IGIHE

Category: Politics

  • Malian opposition parties, civil society demand return of former President Toure

    {Popularly known as ATT, the return of former president Amadou Toumani Touré is being demanded by activists of 13 opposition parties and leaders of civil society in Mali.}

    He has lived in exile in the past four years.

    Touré lives in Dakar, the Senegalese capital, since the overthrow of his government in March 2012 by Captain Amadou Sanogo.

    According to some media, the Malian government would like charges of “high treason” be brought against the former president.

    He is accused of letting the North of the country fall into the hands of armed groups.

    On Saturday, about 100,000 protesters, demanded for a “national dialogue on the security situation” in the north and central part of Mali.

  • DR Congo electoral commission seeks to delay vote

    {The Democratic Republic of Congo’s electoral commission on Saturday said it would seek to delay calling voters to the polls until late 2017, though the opposition swiftly rejected the proposal.}

    The announcement came amid opposition fears that President Joseph Kabila will not step down when his term expires in December.

    “Voters will be called to the polls for the presidential and provincial and national legislative elections simultaneously in November 2017,” electoral commission chief Corneile Naanga told reporters.

    “That is when the candidacies will be submitted,” Naanga said after making the proposal before participants in a so-called national dialogue aimed at ending a tense political standoff in the vast, resource-rich nation.

    Naanga told participants in the dialogue that the commission would require “504 days starting from July 31, 2017” to deal with a string of challenges in its bid to organise the presidential and legislative votes.

    Electoral authorities would need time, Naanga said, to distribute voting material and to deploy the staff to 136,000 voting offices.

    The opposition however swiftly hit back, with spokesman Jean Lucien Bussa saying the electoral commission “must heed the instructions delivered by (participants in) the dialogue, and not do what it wants.”

    Catholic Church leaders, who suspended their participation in the dialogue after the September clashes, also criticised the electoral commission’s move.

    “We can finish everything in a year and quickly hold the presidential election, such a projection is just unnecessary,” Abbot Donatien Nshole said.

    Naanga however said the electoral commission’s job was to announce the electoral calendar.

    Saturday’s statement, Naanga said, was by no means meant to be a decision, but rather was to act as a “guideline.”

    A wave of deadly clashes pitting police against demonstrators hit the Democratic Republic of Congo in September, as the opposition demanded Kabila’s resignation.

    The US Treasury has since placed two of Kabila’s top allies on its sanctions blacklist, tying both to rising political violence and human rights violations.

  • Morocco election: Everything you need to know

    {About 16 million Moroccans head to polls to pick representatives for the 395-seat lower house of parliament.}

    Rabat, Morocco – Moroccans head to the polls on October 7 for the kingdom’s 10th parliamentary elections since independence in 1956, to define a new political map of the North African country.

    Around 16 million Moroccans of the country’s 34 million are registered to vote.

    Candidates from 30 parties will compete to win seats in the 395-member Chamber of Representatives, the lower house of parliament.

    Campaigning began on September 25.

    The main battle will be hotly contested between the ruling Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD) and opposition Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM).

    The Istiqlal (Independence) Party, the oldest in the country founded in 1944, is also projected to do well in this election.

    The PJD, which won the parliamentary elections in 2011 after a turbulent period that saw many of Morocco’s neighbours shaken by the Arab Spring, lost to the PAM in municipal elections in 2015.

    {{So what’s the set-up?}}

    Morocco’s parliament is made up of two directly elected chambers: the 395-member House of Representatives (the lower house) and the 270-member House of Advisers (the upper house).

    On October 7, voters from Morocco’s 95 electoral districts will elect members to serve five-year term in the House of Representatives.

    Out of 395 members, 305 are elected in multi-seat constituencies from electoral lists put together by the parties, while 60 seats of the remaining 90 are reserved for a national list of women and the rest 30 seats are at grab by candidates under the age of 35.

    {{Will voters turn out?}}

    Voter turnout is generally poor. On the whole, about 50 percent of eligible voters cast their ballots both in local (municipal and regional polls) and national elections (parliament).

    Voter turnout in the 2015 local elections was 53.67 percent, up from approximately 45 percent in the 2011 parliamentary vote.

    Turnout in next October elections will be closely watched for an indication of people’s trust in the country’s politicians and parties, but projections stipulate that a certain amount of voter apathy is expected this time too.

    {{And who are they voting for?}}

    The multi-party system in the kingdom makes it impossible for any political party to win an absolute majority, forcing any winning party to work with other parties to form a coalition government.

    At least 30 political parties are taking part in the upcoming elections, but only six major parties do enjoy strong electoral base.

    Those six major parties are usually invited to form coalition governments, while some prefer to remain in the opposition.

    {{Those parties are:}}

    Justice and Development Party

    Authenticity and Modernity Party

    Istiqlal Party (IP)

    Popular Movement (MP)

    Party of Progress and Socialism (PPS)

    National Rally of Independents (RNI)

    Does all this matter? Isn’t the king in charge?

    He is. Morocco is a constitutional monarchy and the king has ultimate authority. King Mohammed VI, Morocco’s monarch, came to power in 1999, after the death of his father.

    The king chairs the Supreme Council of the Judiciary, the National Security Council, and the Council of Ministers, which must approve all legislations. He is also the commander of the faithful, adding religious authority to his political and security ones.

    The country’s new constitution, which was approved in a referendum in 2011, however, introduced amendments that stripped the king of some of his political powers.

    The amendments strengthened the authority of the country’s prime minister, allowing him/her to appoint government officials and dissolve parliament – authorities previously held only by the king.

    The new constitution also ensures that the prime minister is selected from the party that received the most votes in election, rather than the king naming whomever he pleases.

    The reforms also strengthen parliament, allowing it to launch investigations into officials with the support of just one-fifth of its members or to begin a censure motion against a minister with the backing of a third, rather than needing the unanimous approval demanded by the current constitution.

    Does social media have any impact on elections?

    New media has become an integral part of the political landscape in Morocco as it helped internet-assisted political communications to boom in the aftermath of the 2011 Arab Spring, which challenged the balance of power in domestic politics in different Arab countries.

    Many government officials and political parties are now positive about using social media too as a channel to bridge the communication gap with citizens.

    Social media platforms have become the prime space for Moroccans to discuss their daily issues and to assess the government and parliament works.

    According to CMAIS and BoldData, two Moroccan agencies specialising in information processing, Facebook is the social media network with the highest market penetration in Morocco with a total of 8 million active users out of 16 million Internet users.

    {{Are the elections fair?}}

    Critics say there is no guarantee of transparency in the elections organised by Morocco’s Ministry of the Interior.

    Despite some irregularities noted by independent observers, such as buying votes, the voting process is generally carried out close to international standards.

    {{Is there anything else I should know about Morocco?}}

    Bordered on the east by Algeria and on the south by Mauritania [including the disputed Western Sahara region], Morocco has a population of 34 million, with Arabs constituting 70 percent and Berbers making up most of the rest.

    Sunni Muslims account for 90 percent of the population, but the kingdom also has small Christian and Jewish minorities.

    The main official language is Arabic. Berber language, which is spoken widely in the north and the south has been granted the status of official language by the 2011 constitution.

    The law that regulates the Berber language is still under debate in the parliament. Many Moroccans speak French or Spanish as a second or third language.

    Morocco became an independent sovereign state in 1956, following joint declarations made with France and Spain.

    Mohammed Ben Youssef, the Sultan of Morocco, adopted the title of King Mohammed V, and on his death in 1961, his son succeeded him as King Hassan II and became prime minister.

    A total of 60 seats in the 395-member lower house are reserved for women

  • Liberia passes law to create seats in parliament for women

    {Women’s rights activists in Liberia on Friday welcomed a new law creating parliamentary seats reserved for women, young people and people with disabilities, in a country where women are poorly represented in politics despite having a female leader.}

    Liberia’s House of Representatives on Thursday passed the Equal Representation and Participation Bill, creating five seats for female politicians, one for youths and one for people with disabilities in the nation’s lower house of parliament, according to the United Nations agency U.N. Women.

    “The long-awaited passage of this bill is great news for women in Liberia,” said Mary Wandia, program manager at the rights group Equality Now. “Liberian women and girls have been failed for too long on several fronts”.

    Liberia boasts the first woman freely elected as a head of state in Africa, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf.

    However only one in nine seats in Liberia’s parliament are held by women, according to the World Bank. The West African nation ranks 40th out of 54 African countries for the number of women in parliament, and 149th out of 191 worldwide, U.N. Women said.

    “Girls can aspire to join a space that is welcoming, that expects them,” said Peterson Magoola of U.N. Women.

    “Women will know that Liberia cares to hear their perspectives and include it in decision making,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

    While the law has been hailed as a positive move to encourage women’s participation in politics, it may have unintended consequences, said Tamba Johnson of the Women of Liberia Peace Network (WOLPNET), based in the capital Monrovia.

    Male politicians may seek to persuade voters that aspiring female candidates should be chosen only for the seats reserved for women, Johnson said.

    “The allotted seats will always be flagged by men when it comes to elections,” Johnson said. “I feel the future political arena for women will become gradually gloomy over the years.”

    Women’s representation in politics has made substantial progress in sub-Saharan Africa, where the share of female parliamentarians increased to 22.3 percent last year from 9.8 percent in 1995, the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) said.

    President of Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf speaks at the 2016 Concordia Summit at the Grand Hyatt New York, in New York City, Sept. 20, 2016.

  • UN condemns Congo clashes, calls for quick election calendar

    {Tensions in Congo have risen as it has become increasingly apparent that President Joseph Kabila will stay in office after his term legally ends in December.}

    The UN Human Rights Council on Friday strongly condemned recent deadly clashes in Congo fueled by political turmoil and called on the government and electoral commission to establish a calendar for elections “as fast as possible.”

    Tensions in Congo have risen as it has become increasingly apparent that President Joseph Kabila will stay in office after his term legally ends in December. Congo’s electoral commission said November’s scheduled presidential vote won’t be possible, and a court has determined Kabila can stay in power until another election is organized.

    A resolution adopted by the Geneva-based Human Rights Council called on the government to create “without delay the necessary conditions for holding free, transparent, inclusive and peaceful elections.”

    It also called on the government and the electoral commission “to accelerate preparations towards the holding of elections and to establish as fast as possible a credible electoral calendar” as part of a national dialogue.

    Dimitris Christopoulos, president of the international human rights group FIDH, which includes 184 organizations from close to 120 countries, said: “The United Nations just sent President Kabila a crystal-clear message: respect the rule of law, the constitution and the electoral process; otherwise you will be held to account before the international community.”

    The Human Rights Council expressed deep concern at reports of violations of civil and political rights, “particularly freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, committed by state actors in the context of crucial election processes.” It singled out threats and intimidation of members of political parties, civil society and journalists.
    The resolution “strongly urges” the government to peacefully resolve the political issues that led to the recent violence, particularly in the capital Kinshasa, “and avoid additional confrontation.”

    Last week, the UN Security Council urged all parties in Congo to end violent clashes and open a peaceful political dialogue on the holding of presidential elections. It strongly condemned the violence that it said has led to the death of at least 32 people, including four police officers.

    The bodies of people killed during election protests lie in the street, as Congolese troops stand near by in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, Monday, Sept. 19, 2016.

  • There is enough democracy in Rwanda–opposition

    {Mukabunani Christine, outgoing spokesperson of the National Forum for Political Organization (NFPO) has said that Rwanda has enough democracy, a conclusion she says is based on her experience in leadership from an opposition political party. }

    She revealed this yesterday as she was leaving office her mandate having expired where she expressed her willingness to share ideas with government despite being a member of an opposition political party.

    “Witnessing the growth of democracy in Rwanda is the first experience I acquired. It is commendable for various political parties to sit and reach consensus despite having distinct opposing ideas,” she said.

    “As I chaired meetings with other politicians, it became apparent there is a common interest of building the country. Such democracy excited foreigners visiting us,” she said.

    Mukabunani Christine, outgoing spokesperson of the National Forum for Political Organization (NFPO)

  • Amid unrest, families of US personnel ordered to leave Congo

    {Critics of President Joseph Kabila say the delayed election is an effort to keep Kabila in power.}

    The State Department is halting most official US government travel to the Democratic Republic of Congo and ordering family members of US government personnel to leave the country.

    Violent clashes broke out in Congo amid political turmoil earlier this month. Americans have been warned about traveling in the African nation for several weeks.

    In an updated travel warning issued Thursday, the State Department says continued instability is being reported in Congo.The warning says the potential for civil unrest is high in parts of the capital, Kinshasa, and other major cities.

    Congo’s electoral commission has decided a presidential election scheduled for November won’t be possible, sparking deadly clashes between security forces and demonstrators.

    Critics of President Joseph Kabila say the delayed election is an effort to keep Kabila in power.

    Congo: Potential for civil unrest is high in parts of the capital, Kinshasa, and other major cities

  • Demonstrations against UN experts report on Burundi continue

    {“I have come to protest because I am a Burundian, proud of my country and particularly to express my anger against UN experts who produced a biased report on Burundi, “says Cecile Nshimirimana, the national representative of FLORINA Mpuzabarundi political party. She has joined a protest that brought together around a thousand people including senators, members of parliament, political leaders, civil servants and other protesters this 29 September before the High Commissioner of UN Human Rights office in Burundi.}

    Protesters vow to continue demonstrating if the UN Security Council adopts a resolution drafted by the EU in the wake of the UN Experts independent investigation on human rights situation in Burundi that Bujumbura rejected.

    “I will continue to protest because the international community wants to invade Burundi. Burundi is an independent country, led by democratically elected institutions. The UN Security Council should not impose a resolution based on false information. Those UN experts should have interviewed more Burundians before submitting the report to the UN Security Council “said Nshimirimana.

    This happens while the 33rd session of the UN Human Rights Council on Burundi is being held since the morning of Tuesday 27 September.

    For Vital Nshimirimana, the chairman of the Forum for the Strengthening of the Civil Society, these demonstrations organized by Bujumbura regime allies will have no impact. He says that the UN experts report is normally contradicted by a shadow report.

    The Government of Burundi should produce a report contradicting that of the UN experts which provided evidence of serious crimes against the international rights.

    For him, the fact that the Burundian government mobilizes state employees to leave their offices, their substantive positions to take part in the demonstrations against the High Commissioner of UN Human Rights office in Burundi is a shame for the country. “It’s not going to change anything because the international community is determined to fight impunity prevailing in Burundi by prosecuting perpetrators of serious crimes like crimes against humanity,” he says.

    Protesters before the High Commissioner of UN Human Rights office in Bujumbura

  • Obama: Congress’ veto override of 9/11 bill ‘a mistake’

    {US president says Senate’s vote to override his veto of legislation would “set a dangerous precedent”.}

    US President Barack Obama has called the Senate’s vote to override his veto on a bill that allows families of the victims of the September 11, 2001, attacks to sue Saudi Arabia’s government a mistake.

    Calling it a “political vote”, Obama said on Wednesday that the bill would set “a dangerous precedent” that could put US troops and interests at risk.

    “If we eliminate this notion of sovereign immunity, then our men and women in uniform around the world could potentially start seeing ourselves subject to reciprocal loss,” Obama said during a town hall meeting-style interview on CNN, referring to potential lawsuits.

    Earlier on Wednesday, the US Congress passed into law the controversial bill that allows family members of 9/11 victims to sue Saudi Arabia for its alleged backing of the attackers.

    Both the Senate and House voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday in favour of the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, or JASTA.

    “The White House and the executive branch [are] far more interested in diplomatic considerations,” said Senator Chuck Schumer, a sponsor of the bill. “We’re more interested in the families and in justice.”

    The vote was a blow to Obama and to Saudi Arabia – one of the US’ oldest allies in the Arab world.

    Obama, who vetoed the measure last week, said in a letter to Senate leaders on Tuesday that other countries could use JASTA to justify similar immunity exceptions to target US policies and activities that they oppose.

    “If any of these litigants were to win judgments – based on foreign domestic laws as applied by foreign courts – they would begin to look to the assets of the US government held abroad to satisfy those judgments, with potentially serious financial consequences for the United States,” Obama said at the time.

    Obama’s veto was overturned in Wednesday’s congressional vote – the first override of his presidency.

    Fifteen of the 19 men who carried out the 2001 attacks were Saudi nationals. Families of the victims spent years lobbying lawmakers for the right to sue the kingdom in US courts for any role elements of Saudi Arabia’s government may have played.

    Saudi Arabia has long denied any involvement in the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people. Riyadh strongly objected to the bill.

    Al Jazeera requested comment from the Saudi embassy in Washington but did not receive a response by the time of publication.

    Speaking after the Senate vote, White House spokesman Josh Earnest called the move “the single most embarrassing thing the United States Senate has done possibly since 1983” and “an abdication of their basic responsibilities as elected representatives of the American people”.

    Stephen Kinzer, a senior fellow at the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University, said the eight-decade-long US-Saudi relationship was “entering into a new phase”.

    Other analysts warned that Saudi Arabia could, in response to the law, pull billions of dollars from the US economy and persuade close allies in the Gulf Cooperation Council to scale back counterterrorism cooperation, investment, and US access to important regional military bases.

    “This should be clear to America and to the rest of the world: When one GCC state is targeted unfairly, the others stand around it,” said Abdulkhaleq Abdullah, an Emirati Gulf specialist and professor of political science at United Arab Emirates University.

    “All the states will stand by Saudi Arabia in every way possible.”

    Chas Freeman, former US assistant secretary of defence and ambassador to Saudi Arabia during Operation Desert Storm, said the Saudis could respond to the law in ways that risk US strategic interests, such as permissive rules for overflight between Europe and Asia, and the Qatari airbase from which US military operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria are directed and supported.

    “The souring of relations and curtailing of official contacts that this legislation would inevitably produce could also jeopardise Saudi cooperation against anti-American terrorism,” he said.

    Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir told reporters in June that the US had the most to lose if JASTA was enacted.

    Joseph Gagnon, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, said estimates put the figure of official Saudi assets in the US at between $500bn and $1 trillion, when considering potential foreign bank deposits and offshore accounts.

  • DR Congo: US Imposes Sanctions on 2 Officials

    {(Washington, DC, September 28, 2016) – The United States government on September 28, 2016, imposed targeted sanctions against two senior security force officers in the Democratic Republic of Congo who have long been implicated in serious abuses, Human Rights Watch said today. The officials are Gabriel Amisi (known as “Tango Four”), army commander of the country’s western region, and John Numbi, a former national police inspector.}

    “The US announcement of targeted sanctions against two senior Congolese security force officers sends a powerful message that there are consequences for the government’s violent repression of political demonstrations and other serious abuses,” said Ida Sawyer, senior Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch. “For the greatest impact, the US should expand sanctions to include other senior government, security, and intelligence officials responsible for brutal repression over the past two years.”

    In a statement to announce the new designations, the acting director of the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), John E. Smith, said that Amisi and Numbi “have engaged in actions that undermine democratic processes in the DRC and repress the political rights and freedoms of the Congolese people, risking further and more widespread instability in the DRC, and the broader Great Lakes region.” He noted that the “action is not directed at the people of DRC,” but “is intended to alter the behavior of the targeted individuals.”

    On June 23, the US announced targeted sanctions against Gen. Célestin Kanyama, the police commissioner for the capital, Kinshasa.

    Since January 2015, Congolese government officials and security forces have carried out a brutal campaign of repression against people who opposed attempts to extend President Joseph Kabila’s presidency beyond the constitutionally mandated two-term limit, which ends on December 19. The officials arrested scores of activists and opposition leaders and supporters, repeatedly banned opposition demonstrations, shut down media outlets, prevented opposition leaders from moving freely around the country, and fired on peaceful protesters.

    Government repression reached new heights during the week of September 18, when Congolese across the country took to the streets to protest election delays. In Kinshasa, security forces fatally shot at least 50 people and detained scores of others. The security forces took away some of the bodies, witnesses reported, in an apparent effort to hide the evidence and prevent families from organizing funerals.

    In an apparent attempt to block independent observers from documenting government repression, security forces detained several international and Congolese journalists and a Congolese human rights activist soon after the protests began. The offices of a prominent human rights organization and a civil society organization were also vandalized. Some of the protesters also turned violent, beating or burning to death several police officers.

    “The European Union and the United Nations Security Council should urgently adopt similar sanctions as the US,” Sawyer said. “Taking strong action now could put further pressure on President Kabila to abide by the constitutional requirement to step down at the end of his term, and help prevent a broader crisis, with potentially volatile repercussions throughout the region.”

    For brief biographies of Amisi and Numbi, please see below.

    { {{Gabriel Amisi}} }

    Gen. Amisi has a long record of involvement in serious human rights abuses in Congo. An officer in then-President Joseph Mobutu’s army, Amisi joined the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo (AFDL) rebellion, backed by Rwanda, which ousted Mobutu in 1997. Amisi later joined another Rwanda-backed rebellion, the Congolese Rally for Democracy (RCD)-Goma, and in May 2002, was among the commanders responsible for widespread killings, summary executions, rapes, and pillage during the suppression of a mutiny in Kisangani, Human Rights Watch research at the time showed.

    The UN Group of Experts on Congo reported that Amisi was later allegedly involved in the trafficking of minerals, including tin and gold, while he was commander of the Congolese army’s land forces. Amisi was suspended in November 2012, following accusations made by the Group of Experts that he was overseeing a network distributing ammunition for poachers and armed groups. Congolese authorities cleared him of all charges in July 2014.

    Amisi is currently the commander of the First Defense Zone, which covers the capital, Kinshasa, and other western provinces. Troops under his command have been involved in the violent repression of political demonstrations over the past two years and the excessive and unlawful use of force.

    { {{John Numbi}} }

    John Numbi is the former national inspector for the Congolese National Police. In 2008, he was involved in deploying about 600 police officers to repress the political-religious group Bundu Dia Kongo (BDK), based in Bas Congo. Human Rights Watch research at the time showed that during three weeks of police operations, the police fired at protesting BDK adherents, some of them violent, without adequate warning, killing over 200 and injuring scores of others. The police used excessive and lethal force and in some cases deliberately killed people who were wounded, including people who were seeking medical treatment at health centers, running away, or otherwise in no position to threaten the police. The police systematically burned meeting places, homes, and other buildings belonging to BDK adherents. The police arrested over 150 suspected BDK followers, including those who had not participated in any actions against the police, and tortured or ill-treated some of them.

    On June 1, 2010, the prominent human rights defender Floribert Chebeya, who had documented police abuses against the BDK, visited the police headquarters in Kinshasa following a telephone call requesting his presence at Numbi’s office. His body was found soon afterward. Chebeya’s driver, Fidèle Bazana, remains missing. Following widespread indignation in Congo and internationally about the apparent double murder that implicated Numbi, he was suspended as national police inspector on June 5, 2010. A high military court in 2012 refused to examine Numbi’s alleged role in the murder.

    The US government statement announcing the sanctions says that Numbi is still an influential adviser to President Kabila even though he no longer has an official function. During gubernatorial elections in March, the statement says, he used “violent intimidation to secure victories for candidates affiliated with President Kabila’s MP [majorité présidentielle] coalition” and “threatened to kill opposition candidates who did not voluntarily withdraw from the race.”