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Ethiopian migrants protest outside the headquarters of international organizations in Aden after a fire killed dozens of migrants at a holding facility in Yemen's capital, Sanaa. Human Rights Watch said the fire was started by Huthi rebels.
In May, Burundi held a presidential election which was won by Evariste Ndayishimiye, candidate of the ruling National Council for the Defense of Democracy - Forces for the Defense of Democracy (CNDD-FDD) party.
Ndayishimiye was hurriedly sworn in after the untimely death of president Pierre Nkurunziza in June.
Rights violations continue
The Council encouraged donor countries which had suspended aid to Burundi to continue dialogue towards resumption of development assistance.
A report by a UN watchdog in September said human rights violations were still being committed in Burundi, including sexual violence and murder.
The country was plunged into a crisis in April 2015 when Ndayishimiye’s predecessor Pierre Nkurunziza decided to run for a controversial third term, which he ultimately won in July 2015.
His candidature, which was opposed by the opposition and civil society groups, resulted in a wave of protests, violence and even a failed coup in May 2015.
Hundreds of people were killed and over 300,000 fled to neighboring countries.
[Thomson Reuters Foundation] Kinshasa -Authorities in Democratic Republic of Congo's southeastern mining heartland are boosting efforts to tackle child labour amid concerns that the coronavirus pandemic could drive more families to put their children to work in mines, officials said.
[Dalsan Radio] On the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict, the United Nations envoy to Somalia today called on Somalia's leaders, communities and partners to do more to assist and listen to victims and survivors of conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV). He called for all people to stand in solidarity with those who have endured these acts, and to act decisively to eradicate CRSV in Somalia. He paid tribute to those taking on the challenging and often dangerous work to prevent such viole
While claiming to rule by divine will, in the last couple of years, Burundi's President Pierre Nkurunziza turned the country into a living hell for many.
\"It was the end of free speech, political opponents were forced into exile, the country went into political isolation,\" said analyst Sematumba.
\"Despite some shortcomings of his tenure in the 15 years, if you see the current situation, whereby a president dies and the country remains stable, with no violence, no bloodshed, this means a lot about his legacy,\" Havyarimana told DW.
\"Here in Burundi people say that President Nkurunziza brought democracy to the country, because [2020] was going to be the first time for a Burundi president to peacefully and democratically hand over power to another president.
Analyst Sematumba concured: \"During his first two mandates he toed the line of the Arusha Accords,\" of 2000, which brought to end a brutal civil war and sought to establish the foundation for a lasting peace between the country's Hutu majority and the Tutsi minority.
These machetes, at a cost of Rwf95 million were paid for by Mr Kabuga, according to Jean Damascene Bizimana, the executive secretary of the National Commission for the fight against genocide, (CNLG).
Jean Nzarubara, who was a businessman in Kigali before the genocide and used to meet Mr Kabuga in meetings that brought together business owners, describes him as “a mild man, with few words.”
Rwandan genocide scholar and researcher Tom Ndahiro says that Mr Kabuga took advantage of the goods vacuum left by the liberation struggles in Uganda in the 1980s, and supplied the Ugandan market, building his wealth on that trade.
According to Mr Kabuga’s ICTR charge sheet, he is alleged to have operated RTLM in a manner to further ethnic hatred of the Tutsi through disseminating messages with a goal to commit genocide.
In 1993, at an RTLM fundraising meeting, Mr Kabuga is said to have publicly defined the purpose of the radio station, as ‘’defence of Hutu power.’’
Bir Tawil is a piece of land in the middle of nowhere in Africa that no one wants.
The desert territory of Bir Tawil is sandwiched between Egypt and Sudan, but neither side lays claim to the land.
Legally, Bir Tawil is widely known as “Nobody’s Land” (Terra Nullius) and it’s the only place on the planet with such status.
Border disputes between Egypt and Sudan dating back to 1900s resulted in neither country wanting to claim Bir Tawil.
He wrote on his Facebook page, “that Bir Tawil shall be forever known as the Kingdom of North Sudan.
Kampala, UgandaWith food gone and six children to feed, 40-year-old Zawadi Kizungu had no choice but to walk miles to find food, and stepped into a food shortage troubling all of Central Uganda. She braved the early morning chill and walked 16 kilometers, nearly 10 miles, from her home in Ndejje, a village on the []
Bir Lehlou (Saharawi Republic) — The Saharawi National Commission for Human Rights (CONASADH), called on the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), to urgently intervene for the release of Saharawi political prisoners in Morocco, to protect them from possible Covid-19 infection.
Here is the complete text of the letter sent by CONASADH to ICRC of which Saharawi.net received a copy:
\"Request of urgent intervention for the release of Saharawi political prisoners in various Moroccan jails
It is with deep concern that the Saharawi National Commission for Human Rights (CONASADH) addresses you this letter hoping to draw your attention to the dangerous conditions in which Saharawi political prisoners are living in various Moroccan prisons, especially with the alarming spread of Covid-19 infections all over the world, including in Morocco.
The dire conditions of the Moroccan prisons and the alarming lack of the minimum hygienic environment necessary for the protection of prisoners is a permanent threat to the lives of political prisoners, whose only crimes, as evidenced by all international organization, are related to their political views and peaceful activities, as human rights defenders.
The Moroccan regime of occupation arrested those Saharawi political prisoners simply because they were defending theirs and their people's rights to self-determination and independence, which are recognized to them by the UN and other international and regional organizations and instruments.
For all these reasons, Mr. President, CONASADH calls on you and on your organization to immediately and urgently intervene for the release of Saharawi political prisoners and to put an end, not only to their ordeals and possible threats to their lives, but also to a long continuing violation of the international humanitarian law in Western Sahara, the last colony in Africa.
Planet Afropunk 2020 aims for the history books with its first virtual event and a massive line-up of global music talent and speakers.
Luanda — Education and health officials in Luanda were urged Monday to create health and hygienic conditions at schools in this phase of fight against covid-19 pandemic.
According to the governor of Luanda, Joana Lina, who was speaking at the opening of the first phase of the training action on preventive measures against covid-19, promoted by the Provincial Offices of Education and Health, the authorities of each municipality should mobilize the necessary resources to create biosafety conditions.
The governor said she believes that this work should also contribute to the establishment of a dynamic school system and that it should not be reduced to hand washing, de-worming and vaccination campaigns, but the promotion of health surveillance and community health education at schools.
According to the Ministry of Education's readjusted schedule, the first quarter of the reopening of schools runs from 13 July to 28 August and the second from 31 August to 31 December.
From that period on, the school year, which would last 180 days, will be shortened to 126 days, due to Covid-19.
After several postponements by President Gbagbo, Côte dIvoire held its first presidential election in ten years in Oct. 2010. The first round of voting between incumbent Gbagbo and his historic rival Alassane Ouattara, a former IMF official who was excluded from the presidential 2000 race because he was not a pure-blooded Ivoirian, was inconclusive. In the second round, Ouattara defeated Gbagbo 54.1% to 45.9%. Gbagbo, however, refused to accept the results or step down, leaving the country on the brink of civil war. The African Union, UN, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), U.S., and the EU all endorsed the results. ECOWAS officials have tried in vain to negotiate a solution to the impasse.
For several months following the November election, Gbagbos security forces attacked and killed citizens in Abidjan and other areas. Ouattara took refuge in a hotel near the presidential palace under the protection of UN troops, and was not able to assume a leadership position. Militias from the north loyal to Ouattara, however, began battling Gbagbos forces, bringing the country to the brink of a civil war. The violence against citizens by Gbagbos forces peaked in March 2011, prompting Human Rights Watch to say the attacks amounted to crimes against humanity. Ouattaras militias persisted, and by April had taken control of much of the country. As the stalemate continued and civilian deaths mounted, France and the UN intervened militarily. Troops blockaded the presidential palace, and Gbagbo, who had been holed up in the basement of the presidential palace, stubbornly refused to surrender for a week before finally being apprehended. He was turned over to the International Criminal Court at The Hague in Nov. 2011, where he will face charges of crimes against humanity.
Gbagbo hails from the south of the country and supports the concept of ivoirité, which means “pure Ivoirian pride.” Ouattara is from the Muslim north, which has been at odds with the government-controlled south since the 2002 civil war began.
[HRW] Nairobi -- Investigate Abuses; Release Those in Arbitrary Detention
[HRW] Geneva -- Follow Up Universal Periodic Review with Concrete Action
[Africa Renewal] The United Nations today launched a new global campaign, Only Together to support its call for fair and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines around the world.
A year ago, Mohammed al-Magri’s son disappeared when fighting intensified in Tripoli, Libya.
The 60-year old fears his son then 20- years old may be buried in one of the mass graves discovered in his city near Tarhouna, in the southeast of the Libyan capital.
\"Someone knocked on the door, my son went to open the door and said some people were asking for me. I went out and found four vehicles with masked and armed men parked outside our house.\"\"He told me to leave, we will talk to Haitham for a bit and then let him go. I left, then Wednesday, Thursday, Friday came (and I never heard from him).\"
Haitham was taken by force by an armed group at the end of 2019. The discovery of mass graves in June has horrified the United Nations.
Lotfi Tawfiq is Head of committee tasked by the Government of National Accord in Tripoli to search for missing persons.
\"We took some of the families to the city of Benghazi to check if there have been any prisoners who have been transferred there. As it appears to us, there are no prisoners there. We've taken the DNA samples from the parents and from the corpses to match them and see if they belong to the families or not\", Tawfiq said.
\"Bodies have not yet been identified, while the searches carried out by the technical teams \"are still underway, he told AFP.
The young man disappeared the day after the departure of forces loyal to Khalifa Haftar, a strongman of Eastern Libya, who had been trying since April 2019, to conquer Tripoli.
Human Rights Watch has called on pro-Haftar forces to \"urgently investigate apparent evidence of torture and summary executions committed by fighters affiliated with them.’’
Libya plunged into anarchy following the ouster and subsequent death of long-serving leader, Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.
At its Press Briefing last week my Party, the National Grand Coalition (NGC), drew the attention of the Government and the country as a whole to the pervasive lack and gross miscarriage of justice in our society as a major contributing factor to the ongoing political tensions which amply re-echo the findings of the Truth and Reconciliation Committee Report.
I want to use this occasion of Eid Mubarak to make a clarion call on the Leadership of all Political Parties and Civil Society Organizations in the country to join the NGC in a sustained effort to bring about peace and stability in our country by de-escalating the ongoing tensions and promoting rapprochement and Reconciliation in the coming weeks so that We, as a united nation, can work together to defeat COVID-19 and save the lives of people.
Thus, on this Holy Day, I want to make an urgent call on H.E. President Maada Bio to be a Political Samaritan by taking the first step in building peace and reconciliation and tempering justice with mercy by urging the Attorney General and Minister of Justice not to oppose bail in the case against Sylvia Olayinka Blyden and her personal assistant, Muckson Sesay, and for the State to urge the court to ensure that the bail terms for the spouse of Mr. Paolo Conteh, Isata Saccoh, are not onerous.
I ask that humane conditions are also accorded to Mr. Paolo Conteh and all other political detainees and urge that their rights to a fair and just trial guaranteed under the constitution and international human rights documents that Sierra Leone has ratified, are fully respected.
May Allah grant Mr. President, and all other political leaders, the wisdom of Solomon and the courage of David to rise to the occasion and give peace a chance.
