Day: June 1, 2021

Egyptian media broadcast an angry statement by Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ahmed Hafez criticizing Ethiopian Prime Minister Abi Ahmed’s declaration about building “100 new small and medium-sized dams” on waterways across his country during the next year.

Hafez indicated the plan is “a sign of Ethiopia’s ill intentions” regarding the conflict over filling the Renaissance Dam, which has caused a casus belli with both Egypt and neighboring Sudan. Hafez added that Ethiopia must “coordinate such plans with its neighbors before causing them damage.”

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi visited Djibouti last week, insisting during a press conference he was still hoping to negotiate a diplomatic solution to the conflict with Ethiopia over filling the dam.

Sissi said he discussed the Renaissance Dam situation, which affects the interests of the entire region, and the need for a fair and balanced agreement over filling and operating the dam, as soon as possible. He noted Egypt’s refusal of the effort of any party to impose its own plan that doesn’t meet the interests or rights of countries whose interests are affected.

Egyptian political sociologist Said Sadek said the issue of Ethiopia filling the Renaissance Dam for a second year, starting in July, has provoked the wrath of the Egyptian public.

“Public opinion is very angry and is pushing the government to react to the provocation of Ethiopian politicians and media, who are always speaking in a very provocative way against the Egyptian people and the Egyptian government,” Sadek said.

He went on to say that Egyptian opposition forces — based mostly outside the country — were calling for protests over what they claimed was the government’s “mishandling” of the crisis.

Sadek added that Egyptian officials were perplexed over the unwillingness of influential foreign powerbrokers like the EU, the United States and the African Union to use their influence to reach a diplomatic solution to the crisis.

Paul Sullivan, a professor at the U.S. National Defense University in Washington, tells VOA that Ethiopia’s construction of the GERD [Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam] is “inflaming enough, [but] building [100 more] dams creates greater incitement and is an accelerating aggression.”

He goes on to stress that “Egypt will need to respond,” and “if Ethiopia wants peace, they are giving indications of just the opposite. If this comes to war,” he argues, “all will lose and massively.” He said a “reasonable settlement” would be ideal, but that things “seem to be going in the opposite direction.”

The Egyptian military has been conducting maneuvers with a number of regional countries in recent days, including Sudan, in order to show its readiness in the event a conflict erupts.

Source: Voice of America

Gambia’s truth commission has wrapped up more than two years of public hearings into alleged human rights violations committed during the 22-year rule of former dictator Yahya Jammeh.

A steady parade of witnesses concluded their testimony Friday, delivering accounts of arbitrary arrests, torture, corruption and summary executions, in some cases with the victims’ bodies fed to crocodiles.

Jammeh took power in a 1994 military coup, controlling the tiny West African nation until losing the presidency to Adama Barrow in a December 2016 election. Jammeh, now 56, fled with his wife into exile in Equatorial Guinea.

Barrow’s government set up the independent Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission, which began the hearings in January 2019 and heard from 392 witnesses. The commission is expected to submit a report to the president in July. Barrow then will have six months to implement the commission’s recommendations.

“The testimonies heard during the 871 days of public hearings brought pain and bewilderment,” said Lamin Sise, the commission’s chairman.

Arbitrary arrests, unlawful detention and killings, torture, enforced disappearances and sexual violence allegedly committed by Jammeh and accomplices “achieved the desired effect of instilling fear among the Gambian population,” Sise said. “It also gave them time and space to pillage the country’s resources.”

Commissioners visited a crocodile pond that Jammeh ran in his native village of Kanila. They were presented with evidence that the animals were fed people, including babies, who were killed for ritual purposes.

The commission also investigated abuses including the 2005 slaughter of roughly 50 African migrants. Lead counsel Essa Faal said that, based on testimony and other evidence, he calculated that 214 people died at the hands of Jammeh and his accomplices.

Soldiers accused of coup attempts under Jammeh’s rule were summarily executed, student protesters were massacred, and journalists were killed or exiled, said those offering testimony, which included some perpetrators.

Human Rights Watch noted, in a May 24 report, that three of Jammeh’s alleged accomplices “already have been detained and are facing trial abroad under the legal principle of universal jurisdiction.”

It said Michael Sang Correa faces trial in the United States and Bai L. in Germany, where suspects’ full names are not disclosed because of privacy rules. Both were members of Jammeh’s elite guard, called the “junglers.” Ousman Sonko, the former interior minister, faces trial in Switzerland.

The truth commission cannot convict, but it could recommend criminal charges against Jammeh and others, according to Agence France-Presse. The commission is expected to recommend steps for accountability, with proposals focusing “on the possibility of a “hybrid” court with Gambian and international staff operating within the Gambian judicial system,” Human Rights Watch said.

Faal said if Jammeh is not prosecuted in Gambia, he could be held to account elsewhere, including in the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

Source: Voice of America

The Federation of Somali Journalists has launched a campaign to combat the spread of false information, fake news, hate speech and propaganda. The federation says Somalia is already seeing a huge spike in social media misinformation campaigns ahead of elections expected before the end of July.

The country’s chronic internal conflict and political instability has made Somalia a fertile ground for the spread of misinformation. The growing number of young Somalis who connect and share news on social media platforms has become a prime target for this tide of fake news.

One example is a news headline that said the Somali Parliament wanted to oust the prime minister after he objected to a term extension for President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo. It later turned out to be fake news.

To curb the growing challenge for media workers in the country, the Federation of Somali Journalists has launched what it calls a Disinformation Lab to combat the spread of lies, myths and distortions ahead of upcoming elections.

The lead researcher and director of the lab, Mohamed Abdimalik, says they will give journalists the necessary skills and knowledge to detect fake news during polls.

“The lab’s researchers will support journalists with digital tools, training and other resources to detect, analyze and flag false election-related news in real-time fashion,” Abdimalik said. “In a fragile environment where trust is so low, safeguarding the election process from fake news is as crucial as saving the country from descending into civil war again.”

Journalists, key bloggers and social media influencers in Somalia say there is a need for extra caution during the presidential and parliamentary election process.

“As journalists, bloggers and social media influencers, we have extra responsibility, especially during elections, to inform the public about the crucial process,” said Hassan Osman Istiila, a journalist in Somalia. “Thus, we need to be very careful not to run news that (is) not verified, because it will be irresponsible. Better late news than fake news.”

The Somali government, which has a poor record when it comes to press freedom in the country, says it will play its part in reducing fake news during the polls by giving access to journalists in the voting centers so they can get firsthand information.

Abdirahim Isse Adow, who is the director of media training at the Ministry of Information, says the ministry will also boost awareness campaigns about fake news through state media and in collaboration with civil society groups and religious leaders.

Meanwhile, Somali political leaders have appealed to the media to perform their duties professionally and responsibly as the Horn of Africa nation gears up for what promises to be a competitive presidential election.

Source: Voice of America