By Heba Girgis
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

BAMAKO, Mali—Just yesterday, on December 19, 2012, the Malian President said that the Islamist group struggling to take control of the region is made up of mostly Malian citizens and not foreigner. The group has carried out public executions and amputations in the northern regions of the country. This is the first time that the country’s leader has acknowledged that the group, Ansar Dine, is not made up of foreign citizens.

The government previously maintained that the group was made up of militants from Al-Qaida’s North Africa branch along with other foreigners who had moved to the region from Libya. On Wednesday, however, the President, Dioncounda Traore, noted that Ansar Dine fighters “are mainly made up of our fellow countrymen.”

Ansar Dine, or “Defenders of the Faith,” continues to control regions of Mali, including the towns of Kidal and Timbuktu in Northern Mali. The group has decided to impose a strict form of Islamic Sharia law in the regions under their control.

John Guandolo, former FBI counterterrorism officer and terrorism and security analyst, said that Ansar Dine’s Sharia movement confirms a dangerous trend for the region. He also noted that, “Northern Mali is a major transit area for all kinds of criminals, terrorists, and other operatives of all kinds.”

It also turns out that the cousin of Ansar Dine’s leader is one of the people in charge of an AQIM (Al-Qaida in Islamic Maghreb) brigade in Kidal. The Islamic group emerged as a dominant group in Mali after a military coup in the country’s old capital creating a power vacuum. In recent weeks, as reported, the leaders of the group made efforts to make concessions—including distancing themselves from terrorist activities—however many analysts questioned their sincerity.

Moran Roach, analyst for the Heritage Foundation Africa, further confirmed that Northern Mali is quickly becoming a haven for terrorist groups. “Ansar is not limited to eastern Libya, but if present throughout North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula,” Roach said. Roach also continued saying, “Ansar has reportedly put out a hit list in Egypt. The Coptic pope was reportedly on it. Ansar claimed responsibility for the attack on the U.S. facility in Benghazi and is certainly a threat to U.S. security and interests in the region.”

Because of the vast empty space that northern Mali encompasses, the region provides any group a safe haven with hundreds of square miles of open territory.

 

For further information, please see:

ABC News – Mali Leader Acknowledges Extremists Not Foreigners – 19 December 2012

Fox News – Mali President Acknowledges that Extremist Group Ansar Dine Made up of Mostly Malians – 19 December 2012

Long War Journal – Ansar Al Sharia in Mali – 18 December 2012

WND World – Benghazi Terrorists Setting Up Shop in Mali – 18 December 2012

By Ryan Aliman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

ABUJA, Nigeria – Nigeria’s army had arrested 63 people in raids as they searched for Mrs. Kamene Okonjo, Nigerian Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala’s 82-year-old mother who was kidnapped on Sunday. Although Mrs. Okonjo was released by her abductors five days after she was taken, the dozens of people arrested by the army remain in custody.

Since Mrs. Okonjo’s kidnapping, both the military and police department had been on a wild hunt to find the kidnappers, conducting raids in various parts of Southern Nigeria and arresting all potential suspects.

“Already, the Inspector General of Police (IGP) has deployed his men and they are working round the clock on the issue. The IGP is on top of the situation. However, I have instructed the IGP to deploy specialist officers from Abuja if need be, to help in fishing out the culprits,” the Finance Minister told the press as he described the action taken by the police.

The IGP, meanwhile, promised the public that not only will the police rescue the Finance Minister’s mother, but they shall “fish out” her abductors and their accomplices as well. The IGP said, “operatives shall ensure that no stone is left unturned in unravelling the mystery behind the abduction of Mrs. Okonjo and bringing the evil perpetrators to book.”

In a place where kidnapping is considered “a lucrative criminal enterprise”, Nigerian forces have been taking such matters more seriously over the past years. Reports show that they have grown increasingly intolerant of suspected kidnappers, often shooting them on sight – as they did in November to 13 people suspected of abducting a Turkish man.

They would even go so far as to arrest their own. On Tuesday, the Delta State Police ordered the arrest and detention of two police officers who were supposed to be on duty at the palace of Mrs. Okonjo on the day she was kidnapped. It remains unclear whether or not they were involved in the abduction itself.

The man who dropped off Mrs. Okonjo on a main road near her home in southern Nigeria on Friday was also arrested.

Delta state governor Emmanuel Uduaghan believes that because of the stringent security measures and intensified manhunt carried out by the law enforcement agencies, Mrs. Okonjo’s kidnappers decided to let her go. “The army and police have been on their trail and a lot of raids have been done. I think because of the heat they dropped her off on the highway,” he told BBC.

When asked what was being done with those in custody now that Mrs. Okonjo has been freed, army spokeswoman Roseline Managbe simply answered, “those arrested are being questioned.”

 

For further information, please see:

Reuters – Kidnappers free Nigeria minister’s mother, official says – 14 December 2012

BBC News Africa – Nigeria’s Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala’s mother freed by kidnappers – 14 December 2012

Reuters – UPDATE 1-Nigeria arrests 63 in hunt for minister’s kidnapped mother – 13 December 2012

Information Nigeria – Okonjo-Iweala’s Mother’s Kidnap: Delta CP Says 2 Policemen Have Been Arrested – 12 December 2012

Reuters – Policemen held over kidnap of Nigeria minister’s mother – 12 December 2012

This Day Live – IG Orders Arrest of Abductors of Okonjo-Iweala’s Mother – 11 December 2012

Information Nigeria – Okonjo-Iweala’s Mum’s Kidnap: Suspect Arrested – 10 December 2012

By Heba Girgis
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia—Ethiopian women who have immigrated to Israel are allegedly being subjected to coerced long-term birth control. The contraceptive, Depo Provera, is given by injection and must be given every three months. Many doctors consider this method to be a last resort since the drug is known to have many uncomfortable side effects including severe headaches and abdominal pains.

These women, known as Falash Mura, who immigrated to Israel from Ethiopia just eight years ago told an Israeli Educational Television reporter that they were forced to receive these injections as a condition to allowing their immigration. The women also claimed that representatives from the Israeli Joint Distribution Committee as well as the Health Ministry coerced them by telling that raising large families in Israel is quite difficult. They also, allegedly said that if these women have too many children, it would be hard for them (the women) to find work to support them and that many landlords would refuse to rent apartments or homes to such large families.

The Falash Mura women further claimed that they were told that they must take certain vaccinations if they desired to continue to receive medical care from the Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) and continue with their plans to immigrate. One of these women told the television show Vacuum that she had been receiving the injections for over four years without being warned by doctors that the medicine may be dangerous for those taking it.

In the past ten years 50,000 Ethiopian Jews immigrated to Israel. In this time frame, the birthrate of this group has dropped by 50 percent.

In investigating these claims, a hidden camera was installed in an Israeli health clinic. The video revealed an Ethiopian woman being advised by a nurse that the injection is given only to Ethiopian women. The nurse was recorded saying, “It’s given primarily to Ethiopian women, because they forget, they don’t understand, and it’s hard to explain to them so it’s best that they receive a shot once every three months…basically they don’t understand anything.”

The government and Israeli authorities denied all of these allegations. David Yaso, the director of the Immigration Ministry’s Ethiopian Department noted that no women were ever told that they were forbidden to have large families in Israel. He also said that none of them were coerced into taking contraceptive shots against their will.

Professor Daniel Seidman, the chairman of the Israel Society for Contraception and Sexual Health, offered two explanations for the drop in the Ethiopian birth rate. He said that either the women are not better educated and are looking to have careers and not quite as many children, or they now recognize that with limited finances, they cannot afford to have very large families.

A member of the ADC also noted that “the medical team does not intervene directly or indirectly with economic aid and the Joint is not involved” in these types of procedures.

 

For further information, please see:

FailedMessiah.com – Forced Sterilizations? Ethiopian Women Claim the JDC and the Israel Health Ministry Forced Them to Take Sterilization Shots – 9 December 2012

Haaretz – Why is the Birth Rate in Israel’s Ethiopian Community Declining? – 9 December 2012

The Times of Israel – Ethiopian Women Claim Israel Forced Them to Use Birth Control Before Letting Them Immigrate – 9 December 2012

Topix.com – Israel Subjecting Ethiopian Women to Long Term Birth Control – 7 January 2010

By Ryan Aliman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

KAMPALA, Uganda – On Thursday, the African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Africa took effect in 15 African countries. The first of its kind, this treaty is a legally binding instrument that compels states to protect and assist IDPs within the African region.

While refugees are given special status under international law since 1951, IDP’s haven’t been provided any such protection and assistance in spite of the fact that there are at least twice as many IDP’s in the world as refugees. Thus, sometime in 2009, the African Union conceived this treaty, otherwise known as the Kampala Convention, with the aim to provide standards for the protection of people from arbitrary displacement as well as the protection of IDPs while they are displaced. The Kampala Convention also aims to offer durable solutions for displacement.

According to the Norwegian Refugee Council, nearly 10 million people are internally displaced across Africa. These individuals make up one third of the world’s internally displaced population. Most of them were forced to leave their villages to escape increasing famine and continuing violence resulting from ethnic wars and other brutal conflicts in countries like Congo, Burundi, and Uganda.

In the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo, for instance, when the rebel group M23 took over Goma last month,
some 300,000 local residents were displaced. According to Sebastian Albuja, IDMC’s Head of Africa Development, when M23 raided an internally displaced persons camp, the Kanyarucinya camp, around 50,000 people were forced to flee within a few hours.

With the ratification of the Kampala Convention, members of the AU hope to put an end to what Albuja describes as a “cycle of violence and displacement”. Bruce Mokaya Orina of the International Committee of the Red Cross said the treaty actually “represents a significant step forward in the protection and assistance of internally displaced people” across Africa since it will be “potentially binding on all African countries – a quarter of world’s states.”

The Kampala Convention builds on international humanitarian law and international human rights law, as well as the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, promoting and strengthening regional and national measures to prevent, mitigate, prohibit, and eliminate the root causes of internal displacement. It sets out the rules and standards that determine the responsibilities of the African Union, multinational companies and private security actors in handling IDP cases.

37 of 53 countries in the AU have signed the convention, but have not yet ratified it. Among them are South Africa and the DRC.

 

For further information, please see:

Associated Press – African treaty to aid the displaced takes effect – 7 December 2012

Daily Maverick – Internally displaced people: An African solution to a huge African problem – 6 December 2012

Fox News – African treaty to aid the internally displaced comes into force 2 years after it was adopted – 6 December 2012

Think Africa Press – The Kampala Convention Enters Into Force Tomorrow – 5 December 2012

By Ryan Aliman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone – The Special Court for Sierra Leone postponed the appeals hearing in the case of former Liberian president Charles Taylor. The hearing was supposed to take place this week, but judges of the Special Court announced that it has now been moved to next year, January 22.

A possible reason for the postponement of Taylor’s appeals hearing is inadequate funding. According to recent press releases from the UN, the Special Court for Sierra Leone only has enough money alloted until the end of October 2012 since it never had a fixed annual budget from the government. By November this year, it will have to depend on pledges and contributions from countries like the United States, Switzerland, and Ireland to continue its work for a month.

If the Special Court will not be able to resolve its financial crisis, human rights groups and international organizations fear that Taylor’s appeal might be compromised. In a recent phone interview, the Special Court’s registrar, Binta Mansaray, said, “it [the appeals] will be affected, definitely, if the money doesn’t come through.”

Mariana Goetz, deputy director of programs at the London-based human rights and torture survivors advocacy organization REDRESS, expressed the same concern on the issue saying that the lack of funds could affect the prosecutor’s and defense counsel’s ability to prepare their teams despite the fact that the appeals briefs for both sides have already been filed and replies are due by the end of October. The lawyers have yet to present the grounds for their appeals in court. The appeals judgment will then follow next fall.

Much is at stake in an unprecedented case like Taylor’s. “It is the first time a head of state is convicted for 11 counts of international crimes, including rape, sexual slavery and other forms of sexual violence,” Goetz said in an interview. “This case, as well as others . . .  are slowly ensuring that violence against women in the conflict contexts are not laughed off in patriarchal societies as private acts.”

Without the necessary funds, the victims of Charles Taylor will have to wait for justice from the Special Court when the appeals case is finally over. “If we don’t get that funding we can’t fulfill the promises that we make to the people of Sierra Leone,” the Special Court’s president, Justice Shireen Avis Fisher, told the media.

Last week, UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon appealed to the Security Council for $14 million to fund Charles Taylor’s appeal. According to him, the unavailability of funds greatly affect the development of good governance in the region. “As I have said before, the legacy of the Special Court and the progress that has been made towards ensuring accountability and restoring peace and security in Sierra Leone and the region would be at risk,” the UN Secretary said.

 

For further information, please see:

All Africa – Sierra Leone: Taylor Appeals Hearing Postponed – 7 December 2012

Swit Salone – Sierra Leone Special Court is Broke – 6 December 2012

All Africa – Liberia: Appeals Hearing in Taylor Case Postponed – 5 December 2012

Times Live – Former Liberian president Taylor should be a “free man” – judge – 25 November 2012

WeNews – World Court Struggles to Finish Mass Rape Cases – 21 November 2012

All Africa – Liberia: 45 Legal Errors Identify in Taylor’s Verdict – 9 November 2012