an offensive against the army after accusing President Joseph Kabila of reneging on the terms of a March 2009 peace agreement.  Now the M23 rebels state they wish to remove Kabila from office and liberate the entire Congo.  The M23 rebels engagement in the in the eastern province has the region back into war and displaced an estimated 500,000 people.

M23 released its response via a report on Wednesday.  The political leader of M23, Jean-Marie Runiga Lugerero, charged that the UN experts of harboring a “visceral hatred of M23.”  Runiga said the UN document “seems to us cruelly biased and hardly professional because it contains incompatible and incoherent elements.”

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has reported that M23 receives significant support from Rwanda.  Moreover, HRW reported that “Rwandan military officials have planned and commanded M23 military operations; supplied weapons, ammunition, uniforms and other equipment; and recruited at least 600 young men and boys in Rwanda to join the rebellion.”

Likewise, according to research by HRW and the UN Group of Experts on Congo several hundred Rwandan army troops were sent to Congo to support the M23 in its military offensives.  In September, HRW accused the rebels of “war crimes committed on a large scale.”

In its Wednesday report, M23 rejected all the foregoing allegations.  The rebel leader, Runiga, calling the UN and the HRW reports “politicized” and “erroneous,” and the production of biased rapporteurs.

However, independent UN experts say the M23 insurgency receives cross-border support from Rwanda and Uganda.  Both governments strongly deny these allegations.

In December the UN sanctions committee blacklisted two key M23 leaders, Eric Badege and Jean-Marie Runiga Lugerero on grounds the rebel group has been complicit in “killing and maiming, sexual violence, abduction, and forced displacement” of people in eastern Congo. They now face international travel bans and asset freezes.

M23 said they expect to sign a peace deal with the government by the end of February to end their ten-month revolt; however, Kinshasa said “capricious” demands from the rebels could cause delays.

For more information, please see:

All Africa – Congo-Kinshasa: How M23 Peace Deal was Missed – 1 February 2013

Global Post – DR Congo Rebels Dismiss “Biased” UN Rights Report – 31 January 2013

IOL News – DRC Rebels Dismiss UN Rights Report – 31 January 2013

Reuters – Congo’s M23 Rebels say Peace Deal Possible by end-February – 1 February 2013