U.S. lawmakers convened a hearing Wednesday in Washington on what they said was an erosion of democratic institutions in parts of sub-Saharan Africa and its impact on the region’s economic growth as well as access to health and education resources.Several countries in sub-Saharan Africa are retreating from core democratic principles, said Representative Karen Bass, chair of the House subcommittee on Africa, global health, global human rights and international organizations.“Democratic backsliding includes but is not limited to the degradation of free and fair elections, infringement of freedom of speech, impairment of political opposition to challenge the government or hold it accountable [and] the weakening of the rule of law.”Bass said flawed elections remained an issue in most of Africa, with leaders manipulating laws, freedoms and elections to retain power.FILE – U.S. Representative Karen Bass, D-Calif., is pictured after meeting with refugees, July 1, 2019. (Moki Kindzeka/VOA)“Most concerning is the situation in Tanzania, which I recently addressed in House Resolution 1120, where current leadership is repressing the opposition in basic freedoms of expression and assembly in a blatant attempt to retain power,” she said. “We see similar patterns in Cote D’Ivoire as the executive branch legalizes the deviation in democratic institutions to codify nondemocratic actions.”Violence in Côte d’Ivoire has left at least a dozen people dead since last month, when President Alassane Ouattara, 78, broke a promise made this year not to seek reelection. Ouattara reversed his stance and accepted the nomination of his ruling party after his handpicked successor died suddenly of a heart attack in July.ReversalExperts testifying on Capitol Hill noted a backward trend.Christopher Fomunyoh from the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs told lawmakers that Africa went from having only two countries classified as free in 1989 to two-thirds of the countries classified as either free or partially free 20 years later.But now, he said, those democratic gains have been reversed. Former Defense Minister Bah N’Daw waits to be sworn into the office of transitional president at a ceremony in Bamako, Mali, Sept. 25, 2020. Mali’s transitional president and vice president were sworn into office more than a month after a coup in the West African nation.“Notably, west Africa, previously commended as a trailblazer region, has seen serious backsliding,” he said. “Mali has experienced a major coup, and serious controversies have risen about candidacies of incumbent presidents in Guinea Conakry and Cote D’Ivoire. The central African region remains stuck with the highest concentration of autocratic regimes, with the three longest-serving presidents in the world.”Fomunyoh listed some of the longest-serving leaders: in Equatorial Guinea (41 years), Cameroon (58 years) and Congo-Brazzaville (nearly 40 years).Freedom and democratic governance is enjoyed by far too few Africans, with only 9% of people in sub-Saharan Africa living in countries that Freedom House categorizes as free, said Jon Temin, the Africa Program director at Freedom House.’Citizens bear the brunt’The organization’s most recent report on freedom in the world noted that of the 12 countries with the largest declines, seven were in sub-Saharan Africa.“Citizens bear the brunt of backsliding,” Temin said. “They are attacked when they peacefully protest in opposition of the government, as in Guinea and Cameroon. They are unable to use the internet when the government restricts access, as in Ethiopia and Chad. Civil society groups face excessive limitations on their activity, as in Tanzania and Burundi, and journalists are threatened and detained, as in Nigeria and Zimbabwe.”As for elections, there have been some encouraging signs, said another witness, Dorina Bekoe of the Institute for Defense Analyses.“Kenyan civil society has pioneered platforms where citizens can record incidents of fraud and harassment, and that’s been replicated in many places around the continent,” Bekoe said. “There are election situation rooms where information is conveyed to a central location and steps are taken to mitigate tension. Parallel vote tabulation is also widely practiced as a check on official results.”She also noted positive trends taking place in Ghana, Senegal, Mauritius, Bostwana and South Africa.
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Month: September 2020
UNMISS Chief: South Sudan Peace Process Limping Along
A top U.N. official says South Sudan’s peace process is limping along and faces serious challenges that could lead to a further escalation in violence. David Shearer, the special representative of the U.N. Secretary General in South Sudan (UNMISS) told reporters in Juba Tuesday urgent action is needed to put the peace process back on track.“The cabinet is meeting irregularly, and people tell me that they want to see the president and vice presidents meeting and working closely together more often. The transitional National Legislative Assembly is yet to be reconstituted, so necessary new laws are not being passed and progress on the constitution has been delayed. Critically, there has been almost no movement on the areas of security sector reform,” said Shearer.
The UNMISS boss, who recently returned to Juba from New York, where he briefed the U.N. Security Council on the situation in South Sudan, said military forces that were supposed to be trained, unified, and deployed are losing hope and have started deserting the country’s training centers.“As a result of lack of food and of logistics and other things being supplied to these training centers, people started to leave, moving back. This is worrying because people are being disillusioned which leads to frustration and anger, and possibly which could mean more violence,” Shearer told reporters.Trainees parade during the visit of the defense minister to a military training center in Owiny Ki-Bul, Eastern Equatoria, South Sudan, June 27, 2020.He said continued delays in implementing the peace deal risk postponing elections beyond the timeline stipulated in the agreement, something he says will deny South Sudanese an opportunity to choose their leaders.
“We really do need to urgently breathe new life into the peace process. The international community and regional partners play an important role but the parties themselves must also step up their efforts to regain lost momentum,” added Shearer.
While the peace process limps along, said the U.N. chief, the country’s military must change its approach in dealing with U.N. peacekeepers. He noted that last month, 92 peacekeepers were blocked from deploying in Lobonok, a civilian area about 120 kilometers southeast of Juba town, which came under threat of more violence after government forces clashed with National Salvation Front rebel forces loyal to Thomas Cirilo.
“For a number of years, we have had an agreement to notify the South Sudan authorities when our peacekeepers move around the country and we do this because we have respect for the sovereignty of South Sudan. However, there is no sign of similar respect from SSPDF for our need to have freedom of movement to protect civilians and build peace,” said Shearer.He added the incident “tarnishes the reputation of the SSPDF.”Brigadier General Lul Ruai Koang of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army addresses the media in Juba, South Sudan, Aug. 29, 2017.SSPDF spokesperson Brigadier General Lul Ruai Koang strongly denied that charge, asserting there was insufficient time given for communication regarding the movement of peacekeepers to Lobonok.
“What had happened on that day, yes, they were given permission but there was no sufficient time for our forces to be notified in advance. And as a result as they were headed there, they were stopped and were asked about where they were going and they produced the evidence showing that they were given permission.
“The only thing that was done at that particular checkpoint was for them to stop for a minute so that the commanding officer could establish communication with SSPDF general headquarters, and it was at that time that they started reporting that they had been denied access to Lobonok,” Koang told South Sudan in Focus.
Shearer said the peace process “is stuck,” adding that security reforms “have not moved past the first stage, where forces are trained and graduated.”
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Afghanistan’s Abdullah Discusses Iran, Pakistan, Peace Process
Abdullah Abdullah, chairman of Afghanistan’s High Council for National Reconciliation, acknowledges that Iran has ‘legitimate interests” in his country as a neighbor that hosts millions of Afghan refugees. Iran’s contacts with various Taliban groups, he says, could be used as an opportunity to advance peace efforts. Ayesha Tanzeem has more.
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Afghanistan’s Abdullah Discusses Iran, Pakistan, Peace Process
The man heading Afghanistan’s peace efforts said Iran did not attend the ceremony marking the opening of talks with the Taliban due to tensions with the United States.“Iran was invited…Sometimes their relations with the United States which [are] under a lot of tension at the moment, those things affect their decisions [of] participating in a conference or not,” Abdullah Abdullah, the chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation told VOA in Islamabad toward the end of a three-day visit to Pakistan.Despite that, Abdullah said, Iran supported the peace process. He also acknowledged that Iran had “legitimate concerns” and “legitimate interests” in Afghanistan as a neighbor that hosts millions of Afghan refugees.He said Iran’s contacts with various Taliban groups could be used as an opportunity to advance peace efforts.The U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad, told a Washington-based research group, the United States Institute of Peace, last week that the U.S.-Iran relations were getting in the way of Iran cooperating with Afghanistan’s peace process.Zalmay Khalilzad, U.S. envoy for peace in Afghanistan is seen during talks between the Afghan government and Taliban insurgents in Doha, Qatar, Sept. 12, 2020.“Iran would like to keep us entangled in a conflict without winning or losing but paying a high price until there is an agreement between the U.S. and Iran,” he said.Iran strongly refuted those claims and said it supported peace in Afghanistan, according to its official Islamic Republic News Agency, or IRNA.In the same story, IRNA quoted the deputy foreign minister for political affairs, Abbas Araghchi, as doubting the U.S. intentions in Afghanistan.”We believe that the U.S. should not be trusted and that the U.S. presence in the region is dangerous and will cause a lot of discord in the region,” said Araghchi.Abdullah’s Pakistan visit, in which he met with the country’s senior civilian and military leadership, is being viewed as a major shift in his approach toward Pakistan.Abdullah Abdullah, chairman of Afghanistan’s High Council for National Reconciliation, left, meets with Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, in Islamabad, Sept. 29, 2020. (Credit: Press Information Department)As the chief executive of Afghanistan in the former administration, he declined several invitations to visit the country.He said, however, that changes on the ground, including the fact that the Taliban and Afghan government were sitting across the table from each other in Doha, helped change his mind.“I thought that with the prime minister, Imran Khan, as the prime minister of Pakistan, and the leadership, the political leadership, institutions, and establishment all being on the same page, giving messages of support for the peace process and also for the betterment of relations, then I decided it was necessary (for me to come here),” he said.In his talks with Pakistan’s army chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa Tuesday, Abdullah said they discussed how to make “all the right efforts so peace is materialized,” which he added was in the interest of both countries.He also emphasized that in Afghanistan, in the region, and the world, the peace process had gained momentum, but some things, like the high level of violence, could be disruptive. In his meetings with Pakistani leaders, he said, he asked them to use “all the influence” over the Taliban, including public messaging, to help the process.Afghan security personnel work at the site of an explosion in Kabul, Sept. 9, 2020.A day earlier, Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that reduction in violence leading to a cease-fire was a prerequisite for the Doha talks.Abdullah brushed aside suggestions that Afghans were politically divided compared to the Taliban, saying their side was “very diverse and much more sophisticated” with people who had exercised democracy in the last two decades.He said all Afghans favored the idea of peace and any differences were technical rather than ideological.Abdullah said if the U.S. decided to withdraw all forces from Afghanistan, it would have an impact but the urgency it created could be translated into an opportunity for a quick resolution to the conflict.“But eventually it is us who have to find a way of working together, living together in peace, without posing a threat to our own citizens, or to the neighborhood, or to the rest of the international community,” he said.
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British PM Receives Rare Rebuke in House of Commons
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson received a rare reprimand Wednesday by the speaker of the House of Commons for treating lawmakers with contempt by rushing through far-reaching COVID-19 restrictions without proper review by lawmakers.Just before the prime minister’s weekly “question time” with members of Parliament, Lindsay Hoyle, speaker of the House of Commons, admonished Johnson for making rules in a “totally unsatisfactory” way.Hoyle said that several of the COVID-19-related measures were published and brought before Parliament only hours before they were to take effect, and some after the fact. The speaker said the actions showed total disregard for the House of Commons and called on Johnson and his government to prepare measures more quickly.The speaker did hold back a rebellion within Johnson’s own Conservative Party, where more than 50 members had threatened to join an opposition-led measure demanding more say over future rules to stop the spread of the virus and accusing ministers of governing “by decree.”But they were denied a chance to vote on the proposal after the speaker ruled there was not enough time for a proper debate.Later Wednesday, during a news briefing on the COVID-19 pandemic, Johnson said the government would not hesitate to put even stricter pandemic restrictions in place if evidence supported such a move.Britain reported 7,143 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, the highest one-day figure to date for the country, which has the highest official death toll in Europe.Areas of Britain, particularly in the northeast where a second wave of COVID-19 infections is surging, are faced with local restrictions designed to slow its spread. Britain has reported more than 42,233 deaths from the virus, the world’s fifth-highest total.
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Sudanese Women Keep Pushing for Democracy
Sudanese women helped organize the protests that resulted in the ouster of former President Omar al-Bashir in 2019 after three decades of iron-fisted rule. After his removal and the creation of a new transitional government, women are playing a prominent role in Sudan’s politics. A woman has been appointed a chief justice — the first, not only in Sudan but in the entire Arab world. An unprecedented four women were appointed to cabinet positions in the new government, including the country’s first female minister of foreign affairs, Asma Mohamed Abdalla. FILE – Foreign Minister of Sudan Asma Mohamed Abdalla attends a meeting of foreign ministers of Arab and African countries of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Jan. 6, 2020.But women are still marching to amend the laws and restore the rights taken from them under the strict Islamic code enforced by Bashir’s government. The Sudanese Professionals Association, or SPA, was one of the key groups behind the demonstrations that led to Bashir’s ouster. Samahir Elmubarak, who heads the SPA’s pharmacist’s association, remains active in politics. Elmubarak says she has never felt that they have reached a level where they should stop. She says the motivation that powered people to overthrow the Bashir regime is the same motivation that is pushing people to continue to reach the revolution’s goals of freedom, peace and justice. The June 3, 2019, crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Khartoum left more than 120 people dead, including the eldest son of Amira Kabous. Her son’s death did not deter Kabous from being involved in the democratic movement, and she is now the deputy chief of an organization of people who lost relatives in the uprising. Sitting beside a portrait of her late son in her house in Khartoum, Kabous is insistent. She says what they are doing is the continuance of the martyr’s role, and their sacrifices, but they have not reached their goals yet. They will continue, she adds, until they achieve all of the revolution’s goals that their children sacrificed for, and until they see Sudan the way their children dreamed about, and they all are dreaming about. Kabous and Elmubarak were recently awarded the 2020 Freedom House Award for their role in advancing democratic change in Sudan. The award was given under the theme “the power of protest.”
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French Court Rules to Extradite Alleged Rwanda Genocide Financier to UN Court
A top French appeals court has refused to block the extradition of the alleged financier of Rwanda’s 1994 genocide to a United Nations tribunal. The decision by France’s Court of Cassation is a blow to Felicien Kabuga, 84, who was arrested at his Paris-area apartment in May after a quarter-century on the run. Kabuga’s lawyers had appealed an earlier ruling that he should stand trial at a U.N. court based in Arusha, Tanzania. They said his health was poor and raised fears the U.N. court would be biased against him. FILE – Felicien Kabuga, a fugitive wanted over the 1994 Rwandan genocide, who was arrested in a Paris suburb on May 16, 2020, is seen in this handout photo released by the Mecanisme pour les Tribunaux penaux internationaux.But the Court of Cassation said it saw no legal or medical obstacle to Kabuga’s transfer to Arusha. Etienne Nsanzimana, president of Rwandan genocide survivors’ support group Ibuka France, hailed the ruling. Now, he said, it was time international justice played its role and ended the years of impunity Kabuga had enjoyed. Once one of Rwanda’s richest men, Kabuga is accused of bankrolling militia groups responsible for killing hundreds of thousands of Tutsis and moderate Hutus. He reportedly founded and was heavily involved in Radio Television Mille Collines, whose incendiary broadcasts fanned ethnic hatred. More than two decades ago, Kabuga was indicted by the U.N. Criminal Tribunal on Rwanda, or ICTR, on seven counts, including genocide. He denies all the charges as “lies.” Kabuga is to be tried at the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals, which took over from the ICTR after it closed in 2013. Rwanda said it wanted to have him tried in its own courts.
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Indian Court Acquits Top Hindu Nationalist Leaders for Role in 1992 Demolition of Mosque
Nearly three decades after the demolition of a 16th century mosque by a Hindu mob in India, a court acquitted top Hindu nationalist leaders charged with criminal conspiracy in connection with its destruction. The 1992 demolition of the Babri masjid, which Hindu groups said was built on the birthplace of their god, Rama, had sparked some of the worst Hindu-Muslim rioting in the country, killing nearly 3,000 people.It also marked a defining moment in Indian politics — signaling the rise of the Hindu right-wing and helping the Bharatiya Janata Party build its popularity on a wave of Hindu nationalism. Jai Bhagwan Goyal, a leader of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and an accused in the 1992 attack and demolition of a 16th century mosque, celebrates outside a court in Lucknow, India, Sept. 30, 2020.The court ruled Wednesday there was not enough evidence to link the accused to the destruction of the mosque in the northern town of Ayodhya. “The incident was not pre-planned,” Judge Surendra Kumar Yadav said in his ruling in Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh, where the mosque was located. “The leaders present there actually tried to control and pacify the mob.” Among the 32 who were acquitted on Wednesday were top former leaders of the BJP. They included former Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani and former ministers Uma Bharti and Murli Manohar Joshi. All of them have long maintained that the mosque’s destruction was a spontaneous act by an angry mob that tore down the building with pickaxes, crowbars and even their bare hands. Vimal Kumar Srivastava, defense counsel in the 1992 attack and demolition of a 16th century mosque, displays the victory symbol as he leaves a court in Lucknow, India, Sept. 30, 2020.Wednesday’s verdict was handed down three years after India’s Supreme Court said that the Hindu nationalist leaders must stand trial for making inflammatory speeches that allegedly incited the mob to tear down the mosque. Mixed reactionWhile the BJP welcomed the court’s ruling, calling it the “victory of truth,” Muslim groups and opposition parties slammed the verdict. “This is an erroneous judgment, as it is against evidence and against law,” said Zafaryab Jilani, who represents the All India Muslim Personal Law Board. “We will appeal the verdict.” Congress party spokesman Randeep Surjewala called it an “egregious violation of the law” that ran counter to “the constitutional spirit.” FILE – People watch a live screening of the stone-laying ceremony of the Ram Temple by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Ayodhya, in New Delhi, India, Aug. 5, 2020.Wednesday’s verdict comes a year after the Supreme Court handed the contentious plot of land to Hindu groups who are preparing to build a grand temple honoring their god, Rama, on the site — Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the temple last month, delivering on a core promise of the BJP. That judgment came in connection with a separate case fought by Hindu and Muslim groups over ownership of the land on which the mosque stood. Question of responsibilityPolitical commentators say Wednesday’s verdict on the role of the Hindu nationalist leaders brings a sense of closure but does not deliver justice for the destruction of the mosque, which the Supreme Court had called a violation of the rule of law. “For a country of over a billion people with a parliamentary democracy and a judiciary, 28 years later and four prime ministers down the line, you have not been able to tell the country who was responsible for the demolition,” said independent political commentator Neerja Chowdhury. “It is possible the leaders on trial were not behind it and only created the climate by having the movement to claim the land, whose culmination was the demolition. But if there was planning, who was behind it? The Muslim community will ask, where is justice?” said Chowdhury.
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German Chancellor Imposes New COVID-19 Restrictions
After consulting with Germany’s 16 regional governors, German Chancellor Angela Merkel Wednesday announced new restrictions on the size of gatherings to prevent the country’s coronavirus infection figures from accelerating.At a Berlin news briefing following her virtual meeting with the governors, Merkel said she wants to act regionally and address the virus where it is surging rather than shut down the whole country, which she said should be avoided at all costs. “In order to achieve this, we must have minimum standards for certain frequencies of infections,” said Merkel.The German chancellor said in places where there are more than 35 new infections per 100,000 residents recorded in a week, the number of people attending gatherings at public or rented facilities should be limited to 50 and no more than 25 should attend events in private homes.She said that where infections hit at least 50 per 100,000 residents, those figures should be cut to 25 and 10 respectively.Merkel said she expects the rate of infection to rise as the change in weather means more people will spend time inside in the coming months. She said the number of daily infections could rise to 19,200 in three months if the rate of infection continues as it has over the past three months. “This underlines the urgency for us to act,” said Merkel.The chancellor also discouraged travel to high risk areas in Europe in the coming months, saying staying in Germany was a good option. She said low risk European nations such as Italy might be a good option, noting the number of COVID-19 cases are very low there now and “they are acting very carefully.”Johns Hopkins University reports Germany has over 289,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus and just over 9,450 deaths.
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Armenian, Azerbaijani Forces Continue to Clash
Armenian and Azerbaijani forces clashed for a fourth consecutive day Wednesday over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh, in an ongoing conflict that is threatening to erupt into all-out war.Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry accused Armenian forces of shelling the Azerbaijani town of Tartar, while Armenian military officials said Azerbaijani forces bombed northern parts of the breakaway region where the Nagorno-Karabakh army was positioned.Dozens of people have been killed and hundreds of others injured since intense fighting broke out Sunday between ethnic Armenian and Azeri forces. The violence has since spread to areas outside the enclave’s borders, threatening to escalate into war.An ethnic Armenian soldier, who was wounded in fighting with Azeri forces over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh, is carried on a stretcher to Erebouni Medical Center in Yerevan, Armenia, Sept. 29, 2020. (Credit: Hakob Margaryan/Photolure)The conflict intensified on Tuesday as Armenia claimed a Turkish F-16 fighter jet shot down one of its SU-25 fighter planes in Armenian airspace, killing the pilot.Turkey and Armenian denied the claims.Speaking on Russian state television Tuesday, Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan both rejected the possibility of talks, despite urgent appeals from Russia and the United States to end the violence.The United Nations Security Council on Tuesday called for an immediate halt to the hostilities.Also Tuesday, a spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres spoke to both Aliyev and Pashinyan and called for “an immediate stop to the fighting, a de-escalation of tension and a return to meaningful negotiations without preconditions or delay.”The United States on Sunday called for an end to the fighting. State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus issued a statement saying the U.S. “condemns in the strongest terms this escalation of violence.”She urged both sides to work with the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs “to return to substantive negotiations as soon as possible.”The OSCE is the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. The OSCE Minsk Group is tasked with finding a peaceful solution to the conflict.The U.S., France and Russia co-chair the OSCE Minsk Group, which issued a joint statement Sunday concerning the “large scale military actions along the Line of Contact in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone.”“We strongly condemn the use of force and regret the senseless loss of life, including civilians,” the co-chairs said. They appealed “to the sides to cease hostilities immediately and to resume negotiations to find a sustainable resolution of the conflict.”Local residents take shelter in a dugout during the fighting over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh in the city of Terter, Azerbaijan, Sept. 30, 2020.They called on the parties in conflict to take “necessary measures to stabilize the situation on the ground,” adding that there is no alternative to a peaceful negotiated solution of the conflict.Armenia and Azerbaijan declared martial law and troop mobilizations on Sunday amid fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh.Nagorno-Karabakh is within Azerbaijan’s borders but is governed by ethnic Armenians and supported by the Armenian government. The enclave seceded from Azerbaijan during the Nagorno-Karabakh War that ended in 1994 but has not been recognized by any country as an independent republic.A war between the two former Soviet republics could also involve regional powers Turkey and Russia, which has a defense agreement with Armenia. The Turkish government supports its own ethnic Turkic kin in Azerbaijan.
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Pompeo Calls on Vatican to Reconsider Deal With Beijing
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo vowed to advocate for persecuted religious minorities in China while calling on the Vatican to reconsider renewing a deal with Beijing.”Nowhere is religious freedom under assault more than it is inside of China today,” Pompeo said Wednesday in Rome, Italy. ”Nor of course have Catholics been spared this wave of repression.” Pompeo’s latest remarks come as the Vatican and China are negotiating to renew a controversial 2018 agreement on the nomination of bishops. The terms of that deal have not been publicly revealed. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, left, and U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See Callista Gingrich greet Cardinal Raymond Burke, right, during a symposium in Rome, Sept. 30, 2020.While admitting nation-states’ efforts to protect religious freedom are “constrained by the realities of world politics,” Pompeo made a subtle appeal to the Vatican to reverse the planned renewal under way. “The Church is in a different position. Earthly considerations shouldn’t discourage principled stances based on eternal truths.” Wednesday, the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See hosted a symposium on “Advancing and Defending International Religious Freedom through Diplomacy.” Holy See Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and Holy See Secretary for Relations with States Archbishop Paul Gallagher also participated. A senior State Department official confirmed the top U.S. diplomat is not scheduled to have an audience with Pope Francis during this visit. Pompeo met with the pontiff last October. State Department: Pompeo, Pope Francis Urge Religious Freedom in Mideast, ElsewhereSecretary of state, whose trip to Italy, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Greece has been overshadowed by an impeachment inquiry at home targeting President Donald Trump, met the pope for about a half an hourThe Pope’s office reportedly told American diplomats he would not personally receive Pompeo due to concerns of being seen as influencing the November U.S. election. The U.S. secretary of state also met Wednesday with the Italian foreign minister.
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Ghanaian Cancer Experts Want More Focus on Colon Cancer
Cancer experts in Ghana lament that little attention is paid to screening for colorectal cancers, leading to a high death rate, despite the disease’s relatively low occurrence. The death from colon cancer of American actor Chadwick Boseman, who played the lead role in the Hollywood film Black Panther, might bring fresh awareness of the disease. Stacey Knott reports from Accra
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Measure to Punish Rapists with Castration Raises Concern in Nigeria
Nigerian lawmakers in the northwestern state of Kaduna have approved a measure to castrate men convicted of raping children under the age of 14. The controversial law comes in the wake of public outrage over the rising number of rape cases in recent months. But while supporters praise the new law as a move to defend women and children, some human rights activists say it is too harsh and may even fail to deter perpetrators.It’s a typical lonely day for thirteen-year-old Amina, (not her real name), in a safe house located in Rigasa area of Kaduna state. She was brought here one month ago after being raped by three men from her neighborhood.
She feeds her pet cat as she recounts her ordeal. “I was hanging around the shops, I didn’t want to go inside the house because my stepmom was beating me. They called me and gave me a drink and then raped me,” she said. Amina is not the only girl being held here. Her roommate, also a teenage girl, said she had been molested by her own father. Amina says she’s even more upset because her father, a police officer, dismissed the case after being bribed by her attackers. “I feel bad that my dad did that,” she said. But Amina’s case has been re-opened with help from Samira Modibbo — a Kaduna-based activist who is one of the coordinators of the state-led campaign against rape. The three men have been re-arrested and are awaiting judgement. They could be among the first to be surgically castrated under a new law punishing rapists of children under the age of 14, says Modibbo. “Anyone that could rape a child does not deserve to live. And I actually stand by that because it takes a monster to be able to do that. There are a lot of things that comes with the sexual assault of kids. It’s not just about the emotional damages. There are physical damages and sometimes for the rest of their lives,” she said.
Nigeria’s federal law provides between 14 years and life imprisonment as punishment for rape, but states can set different sanctions. Human rights lawyer Okoro Kelechi argues the new law is too harsh and may fail to address the issue. “I don’t think surgical castration addresses the root problem of rape because rape occurs more in the mind than in the act. I like to look at it as something that is more psychological. It goes beyond the sex. So, it’s not about the utensil or the tool used to achieve sexual pleasure,” he said.
Local aid agencies in Kaduna say over 400 cases of rape were reported in the state during the coronavirus lockdown. No one knows whether many more states in Nigeria will adopt this new law. But activists like Madibbo say they will remain vigilant to ensure children are protected and offenders are held accountable.
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India May Have 10 Times More COVID-19 Cases Than Official Figures
India now has more than 6.2 million total COVID-19 cases out of its 1.3 billion citizens — but a new study by national health authorities says the actual number could be about 10 times higher. The Indian Council of Medical Research said Tuesday that one in 15 individuals over 10 years old contained the antibodies left behind from an earlier infection, based on blood tests taken of more than 29,000 people across the nation between mid-August and mid-September. FILE – Migrant laborers from other states looking for work gather on a street on the outskirts of Jammu, India, Sept.27, 2020.Dr. Balram Bhargava, the head of the ICMR, said the survey found that 15.6% of all slum residents were found to have antibodies, compared to 8.2% for all non-slum urban residents and 4.4% for rural residents. India is second only to the United States in the number of novel coronavirus cases and deaths. The virus has surged since public transport, businesses, markets, hotels, restaurants and bars reopened in most cities after India began easing its stringent lockdown. FILE – Cemetery workers in protective clothing bury three victims of the new coronavirus at the Vila Formosa cemetery in Sao Paulo, Brazil, July 15, 2020.COVID-19 has killed more than 1 million people worldwide, including about 97,000 in India, 142,000 in Brazil and 205,000 in the United States. In New York City, the initial epicenter of the pandemic in the United States in March and April, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Tuesday that the city’s daily positivity rate has risen above 3%, the highest number since June. Officials earlier this week had expressed concerns with eight neighborhoods in the Brooklyn and Queens boroughs, some of them home to large Orthodox Jewish communities that have largely ignored advice such as wearing masks and social distancing. A child wears a mask on a school bus in the Borough Park section of Brooklyn, New York City, New York, Sept. 29, 2020.The increase comes as the city begins reopening its public schools to in-person instruction this week. The National Football League announced Tuesday that the Tennessee Titans franchise had closed its practice facilities in Nashville and suspended all in-person activities after three players and five non-player personnel tested positive for COVID-19. FILE – Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson, left, tries to break a tackle by Tennessee Titans inside linebacker Jayon Brown during the first half of an NFL football game in Minneapolis, Sept. 27, 2020.The outbreak prompted the Minnesota Vikings, who the Titans played in Minneapolis on Sunday, to also shut down its practice facilities, although none of their players or staffers have tested positive. The NFL says no decision has been made on whether Tennessee will host its scheduled game with the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday. Also on Tuesday, U.S. entertainment giant Disney announced it will lay off 28,000 workers, the majority of them at the company’s theme parks in Florida and California. The layoffs are emblematic of the devastation the pandemic has wrought on the travel and tourism industry as potential visitors avoid the risk of infection from being in large crowds. FILE – Guests wearing protective masks wait outside the Magic Kingdom theme park at Walt Disney World on the first day of reopening, in Orlando, Florida, on July 11, 2020.Josh D’Amaro, the head of Disney’s theme park unit, called the layoffs “heartbreaking” in a letter to employees, but said it was “the only feasible option we have in light of the prolonged impact of COVID-19 on our business, including limited capacity due to physical distancing requirements and the continued uncertainty regarding the duration of the pandemic.”
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Concerns Raised Over Nigerian Measure to Punish Rapists with Castration
Nigerian lawmakers in the northwestern state of Kaduna have approved a measure to castrate men convicted of raping children under the age of 14. The controversial law comes in the wake of public outrage over the rising number of rape cases in recent months. But while supporters praise the new law as a move to defend women and children, some human rights activists say it is too harsh and may even fail to deter perpetrators. Timothy Obiezu has more from Kaduna State.Camera: Emeka Gibson
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Armenia and Azerbaijan Exchange Fire, Heightening Regional Tensions
Armenia and Azerbaijan traded accusations Tuesday of firing on each other across a shared border, the latest sign of a conflict over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh that is threatening to erupt into war.Both countries reported firing to the west of the region, where intense fighting broke out Sunday between ethnic Armenian and Azeri forces, killing dozens of people and wounding hundreds of others.Speaking on Russian state television, Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan both rejected the possibility of talks, despite urgent appeals from Russia and the United States to end the violence.In this photo provided by the Azerbaijan’s Presidential Press Office provided on Sept. 27, 2020, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev gestures as he addresses the nation in Baku, Azerbaijan.The United Nations Security Council is expected to discuss the escalating fighting in the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh later Tuesday. The closed-door meeting was requested by five European nations — Britain, Belgium, Estonia, France and Germany — as the fighting intensified Monday between forces of Armenia and Azerbaijan in the enclave. FILE – Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan attends the Eurasian Economic Council in Yerevan, Armenia, on Oct. 1, 2019.A spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres spoke to both Aliyev and Pashinian and called for “an immediate stop to the fighting, a de-escalation of tension and a return to meaningful negotiations without preconditions or delay,” according to the Associated Press. The United States had called on Sunday for the hostilities to end. State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus issued a statement saying the U.S. “condemns in the strongest terms this escalation of violence.” The statement urged both sides to work with the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs “to return to substantive negotiations as soon as possible.” The OSCE is the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. The OSCE Minsk Group is tasked with finding a peaceful solution to the conflict. The U.S., France and Russia co-chair the OSCE Minsk Group, which issued a joint statement Sunday concerning the “large scale military actions along the Line of Contact in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone.” “We strongly condemn the use of force and regret the senseless loss of life, including civilians,” the co-chairs said. They appealed “to the sides to cease hostilities immediately and to resume negotiations to find a sustainable resolution of the conflict.” They called on the parties in conflict to take “necessary measures to stabilize the situation on the ground,” adding that there is no alternative to a peaceful negotiated solution of the conflict. Armenia and Azerbaijan declared martial law and troop mobilizations on Sunday amid fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh.Nagorno-Karabakh is within Azerbaijan’s borders but is governed by ethnic Armenians and supported by the Armenian government. The enclave seceded from Azerbaijan during the Nagorno-Karabakh War that ended in 1994 but has not been recognized by any country as an independent republic.A war between the two former Soviet republics could also involve regional powers Turkey and Russia, which has a defense agreement with Armenia. The Turkish government supports its own ethnic Turkic kin in Azerbaijan.
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