Author: Théophile Niyitegeka

Senator Leila de Lima arrested in the Philippines

{Senator and vocal critic of President Duterte faces drug-trafficking charges related to her term as a justice secretary.}

A Philippines senator and staunch critic of President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs has been arrested by law enforcement agents after charges were filed in court alleging that she received money from drug dealers inside the country’s prisons.

Senator Leila de Lima is accused of orchestrating a drug-trafficking ring when she was justice secretary during the 2010-2015 administration of Benigno Aquino.

“The truth will come out and I will achieve justice. I am innocent,” she told reporters shortly before law enforcers escorted her away from her office on Friday.

De Lima, her former driver and bodyguard and a former national prison official were ordered to be arrested by a local court on Thursday after a judge found merit in criminal charges filed by the Department of Justice last week.

De Lima has denied the charges, calling herself a victim of political persecution and saying that she has long prepared herself to be the first “political prisoner” under the Duterte administration.

“While the issuance of the warrant of arrest is questionable, I do not have any plans to evade it,” she said, calling the order premature as the court has yet to hear the response from her lawyers.

She slept in her Senate office overnight then gave herself up to armed officers in flak jackets who put her in a van and drove into morning rush-hour traffic apparently towards police headquarters.

Duterte, 71, won a presidential election last year after promising during the campaign to eradicate drugs in society by killing tens of thousands of people.

Since his inauguration on June 30, an anti-drug drive has seen more than 7,000 people killed over suspected drug links – with about 60 percent of the deaths carried out by unknown assassins.

De Lima has previously called for foreign intervention to put an end to the “state-inspired” extrajudicial murders, which she said have been instigated by Duterte since his election to power.

De Lima also led a series of Senate investigations over allegations that police officers were involved in the killings, and that hired killers were operating under orders from police.

Aries Arugay, associate professor of political science at the University of the Philippines-Diliman, told Al Jazeera that the senator will use her detention to highlight the president’s controversial policies.

“Senator de Lima has been taunting the Duterte administration to arrest her for months. She boldly says she is its fiercest critic … What is happening right now is she is really using this as her platform for her own politics,” Aurgay said.

{{Trumped up charges}}

De Lima’s supporters insist that she is innocent and that the charges are trumped up to silence one of Duterte’s most prominent critics.

In a statement to Al Jazeera, Senator Paolo Aquino condemned the “political persecution” of his fellow opposition Senate member.

“This arrest is purely political vendetta and has no place in justice system that upholds the rule of law. This is condemnable.  

“We reiterate that an arrest based on trumped-up charges is illegal,” he said citing the “haste” in de Lima’s arrest.

De Lima previously claimed that she was targeted because of her criticism of Duterte’s drug war policy.

During her time as head of the country’s human rights body, de Lima led the investigation into the alleged extrajudicial killings of an estimated 1,000 drug suspects in Davao, while Duterte was mayor of the city.

When Duterte won as president in 2016, his feud with de Lima continued.

At one point he called on her to “hang herself”, after he ordered prosecutors to investigate the senator’s alleged links to the drug syndicate.

This week, de Lima branded the president a “sociopathic serial killer” after new allegations surfaced accusing Duterte of ordering drug killings in Davao.

Source:Al Jazeera

February 24, 2017
Syria talks hit snag before opening ceremony in Geneva

{Negotiations off to rocky start after opposition threatens to skip opening ceremony over disagreements.}

Geneva, Switzerland – UN-led negotiations on the war in Syria got off to a delayed start following disputes over the participation of the Syrian opposition delegation.

Opposition representatives nearly missed the opening ceremony of the talks on Thursday after threatening not to attend over disagreements on the make-up and format of the session. But in a last-minute turnaround, they arrived late and as one large delegation.

UN envoy Staffan de Mistura formally began the fourth round of talks in Geneva in an opening session that brought the opposition and government delegations face-to-face at UN headquarters with expectations of a breakthrough low.

“I ask you to work together. I know it’s not going to be easy to end this horrible conflict and lay the foundation for a country at peace with itself, sovereign and unified,” de Mistura told the two delegations, who sat on opposite sides of the stage.

“It is your opportunity and solemn responsibility … not to condemn future generations of Syrian children to long years of bitter and bloody conflict.”

The talks are part of the latest political initiative to bring an end to a six-year war that has killed nearly half a million people, wounded more than a million, and forced more than 12 million – half of the country’s prewar population – from their homes.

{{Hopes for a ‘work plan’}}

In a news conference shortly after his opening speech, de Mistura said he would meet with each side on Friday in the hopes of setting a “work plan” for the remainder of the negotiations.

At the last Syria talks in Geneva 10 months ago, de Mistura had to shuttle between the government and opposition delegations in different rooms.

The opening ceremony on Thursday was delayed by several hours after disputes between the main opposition bloc – the High Negotiations Committee (HNC) – and de Mistura over the structure of the opposition delegation.

The bloated size of the delegation was due partly to de Mistura’s inclusion of two other groups – the Moscow and the Cairo platforms – in the talks. The envoy invited the two pro-Russia, government-tolerated opposition groups to sit separately from the HNC, an umbrella group of armed and political factions.

“You must have seen that there was, in particular, a very heavy [presence] on the side of the opposition in the room … they were including also the armed groups … because, as you know, peace is made between those who fight each other,” said de Mistura.

The idea of the opposition sitting at different tables riled the Saudi Arabia-based HNC, leading to hours of last-minute diplomacy ahead of the opening ceremony as diplomats scrambled to find a solution.

“Today, the real opposition that represents the Syrian people is the HNC. This delegation and the HNC, extends its hand to any national partner that adopts the will of the Syrian people,” Naser al-Hariri, head of the HNC delegation, told reporters ahead of the opening session.

“We hope that the Moscow and Cairo platforms will prioritise national interest and the interests of the Syrian people,” Hariri said.

“The HNC was in contact with the Cairo and Moscow platforms in previous meetings. There are ongoing efforts to join these platforms within the opposition delegation so that we are represented as one delegation.”

De Mistura said there had been “serious progress” made in the hours leading up to the opening ceremony in “forming a united political opposition,” but that there was still much work to be done.

{{Truce violations}}

The talks in Geneva came about after Russia, a key ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and Turkey, a backer of the Syrian opposition, managed to forge a fragile nationwide ceasefire in place since December 30.

The Syrian government and the opposition agreed to participate in negotiations despite daily violations of the truce.

Much has changed on the ground in Syria since de Mistura suspended the last round of talks in Geneva last April after a previous ceasefire collapsed and heavy fighting resumed.

Russia’s September 2015 military intervention drastically changed the balance of power, propping up Assad’s embattled forces and helping them to retake key parts of the country.

With the help of Russian jets and Iranian-backed fighters, Syrian government forces dealt the rebels their biggest defeat in the conflict in December by retaking Aleppo, Syria’s commercial capital before the war and a rebel stronghold since 2012.

The Russian-backed push on the battlefield has been coupled with a similar takeover by Moscow in the diplomatic arena – a move helped by confusion surrounding US President Donald Trump’s Syria policy.

While the Geneva talks are seen as the most serious diplomatic effort in months, disputes over the agenda and long-standing disagreements between the opposition and the government on the future of the country have cast doubts on whether any progress will be achieved.

A day before the talks began, de Mistura said he was not expecting any major breakthroughs, but added he was determined to maintain “proactive momentum” on UN Security Council Resolution 2254, a document that provides the backbone of the talks.

“2254 lays out a clear agenda, including specific language on governance, constitutions, elections, and even for the way negotiations should be timed,” said de Mistura. “That is what must now be discussed.”

Though matters on the ground have shifted, the starkly different political objectives of the warring sides remain unchanged from previous rounds of negotiations.

For the Syrian opposition, a political transition that ensures the removal of Assad remains the only option for peace – an issue that the government in Damascus has consistently refused to consider.

De Mistura said the biggest challenge ahead of the delegates was a “lack of trust” as he appealed to the two sides to use the talks as an opportunity for peace.

“We do know what will happen if we fail once again – more deaths, more suffering, more terrorism, more refugees,” he said.

Source:Al Jazeera

February 24, 2017
East Libya bans travel for those aged between 18 and 45

{Eastern Libya has banned men and women between the ages of 18 and 45 from travelling abroad without permission.}

The region’s military chief of staff, Abdelrazzak Al-Naduri, said the aim of the move was to prevent people from joining terrorist groups abroad.

Libya has rival administrations in the east and west, and much of the country is effectively controlled by militias.

The new order comes days after a controversial ban on women’s travel was introduced, and quickly suspended.

That order, also issued by the authorities in eastern Libya, prevented women under 60 from travelling without a male companion.

Libyans in other parts of the country are unlikely to be affected by the new ban, because the two rival centres of power do not recognise each other’s authority.

The new order means eastern Libya’s military intelligence and ministry of interior will be responsible for issuing permits for those who wish to travel.

A source at the military chief of staff’s office told the BBC the order was likely to be a temporary one, and that most travellers would be able to obtain a security clearance within a day.

But he did not specify what the criteria for a travel permit would be.

The short-lived ban on women’s travel was also introduced for national security reasons, the military said.

It claimed that some women were communicating with foreign intelligence services.

However, that directive was widely condemned and ridiculed by Libyans, the BBC’s North Africa correspondent Rana Jawad reports.

The country has been torn by strife since the toppling of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.
Eastern Libya is under the control of strongman commander Khalifa Hafter, who is leading the battle against Islamist militias. Its government is not recognised by the international community.

The power vacuum created after Gaddafi’s fall allowed the Islamic State group to gain a foothold in the country, adding to an already volatile situation.

An estimated 400,000 Libyans have also been internally displaced during the conflict.

The situation has led to a flood of migrants attempting to travel to Italy by boat, often with fatal consequences.

Source:BBC

February 24, 2017
South Africa plans drive against illegal foreign workers

{South African officials will inspect workplaces to see if firms are employing undocumented foreigners, the home affairs minister says.}

Malusi Gigaba added that more than 60 employees of retail chain Spar “without documentation” had been arrested.

Mr Gigaba warned that firms would be “penalised” if they breached the law, and said they should not fuel tensions by “playing locals against foreigners”.

His comments come amid concern that xenophobia is rising in South Africa.

Many unemployed South Africans accuse foreigners of taking their jobs.

In the past week, Nigerian nationals have been attacked in the capital Pretoria; on Monday, 34 foreign-owned shops were looted in parts of Pretoria, and a local group has called for a march for Friday to protest at immigrants it says are taking their jobs.
The attacks triggered condemnation by the Nigerian government and a call by MPs for Nigeria’s ambassador to South Africa to be recalled.

But South Africa’s foreign affairs department dismissed claims that Nigerian nationals were targets of xenophobic violence.

Spokesperson Clayson Monyela said the attacks were nothing more than sporadic criminal incidents. The government also said inflammatory social media statements by South Africans and foreign nationals against each other were unnecessary.

However, Thursday saw protesters in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, target the head office of South African telecoms company MTN in apparent retaliation for violence against Nigerians in South Africa.

Mr Gigaba, whose comments have been published on the government’s Twitter account, said South Africans should not be portrayed as “mere xenophobes”.
He added that 33,339 people had been deported in 2015-16.

South Africa’s Home Affairs Department is getting tough on business – but will it work? The sense in some circles is it’ll be all talk and no action – purely because they aren’t enough people to carry out the job. The country is among the top 10 picks in the world for migrants looking for safety or a fresh start, according to the office of the president.

In the spirit of “Ubuntu”- humanity – South Africa has been hard-pressed to turn away its neighbours when they came knocking in their millions over the years. So what’s the problem? Businesses have been accused of taking advantage of the situation by hiring illegal immigrants as cheap labour to avoid complying with government policy of fair pay.

This is partly where the “foreigners are taking our jobs sentiment” touted at the moment comes from. But the government can’t afford to not act – those frustrated with the challenges presented by the country’s porous borders are taking to violence to get their voices heard and making like difficult for foreigners living in their communities.

Still, the current trend of migration is placing additional pressure on the already struggling economy and something has got to give. While some are calling for stricter laws altogether, a more immediate response could be a more careful vetting of who is in the country and why. Are they actual asylum seekers or economic migrants – with the latter more likely to get caught in the eye of the storm.

In his budget speech on Wednesday, South African Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said that 35% of the labour force was unemployed or had given up looking for work.

South Africa experienced its worst outbreak of violence against foreigners in 2008, when more than 60 people died.

Two years ago, similar unrest in the cities of Johannesburg and Durban claimed seven lives as African immigrants were hunted down and attacked by gangs.

Source:BBC

February 24, 2017
Fox show apologises for Kenya Westgate attack video

{The executive producers of Fox’s popular TV thriller 24: Legacy have apologised for using footage from a deadly terror attack in Kenya in 2013.}

Evan Katz and Manny Coto said it “will be removed from all future broadcasts and versions of the show”.

Kenyans on Twitter earlier condemned the producers, using hashtag #SomeoneTellFox.

Sixty-seven people were killed when al-Shabab militants attacked the popular Westgate mall in the capital, Nairobi.

In a statement, Mr Katz and Mr Coto said that “we regretfully included news footage of an attack in Nairobi”.

They added that they “apologise for any pain caused to the victims and their families and are deeply sorry”.

In the latest episode of the hit Fox show, real pictures from the attack are introduced by one of the main characters at a security briefing.

“This is the footage from Al-Jegrad market in Alexandria Egypt three years ago.The attack was planned and executed by Bin Khalid and his men,” the character says.
Earlier, users on Twitter voiced their anger, accusing the makers of the show of being insensitive.

Source:BBC

February 24, 2017
Gambia’s ex-spy chief, 8 others charged with murder

{Gambia’s dreaded former spy chief — whose watch was marred by allegations of killings and torture — and eight subordinates were charged Thursday with killing a leading opposition member in April.}

Yankuba Badjie headed the National Intelligence Agency, which rights groups say carried out arbitrary detentions, forced disappearances and torture during ousted strongman Yahya Jammeh’s 22-year rule.

Badjie and the eight others pleaded not guilty to the charges by prosecutors.

The nine men, including the NIA’s former director of operations, Saikou Omar Jeng, denied killing opposition figure Solo Sandeng of the main opposition UDP.

Sandeng was arrested on April 14 last year while leading a demonstration for political reform and died in custody at the NIA headquarters.

Two days later, protests erupted, prompting a security crackdown on demonstrators.

UDP chief Ousainou Darboe, a human rights lawyer, and other party leaders, were subsequently arrested.

In July, Darboe and about 30 other co-accused were sentenced to three years in jail for six offences related to the April protest.

But on December 5, 2016, Darboe was freed on bail with 18 others, days after Jammeh lost the vote to outsider Adama Barrow.

Barrow has promised to reform the NIA — changing its name, replacing its chief and promising training for staff whose work would be limited to “intelligence gathering, analysis and advice to the relevant arms of government”.

Source:AFP

February 24, 2017
World donors gather in Oslo to tackle Nigeria famine

{UN aid agencies and donor countries gathered in Oslo Thursday for a two-day meeting to raise emergency aid for millions of people threatened by famine in northeastern Nigeria, a Boko Haram stronghold.}

The UN aims to raise up to 1$1.5 billion in commitments throughout 2017 for the Lake Chad region, which comprises northeast Nigeria, northern Cameroon, western Chad and southeast Niger.

One of the poorest regions in the world, it has been ravaged by eight years of violence. Schools, dispensaries and agriculture are in ruins, and people have been forced to flee jihadists on foot without any resources.

{{5.1 million people need food aid }}

Across northeast Nigeria, some 5.1 million people face severe food shortages and nearly 500,000 children are suffering from acute malnutrition, even as the military makes gains against the group.

Norwegian Foreign Minister Borge Brende, meeting with non-governmental organisations on Thursday, called it “one of the more forgotten conflicts” on the planet.

“The displacement crisis in northeastern Nigeria and the Lake Chad region has really become unfortunately a very serious food and nutrition emergency,” Brende said.

“More than 10 million people are in need of assistance… Some parts of northeastern Nigeria may unfortunately already experience famine,” he added.

{{Dry lake }}

The medical situation has been described by Doctors Without Borders (MSF) as “the worst in the world”.

Humanitarian organisations can access populations at risk only as the army progresses.

Many roads are only passable under the escort of Nigerian soldiers and ambushes are a constant threat. Other places are only accessible by helicopter, where “horrible rates of malnutrition” are observed among children.

“In the whole of the Lake Chad region we’ve seen the fight against Boko Haram take priority above all else, with military and political objectives directed towards this,” said Natalie Roberts, head of emergencies for MSF in Borno state.

“We now find ourselves in the midst of a huge humanitarian crisis,” she added.

{{One meal a day }}

The UN humanitarian coordinator for the Sahel region, Toby Lanzer, called for a response to “one of the most deadly extremist groups,” referring to Boko Haram.

The inhabitants “are surviving with barely one meal a day,” he warned.

“And we know that with the impending rainy season, disease will increase, malaria will become more prevalent, and shelter will be more needed,” Lanzer said.

Ahmed Shehu, a civil society representative in northeastern Nigeria, spoke about the need for long-term development.

“I say (to) donors here, if we want to tackle the Boko Haram issue, let’s also reflect on the underlying issue: poverty,” he said.

{{Lost livelihoods }}

“The second issue we fail to link with Boko Haram is climate change,” he said, noting that 90 percent of Lake Chad has dried up in a few decades.

“What is the issue now? A majority (farmers and fishermen) have lost their livelihoods,” he said.

Among those attending the Oslo conference are government ministers from Germany, Norway, Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon, as well as the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi and the head of the World Food Programme, Ertharin Cousin.

On Friday, delegations are expected to detail their respective commitments in three-minute speeches.

Source:AFP

February 24, 2017
16 killed in three days of DR Congo clashes

{Sixteen people have been killed in three days of fighting this week that pitted the Democratic Republic of Congo’s army against a rebel militia, a military spokesman told this reporter on Thursday.}

Guillaume Djike, a spokesman for the army in troubled North Kivu province in the east of the nation, said 16 people had been killed from Monday to Wednesday, while five rebels from the M23 militia had been captured and 58 others had surrendered.

Djike did not specify whether the dead were rebels, troops or civilians.

M23 is a mostly ethnic Tutsi rebel group that mutinied against DR Congo in 2012, saying a peace accord signed in 2009 had not been respected by the government.
The militia was defeated the following year, and hundreds of fighters fled the country.

But in January, the government and residents of North Kivu said they had seen M23 fighters return from neighbouring Uganda.

The United Nations MONUSCO peacekeeping mission on Wednesday said the militia posed “a real threat” to security in eastern DR Congo.

It said it had evidence that members of the group had returned to the country.
Liberata Buratwa, a local official, called on people who had fled the latest wave of clashes to neighbouring Uganda to return home.

“Today the situation is calm. We ask the people who fled the fighting to Uganda to return to the country because the situation has returned to normal,” Buratwa said.
In a statement from the Ugandan capital Kampala on Wednesday, M23 blamed the Congolese government for the spike in violence.

“Ex-fighters who returned to their country were unarmed and had no intention to wage war,” M23 said.

“The government’s decision to push returning ex-fighters into war, forcing them to defend themselves, sends a negative signal to their colleagues” in Uganda and Rwanda, the statement said.

Uganda in January said that 40 M23 rebels living at a military base since 2014 had disappeared, and that about 100 more had been caught trying to cross into DR Congo.

The Congolese government, for its part, said this month that some 200 former M23 fighters had occupied a village in North Kivu province.

Source:Daily Monitor

February 24, 2017
Police shoot, kill three suspected robbers in Nairobi

{Police in Nairobi shot dead three suspected robbers early Friday morning.}

Police seized an AK-47 rifle, several license plates, a pistol, a magazine and several rounds of ammunition from the suspects.

Another suspect that police said was armed escaped during the 3am shooting in Tena estate, dropping a magazine loaded with three rounds of ammunition.

Police said officers on patrol in Kayole had earlier asked the suspects to stop when they noticed that they were behaving suspiciously, but they defied the orders and the officers alerted their colleagues in Buruburu.

The suspects’ silver Toyota Axio, registration number KBC 879L, was again stopped in Buruburu but on realising that they were driving into a trap, they tried to escape, shooting at police officers on Manyanja Road.

The three died in the shootout that also resulted in the injury of an officer attached to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations office in Buruburu.

The officers seized a Tokalev pistol, a motor vehicle, several vehicle ignition keys, seven motor vehicle switches, four mobile phones, cash and other items.

Buruburu OCPD Geoffrey Maiyek said the identities of the suspects were unknown as they had no identification documents on them.

Source:Daily Nation

February 24, 2017
Rwanda, Uganda Police forces seek stronger ties

{Rwanda and Uganda Police forces, yesterday, held a bilateral meeting to review the progress made in implementing resolutions adopted by the two institutions, last year, as part of their collective pursuit against transnational and organized crimes.}

The meeting that brought together delegations from the two friendly forces and held at the Rwanda National Police (RNP) General Headquarters was co-chaired by the two Police Chiefs; Emmanuel K. Gasana of Rwanda and his Ugandan counterpart Gen. Kale Kayihura.

The quarterly bilateral meeting seeks to enhance border security between the two countries and cooperate in addressing contemporary crimes.

It follows a similar one held in Mbarara-Uganda in October last year, which came up with 13 recommendations that are mainly built on effective information sharing.

In his address, IGP Gasana said: “Rwanda appreciates the existing historical, bilateral and brotherly relations between the two police institutions. We do not only co-exist geographically as neighbours, but we are the same people who share similar values.”

“We have had flawless exchange of information, jointly trained our officers, sensitized our border communities to fight crime, enhanced traffic security along the Northern Corridor, pursued and exchanged fugitives, and we continue to align our cooperation along the lines of the Northern Corridor initiative,” IGP Gasana said as he highlighted progress made since last year’s meeting in Mbarara.

IGP Gasana said that the increase in drug trafficking, motor-vehicle theft, economic and financial crimes, human trafficking and cyber related crimes calls for enhanced cooperation between the two institutions.

In his address, Gen. Kayihura pointed out that such forums prove the commitment of the two nations in strengthening the existing cooperation to keep citizens in both countries safe.

“Generally, security has improved in the region although we are still stagnating in some areas of cross border crimes. We need to do more in bringing down crime statistics,” Gen Kayihura said.

He expressed commitment in decisively dismantling criminal networks by forging a way of limiting criminal from abusing the free movement of people.

“We must optimize the best practices from each other and deepen our capacities in fighting cybercrimes,” Gen. Kayihura said.

During the meeting, the two police forces agreed to enhance police cooperation and lay strategies for combating crimes affecting member countries.

They also reaffirmed their commitment to enhance partnership and lay strategies against transnational crimes, and exchange timely information.

They particularly resolved to ensure real time flow of information on criminal syndicates involved in production and trafficking of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances as well as continue developing capabilities through focused training, sharing of experiences and best practices.

The meeting also appreciated the apprehension and exchange of criminals, and recommended that National Central Bureaus (NCBs) – Interpol – maintain the standards put in place in tracking fugitives and stolen items.

Source:Police

February 24, 2017