By Ryan Aliman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

PRETORIA, South Africa – On Monday, the police admitted that they may have been at fault in the August 16 shooting involving strikers who worked for a mine owned by the platinum giant Lonmin in the Marikana area.

In a statement issued during a public inquiry, the South African Police Service (SAPS) said that some of its officers either overreacted or mistakenly shot at protesters in response to “friendly-fire”.

“The response of some police officers may have been disproportionate to the danger they faced from the group of more than 200 armed protesters,” the opening statement read. “The police officers are prepared to accept that they may have been responding to ‘friendly fire’, believing it to be fire from the protesters,” it added.

The SAPS statement was delivered by the SAPS lawyer, Ishmael Semenya, to a commission examining the evidence surrounding the events of what is now dubbed as “the Marikana massacre”. The commission, headed by Judge Ian Farlam, is currently investigating the role of the SAPS, along with trade unions and Lonmin authorities, in the incident.

Described by the South African media as the single most lethal use of force by South African security forces against civilians since 1960 and the end of the apartheid era, the August 16 shooting resulted in the death of  36 miners, 2 police officers, 4 other unidentified persons and the injury of 78 other workers and police.

The SAPS also admitted that the number of police officers deployed at Marikana was “insufficient” to control the crowd of approximately 3000 angry miners, many brandishing traditional weapons, machetes and sticks as they protested for higher pay. Semenya insisted, however, that the police officers merely acted in self-defense when “the situation got out of control”. “The use of lethal force was the last possible resort. There was no murderous intent from the part of the police service,” he told the commission.

Dumisa Ntebeza, the lawyer for the victims’ families, refuted Semenya’s statement by contending that “no less than 14 of the striking miners were shot from behind, many in the back or in the back of the head.” “This evidence, which we understand is unlikely to be contradicted, is wholly inconsistent with the claims of necessity that the SAPS will advance,” Ntebeza asserted.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, a crime scene technician admitted that the SAPS may have lost some of the evidence collected from the scene. He admitted that the police may have missed some cartridges and bullets, adding that the SAPS has yet to finalize its ballistic reports.

 

For further information, please see:

AFP – S. Africa police admit possible mistakes in Marikana deaths – 23 October 2012

Mail and Guardian – Cop admits some evidence from Marikana shooting may be lost – 23 October 2012

Al Jazeera – Police admit ‘overreacting’ at Marikana – 22 October 2012

Business Day Live – Marikana: ‘No murderous intent’ on part of police – 22 October 2012

SABC News – Marikana Mineworkers were Shot in the Back – 22 October 2012

The Telegraph – Marikana massacre ‘could have been avoided’ – 22 October 2012

 

 

By Heba Girgis
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

CAPE TOWN, South Africa—South African mines today reached an agreement on a wage deal with the unions and the protesters as the bulk of the gold sector’s striking miners returned to work under a threat of dismissal. This return marked a success for the new tough approach taken by the mining firms. At least 12,000 gold and 20,000 platinum miners were still pursuing an illegal wave of strikes that have now cost Africa’s largest economy over 10 billion rand just this year. The reported estimation was made by South Africa’s National Treasury.

In its interim budges policy statement, the treasury said, “Declining mining output and the spread of strike activity has depressed activity in related industries—including manufacturing, logistics and services, with negative consequences for GDP.”

The National Union of Mineworkers spokesman Lesiba Seshoka said that, “the worst in the gold sector is over. Members have accepted a new pay structure.” The Chamber of Mines’ offer, together with a package that was already on the table will give the mine workers a wage increase between 11 and 20.8 percent depending on the role in the mining process.

Spokeswoman, Marian van der Walt, for Harmony Gold, a gold mining company in the region, noted, “We’re very pleased that they signed and all of the uncertainty and turmoil in the market to an end.”

This agreement does not cover the platinum and coal sectors—only gold miners. The mine owners of these other two sectors are starting to count the cost of what may end up to be the worst labor unrest in the country since the 1980s.

Not all of the strikes are coming to an end. A six-week old strike at Anglo American Platinum, the world’s top producer of the precious metal, is not much closer to ending. It has 20,500 workers at its Union and the strikers continue to hold out for higher wages.

Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan told Parliament today, “We say very clearly that the problems in the mining area do reflect upon our growth prospects and it’s going to still take us some time to understand what the full impact on the growth is depending how and when these strikes actually end.”

 

For further information, please see:

All Africa – Gold Mining Companies, Unions Sign Agreements – 25 October 2012

Al Jazeera – South Africa Mines Agree Deal With Unions – 25 October 2012

Associated Press – ‘Worst is Over’ as South Africa Gold Miners Sign Pay Deal – 25 October 2012

Reuters – South Africa Strikes Ease as Gold Mine Pay Deal Reached – 25 October 2012

 

By Ryan Aliman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

KHARTOUM, Sudan – UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon has demanded the government of Sudan “to conduct a full investigation” of the attack on the African Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) last Wednesday.

The ambush of the UNAMID convoy left one peacekeeper, Private Vincent Mthuthuzeli van der Walt, dead. Two others were wounded, namely, Corporal Kabelo Ronald Sebe and Private Thabiso Sydwell.

In a statement issued through his spokesman, Martin Nesirky, the Secretary-General also urged the government “to ensure the perpetrators are brought to justice”. “The secretary general expresses his condolences to the government of the Republic of South Africa, UNAMID and to the family of the fallen peacekeeper,” added Nesirky.

Moreover, the 15 members of the UN Security Council denounced the assault on the peacekeepers who all had South African nationality. “We strongly condemn Wednesday’s armed attack in North Darfur on a UN convoy comprised of military, police and civilian staff, including two human rights officers,” stated Ravina Shamdasani, the spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), during a press conference in Geneva. The UN Security Council reminded the Sudanese Government that it was responsible for the protection of all the staff and members of the peacekeeping mission.

The attack on the peacekeeping operation comes after Sudan leaders attempted to make amends with South Sudan. Both countries recently ratified a deal that settles some of the unresolved issues from the 2005 peace deal that ended Sudan’s civil war.

According to the Department of International Relations and Co-operation, the UNAMID peacekeepers were on an “assessment mission” of 16 vehicles led by a deputy force commander. The convoy was on its way to Hashaba North in Kutum district to “follow up reports” on growing unrest in the area. Violence and ethnic hostilities in Hashaba have been on the rise since August this year when a local officer was murdered during a carjacking heist. As the UNAMID group was reaching its destination, it was attacked by unidentified assailants armed with automatic weapons and mortars.

Reports show that this is the second ambush this month involving UNAMID peacekeepers. The first one happened on October 2 where four Nigerian peacekeepers were killed in an attack near El-Geneina, in West Darfur state.

In total, 43 peacekeepers have been killed since the establishment of UNAMID in December 2007. UNAMID, whose mandate is to “protect civilians and monitor human rights violations”, remains to be the largest peacekeeping operation in the world with more than 22,000 international troops and police officers and an annual budget of about $1.4 billion.

 

For further information, please see:

Independent Online – Call for probe into SA man’s death in Sudan – 19 October 2012

United Press International – Sudan criticized after peacekeeper killed – 19 October 2012

UN News Centre – UN human rights office calls on Sudan to investigate attack on convoy that killed peacekeeper – 19 October 2012

Al Jazeera – UN demands probe into Darfur mission attack – 18 October 2012

Independent Online – Dead SA peacekeeper named – 18 October 2012

United Press International – Peacekeepers ambushed in Darfur – 18 October 2012

United Press International – 1 Peacekeeper Killed, 3 Wounded in Darfur – 17 October 2012

The Nation – Ambush kills four Darfur peacekeepers – 04 October 2012

 

By Heba Girgis
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

HARARE, Zimbabwe—At the United Nations on Friday, a United Nations official in charge of humanitarian affairs recognized the growing food insecurity emergency in the southern region of Africa. The United Nations deputy humanitarian chief said that food shortages are “a chronic problem” in southern Africa. The chief also noted that more than 5.5 million people in a total of eight countries need aid this year, which is a 40 percent increase compared to last year.

Deputy Humanitarian Chief Catherine Bragg concluded a five-day visit to the south African region where she noted that this “chronic problem” is due to the impact of recurrent natural disasters including droughts and floods and the rising cost of food.

Bragg said, “Regional food production has been weakened by recurrent disasters. In Lesotho, about a third of the population does not have enough food to eat or sell. In Zimbabwe, 1.6 million people are expected to be food insecure and many families are selling their own livestock to cope with this dire situation. “ About 10 years of seizures of commercial farms has completely disrupted food production in Zimbabwe, which is a former regional breadbasket of Africa. USAID estimates that Zimbabwe produces about half of the two million metric tons of cereal necessary to feed the country’s entire population.

The people who are most affected by this are the people in the rural areas, which are located in the drier regions of the country. Zimbabwe however, is not real stranger to the devastation of drought. Since the early 1980s, the country has suffered from insufficient rain more than a dozen times, even though during the first 10 years of its independence, Zimbabwe has generally been able to meet its food requirements and avert famine while dealing with several serious droughts.

Despite the country’s efforts, the climate change became more dangerous. Zimbabwe’s rainfall became even more erratic between 2003 and 2012.

To try to ameliorate these struggles, Bragg has called on countries and partners in the region in order to strengthen their efforts to work as a team to promote disaster preparedness and to tackle this issue of food insecurity.

 

For further information, please see:

IOL News – UN: Southern Africa Shortages Worsen – 21 October 2012

Boston.com – UN: Southern Africa Food Shortages Worsen – 20 October 2012

The Windsor Star – UN Humanitarian Official Says Southern Africa Shortages 40 Percent Worse in 2012 – 20 October 2012

All Africa – Food Security in Crisis – 19 October 2012

By Ryan Aliman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

 BAMAKO, Mali – A 15 year old girl was publicly whipped 60 times in Timbuktu three days ago for speaking to a person of the opposite sex.

Ansar Dine, the rebel group who currently controls Timbuktu and the rest of Northern Mali, convicted her of speaking to the opposite sex which is allegedly forbidden in Islam. The teenage girl was caught standing alongside a group of men on the street. Ansar Dine members contend that she was warned repeatedly to stop what she was doing, but the girl refused to listen. “The Islamists charged that the girl was warned five times by the Islamist police, but she continued speaking to men on the street. After the hearing, the Islamists gave 60 lashes to the girl,” Ousmane Maiga, a Timbuktu resident relayed to the Associated Press on Monday.

The lashing took place at around 11:00 in the morning local time in front of the police headquarters in downtown Timbuktu. “The population did not turn out in large numbers to attend this flogging,” Maiga added.

This is just one in a series of incidents revealing the harsh and grim state of women in the country. Recent reports have shown that after the enforcement of an extremist version of the Sharia law in Northern Mali, there has been an increasing number of human rights violations particularly aimed at women.

Last Wednesday, after his visit to Mali, U.N. Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Ivan Simonovic reported that Islamic extremists are currently compiling a list of unmarried mothers. “It is frightening to hear lists are being compiled of women who are either pregnant or have children and are not married and we do not know what is going to happen to them … We do not know what will happen with those lists, but certainly women were scared that there might be some action taken against them,” he said.

According to local residents Simonovic interviewed during his trip, they feared that women who have had children out of wedlock, or who were unmarried and pregnant, will face severe punishments such as stoning, amputations and executions. Another possible fate for these listed women is to be forced into marriage. After meeting with government officials, community leaders and displaced Malians, Simonovic found out that forced marriages are becoming prevalent in the region. “Wives” are sold for less than $1,000. It is also a common practice among “husbands” to resell their “wives” — a practice Simonovic described as “a smokescreen for enforced prostitution and rapes that are taking place.”

 

For further information, please see:

Malaysian Digest – Teenage Girl Lashed 60 Times for ‘Speaking to Men in the Street’ – 18 October 2012

Nine News – Mali teen whipped for talking to men on street – 18 October 2012

Huffington Post – Mali Girl Reportedly Whipped For Speaking To Men – 15 October 2012

CNN – Fear grows as Mali extremists compile list of unmarried mothers – 13 October 2012

USA Today – Mali Islamists compiling list of unwed moms – 11 October 2012