KAMPALA, Uganda – Amnesty International released a report yesterday accusing Uganda’s justice system of “tacitly condoning and protecting suspected perpetrators” of rape and other sexual abuses against women and girls in the north.  Most victims do not report crimes due to a fear of intimidation, hostility, and ridicule from the community, as well as state inaction in granting redress. 

Amnesty International says the northern area of Uganda has a “culture of impunity” surrounding rape cases.  “Many women and girls in northern Uganda suffer sexual and gender-based violence committed by state actors, including official authorities and military officers, and non-state actors within the family and community.”  While the government was commended for establishing a functional justice system, the report called for more action regarding violence against women. 

For more information, please see:

BBC News – Ugandan justice ‘fails on rape’ – 30 November 2007

AFP – War ebbs but rape still rife in Uganda – 30 November 2007

AllAfrica.com – Uganda: Sexual Abuse Survivors in North Denied Justice – 30 November 2007

VOA News – Amnesty Accuses Northern Ugandan Authorities of Failing Women – 30 November 2007

By Meryl White
Impunity Watch Reporter, Western and Central Africa

GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo – An 11 month baby girl has died following her rape in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The alleged rapist is a twenty year old man, who faces a life sentence.

The brutal rape and death come after a Red Cross hearing in Geneva that denounced the “systematic violence” against girls and women in DR Congo.

ICRC official, Dominik Stillhart stated, “What really shocked me personally the most, was the systematic violence especially against women and girls which is producing immense suffering.”

An estimated 16,000 victims of rape, with most rape victims suffering from obstetric fistula, have been treated at the Panzi General Hospital in Bukavu alone since 2000. Furthermore, additional cases of sexual assault and rape are unlikely to be reported, due to the social stigma attached to rape and the fear of embarrassment.

Human Rights Watch has accused The United Nations Mission located in Monuc, Congo, of failing to act against widespread abuse and rape of women in the region. Presently, around 5,000 UN peacekeepers are in DR Congo to secure peace after a five-year conflict officially ended in 2002.

Presently, in northwestern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) province of Equateur, the government has imposed a nighttime curfew in the area to curb incidents of murder and rape by armed men.

For more information, please see:

BBC – DR Congo child rape victim dies  – 29 November 2007

IRIN – DRC: Campaign against sexual violence in South Kivu  – 29 November 2007

IRIN- DRC: Curfew imposed in Equateur to stem worsening insecurity  – 28 November 2007

By Elizabeth Costner
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Africa

KHARTOUM, Sudan – Deployment of a joint UN-AU peacekeeping force to Darfur may be delayed due to several challenges in the region.  On Tuesday the head of UN peacekeeping, Jean-Marie Guehenno, “complained that Sudanese government red tape and lack of resources are delaying the deployment of an international force to protect civilians in the war-stricken region of Darfur.”

The joint peacekeeping force, named UNAMID, was approved in July in order to eventually take over for the current 6,000 ill-equipped African Union forces that have been in the area since 2004.  Khartoum has put up much resistance to the force, and only accepted it on the condition that it be mostly composed of African troops.  Further demands from Khartoum have made it “impossible for the mission to operate” according to Guehenno.   The UN is still awaiting authorization for non-African troops, land for the UNAMID bases, and authorization for night flights. 

It is now five weeks before the scheduled deployment and transfer of authority to UNAMID and the UN and AU have both been facing problems getting the needed troops. The force is also short of critical mobility capabilities such as helicopters. 

Additionally, the ongoing conflict between the government and rebel groups has made things even more difficult and dangerous for those in the area.    Peace talks began in Libya on October 27 but have been boycotted by most of the rebel groups.  Jan Eliasson, the UN’s top political envoy for Darfur says the atmosphere is less positive than it was this summer and that they “will only be able to make progress if the parties show seriousness, political will, and a focused commitment to peace.” 

Violence in Darfur has displaced 30,000 people since October alone, brining this total for this year to 280,000.  Since fighting began in 2003, over 200,000 people have died and more than 2.2 million have been displaced.  On Monday, the International Crisis Group issued a report cautioning that new dynamics in Darfur could lead to an Arab insurgency, further leading to worries of increased danger.

For more information, please see:

AllAfrica.com – Sudan: Darfur Fighting ‘Displaced 30,000 in October’ – 28 November 2007

BBC News – Sudan ‘blocking’ Darfur mission – 28 November 2007

LA Times – Darfur may not get peacekeeping force – 28 November 2007

Aljazeera.net – UN: Sudan blocking Darfur force – 28 November 2007

AFP – Darfur peace force delayed: UN official – 27 November 2007

For more information on the Sudan situation, please see the following Impunity Watch reports: Threat of War in Sudan; Continued Delays in Deployment of Sudan Hybrid Force;  Sudan Talks Falter; Upcoming Peace Talks in Sudan in Jeopardy; New Atrocities in Darfur; Ceasefire Ends in Sudan; African Union Peacekeepers Attacked in Darfur; Ongoing Conflict in Sudan; ICC Prosecutor Demands Arrests in Sudan; Secretary General Urges Sudan President to Commit to Ceasefire; Peace Talks on Darfur Scheduled for October 

By Meryl White
Impunity Watch Reporter, Western and Central Africa

ABECHE, Chad – According to the Chad army, several hundred rebel fighters were killed near the eastern border. The present clashes have ended the month- long cease fire. The clashes took place near the volatile border of Sudan’s Darfur region, an area where 4,000 European Union peacekeepers are expected to be sent next year.

A rebel leader of the Union Forces for Democracy and Development (UFDD) has confirmed that seventeen of his armed militants were killed. The leader also claimed that 100 government soldiers were killed in the fighting that took place in the small towns of Forchana and Hadjer Hadid, located 70 kilometers east of Abeche. The UFDD has also stated that they will abandon the peace agreement signed with the government.

A military spokesman has reported that the “partial [rebel] toll is around 50 vehicles seized, around 40 vehicles destroyed, several hundred dead and several prisoners of war.”

Presently more than 60 people are being treated for combat related injuries in the hospital in Abeche. Aid workers based in Forchana have reported hearing machine gun and heavy gun fire on Monday morning. 

EU peacekeepers are hesitant to enter the region. One Chad based diplomat said, “This is a forewarning … nobody from the EU is going to feel confident now that there has been heavy fighting.”

For more information, please see:

BBC – Hundreds Dead in Chad Fighting  – 27 November 2007

Reuters South Africa – Chad fighting points to risks of EU deployment   – 27 November 2007

Janes- Potential for renewed hostilities as Chad truce lapses  – 27 November 2007

By Myriam Clerge
Impunity Watch Reporter, Eastern and Southern Africa

NAIROBI, Kenya – More than half of Mogadishu’s population has fled the city since fighting began between forces of the transitional government backed by Ethiopian troops and Islamic insurgents. According to the UN, more than one million Somalis are homeless and nearly 200,000 have fled their home in the past two weeks alone. Many of the refugees fled to nearby Kenyan camps, despite the fact that Kenya closed its border with Somalia in January.

Two weeks ago, a group of Somali refugees flew from Mogadishu to Uganda via Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. Of that group, 18 were forcibly deported back to Mogadishu without being given a chance to file for asylum according to Emmanuel Nyabera, spokesman for the UN refugee agency UNHCR. The UNHCR was denied access to the detained women and children. The remaining refugees were held in the airport and chose to engage in a hunger strike until they were allowed into the refugee camp.

The Kenyan police believed the group were not refugees but in fact victims of a human trafficking ring. According to the airport police commander, Joseph Mumira, the group was not being deported but taken back from where they came. This past weekend a Nairobi court held the deportation of refugees to a war zone against the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Later the group, which included seven women and five children, was allowed into Dadaab camp. The Muslim Human Rights Forum of Kenya condemned the deportation of the first group but applauded the government’s decision to grant asylum despite the delay.

Meanwhile on Saturday, the Kenyan police detained a group of refugees who illegally arrived through the Liboi border in two vehicles. The group of 50 Somalis were arrested and deported. 

Since the closing of the Kenyan border, hundreds of Somalis fleeing Mogadishu have been living in a makeshift camp in Doble.

For more information please see:

BBC- Hunger Strike Somalis get Asylum – 26 November 2007

Reuters: Africa- UN says Somali Asylum-Seekers let into Kenyan Camp – 26 November 2007

BBC- Somali Refugees on Hunger Strike – 21 November 2007

AllAfrica.com- High Court Reprieve for Somali Asylum Seekers – 24 November 2007