By Ryan Aliman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

KIGALI, Rwanda – On October 30, 2012, Rwanda’s top opposition leader, Victoire Ingabire, was sentenced to eight years in prison for treason and genocide denial, charges stemming from the infamous 1994 Rwandan Genocide.

Ingabire was charged with six offenses.  The first three were linked to “terrorist acts”. The remaining three were linked to her public criticism of the government in the period before the 2010 presidential elections.

In 2010, Ingabire returned to Rwanda after a 16 year exile in the Netherlands following the 1994 Rwandan Genocide . Upon visiting the genocide memorial, Ingabire asked why Hutus killed in the violence were not recognised like the minority Tutsis were.

The Rwandan court found her guilty of two of her six charges: treason for conspiring war against the country by sending money to Hutu extremists, and Rwandan genocide belittling based on her statements and criticisms. She was sentenced to eight years in prison despite the prosecution asking for a life sentence.

The 1994 Rwandan genocide claimed more than 500,000 Rwandan lives, mostly ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus. Because of the massive bloodshed driven by ethnic identity clashes, the new military government set out to de-emphasize Hutu and Tutsi ethnicity. Today, many Rwandans identify themselves simply as a Rwandan, instead of Hutu or Tutsi.

Martin Ngoga, the government’s chief prosecutor said that Ingabire’s genocide belittling conviction was not simply a free-speech issue. The government feared that through her statements, Ingabire would rekindle the ethnic  divide and incite Rwanda “to once more explode” as it did in 1994.

The government also accused Ingabire – who has had contacts with the FDLR, a group of Hutu fighters in Congo – of trying to raise an armed group, a charge Ingabire denied.

Human Rights Watch said the guilty verdict was the culmination of a flawed trial that included politically motivated charges.

“The Rwandan government has a legitimate responsibility to prevent the kind of hate speech and incitement to ethnic violence that led to the genocide in 1994,” said Daniel Bekele of Human Rights Watch. “However, the responsibility to prevent violence should not be used as an excuse for stifling criticism or prohibiting discussion of certain events – nor should it be invoked as a pretext for delaying democratic reforms.” Bekele continued.

Ingabire believes that the true reason for her arrest is that she dared to run in the presidential election as a candidate for the opposition party, challenging the sitting president, Paul Kagame. Kagame is the leader of the Rwandan Patriotic Front, whose military victory ended the genocide in Rwanda. He has been the president of Rwanda since 1994.  His final presidential term ends in 2017.

Ingabire is appealing the conviction.

 

For further information, please see:

Zimbio – Rwandan Opposition Leader Victoire Ingabire, Sentenced to 8 years in Jail – October 31, 2012

All Africa – Rwandan Opposition Leader Receives Eight-Year Sentence – 31 October 2012

Al Jazeera – Rwanda Jails Opposition Leader for ‘Treason’ – 30 October 2012

BBC – Rwandan Opposition Leader Victoire Ingabire Jailed – 30 October 2012

By Ryan Aliman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

LONDON, United Kingdom – On Monday, a British court sentenced Osezua Osolase to 20 years in prison for smuggling three Nigerian orphans into the United Kingdom to sell as sex slaves.

Osolase was apprehended by UK Border Agency officials at Stansted Airport where he was caught travelling with the three girls aged 14, 16 and 17.

Depicted by the local press as a “British linchpin of a multi-million pound global child sex trafficking ring”, Osolase reportedly used West African “Juju” witchcraft rituals to instill fear in the children and to force their obedience and silence.

Osolase, who worked at a trendy London fashion shop, found his victims begging on the streets of Nigeria and promised to take them to the UK to get an education.

“Osolase led these girls to believe a better life awaited them in the UK,” said Insp Eddie Fox from Kent and Essex Serious Crime Inspectorate. “The mental and physical scars inflicted by Osolase will remain with the victims for the rest of their lives. Juju is a well established belief but Osolase corrupted it in a bid to gain control and bend the wills of his victims,” Fox added.

The young victims were sexually abused and subjected to voodoo-style rituals once in the clutches of the  trafficking ring. The girls were told they would die or never bear children if they tried to escape or revealed what had happened to them.

Osolase’s home was a secret staging post for vulnerable teenage orphans as they were smuggled from Africa to several European countries.

The authorities discovered evidence that Osolese had smuggled at least 28 other victims in and out of Britain over a 14-month period, earning him up to £1.5million.

The actual figures, however, could be greater as one girl overheard Osolese boasting that he had been operating for 15 years while he tried to sell her for £60,000.

Investigators said the case was difficult to bring to court because human trafficking victims often feared retribution. Their experience of dealing with the authorities in their home country often left them lacking confidence in the justice system. British officials said the girls were courageous in giving evidence.

During the six-week trial, Osolase, nicknamed “Uncle”, refused to admit trafficking the teenagers, forcing them to relive the crimes in front of a jury.

Sentencing him to 20 years imprisonment, judge Adele Williams described Osolase as a man who was “devoid of conscience, devoid of compassion…”.

Osolese showed no emotion as the sentence was passed.

She said Osolase treated the girls as objects to be sold as sex slaves. The fact that he raped one girl knowing he had HIV was a “seriously aggravating” feature, she said.

Osolase also faces the possibility of deportation as the prosecution has recommended that he be deported once he has served his sentence.

 

For further information, please see:

 BBC News – Osezua Osolase jailed for ‘juju’ rituals trafficker – 29 October 2012

The Guardian – Sex trafficker jailed for smuggling Nigerian orphans into Britain – 29 October 2012

The Sun – Evil ‘Juju magic’ people smuggler jailed for 20 years – 29 October 2012

BBC News – Osezua Osolase used witchcraft on trafficked girls – 26 October 2012

The Daily Mail – ‘Evil’ Nigerian people smuggler used witchcraft to terrify girls into sex slavery – 26 October 2012

By Heba Girgis
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

NAIROBI, Kenya—The situation in Kisumu County has grown progressively more dangerous. The County stands to lose billions of shillings worth of investments if this insecurity continues. The latest riots began after a businessman was murdered in Kisumu.

The businessman, Phanuel Marwa, who is the head of Visho Security, a local security agency, was hacked to death by a number of thugs along the Kisumu Kakamega road at the Mamboleo junction just meters from a police roadblock. The thugs are believed to have trailed Marwa and his driver from his home in Mamboleo as he made his way to his security firm near the Uzima University.

His death comes only two days after the violent death of a local politician. Shem Onyango Kwega, a local candidate for parliament, was also shot by local thugs on Monday morning. His murder sparked two days of riots in which four people died as the residents protesting the insecurity clashed with Kenyan police.

Kwega’s attackers shot him in the head. He was rushed to a local hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. Police also said that Kwega’s wife was critically injured in the attack and is now fighting for her life in the Kisumu hospital.

A senior police officer noted that three people “died from either burning or suffocation after tear gas was lobbed into a hardware shop they were hiding in.”

A police officer in a nearby province, Joseph Oli Tito, confirmed these deaths but claimed that the police were not involved in the killings. He stated, “three people inside a workshop died in a fire…There are rumors that police officers lobbed tear gas into the workshop which caused the fire, but we are disputing that and we are suspecting an electric fault.”

A Kenyan government official spoke to this question saying that “the Government of Kenya does not condone extrajudicial killings and there is no policy sanctioning such killings…The assertion that police killings are widespread, opportunistic, reckless or personal is not supported by facts.”

The region has been experiencing a wave of this kind of criminal activity after the rise of two rival gangs called China Squad and American Marines. Competition and rights between these two gangs brought business in Kisumu to a halt last month as the thugs went on a rampage destroying houses, businesses and vehicles.

 

For further information, please see:

Press TV – Violent Protests Hit Kenya After Murder of Local Politician – 1 November 2012

All Africa – Businessman Murdered in Kisumu – 31 October 2012

Business Daily – Kisumu Traders Fear Riots Over Insecurity Will Put Off Investors – 30 October 2012

The Star – Kenya’s Record on Human Rights is Not Appealing – 29 October 2012

By Ryan Aliman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of the Congo – Rebels have killed two park rangers and a soldier in an attack at the Democratic Republic of Congo’s famous Virunga National Park last Friday.

 

The attack, which took place at Mwiga Bay near the park’s Lake Edward, also claimed the lives of five rebels.

A statement from the park management reported that three soldiers and two rebels were wounded during the conflict. The injured rebels were taken into custody and confined in a hospital in Vitshumbi, the statement added.

The Virunga park, which employs park rangers from the Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature, has seen a dramatic increase in the presence of armed militias since the civil war outbreak in May this year. These rebel forces, including the “March 23 Movement” (M23), decided to set up their own bases in the park. This has led to a growing number of fighting between rebel groups and the army in the area. As a result, park staff have usually been caught in the crossfire and have been vulnerable to assaults from militia men. Reports show that the number of park rangers has decreased from 1,000 to 271.

According to the park’s chief warden, Emmanuel de Merode, “the civil war has brought an influx of militias into the park, intent on poaching and attacking the local population. This is bringing overwhelming pressures on our small team of rangers whose duty it is to protect the wildlife and the people living in and around the park. Once again, we are deeply shocked and saddened by the deaths of our colleagues.”

To protect the park staff, the government has deployed 200 soldiers, including 48 recruits trained by retired Belgian Special Forces, into Virunga.

The spokesperson for the Congolese Army, Col. Hamuli, speculated that Friday’s attack may have been perpetrated mainly by M23 “to destabilize [the army’s] positions from the inside of the territory [and] to show that Rwanda and Uganda are not supporting them. He also suggested that seizing parts of Virunga park may be a ploy of the M23 to “take back their traditional fiefdom in Masisi.”

The United Nations Security Council has issued a statement condemning the Friday attack.The Security Council also condemned “any attempts by the M23 to establish a parallel administration and to undermine State authority.”

The Virunga National Park, largely known for its endangered mountain gorillas, was created under Belgian rule in 1925 and named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

 

For further information, please see:

AFP – Eight killed in attack at DR Congo wildlife reserve – 27 October 2012

Wildlife Extra – Rebel attack on Virunga National Park ranger patrol kills three in DR Congo –  27 October 2012

BBC News – Virunga National Park: DR Congo rangers killed – 26 October 2012

Environment News Service – Eight Dead in Attack on Virunga National Park Rangers – 25 October 2012

The Washington Post – Congo M23 rebels attack army in North Kivu province to gain more territory; army pushes back – 19 October 2012

Huffington Post – Africa’s oldest park threatened by rebels, now oil – 5 October 2012

Global Animal – Virunga National Park Loses Defense In Congo War – 17 September 2012

 

By Heba Girgis
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

CAPE TOWN, South Africa—The South African President, Jacob Zuma now intends to drop a four-year-old lawsuit that claimed about $600,000 in damages from a political cartoonist who depicted the President poised to rape “Lady Justice.” The defendant in the case was The Sunday Times—who also said that it had reached an agreement with Zuma and Zuma’s lawyers for the end of the suit and all other claims.

The Presidency noted that “in depicting President Zuma as a would-be rapist, the cartoon sought to play a discredited and legally disproved accusations made against him in 2006. The newspaper and the cartoonist wanted to perpetuate an image of the President as a sexual deviant, despite a court law rejecting the allegations against him and clearing his name.”

The cartoon, considered to be both “hurtful and defamatory,” was printed at a time when Zuma was not yet president. At the time, he was also fighting graft charges, which later were withdrawn, and two years later he was acquitted of raping a family friend. Even though he was acquitted, he admitted to having unprotected sex with a woman who he knew was HIV-positive.

The President’s office, in a statement to the press and the people said “The President…would like to avoid setting a legal precedent that may have the effect of limiting the public exercise of free speech, with the unforeseen consequences this may have on our media, public commentators and citizens.” The office, however, still believes that the cartoon was and is an affront to the dignity of the President.

Dropping the lawsuit will send an important signal showing that the President respects the right of the media to criticize his conduct. Zuma noted that racial and cultural prejudice and bigotry could not be exclusively handled through the court system. Zuma, however, is also suing several other newspapers and a radio broadcaster for about 50 million rand.

Jonathan Shapiro, the cartoonist involved in the suit, is known to write controversial cartoons. He told the Sunday Times that he had mixed feelings about the case being dropped because he believed that he would have won “hands down.”

“This is a vindication of what I was saying in the cartoon and it’s a vindication of the Sunday Times for publishing it,” Shapiro said.

 

For further information, please see:

Associated Press – South Africa’s Zuma Drops Lawsuit Over Rape Cartoon – 28 October 2012

The Australian – South Africa’s Zuma Drops Lawsuit Over Cartoon – 28 October 2012

Global Post – Zuma Drops Rape Cartoon Lawsuit Against Shapiro – 28 October 2012

Reuters – South Africa’s Zuma Drops Suit Over Rape Cartoon – 28 October 2012