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[RFI] At least three people have been killed and several others wounded on the streets of Guinea's capital Conakry after main opposition leader Cellou Dalein Diallo declared himself the winner of Sunday's presidential election.
Many people have been killed since clashes began on Monday. Scores too had been killed in the run up to the vote as protestors marched against Conde's bid for a third term.
Charles Sumner , (born Jan. 6, 1811, Boston—died March 11, 1874, Washington, D.C.), U.S. statesman of the American Civil War period dedicated to human equality and to the abolition of slavery.
A graduate of Harvard Law School (1833), Sumner crusaded for many causes, including prison reform, world peace, and Horace Mann’s educational reforms. It was in his long service as a U.S. senator from Massachusetts (1852–74), however, that he exercised his major influence on history. He bitterly attacked the Compromise of 1850, which attempted to balance the demands of North against South. On May 19/20, 1856, he denounced the “Crime against Kansas” (the Kansas–Nebraska Act) as “in every respect a swindle” and characterized its authors, Senators Andrew P. Butler and Stephen A. Douglas, as myrmidons (followers) of slavery. Two days later Congressman Preston S. Brooks of South Carolina invaded the Senate, labelled the speech a libel on his state and on his uncle, Senator Butler, and then severely beat Sumner with a cane. It took three years for Sumner to recover from the beating.
Sumner was chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee from March 1861 to March 1871. Close acquaintanceships with prominent Englishmen such as Richard Cobden, John Bright, William Ewart Gladstone, and other European leaders—gained during his several European sojourns (1837–40)—afforded him unusual understanding of and influence in international affairs. He helped preserve peace between Britain and the United States by persuading President Lincoln to give up Confederate commissioners James M. Mason and John Slidell after their capture aboard the “Trent” in November 1861.
Sumner opposed President Lincoln and later Pres. Andrew Johnson on post-war Reconstruction policy. He took the position that the defeated South was a conquered province outside the protection of the Constitution, and that the Confederate states should provide constitutional guarantees of equal voting rights to blacks before those states could be readmitted to the Union.
In
Hopping on a plane any time soon? Then you'll need to get to grips with the latest directives on masks, issued by Minister Fikile Mbalula.
Election campaigns in Ivory Cost took a violent turn last weekend with deadly violence in the city of Bongouanou, 200km north of Abidjan.
Two people were killed as two ethnic communities clashed.
While the violence appeared spontaneous, regional bloc ECOWAS is worried. It has dispatched a delegation to the country to try and calm tensions.
Ethnically charged slogans and messages have increased as the west African country prepares for a presidential election on October 31.
Political analyst Sylvain N'Guessan says last weekend's clashes are a sign of more violence to come.
Watch here:
Electoral authorities in Guinea on Saturday declared President Alpha Conde winner of Sunday's election with 59.49% of the vote, defeating his main rival Cellou Diallo.
\t Some people went to the streets to protest immediately after the announcement. Such demonstrations have occurred for months after the government changed the constitution through a national referendum, allowing Conde to extend his decade in power.
\t Opposition candidate Cellou Diallo received 33.50% of the vote, the electoral commission said. Voter turnout was almost 80%.
\t Political tensions in the West African nation turned violent in recent days after Diallo claimed victory ahead of the official results. Celebrations by his supporters were suppressed when security forces fired tear gas to disperse them.
They accuse the electoral authorities of rigging the vote for incumbent president Alpha Conde.
\t At least nine people have been killed since the election, according to the government. The violence sparked international condemnation by the U.S. and others.
\t ``Today is a sad day for African democracy,'' said Sally Bilaly Sow, a Guinean blogger and activist living abroad. The government should take into account the will of the people who have a desire for change, he said.
ICC warning
The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor warned on Friday that warring factions in Guinea could be prosecuted after fighting erupted.
“I wish to repeat this important reminder: anyone who commits, orders, incites, encourages and contributes in any other way to crimes … is liable to prosecution either by the Guinean courts or the ICC,” she said.
#ICC Prosecutor #FatouBensouda: "I wish to repeat this important reminder: anyone who commits, orders, incites, encourages or contributes, in any other way, to the commission of #RomeStatute crimes, is liable to prosecution either by #Guinean courts or by the #ICC."
— Int'l Criminal Court (@IntlCrimCourt) October 23, 2020
\t On Friday, internet and international calls were cut off across the West African nation in anticipation of the election results, according to locals and international observers in the capital, Conakry.
\t This was the third time that Conde matched-up against Diallo. Before the election, observers raised concerns that an electoral dispute could reignite ethnic tensions between Guinea's largest ethnic groups.
The presidential election did take place in late June, but it was neither free nor fair. Nevertheless, Mugabe was elected to a sixth term, taking 85% of the vote. President Bush joined the chorus of world leaders who condemned the election and the government-sponsored crackdown on the opposition. China and Russia, however, blocked the U.S.-led effort in the UN Security Council to impose sanctions on Zimbabwe. Bush responded in July by expanding existing U.S. sanctions against Mugabe, companies in Zimbabwe, and individuals.
In August, Lovemore Moyo, national chairman of the opposition party Movement for Democratic Change, was elected to the powerful post of speaker of Parliament, 110 to 98, prevailing over the candidate of President Mugabes party, ZANU-PF. It is the first time a member of the opposition holds the post since Zimbabwe gained independence in 1980.
Mass protests have shaken Guinea over the past year to oppose a third term of Conde. They were met with a ruthless crackdown, in which dozens of people were killed. Now many fear the elections could be rigged.
As Guinea braces itself for its presidential election , Guineas's blogger association will deploy around 150 observers to report any possible incidents or frauds in Sunday's election.
Concerns that come after months of political unrest in the West African state, where President Alpha Conde, 82, is bidding for a controversial third term.
\" On election day, we will have several e-observers, several people in the field who will send us data via digital channels, so the team will be in charge of managing all this data, classifying and analyzing it \", says Mamadou Alfa Diallo, the president of Ablogui.
Alfa Diallo, the president of Ablogui, Guineas's blogger association, has decided to monitor any possible shortcomings in the elections.
They also keep tabs on president Alpha Conde's promises made along the way.
\" According to our analysis, 13% of the promises have been kept, which accounts to 40 commitments out of 345. But the other thing to note is that we have documented 47% of the promises that have not been kept, and by 'not kept' we mean that there has been no concrete action towards the fulfilment of these promises \" explains Mamadou Alfa Diallo.
Threats of an Internet Shutdown
As the elections are just a few days away, Internet freedom monitors worry an internet shutdown could incapacitate reports of shortcomings on the day of the vote.
A shutdown that wouldnt be a first in Guinea: last march during the constitutional referundum, several websitesm including Ablogui, could not be accessed.
Defying critics, he pushed through a revamped constitution in a referendum on March 22, which he argued would modernise the country, but which also allowed him to sidestep a two-term limit for presidents.
At a press conference in Conakry this week, Ablogui's Alpha Diallo warned that internet restrictions would hinder the work of observers.
\"We are not going to allow what happened last time,\" he said, explaining that his group would document all blocks.
Internet freedom monitors have their eyes trained on Guinea ahead of its tension-filled election on Sunday, fearing that the government will restrict access to social media to weaken the opposition.
Worryingly for rights activists, internet disruptions accompanied the referendum -- a speech-crimping scenario they say will likely play out again.
\"It's very rapidly become an element in how elections are decided in Guinea,\" said Alp Toker, the founder of internet-monitoring group NetBlocks.
Before the March referendum, the country's telecoms infrastructure firm Guilab announced repairs to its submarine internet cable, but it postponed the work after an outcry.
But on March 21 -- without announcement -- access to apps such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp was disrupted, according to a report by NetBlocks.
The report added that
In January 2011, Jean-Claude Baby Doc Duvalier, a former dictator, returned unexpectedly to Haiti, where he was questioned by prosecutors who charged him with embezzlement and corruption before releasing him. He remained in Haiti while the courts sorted through all the pending corruption charges and human rights charges against him. Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the former president of Haiti, also returned. He returned home to Haiti from exile in South Africa. The return of both men coincided with a dispute over the result of the 2010 presidential election. Both Duvalier and Aristide claimed that they were interested in national reconciliation.
Duvalier would remain in Haiti for the rest of his life. On Feb. 28, 2013, he pleaded not guilty to the charges of corruption and human rights abuse. The following year, on Oct. 4, 2014, Duvalier died of a heart attack. He was 63 and living in at his home in Port-au-Prince at the time.
As the presidential election nears, polls show Democratic challenger Joe Biden leading by double-digits in his race to defeat incumbent... View Article
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The bishops of Central African Republic denounced the armed groups fighting in the country in an open letter published, ahead of December's presidential elections.
By Leonard E. Colvin
Chief Reporter
New Journal and Guide
In past years state election officials and political parties have worried about the weather or apathy affecting voter turnout to the polls in the spring and fall.
But this year, facing one of the most crucial General Elections in decades, there are concerns that COVID-19 and suspected devious political calculations could negatively impact the November 3 General Election.
Continue reading Voting Absentee By Mail: What You Need To Know at The New Journal and Guide.
On January 20, 2009, Barack Hussein Obama, became the 44th President of the United States. His inaugural address appears below.
My fellow citizens:
I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.
Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because we the people have remained faithful to the ideals of our forebears, and true to our founding documents.
So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.
That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.
These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land ? a nagging fear that Americas decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.
Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America ? they will be met.
On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and
by Daryl Bell Philadelphia Tribune Staff Writer Pennsylvania is in play. The Keystone State could make the difference in the 2020 presidential election. President Donald Trump, who barely won Pennsylvania … Continued
The post Where is Sen. Kamala Harris? appeared first on New Pittsburgh Courier.
Wedged between Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Rwanda in east-central Africa, Burundi occupies a high plateau divided by several deep valleys. It is equal in size to Maryland.
Republic.
The original inhabitants of Burundi were the Twa, a Pygmy people who now make up only 1% of the population. Today the population is divided between the Hutu (approximately 85%) and the Tutsi, approximately 14%. While the Hutu and Tutsi are considered to be two separate ethnic groups, scholars point out that they speak the same language, have a history of intermarriage, and share many cultural characteristics. Traditionally, the differences between the two groups were occupational rather than ethnic. Agricultural people were considered Hutu, while the cattle-owning elite were identified as Tutsi. In theory, Tutsi were tall and thin, while Hutu were short and square, but in fact it is often impossible to tell one from the other. The 1933 requirement by the Belgians that everyone carry an identity card indicating tribal ethnicity as Tutsi or Hutu increased the distinction. Since independence, the landowning Tutsi aristocracy has dominated Burundi.
Burundi was once part of German East Africa. Belgium won a League of Nations mandate in 1923, and subsequently Burundi, with Rwanda, was transferred to the status of a United Nations trust territory. In 1962, Burundi gained independence and became a kingdom under Mwami Mwambutsa IV, a Tutsi. A Hutu rebellion took place in 1965, leading to brutal Tutsi retaliations. Mwambutsa was deposed by his son, Ntaré V, in 1966. Ntaré in turn was overthrown the same year in a military coup by Premier Michel Micombero, also a Tutsi. In 1970–1971, a civil war erupted, leaving more than 100,000 Hutu dead.
On Nov. 1, 1976, Lt. Col. Jean-Baptiste Bagaza led a coup and assumed the presidency. He suspended the constitution and announced that a 30-member Supreme Revolutionary Council would be the governing body. In Sept. 1987, Bagaza was overthrown by Maj. Pierre Buyoya, who became
