Africa

More support from donors is urgently needed to expand efforts seeking to improve the lives of those affected by the humanitarian crisis in the Lake Chad Basin region, the United Nations Deputy Secretary-General said today, imploring the international community to rally behind a new call for action.

Comoros President Azali Assoumani today called for swift implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to eliminate poverty, hunger and a host of other social ills by 2030, telling the United Nations General Assembly this is the surest way to end of the flood of refugees currently afflicting the world.

Rescuers says they have recovered at least 162 bodies after a boat carrying up to 600 migrants capsized off the Egyptian coast.

In relation to proposed presidential elections, two United Nations human rights experts today urged the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to put an immediate end to its disproportionate use of force against peaceful assembly and expression.

Among the African leaders taking the podium at the United Nations General Assembly today, Guinea’s President stressed that Africa needs deep structural transformations and a vibrant private sector to reduce vulnerability and build up the continent’s resilience.

The promotion of peace and stability in Mali is crucial to its people, for the region and for the world, United Nations Secretary-General Bank Ki-moon said today, urging the parties involved in the country’s reconstruction to implement the foundations that have been laid out regarding the way forward.

Taking the podium today at the General Assembly, Faustin Archange Touadera, President of the Central African Republic (CAR), paid tribute to the entire United Nations system and all those in the wider international community that helped his country return to stability and constitutional legality, as he set out his four-pronged framework to continue the momentum towards lasting peace.

A 25-year-old becomes the first woman to head a local authority in Argungu city, in the mainly Muslim north of Nigeria - a move seen as unprecedented.

The impending sugar tax in South Africa is causing concern in the soft drinks industry.

A selection of the best photos from across Africa this week.

At the UN General Assembly this afternoon, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Equatorial Guinea, Agapito Mba Mokuy, said the world is witnessing an overwhelming and incessant wave of immigrants who are fleeing from conflict zones, particularly in Iraq and Syria, as well as in Africa, towards Europe, in the hope of finding a tranquil area in which to live.

Up to a billion people in Africa derive their main income from farming, but many get embroiled in disputes over whether they really own their land. Can tech help?

September 22, 2016 (JUBA) - A South Sudanese minister has called for establishment of inclusive cantonment sites as alternative to ending roadside ambushes by armed opposition groups in the country.

South Sudan's former justice minister John Luk Jok (ST/File)

John Luk Jok, Minister of Transport in the transitional government of national unity said no group should be left out in order to end the ongoing violent attacks in the country.

“There are still elements that are moving out there. We hope that the agreement on cantonment also includes them so that we don't have anybody carrying guns and terrorizing our people,” said Jok.

Jok, a member of the former detainees, was speaking during an opening session at which he said many people have fled to the neighbouring countries due to insecurity and hunger because they have lost confidence in their government.

The Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC) on Wednesday launched a two-day workshop for stakeholders in last August's peace deal to review security arrangements in Juba.

The peace monitoring body in the country advised participants at the workshop to not lament on the past, saying discussions will focus on the UN Security Council resolution on the deployment of a regional protection force in Juba.

But Jok argued that without including all the armed groups in the process, security will not improve.

(ST)

September 22, 2016 (JUBA) - Some people fleeing South Sudan into Uganda are being forced to pay bribes at checkpoints run by South Sudan's warring factions, the United Nations Refuge Agency (UNHCR) said.

South Sudanese refugees fleeing violence in their home country wait to be transported to Uganda's Arua district settlement camp on 6 January 2014 (Photo: AFP/Isaac Kasamani)

According to the world body, over 100,000 South Sudanese have fled to Uganda after deadly fighting occurred between the country's warring factions in July.

Rocco Nuri, a spokesman for UNHCR described as “disturbing” reports of South Sudanese refugees being forced to pay bribes to reach safety places out of their country.

The world body, in a statement, said it received reports of physical and sexual assaults on a number of refugees fleeing South Sudan.

Officials from both warring factions were unavailable to comment.

Last week, the UN said at least one million South Sudanese have fled the East African nation since violence broke out in December 2013.

A peace accord signed in 2015 has not ended fighting in the South Sudan, despite formation of a coalition government in April this year.

The fragile peace agreement signed in August last year is on the brink of collapse.

Over 1.6 million people have reportedly been displaced within South Sudan, implying about 20% of the population are homeless since December 2013.

(ST)

September 22, 2016 (JUBA) - South Sudan government under the leadership of President Salva Kiir will soon dispatch a team from the foreign ministry and representatives from other institutions to visit the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, over bilateral matters, according to a senior official.

A SPLM member sits at a check point in south Kordofan, located in the north-south border January 11, 2011. (Reuters)

Foreign Ministry Spokesperson, Mawien Makol, on Thursday said the government through the ministry of foreign affairs will soon dispatch a delegation for talks with the Sudanese authorities.

“The undersecretary of the ministry of foreign affairs will soon go to Khartoum and when he is there, it will be an opportunity to discuss these issues. It is not wise to use the media,” said Makol.

The foreign ministry official denied the government was harbouring Sudanese rebels, saying it was not in the interest of the two countries to host and support hostile groups with vision to destabilize the other.

“This is the first time Sudanese have been accusing and threatening to close the border. They have been doing but we say this is not the right way because even us we have issues. We feel they are supporting the rebels fighting us and this is not just an allegation. There are evidences but we say we can use the agreement and other diplomatic mechanisms to address these issues amicably,” he said.

His denial of harbouring Sudanese rebels has contradicted the admission by the First Vice President, Taban Deng Gai, when he recent agreed with the Sudanese authorities during his visit to Khartoum that South Sudan will expel Sudanese rebels from its territory.

Also, Military Spokesperson of the South Sudan army, Brigadier Lul Ruai Koang acknowledged that the Sudanese rebels would be expelled by the army once the directive has been issued by the top political leadership.

Makol said the two countries would never avoid being neighbours and so it is therefore important to embrace each other to advance what would promote the interest of the two viable states in the region.

“Sudan and South Sudan are the countries in the region sharing longest border line. Apart from this, we are not going to stop being neighbours. This is why [it] is important to embrace each other,” he stressed.

The two countries have been accusing each other of supporting rebels against the other.

(ST)

Factions within South Africa's governing African National Congress (ANC) are battling over how best to improve the party's electoral fortunes after a poor showing in August's local elections.

After Ghana's president John Mahama quoted lines from Michael Jackson's Heal the World at the UN, here are five more politicians who used their favourite lyric to make a point.

Kenyan Harrison Menza takes things like discarded whisky bottles and coconut shells and makes items that can be used again and again.

This week marks 15 years since Eritrea’s opposition politicians and independent journalists saw freedom. In September 2001, Eritrean security forces arrested 11 government officials, 10 journalists, and numerous other dissidents, all of whom had one thing in common – they had criticized President Isaias Afeworki’s leadership. None of them have been seen since.

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Eritrean refugees hold placards during a protest against the Eritrean government outside their embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel May 11, 2015.

None have been charged with a crime. They have now been held in incommunicado and indefinite detention for fifteen years. They have never been visited by family members. International calls for their release have been wholly ignored. Information from prison guards and others over time has trickled out, suggesting that several have died in captivity. In June, Osman Saleh, Eritrea’s foreign minister gave hope to family members and friends when he stated to Radio France Internationale (RFI) that “they are alive”.

Eritrea is one of the worse abusers of human rights in Africa. It has no functioning legislature, no opposition parties, and no independent media. National service, where people are forced to work for the military or in other government positions, is intended to last for 18 months but is often much longer –a decade or more – and harsh, with almost non-existent pay. Arbitrary detention is commonplace, particularly for those who try to evade national service. Many Eritreans report torture in detention. There is no rule of law, and there are restrictions on movement within many parts of Eritrea – for Eritreans and foreigners alike. Thousands of Eritreans flee their country each year to Ethiopia, Sudan, and Europe seeking a better future.

In June 2016, a UN Commission of Inquiry determined that abuses committed by the Eritrean regime are likely to constitute crimes against humanity. The Commission of Inquiry report will be presented to the UN General Assembly for consideration on October 27.

Over the past two years, the EU and several countries have broken with the isolationist approach historically adopted on Eritrea and opened renewed dialogue and partnerships.

On this anniversary of Eritrea’s crackdown, the EU and Eritrea’s other new-found friends should push for information about the whereabouts of those arrested in September 2001. If they are still alive, they should be charged and tried fairly and impartially, or released immediately. 

For their family members, information about their well-being and whereabouts is long overdue. And for the Eritrean government, the move would signal they are serious about starting to implement reforms that they have spoken about but not delivered on. 

It would be a particularly important signal to give ahead of the UN General Assembly’s debate.

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Sudanese men at the funeral of Salah Sanhouri, 26, who was killed during protests by security forces on September 27, 2013, pray over his body. Protests over subsidy cuts on fuel and food have been taking place across Sudan since September 2013.

© AP Photo/Khalil Hamra, File

(Nairobi) – Sudanese authorities have yet to provide justice to victims of a violent crackdown on anti-austerity protesters in Khartoum in September 2013, the African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies (ACJPS), Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch said today.

“Although it seems like Sudan has succeeded in sweeping the horrific violence of September 2013 under the carpet, victims’ families still demand justice,” said Mossaad Mohamed Ali, executive director at ACJPS. “The UN Human Rights Council, currently holding a session on Sudan, should press Sudan to hold those responsible to account for the appalling bloodshed on the streets of Khartoum and other towns, and provide meaningful justice to victims of killings, assaults and other abuses.”

Sudanese authorities responded with a violent crackdown to large-scale protests that swept the country following the announcement of austerity measures on September 22, 2013, with security forces and armed men allied to them using live ammunition, tear gas, and batons.

As many as 185 protesters and other civilians were killed, most of them shot in the head or chest, ACJPS and Amnesty International found in a joint study published in September 2014. Hundreds were injured and more than 800 others arrested, some held for weeks. Human Rights Watch research showed that many detainees were subjected to torture and other ill-treatment, that many journalists and human rights defenders were beaten, and that female protesters were sexually assaulted by security forces.

Although Sudan established three state commissions of inquiry, no findings have been made public. All attempts to gain access to the findings have been unsuccessful. In September 2014, the United Nations independent expert on Sudan stated that the information provided by the government “does not provide evidence of a thorough and independent investigation.”

In November 2015, a Justice Ministry official announced that an investigation by the ministry had found that just 86 protesters were killed and that four security officers had been arrested in connection with these deaths.

Many victims’ families have tried to bring private prosecutions, but the groups know of no prosecutions that have concluded. The groups know of only one case – involving the killing of a pharmacist, Sarah Abdelbagi, who was shot outside her home in Omdurman during the protest – that advanced to trial. A policeman was convicted of her murder, but his conviction was overturned on appeal in May 2014 for lack of evidence.

“The government’s response has been to deny the scale of the violence and to claim that there is not sufficient evidence to identify and prosecute the attackers, a response that denies the victims’ rights and encourages impunity,” said Daniel Bekele, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “The government needs to publicly admit the scale of the killings and the role of its security forces.”

Sudan’s Ministry of Justice has attempted to settle cases by paying money (diya) to the families of the 86 victims identified in government investigations, which would be an insufficient remedy for these violations and would not constitute a sufficient guarantee of non-repetition.

The government has failed to ensure full, thorough, and effective investigations and prosecutions of those responsible for the killings. Even where investigations have proceeded and prosecutions are pending, in around 16 cases, a patchwork of immunities protect security and law enforcement officers from criminal prosecution, posing additional hurdles to justice.

“The September 2013 crackdown remains an ugly symbol of Sudan’s use of lethal force against peaceful protesters, and the lack of accountability for human rights abuses,” said Sarah Jackson, deputy regional director at Amnesty International. “Human Rights Council member states currently considering Sudan’s appalling rights record should loudly push the country to take victims’ rights seriously.”