Day: September 15, 2021

GENEVA— Around 300 protesters gathered in Geneva in front of the United Nations headquarters to call for an independent investigation into alleged human rights violations in Ethiopia’s Tigray conflict.

The protest came as the UN human rights chief said a highly awaited joint investigation was unable to deploy to the site of one of its deadliest attacks, the alleged massacre of several hundred people in the holy city of Axum.

Michelle Bachelet told the U.N. Human Rights Council that deployments to eastern and central Tigray, where witnesses have accused Ethiopian and allied forces from neighboring Eritrea of some of the worst abuses of the 10-month war, “could not proceed.” She cited “sudden changes in the security situation and in the conflict dynamics.”

She did not give details.

The war saw a dramatic shift in late June when the Tigray forces retook much of Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region and Ethiopian and allied forces withdrew.

Since then, witnesses have said much of Tigray has been far safer and more accessible within the region.

The shift in the war occurred about midway in the work of the joint investigation by the UN human rights office and the government-created Ethiopian Human Rights Commission, carried out between May 16 and Aug 20.

The war continues to cause great concern over Africa’s second-most populous country, where all sides have been accused of atrocities.

Bachelet noted that “mass detentions, killings, systematic looting, and sexual violence have continued to create an atmosphere of fear and an erosion of living conditions that resulted in the forced displacement of the Tigrayan civilian population.”

Now hundreds of thousands of people are newly displaced elsewhere after the Tigray forces brought the fighting into the Amhara and Afar regions.

In Geneva, protesters gathered outside the Palace of Nations called for further investigation, saying the “situation is horrible” and alleging that “our people are dying every day from starvation”.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

OUAGADOUGOU— Burkina Faso authorities rescued 374 children between January and March from being trafficked to neighbouring countries to work in agriculture or small-scale mines, government figures released showed.

“For some time now, this phenomenon affecting children has grown to worry proportions in our country,” Helene Marie Laurence Ilboudo, minister for humanitarian action, told reporters.

Last year, 2,318 children were intercepted through checks on buses or through denunciation, according to the ministry.

Most were under 16 and destined to work in plantations, artisanal mines, or for domestic work in countries neighbouring Burkina Faso.

Ivory Coast, the world’s largest cocoa producer, is a major destination for child trafficking and has also intercepted and repatriated minors used for work in the fields, the ministry said.

In addition, 58 children found by security forces during various operations were handed over to social services, Ilboudo said, also highlighting the scale of the problem of homeless children living on the streets.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

High-level African officials met virtually this week to discuss the challenges Africa faces in trying to manage a growing population amid climate change. The conference was aimed at identifying ways African governments can manage these pressures to minimize or avoid conflict.

Africa generates about 3% percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, the lowest of any continent. But it’s more vulnerable than any other region in the world, since Africans depend so heavily on their natural environment for food, water and medicine.

Speaking at a virtual conference Tuesday on climate, conflict and demographics in Africa, Nigerian Vice President Yemi Osinbajo said African governments need to keep the climate in mind as they try to boost their economies.

“Our first obligation for us and for African countries must always be to ensure the well-being of our people through access to development services, including electricity, health care, education, safe jobs and a safe environment, including access to clean cooking fuels. We must prioritize solutions that align the development and climate agenda, and that is absolutely important,” said Osinbajo.

The Center for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters, based in Brussels, says that in 2019, Africa recorded 56 extreme weather events compared to 45 in the previous year.

The extreme weather patterns affected the lives of 16.6 million people in 29 countries. At least 13 million of them were from five countries: Kenya, Mozambique, Somalia, Tanzania and Zimbabwe.

West Africa had fewer weather-related catastrophes but is feeling the effects of global warming just the same.

Ghana environment minister Kwaku Afriyie explains how climate change has impacted agricultural lands in the country.

“The harsh and deteriorating climate conditions in northern Ghana undoubtedly energized region-growing food insecurity and seasonal north-to-south migration. And besides, increasing of floods and protracted drought lead to displacement of people. Statistics show that over the last few years, there has been a new internal displacement which has occurred in Ghana due to climate-induced disasters and even beyond our borders,” he said.

The U.N. special representative to the African Union, Hannah Tetteh, said the continent needs to improve cross-border information-sharing and cooperation to handle climate-related crises.

“The challenge has not been that we haven’t developed yet these structures. The challenge has been we have not utilized them yet effectively, and that goes to issues of national sovereignty and the unwillingness of member states to have others, as it were, take an active interest and maybe recommend the things that need to be done in order to respond to a particular crisis. And if we recognize we are all in this together, then that certainly has to change,” she said.

As for specific suggestions, Osinbajo suggested governments encourage greater use of natural gas and plant more trees to maintain forests that can soak up carbon dioxide and prevent it from warming the atmosphere.

Source: Voice of America

TUNIS— Tunisia’s President Kais Saied said he would not do deals with those he described as “traitors”, an apparent reference to the moderate Islamist Ennahda party, the biggest in the suspended parliament.

Ennahda has called for a national dialogue to find a way forward after Saied on July 25 dismissed the prime minister, froze parliament and seized governing powers, moves the party has called a coup.

“I will not deal with … traitors and those who pay money to offend their country. No dialogue with them,” he said in a video that was posted online by the presidency.

Local media have reported that Ennahda had paid a foreign lobbying company, something it denied doing.

“They paid nearly 3 million dinars to foreign lobbying groups to harm their country,” said Saied in the video, without naming Ennahda.

More than seven weeks after his intervention thrust Tunisia into its biggest political crisis since introducing democracy in a 2011 revolution that triggered the Arab Spring, Saied has yet to name a new prime minister or declare his future intentions.

Last week one of his advisers said he was planning to suspend the constitution and offer an amended version for a public referendum.

The powerful labour union UGTT rejected that approach the following day and Saied then said any amendments to the constitution must be made within the existing constitutional framework.

The union, as well as Ennahda, other political parties and Western democracies that have supported Tunisian public finances, have all urged him to quickly name a new government and to return to the constitutional order.

Saied, in his comments on Tuesday, said: “The government is important. But what is more important is how this government will work”.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

The United Nations is withdrawing 450 Gabonese peacekeepers from its mission in Central African Republic following allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse, Gabon’s government said Wednesday.

“Following the numerous cases of allegations of exploitation and sexual abuse being processed, the United Nations today decided to withdraw the Gabonese contingent from MINUSCA,” the statement said, referring to the mission there.

Gabon’s defense ministry said it had opened an investigation into the allegations.

“If they are proven, their perpetrators will be brought before military courts and tried with extreme rigor,” Gabon’s defense ministry warned.

The U.N mission in Central African Republic was deployed in 2014 to end insecurity stemming from inter-religious and intercommunal fighting that erupted in 2013. The mission still has more than 10,000 personnel in the country.

The U.N. mission there has faced allegations of sexual exploitation by peacekeepers from other countries in the past as well.

Source: Voice of America

Tanzania’s first female president, Samia Suluhu Hassan, this week named a woman as defense minister — the latest in a number of appointments of women to top government posts.

The appointment came as part of the second Cabinet reshuffle Hassan has made since the death of her predecessor, John Magufuli, earlier this year.

At the swearing-in of Stergomena Tax as Tanzania’s first female defense and national service minister, Hassan said she made the choice to shatter the myth that women cannot serve in such a position.

“I have decided to break the longtime myth that in the Defense Ministry there should be a man with muscles. The minister’s job in that office is not to carry guns or artillery,” Hassan said, adding that Tax’s main duty will be to coordinate and manage the administration of policies at the ministry.

Gender activists have welcomed the appointment but said more needs to be done to address the country’s gender equality gap.

Anna Henga, who heads the Legal and Human Rights Center, says there must be an amendment of laws such as the marriage act and the education act, laws that put women in low decision positions. She added that the government should also allocate money through the Health Ministry to educate people that women can also be leaders.

Analysts say an increase in the political representation of women at the national level does not automatically lead to women having more power in daily life, especially in highly stratified societies.

Sociologist Nasor Kitunda says gender should be irrelevant.

“I think this tries to show that there is a direction in gender equality though I’m not a believer in gender. The primary criteria should be someone’s performance and their ability to implement those responsibilities,” Kitunda said.

For Tanzanian human rights activist Aika Peter, appointing more women leaders is positive but there must be a rotation to allow others to show their leadership skills.

“We really need to see new faces in these positions — when you see the same people being recycled every day it gives the impression there are people who are so good at this job, there are no others who can be good at it,” Peters said.

Tax’s appointment brings the number of women who hold ministerial positions in Hassan’s government to eight.

Source: Voice of America

The Interior Ministry of Libya announced on Tuesday that it had apprehended nearly 109 Europe-bound illegal migrants in the western city of Zliten, around 160 kilometres east of Tripoli, the Capital city. According to the ministry, the undocumented immigrants are comprised of 16 women and two children who are from the Eritrea and Sudan background.

The ministry further stated that the illegal migrants were subjected to legal actions. As per Xinhua, Since the 2011 unrest that ousted Muammar Gaddafi and drove the nation into instability and disarray, Libya has become a chosen departure point for illegal immigrants seeking to traverse the Mediterranean and reach European ports. Illegal immigrants who are caught at sea or apprehended by Libyan officials are housed in overcrowded detention facilities around the nation.

An earlier apprehension of Migrants in Libya

In the month of June, through a tweet, the UN refugee organisation UNCHR reported that a huge number of refugees and immigrants sailing by several vessels on the Mediterranean Sea were rescued and repatriated to Libya. More than 1,000 immigrants were retrieved in five different actions, according to the organisation. Prior to the handling the immigrants to the Libyan government, the UNHCR and the International Rescue Committee gave them food, water, as well as medication.

More on Migrants in Libya

As per DW news, millions of immigrants depart Libya every year towards Europe in small, wooden boats as well as inflatable rubber vessels. Many refugees and migrants perish throughout the voyage. According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), approximately 10,000 immigrants have been saved so far and were taken back to Libya in 2021.

IOM further stated at least 180 immigrants crossing from Libya have perished this year, with hundreds more still missing. IOM also reports that Human traffickers take advantage of many refugees leaving Libya, facilitating their trips in return for money. Smugglers are accused of torturing and abusing refugees.

According to DW news, several of the immigrants who start their journey in the sea from Libya are from Sub-Saharan Africa. Immigrants may be escaping war, terrorist attacks, autocratic regimes, or other factors, such as a desire to improve their economic prospects in Europe.

Recent developments in Libya

The United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, and France embassies called on “all Libyan actors” on Sunday, September 12 in an attempt to create a peaceful democratic administration in the war-torn country. The embassies hope to organise a legislative and presidential election on December 24, which is set to take place this year. The country will conduct elections for the first time in a decade in order to create a stable administration. The polls in Libya will be conducted by the Libyan High National Election Commission (HNEC), with the help of the western embassies.

Source: Dehai Eritrea Online