Asparagus farming has grown so fast in Peru that it's drying up some of the country's aquifers. According to the National Water Authority, the city of Ica uses 35 percent of all the underground water reserves in the country. In fact, by 2015 one region could have no more water left for agriculture. Al Jazeera's Mariana Sanchez reports from Ica, in the southwest of the country.
Friday, January 18, 2013
Middle East: Israel, the UNO and Impotence
Many are the men who in later middle age try to perform but... well, it just doesn't happen. An understanding partner can say "It doesn't matter, dear" before she starts to fantasize about the milkman. Many are the times that the international community calls upon Israel not to proceed with colonies. Well, it just doesn't happen.
So here we have Ban Ki-Moon, UN Secretary-General, yet again crying impotently, knocking on Israel's door, asking Israel not to proceed with its plans for an illegal colony in the E1 area, which would cut off East Jerusalem from the West Bank. The answer is silence, at best; au audible "Clear off!" at worst... so to speak.
So the UN Secretary-General looks on "with concern" just as the proverbial husband might look on, hidden quietly in the wardrobe, as his proverbial wife screams in pleasure as she is sired by the proverbial milkman. By "with concern" read "impotent". And if anyone is outraged at the comparison, then suppose someone started doing something tangible to stop Israel's rape of international law and cocking a snook constantly in the face of the international community?
And as a member of this community, Israel has obligations; the flip side of the coin is that if Israel does not want to follow international law, then it should man up and leave the UNO. You cannot have it both ways; the alternative is to be branded a pariah and a paragon of all that is undesirable.
Israel's claims that the land it seized in conflict are spoils of war go against the grain of each and every treaty international diplomacy has witnessed since Westphalia in 1648 and the argument is as risible as claiming that had the Second World War ended in 1941, then France would rightfully have belonged to Germany...as spoils of war.
The international lobbies and pressure groups active in the member states of the international community render any notion of an ethical foreign policy useless, and again, politicians look on, impotent, as Israel embarrasses them time and time again, bulldozing Palestinian homes, seizing farms that have belonged to Palestinian families for centuries, desecrating graves and cemeteries, tearing up settlements where the Palestinians try to live after their homes have been destroyed...
And the international community looks on, as impotent and frustrated as the husband hiding in the wardrobe. It is by now obvious that the politicians are too yellow to do anything because their anatomies are grabbed by the vice of the lobbies which pull their strings, sniveling, cringing, shivering cowards, trembling in fear and looking the other way when someone shouts out "Hey! What was that about upholding international law? You are in there when it comes to bombing Arabs but when it comes to Israel...?"
So suppose the citizens of the world did something? Someone told me that a quick search of the bar codes for Israeli products and a boycott, coupled with a boycott of companies which market and sell them should do the trick.
The husband hiding in the wardrobe does have a secret weapon against that milkman... he and his neighbours can stop buying his milk.
Arab Spring: Challenges, Two Years In
January 17, 2013
Looking back and assessing what’s ahead, analysts agree that people who took to the streets in what at the time quickly became known as the “Arab Spring” today face bleak prospects in their quest for the changes they sought.
In Tunisia, instability and social tensions persist, and Middle East analysts say the fear of violence, economic paralysis and political and religious divisions also trouble Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Bahrain and other countries.
In addition, the issues of governance and justice loom large.
Daniel Brumberg is a senior advisor at the U.S. Institute of Peace on issues of democratization. He argues that each country has its own individual dynamics and has to be judged on its own terms.
“In Egypt, from the perspective of President [Mohamed] Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood, the first goal to pursue was to neutralize the challenge of the military and they have done that quite successfully,” Brumberg said.
He adds, however, that the issue of “transitional justice” has been “pushed aside.” This includes, he explains, mechanisms to prosecute those most responsible for abuses by the previous regime, reparations for victims of the regime, reform of abusive institutions and creating commissions to investigate systematic patterns of abuse.
Brumberg describes a different situation in Tunisia.
“The democratically-elected government has assigned a minister for transitional justice, but he has met resistance from within the Interior Ministry and even from elements of the Justice Ministry itself and the struggle goes on,” he said.
Brumberg pointed to different challenges facing the administration of justice in Libya.
“You have militias with arms, a weak national army and a desire from those militias to take the mission of transitional justice into their hands, which is a real concern,” he said.
F. Gregory Gause, a non-resident senior fellow specializing in domestic politics at Brookings’ Doha Center, believes that the consequences of government weakness severely limit even freely elected governments to do their jobs.
“They do not have functioning bureaucracies to implement policies and, in the Libyan case, they struggled to rebuild police and military forces in the face of militias that are, in many cases, better armed, better funded and better organized,” Gause said.
“Tribal, regional, and sectarian factionalism made political progress in Yemen agonizingly slow, as did tribal and regional divides in Libya,” he added.
Political polarization
While Egypt and Tunisia are not considered weak states, both are suffering from unprecedented political divisions between Islamists and secular groups, says Marina Ottaway, a senior scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center.
“There is such mistrust between the two sides that even on many issues that they have common goals, especially overcoming the legacy of older regimes, they can’t agree on how to proceed,” Ottaway said.
Daniel Brumberg agrees.
“There is a struggle over identity issues between Islamists and secularists which is really undermining the capacity to create the kind of consensus for peaceful change,” Brumberg said. “Political polarization is definitely disrupting the transition to democracy and even security reform and other transitional justice mechanisms due to the lack of consensus.”
He said that even when an elected administration, the Tunisian government, tried to be inclusive and shared power with secular groups, the Muslim conservative Salafi groups pushed for more Islamic policies thus scaring off secular groups.
Constitution drafting
Marina Ottaway warns that if the secular groups and political parties cannot overcome their divisions, Islamist groups will become dominant. As an example, she cites Egypt.
“Unless the secular parties manage to win more seats in the next parliament, then the constitution risks to be read in such a way that favors the Islamists and might cause a transition to an Islamic state,” she said.
Gause of the Brookings Doha Center shares the same concern.
“In both Egypt and Tunisia, the process of writing a new constitution has polarized society. Strong electoral showings have given Islamist parties the upper hand in the constitution-writing process,” Gause said. “Secular forces are actively opposing, but do not seem able to rally enough support in the society to block the Islamist constitutional projects.”
The economic challenge
In addition to facing political, ethnic and religious tensions, Arab Spring countries are confronted with failing economies.
Ottaway considers this the most daunting challenge of all because these countries have lost tax revenues, their gross domestic products have plummeted, investments have declined and tourism has all but vanished.
Egypt is seen as having lost the most from the collapse of tourism. Cairo's foreign currency reserves have been depleted and there is no incentive for investors to put money on the table.
In the case of Tunisia, Brumberg says, the drop in tourism is coupled with a host of other challenges.
“Besides the fact that tourists are not coming back in huge numbers, there are also many deep structural problems such as dependence on tourism over trade,” Brumberg said. “Much of the Tunisian uprising was about jobs and social issues, but there was no sufficient change to really address the deep economic and social issues which is really fostering Islamic radicalism.”
Experts agree that what complicates the economic challenges confronting the countries of the Arab Spring is that other, richer nations are held back by the global economic downturn.
“There is not much aid available to help troubled economies like the Egyptian and Tunisian economies,” said Brumberg.
Pakistan: Pakistan military gunships bomb areas in North Waziristan
ISLAMABAD, Jan 18, IRNA -- Pakistani gunships shelled positions of suspected militants in North Waziristan tribal region early Thursday, residents said.
Local media also reported that the military helicopters hit several areas in Mir Ali, injuring several people.
Correspondents said that several houses were damaged during the operation.
There was no official word on the incident.
Sources said that the action was taken few days after a bomb attack on a military truck, killing at least three security men.
It was not clear which group was targeted in the early morning shelling.
There had been at least two attacks on the security forces in North Waziristan earlier this month, which had killed dozens of soldiers.
The main Taliban group in North Waziristan hd struck a peace deal with the government in 2007 but some other militant groups are blamed for attacks on the security forces.
Correspondents said that after the last week bomb attack, members of a local tribal peace council had tried to resolve the issue, but all efforts failed.
Turkey: Ankara's "Peace Talks" with PKK Facing a Critical Test
Originally published by EurasiaNet.org
Turkey: Ankara's "Peace Talks" with PKK Facing a Critical Test
by Yigal Schleifer EurasiaNet.org
Following today's burial in Turkey of the three Kurdish women activists murdered last week in Paris, Ankara's renewed peace talks with the outlawed Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK) and its imprisoned leader, Abdullah Ocalan, are facing a critical test.
There were some concerns that the funerals, which drew a massive crowd in the southeastern Turkish city of Diyarbakir, could turn violent and become another provocative development which could jeopardize the nascent talks, but the event turned out to be peaceful in the end. Writing in the Hurriyet Daily News today, analyst Semih Idiz takes a look at the significance of both the murders in Paris and today's funerals:
How to move forward, then? In an excellent piece published yesterday in the International Herald Tribune's Global Opinion page, Aliza Marcus -- a leading expert on the Kurdish issue -- suggests a three step approach:
Turkey: Ankara's "Peace Talks" with PKK Facing a Critical Test
by Yigal Schleifer EurasiaNet.org
Following today's burial in Turkey of the three Kurdish women activists murdered last week in Paris, Ankara's renewed peace talks with the outlawed Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK) and its imprisoned leader, Abdullah Ocalan, are facing a critical test.
There were some concerns that the funerals, which drew a massive crowd in the southeastern Turkish city of Diyarbakir, could turn violent and become another provocative development which could jeopardize the nascent talks, but the event turned out to be peaceful in the end. Writing in the Hurriyet Daily News today, analyst Semih Idiz takes a look at the significance of both the murders in Paris and today's funerals:
The bottom line is that today’s developments, whether are positive or negative, will determine the course that the ongoing peace talks between the government and the PKK take, perhaps much more than the actual murders in Paris. Despite the horror of that event, a positive result has been that the government, the PKK leadership, and the BDP have all indicated views suggesting that this as a provocation aimed at derailing the current peace talks. This shows that there is a desire for these talks to continue.That said, major challenges face the peace effort. While Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said the process is "still on," he also recently said, soon after Turkish jets bombed PKK bases in northern Iraq, that Ankara would continue pursuing the organization until it "lays down its arms, until they end their attacks." This two-pronged approach, which Ankara feels it must pursue in order to satisfy domestic concerns about the government giving in to PKK violence, is a tricky one that carries with it the possibility of souring both the Turkish public and the Kurds on the talks.
How to move forward, then? In an excellent piece published yesterday in the International Herald Tribune's Global Opinion page, Aliza Marcus -- a leading expert on the Kurdish issue -- suggests a three step approach:
First, Mr. Erdogan must unequivocally commit to a negotiated process that includes compromises by both sides. While Turkey’s territorial integrity should not be up for debate, everything else should be. Mr. Erdogan has generally been dismissive of Kurdish grievances. In a recent interview, he said there was no need to instruct Kurdish students in their native tongue, because they can already study the language as an elective. Instead of belittling Kurds’ cultural demands, he should demonstrate good faith by pushing through stalled constitutional and legal reforms, including changes to constitutional provisions that restrict the use of the Kurdish language in schools, punish criticism of the Turkish state and define citizenship through the prism of Turkish identity.
Second, Mr. Erdogan needs to understand that disarming the P.K.K. won’t come at the beginning of the peace process, but at the end. He can, and should, ask for a cease-fire agreement, but it cannot be a one-sided call for Kurdish surrender. To silence the P.K.K.’s guns while talks are under way, Turkey will also have to suspend its military operations against rebels in the southeast and in northern Iraq.
Third, Turkey shouldn’t limit itself to negotiating with an imprisoned authoritarian figurehead; it should also negotiate with the B.D.P. Unlike the P.K.K., the B.D.P. has legal recognition. But it also has legitimacy among Kurds due to its close ties to the P.K.K.; its members share the P.K.K.’s political goals of Kurdish autonomy and recognize Mr. Ocalan as a leader of the Kurds. This is what makes the B.D.P. a serious negotiating partner; the party can be an effective conduit for P.K.K. demands and help devise a viable democratic reform package in Parliament.Before it can take steps like these, Ankara needs to first ask itself whether it is negotiating in order to end a security and terror problem, or if it has entered these talks in order to solve the deeper Kurdish issue. Taking the kind of steps Marcus recommends taking can only happen if the answer to that question is the latter.
Philippines: Filipino journalist accused of indirect contempt jailed prior to hearing
IFEX
Source: Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility
(CMFR/IFEX) - 17 January 2013 - A publisher-editor has been detained at a local police camp in Virac, Catanduanes since 15 January 2013, following an order from a judge charging him with indirect contempt of court.
Virac, Catanduanes is approximately 368 kilometers southeast of Manila.
Island Sandigan publisher-editor Carmelo Rima has been detained at the Catanduanes Police Provincial Office (Camp Camacho) for two days pending the 17 January 2013 hearing of the indirect contempt case initiated by Executive Judge Lelu Contreras of the Regional Trial Court of Virac.
Under Philippine rules of court, a court can on its initiative hold proceedings for indirect contempt.
In a 12 January 2013 order, Contreras directed Rima to explain why the court should not cite him for contempt for "an article which degraded this court, brought it into disrepute and destroyed public confidence in it." The article was published in the 7 - 13 January 2013 issue of Island Sandigan.
Contreras said Rima accused the court "without first ascertaining the truth as to when, where and how the naturalization proceedings of the governor (Joseph "Buboy" Cua) had taken place."
Cua is running for reelection this May 2013. According to a Manila Times report, Larry Que, another gubernatorial candidate, filed a disqualification complaint against Cua questioning his Filipino citizenship last 24 October 2012.
A similar complaint was filed by Que before the Bureau of Immigration.
The Island Sandigan report alleged that Contreras had helped obtain and prepare the naturalization documents of Cua, read the 12 January 2013 order. It also described the Virac RTC as a "'crime scene . . . where documents were possibly crafted to suit Cua's naturalization'."
Rima told the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines-Catanduanes chapter's Ramil Soliveres that he did not name Contreras in his article.
Soliveres said Rima wanted to post the P20,000 (approximately USD 493) bond for his release but the judge had already left for Manila. As Contreras currently oversees both branches of the Virac RTC, no one could issue an order for Rima's temporary release.
Source: Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility
(CMFR/IFEX) - 17 January 2013 - A publisher-editor has been detained at a local police camp in Virac, Catanduanes since 15 January 2013, following an order from a judge charging him with indirect contempt of court.
Virac, Catanduanes is approximately 368 kilometers southeast of Manila.
Island Sandigan publisher-editor Carmelo Rima has been detained at the Catanduanes Police Provincial Office (Camp Camacho) for two days pending the 17 January 2013 hearing of the indirect contempt case initiated by Executive Judge Lelu Contreras of the Regional Trial Court of Virac.
Under Philippine rules of court, a court can on its initiative hold proceedings for indirect contempt.
In a 12 January 2013 order, Contreras directed Rima to explain why the court should not cite him for contempt for "an article which degraded this court, brought it into disrepute and destroyed public confidence in it." The article was published in the 7 - 13 January 2013 issue of Island Sandigan.
Contreras said Rima accused the court "without first ascertaining the truth as to when, where and how the naturalization proceedings of the governor (Joseph "Buboy" Cua) had taken place."
Cua is running for reelection this May 2013. According to a Manila Times report, Larry Que, another gubernatorial candidate, filed a disqualification complaint against Cua questioning his Filipino citizenship last 24 October 2012.
A similar complaint was filed by Que before the Bureau of Immigration.
The Island Sandigan report alleged that Contreras had helped obtain and prepare the naturalization documents of Cua, read the 12 January 2013 order. It also described the Virac RTC as a "'crime scene . . . where documents were possibly crafted to suit Cua's naturalization'."
Rima told the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines-Catanduanes chapter's Ramil Soliveres that he did not name Contreras in his article.
Soliveres said Rima wanted to post the P20,000 (approximately USD 493) bond for his release but the judge had already left for Manila. As Contreras currently oversees both branches of the Virac RTC, no one could issue an order for Rima's temporary release.
Kenya: Kenya’s 2013 Elections
Kenya’s elections this year should turn the page on the bloodshed of five years ago, but the risk of political violence is still unacceptably high. A new constitution, fresh election commission and reformed judiciary should help. But the vote, now set for 4 March 2013, will still be a high-stakes competition for power, both nationally and in 47 new counties. Forthcoming trials before the International Criminal Court (ICC) of four Kenyans for their alleged role in the 2007-2008 post-election violence look set to shape the campaign. The potential for local violence is especially high. Politicians must stop ignoring rules, exploiting grievances and stoking divisions through ethnic campaigning. The country’s institutions face fierce pressure but must take bold action to curb them. Business and religious leaders and civil society should demand a free and fair vote. So too should regional and wider international partners, who must also make clear that those who jeopardise the stability of the country and region by using or inciting violence will be held to account.
Many reforms were initiated to address the flawed 2007 polls and subsequent violence. A new constitution, passed in a peaceful referendum in August 2010, aims to fortify democracy and temper zero-sum competition for the presidency by checking executive power. New voting rules require the president to win more than half the votes and enjoy wider geographic support. Power is being devolved to 47 counties, each of which will elect a governor, senator and local assembly. Despite recent mishaps, the new Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) still enjoys public trust. Judicial reform, including the appointment of a respected new chief justice, also augurs well for a more robust response to electoral fraud and disputes.
The new institutions, however, have their work cut out. The ICC proceedings are influencing political alliances and the campaign. The four individuals facing trial deny the charges and maintain their innocence. While the cases aim to erode impunity long enjoyed by political elites and may deter bloodshed, they raise the stakes enormously. The two most powerful of the accused, Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto, look set to contest the elections on a single ticket (Kenyatta for president, Ruto for deputy president). Both have politicised the ICC cases, deepening ethnic polarisation, and have accused Prime Minister Raila Odinga, their strongest opponent, of conspiring with foreigners against them.
The Kenyatta-Ruto alliance would be a strong ticket. Aware that Kenyans want an end to impunity, both have pledged to comply with the ICC, even if they win. Yet, regardless of the outcome of their cases, a president facing lengthy trial before the ICC could potentially have extremely damaging implications for reform and foreign relations, which Kenyatta’s backers should ponder carefully. For the moment, their eligibility to run for office remains in doubt; a case challenging their compliance with new constitutional requirements for public officials’ integrity is with a high court and may find its way by appeal to the Supreme Court. Were the courts to find Kenyatta and Ruto ineligible after the closing date for submitting nomination papers on 30 January, their supporters would be unable to choose alternative candidates, which might lead to strong protests and even spark conflict. Dealing as it does with a highly charged political issue, whichever way it goes, the final decision is likely to be contentious. If possible, the date of any decision should be announced in advance so the security agencies and others can prepare accordingly.
Other signs are also troubling. Political parties and politicians flaunt new rules unchecked. The IEBC’s bungled procurement of voter registration kits reduced the confidence it previously enjoyed and suggests it may struggle to resist enormous pressure as the vote approaches. The late start to registration has cut all fat from the electoral timeline, and any flaws will heighten tension. The IEBC must work transparently with parties and other stakeholders to clarify and regularly review the timeline, so as to avoid any further – and highly-charged – delays.
Voter education will be crucial. It is the first general election under the 2010 constitution, with new rules that are considerably more complex than previous polls (each voter will cast six ballots). Limiting confusion and misunderstandings could help reduce disputes and election-related conflict. It is also vital that the IEBC provide sufficient access and information to citizen observers and other civil society groups. They must be able to plan their deployment properly and enjoy full access to every part of the election process, especially the tallying of results. Such groups can also be useful allies in bolstering commissioners’ ability to resist political interference.
Insecurity too poses a huge challenge. Despite the reforms, many structural conflict drivers – continuing reliance on ethnicity, competition for land and resources, resettlement of internally displaced people (IDPs), and poverty and youth unemployment – underlying the 2007-2008 violence remain unresolved and may be cynically used by politicians to whip up support. Many of those who fled the turmoil remain displaced. Land disputes feed local tension. Youth unemployment is still very high and, together with poverty and inequality, means a steady flow of recruits for criminal groups and militias that can be mobilised to intimidate opponents and their supporters or protest results, as they have in the past. Attacks blamed on the extremist Al-Shabaab movement and clashes over land can cloak political violence. Meanwhile, police reform has lagged and the security forces look ill-prepared to secure the polls. An experienced inspector general of police, David Kimaiyo, has been appointed, but the delay in his selection means little time remains for significant security reform. Multi-agency security planning, which has also lagged, must be completed and implemented.
Ethnic campaigning and horse-trading as alliances formed – by Kenyatta and Ruto but also other leading politicians – have deepened divides. How the supporters of either of the two main tickets, those of Deputy Prime Minister Kenyatta and former cabinet minister Ruto running and of Prime Minister Odinga and Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka respectively, would respond to losing a close vote it perceives as flawed, or even to early signs it is falling behind, is unclear. International partners, including regional neighbours whose economies rely on a peaceful transition, should monitor any signs of interference or violence and weigh in quickly to deter it. Devolution, for all its benefits, introduces new conflict dynamics, as competition between groups for power and resources controlled at county level becomes fiercer.
All these challenges are surmountable, especially given the remarkable determination of most to avoid a repeat of 2007-2008. But they require concerted action by Kenya’s institutions and their allies, and – most important – clear signals to leaders who are seen to be prioritising the pursuit of power. The people deserve better. To put the horror of five years ago behind them, they deserve the chance to vote without fear and elect leaders committed to reform and ready to serve society as a whole rather than the narrow interests of its elites.
RECOMMENDATIONS
To President Kibaki and the government of Kenya:
1. Press all candidates to commit publicly
to respect election rules, campaign peacefully and contest the results
through legal, non-violent means.
2. Continue to urge the national and all
provincial security committees to complete security planning, identify
vulnerable counties and deploy accordingly.
3. Support the IEBC proposed Joint Risk
Assessment and Response Centre for sharing information and coordinating
operations among national and local security organisations and
committees, as well as civil society groups.
To Kenya’s political parties and coalitions:
4. Commit publicly, and together, to
respect rules, campaign peacefully, avoid hate speech and divisive
mobilisation and pursue any petitions or other election grievances only
through legal channels.
5. Recruit party agents early and work
with international partners to ensure they understand their role and
follow the rules in the polling centres.
To Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto:
6. Provide the public with a clear,
detailed account of how you would propose to govern while also
conducting your defences before the ICC, taking into account the time
required and the demands of appearing in person in court on a different
continent.
To the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) and acting registrar of political parties:
7. Improve outreach and communication with
stakeholders, including political parties, candidates, the media and,
in particular, civil society, with which a strong alliance is especially
important to resist political pressure; and provide citizen observer
groups the information they need in a timely manner.
8. Press for all candidates at national
and county level and political parties to adhere stringently to the Code
of Conduct enacted as part of the 2011 Elections Act.
9. Keep tight focus on operational
planning, especially on vote counting and tallying of results, including
for the likely presidential run-off; and make results for both rounds
publicly available and disaggregated by polling stream to allow for
their verification by citizen observers and party agents.
10. Take action, in coordination with the
National Cohesion and Integration Commission, against political parties
and candidates that violate rules, campaign divisively or use hate
speech.
To Kenya’s business and religious leaders and other influential citizens, including the media:
11. Denounce publicly hate speech and ethnic chauvinism and use actively their resources for civic and voter education.
12. Consider carefully the implications for Kenya of a president facing trial before the ICC.
To Kenyan civil society groups:
13. Form ad hoc umbrella committees to
capitalise on each organisation’s expertise and avoid duplication, in
order to find a collective voice and increase their influence; continue
preparations to monitor the campaign and vote, use parallel vote
tabulation responsibly and work with and support the IEBC if it is
performing well.
To regional leaders, especially the governments of the East African Community:
14. Send unambiguous public and private
messages against political interference with the elections and
especially against the use of or incitement to violence.
15. Support the efforts of the joint East
African Community election observation team, as well as of other
observation missions.
To Kenya’s other regional and wider
international partners, especially the African Union, U.S., European
Union and its member states, UN and International Financial
Institutions:
16. Send unambiguous public and private
messages that politicians must not meddle with the IEBC or the judiciary
and that political violence will be sanctioned, including, if
appropriate, by adopting travel bans or asset freezes.
17. Ensure all regional and wider
international observation missions deploy early, to as many counties as
possible, and cooperate to align their statements and avoid duplication.
Central African Republic: Situation in Central African Republic fragile even as rebels, government sign peace deal
Source: Enough Project
Situation in Central African Republic fragile even as rebels, government sign peace deal
Posted by Kayla Firriolo on Jan 17, 2013
After a month-long standoff, the Central African Republic government and a rebel alliance agreed upon a peace deal to end an uprising that threatened to spark a humanitarian crisis and un-seat President François Bozizé. The coup attempt began on December 10 and had since come within 45 miles of the capital of Bangui, threatening the 700,000 residents living in the city. Over the month of fighting, the rebels took over key mining areas in the country, destroyed hundreds of homes, and displaced thousands of civilians. UNICEF said that the rebels have forcibly recruited children to fight and serve as porters and sex slaves.
The days leading up to the negotiation talks between the CAR government and the Seleka rebels were filled with uncertainty around the prospect of coming to a peace agreement. Bangui signed many agreements in years past with various rebel groups. In late 2012, Seleka was born out of frustration that a previous peace agreement signed in 2007 was never honored.
“Failure to go further to discuss the reasons for the lack of implementation of previous agreements and to correct these may lead to another meltdown, a few years down the line again, as a result of lost expectations and frustrations,” warned U.N. special envoy to Central African Republic Margaret Vogt after the signing of the latest agreement.
Seleka, which means ‘alliance’ in a local CAR language called Sango, is made up of four separate groups that have history of fighting one another. Analysts suggest President Bozizé is attempting to fragment the rebel group by accepting the moderate conditions of the peace agreement while disregarding one faction’s calls for him to step down as president. If Seleka is successfully partitioned, an advance on the capital is much less likely. Bozize’s current term ends in 2016.
The new agreement between the government of the Central African Republic and the Seleka rebels mandates a prime minister must be chosen from the opposition to lead a government of national unity with President Bozizé. In 2016 when their terms end, both candidates will not be permitted to run for re-election. During this transitional period, the rebels have agreed to pull out of territories they currently occupy in northern CAR.
Despite the hundreds of miles separating Seleka controlled towns and the operation to hunt the Lord’s Resistance Army in the Central African Republic, news of this ceasefire agreement was well-received by Ugandan and U.S. forces involved in operations to end the notorious rebels that have operated in CAR since 2008. CAR troops who had previously joined the hunt for Joseph Kony and the LRA in small numbers abandoned the mission late last month to reinforce Bangui against the rebel group. While spokesmen for the U.S. Embassy in Uganda and the Uganda People’s Defense Forces, or UPDF, said the insurgency in CAR had no effect on the mission to track down the LRA, both expressed relief that their mission will go uninterrupted by outside fighting. “The UPDF is operating in the CAR with the permission of the CAR government and as far as we know, they will continue operating there for the foreseeable future,” said Daniel Travis, spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Uganda.
While the anti-LRA operations may be continuing unaffected by the unrest in CAR, the instability and uncertainty surrounding the strength of the peace agreement could potentially cause problems for the UPDF and U.S. military advisors. If the agreement is not implemented or if the rebels do not give up control of the towns they conquered, the transitional government could falter. This possible continuation of insurgency could become a problem for the U.S. military advisors and might force out Ugandan troops from tracking the LRA in CAR.
As of Tuesday, January 15 the opposition announced they chose Nicolas Tiangaye to head the government of national unity as prime minister. It remains to be seen if Tiangaye and Bozizé can come together and spearhead a lasting peace in CAR.
Situation in Central African Republic fragile even as rebels, government sign peace deal
Posted by Kayla Firriolo on Jan 17, 2013
After a month-long standoff, the Central African Republic government and a rebel alliance agreed upon a peace deal to end an uprising that threatened to spark a humanitarian crisis and un-seat President François Bozizé. The coup attempt began on December 10 and had since come within 45 miles of the capital of Bangui, threatening the 700,000 residents living in the city. Over the month of fighting, the rebels took over key mining areas in the country, destroyed hundreds of homes, and displaced thousands of civilians. UNICEF said that the rebels have forcibly recruited children to fight and serve as porters and sex slaves.
The days leading up to the negotiation talks between the CAR government and the Seleka rebels were filled with uncertainty around the prospect of coming to a peace agreement. Bangui signed many agreements in years past with various rebel groups. In late 2012, Seleka was born out of frustration that a previous peace agreement signed in 2007 was never honored.
“Failure to go further to discuss the reasons for the lack of implementation of previous agreements and to correct these may lead to another meltdown, a few years down the line again, as a result of lost expectations and frustrations,” warned U.N. special envoy to Central African Republic Margaret Vogt after the signing of the latest agreement.
Seleka, which means ‘alliance’ in a local CAR language called Sango, is made up of four separate groups that have history of fighting one another. Analysts suggest President Bozizé is attempting to fragment the rebel group by accepting the moderate conditions of the peace agreement while disregarding one faction’s calls for him to step down as president. If Seleka is successfully partitioned, an advance on the capital is much less likely. Bozize’s current term ends in 2016.
The new agreement between the government of the Central African Republic and the Seleka rebels mandates a prime minister must be chosen from the opposition to lead a government of national unity with President Bozizé. In 2016 when their terms end, both candidates will not be permitted to run for re-election. During this transitional period, the rebels have agreed to pull out of territories they currently occupy in northern CAR.
Despite the hundreds of miles separating Seleka controlled towns and the operation to hunt the Lord’s Resistance Army in the Central African Republic, news of this ceasefire agreement was well-received by Ugandan and U.S. forces involved in operations to end the notorious rebels that have operated in CAR since 2008. CAR troops who had previously joined the hunt for Joseph Kony and the LRA in small numbers abandoned the mission late last month to reinforce Bangui against the rebel group. While spokesmen for the U.S. Embassy in Uganda and the Uganda People’s Defense Forces, or UPDF, said the insurgency in CAR had no effect on the mission to track down the LRA, both expressed relief that their mission will go uninterrupted by outside fighting. “The UPDF is operating in the CAR with the permission of the CAR government and as far as we know, they will continue operating there for the foreseeable future,” said Daniel Travis, spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Uganda.
While the anti-LRA operations may be continuing unaffected by the unrest in CAR, the instability and uncertainty surrounding the strength of the peace agreement could potentially cause problems for the UPDF and U.S. military advisors. If the agreement is not implemented or if the rebels do not give up control of the towns they conquered, the transitional government could falter. This possible continuation of insurgency could become a problem for the U.S. military advisors and might force out Ugandan troops from tracking the LRA in CAR.
As of Tuesday, January 15 the opposition announced they chose Nicolas Tiangaye to head the government of national unity as prime minister. It remains to be seen if Tiangaye and Bozizé can come together and spearhead a lasting peace in CAR.
Algeria: Algeria hostage siege comes to deadly end
At least 30 hostages and 11 members of an al-Qaeda-affiliated group were killed when Algerian forces stormed a desert gas plant to free the captives, Reuters news agency has quoted an Algerian security source as saying. Eight Algerians and seven foreigners, including two British, two Japanese and a French national, were among the dead, the source said. Al Jazeera's Alan Fisher reports.
Madagascar: Ban welcomes decision by Transition President not to run in upcoming elections
“President Rajoelina’s decision, as well as the earlier pledge by former President Marc Ravalomanana, should help facilitate the conduct of free and credible elections to bring an end to the transition,” the spokesperson added in a statement issued on Wednesday night.
“It will be important to uphold the electoral calendar adopted by the National Independent Electoral Commission of the Transition,” the statement continued. “It is also critical that the 2011 roadmap to end the crisis, particularly provisions related to confidence-building measures, is fully implemented.”
In 2011, the Indian Ocean nation’s political parties signed the roadmap in an agreement brokered by mediators from the Southern African Development Community, and which allowed for the unconditional return from exile of Mr. Ravalomanana, deposed in a 2009 coup led by President Rajoelina after weeks of unrest.
A previous power-sharing deal reached by Madagascar’s main political groups in late 2009 foundered before it could be implemented.
In a meeting held on the margins of the UN General Assembly’s high-level debate in late September last year, the Deputy Secretary-General, Jan Eliasson, and President Rajoelina had discussed the implementation of the roadmap and the preparations for the 2013 elections.
At that meeting, the President – echoing comments made before the Assembly – had also emphasized the need for support from the international community in the organization of free and fair elections in the country.
In the statement, Mr. Ban’s spokesperson also noted that the United Nations stands ready to continue supporting the Government and the Malagasy people.
Security: Man sentenced to 14 years for supporting Pakistani terror group
U.S. Department of Justice
Office of Public Affairs
CHICAGO—A Pakistani native who operated a Chicago-based immigration business was sentenced today to 14 years in prison for conspiracy to provide material support to a terrorist plot in Denmark and providing material support to Lashkar e Tayyiba, a terrorist organization operating in Pakistan that was responsible for the November 2008 attacks in Mumbai, India. The defendant, Tahawwur Hussain Rana, was convicted of the charges on June 9, 2011, following a three-week trial in U.S. District Court in Chicago.
Rana, 52, a Canadian citizen, was ordered to serve 14 years, followed by five years of supervised release, by U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber. “This certainly was a dastardly plot,” Judge Leinenweber said in imposing the sentence.
Rana was convicted of conspiracy to provide material support to a plot from October 2008 to October 2009 to commit murder in Denmark, including a horrific plan to behead employees of Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten, a Danish newspaper, and throw their heads on to the street in Copenhagen, as well as providing material support, from late 2005 to October 2009, to Lashkar, a militant jihadist organization operating in Pakistan. Lashkar planned and carried out the November 2008 attacks in Mumbai that killed more than 160 people, including six Americans, before initially planning the terrorist attack in Denmark in retaliation for the newspaper’s publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed. Rana was acquitted of conspiracy to provide material support to the Mumbai attacks.
“This serious prison sentence should go a long way towards convincing would-be terrorists that they can’t hide behind the scenes, lend support to the violent aims of terrorist organizations, and escape detection and punishment,” said Gary S. Shapiro, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.
“Today’s sentence demonstrates that, just as vigorously as we pursue terrorists and their organizations, we will also pursue those who facilitate their violent plots from a safe distance. As established at trial, Tahawwur Rana provided critical support to David Headley and other terrorists from his base in the United States, knowing they were plotting attacks overseas. I thank the many agents, analysts, and prosecutors who helped bring about today’s result,” said Lisa Monaco, Assistant Attorney General for National Security.
“It is my hope that the judge’s decision today sends a message to those who plot attacks and those who provide the support to make the plots possible, both here and abroad, that you will be held accountable for your actions. Our mission, detecting and preventing terrorist acts and eliminating the enabling support provided by terrorist sympathizers, remains our top priority,” said Cory B. Nelson, Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago Office of the FBI.
Rana is one of two defendants to be convicted, among a total of eight defendants who have been indicted, in this case since late 2009. Co-defendant David Coleman Headley, 52, pleaded guilty in March 2010 to 12 terrorism charges, including aiding and abetting the murders of the six Americans in Mumbai. Headley, who is scheduled to be sentenced next Thursday, has cooperated with the government since he was arrested in October 2009 and testified as a government witness at Rana’s trial. He is facing a maximum of life in prison.
The evidence at Rana’s trial showed that he knew he was assisting a terrorist organization and murderers, knew their violent goals, and readily agreed to play an essential role in achieving their aims. The government contended that Rana knew the objective of his co-conspirators was to retaliate against and influence the Danish government for its perceived role in the publication of the Prophet Mohammed cartoons, and he knew that the goal of Lashkar was to retaliate against and influence the Indian and Danish governments and intended that the support he provided—enabling Headley’s activities—would be used toward that purpose.
In a post-arrest statement in October 2009, Rana admitted knowing that Lashkar was a terrorist organization and that Headley had attended training camps that Lashkar operated in Pakistan. Headley testified that he attended the training camps on five separate occasions between 2002 and 2005. In late 2005, Headley received instructions from members of Lashkar to travel to India to conduct surveillance, which he did five times leading up to the Mumbai attacks three years later that killed more than 160 people and wounded hundreds more.
In the early summer of 2006, Headley and two Lashkar members discussed opening an immigration office in Mumbai as a cover for his surveillance activities. Headley testified that he traveled to Chicago and advised Rana, his long-time friend since the time they attended high school together in Pakistan, of his assignment to scout potential targets in India. Headley obtained approval from Rana, who owned First World Immigration Services in Chicago and elsewhere, to open a First World office in Mumbai as cover for his activities. Rana directed an individual associated with First World to prepare documents supporting Headley’s cover story and advised Headley how to obtain a visa for travel to India, according to Headley’s testimony, as well as e-mails and other documents that corroborated his account.
Between November 26-28, 2008, 10 attackers trained by Lashkar carried out multiple assaults with firearms, grenades, and improvised explosive devices against multiple targets in Mumbai, some of which Headley had scouted in advance.
Regarding the Denmark terror plot, Headley testified that in the fall of 2008, he met with a Lashkar member in Karachi, Pakistan, and was instructed to conduct surveillance of the Jyllands-Posten newspaper offices in Copenhagen and Aarhus.
In late 2008 and early 2009, after reviewing with Rana how he had performed surveillance of the targets attacked in Mumbai, Headley testified that he advised Rana of the planned attack in Denmark and his intended travel there to conduct surveillance of the newspaper’s facilities. Headley obtained Rana’s approval and assistance to identify himself as a representative of First World and gain access to the newspaper’s offices by falsely expressing interest in placing advertising for First World in the newspaper. Headley and Rana caused business cards to be made that identified Headley as a representative of the Immigration Law Center, the business name of First World, according to the evidence at trial.
The trial evidence also included transcripts of recorded conversations, including those in September 2009, when Headley and Rana spoke about reports that a co-defendant, Ilyas Kashmiri, an alleged Pakistani terrorist leader, had been killed and the implications of his possible death for the plan to attack the newspaper. In other conversations, Rana told Headley that the attackers involved in the Mumbai attacks should receive Pakistan’s highest posthumous military honors. In late summer of 2009, Rana and Headley agreed that funds that had been provided to Rana could be used to fund Headley’s work in Denmark, and the evidence showed that Rana pretended to be Headley in sending an e-mail to the Danish newspaper.
The government is being represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Daniel Collins and Sarah E. Streicker, with assistance from the Counterterrorism Section of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. Federal prosecutors in Los Angeles have worked on a broader investigation of the Mumbai attacks. The investigation has been conducted by the Chicago Joint Terrorism Task Force, led by the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with assistance from FBI offices in Los Angeles, New York and Washington, D.C., as well as both U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.
Office of Public Affairs
CHICAGO—A Pakistani native who operated a Chicago-based immigration business was sentenced today to 14 years in prison for conspiracy to provide material support to a terrorist plot in Denmark and providing material support to Lashkar e Tayyiba, a terrorist organization operating in Pakistan that was responsible for the November 2008 attacks in Mumbai, India. The defendant, Tahawwur Hussain Rana, was convicted of the charges on June 9, 2011, following a three-week trial in U.S. District Court in Chicago.
Rana, 52, a Canadian citizen, was ordered to serve 14 years, followed by five years of supervised release, by U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber. “This certainly was a dastardly plot,” Judge Leinenweber said in imposing the sentence.
Rana was convicted of conspiracy to provide material support to a plot from October 2008 to October 2009 to commit murder in Denmark, including a horrific plan to behead employees of Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten, a Danish newspaper, and throw their heads on to the street in Copenhagen, as well as providing material support, from late 2005 to October 2009, to Lashkar, a militant jihadist organization operating in Pakistan. Lashkar planned and carried out the November 2008 attacks in Mumbai that killed more than 160 people, including six Americans, before initially planning the terrorist attack in Denmark in retaliation for the newspaper’s publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed. Rana was acquitted of conspiracy to provide material support to the Mumbai attacks.
“This serious prison sentence should go a long way towards convincing would-be terrorists that they can’t hide behind the scenes, lend support to the violent aims of terrorist organizations, and escape detection and punishment,” said Gary S. Shapiro, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.
“Today’s sentence demonstrates that, just as vigorously as we pursue terrorists and their organizations, we will also pursue those who facilitate their violent plots from a safe distance. As established at trial, Tahawwur Rana provided critical support to David Headley and other terrorists from his base in the United States, knowing they were plotting attacks overseas. I thank the many agents, analysts, and prosecutors who helped bring about today’s result,” said Lisa Monaco, Assistant Attorney General for National Security.
“It is my hope that the judge’s decision today sends a message to those who plot attacks and those who provide the support to make the plots possible, both here and abroad, that you will be held accountable for your actions. Our mission, detecting and preventing terrorist acts and eliminating the enabling support provided by terrorist sympathizers, remains our top priority,” said Cory B. Nelson, Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago Office of the FBI.
Rana is one of two defendants to be convicted, among a total of eight defendants who have been indicted, in this case since late 2009. Co-defendant David Coleman Headley, 52, pleaded guilty in March 2010 to 12 terrorism charges, including aiding and abetting the murders of the six Americans in Mumbai. Headley, who is scheduled to be sentenced next Thursday, has cooperated with the government since he was arrested in October 2009 and testified as a government witness at Rana’s trial. He is facing a maximum of life in prison.
The evidence at Rana’s trial showed that he knew he was assisting a terrorist organization and murderers, knew their violent goals, and readily agreed to play an essential role in achieving their aims. The government contended that Rana knew the objective of his co-conspirators was to retaliate against and influence the Danish government for its perceived role in the publication of the Prophet Mohammed cartoons, and he knew that the goal of Lashkar was to retaliate against and influence the Indian and Danish governments and intended that the support he provided—enabling Headley’s activities—would be used toward that purpose.
In a post-arrest statement in October 2009, Rana admitted knowing that Lashkar was a terrorist organization and that Headley had attended training camps that Lashkar operated in Pakistan. Headley testified that he attended the training camps on five separate occasions between 2002 and 2005. In late 2005, Headley received instructions from members of Lashkar to travel to India to conduct surveillance, which he did five times leading up to the Mumbai attacks three years later that killed more than 160 people and wounded hundreds more.
In the early summer of 2006, Headley and two Lashkar members discussed opening an immigration office in Mumbai as a cover for his surveillance activities. Headley testified that he traveled to Chicago and advised Rana, his long-time friend since the time they attended high school together in Pakistan, of his assignment to scout potential targets in India. Headley obtained approval from Rana, who owned First World Immigration Services in Chicago and elsewhere, to open a First World office in Mumbai as cover for his activities. Rana directed an individual associated with First World to prepare documents supporting Headley’s cover story and advised Headley how to obtain a visa for travel to India, according to Headley’s testimony, as well as e-mails and other documents that corroborated his account.
Between November 26-28, 2008, 10 attackers trained by Lashkar carried out multiple assaults with firearms, grenades, and improvised explosive devices against multiple targets in Mumbai, some of which Headley had scouted in advance.
Regarding the Denmark terror plot, Headley testified that in the fall of 2008, he met with a Lashkar member in Karachi, Pakistan, and was instructed to conduct surveillance of the Jyllands-Posten newspaper offices in Copenhagen and Aarhus.
In late 2008 and early 2009, after reviewing with Rana how he had performed surveillance of the targets attacked in Mumbai, Headley testified that he advised Rana of the planned attack in Denmark and his intended travel there to conduct surveillance of the newspaper’s facilities. Headley obtained Rana’s approval and assistance to identify himself as a representative of First World and gain access to the newspaper’s offices by falsely expressing interest in placing advertising for First World in the newspaper. Headley and Rana caused business cards to be made that identified Headley as a representative of the Immigration Law Center, the business name of First World, according to the evidence at trial.
The trial evidence also included transcripts of recorded conversations, including those in September 2009, when Headley and Rana spoke about reports that a co-defendant, Ilyas Kashmiri, an alleged Pakistani terrorist leader, had been killed and the implications of his possible death for the plan to attack the newspaper. In other conversations, Rana told Headley that the attackers involved in the Mumbai attacks should receive Pakistan’s highest posthumous military honors. In late summer of 2009, Rana and Headley agreed that funds that had been provided to Rana could be used to fund Headley’s work in Denmark, and the evidence showed that Rana pretended to be Headley in sending an e-mail to the Danish newspaper.
The government is being represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Daniel Collins and Sarah E. Streicker, with assistance from the Counterterrorism Section of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. Federal prosecutors in Los Angeles have worked on a broader investigation of the Mumbai attacks. The investigation has been conducted by the Chicago Joint Terrorism Task Force, led by the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with assistance from FBI offices in Los Angeles, New York and Washington, D.C., as well as both U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.
Kenya: Discrimination Against Rift Valley Displaced
Source: Human Rights Watch
Flawed Practices Stoke Communal Tension as Elections Near
(Nairobi) – The Kenyan government has discriminated based on ethnicity in assisting displaced people from the Rift Valley. The discriminatory practices are stoking inter-ethnic tensions ahead of the March 2013 elections.
Human Rights Watch research in Kenya’s Central Rift’s Nakuru county and North Rift’s Uasin Gishu county in late 2012 revealed significantly preferential treatment for internally displaced persons (IDPs) from the Kikuyu community of President Mwai Kibaki over other displaced people in the two counties. The authorities have not provided satisfactory justification for the differential treatment.
An estimated 400,000 people of various communities in the Rift Valley were displaced by inter-ethnic clashes after the last general elections in 2007. Local government officials, as well as community leaders and civil society activists, fear the government’s policies have increased the chance for another round of election-related violence.
“The government is favoring one community over others in the allocation of homes, land, and money for displaced people and this is causing anger and frustration in the Rift Valley,” said Leslie Lefkow, deputy Africa director. “These policies have exacerbated tensions in an area that is still recovering from serious election-related violence five years ago, and the tensions could lead to violence again.”
Kenya is due to hold general elections on March 4. In Nakuru county the most intense competition is between candidates from the Kikuyu community and those from the other large local community, the Kalenjin. Uasin Gishu county is predominantly Kalenjin with a significant Kikuyu population.
Violence in the central and northern Rift Valley between members of the Kikuyu and Kalenjin communities formed a significant part of the nationwide upheaval after the December 2007 elections, resulting in killings, rapes, and the forced displacement of about 650,000 people from all communities countrywide. The violence led to indictments of people from both communities by the International Criminal Court, including two former cabinet ministers – Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto – who are now running together for president and deputy president.
In late 2012 Human Rights Watch spent one week in Nakuru county and one week in Uasin Gishu county speaking with local government officials, police, tribal elders, civic groups, and community members from the Kikuyu and Kalenjin, as well as other local communities. The prevailing view of interviewees in both counties, including government officials, was that the national government has been favoring displaced Kikuyu at the expense of other communities.
The discrimination in Nakuru and Uasin Gishu counties takes two general forms. First, the government has given priority to displaced Kikuyu when rebuilding homes and providing new homes, land, or money. Some Kikuyu families have received more than one new home.
Second, the vast majority of Kalenjin displaced in the 2007-2008 violence, roughly 300,000 people across Kenya, have not been officially registered by the Ministry for Special Programmes, which has responsibility for internally displaced people, or received any government support, Human Rights Watch research indicates.
The government says it is providing equal assistance to internally displaced people from all communities, but it refuses to collect data on the ethnic breakdown of people who have received government assistance. Collecting that data is essential to ensure that the government treats all communities in a non-discriminatory manner.
Government officials contend that it is difficult to identify displaced Kalenjin because most of them chose to stay with relatives rather than go to camps. They say these so-called “integrated IDPs” are difficult to locate and therefore register and assist.
“The government could have done much more to register and assist the displaced people who are staying with families – the so-called ‘integrated IDPs’,” Lefkow said. “The claim that they are difficult to find masks the government’s unwillingness to provide assistance fairly to all Kenyans.”
The United Nations special rapporteur on internally displaced people, citing the “de facto exclusion” of roughly 314,000 “integrated IDPs” from any “assistance, protection or durable solutions,” called on Kenya in February 2012 to develop “accurate, efficient and disaggregated data-collection and database/registration systems which are comprehensive and inclusive of all categories of IDPs.”
Government officials in Nakuru and Uasin Gishu confirmed for Human Rights Watch that the national government was favoring displaced Kikuyus, and some said they had advised against the practice.
A senior official in the Ministry of Internal Security told Human Rights Watch that the Ministry for Special Programmes had ignored repeated warnings about the dangers of its discriminatory policies.
“There seems to be resistance to any suggestion that this kind of bias should be changed,” the security official said.
An official at the Ministry for Special Programmes was more direct: “The entire government machinery is Kikuyu and this machinery is favoring the Kikuyu on the ground,” he said.
Discrimination based on race or ethnic origin in access to rights is strictly prohibited under international human rights law. The UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has stated that, “Differential treatment based on prohibited grounds will be viewed as discriminatory unless the justification for differentiation is reasonable and objective.”
The Kenyan constitution prohibits direct or indirect discrimination against anyone on any grounds, including ethnic or social origin, and requires law and other measures to be put in place to ensure equality.
A new law for IDPs, the Internally Displaced Persons Act, and a new national policy for IDPs, which both came into effect in late 2012, can help with IDP protection and assistance and should be implemented by the government.
Kenya should also sign and ratify the African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa (Kampala Convention), which, among other protections, forbids discrimination in the treatment of internally displaced people. Thirty-seven of Africa’s 53 states have signed the convention and 16 states have ratified it.
The government’s failure to arrest and prosecute those responsible for the 2007-2008 election-related violence has heightened tensions by leaving the people responsible for past violence free to repeat their actions. Only three people have been convicted for the arson, killings, and rapes from that time – all of them Kalenjin from the Rift Valley. One of the men was acquitted on appeal.
“After the terrible violence around the last elections the government had an opportunity to make landmark changes in Kenyan politics,” Lefkow said. “Sadly, it has failed to take those steps and serve all communities fairly.”
Key findings in Nakuru and Uasin Gishu counties about discrimination against displaced persons follow.
Discrimination Against Displaced Persons in Rift Valley
Human Rights Watch found examples of discriminatory resettlement assistance across Nakuru and Uasin Gishu counties that disproportionately benefits members of the Kikuyu community. In Ndefo area in Njoro constituency of Nakuru county, for instance, according to a joint civil society and Kenyan government report, the government built 908 housing units for Kikuyu IDPs on one side of a road and 34 on the other side for Kalenjin, even though all communities in the area were affected by violence and had similar numbers of displaced people.
In the Kuresoi area of Nakuru county – one of the areas most affected by the 2007-2008 violence – the government resettled Kikuyu IDPs displaced from Kuresoi and other areas in and around Sanyo, giving them new houses and tilling land for them with tractors. In the same area, an equally large group of Kalenjin displaced from 2007-2008 has received no government support.
The government has also resettled some Kikuyu IDPs in the middle of Kalenjin-inhabited areas, such as Sanyo and Banita in Rongai, without adequately consulting the host communities, local community leaders said. In both places, Human Rights Watch saw newly built homes and freshly dug roads for resettled Kikuyu. Local officials and Kalenjin community leaders said the resettlement had caused great resentment among local Kalenjin, who said they fear the government is trying to alter demographics prior to the March elections.
Two government officials in Nakuru county, as well as Kikuyu community members, told Human Rights Watch that the government also has a practice of giving internally displaced Kikuyu more than one house per family, even though the majority of displaced Kalenjin in the county have received none. A joint assessment report compiled by the government-funded Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) made similar observations in 2011.
A displaced Kikuyu who was resettled in Kuresoi told Human Rights Watch that the government first built her a three-bedroom house in April 2009 and two years later, with the support of an international aid agency, a second, two-bedroom house.
“I know a number of Kikuyus who have up to three houses,” she said. “Those Kikuyus whose children were above 18 benefited even more because all their adult children were also given houses.”
Kalenjin elders and community members in Nakuru and Uasin Gishu counties told Human Rights Watch that they saw the resettlement of Kikuyu IDPs in their areas as a strategic effort by the government to increase Kikuyu votes prior to the elections and generally to shift the political balance of communities in the region.
In addition to displaced communities from the 2007-2008 electoral violence, the Central Rift Valley has about 15,000 displaced people who were forced from the Mau Forest in July 2009, all of them Kalenjin. The government ordered these people to leave their homes due to concerns over environmental conservation projects, promising to resettle them within weeks. As of late 2012 only about 700 of these people had been resettled.
Increased Tension
Kalenjin elders and community members expressed deep resentment and anger at their discriminatory treatment, with many saying that it could provoke violence. At the same time Kikuyu leaders and community members say they are getting prepared for violence.
“This time we shall not be caught unawares and we shall not be the ones running away or getting displaced,” a Kikuyu farmer in Kuresoi told Human Rights Watch.
A senior government official in the Rift Valley told Human Rights Watch that he frequently hears bellicose claims from both communities. He and others said that cattle theft is up in the area, which they called an early warning sign of violence.
In 2007 and earlier, local communities used traditional weapons, such as machetes, spears, and bows and arrows, to fight each other. Today, local officials and community leaders told Human Rights Watch that both Kikuyu and Kalenjin are preparing for possible violence with firearms as well as those weapons.
In addition to people displaced in the election-related violence of 2007-2008, according to the United Nations, more than 112,000 Kenyans were displaced in 2012 due to communal and resource-based violence.
Flawed Practices Stoke Communal Tension as Elections Near
(Nairobi) – The Kenyan government has discriminated based on ethnicity in assisting displaced people from the Rift Valley. The discriminatory practices are stoking inter-ethnic tensions ahead of the March 2013 elections.
Human Rights Watch research in Kenya’s Central Rift’s Nakuru county and North Rift’s Uasin Gishu county in late 2012 revealed significantly preferential treatment for internally displaced persons (IDPs) from the Kikuyu community of President Mwai Kibaki over other displaced people in the two counties. The authorities have not provided satisfactory justification for the differential treatment.
An estimated 400,000 people of various communities in the Rift Valley were displaced by inter-ethnic clashes after the last general elections in 2007. Local government officials, as well as community leaders and civil society activists, fear the government’s policies have increased the chance for another round of election-related violence.
“The government is favoring one community over others in the allocation of homes, land, and money for displaced people and this is causing anger and frustration in the Rift Valley,” said Leslie Lefkow, deputy Africa director. “These policies have exacerbated tensions in an area that is still recovering from serious election-related violence five years ago, and the tensions could lead to violence again.”
Kenya is due to hold general elections on March 4. In Nakuru county the most intense competition is between candidates from the Kikuyu community and those from the other large local community, the Kalenjin. Uasin Gishu county is predominantly Kalenjin with a significant Kikuyu population.
Violence in the central and northern Rift Valley between members of the Kikuyu and Kalenjin communities formed a significant part of the nationwide upheaval after the December 2007 elections, resulting in killings, rapes, and the forced displacement of about 650,000 people from all communities countrywide. The violence led to indictments of people from both communities by the International Criminal Court, including two former cabinet ministers – Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto – who are now running together for president and deputy president.
In late 2012 Human Rights Watch spent one week in Nakuru county and one week in Uasin Gishu county speaking with local government officials, police, tribal elders, civic groups, and community members from the Kikuyu and Kalenjin, as well as other local communities. The prevailing view of interviewees in both counties, including government officials, was that the national government has been favoring displaced Kikuyu at the expense of other communities.
The discrimination in Nakuru and Uasin Gishu counties takes two general forms. First, the government has given priority to displaced Kikuyu when rebuilding homes and providing new homes, land, or money. Some Kikuyu families have received more than one new home.
Second, the vast majority of Kalenjin displaced in the 2007-2008 violence, roughly 300,000 people across Kenya, have not been officially registered by the Ministry for Special Programmes, which has responsibility for internally displaced people, or received any government support, Human Rights Watch research indicates.
The government says it is providing equal assistance to internally displaced people from all communities, but it refuses to collect data on the ethnic breakdown of people who have received government assistance. Collecting that data is essential to ensure that the government treats all communities in a non-discriminatory manner.
Government officials contend that it is difficult to identify displaced Kalenjin because most of them chose to stay with relatives rather than go to camps. They say these so-called “integrated IDPs” are difficult to locate and therefore register and assist.
“The government could have done much more to register and assist the displaced people who are staying with families – the so-called ‘integrated IDPs’,” Lefkow said. “The claim that they are difficult to find masks the government’s unwillingness to provide assistance fairly to all Kenyans.”
The United Nations special rapporteur on internally displaced people, citing the “de facto exclusion” of roughly 314,000 “integrated IDPs” from any “assistance, protection or durable solutions,” called on Kenya in February 2012 to develop “accurate, efficient and disaggregated data-collection and database/registration systems which are comprehensive and inclusive of all categories of IDPs.”
Government officials in Nakuru and Uasin Gishu confirmed for Human Rights Watch that the national government was favoring displaced Kikuyus, and some said they had advised against the practice.
A senior official in the Ministry of Internal Security told Human Rights Watch that the Ministry for Special Programmes had ignored repeated warnings about the dangers of its discriminatory policies.
“There seems to be resistance to any suggestion that this kind of bias should be changed,” the security official said.
An official at the Ministry for Special Programmes was more direct: “The entire government machinery is Kikuyu and this machinery is favoring the Kikuyu on the ground,” he said.
Discrimination based on race or ethnic origin in access to rights is strictly prohibited under international human rights law. The UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has stated that, “Differential treatment based on prohibited grounds will be viewed as discriminatory unless the justification for differentiation is reasonable and objective.”
The Kenyan constitution prohibits direct or indirect discrimination against anyone on any grounds, including ethnic or social origin, and requires law and other measures to be put in place to ensure equality.
A new law for IDPs, the Internally Displaced Persons Act, and a new national policy for IDPs, which both came into effect in late 2012, can help with IDP protection and assistance and should be implemented by the government.
Kenya should also sign and ratify the African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa (Kampala Convention), which, among other protections, forbids discrimination in the treatment of internally displaced people. Thirty-seven of Africa’s 53 states have signed the convention and 16 states have ratified it.
The government’s failure to arrest and prosecute those responsible for the 2007-2008 election-related violence has heightened tensions by leaving the people responsible for past violence free to repeat their actions. Only three people have been convicted for the arson, killings, and rapes from that time – all of them Kalenjin from the Rift Valley. One of the men was acquitted on appeal.
“After the terrible violence around the last elections the government had an opportunity to make landmark changes in Kenyan politics,” Lefkow said. “Sadly, it has failed to take those steps and serve all communities fairly.”
Key findings in Nakuru and Uasin Gishu counties about discrimination against displaced persons follow.
Discrimination Against Displaced Persons in Rift Valley
Human Rights Watch found examples of discriminatory resettlement assistance across Nakuru and Uasin Gishu counties that disproportionately benefits members of the Kikuyu community. In Ndefo area in Njoro constituency of Nakuru county, for instance, according to a joint civil society and Kenyan government report, the government built 908 housing units for Kikuyu IDPs on one side of a road and 34 on the other side for Kalenjin, even though all communities in the area were affected by violence and had similar numbers of displaced people.
In the Kuresoi area of Nakuru county – one of the areas most affected by the 2007-2008 violence – the government resettled Kikuyu IDPs displaced from Kuresoi and other areas in and around Sanyo, giving them new houses and tilling land for them with tractors. In the same area, an equally large group of Kalenjin displaced from 2007-2008 has received no government support.
The government has also resettled some Kikuyu IDPs in the middle of Kalenjin-inhabited areas, such as Sanyo and Banita in Rongai, without adequately consulting the host communities, local community leaders said. In both places, Human Rights Watch saw newly built homes and freshly dug roads for resettled Kikuyu. Local officials and Kalenjin community leaders said the resettlement had caused great resentment among local Kalenjin, who said they fear the government is trying to alter demographics prior to the March elections.
Two government officials in Nakuru county, as well as Kikuyu community members, told Human Rights Watch that the government also has a practice of giving internally displaced Kikuyu more than one house per family, even though the majority of displaced Kalenjin in the county have received none. A joint assessment report compiled by the government-funded Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) made similar observations in 2011.
A displaced Kikuyu who was resettled in Kuresoi told Human Rights Watch that the government first built her a three-bedroom house in April 2009 and two years later, with the support of an international aid agency, a second, two-bedroom house.
“I know a number of Kikuyus who have up to three houses,” she said. “Those Kikuyus whose children were above 18 benefited even more because all their adult children were also given houses.”
Kalenjin elders and community members in Nakuru and Uasin Gishu counties told Human Rights Watch that they saw the resettlement of Kikuyu IDPs in their areas as a strategic effort by the government to increase Kikuyu votes prior to the elections and generally to shift the political balance of communities in the region.
In addition to displaced communities from the 2007-2008 electoral violence, the Central Rift Valley has about 15,000 displaced people who were forced from the Mau Forest in July 2009, all of them Kalenjin. The government ordered these people to leave their homes due to concerns over environmental conservation projects, promising to resettle them within weeks. As of late 2012 only about 700 of these people had been resettled.
Increased Tension
Kalenjin elders and community members expressed deep resentment and anger at their discriminatory treatment, with many saying that it could provoke violence. At the same time Kikuyu leaders and community members say they are getting prepared for violence.
“This time we shall not be caught unawares and we shall not be the ones running away or getting displaced,” a Kikuyu farmer in Kuresoi told Human Rights Watch.
A senior government official in the Rift Valley told Human Rights Watch that he frequently hears bellicose claims from both communities. He and others said that cattle theft is up in the area, which they called an early warning sign of violence.
In 2007 and earlier, local communities used traditional weapons, such as machetes, spears, and bows and arrows, to fight each other. Today, local officials and community leaders told Human Rights Watch that both Kikuyu and Kalenjin are preparing for possible violence with firearms as well as those weapons.
In addition to people displaced in the election-related violence of 2007-2008, according to the United Nations, more than 112,000 Kenyans were displaced in 2012 due to communal and resource-based violence.
Congo: Congo prisons chief admits shortcomings
Source: IRIN
BRAZZAVILLE, 17 January 2013 (IRIN) - The director-general of Congo’s prison service, Paul Morossa, has admitted serious overcrowding in prisons, but does not think imminent improvements are possible.
Prisons built 70 years ago - one in Brazzaville, meant to accommodate 150 inmates, and one in Pointe Noire, meant accommodate 75 - currently house 700 and 300 inmates respectively, he told IRIN.
“The difficulties we face are due to the fact that our prison system is old. New structures have not been built to match the growing number of prisoners. Management and funding issues will be difficult to address in the immediate future,” he said. “We have serious problems.”
At the same time, he welcomed the recent presidential pardon of 164 prisoners, “because our prisons are full”.
Morossa’s remarks come after the recent publication of a report by the Congolese Observatory of Human Rights (OCDH), which describes appalling prison conditions.
The NGO pointed to a widespread lack of adequate healthcare, sanitation and decent food.
“Prisoners live in inhumane conditions… They live in a state of total insalubrity,” the OCDH executive director, Euloge Nzobo, told IRIN.
“They lack latrines and frequently defecate into cans or bags. Many infirmaries lack medicine or nurses,” he added.
“For lack of nets, they are often bitten by mosquitoes and contract malaria. They also suffer from amoebas,” the report said, adding that many prisoners had to rely on relatives for their food.
For his part, Morossa described the report as “excessive” and pointed out that the government was set to build several new prisons in different parts of the country.
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