Tag: Africa

Africa
Nuba protest

Anti-mining protests in Sudan’s Nuba Mountains

El FasherSatellite imagery analysis reveals widespread evidence of systematic mass killings and body disposal by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in El Fasher, Sudan, following the paramilitary group's capture of the North Darfur state capital in late October, according to a report released by Yale University researchers. The Yale School of Public Health's Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL) identified at least 150 "clusters of objects consistent with human remains" in and around El-Fasher between Oct. 26, when the RSF claimed to have taken full control of El-Fasher, and Nov. 28. They identified the clusters as likely human remains, based on their size, the timing of their appearance, and proximity to reddish ground discoloration that later turned brown, consistent with blood oxidation. In some cases, the RSF's own social media posts corroborated the presence of human remains at the locations. By late November, 38% of the identified body clusters were no longer visible in satellite imagery, suggesting systematic disposal operations, the researchers said. (Photo: Google/Airbus via JURIST)

Africa
minusma

Insurgency mounts on Mali-Burkina borderlands

MINUSMAAt least 25 Malian soldiers are dead and more than 60 others missing after two assaults on bases in central Mali, near the border with Burkina Faso. Jihadist forces simultaneously targeted a Malian army base and a G5 Sahel force camp. The G5 Sahel group includes Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad and Mauritania, and receives logistical support from the UN Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA). Malian officials say the insurgents used "heavy weapons" in the assaults, and that at least 15 militants were killed. Local reports indicate the militants were able to briefly hold the bases and capture large amounts of weapons and equipment. Mali has now launched a joint operation with Burkina Faso and French forces in the region to hunt down the militants. (Photo:  UN News)

Africa
Giwa barracks

Nigeria: army runs ‘child detention camp’

MuzaffarabadThe politically volatile region of Pakistan-administered Azad Jammu Kashmir has once again plunged into a crisis of civil unrest. Local protests over government plans to drop subsidies for wheat and electricity rapidly transformed into a broader movement demanding comprehensive reform and regional ecomic relief. The demonstrations have pressured the government into negotiations and legal concessions, after initial harsh repression only further fueled public dissent. (Photo of Muzaffarabad via Wikimedia Commons)

Planet Watch
Africa fires

Central African forests burning faster than Amazon

EcuadorAt least 17 people were killed in an armed attack on a bar in El Empalme, a small town north of Ecuador's port city of Guayaquil—days before US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Neom visited the country and signed a deal to fight organized crime and illegal migration. The deal includes training for Ecuadoran security forces in the US and collaboration on border security. Once one of South America’s safest countries, Ecuador has registered a vertiginous uptick in violent crime in the past few years. In response, President Daniel Noboa has adopted a series of hardline security policies that have raised concern over human rights abuses. The policies range from the repeated declaration of states of emergency, the construction of El Salvador-style prisons, and a "strategic alliance" with private US military contractor Erik Prince. Noboa has also replicated some of US President Donald Trump's deportation tactics, returning more than 600 Colombian prisoners to their country in late July with no official notice. (Photo: Presidencia Ecuador via Peoples Dispatch)

Africa

Congo rebel leader convicted of war crimes

TrumpApril 20 has become a national day of celebration for the hedonistic cannabis subculture, but it has also long been marked by the radical right and Nazi-nostalgists around the world for unsavory reasons. It now emerges that Trump's Inauguration Day executive order declaring a state of emergency on the southern border also set a deadline of April 20 for a joint Pentagon-Homeland Security recommendation on whether to invoke the Insurrection Act. This has sparked much speculation that Trump will immediately do so, declaring martial law and consolidating a dictatorship… this weekend. How likely is this, and is the date a mere coincidence? In Episode 274 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg breaks it down. (Image: APE)

Africa

Darfur at issue in Sudan transition talks

al-HolUN experts called for an end to the arbitrary, indefinite detention of tens of thousands of people in camps in northeast Syria. The detained individuals are accused by the local Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) of adherence to the extremist group ISIS, with over 52,000 currently held without any due process, 60% of whom are believed to be children. The Kurdish-led SDF has agreed to integrate into the new government's national army, but the fate of those in their custody remains uncertain. The SDF's often incommunicado detentions have only added to the overall number of detentions and enforced disappearances throughout Syria during the period of Bashar Assad's rule, with estimates of over 112,000 individuals reported missing. (Image: Y. Boechat/VOA via Wikimedia Commons)

Africa

Sudan protesters defy massacre, net silence

BalochThe international Baloch Human Rights Council (BHRC) called upon UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to urgently intervene in the repression of peaceful protests in Pakistan's conflicted Balochistan province. The group urged the UN to secure the immediate release of Dr. Mahrang Baloch and other members of the Baloch Yekjehti Committee, a local rights group. Dr. Baloch and several of her comrades were detained at a protest in provincial capital Quetta against enforced disappearances. Urging global action to hold Pakistan accountable, the BHRC described the arrests as "a blatant violation of fundamental freedoms and democratic principles." (Image: BYC)

Africa

Ethiopia: sweeps in wake of regional coup attempt

LampedusaHuman Rights Watch criticized the proposed European Union "Returns Regulation" for undocumented migrants as "cruel and unrealistic" for allowing longer detention and harsher treatment. The European Commission seeks to establish standardized procedures so that returns of migrants can be more efficient while still respecting fundamental human rights. However, the proposed regulations broaden the criteria for mandatory forced return of undocumented migrants. HRW argues that this could allow the prolonged detention of vulnerable individuals, including unaccompanied children, if origin countries refuse to cooperate. HRW also raised concerns that the third-country "return hubs," which would serve to transfer migrants, fail to guarantee safe and sustainable shelter. (Photo: Sara Creta/TNH)

Africa

Violence sweeps Mali-Burkina Faso borderlands

WampisLeaders of the Autonomous Territorial Government of the Wampís Nation (GTANW) in Peru denounced the use of local children as "human shields" to protect illegal mining activities and demanded the declaration of a state of emergency in the northern Amazon region. GTANW president Teófilo Kukush Pati said that when the police and armed forces carry out interdictions at mining sites, illegal miners forcibly gather community children to defend their operations. The leader also reported that the illegal mining outfits threaten to kill opponents. Pati stressed that the mercury produced by illegal mining in the Santiago River basin contaminates waters, which local communities depend on for fishing and drinking. The statement came as Pati arrived in Lima to meet with the government's high commissioner for the fight against illegal mining. (Photo: JYB Devot via Wikimedia Commons)

Africa

Russia blocks UN statement against Sudan massacre

LakurawaDubbed "Sahelexit," the decision by Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger to leave the West African regional community known as ECOWAS is now official. The three members of the newly formed Alliance of Sahel States (AES)—sanctioned over coups that overturned their elected governments—are out. It leaves the 12 other countries in ECOWAS, one of Africa's most economically integrated blocs, rethinking the organization's relevance. Like ECOWAS, the new group will allow free movement between their respective territories—now derisively referred to as the "coup belt." But it is in the field of security cooperation that the AES states will be especially missed. Jihadist insurgents are on the march. So-called "Islamic State" forces have set up in northwest Nigeria, where they are known as Lakurawa. With neighboring Niger now pulling out of a regional Multilateral Joint Task Force, there are fears that countering the threat will be all the harder. (Photo via Sahara Reporters)

Africa

Sudan transition deal suspended after massacre

Quaker Meeting HouseFive Quaker groups filed a lawsuit to stop immigration agents from conducting raids on houses of worship. The complaint alleges that the new Department of Homeland Security policy that allows Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers to conduct searches and arrests at schools and religious institutions violates the First Amendment to the US Constitution. The lawsuit claims that the new policy has forced certain congregations to cancel worship services due to fear of ICE enforcement. On the first week of the new policy's implementation, a church in Georgia said it had to lock its doors to prevent ICE agents from conducting an arrest in the middle of a service. Pacifism is an integral component of Quaker beliefs, and the lawsuit asserts that the possible presence of armed agents in Quaker meeting houses is a fundamental violation of "a founding principle of their faith." (Photo: Wikipedia)