Category: Politics

{Narcisse Arido (C) of the Central African Republic talks with his lawyer in the courtroom of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, on October 19, 2016.}

International judges on October 19, 2016 found former Congolese vice president Jean-Pierre Bemba and four aides guilty of corrupting witnesses, by bribing them with money and laptops to lie during the testimony to his war crimes trial. The case was “about clear, and downright criminal behaviour of the five accused… that resulted in serious offences against the administration of justice,” judge Bertram Schmitt told the International Criminal Court as handed down the verdict.

International judges on Wednesday found former Congolese vice president Jean-Pierre Bemba and four close aides guilty of bribing and corrupting witnesses in a bid to derail his landmark war crimes trial.

The case was “about the clear, and downright criminal behaviour of the five accused… that resulted in serious offences against the administration of justice,” judge Bertram Schmitt told the International Criminal Court while handing down the verdict.

“No legal system in the world can accept the bribing of witnesses, the inducement of witnesses to lie or the coaching of witnesses,” he told the five men, who were all present in the court in The Hague.

Each of the men stood in turn and remained impassive as Schmitt pronounced them guilty of most charges, although there were acquittals on some of the lesser charges against two of the defendants.
“Today’s judgement sends a clear message that the court is not willing to allow its proceedings to be hampered or destroyed,” Schmitt said.

And he further warned that those who sought to undermine the court would “not go unpunished”.

Prosecutors charged that from his prison cell, the ex-rebel leader Bemba masterminded a network to bribe and manipulate at least 14 defence witnesses to lie during his trial at ICC based in The Hague.

Bemba was sentenced in June to 18 years in jail on five charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by his militia in Central African Republic.

Once the powerful leader of the Congolese Liberation Movement (MLC) and a wealthy businessman from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Bemba, 53, remains behind bars in The Netherlands and is appealing his sentence.

Wednesday’s verdict came after Bemba was charged along with two of his lawyers, an MP from his party, and a defence witness of seeking to influence the main trial.

It was the first such corruption trial in the ICC’s history, and was launched after a tip-off to the prosecutors office.

Bemba’s lawyer Aime Kilolo, his legal case manager Jean-Jacques Mangenda, Congolese lawmaker Fidele Babala and Narcisse Arido, a defence witness were in the dock alongside the former Congolese strongman.

All five had pleaded not guilty to more than 100 combined charges. Sentencing will be at a later date.

– ‘Coaching witnesses’ –
During the corruption trial, which opened last year, prosecutors provided evidence of telephone recordings, records of money transfers, emails and text messages which laid out the men’s plan.

Bemba had authorised the scheme, the judge said, while Kilolo implemented his instructions and “coached” witnesses about what to say on the stand in return for money.

Mangenda tried to conceal the plan while Babala, deputy secretary of Bemba’s MLC party, handled money transfers.

Arido, who was an expert defence witness on military operations in the Central African Republic, also recruited witnesses for the defence and helped to coach them.

The defence, however, had argued that the telephone recordings had been misinterpreted and insisted there was nothing wrong in paying witnesses as the prosecution did.

Bemba’s lawyer Melinda Taylor added that since he had been in detention he was “not in a position of power and had no effective access to information about what was going on the ground”.

{Bushenyi. Minister without Portfolio Abdul Naduli has told critics of President Museveni’s long stay in power that God who made him President is the one to decide when he should go.}

Mr Naduli was speaking at belated independence celebrations in Bushenyi held at Kizinda playground in Ishaka Town on Tuesday.

He said Mr Museveni was brought by God as Uganda’s liberator and the work he came to do is incomplete.

“Museveni is anointed by God to lead Uganda, according to what I have experienced with him from the time we met. I am two years older than him and you can see how energetic I am. The man is still strong but I have unfortunately seen some of you sharpen pangas [machete] and spears ready to kill him,” he said.

He added: “Don’t crucify Museveni like the Hebrews did to Jesus. He was born among them, performed miracles and did good things but they ended up crucifying him.
Leave Museveni alone.”

He asked the people of Bushenyi to work hard for development for Uganda to achieve the middle income status. He also warned leaders against stealing government money, saying they will be prosecuted.

Closer look. Mr Abdul Naduli inspects lightning arrestors donated by Bushenyi Lions Club to schools in Bushenyi on Tuesday. Photo Zadock Amanyisa

Bushenyi District chairman Jaffari Basajjabalaba urged the residents to “jealously guard peace, unity and all development infrastructure ushered in by Mr Museveni and NRM government,” and work hard for their economic independence.
Last month, while addressing Front for National Salvation members in Rwanyamahembwe Sub-County Kashari South at the home of former western region chairman Edward Bashaija Mr Nadduli, Mr Naduli said he should be allowed direct access to the President to brief him about what he called “serious issues and developments” in the country.
The minister accused “some people” of keeping President Museveni in the dark of whatever was going on in the country for selfish interests.

{{The background}}

Coming to power. President Museveni, 72, came to power in 1986 through a guerrilla war.

Critics say. His critics and political opponents say the President, who will have ruled Uganda for 35 years when his current term expires in 2021, ought to have retired to allow other players with fresh ideas to drive the country.

Past and future. The 1995 Constitution provided for two terms for President but the law was amended and term limits removed in 2005.

Mr Museveni will be 77 years in 2021 and ineligible to stand because currently, the Constitutional age limit for President is 75 years.

The streets of Congo’s capital Kinshasa were quiet on Wednesday and little traffic flowed following a call by the main opposition bloc for a general strike to press President Joseph Kabila to step down in December.

Kabila’s two-term mandate expires in December, but authorities agreed this week to postpone an election originally slated for November until April 2018.

{Burundi president, Pierre Nkurunziza, has officially appended his signature to the decision of the country to leave the International Criminal Court (ICC).}

Burundi becomes the first State Party to pull out of the Rome Statute, the treaty that led to the establishment of the court 18 years ago.

The presidency posted an official statement to that effect on its twitter handle. The document was co signed by Aimee Laurentine Kanyana, the Minister of Justice and president Nkurunziza.

This is the latest in a series of events surrounding the country’s decision to quit the international judicial organ. Earlier today, the ICC president said they were concerned over Burundi’s decision and called for dialogue on the way forward.

The ICC chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, had hinted that she was investigating violence and possible war crimes violations relating to violence in 2015 when Nkurunziza announced that he was seeking a third term.

The cabinet presented a document seeking as part of its ICC exit plans. The legislature voted in a landslide late last week to back the cabinet move. It will however take up to a year before Burundi can successfully be out of the ICC.

{The European Union will prepare economic sanctions on the Democratic Republic of Congo unless it holds its delayed presidential and parliamentary elections next year, foreign ministers agreed on Monday.}

President Joseph Kabila was due to leave office at the end of his mandate in December but authorities have postponed the votes until April 2018, citing logistical problems. The delay sparked two days of protests in the capital Kinshasa last month that killed dozens of people.

“There is a delay to elections that is not acceptable and I hope elections can take place in 2017,” Belgium’s Foreign Minister Didier Reynders told reporters.

“We need an inclusive dialogue and not to resort to violence,” said Reynders, whose country is Congo’s former colonial power.

EU foreign ministers said in a statement: “The EU will use all the means at its disposal, including individual restrictive measures” – diplomatic language for travel bans and asset freezes.

Any sanctions would target “those responsible for serious human rights violations, those who promote violence and those who would try to obstruct a consensual and peaceful solution to the crisis”.

Foreign ministers tasked EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, who coordinates the bloc’s diplomacy, to draw up sanctions. Diplomats said these could target senior police and other members of the security forces, and potentially government officials at a later stage.

The EU, a major donor of foreign aid as well as a big foreign investor and trade partner, is seeking an independent inquiry into the violence last month and wants talks on a new timetable for presidential and parliamentary elections.

EU governments will also reduce the duration of diplomatic visas issued to officials, after Belgium cut its visas to six months. “Member states are already in agreement on the need to coordinate their approaches to the issuance of visas for holders of diplomatic and service passports,” the statement said.

Kabila, who came to power in 2001 when his father was assassinated, says he will respect the country’s constitution but has yet to rule out attempting to change laws to enable him to run for a fresh term.

The head of the U.N. mission in Congo warned last week that the political impasse posed an “extreme risk” to stability. Millions died in regional conflicts between 1996 and 2003 and Congo has never had a peaceful transition of power.

{Main opposition bloc views vote delay as President Joseph Kabila’s attempt to remain in power beyond his term.}

The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) says it will push back next month’s presidential election to April 2018, in a move that is expected to keep President Joseph Kabila in office until the delayed vote.

The decision, announced on Sunday after talks between the ruling coalition and smaller parties, will anger the main opposition bloc, which boycotted the cross-party discussions.

“The main opposition coalition have not been part of the dialogue that led to this decision,” Al Jazeera’s Malcolm Webb, reporting from Kampala in neighbouring Uganda, said.

“They say that the dialogue is not fair, not transparent and it is part of what they say is Kabila’s attempt to over-stay in office.”

The presidential election was originally scheduled for November, with Kabila, who is constitutionally barred from seeking a third term in office, due to step down in December.

But earlier this month, Corneille Nangaa, the electoral commission president, told delegates participating in the cross-party talks that the body would not be able to conclude its update of the voter registry in time, and would need extra time to organise an election.

“The Congolese government has initially said that it didn’t have the money to hold elections,” our correspondent said.

“They later said that there were logistical challenges for them to update the electoral register,” Webb added.

“But the opposition want an election much sooner, and crucially what they do not agree to is Kabila leading an interim government after he ends his second constitutional term in December.”

Parties agreed in talks on Saturday to give more time for voter registration and keep Kabila in office until the delayed vote, said one organisation in the discussions, the Union for the Congolese Nation (UNC), in a statement, according to Reuters news agency.

Delegates at the talks would likely ratify the decision on Monday, the statement said.

Vital Kamerhe, the president of UNC, is widely expected to become prime minister as part of the power-sharing government ushered in under the talks.

Protests expected

Congo’s main opposition bloc has already called a general strike for Wednesday to press Kabila to leave at the end of his mandate in December.

“If the opposition succeeds in gathering large crowds, as they have done before, we need to wait and see what kind of reaction they are going to get from the police and the security agencies,” said Al Jazeera’s Webb.

Last month, dozens died in two days of protests in the capital Kinshasa against planned delays to the vote.

The UN has said 49 people were killed, mostly shot by the police and the security forces. But the government blamed the violence on opposition forces and banned all protests in the country.

Kabila, who came to power in 2001 when his father was assassinated, says he will respect the constitution but has yet to rule out attempting to change the country’s laws to enable him to run for a fresh term.

The head of the UN mission in the DRC warned last week that the political impasse poses an “extreme risk” to stability.

{Ms Nambooze said they decided that the continued detention of the four-time presidential candidate is illegal.}

KAMPALA- Opposition MPs are soliciting 143 signatures from fellow lawmakers in a bid to recall Parliament from recess to discuss Dr Kizza Besigye’s continued house arrest and harassment by the police.

This was agreed upon after a group of lawyers led by Ladislaus Rwakafuuzi and Opposition MPs, including Mukono Municipality MP Betty Nambooze, Gilbert Olanya (Kilak) and Roland Mugume (Rukungiri Municipality) visited Dr Besigye at his home in Kasangati last Saturday.

Ms Nambooze, the led petitioner, told journalists last Saturday that they decided that the continued detention of the four-time presidential candidate coupled with heavy police deployment at his home is illegal and that they should recall Parliament to address the same.

“After observing the conditions under which Dr Besigye lives, we decided as MPs, after consultation with other colleagues who are up country right now, that Parliament should be recalled,’’ Ms Nambooze said.

She added: “As you are aware, Parliament is in recess and we shall not be sitting until November 14,’’ Nambooze said, addding that they need 143 signatures to petition Parliament.

She noted that the petition will be ready today (Monday) and they will start collecting signatures from MPs on Tuesday. Ms Nambooze said they want government to tell the whole country what they want to do with Dr Besigye.

Ever since Dr Besigye returned from a six-week long trip abroad, the police have since camped at his home and any attempts by him to leave his home has been met with arrest and consequent detention at Naggalama Police Station.

Equally on Saturday, upon meeting with some Opposition MPs and his lawyers, Dr Besigye was arrested and driven to Naggalama Police Station and was released after 11pm in the night.

Yesterday morning, he successfully went and attended prayers at All Saints Church, Nakasero but police kept trailing him until he disappeared from them.

“We want the Speaker to recall Parliament and let the executive come out clearly and tell us why Besigye is still under house arrest and who is supposed to pay his bills,” Ms Nambooze said.
Mr Olanya implored the Speaker to grant their request, urging all MPs upcountry to come to Parliament tomorrow and append their signatures. He noted that they are tired of seeing Dr Besigye being arrested and said it is high time Parliament came out to clear the mess.

The FDC spokesperson, Mr Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda, in a telephone interview yesterday, said top party officials will be meeting tomorrow (Tuesday) to discuss the way forward regarding the continued detention of Dr Besigye at his home. Mr Ssemujju, also the Kira Municipality MP, said the party will then communicate its official position, adding that he welcomes the option of recalling Parliament to discuss Dr Besigye’s impasse.

“I will personally append my signature on the petition and mobilise other MPs. The idea of recalling Parliament is a good one,” MP Ssemujju said.

Counsel Rwakafuuzi, one of Dr Besigye’s lawyers, said there is no law that allows anybody to imprison a person in an ungazetted place. He urged the Uganda Law Society (ULS) to take on the matter.

“Uganda Law Society should find a legal solution to Dr Besigye’s plight,” Mr Rwakafuuzi said.

When asked yesterday whether as one of his lawyers, they will petition court for redress, Mr Rwakafuuzi was non-committal, reasoning that the courts are also arm-twisted to frustrate the whole process.