Pirate attacks in the Niger Delta; Government left to pay over $131 million in ransoms

By: Ashley Repp

News Desk Reporter, Africa

 

Abuja, Nigeria-

Though the international community began to associate piracy with the waters off of the coast of Somalia, the piracy practice is even more rampant off of the coast of West Africa. And while world piracy rates have largely fallen throughout most of the world, recently, the number of attacks on ships near Nigeria has increased. In the final days of last month, two attacks in the same week sent shock waves through the Niger delta region, and intelligence suggests that rate of attacks is likely to continue to rise, as elections are coming up. Intelligence sources assert that election time will likely contribute to increased rates of pirate attacks in the region, particularly because many of those campaigning will procure support and funds from illegal sources. In order to generate some of these funds, piracy will come into play as an economic resource.

pirates
Niger Delta Pirates- Photo Courtesy of Shipsandsports.com

In the two recent October attacks, over a dozen people were abducted, several were killed. In one of the attacks, the primary target was the gun boat, as it had a store of arms. In both of these cases, the pirates had more fire power than the police forces, and easily overpowered security. Furthermore, the ships were both oil company ships, which are typical pirate targets. In recent decades, piracy rose with rise of oil production in the Niger Delta, and then fell again. In fact, until the past few years, pirate attacks occurred on an almost basis. Many seafarers and security in the region are concerned that another spike in pirate attacks is at the doorstep of the Niger Delta, and the possibility of returning back to an era of daily pirate attacks is terrifying for many.

It is likely that the abducted men are being held as hostages. As they work for oil companies, the pirates offer equate holding these men hostages with a hefty ransom. According to the Contemporary Maritime Piracy Database, it has cost the Nigerian government and companies over $131 Million dollars in just the last three years alone to recover abducted men and pay pirate ransoms. This is no small price to pay for a government that already struggles financially, but with such high level oil drilling on Nigerian soil, piracy is likely to continue to remain a problematic and dangerous reality, not only for the government, but for those working on the ships and security boats.

For more information, please visit:

BBC News- Danger Zone: Chasing West Africa’s Pirates– 13 Nov., 2014

Times Live- Priates Hijack Gunboat, Kidnap Workers in Niger Delta– 28 Oct., 2014

Sahara Reporters- Niger Delta Pirates Seize Police Gunboat, Kill Four Policemen and Kidnap Six Oil Workers in Bayelsa– 25 Oct., 2014

gCaptain- Pirates Launch Deadly Niger Delta Attacks– 27 Oct., 2014

Report: Chinese Officials Linked to Elephant Poaching in Tanzania

By Kathryn Maureen Ryan
Impunity Watch, Managing Editor

DODOMA, Tanzania – Across Africa the population of the world’s largest land animal, the majestic African Elephant, have been declining an alarming rate. Experts believe 100,000 elephants have been killed across the continent in just past three years, all to feed the illegal Ivory trade. Growing demand for elephant ivory from in China is devastating Tanzania’s elephant population. Tanzania now loses more of its elephant to poaching than any other African State. According to the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), a London based environmental group, the country’s Selous reserve is a hotspot for illegal hunting. Elephant numbers in the park have fallen from an estimated 70,000 in 2006 to 13,000 in 2013. An EIA report places blame for the influx in ivory pouching in Tanzania on “collusion between corrupt officials and criminal enterprises,” accusing rangers, police officers and revenue and customs officers of corruption. According to Mary Rice, EIA’s executive director, the report “shows clearly that without a zero tolerance approach, the future of Tanzania’s elephants and its tourism industry are extremely precarious.” Rice explained, “The ivory trade must be disrupted at all levels of criminality, the entire prosecution chain needs to be systemically restructured, corruption rooted out and all stakeholders, including communities exploited by the criminal syndicates and those on the front lines of enforcement, given unequivocal support.”

An ivory bust of Mao Zedong for sale in Guangzhou, China this year. the Chinese demand for ivory drives elephant poaching, threatening the future of the species. (Photo courtesy of The Guardian)

Tanzania is the largest source of illegal Ivory, one out of every three elephants pouched in Africa is killed in Tanzania. The government of President Jakaya Kikwete has made some public efforts to fight poaching over the past year, including issuing a promise to destroy the nation’s stockpile of 112 metric tons of Ivory, worth an estimated $50 million. However, the government has failed to investigate the illegal pouching activities and prosecute high-level offenders.

State corruption drives Tanzania’s illicit ivory trade. Police have even been known to escort convoys carrying illegal ivory. The states corruption however does not at Tanzania’s borders. The EIA report cites several incidence where Chinese nationals, and even government officials have participated the illegal ivory trade. EIA cited the case of Yu Bo, a Chinese national who was detained in December 2013 while attempting to deliver 81 elephant tusks to two officers from a Chinese naval task force on an official visit to the Dar es Salaam port in the Kurasini region. Yu was caught at a checkpoint after paying bribes totaling $20,000. Market traders also told the undercover investigators that during a visit by Chinese president Xi Jinping in March 2013 the black market price of ivory doubled to $700 per kilo. A spokesman for the Chinese foreign ministry said it was “strongly dissatisfied” with the report. “We attach importance to the protection of wild animals like elephants,” he said. “We have been cooperating with other countries in this area.”

Elephants are a migratory animal, roaming across international borders. Protections are only truly effective if they are enforced in all countries where the animals roam. Elephant conservation is not only a valuable opportunity for the protection of wildlife and environmental health but for economic opportunity. Elephants bring millions of dollars into the region’s economy each year, helping to drive the tourism industry. The demand for trinkets and other goods made from ivory, the only part of the elephant poachers take, is fueling a pouching epidemic that threatens the future of the species, environmental health and may threaten the future economic growth of the region.

For more information please see:

The Economist – Big game poachers – 8 November 2014

National Geographic, Q&A: Report Alleges Governments’ Complicity in Tanzanian Elephant Poaching – 8 November 2014

The Guardian – Chinese demand for ivory is devastating Tanzania’s elephant population – 6 November 2014

The Toronto Star – Report links Chinese to elephant poaching in Tanzania – 6 November 2014

Report: Military Activities Carried Out By Myanmar Regime May Constitute War Crimes

By Kathryn Maureen Ryan
Impunity Watch, Managing Editor

RANGOON, Burma (Myanmar) – World Leaders have converged in Myanmar’s remote capital for the summit for the Association of South-East Asian Nations (Asean). The Summit marks the first time the country has hosted such an event since the country began adopting political reforms four years ago. United States President Barack Obama, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe and Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang will join ASEAN leaders in the capital Naypyidaw for the meetings that will likely address crucial issues facing the region including territorial disputes in the South China Sea. For the Myanmar government the Asean summit is intended to highlight the country’s recent reforms and serve as a symbol that the country is abandoning military dictatorship and joining the international community.

A young Rohingya woman carries her sick baby to a clinic at Dar Baing Muslim refugee camp near Sittwe, Rakhine State, in western Myanmar, on Monday. The Rohingya minority lives under apartheid like conditions in Myanmar, many living in camps for internally displaced peoples. (Photo Courtesy of The Wall Street Journal)

Under Thein Sein, a reformist former general, most sanctions against the state have been lifted and foreign investment have begun to flow into the country as it has been welcomed back into the international community after enacting sweeping reforms including the release of most political prisoners, including opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi. The Myanmar regime has also promised to hold free and fair elections next year. Despite reforms, which have been rewarded by the international community with investments and the Asean Summit, granting legitimacy to the regime, the Myanmar government has been criticized for the continued mistreatment of the country’s 1.3 million Rohingya Muslims. More than 100,000 Rohingya have fled the country by boat in the last two years. Another 140,000 are living under apartheid conditions in displacement camp.

Just days before world leaders landed in Myanmar for the summit a Harvard University study was released detailing alleged war crimes committed under the regime’s military dictatorship. According to the report, published by human rights researchers at Harvard Law School Military activities carried out by Myanmar’s powerful Minister of Home Affairs Minister Ko Ko, who was head of the army’s Southern Command while the country was ruled as a military dictatorship could constitute war crimes. The report cites evidence that the Home Affairs Minister and two other generals were responsible for the executions, torture and enslavement of Burmese civilians by military officials during a large-scale offensive against ethnic rebels.

The authors of the report say there is enough evidence to justify the issuance of arrest warrants by the International Criminal Court. The Myanmar government responded to the report by saying that what happens during times of conflict is often unavoidable and argued that now is a time to look forward and not back. “We are going through a democratic transition,” said Nay Zin Latt, one of the president’s political advisers and an ex-army officer. “Everyone should be encouraging the reform process rather than putting further obstacles along the way.”

However Ko Ko remains a high ranking official, now in command of internal security, overseeing the police force. “Ko Ko oversaw egregious rights violations in eastern Myanmar,” Matthew Bugher, global justice fellow at Harvard Law School and a principal author of the report said. “His prominent position in Myanmar’s Cabinet calls into question the government’s commitment to reform.”

For more information please see:

Al Jazeera – Myanmar hosts world leaders for ASEAN summit – 12 November 2014

The Wall Street Journal – U.N. Chief Urges Myanmar to Protect Minority Rohingya – 12 November 2014

CNN International – Myanmar: Rohingya not welcome – 11 November 2014

The New York Times – report cites evidence of war crimes in Myanmar – 5 November 2014

Russia Appears to be Repeating Crimea Tactic in Donetsk

By Kyle Herda

Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

KIEV, Ukraine – The already-shaky ceasefire agreed to on September 5 in Minsk, Belarus seems to be in its final days. NATO has confirmed a new Russian presence in and around Donetsk, Ukraine, following reports from the past few days of Russian tanks, troops, and supply trucks crossing the Ukrainian border after mobilizing for the past week along the Russian side of the border. As seen in Crimea, however, they all remain unmarked and without identifying insignia.

A column of unmarked tanks spotted near Donetsk, a pro-Russian stronghold. (Photo courtesy of the New York Times)

Ukrainian military officials, monitors for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and NATO have all confirmed the presence of Russian troops and various military equipment in and around Donetsk and flowing into the country. One convoy of 43 unmarked military trucks was witnessed Tuesday heading towards Donetsk. Five of the trucks were towing 120mm howitzer artillery pieces, and five others were carrying multi-launch rocket systems. A report last week reported more than 40 Russian trucks and tankers, also unmarked, and 19 of which were towing 122mm howitzers, were in Ukraine. There is an estimated 7,000 Russian troops inside Ukraine now, along with an estimated 100 Russian tanks, more than 400 armored vehicles, and more than 150 self-propelled artillery and multiple rocket launchers.

Along the border of Ukraine on the Russian side is a very alarming sight as well. According to Phillip Karber, a former Pentagon strategy advisor who has worked with the Ukrainian government, between 40,000 and 50,000 Russian troops remain just across the border, along with another 350 to 400 tanks, more than 1,000 armored vehicles, and 800 self-propelled artillery.

In a fight that has claimed over 4,000 lives, it appears that fighting may go back to pre-ceasefire numbers and could claim many more lives very shortly. Although the Russian troops, vehicles, and equipment in Ukraine are all unmarked, U.S. General and NATO Supreme Allied Commander in Europe Philip Breedlove states, “[t]here is no question any more about Russia’s direct military involvement in Ukraine.” Russia continues to deny any of the alleged involvement. In response, Ukrainian Defence Minister Stepan Poltorak said Ukraine will no longer pay attention to Moscow’s denials of involvement, that Ukraine is “repositioning our armed forces to respond to the actions of the fighters.”

For more information, please see:

New York Times – Russian Troops Crossing Into Ukraine, NATO Says – 12 November 2014

Reuters – Ukraine redeploys troops, fearing new rebel offensive – 12 November 2014

Time – Russia Sends More Convoys Into Ukraine as Cease-Fire Collapses – 12 November 2014

CNN – Ukraine violence flares as ceasefire collapses – 11 November 2014

Daily Beast – Thousands of Putin’s Troops Now in Ukraine, Analysts Say – 11 November 2014

 

Magnitsky Justice Campaign: Pussy Riot to Lead Tribute to Sergei Magnitsky at the British Parliament on the Fifth Anniversary of His Murder in Russian Police Custody

11 November 2014 – This month marks the fifth anniversary of the killing in Russian police custody of 37-year old anti-corruption lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who exposed a $230 million fraud perpetrated by Russian government officials and organised criminals.

While his death ignited worldwide condemnation and lead to numerous political and legal calls for justice around the globe, five years on there is still no justice in Russia for Sergei Magnitsky.

To mark the memory of Sergei Magnitsky and the fight against corruption which he gave his life for, politicians, artists, journalists and campaigners will gather in London on Tuesday 18 November 2014 to participate in a major panel by Henry Jackson Society to be held at the British parliament.

The session chaired by Chris Bryant, MP, is entitled ‘Prospects for Russia after Putin: Five Years from the Death of Sergei Magnitsky.’

Among the panelists are members of the Russian punk protest group Pussy Riot, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alekhina, who were previously jailed in Russia for staging an anti-Putin protest in a Moscow church. Also participating will be Hon Irwin Cotler MP, former General Prosecutor of Canada, who represented prisoners of conscience Nathan Sharansky and Nelson Mandela; former Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov; environmental activist and opposition leader Evgenia Chirikova; and Franco-Russo journalist Elena Servettaz, author of the book, “Why Europe Needs a Magnitsky Law”.

“This event will commemorate Sergei Magnitsky’s legacy by bringing together some of the top human rights campaigners to discuss Russia after Putin, and if there is a chance for the kind of Russia that Sergei Magnitsky believed in,” said a Magnitsky Justice Campaign representative.

Sergei Magnitsky was a 37-year old lawyer and outside counsel for the Hermitage Fund, who was tortured to death in Russian Interior Ministry custody after he testified about the involvement of Interior Ministry officials in the theft of his client’s companies and the $230 million theft. The Russian officials responsible for his arrest, torture and killing were absolved from any responsibility, promoted and decorated with state honours.

For more information, please contact:

Magnitsky Justice Campaign

+44 2074401777

info@lawandorderinrussia.org

lawandorderinrussia.org

 To register your attendance at the Magnitsky event, please go to Henry Jackson Society website:

http://henryjacksonsociety.org/2014/11/18/prospects-for-russia-after-putin-five-years-from-the-death-of-sergei-magnitsky/