Impunity Watch: Africa

Nigerian Militants Halt Offensive Attacks and Accept Amnesty

2009-07-15T21:55:10-04:00

By Jennifer M. Haralambides
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

ABUJA, Nigeria - As a goodwill gesture for the release of the alleged rebel leader Henry Okah, there has been a unilateral 60-day ceasefire by Nigeria’s most notorious rebel group, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND).
Henry Okah (Source: AFP)
The release of Okah, the suspected leader for MEND, has been one of the group’s strongest demands since it declared war on the oil industry of the Niger Delta in 2006. Since then there have been numerous conflicts between the militant group and the Nigerian army resulting in violence and a huge reduction of output, and revenue, for Royal Dutch Shell, Chevron, and Agip, Africa’s top oil producers.

Sources told Reuters that Okah denies being the leader of MEND, and that he does not think the militants should take the amnesty, requiring individuals to give up their arms and participate in the federal program reintegrating them into society.

Regardless, MEND said Okah's release was "a step towards genuine peace and prosperity if Nigeria is open to frank talks and deals sincerely with the root issues" of the militancy.

MEND’s root issue rests in the wealth derived from the oil industry. They claim that it has not sufficiently benefited the local population. The oil and gas trade account for over 90% of foreign exchange earnings for Africa’s most populous nation. The rebel group wants more of the Niger Delta residents to reap the benefits of this trade.

According to a European oil trader, the ceasefire has had little impact on oil prices because traders are skeptical that peace can actually be restored in the Niger Delta after so many years of conflict.
(Source: BBC)
Human rights leader and resident of the Niger Delta, Omon Irabor, says the groups need to, “Sit down at the roundtable and talk. That is what we call the sovereign national conference…let us agree on the terms that will make us live together.”

“You bring your groundnut, I bring my oil. You bring your cocoa, I bring my rice. Then let’s see how we share it, so that we can have a harmonious relationship,” he continued.

The first offer by Nigerian official for the 60-day amnesty was in June. They made the offer to gunmen in the area who have been responsible for pipeline bombings, kidnappings, and attacks on the oil and gas industry for the past three years.

Government critics say the amnesty is unlikely to work because there are too many issues that need to be resolved, and not all militants are on board.

For more information, please see:

AFP - Nigerian Rebels Declare 'Oil War' Truce - 15 July 2009

BBC - Nigerian Rebels Declare Ceasefire - 15 July 2009

Reuters - Nigerian Rebels Halt Offensive, Seek Peace Talks - 15 July 2009

VOA - Nigerian Rebel Group Agrees to Ceasefire - 15 July 2009

Update: Charles Taylor Testified at His Trial

2009-07-14T21:51:59-04:00

By Kylie M Tsudama
Impunity Watch Reporter

THE HAGUE, Netherlands - Warlord Charles Taylor took the stand in his trial today and immediately denied the charges against him, which include rape, amputation, and cannibalism.

“This whole case against me is a case of deceit, deception and lies,” he said, adding that the prosecution's depiction of him is "malicious."

"I will be the first to admit that bad things did happen in Liberia," said Taylor. "When we launched this revolution...some individuals engaged in these actions for their own purposes, but what is very clear is when we found out that these atrocities had been committed we acted."

For his first time taking the stand, Taylor wore a dark suit and dark glasses. He introduced himself as the 21st President of the Republic of Liberia.

Lead lawyer Courtenay Griffiths opened the defense case saying that Taylor was a broker of peace, not an "African Napoleon." He called the prosecution's case a "deeply ingrained popular prejudice...based on lies" and added that it was "riddled with hypocrisy and untruth." He said that once Taylor is allowed to show his side, he will exonerate himself.

“The case is all about linking the crimes to Mr. Taylor, but the evidence has been riddled with inconsistencies,” Griffiths said. He added that the prosecution must show that Taylor had more than demonstrated an influence on the rebels but that he had maintained control over them.

The defense questioned many witnesses, including Mustapha Mansary, a villager whose hands were chopped off, a rape victim who testified under the name "064" and was forced to carry a sack of severed heads, and Joseph Marzah (known as Zigzag), who described himself as Taylor's chief of operations and head of the death squad.

Marzah gave one of the more dramatic accounts of the day, saying that weapons were easily smuggled, African peacekeepers were killed and eaten by militiamen, and there was a ritualistic eating of enemy flesh.

The defense insisted that Taylor did not have such close contact with Marzah as claimed. Marzah became angry and blurted out that they belonged to the same secret society and had eaten human hearts together.

The defense case is expected to take another six weeks.

For more information, please see:

ABC - Warlord Charles Taylor in the Hot Seat in The Hague - 14 July 2009

Al Jazeera - Video: Victims Remember Taylor's Brutal Rule - 14 July 2009

NY Times - Taylor Calls War Crimes Charges 'Lies' - 14 July 2009

All Africa - Liberia: Defense Says Taylor was Peacemaker Turned Scapegoat - 13 July 2009

Impunity Watch - Charles Taylor to Testify in His Own Defense - 13 July 2009

Charles Taylor to Testify in His Own Defense

2009-07-13T21:01:11-04:00

By Jennifer M. Haralambides
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

THE HAGUE, Netherlands - On Tuesday, the first African leader to be tried for war crimes, Charles Taylor, will take the stand to defend himself against massive human rights violations.

Taylor, the ex-president of Liberia, will take the stand to answer the 11 charges of murder, rape, conscripting child soldiers, and enslavement stemming from the Sierra Leone’s 1991-2001 civil war.

The former president has been on trial since January 2008, following his arrest in Nigeria. His trial was moved from Sierra Leone to the Netherlands due to fears that his presence in the African country could destabilize the country and neighboring Liberia.
(Source: AP)
So far during the trial, Taylor has watched in silence as victims told stories of devastating violence, cannibalism, and rape. His face has remained blank as villagers revealed how their hands had been chopped off by soldiers wielding axes.

Taylor’s lawyer Courtenay Griffths predicts that Taylor will likely testify, “How could I have been micromanaging a conflict in Sierra Leone as alleged when I, as newly elected president of Liberia, had so much on my plate?” The defense goes on to declare that Taylor tried to achieve peace in the war torn area, calling him an “African Napoleon” and a “broker of peace."

His testimony is expected to last around six weeks and is likely to shed new light on the circumstances surrounding the wars in Sierra Leone.

Taylor’s request for acquittal due to lack of evidence was rejected back in May by the judges of the United Nations-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone. They believed that there was enough to show that he planned the atrocities that were committed by the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels during the civil war.

At this point, the prosecution has rested its case and has insisted that Taylor was “an exceptional violator of human rights”. His indictment holds him accountable for the rebels’ barbaric methods as they, “pillaged, killed, raped, used drug-crazed children as soldiers and hacked off limbs, ears or noses to subdue civilians.”

A final verdict is expected sometime next year.

For more information, please see:

AFP - Liberia's Taylor 'Was Peace Broker’: Lawyer - 13 July 2009

AP - List of Charges Against Liberia's Ex-leader Taylor - 13 July 2009

BBC - Taylor Starts War Crimes Defense - 13 July 2009

New York Times - Charles Taylor to Speak at War Crimes Trial - 13 July 2009

Al-Qaeda Releases Swiss Hostage

2009-07-12T20:45:23-04:00

By Jennifer M. Haralambides
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

TIMBUKTU, Mali - Swiss and Malian officials say that Al-Qaeda’s North African branch has freed a Swiss hostage, Werner Greiner, who was abducted in late January along with other westerners near the Mali-Niger border.
(Source: BBC)
“We can confirm that the Swiss (hostage) has been freed,” said Seydou Clssouma, a spokesman for Mali’s president.

This is the same al-Qaeda group who killed British national Edwin Dyer in May. Greiner is the last of the remaining hostages to be freed. Greiner and his wife were seized along with two other tourists after they had attended a music festival on January 22nd. His wife, Gabriella Barco Griener, was released in April.

In exchange for the release of those held captive, the group has been demanding the release of radical Muslim Abu Qatada, who is currently in a UK prison. It is not clear if any ransom was paid in order to secure Greiner’s release.

"This release brings to an end the process of returning the foreign hostages held in the Sahel-Sahara region to their families," declared a government statement read on state radio on Sunday.

The government statement thanked the Swiss government for being patient and understanding during the recovery process, although it gave no details on how or why the Swiss man was freed.

This hostage situation has brought the treat posed by the Northern Africa branch of al-Qaeda, which is known as AQIM, to the forefront. The AQIM operates in the weakly governed states where rebels and traffickers have continued to roam.

Even though there is no confirmation, analysts say that previous incidents involving western hostages have been resolved by the payment of ransoms, which can earn the militants millions of dollars, proving how lucrative the practice of hostage taking can be.

At a summit earlier this month, African leaders have condemned the payment of ransoms. They declared that the practice of paying ransoms should be made illegal because the money is used by the militant groups to fund future violence.

For more information, please see:

AFP - Swiss Al-Qaeda Hostage Freed in Mali - 12 July 2009

BBC - Al-Qaeda Releases Swiss Hostage - 12 July 2009

Reuters - Swiss Hostage Held By al-Qaeda in Sahara Freed - 12 July 2009

VOA - Al-Qaida in North Africa Frees Swiss Hostage - 12 July 2009

DR Congo Civilians Take Brunt of Violence

2009-07-11T19:33:02-04:00

By Kylie Tsudama
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

KINSHASA, DR Congo - Humanitarian and security conditions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have worsened and civilians have taken the hardest hit.

“Since May, security and humanitarian conditions worsened for thousands of civilians in North and South Kivu,” said Max Hadorn, head of the International Committee of the Red Cross mission in DRC.

Government and UN forces are trying to neutralize a Rwandan militia group of 6,000 fighters. DRC government forces, the LRA, and FDLR (the French initials referring to the Rwandan militia) are accused of abuses against civilians.

“Military operations, attacks and abuse by armed groups and forces against the civilian population continued to pose major problems,” said the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). “Insecurity resulting from these actions has reduced humanitarian access and prevented aid organisations reaching thousands of vulnerable people."

In the month of June DRC saw 80,000 more civilians displaced, an 8% rise from May. That brings the number to more than 400,000 for just this year, according to OCHA.

The International Crisis Group (ICG) has called for the suspension of the joint military operation against FDLR. The military operation failed to put a stop to brutal retaliation against civilians. Until they are able to disarm FDLR and bring justice to those countries housing FDLR political leaders, “the population of the Kivus will continue to bear the brunt of the FDLR’s presence and of the failed attempts to disarm them, and the fragile Congolese state will remain at risk,” warns the ICG.

Alan Doss, the UN Secretary General's Special Representative in DRC and head of the UN peacekeeping mission in DRC known as MONUC, called on the international community to step up support for neutralizing FDLR in DRC and restore peace.

"Vigorous intervention against the FDLR both in the Congo and abroad, backed by credible reform in the national security forces, will ensure that this breakthrough, long advocated by the international community, is not squandered," Doss said. "The people of eastern Congo deserve a future without fear."

MONUC is optimistic about getting the Rwandan fighters repatriated and returned home.

For more information, please see:

IRIN - DRC: Kivu Crisis Worsens With 100,000 More Displaced - 10 July 2009

MONUC - Alan Doss Urges Stronger International Efforts for Congo - 10 July 2009

Monsters and Critics - Aid Group: Eastern DRCongo 'Climate of Fear' - 10 July 2009

UN News Centre - Civilians Paying Price of Efforts to Thwart DR Congo Armed Groups, UN Envoy Says - 10 July 2009

Impunity Watch - Congolese Troops Ordered to End Sexual Violence Against Civilians - 08 July 2009

UN Human Rights Chief Warns of Possible War Crimes in Somalia

2009-07-10T23:44:16-04:00

By Dahee Nam
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Africa

MOGADISHU, Somalia – The United Nations human rights chief said Friday that grave human rights violations, which possibly amount to war crimes, have been committed in Somalia.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay warned on Friday that serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian laws, including torturing, attacking indiscriminately into areas populated by civilians, and recruiting and using child soldiers have been committed by fighters from both Islamist rebels and government troops. She stressed that such atrocities could amount to war crimes.

(Source: AFP)

Despite the last year’s peace accord, the violence between the Somali government and the Islamist rebel groups has continued, killing hundreds of civilians and forcing more than 200,000 people to flee the capital city of Mogadishu and in the past two months.

Quoting witnesses, Pillay said that the militant groups have carried out extra-judicial executions, fired mortars into civilian areas, used civilians as human shields, and recruited child soldiers aged between 14 and 18.

"In this new wave of attacks, it is clear that civilians -- especially women and children -- are bearing the brunt of the violence. … There needs to be a much greater effort to protect civilians. Displaced people and human rights defenders, aid workers and journalists are among those most exposed, and in some cases are being directly targeted," she added.

Pillay stressed that all the evidence of violations must be collected to bring those responsible for the crimes to justice once peace and order has been restored in the war-torn Horn of Africa nation.

The Somalia has been marred by conflict since 1991 when the regime of Dictator Mohammed Siad Bare was overthrown. The UNHCR estimates that the total number of internally displaced people in Somalia has now reached more than 1.2 million.

For more information, please see:

AP - UN Warns of Possible War Crimes in Somalia - 10 July 2009

AFP - War Crimes May Have Been Committed in Somalia: UN - 10 July 2009

Press TV- UN Accuses Somalis Clashing Sides of War Crimes - 10 July 2009

UN News Centre -Reports from Somalia Suggest Possible War Crimes, Says UN Human Rights Chief - 10 July 2009

UN to Fight West African Organized Crime

2009-07-09T19:17:26-04:00

By Kylie Tsudama
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

DAKAR, Senegal - The United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) announced on Wednesday a new program to fight organized crime in West Africa, where traffickers have been allowed to operate in a climate of impunity.

(Source: Google Map)

The West Africa Coast Initiative is a joint initiative between the UNODC, UNOWA (UN Office for West Africa), DPKO (UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations), DPA (UN Department of Political Affairs), ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States), and Interpol. This initiative is aimed at fighting organized crime by boosting judicial systems, strengthening border controls, and bolstering sea and air patrols. It will operate in Cote d'Ivoire, Sierra Leone, Guinea-Bissau, and Liberia.

Organized crime networks are exploiting West Africa as a hub for trafficking illicit goods. Among these illicit goods are drugs, arms, siphoned oil, toxic waste, diamonds, and human beings. The amount of cocaine trafficked through the region every year is valued at $1 billion at destination. (Source: UN News Centre)

UNODC Executive Director Antonio Maria Costa has called on the international community to act to stop the crime. He attributes West Africa's vulnerability to organized crime to poverty, weak governance, porous borders, and the long Atlantic coastline. Democracy and economic development are also being undermined by corrupt senior officials.

"Organised crime is attacking West Africa because of the intrinsic weaknesses of these countries - the result of poverty, the result of underdevelopment, the result of corruption," said Costa. "Until the underlying conditions of vulnerability in the region - poverty, underdevelopment, inadequate governance - until these conditions are addressed, the region will remain attractive to those who operate outside the law and abuse the authority for personal gain."

(Source:

Costa especially urges Europe, one of the main markets for the illegal goods, to help stop the trafficking.

"Europe is not only the destination of drugs, Europe seems to be the origin of a number of problems facing West Africa through organized crime. Namely the export of toxic waste, as well as the illicit export of so-called E-waste, or electronic waste," he said.

West Africa's instability makes it unlikely that its Millennium Development Goals to cut poverty and disease by 2015 will be met unless organized crime is curbed.

According to UN police adviser Andrew Hughes, "[The program] will be regionally coordinated, internationally mentored but locally owned."

For more information, please see:

BBC - UN Plans to Tackle W Africa Crime - 09 July 2009

IRIN - West Africa: Trafficking Fake Medicine, Dirty Money, Siphoned Oil - 09 July 2009

VOA - UN: Organized Crime Threatens West African Progress - 09 July 2009

AP - UN Says Financial Crisis Boosts Organized Crime - 08 July 2009

Xinhua - Drug Trafficking, Military Coups Key Threats to West Africa: UN Envoy - 08 July 2009

UN News Centre - UN Launches Initiative to Rid West Africa of Organized Crime, Drug Trafficking - 08 July 2009

Congolese Troops Ordered to End Sexual Violence Against Civilians

2009-07-08T19:39:44-04:00

By Jennifer M. Haralambides
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

KINSHASA, DR Congo - Due to continued claims by human rights activists, any Congolese soldiers who are found guilty of human rights abuses will now be punished.
Human Rights Watch issued a report stating that the Congolese army was responsible for most of the rapes in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s east side. It was noted that thousands of women and girls have been raped since the start of the attacks, and that government soldiers have been responsible for a majority of the abuses.
(Source: AFP)

This is not the first time rape and human rights accusations have been made against the army. Both government troops (FARDC) and the rebels from the Ugandan Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (DFLR), who are battling one another, have often been accused of attacking civilians.

A report by the United Nations Secretary-General released on Tuesday said that the FDLR and the LRA have produced a high level of sexual incidents, calling it a “serious concern.”
Despite recent changes to the laws regarding punishment for sexual violence, police investigators and magistrates continue to encourage families of rape victims to pursue out-of-court settlements, further encouraging the “pervasive culture of impunity.”

A spokesperson for the Congolese military, Colonel Leon Richard Kasonga, said that those in charge must be sure to ensure the safety of civilians. He issued a statement from army headquarters listing, “rape, forcing civilians to carry out forced labor, theft extortion, torture, looting, malicious destruction of fields or livestock murders, or any other reprehensible act” as punishable behavior.

“From this day, any serviceman guilty of reprehensible acts will feel the full force of the law,” stated Kasonga.

Human Rights Watch also mentioned that over 12,000 United Nations peacekeepers, which are backing up the troops, risk becoming “complicit” in these human rights violations.
(Source: BBC)

For more information, please see:

BBC - DR Congo Army 'To Act Over Rapes' - 8 July 2009

CCTV - Sexual Violence in Eastern DRC Alarms UN Chief - 8 July 2009

VOA - Rwanda, DR Congo See Improvement in Relations - 8 July 2009

AFP - DR Congo Army Warns Servicemen to Respect the Law - 7 June 2009

Press TV - Congolese Army Orders Troops to Respect Human Rights - 7 July 2009

Massive Violence Sends More IDPs Into Kismayo

2009-07-07T19:36:31-04:00

By Kylie Tsudama
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

(Source: IRIN)

MOGADISHU, Somalia - Since fighting began, the number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) fleeing Mogadishu has risen to more than 200,000.

Fighting broke out between the Somali government and Islamist rebel groups Al-Shabaab and Hisb-ul-Islam in May. The rebel groups want a stricter form of Islam than the President is willing to install.

In the eight weeks since fighting began, the country has seen the largest evacuation from the capital city since 2007. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates the number to be somewhere around 204,000.

"We are concerned about the way the fighting continues to affect civilians and create further displacement in an environment of total impunity," said UNHCR Representative to Somalia Guillermo Bettocchi.

Somalia's civil war began in 1991. Of a total population of 9 million, 1.2 million have been displaced. Many of the 204,000 Mogadishu residents who have fled in the past eight weeks are fleeing for the first time.

(Source: UNHCR)

UNHCR spokesman Ron Redmond said, “The escalating conflict in Mogadishu is having a devastating impact on the city’s population, causing enormous suffering and massive displacement."

While the Somali-Kenya border is officially closed, the Dabaab refugee camp population continues to rise.

The southern coastal city of Kismayo is also seeing an influx of refugees. The influx is causing sharp deterioration of living conditions for the thousands already living there.

"There are about 29,000 of us [IDPs] in Kismayo and we are living in very bad conditions; no one is helping us," said Mahamud Ali, an elder living there. "People are in a desperate situation."

No aid agencies are currently operating in Kismayo. Six months ago the UN World Food Programme offered aid in Kismayo but four employees were killed earlier this year, prompting the agency to refrain from going back into the region until authorities offer security commitments.

For the first time in 17 years, Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) was forced to close a pediatric hospital and three health clinics in north Mogadishu because of the violence. It continued to operate even after staff had been kidnapped and killed but delivering health care to desperate Somalis has become too difficult.

In the past week, 105 more have been killed and 382 injured.

For more information, please see:

AFP - Over 200,000 Flee Mogadishu Fighting: UNHCR - 07 July 2009

AP - UN: Over 200,000 Somalis Flee Fighting Since May - 07 July 2009

CNN - UN: Fighting in Somalia's Capital Sparks Massive Refugee Exodus - 07 July 2009

IRIN - Somalia: Conditions Worsen as More IDPs Flood Into Kismayo - 07 July 2009

UNHCR - Number of Mogadishu Civilians Displaced by Fighting Since Early May Tops 200,000 - 07 July 2009

UN News Centre - Number of Somalis Uprooted by Violence in Capital Tops 200,000 - 07 July 2009

Nigerian Rebel Groups Continue to Attack Chevron

2009-07-06T20:54:27-04:00

By Jennifer M. Haralambides
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

NIGER DELTA, Nigeria - The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) said it attacked Chevron’s Okan manifold late on Sunday in the southern Delta state, just after it sabotaged an oil well operated by Shell Oil.

MEND militants have been attacking the Nigerian oil industry since 2006, and have recently launched four more attacks against the Nigerian oil industry over the last 10 days. On Sunday rebels blew up the “strategic Okan manifold.” The “manifold” is where the pipelines connect and it controls the flow of about 80 percent of Chevron’s offshore crude oil to its loading platform.

A source from MEND said, in an e-mailed statement, that they attacked the manifold and also seized a ship and six crewmembers, including three Russians, two Filipinos, and one Indian that they are holding until further notice.

“Their arrest is meant to serve as a warning to others that there are root issues that have to be resolved with the Nigerian government before normalcy can resume,” said Jomo Gbomo, a spokesman for MEND.

(Source: AFP)
These attacks are not only are detrimental to locals who risk injury in these areas, but also to global citizens who obtain oil from these sources. Because of the latest campaign of militant violence, Chevron and Shell have cut their output by around 273,000 barrels per day. This has resulted in pushing global oil prices higher, reaching an eight-month high.

In June, Nigerian President Umaru Yar’Adua said he would offer a 60-day amnesty to militants in order to end these attacks, which have prevented Nigeria from pumping over two-thirds of its capacity, costing it billions of dollars in lost revenue. Militant leaders indicated they would only be willing to accept the offer if they could negotiate specific terms.

MEND specifically asked for the release of its leader Henry Okah, who is currently on trial for gunrunning and treason. Okah is facing the death penalty and is in need of medical attention. Last week, President Yar’Adua ordered to extend the offer of amnesty to Okah, but has not made the announcement publically.

“The government should display the highest form of integrity and sincerity over the detention of Henry Okah at this point of his fading health,” said MEND. Since the attack, the group has urged other oil firms still operating in the Niger Delta to leave immediately, threatening new attacks.

(Source: BBC)

For more information, please see:

AFP - Chevron Pipe 'Destroyed' in Niger Delta: Militants – 6 July 2009

AP - Nigeria Militants Claim to Hijack Chemical Tanker – 6 July 2009

BBC - Nigeria Militants Seize Ship Crew – 6 July 2009

Bloomberg News -Nigerian Militants Claim Attack on Chevron Facility – 6 July 2009

Reuters - UPDATE 2-Nigeria Militants Say Attack Chevron Oil Manifold – 6 July 2009