Month: September 2022

The environmental group Greenpeace Africa has released a report saying planned oil and gas exploration in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo could expose more than 1 million people to pollution and disease.

The planned selling of 30 eastern land blocks that extend into a famous gorilla reserve would also threaten wildlife and food security, while fueling conflict, poverty and corruption, according to the report. 

Residents in the area accuse the government of keeping them in the dark and expressed fear of losing their livelihoods when companies start drilling for fossil fuels.  

Representatives for Greenpeace Africa and partner organizations visited about 30 villages in July to gauge the community’s awareness of the planned exploration and how they intend to protect their land and livelihoods. 

Mbong Akiy Fokwa Tsafack, head of communication at Greenpeace Africa, said many communities are not aware of the government’s plan to auction their land.  

“The thought of the government thinking of auctioning their lands for oil was really a shock for them. They were unaware, so they didn’t know this was underway, which is quite shocking given how much the government has said it plans to really put people ahead of everything else,” Tsafack said.

No one asked residents what they thought of the oil and gas drilling project, said Bantu Lukambo, who works with Innovation for the Development and Protection of the Environment, an NGO monitoring the welfare of communities around Virunga National Park.  

The government is supposed to have public input before undertaking such exploration, he said, but failed to do so. Even parliament members were not included in the decision-making process, he added. 

DRC President Felix Tshisekedi defended his government’s plan while speaking at the United Nations General Assembly last week, saying oil discovery would bring economic development to his people.  

Hydrocarbons Minister Didier Budimbu Ntubuanga, speaking at the Africa Oil Week conference in Senegal early this month, said the DRC has received two offers for the oil blocks and said any exploration will follow environmental guidelines. 

Lukambo is doubtful that will be the case. 

He fears all the fish will die if the exploration begins, and fishermen and their families will be in trouble. In addition, he added, 14 of the oil blocks are in Virunga National Park, and the others are in farming areas. If exploration starts on the land, he said, farmers won’t farm their land. 

The oil exploration blocks overlap parts of Congo’s most pristine ecosystems and Virunga Park, which is home to over 1,000 species of animals and birds.  

Tsafack said Congo’s leaders need to reconsider their decision to allow oil exploration in the park and nearby areas.  

“This is a moment when we need to see leadership coming through, in terms of the zeal to uproot corruption, to strengthen good governance and to put the people of the DRC at [the] heart of any kind of development agenda,” Tsafack said. “And putting the people of DRC at the heart of any development agenda means really looking into the communities and finding out what it is that will uplift their lives.” 

The 20-page report from Greenpeace urges the government to halt the projects and encourage alternative investments in renewable energy sources.  

 
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Oumy Diallo recalls the day she wanted to die. She was attending a pro-democracy protest in 2009 at a stadium in Conakry, Guinea, when a group of government security officials opened fire.

As she attempted to escape, shrapnel pierced her back and forced her to the ground. She felt a pair of hands grab her ankles, she said, then several men took turns raping her.

“Could I even count? Could I even count?” she said, trying to recall how many men raped her. “I just wanted to die.”

Diallo, whose name has been changed to protect her privacy, was among at least 100 women who were raped that day, according to a report by a United Nations-mandated international commission. At least 150 were killed.

Witnesses described horrific scenes: women being pulled from hiding places to be raped by multiple men, some people being knifed to death while others were shot, corpses piled on top of each other and draped over walls.

Following the attack, security forces sealed off the entrances to the stadium and morgues in an effort to cover up the crimes. Bodies were removed and buried in mass graves.

On Wednesday, exactly 13 years after the massacre, a trial accusing 11 former security and government officials of participating in the attack finally opened.

The 2009 protest, which drew tens of thousands of demonstrators, was organized in response to a presidential bid by Guinea’s then-military ruler, Moussa Dadis Camara.

Camara, who came to power in a 2008 coup, has since lived in exile in Burkina Faso, but returned to Guinea to stand trial. He has denied responsibility for the attack, placing the blame on errant soldiers.

One year before the incident, Diallo said she had easily gotten pregnant with her first child, a daughter. But she has since been unable to conceive. Now, at 34 years old, Diallo suspects it’s due to internal injuries sustained from the rape.

“Back then, I didn’t have the strength to explain what had happened to a doctor, so I self-medicated,” she said as she listed off the painkillers and antibiotics she took. “It wasn’t until later that I realized I should have gone to the hospital. But by then it was too late.”

Despite repeated commitments from Guinean authorities to seek justice for the victims, the trial has suffered from numerous delays and obstacles. In 2009, government inaction prompted an examination by the International Criminal Court (ICC), which has since pressured officials to make good on their promise.

Human rights abuses mounted under former Guinean president Alpha Conde, who was overthrown in a coup in September 2021. Guinea’s junta leader, Mamady Doumbouya, has expressed support for victims of the massacre and pushed for the trial to open before the 2022 anniversary.

But a ban on public protests persists, and in August the government dissolved the opposition coalition when it called for credible talks with Guinea’s transitional military rulers.

Guinea also continues to be plagued by high levels of sexual violence against women, according to a report released on the eve of the trial by Amnesty International. More than 400 cases of rape were recorded by Guinean police in 2021, and most of the victims were minors. But true figures are “undoubtably” higher, the report said.

Though Guinea recently established a specialized police unit to respond to sexual violence, cases are often settled out of court and perpetrators are rarely punished, according to the report. Furthermore, it said, officials are not adequately trained on how to respond to accusations of sexual assault.

“When you want to file a complaint, some policemen will not really take you seriously or the victim will not be able to talk freely and in a confidential way,” said Fabien Offner, a researcher for Amnesty International.

The cost of healthcare and the stigma associated with rape create additional barriers, he added.

The first day of the trial was broadcast live on national television and radio. A judge called each of the 11 men to the bar and read out their charges: murder, attempted murder, torture and rape.

“That a military that had been brought to a stadium killed Guineans, raped Guineans, hurt Guineans – that that same government has recognized the actions committed by the state in front of the national and international community – that already is a good thing,” said Mamadou Barry, secretary of the Association of Victims, Relatives and Friends of September 28, 2009.

While the simple recognition of the atrocities brings solace to many, others are demanding more.

“Of course, the organization of a trial is a first step,” said Amnesty’s Offner. “But it’s not justice.”

The trial will resume October 4.
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Ethiopia’s government-funded human rights commission says security forces killed dozens of civilians following clashes with rebels in the country’s Gambella region in June.

According to the state-appointed rights body’s report published Thursday, the killings happened after an hourslong gun battle June 14 between regional security forces and militants from the Oromo Liberation Army and rebel groups from the Gambella Liberation Front.

After the OLA and GLF militants withdrew from the city, Gambella regional security force members searched houses and targeted civilians whom they accused of harboring weapons and fighters, the rights commission said.

The 13-page report concluded “at least 50 civilians” were killed “individually and in mass extrajudicial executions” by regional security forces between June 14 and June 16.

The bodies were then buried “en masse” with relatives denied access to them, said the commission, which also found that security force members had looted homes.

At the time, a Gambella city resident told VOA that he could hear sporadic shooting from his home in the days following the rebel groups’ assault.

Abel Adane, the Gambella office head for the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission, said the killings took place in several locations across the city.

“Some people were killed at their homes, and some others were killed when they were walking on the streets of the town. For instance, one of the findings of our report is that one special force and city police of the regional government killed at least 11 civilians, all just in one house,” said Adane.

Abel added that several other people were taken to the local police commission where they were subsequently killed.

The report from the human rights commission was based on interviews with 58 people, including eyewitnesses and relatives of victims.

It also concluded that the OLA and the GLF rebel groups killed seven civilians while in the city, adding that six more people died after they were caught in crossfire.

A message to a government spokesperson requesting comment went unanswered.

Gambella’s regional police commission has said the rebels were responsible for the killings in the town.
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Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni has assured the country that an Ebola outbreak is under control and that no restrictions on movement are needed. The country’s health officials confirmed cases of a deadly Sudan ebolavirus with six reported deaths out of 31 confirmed cases. Uganda’s medical association says some of its members are critically ill and has threatened to join a strike by medical interns over what they say is inadequate personal protective equipment. 

In an address to the nation Wednesday night, President Yoweri Museveni urged Ugandans to avoid coming in contact with body fluids such as blood, feces and vomit from infected people.

Even though the source for the Sudan ebolavirus, a strain for which the World Health Organization says cross-protection of vaccine for other Ebola strains has not been established, Museveni warned Ugandans against eating meat from monkeys, chimpanzees and gorillas.

“I want to reassure Ugandans and all residents that the government has the capacity to control this outbreak as we have done before. Therefore, there’s no need for anxiety, panic, restriction of movement or unnecessary closure of public places like schools, markets, places of worship etc. as of now,” he said.

The 31 Ebola cases confirmed so far include six health care workers, including four doctors, one anesthesiologist and one medical student who was exposed to the first case in the district of Mubende, Kyegegwa and Kassanda.

Museveni who cautioned Ugandans against shaking hands also says Uganda is still discussing a vaccine for the Sudan ebolavirus that was first reported on August 6. Uganda only has a stock of the Zaire ebolavirus that was reported in the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo. There is currently no approved vaccine for the Sudan ebolavirus.

“One of the issues we were debating the other day was, why not use the vaccine of Ebola Zaire. Even though it’s not specific for Ebola Sudan, but it’s Ebola,” he said. “They share some of the characteristics. And it is safe. And we have used it on our soldiers. So, is there any harm in trying it?”

The government has now set up an Ebola treatment unit with a 51-bed capacity for confirmed cases and 80 beds for suspected cases.

To shorten the turnaround time of sampling, processing and improving patient care, two mobile diagnostic laboratories will be deployed in the Mubende district by Friday.

Health Minister Dr. Jane Ruth Acheng also allayed fears among health workers especially those infected with the virus.

“We want to appreciate the work that they are doing. But also reassure them that they will be taken care of and given the necessary supportive care and treatment so that we ensure that we don’t lose them,” she said.

President of the Uganda Medical Association Dr. Sam Oledo, however, describes a different situation in the affected districts for health workers.

“When we start losing health workers, I don’t think it can be under control. It’s painful that this morning the intern and the SHO [Senior Health Officer] are on oxygen, and they are not doing well. What we are trying to mobilize now is ICU management. We cannot afford to have the corpse of a medic at such a time. And I assure you, if the worst happens, we shall withdraw services in Mubende,” he said.

The Sudan ebolavirus is less common than the Zaire ebolavirus and has no current, effective vaccine. Sudan ebolavirus was first reported in Southern Sudan in 1976. Although several outbreaks have been reported since then in both Uganda and Sudan, the deadliest outbreak in Uganda was in 2000 claiming over 200 lives.

Uganda’s last Ebola outbreak, in 2019, was confirmed to be the Zaire ebolavirus. It last reported a Sudan ebolavirus outbreak in 2012.
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A frail 87-year-old Rwandan accused of encouraging and bankrolling the country’s 1994 genocide goes on trial at a United Nations tribunal Thursday, nearly three decades after the 100-day massacre left 800,000 dead.

Félicien Kabuga is one of the last fugitives charged over the genocide to face justice, and the start of his trial marks a key day of reckoning for Rwandans who survived the killings or whose families were murdered.

Naphtal Ahishakiye, the executive secretary of a genocide survivors’ group known as Ibuka, said it’s never too late for justice to be delivered.

“Even with money and protection, one cannot escape a genocide crime,” Ahishakiye said in Rwanda ahead of Thursday’s trial at the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals in The Hague.

The mass killing of Rwanda’s Tutsi minority was triggered on April 6, 1994, when a plane carrying President Juvénal Habyarimana was shot down and crashed in the capital Kigali, killing the leader who, like the majority of Rwandans, was an ethnic Hutu. Kabuga’s daughter married Habyarimana’s son.

The Tutsi minority was blamed for downing the plane. Bands of Hutu extremists began slaughtering Tutsis and their perceived supporters, with help from the army, police, and militias.

Kabuga’s 15-page indictment alleges that, as a wealthy businessman with close links to the Hutu political elite, he incited genocide through the broadcaster he helped establish and fund, Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM). He’s also accused of having paid for weapons, including machetes, used by militias to slaughter Tutsis and their perceived supporters.

The indictment says Kabuga and others at the radio station “operated RTLM in a manner that furthered hatred and violence against Tutsi and others perceived as ‘accomplices’ or ‘allies’ … and agreed to disseminate an anti-Tutsi message with the goal to eliminate the Tutsi ethnic group in Rwanda.”

In some cases, the broadcaster provided locations of Tutsis so they could be hunted down and killed, according to the indictment.

“RTLM broadcasts glorified this violence, celebrating killings, praising killers and encouraging perpetrators to continue the violence at roadblocks and other locations,” the indictment says.

It also accuses him of arming and supporting Hutu extremist “Interahamwe” militias, including one unit known as “Kabuga’s Interahamwe.”

Kabuga is charged with genocide, incitement to commit genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide as well as persecution, extermination and murder. He has pleaded not guilty. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

After years of evading international efforts to track him down, Kabuga, who had a $5 million bounty on his head, was arrested near Paris in May 2020. He was transferred to The Hague to stand trial at the residual mechanism, a court that deals with remaining cases from the now-closed U.N. tribunals for Rwanda and the Balkan wars.

Kabuga’s lawyers argued unsuccessfully that he was not fit to stand trial. However, on the advice of doctors who examined Kabuga, the process will run for just two hours per day.

Yolande Mukakasana, a genocide survivor and writer who lost her entire family in the genocide, said the case has come too late for many survivors who have died since the slaughter.

“Men and women of Kabuga’s age were found in bed and murdered. Shame (upon) his sympathizers who cite his old age as a reason not to (stand) trial,” she said.

Genocide survivor Justin Rugabwa told The AP that five members of his family escaped into hiding for several days during the genocide until Kabuga’s radio station revealed their whereabouts.

“When their names were read out on radio and hiding places revealed, the militias came and all died that day,” Rugabwa recalled.
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Sudan’s public prosecution has launched legal proceedings against a prominent newspaper and the bar association, triggering complaints that authorities are trying to restrict basic freedoms nearly a year after a coup.

On Monday, the public prosecution’s cybercrimes unit issued an order to block the website of Al-Sudani newspaper, one of the country’s most respected dailies.

A day earlier, the prosecution called the head of the steering committee for the Sudanese Bar Association in for questioning and ordered the seizure of its headquarters, a lawyer for the group said.

The public prosecutor’s media office did not respond to a phone call from Reuters.

Following the military takeover on October 25, 2021, scores of veterans who served under Sudan’s former ruling party began returning to the civil service, including within the public prosecutor’s office, justice department and foreign ministry.

The takeover put in question a widening of political freedoms in Sudan since the ousting of former autocratic leader Omar al-Bashir in a 2019 uprising.

“We learned about the prosecutor’s order through social media, and it was surprising because we were not informed of any complaint against the newspaper,” Al-Sudani editor-in-chief Ataf Mohamed Mukhtar said.

Mukhtar said the newspaper, whose website was still operating Wednesday, would fight the order, which he said could be issued only by the courts.

“This order goes against the right to free speech and free press that is guaranteed by the law,” he added.

The bar association had recently developed a proposal for a new constitution to resolve Sudan’s political crisis, which has seen the military locked in a standoff with pro-democracy civilian parties and protesters.

Lawyer Satie Al-Haj told Reuters a lawyer had made a complaint over the association’s financial disclosures. The association had secured a block on the order to seize the association’s headquarters, he said. 

“What is happening is an organized attack on freedoms by the remnants of the old regime who are trying to return to power,” Al-Haj said.
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