Massive Resources and Government Involvement Needed to Curb Ebola Outbreak
By Ashley Repp
Impunity Watch News Reporter- Africa
WEST AFRICA- the Ebola virus continues to claim lives, yet governments are quiet in actively working to stop the spread
West Africa has been attempting to cope with an Ebola outbreak that has become out of control. This week, a 635 cases have been confirmed and nearly 400 have lost their lives to the virus. Ebola, a haemorrhagic fever, is one of the most contagious diseases and can spread quickly through contact with bodily fluids and perspiration. Without proper control and protocol when dealing with infected individuals, rampant spread of the illness will ensue. Nearly 90% of all who become infected will succumb to the disease; a bleak prognosis.
Doctors Without Borders has asserted that it is working at full capacity and simply cannot help more individuals as the virus continues to spread. More than sixty virus ‘hotspots’ have been identified, with Guinea being the hardest hit. The Doctors Without Borders (MSF) organization has warned that massive funding, resources, and cooperation are needed to get the outbreak under control, and urges the governments of the countries affected by the outbreak, like Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Monrovia, to take a role in providing resources and establishing a plan for addressing the epidemic.
Some doctors have expressed outrage, asserting that this virus has gotten out of control because government officials will not come to terms with the reality of the outbreak, and have ‘lied’ through their contentions that the outbreak is under control. A target of this critique has been Guinean president, Alpha Conde, who expressed, at a meeting with the World Health Organization, that the virus seemed to be under control. Other doctors have asserted that governments are not being forthright with information about the extent of the outbreak for fear that it will scare off potential investors. As a result, obtaining investors is coming at the cost of human life, which is inciting outrage.
If governments do not take a more present and visible role in coping with this outbreak, the epidemic could continue to escalate and claim more lives. Furthermore, the potential for more countries to have documented cases and outbreaks will become a very real reality. Citizens of the nations currently affected by the epidemic are paralyzed by fear, but many are unsure how to stop the spread of the disease, creating a difficult combination of panic and continued exposure. It is essential that information regarding the virus and how it is spread is disseminated by a reliable source. Until these loose ends can be tied, it is likely that the outbreak will continue to spread.
For more information please visit:
The New York Times- Ebola Deaths Rise as Outbreak Spreads- 26 June 2014
All Africa- West Africa: Ebola Virus Out of Control- Doctors Without Borders- 26 June 2014
All Africa- ‘Ebola Epidemic Requires Massive Deployment of Resources’ MSF- 23 June 2014
Relief Web- Medics Vent Anger at Government Inaction Over Ebola- 26 June 2014
Recent Attacks in Kenya may Point to al-Shabab
By: Ashley Repp
Impunity Watch News Reporter, Africa
NAIROBI, Kenya– Wave of violence in coastal city shakes Kenyans – a dozen are missing.
Recent attacks in Mpeketoni and two nearby towns took the lives of about 50 people and led to the abduction of about a dozen women. But amidst the heartbreak, there are questions regarding who bears the responsibility for the attacks.
The attacks appear to have been extremely well orchestrated; phone lines were even jammed to ensure that residents could not sound the alarm about the attacks on the city.
al-Shabab, an Islamic militant organization, has accepted responsibility for the attack on the coastal city of Mpeketoni.
The organization even cited the motive of revenge against Kenya for presence of Kenyan troops in Somalia and the oppression of Muslims. Following the Monday attacks, some witnesses claim to have seen the attackers flying the al-Shabab flag and yelling in Somali.
These pieces of evidence support al-Shabab’s involvement and orchestration of the attack. Furthermore, earlier this month, an al-Shabab leader called the militant group to target Kenya in attacks in order to exact revenge and convey frustration and anger towards Kenya.
But despite al-Shabab’s acceptance of responsibility, some, including President Kenyatta, are hesitant to accept this as a legitimate answer, and instead point to local ethnic and political tensions.
The attacks occurred in hotels and a police station where many were gathered around to watch the World Cup.
Despite witness reports that support al-Shabab’s involvement, critics of the notion that al-Shabab was at the helm of the recent attacks point to the attack itself as support that this could not have been the militant group that claimed responsibility. For example, the attack and the abduction of a dozen women, does not necessarily fit the normal pattern of al-Shabab attacks.
Critics assert that the militant group normally carries out attacks in an indiscriminate way, with men, women, and children as targets. In the attacks on Mpeketoni and the nearby towns, the deaths do not seem to follow this pattern; rather, men were the targets for the killings.
Foreigners were not targeted in the attacks, but are still urged to take precautions, and if possible, leave the area, as tensions remain high. Britain has also issued a warning to nearby east African countries, including Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Uganda, cautioning that al-Shabab may be at work and further attacks may be in the near future.
It is important to note that these nations also have troops in Somalia. For now, Kenyans are left to pick up the pieces while they search for answers to their questions and fears.
For more information, please visit:
BBC News- Kenya Attacks ‘Women Abducted’ near Mpeketoni- 17 June 2014
Z News- After al-Shabab attacks, women kidnapped near Kenya’s Mpeketoni- 17 June 2014
CNN News- Mpeketoni attack was done by local networks, Kenya’s President says- 17 June 2014
Daily Nation- Mpeketoni Attack: Death Toll Rises to 48- 17 June 2014
Top Chinese Official Pays a Visit to Taiwan
By Brian Lanciault
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Operator, Asia
TAIPEI, Taiwan–China’s top official in charge of relations with self-ruled Taiwan said on Friday that he understood and respected the choices of its people. He was met by noisy protests in the traditionally anti-China far southern region of the island.
Zhang Zhijun, director of China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, is making his first trip to Taiwan, a visit marked by a highly unusual meeting with an opposition party stalwart and mayor of the pro-independence southern port of Kaohsiung, Chen Chu.
Protesters waved placards deriding Zhang as a “communist bandit”. Zhang’s atypical charm offensive in Taiwan stands in contrast to China’s ties with several other countries in Asia where territorial disputes have erupted over maritime boundaries. China has recently condemned people in the former British colony of Hong Kong, which returned to China in 1997, for pushing for greater democracy.
Chen has previously visited China and met Zhang there, spearheading efforts by the Democratic Progressive Party to engage with Beijing. Such high-level meetings in Taiwan with opposition figures are practically unheard of.
“We know that Taiwan people cherish very much the social system and the life style they have chosen,” Zhang said after meeting Chen. “We in mainland China respect what Taiwanese people have chosen.”
China welcomes people from all parties to help improve relations across the Taiwan Strait, Zhang added, calling his talks with Chen “pleasant”.
China has claimed Taiwan as its own, to be taken by force if necessary, though the two have been ruled separately since defeated Nationalist forces fled to the island in 1949 at the end of the Chinese civil war with the Communists. China says it will not tolerate a de jure independent Taiwan. Many Taiwanese look anxiously, and perhaps fearfully, at China, where the ruling Communist Party remains unmoved by calls for political liberalization. Taiwan is a structured democracy after undergoing a democratic transition in the 1980s. Pride in democracy has helped to reinforce the unwillingness of many Taiwanese to be absorbed politically by China.
That sentiment is felt particularly keenly in Kaohsiung, one of the main heartlands of Taiwanese cultural identity and where, in 1979, rights activists held a pivotal rally which helped spark Taiwan’s eventual democratic transition.
“It’s been a very difficult journey that Taiwan has gone through in the past few decades,” Zhang said.
Chen, who was deeply involved in Taiwan’s struggle for democracy, said she explained to Zhang that the protests he may have witnessed were part of Taiwan’s political system.
“I told director Zhang that as soon as he arrived at the airport, he may have heard very different voices and protest. I said this is a very normal part of Taiwan’s democracy. I appreciate if he can understand that,” Chen said.
In 2009, China reacted angrily at plans to show a documentary about exiled Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer, a woman China labels a dangerous separatist, at the Kaohsiung film festival, sparking a boycott of the city by Chinese tourists. At the time Chen shrugged off China’s complaints, saying it would harm Kaohsiung’s commitment to human rights if it gave in to Beijing.
Underscoring the depth of feelings in southern Taiwan, Zhang was met by hundreds of protesters at Kaohsiung’s train station, some waving placards reading “Communist Zhang Zhijun, get the hell back to China”.
A much smaller group of protesters also greeted him when he flew into Taipei on Wednesday.
“Chen Chu should face the demands of the people and the values of human rights and refrain from the pursuit of economic growth at the expense of Taiwan’s hard-earned democratic achievements,” said Chen Yin-ting, part of another group of protesters outside the venue where Zhang and Chen held their unprecedented meeting.
The once heavily industrialized Kaohsiung has lost many of its companies and factories to China, drawn away by a massive population and low manufacturing costs, and it has struggled economically in recent years.
Zhang’s trip comes at a sensitive time.
Protesters occupied Taiwan’s parliament and mounted mass demonstrations over three weeks starting in March in anger at a pending trade pact, which will open various sectors in both economies. The opposition calls the pact a threat to Taiwan’s industry and sovereignty
Signed a year ago, it has stalled in Taiwan’s parliament, which is set to discuss it at a session overlapping with Zhang’s visit. Advocates, including the China-friendly President Ma Ying-jeou, say it is a step to normalizing ties and will provide jobs and raise living standards.
For more information, please see:
Taipei Times– China respects Taiwan’s choice: Zhang –28 June 2014
The China Post– Kaohsiung mayor meets TAO minister –28 June 2014
Focus Taiwan– Taipei mayor talks of ROC during Beijing visit –27 June 2014
Reuters– China official met by protests, says respects Taiwan’s choices –27 June 2014
Syrian Regime Warplanes Target Militants inside Iraq
By Kathryn Maureen Ryan
Impunity Watch Managing Editor
Damascus, Syria – The Syrian regime has reportedly carried out shelling attacks against militants fighting for the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIS) in Iraq. At least 57 Iraqi civilians were killed and more than 120 others wounded by an attack that local officials say was carried out by Syrian warplanes that struck several border areas in Anbar providence on Tuesday.
Sabah Karkhout, the leader of Iraq’s Anbar provincial council, told the press that Tuesday’s airstrikes struck markets as well as fuel stations in area. “Unfortunately,” he said Wednesday, “the Syrian regime carried out barbarian attacks against civilians in Anbar province.”
Local officials said residents used scopes and other equipment in an attempt to see details on the warplanes to determine where they came from. Karkhout said he was certain the warplanes were Syrian claiming that they bore the image of the Syria’s flag. “Also, the planes flew directly from Syrian airspace and went back to Syria,” he said. The head of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq, Nickolay Mladenov, said on Wednesday that the warplanes that bombed the Iraqi border cities were not Iraqi jets, but he added that he did not have additional information.
However, the spokesperson for Iraq’s military, Maj. Gen. Qassim Atta, has denied reports that Syrian warplanes struck border towns inside of the state of Iraq. “We know our airspace. We have not recorded or registered infiltration of our air space from foreign jets, and all the warplanes and helicopters flying over Iraq airspace are Iraqis,” he said.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, has welcomed Syrian jets bombings targeting ISIS militants. However, al-Maliki’s government has acknowledged the strikes but insists they were carried out within the Syrian territory. Al-Maliki’s Shia government has accused Sunnis of collaborated with militants and has criticized the call for a more representative national government that would give more of a voice to Iraq’s minorities and would ultimately remove him from office.
Both the U.S. and a senior Iraqi military official confirmed that Syrian warplanes had struck militant positions on Tuesday in and around the boarding crossing at the town of Qaim. White House Spokesperson Joshua Earnest said that the United States had “no reason to dispute” the reports that the Syrian air force had struck inside Iraqi territory.
In response to these developments U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry warned Mideast nations on Wednesday against taking new military action in Iraq that might further inflame sectarian tensions. The Iraqi military official said Iraq’s neighbors – Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Turkey – were all reinforcing flights inside their own airspace in order to monitor the situation. The Iraqi official spoke on a condition of anonymity because he had not been authorized to speak to the media.
While addressing diplomats from NATO countries “We’ve made it clear to everyone in the region that we don’t need anything to take place that might exacerbate sectarian divisions that are already at a heightened level of tension.” He said, “it’s already important that nothing take place that contributes to the extremism or could act as a flash point with respects to the sectarian divide.”
For more information please see:
The Guardian – Isis: Maliki Hails Syrian Air Raids in Iraq As Leaving Both States ‘Winners’ – 27 June 2014
CNN International – Syrian Warplanes Reportedly Strike In Iraq, Killing 57 Civilians – 26 June 2014
CBS News – Kerry Warns Mideast Nations after Syria Bombs Iraq – 25 June 2014
The Washington Post – Syrian Aircraft Bomb Sunni Militant Targets Inside Iraq – 25 June 2014