President to Declare Emergency in Sierra Leone

Tejan Kabbah, the president of Sierra Leone has threatened to impose a state of emergency due to extreme violence between rival parties in the current national election. Presently, supporters of two rival parties have been fighting for two days.

President Kabba’s warning came as the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) issued a statement citing that supporters of the leading opposition party, the All People’s Congress (APC), had “brutally assaulted” SLPP supporters.

A statement by the APC said, “We all must, as a matter of duty, stop those who are threatening the state with brutal and murderous war and genocide.”

The rising threats make President Kabbah fear that election violence will cause civil unrest and chaos. Kabbah stated, “All those responsible for the violence and lawlessness should be prepared for the consequences.”

In Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, police had to use tear gas to end rioting between rival supporters who clashed on the streets on Sunday and Monday. Furthermore, in the diamond-rich town of Kono, several people were injured when police used tear gas in that region.

For more information, please see:

“Sierra Leone: President Threatens to Declare Emergency.” 28 August 2007. Allafrica.com http://allafrica.com/stories/200708280582.html

“Sierra Leone President threatens to impose state of emergency.” International Herald Tribune. 28 August 2007. http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/28/africa/AF-POL-Sierra-Leone.php

“Emergency threat in Sierra Leone.” 28 August 2007. BBC. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6966339.stm

China drafting laws to curb pollution

In an effort to curb pollution, China began drafting a new law that would save energy and reduce emissions.  Where most Chinese cities are often wrapped in a toxic gray shroud, the issue has become more urgent as China prepares to host the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

The China Daily newspaper reports that the drafted amendment to China’s old water pollution law would remove a 1 million yuan ($132,000) cap on fines for water polluters and allow penalties of 20 to 30 percent of the direct economic losses caused by a spill or pollution.  The law also stipulates that governments at all levels should control energy use and emissions, strengthen management of resource-intensive companies and divert capital into environmentally-friendly industries.

The New York Times has examined the human toll, global impact and political challenge of China’s epic pollution crisis, naming it “Choking on Growth.”  China’s speedy rise as an economic power has given rise to its unparalleled pollution problem.  China’s success and growth derives from the expansion of heavy industry and urbanization that requires colossal inputs of energy, almost all from coal, the most readily available, and dirtiest, source.

The Ministry of Heath says pollution has made cancer China’s leading cause of death.  Nearly 500- million people lack access to safe drinking water.  Furthermore, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides spewed by China’s coal-fired power plants fall as acid rain on Seoul and Tokyo, and much of the particulate pollution over Los Angeles originates in China.

China’s leaders recognize that they must embrace a new model that allows for steady growth while protecting the environment.  As Wang Jinnan, one of China’s leading environmental researchers says: “It is a very awkward situation for the country because our greatest achievement is also our biggest burden.”

For more information, please see:

–http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/08/27/ap4055935.html

–http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-29160120070826

–http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2003851947_sundaysell26.html

–http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/26/world/asia/26china.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Fatah and journalists protest in Gaza

On August 24, Fatah supporters staged the largest protest in Gaza since Hamas took over in June.  Thousands of Palestinians gathered in Unknown Soldier Square in Gaza City for noon time prayers.  They were protesting “incitement” against Fatah members in mosques controlled by Hamas. 

After prayers, the protesters marched to Al Sayara, a Hamas security complex formerly controlled by Fatah.  There, members of Hamas’s Executive Force fired their guns into the air to disperse the crowds and clashed with protesters.  Palestinian Authority television claims that seventeen demonstrators were injured.  However, Hamas denied that any injuries occurred.

During the protest, members of the Executive Force arrested four journalists covering the event.  While the journalists were quickly released, the Executive force broke a TV camera belonging to Al Arabiya’s cameraman and other reporters claimed to have been “roughed up”.  In addition to the four arrests, the Executive Force attempted to arrest two others but were prevented from doing so by the demonstrators.

Two days later, on August 26, a hundred journalists staged their own protest at the journalists’ union building in Gaza.  They carried banners which read, “Yes to freedom of the press!  No to journalists arrests!  Keep journalists out of politics!”  They were protesting not only the earlier arrests but also Hamas’s policies against journalists covering pro-Fatah events and the confiscation of equipment.

For more information please see:
London Times:  “Journalists protests Hamas pressure”  27 August 2007. 

Middle East Times:  “Gaza journalists sit-in for press freedom”  26 August 2007. 

New York Times:  “Protest broken up by armed Hamas force”  25 August 2007. 

Al Jazeera:  “Rivals battle at Gaza protest”  24 August 2007. 

BBC:  “Hamas opens fire at Fatah rally”  24 August 2007. 

Ma’an News Agency:  “Thousands of Fatah supporters demonstrate in Gaza”  24 August 2007.

50 Africans Deported to Egypt

    African asylum seekers were deported from Israel and returned to Egypt, where they had originally been granted asylum.  These 50 refugees also included some Darfur survivors.  The Africans had fled to Egypt in order to escape genocide and other atrocities that refugees had faced while in their home nations.  However, because of their maltreatment in Egypt the refugees later tried to flee to Israel.  A Sudanese leader in Egypt reported in the Washington Post that the deported Africans “have escaped from an Egyptian reality of suffering very similar to that of Sudan — racism in the Egyptian street, killing by the authorities” and have not received help from the United Nations High Commissioner of Refugees.  The refugees also fear that the Egyptian government will try to transport the refugees back to Sudan.  However, Israeli officials asserted that part of the agreement with Egypt regarding the deportation of the refugees included an Egyptian promise not to send the Africans to their native countries.  Yet, this promise does not fully relieve the deported immigrants fear.  One of the fears is that if the refugees can be unilaterally moved without their consent or without following the internationally outlined protocol the refugees will always have to fear future movement.

    Many refugees fled north to Egypt from Sudan and other war torn nations.  The war in Sudan, which is centered on the western Darfur province, has caused hundreds of thousands of casualties.  Therefore, those who are afforded the opportunity to escape the genocide in Sudan usually take the opportunity.  Millions of people fled their homes in order to gain safety and protection.  The Israeli and Egyptian governments must afford these survivors these basic rights, and if they are deporting the refugees they must follow internationally recognized standards to ensure the protection of the refugees.

IRIN.  ISRAEL-AFRICA: Deportation of 50 Africans sparks concern.  22 August 2007.

NY Times.  Israel Returns Illegal African Migrants to Egypt.  19 August 2007.

Washington Post.  A Crisis of Conscience Over Refugees in Israel.  24 August 2007.

Girl Soldiers

Among the millions of child soldiers across Africa kidnapped, drugged and manipulated into fighting, girls represent an estimated 30 percent. Girls face an even harder challenge following the release from soldiery. Many girls, like boys are abducted from their homes, drugged, beaten, and in many cases forced to kill their family members. But unlike boys, the girls are raped and/or forced to “marry” rebel leaders. Their children are then ostracized as “Kony children”, referring to Joseph Kony, the self-proclaimed prophet of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA).

The LRA, based in northern Uganda, kidnapped an estimated 25,000 children during the 20-year war against the government. According to Human Rights Watch, children were used in the frontlines, as spies, minesweepers and concubines.

Although several children, either abandoned or orphaned, joined the rebels out of desperation, the majority was kidnapped from the family.

On June 20th of this year, the UN-backed courts convicted junta leaders of using child soldiers during the Sierra Leone civil war. This marks the first time the use of child soldiers was treated as a war crime.

For more information please see:

“Another side of child-soldiering: girls” Yahoo News: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070825/ap_on_re_af/africa_s_child_war;_ylt=AqSK.u0PgSvdETjY_rF9F7.96Q8F 25, Aug. 2007.