IGIHE

Category: Politics

  • Besigye lashes out at police court over brutality trials

    Without public pressure, the former presidential candidate said the Police leadership would not have taken any action on the errant officers.

    Opposition leader Kizza Besigye has described the Police court as “drama” even as he declared a move to have police officers answer for alleged crimes as “a great victory for the people”.

    Dr Besigye, who was speaking to journalists outside his Katonga Road offices in Kampala shortly after an uninterrupted procession through parts of the city, said it was ironical for the Inspector General of Police, Gen Kale Kayihura, to have his juniors charged even after praising them for beating Ugandans.

    “I consider what they did to charge them [Police officers] as drama because the person who ordered them, who applauded their actions and congratulated them for doing a good job, is the same person charging them,” he said.

    Bravo to public

    Without public pressure, the former presidential candidate said the Police leadership would not have taken any action on the errant officers.

    “We are starting to see the effects of a people, Ugandans, who are waking up and saying this is our country. They were calling them hooligans, now beating a hooligan they know can cost you a job; they know it can take you to prison. They are beginning to realise there are citizens in this country who have rights over their country,” he said.

    Police have in the last two weeks come under intense criticism for high-handedness and brutality against unarmed civilians. Some of the police commanders, who participated in the exercise, are on trial in the police court while the Inspector General of Police and other senior officers have been summoned to appear before Makindye Chief Magistrate’s Court to explain their role in the incidents.

    The incidents have been condemned by among others Parliament, human rights bodies, including Uganda Human Rights Commission and the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM).

    Dr Besigye said appearing before court alone was a humiliation for the officers who the IGP had earlier applauded. He said the option of preferring more charges against the accused officers was still on table. “There are offences for which they are not going to be charged, offences of torture, they have not been charged; for torturing Ugandans. We can charge them and should charge them in ordinary courts.”

    The appeal

    Meanwhile, Dr Besigye has appealed to the Director of Public Prosecutions to only take up the case in which the police chief, Gen Kayihura, and seven other senior officers have been summoned to appear before Makindye Chief Magistrate’s Court to answer torture related charges.

    Dr Besigye said there was a history of the DPP taking over criminal cases and instead “killing them”.

    “If the DPP takes over this case, he should prosecute it together with those who have taken the case to court so that evidence can be produced in court and the accused defends self or court decides there is no case to answer.”

    DPP Mike Chibita in an interview yesterday said he was yet to study the case. “I have asked to look at the papers of that case and the interest or not will develop after that process,” he said.

    Dr Kizza Besigye has described the Police court as

  • US election: DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz to quit

    Democratic National Committee chair announces resignation as fallout of leaked emails deepens on eve of convention.

    Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – On the eve of the Democratic National Convention, party members grappled to contain a crisis brought about by a trove of leaked emails that confirmed suspicions the party was biased against former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders.

    As the fallout continued, Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz said on Sunday that she would step down after the convention, which begins Monday.

    Her tentative resignation came after emails, leaked by Wikileaks, seemed to confirm allegations by Sanders’ campaign that the party was secretly supporting presumptive nominee Hillary Clinton.

    The incident will most likely widen the chasm between supporters of the two camps, as Clinton vies for their support the week she is to be officially nominated as the party’s presidential candidate.

    Earlier on Sunday, Schultz was taken off the speakers’ list for the convention – a clear snub and a rarity for any party chair. Pressure on Schultz increased further after Sanders called for her resignation.

    Later on Sunday, Sanders issued a statement saying that by resigning, Schultz “made the right decision for the future of the Democratic Party”.

    “The party leadership must also always remain impartial in the presidential nominating process, something which did not occur in the 2016 race.”

    Pro-Sanders rallies

    Meanwhile, thousands of Sanders’ supporters assembled in Philadelphia on Sunday to march from city hall to a nearby park, voicing their anger over they said was a clear attempt at sabotaging the Sanders campaign.

    “The short-term fallout is [that] Wasserman Schultz is marginalised at the convention and is out of office very soon,” said David Meyer, professor of political science at UC Irvine.

    “She will probably continue to hold her seat in the House of Representatives though. But nobody is surprised that the party favoured Clinton.”

    Democrats are also scrambling to unite their front: Clinton and Sanders supporters agreed to form a “unity commission” to limit the role of superdelegates – those who are not bound to vote as per primary results – in the next election cycle.

    This was a point of contention in the lead up to the DNC: Sanders won a high number of primaries and caucuses, but superdelegates – party members free to back the candidate of their choice – still voted for Clinton.

    Democrats are also scrambling to unite their front: Clinton and Sanders supporters agreed to form a “unity commission” to limit the role of superdelegates – those who are not bound to vote as per primary results – in the next election cycle.

    This was a point of contention in the lead up to the DNC: Sanders won a high number of primaries and caucuses, but superdelegates – party members free to back the candidate of their choice – still voted for Clinton.

    Clinton has hurdles to overcome this week, one of which is “consolidating the base on the one hand and reaching out to the general electorate on the other hand,” Meirick told Al Jazeera.

    “I think that Clinton up to this point has embraced the Obama legacy and has not really addressed political shakeups of the system per se.”

    Philadelphia is meanwhile bracing for a round of protests throughout the four-day Democratic National Convention, where delegates are converging to formally nominate Clinton as their presidential candidate.

    More than 50,000 people are expected to arrive in the city, including various disparate groups that will demonstrate for different causes, among them legalising marijuana, poverty and homelessness, policing and environmental issues.

    At least one group will attempt to hold the world’s largest “fart-in” by having a large bean meal shortly prior, in protest against the “rhetorical flatulence of Hillary Clinton”, according to local activist Cheri Honkala of the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign.

    “The idea behind this is that this whole process stinks, and that we can’t have a revolution under any corporate control of either political party,” Honkala told Al Jazeera.

    “I know that the Democratic Party doesn’t give a damn about people in this country, and no way would they have given an independent socialist [Senator Bernie Sanders] control over it.”

    Philadelphia City officials are preparing for potentially rowdy demonstrations, as more than 20 protest permits have been issued. The police force has 5,200 members, but the mayor’s office would not disclose to Al Jazeera how many of those would be dispatched to ensure law and order.

    The last time Philadelphia hosted a national convention in 2000, nearly 400 people were arrested, some pre-emptively, when police raided a warehouse where protesters had gathered to prepare for demonstrations.

    Philadelphia is meanwhile bracing for a round of protests throughout the four-day Democratic National Convention, where delegates are converging to formally nominate Clinton as their presidential candidate.

    More than 50,000 people are expected to arrive in the city, including various disparate groups that will demonstrate for different causes, among them legalising marijuana, poverty and homelessness, policing and environmental issues.

    At least one group will attempt to hold the world’s largest “fart-in” by having a large bean meal shortly prior, in protest against the “rhetorical flatulence of Hillary Clinton”, according to local activist Cheri Honkala of the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign.

    “The idea behind this is that this whole process stinks, and that we can’t have a revolution under any corporate control of either political party,” Honkala told Al Jazeera.

    “I know that the Democratic Party doesn’t give a damn about people in this country, and no way would they have given an independent socialist [Senator Bernie Sanders] control over it.”

    Philadelphia City officials are preparing for potentially rowdy demonstrations, as more than 20 protest permits have been issued. The police force has 5,200 members, but the mayor’s office would not disclose to Al Jazeera how many of those would be dispatched to ensure law and order.

    The last time Philadelphia hosted a national convention in 2000, nearly 400 people were arrested, some pre-emptively, when police raided a warehouse where protesters had gathered to prepare for demonstrations.

    Last year, the city hosted Pope Francis, drawing more than a million visitors, without any major security incidents.

    Barricades are already up outside the Wells Fargo Centre, where the convention is being held, and high-calibre guests will be speaking, including US President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama and former president Bill Clinton.

    “For security reasons, all we can say is that we also have specialised units involved, and a security parameter will be put in place around the main event centre,” said Lauren Hitt, communications director for Philadelphia’s mayor.

    “We want to make sure that people are able to exercise their expression of the First Amendment safely.”

  • US election: Bernie Sanders urges support for Clinton

    Former candidate for the Democratic nomination urges party unity in speech at the Democratic convention in Philadelphia.

    Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – To both tears and cheers, former presidential nominee Bernie Sanders took the podium at the Democratic National Convention to urge his supporters to come together and vote for Hillary Clinton, telling them they cannot “sit out” the election.

    Amidst a hearty welcome and a sustained applause that lasted almost three minutes, Sanders told his followers that Clinton “must become the next president of the United States,” and urged unity.

    Sticking carefully to his script, the Vermont senator painted a picture of a dark America should Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, win the elections in November.

    “Take a moment to think about the Supreme Court justices that Donald Trump would nominate and what that would mean to civil liberties, equal rights and the future of our country,” he warned the crowds clad in T-shirts and waving signs bearing his name.

    While clutching his hands to articulate togetherness, Sanders spoke about both camps working to create the party’s “most progressive platform,” which now included anti-Wall Street provisions and opposition to “job-killing free trade agreements like the Trans-Pacific Partnership”.

    Amidst shouts of “Bernie, Bernie,” he acknowledged that the primary season had divided the party, which was recently hit with an email leak that showed Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz expressing favouritism to Clinton.

    “I understand that many people here in this convention hall and around the country are disappointed about the final results of the nominating process,” Sanders said.

    “I think it’s fair to say that no one is more disappointed than I am. But to all of our supporters – here and around the country – I hope you take enormous pride in the historical accomplishments we have achieved.”

    Democrats divided

    Throughout the night, party speakers attempted to bridge the schism that had been brewing over time. Comedienne Sarah Silverman admonished Sanders supporters, calling them “ridiculous,” before introducing Paul Simon with his 1970 classic ‘Bridge over Troubled Water’.

    Earlier on Monday, the divide within the party was apparent when supporters, angered by the Democratic National Committee’s treatment of their candidate of choice, drowned out speakers with shouts, and even ignored appeals by Sanders himself to unite for the sake of the party.

    Efforts to avoid signs of discord on the first day of the DNC intensified on the convention floor, as Sanders delegates chanted his name, prompting his campaign to send an email urging them not to walk out and warning that it could damage “our credibility as a movement”.

    Some Sanders allies even shouted “lock her up,” an echo of the sentiments voiced by Republicans at their own national convention in Cleveland just last week.

    Trying to pacify the Vermont senator’s supporters, the party’s leadership issued a formal apology for the “inexcusable remarks made over email”.

    POLL – Most Americans fear election of Clinton or Trump

    Schultz had resigned on Sunday, but earlier today, after she was heckled trying to speak at a Florida delegation breakfast, she also gave up her right to gavel open the convention.

    That did not seem to sway the delegations; at one point Sanders himself was met with a cacophony of boos, followed by chants of “We want Bernie,” as he addressed a rally and urged his followers to elect Clinton and her vice presidential candidate Tim Kaine.

    Prominent Democratic elected officials, who supported Sanders in the primaries, however, said that despite the discord over the leaked emails, the party had come a long way and achieved a milestone.

    “Sanders and Clinton came together to write the most progressive platform that we have ever had,” Congressman Keith Ellison of Minnesota told Al Jazeera. “I’m feeling confident that we’re going to be united.”

    Some of Sanders supporters were not ready to hear calls for unity or voting for Clinton. Daniel Martin-Mills, who came to Philadelphia from Michigan, said that he would not vote for Clinton, even if it means it would give Donald Trump an edge.

    “I don’t believe that Hillary Clinton has anyone’s interest in mind but her own,” he said. “If she were elected, it would be a tragedy for our nation. I think she would sell us out for her own gain.”

    “I don’t care for Trump either, but there’s no way in the world I would vote for Hillary. It won’t be my fault (if he wins). I vote my conscience and there are more than two choices. I’d vote for Jill Stein.”

    Sanders acknowledged that the primaries divided the Democratic Party

  • South Sudan: Salva Kiir removes Riek Machar as deputy leader

    South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir has removed Riek Machar as first vice president, two weeks after the rival leaders’ forces clashed in the capital.

    Mr Machar has not been seen since the clashes, which left 300 people dead and threatened to revive a civil war that has killed tens of thousands.

    Mr Machar was replaced by Taban Deng Gai, a former peace negotiator.

    The replacement was criticised by Mr Machar’s supporters – but others in his party are said to have supported it.

    The BBC’s correspondent in Nairobi, Alastair Leithead, said the move has complicated an already tense political situation.

    He said there were fears that Mr Machar’s supporters might claim that a peace deal with President Kiir had been broken.

    This could plunge the country back into civil war – unless a majority of opposition politicians decided to back the new appointment.

    During the clashes in early July, Mr Machar’s forces were outgunned by forces loyal to the president, and many of his bodyguards were killed.

    The rebel leader left the capital, Juba, demanding the deployment of a neutral peacekeeping force that would guarantee his safety.

    Mr Machar also sacked Mr Gai as mining minister just over a week ago, according to the AFP news agency.

    However, scores of other members of Mr Machar’s party came out in support of Mr Gai, nominating him as interim vice president in Mr Machar’s absence.

    Mr Gai has reportedly said that he would step down if Mr Machar returned to Juba and helped “bring peace to South Sudan”.

    South Sudan became independent from Sudan in 2011 but its short history has been marred by civil war.

    The international community played a major role in the creation of South Sudan and has tried to exercise some influence since independence in 2011.

    The UN and US had demanded an immediate end to the fighting in July, a call echoed by the East African regional group which brokered a recent peace deal.

    First Vice-President Riek Machar, left, and President Salva Kiir have been locked in a power struggle

  • US election: DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz to quit

    Democratic National Committee Chair announces resignation as fallout of leaked emails deepens on eve of convention.

    Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – On the eve of the Democratic National Convention, party members grappled to contain a crisis brought about by a trove of leaked emails that confirmed suspicions the party was biased against former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders.

    As the fallout continued, Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz said on Sunday that she would step down after the convention, which begins Monday.

    Her tentative resignation came after emails, leaked by Wikileaks, seemed to confirm allegations by Sanders’ campaign that the party was secretly supporting presumptive nominee Hillary Clinton.

    The incident will most likely widen the chasm between supporters of the two camps, as Clinton vies for their support the week she is to be officially nominated as the party’s presidential candidate.

    Earlier on Sunday, Schultz was taken off the speakers’ list for the convention – a clear snub and a rarity for any party chair. Pressure on Schultz increased further after Sanders called for her resignation.

    Later on Sunday, Sanders issued a statement saying that by resigning, Schultz “made the right decision for the future of the Democratic Party”.

    “The party leadership must also always remain impartial in the presidential nominating process, something which did not occur in the 2016 race.”

    Pro-Sanders rallies

    Meanwhile, thousands of Sanders’ supporters assembled in Philadelphia on Sunday to march from city hall to a nearby park, voicing their anger over they said was a clear attempt at sabotaging the Sanders campaign.

    “The short-term fallout is [that] Wasserman Schultz is marginalised at the convention and is out of office very soon,” said David Meyer, professor of political science at UC Irvine.

    “She will probably continue to hold her seat in the House of Representatives though. But nobody is surprised that the party favoured Clinton.”

    Democrats are also scrambling to unite their front: Clinton and Sanders supporters agreed to form a “unity commission” to limit the role of superdelegates – those who are not bound to vote as per primary results – in the next election cycle.

    This was a point of contention in the lead up to the DNC: Sanders won a high number of primaries and caucuses, but superdelegates – party members free to back the candidate of their choice – still voted for Clinton.

    “Clinton needs to make sure she has the Bernie backers on her side,” said Patrick Meirick, director of the Political Communication Centre, a research institution and archive of political advertisements at the University of Oklahoma.

    “I expect to see some conciliatory noises toward the concerns of Sanders supporters. We already saw her make some changes on the platform.”

    Clinton has hurdles to overcome this week, one of which is “consolidating the base on the one hand and reaching out to the general electorate on the other hand,” Meirick told Al Jazeera.

    “I think that Clinton up to this point has embraced the Obama legacy and has not really addressed political shakeups of the system per se.”

    Philadelphia is meanwhile bracing for a round of protests throughout the four-day Democratic National Convention, where delegates are converging to formally nominate Clinton as their presidential candidate.

    More than 50,000 people are expected to arrive in the city, including various disparate groups that will demonstrate for different causes, among them legalising marijuana, poverty and homelessness, policing and environmental issues.

    At least one group will attempt to hold the world’s largest ‘fart-in’ by having a large bean meal shortly prior, to protest the “rhetorical flatulence of Hillary Clinton”, according to local activist Cheri Honkala of the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign.

    “The idea behind this is that this whole process stinks, and that we can’t have a revolution under any corporate control of either political party,” Honkala told Al Jazeera.

    “I know that the Democratic Party doesn’t give a damn about people in this country, and no way would they have given an independent socialist [Senator Bernie Sanders] control over it.”

    Philadelphia City officials are preparing for potentially rowdy demonstrations, as more than 20 protest permits have been issued. The police force has 5,200 members, but the mayor’s office would not disclose to Al Jazeera how many of those would be dispatched to ensure law and order.

    The last time Philadelphia hosted a national convention in 2000, nearly 400 people were arrested, some pre-emptively, when police raided a warehouse where protesters had gathered to prepare for demonstrations. Last year, the city hosted Pope Francis, drawing more than a million visitors, without any major security incidents.

    Barricades are already up outside the Wells Fargo Centre, where the convention is being held, and high-calibre guests will be speaking, including US President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama and former president Bill Clinton.

    “For security reasons, all we can say is that we also have specialised units involved, and a security parameter will be put in place around the main event centre,” said Lauren Hitt, communications director for Philadelphia’s mayor.

    “We want to make sure that people are able to exercise their expression of the First Amendment safely.”

    DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz said she would resign after the convention

  • Kiir rushes to Kampala for talks with Museveni

    Embattled South Sudan President Salva Kiir at the weekend rushed to Kampala for talks with President Museveni amid mounting political tension back home.

    President Kiir held two back-to- back closed-door meetings at State House Entebbe with his counterpart and select government ministers, according to senior Presidential press secretary, Don Wanyama.

    Mr Wanyama described the meetings as part of an ongoing effort to thrash out a peace deal in the world’s youngest nation.

    “They focused on how to bring stability to the restive country in light of recent decisions by the African Union and Inter-governmental Authority on Development,” Mr Wanyama said.

    Violence erupted in South Sudan again on July 8, following friction between forces loyal to President Kiir and his deputy Dr Riek Machar.

    According to United Nations, the crisis has displaced more than 36,000 people internally, claimed lives of more than 300 forcing out about 100,000 to neighbouring countries.
    Uganda, Kenya, US and Germany have evacuated their citizens.

    When violence erupted, Machar retreated to where his loyal forces were and on Thursday last week, President Kiir gave him a 48-hour ultimatum to return to the capital Juba or be fired.Dr Machar did not respect the ultimatum which expired on Saturday.

    South Sudan media reported that a section of opposition members had resolved to replace him as vice president with Mr Taban Deng, a proposal that caused fault-lines within the opposition. Mr Deng was the opposition chief negotiator during the deal brokered in Addis Ababa that ended previous fighting that broke out on December 15, 2013.

    African Heads of State meeting in the Rwandan capital Kigali for the 27th AU Summit last week approved deployment of a regional force, under the auspices of the AU, comprising troops from Uganda, Sudan, Rwanda, Kenya and Ethiopia to contain the situation. South Sudan officials present reportedly opposed the idea.

    The South Sudan government said it was not ready for foreign troops. Already in South Sudan are troops under the auspices of the UN Mission in South Sudan approved by the Security Council and 47 US troops dispatched by President Obama to evacuate American citizens and protect its embassy in Juba.

    At the sidelines of the AU summit, President Museveni met UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and suggested a regional force to provide protection to Dr Machar who is distrustful of the government forces (SPLA).

    President Museveni (Centre) with South Sudan President Salva Kiir (to his right) and dignitaries from both governments at State House Entebbe at the weekend. President Kiir held two back-to-back and closed-door meetings with his counterpart and select government ministers.

  • Hillary Clinton picks Senator Tim Kaine as running mate

    Democratic presidential hopeful calls Senator Tim Kaine “a man who has devoted his life to fighting for others”.

    Hillary Clinton named Virginia Senator Tim Kaine as her vice presidential running mate on Friday, adding a centrist former governor of a crucial battleground state to the Democratic ticket.

    In a text message to supporters, the presumptive Democratic nominee said, “I’m thrilled to tell you this first: I’ve chosen Sen. Tim Kaine as my running mate”.

    On Twitter a few seconds later, Clinton described Kaine as “a man who’s devoted his life to fighting for others”.

    I’m thrilled to announce my running mate, @TimKaine, a man who’s devoted his life to fighting for others. -H pic.twitter.com/lTVyfztE5Z

    — Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) July 23, 2016
    She called him “a relentless optimist who believes no problem is unsolvable if you put in the work to solve it”.

    Clinton’s pick came a day after her opponent, Donald Trump, closed out the Republican Party’s convention with a fiery address accusing her of “terrible, terrible crimes”.

    ‘World-class senator’

    Kaine, 58, had long been a favourite for Clinton’s ticket. Fluent in Spanish and active in the Senate on foreign relations and military affairs, he built a reputation for working across the aisle as Virginia’s governor and as mayor of Richmond.

    In a recent interview with CBS News, Clinton noted that Kaine has never lost an election during his lengthy political career and praised him as a “world-class mayor, governor and senator”.

    A favourite of Barack Obama since his early 2008 endorsement, the president told Clinton’s campaign he believed Kaine would be a strong choice during the selection process, according to a Democratic familiar with the search who was not authorised to discuss it publicly.

    Those views are not shared by some liberals in the Democratic Party, who dislike his support of free trade and Wall Street.

    They pushed Clinton to pick Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren or Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown, intensifying their criticism of Kaine late this week as his selection appeared imminent.

    Clinton’s campaign largely declined to comment on the search process, trying to keep the details – even the names of the finalists – under wraps to try to maximise the impact of their announcement.

    She made no mention of her impending pick during a somber meeting on Friday with community leaders and family members affected by the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando and a later campaign rally in Tampa.

    She is expected to campaign with Kaine on Saturday morning at an event in Miami.

    Centrist candidate

    Before entering politics, Kaine was an attorney who specialised in civil rights and fair housing. He learned Spanish during a mission trip to Honduras while in law school, an experience he still references on the campaign trail.

    During his political career, he’s demonstrated an ability to woo voters across party lines, winning his 2006 gubernatorial race with support in both Democratic strongholds and traditionally Republican strongholds.

    His wife, Anne Holton, is the daughter of a former Virginia governor, a former state judge and, currently, the state’s Education Secretary. The couple has three children.

    Clinton’s plans to pick Kaine, hinted at for several days leading up her Friday announcement, had been viewed as a safe choice against the Republican ticket of Trump and Indiana Governor Mike Pence.

    Some Democrats believe Trump’s selection of Pence, a conservative white man from a largely Republican state, freed Clinton from pressure to add another woman or minority to her ticket.

    Her short list included Warren, two Latino cabinet secretaries and New Jersey Governor Cory Booker, one of two black US senators.

    Democrats argue that Kaine could help her woo moderate and even some Republican voters turned off by Trump’s provocative rhetoric, which was at the centre of his 75-minute acceptance speech on Thursday night.

    Kaine got some practice challenging Trump’s message when he campaigned with Clinton last week in northern Virginia, where he spoke briefly in Spanish and offered a strident assault on Trump’s White House credentials.

    “Do you want a ‘you’re fired’ president or a ‘you’re hired’ president?” Kaine asked in Annandale, Virginia, as Clinton nodded. “Do you want a trash-talking president or a bridge-building president?”

  • Donald Trump accepts Republican presidential nomination

    Businessman vows to restore law and order and vanquish threats abroad as he formally accepts presidential nomination.

    Cleveland, Ohio – Billionaire businessman Donald Trump has officially accepted the Republican party presidential nomination, promising safety and security to Americans and suggesting the world they live in is more dangerous than ever before.

    Referencing recent attacks, he promised law and order would be restored as he addressed delegates and supporters in the US city of Cleveland for more than an hour.

    “The crime and violence that today afflicts our nation will soon come to an end. Beginning on January 20th 2017, safety will be restored,” he said, without elaborating.

    “I have joined the political arena so that the powerful can no longer beat up on people that cannot defend themselves. Nobody knows the system better than me, which is why I alone can fix it.”

    In the longest acceptance speech at a party convention since former President Bill Clinton’s to his Democratic party in 1996, Trump reiterated a pledge to build a wall on the border with Mexico, saying it was needed to stop “gangs, violence, drugs from pouring into our communities.

    “Nearly 180,000 illegal immigrants with criminal records, ordered deported from our country, are tonight roaming free to threaten peaceful citizens,” he said.

    Trump said the Republican National Convention was being held at what he called “a moment of crisis” that included “attacks on police, terrorism in our cities”.

    The property mogul linked domestic events with foreign policy by pledging that he was the candidate who would keep US citizens safe from harm both at home and abroad.

    In a speech frequently interrupted by cheers and standing ovations, he said – in claims challenged by fact-checkers and opponents – that when presumptive Democratic party candidate Hillary Clinton was secretary of state, Egypt was calm, Iraq was recovering from violence, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group was not on the map, and Iran was under sanctions.

    ‘Stoking fears’

    “Iraq is in chaos, Iran is on the path to nuclear weapons, Syria is engulfed in a civil war, and a refugee crisis now threatens the West,” Trump said.

    “After 15 years of wars in the Middle East, after trillions of dollars spent and thousands of lives lost, the situation is worse than it has ever been before. This is the legacy of Hillary Clinton: death, destruction, terrorism and weakness,” he added.

    “He blames all these wars on Hillary Clinton and Obama,” Said Arikat, a political analyst and former UN spokesman, told Al Jazeera.

    “He says that his opponent will continue the same policy that Obama did. This really is not new rhetoric to the Republican Party, which has always talked about law and order, a strong foreign policy.”

    As he spoke, Clinton said in a tweet: “We are better than this.”

    Al Jazeera’s Alan Fisher, reporting from the convention centre, said the speech was an opportunity for Trump to present specific policies to the American people – something critics said had been lacking in his campaign to become the nominee.

    “He didn’t deliver on that front,” Fisher said. “We certainly know what the problems facing America – and the view of the Republicans – are. We certainly know the failings of Hillary Clinton. What we don’t know is how Donald Trump will fix it, beyond the fact that he says he will.”

    Some Republican strategists downplayed the focus on law and order as a strategic ploy aimed at uniting a fractious party, divided after a bitter nomination campaign.

    “This is typical of convention speech,” Joe Watkins, former White House aide to President George H W Bush, said. “You would need a bounce in the polls coming out of the convention, and for that you have to do something to excite your base. And that includes stoking fears of Clinton and her presidency.”

  • Zimbabwe war veterans denounce ‘dictatorial’ Mugabe

    In a surprise move, Zimbabwe’s war veterans, who supported Mugabe for decades, say they will no longer back him.

    Veterans of Zimbabwe’s independence war have said they will no longer back President Robert Mugabe in elections, in a surprise revolt that comes after a series of recent nationwide anti-government protests.

    The Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association, which had been a pillar of support for the 92-year-old leader for decades, denounced Mugabe on Thursday, calling him dictatorial, manipulative and egocentric.

    “We note, with concern, shock and dismay, the systematic entrenchment of dictatorial tendencies, personified by the president and his cohorts, which have slowly devoured the values of the liberation struggle,” the group said in a statement.

    The veterans said they would no longer support Mugabe’s political campaigns, accusing him of abandoning them for the youth league of the ruling ZANU-PF party.

    Many in Zimbabwe are frustrated by a rapidly deteriorating economy, a currency crisis and alleged corruption.

    Mugabe, who has been in power for 36 years, has recently turned toward the youth league for political support, including in two rallies attended by tens of thousands of people.

    Earlier this week, Mugabe responded to the recent anti-government protests, telling critics to leave Zimbabwe if they were unhappy with conditions at home.

    The veterans’ group indicated it has had enough of such talk from the president.

    “We are dismayed by the president’s tendency to indulge, in his usual vitriol against perceived enemies, including peaceful protesters, as well as war veterans, when the economy is on its knees,” their statement said.

    “He has a lot to answer for the serious plight of the national economy.”

    They also blamed the southern African country’s economic crisis, the worst since it dumped its hyperinflation-hit currency in 2009 and adopted the US dollar, on “bankrupt leadership”.

    Mugabe under pressure?

    This week, Mugabe shrugged off criticisms by Christian pastor Evan Mawarire, who has become the figurehead of the anti-government protests fuelled by social media postings.

    “I don’t even know him,” Mugabe said, accusing Mawarire of inciting violence and being backed by foreign countries.

    Earlier this month, many offices, shops and some government departments were closed for a one-day strike against economic troubles that have been worsened by a severe drought.

    Zimbabwe spends at least 80 percent of its revenue on state workers’ wages, according to officials, and about 90 percent of the population is out of formal employment.

    Last week hundreds of Mawarire supporters rallied outside a court in the capital, Harare, until the pastor was released when a case against him of attempting to overthrow the government was dismissed.

    Other protests have erupted at the border with South Africa after many basic imports were outlawed, as well as in Harare over police officers allegedly using road blocks to extort cash from motorists.

    Salaries for civil servants and soldiers have again been delayed this month, and further protests are planned in the capital on Saturday and Monday.

    The veterans said they would no longer support Mugabe's political campaigns

  • United Nations Urges Congo to Release Political Prisoners

    The United Nations asked the Democratic Republic of Congo to release prisoners whom it says have been unlawfully detained, in a move that could encourage opposition leaders to join talks to avoid a political crisis.

    “I will submit a list of those detained persons we believe should be released immediately,” the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, said in a statement handed to reporters Thursday in the capital, Kinshasa.The detainees should be transferred from the national intelligence agency’s holding cells to ordinary detention centers, where civilian magistrates will make a decision on their release, according to Zeid.

    The UN, the European Union and the U.S. have all criticized the increasing repression of political activity in Congo this year, including the unlawful detention of citizens.The country is heading toward presidential elections that are due in November but likely to be delayed because the electoral commission says it won’t be ready.

    A call by President Joseph Kabila to hold talks in November was largely dismissed by the opposition as a strategy to delay the vote. Earlier this month, the UN said that the release of political prisoners was one of the conditions posed by opposition leaders, including Etienne Tshisekedi and Moise Katumbi, to join the talks.