Category Archives: Human Rights

USA: It’s Time for Public Compassion Expansion

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from Chuck Watts chuck
Via, Empathy Surplus Project dot com

The Most Important Economic Speech of His Presidency
by empathysurplus

Republished with permission by Robert Reich
Originally published December 6, 2011

Robert Reich Writes:

USA President B. Obama’s speech today in Osawatomie, Kansas — where Teddy Roosevelt gave his “New Nationalism” speech in 1910 — is the most important economic speech of his presidency in terms of connecting the dots, laying out the reasons behind our economic and political crises, and asserting a willingness to take on the powerful and the privileged that have gamed the system to their advantage.

Here are the highlights (and, if you’ll pardon me, my annotations):

Read more of this post empathysurplus | December 8, 2011 at 9:36 pm | Tags: Conservatism doesn’t work, Democracy, Economy, occupy wall street, Teddy Roosevelt | Categories: Better Future, Broad Prosperity, Effective Government, Mutual Responsibility, Stronger America | URL: http://wp.me/p1MQNU-9E

Angola: End Violence Against Peaceful Protests

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from Yona Maro

(Johannesburg) – The Angolan government should end its use of unnecessary force, including by plainclothes agents, against peaceful anti-government protests, Human Rights Watch said today.

On December 3, 2011, police and plainclothes security agents violently dispersed a peaceful rally of about 100 youth in Luanda, the capital, and injured at least 14, one of whom had a serious face wound, Human Rights Watch said. The demonstrators were protesting the 32-year rule of President José Eduardo dos Santos, whom they blame for rampant corruption, widespread poverty, and political repression. The security agents used an irritant spray against journalists and a Human Rights Watch researcher, who were covering the demonstration. The police briefly detained four Angolan journalists, but denied the arrests in a statement quoted by the state-owned news agency Angop on December 4.

“If the Angolan government was hoping to hide its violent attacks on peaceful demonstrators, it has failed,” said Daniel Bekele, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “Government agents used unnecessary force against peaceful protesters, and then tried to keep journalists from reporting it.”

The December 3 rally by the youth movement, which is loosely grouped via social media, was one of several anti-government protests over the past few months. Marches were planned to start at two points in Luanda’s poor and populous periphery – Cazenga and São Paulo – and to converge at Independence Square in the city center. From there they were to head to the presidential palace. In keeping with legal requirements, the organizers informed Angolan authorities, but the organizers did not receive an official response.

In Cazenga, a Human Rights Watch researcher observed several police officers with military assault rifles – in addition to the police with batons and plainclothes agents – enter the area of the demonstration after journalists left the area. At that point, demonstrators told Human Right Watch, the security forces violently attacked them with the batons and irritant liquids. The researcher saw a police car moving at high speed down a street that was partly occupied by demonstrators. Witnesses reported that the car, which they alleged was the local police commander’s, struck and injured a demonstrator.

In the city center, the authorities blocked access to Independence Square and deployed a large force of uniformed and plainclothes police, dog and horse squads, and helicopters.Security agents in civilian clothes, most of them wearing hats and sunglasses to conceal their faces, were highly visible at the rallies and participated in the police crackdown.Human Rights Watch observed police officers near Independence Square striking demonstrators with batons and chasing them to the main boulevard, where there was heavy traffic. Police did not seal off any streets to prevent accidents during the demonstration.

In Cazenga and the city center, Human Rights Watch observed plainclothes security agents carrying mineral water bottles that contained an unknown liquid. The agents were observed spraying the liquid at demonstrators, journalists and others, irritating their faces and eyes, causing temporary blindness and in some cases fainting.

In the afternoon at the boulevard near Independence Square, the same agents were seen spraying the bottled substance directly into the faces and eyes of protest leaders, and then beating them with batons. Security agents also targeted a journalist from Novo Jornal and unsuccessfully attempted to seize his camera. The agents also sprayed a Human Rights Watch researcher who was observing the crackdown and interviewing demonstrators, police officers and journalists. These attacks took place in front of uniformed police, who did nothing to intervene.

The Human Rights Watch researcher described the incident:

I was walking down the sidewalk toward Independence Square, waiting for a calm moment to cross the boulevard and join a group of journalists. I was interviewing one of the demonstrators, the rap musician Dionísio “Carbono” Casimiro. There were at least seven police officers and a dozen passers-by. We were about 20 meters away from the traffic island where the police were striking protesters with their batons. Suddenly, several men wearing plain clothes sprayed a liquid into our faces and eyes. The liquids created a burning sensation that blinded me for an instant, and I lost my glasses. The attackers didn’t beat me, although they later beat Carbono, who had fled in another direction. After I had washed the substance away with water, I went back and asked the police officers if they had seen anything. They denied any knowledge of the incident.

Human Rights Watch later identified the attackers on a video taken by a demonstrator. They were four men wearing hats and sunglasses, and carrying mineral water bottles.

At 4:30 p.m. near the Independence Square, police arrested four journalists – Isabel João and António Paulo from the private weekly newspaper Novo Jornal, Coque Mukuta from Rádio Despertar, and the prominent investigative journalist Rafael Marques – and drove them to the police post, where they were briefly detained.

The arrests occurred after several plainclothes security agents approached the journalists and the Human Rights Watch researcher, and aggressively ordered them to leave. The journalists asked them whether they were police agents who had the authority to order the journalists to leave a public place. One of the men replied, “We don’t have to explain anything to you. Just get out immediately.” On several occasions during the day, police officers accused journalists and observers of “encouraging” the demonstrators.

“The Angolan government should respect the rights of journalists and other observers to cover and report on political demonstrations and events,” Bekele said. “This is particularly important at a moment when Angola is heading for elections in 2012.”

Background

Human Rights Watch has previously reported about excessive police violence at antigovernment rallies in Angola in 2011. In March, Human Rights Watch reported about a ruling party intimidation campaign and arbitrary arrests of journalists and rap musicians as they gathered for a demonstration planned for March 7, which eventually didn’t take place on March 7.

Many demonstrators involved in demonstrations since March have told Human Rights Watch that they have been subjected to intimidation and received anonymous phone calls threatening them and their families. Some said they filed complaints, but haven’t been able to get any information from the police about whether an investigation had taken place.

In September, Human Rights Watch documented excessive police violence, arbitrary arrests of demonstrators and attacks against journalists by police in plain clothes on September 3, and reported about the denial of due process to demonstrators, 18 of whom a police court unfairly convicted on September 12 and sentenced to terms varying from 45 to 90 days in prison for disobedience, resistance and “corporal offenses” against several police agents. On October 14, the Supreme Court overturned the convictions for lack of evidence and the imprisoned demonstrators were released, but they still face possible retrial by the lower court.

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Usa & World: In Dec., celebrate the Universal Human Rights Declaration.

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From: Octimotor

Caring Citizens, EmpathySurplusProject.com, accept guidance from http://empathysurplus.com/?attachment_id=399
model-caring-citizens-chapter-constitution4 . In its text,
Article 13 Annual Community Human Rights Celebrations, for December, we see the following.

Section 8 – Celebrating Human Rights Day in December. On December 10, 1948 the General Assembly of the United Nations, of which the United States of America is a member, adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights the full text of which appears at http://www.un.org/events/humanrights/2008/declaration.shtml.
Following this historic act the Assembly called upon all Member countries to publicize the text of the Declaration and “to cause it to be disseminated, displayed, read and expounded principally in schools and other educational institutions, without distinction based on the political status of countries or territories.”

http://www.un.org/events/humanrights/2008/declaration.shtml

Group Violence, Ethnic Diversity, and Citizen Participation

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from Yona Maro

This paper addresses the impact of violent conflict on social capital, as measured by citizen participation in community groups defined for four activity types: governance, social service, infrastructure development and risk-sharing. Combining household panel data from Indonesia with conflict event information, the authors find an overall decrease in citizen contributions in districts affected by group violence in the early post-Suharto transition period. However, participation in communities with a high degree of ethnic polarization is less strongly affected and even stimulated for local governance and risk-sharing activities. Moreover, individual engagement appears to be dependent on the involvement of other members from the own ethnic group, which points to emphases on bonding social networks in the presence of violence. Finally, in conflict regions, the wealthier households are more likely to engage into cooperative and infrastructure improvement activities, while they are dropping from security groups. On the contrary, the poorest households get more involved in social service activities and less in infrastructure groups. The results illustrate the danger of generalizations when dealing with violence impact on community activities.
http://www.microconflict.eu/publications/RWP48_CM_MV.pdf
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Afghanistan: A Decade of Missed Opportunities

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from Yona Maro

10 Years After Bonn, Human Rights Situation Remains Critical
DECEMBER 4, 2011
(New York) – The Afghan government and its allies abroad have failed to make human rights a top priority in the decade since the fall of the Taliban government, leaving Afghans to face an uncertain future, Human Rights Watch said today. The Bonn Agreement, signed on December 5, 2001, created a transitional government under President Hamid Karzai and laid the groundwork for elections and a new Afghan constitution.

Afghan government leaders, civil society groups, and foreign delegations will meet for a conference in Bonn on December 5, timed to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the agreement. As this second “Bonn Conference” gets under way, Afghans still struggle, often unsuccessfully, to exercise their basic human rights and freedoms, Human Rights Watch said.
“Human rights, and in particular women’s rights, were cited as a key benefit of the defeat of Taliban rule in 2001,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “But ten years later, many basic rights are still ignored or downplayed. While there have been improvements, the rights situation is still dominated by poor governance, lack of rule of law, impunity for militias and police, laws and policies that harm women, and conflict-related abuses.”

Afghanistan’s justice system remains weak and compromised, and a large proportion of the population relies instead on traditional justice mechanisms, and sometimes Taliban courts, to resolve disputes. Human rights abuses are endemic within the traditional justice system, with many practices persisting despite being outlawed.

Women’s rights issues need special attention at the Bonn Conference, Human Rights Watch said. Afghan women leaders and activists had to lobby strenuously simply to obtain representation at the conference and a small slot to speak. Human Rights Watch called on Afghan government officials and other conference participants to work harder to improve women’s participation in decision-making about Afghanistan’s future, including any future peace processes.

Afghan women have taken on more leadership roles in the post-Taliban era, as members of parliament, judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys, police officers, soldiers, civil society officials, and human rights activists. But many have been targeted for threats and at times violence.

Ordinary Afghan women lack even the most basic protections, Human Rights Watch said. The Taliban and other armed groups attack and threaten women, frequently focusing on women in public life, school girls, and the staff of girls’ schools. The government incarcerates women and girls for “moral crimes” such as running away from home – even when doing so is not prohibited by statutory law, with an estimated half of the approximately 700 women and girls in jail and prison facing such charges. Infant mortality and maternal mortality remain among the highest in the world, with 1 in 10 children dying before age 5 and a woman dying of pregnancy-related causes approximately every two hours.

Recent reforms, like the 2009 Law on the Elimination of Violence against Women, have largely failed to improve the lives of ordinary women, as the government is not enforcing its provisions, Human Rights Watch said.

The Afghan government and its allies have not heeded critical recommendations to improve Afghanistan’s security made by human rights organizations since the 2001 Bonn Conference. One year after that first Bonn conference, for instance, Human Rights Watch called on the United States and coalition partners to “stop arming regional and local military commanders” and “cease the provision of arms, ammunition, equipment, funds and other material support to regional and local military commanders.”

Instead, regional commanders have used US support to strengthen their control of local populations at the expense of human rights and the rule of law. Some US military units are helping abusive militia commanders, while a US-supported “Afghan Local Police” program has a created a new form of armed group without sufficient oversight or accountability.

The Afghan government and its allies have repeatedly squandered opportunities to hold government or militia leaders responsible for abuses committed under their command, Human Rights Watch said. A 2005 Action Plan for Peace, Reconciliation and Justice has never been implemented and no serious efforts have been made to prosecute high-level officials for corruption and other abuses. No progress has been made on seeking accountability for abuses committed before late 2001, whether during the Soviet period, the civil conflict of the early and mid-1990s, or the Taliban period.

“Afghans have made it clear that they want abusive warlords and commanders removed from their posts and prosecuted,” Adams said. “Yet the Afghan government and its backers, particularly the US, have continuously protected them. Without accountability for past and ongoing abuses, respect for human rights and the rule of law is likely to remain elusive.”

The second Bonn Conference comes at a time when countries that contribute troops and aid are seeking an exit strategy in Afghanistan. Aid commitments are falling precipitously, foreign troop levels are decreasing, and an economic downturn appears likely. Pakistan recently announced that it would not attend the Bonn Conference because of a recent border incident in which Pakistan soldiers were killed during an attack by NATO forces.

Many Afghans, and women in particular, fear that decreased international assistance and involvement will erode what limited progress has been made on human rights. A new strategic framework between Afghanistan and the United States, Kabul’s most powerful ally, was planned for signature before the second Bonn Conference, but its exact contents have not been made public.

Human Rights Watch called on all participating countries at the Bonn Conference to make a long-term commitment to support human rights, the security of the population, and development in Afghanistan.

“Afghanistan’s partners need to learn from the mistakes of the past decade,” Adams said. “Critical support is still needed on accountability, justice reform, women’s rights, education and health, and support for Afghan civil society and human rights activists.”

Conflict-related violence remains a daily reality in many parts of the country. During the past decade, thousands of Afghans have suffered as a result of serious violations of international humanitarian law by insurgent forces, militias, and Afghan government and international forces.

The Taliban and other insurgent forces have committed widespread violations, in particular bombings that target civilians and other attacks that do not discriminate between military targets and civilians. All sides have mistreated people in their custody. Large areas of the country, especially the south, are now held by insurgent forces, who frequently violate human rights. Other areas are lawless zones in which no real governance exists.

“All sides to Afghanistan’s long-running armed conflict need to respect the laws of war,” Adams said. “Ending war crimes by the Taliban and other forces is key to Afghanistan’s future.”

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EAC, Sudan, Kenya, ICC: The ongoing diplomatic row between Nairbi and Khartoum may jeopardize Sudan application for its entry into the East African Community

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News Analysis By Leo Odera Omolo.

The on-going diplomatic row between Nairobi and Khartoum could adversely affect the possibility of Sudan application for its entry into membership of the East African Community ahead of the Southern Sudan.

Fears persist among African diplomats in Nairobi that Sudan’s application to join the regional economic bloc might not see the light of the day when the extraordinary 19th Summit of the Heads of State of the East African Community slated to start in Bujumbura, Burundi tomorrow.

President Mwai Kibaki of Kenya is slated to assume the EAC chairmanship from its outgoing chairman President Pierre Nkurunziza who relinquishes his responsibility after two years in the helm of the top job.

The EAC summit comes in the backdrop of the seriously thawed diplomatic relations between Kenyan and Sudan over the controversial High Court Judgment delivered in Nairobi by a Kenya judge Justice Nicholas Ombija, who issued a warrant of arrest against the Sudan President Omar El Bashir who is wanted by the International Court of Criminal Justice at The Hague to answer the criminal charges of violation of human rights and murder.

The ICC claims that Al Bashir waged a campaign of murder, rape, pillage and deportation in Darfur. The Court says Sudan Armed Forces {SAF} had committed the alleged criminal offences.

THE Sudanese government has since then played down the important of the ICC warrant of arrest issued against Al Bashir a couple of years ago.

When informed of the warrant of arrest, the Sudanese President was quoted as having retorted; “Let them go and dip the indictment in a can of water and drink it. “He angrily said this following the first indictment and vowed never to surrender any Sudanese to the ICC touching off a diplomatic crisis with Western nations that urged him to surrender. Instead Al Bashir’s co-suspects were promoted and assigned new duties with one being made the Governor of South Kordofan region, the only oil rich part of Sudan where a new insurgency has emerged.

On haring about the Nairobi’s High Court decision, Khartoum reacted angrily and gave Kenya’s Ambassador to that country 72 hours to leave and t the same time recalled home its envoy to Kenya.

The Kenya government, however, remained calm and instructed the Attorney General Prof Githu Muigai to lodge an appeal with the Supreme Court against the High Court ruling.

Since the ICC warrant was issued three years ago, President Omar Al Bashir has defiantly travelled abroad and to several parts of Africa, but carefully avoided the visit to any of the Western nations, which are the lading signatories to the Rome Statue which created the ICC. He has visited the Peoples Republic of China, Ethiopia, Uganda and even he was in Nairobi last August. The majority members of the African Union, even those countries which are signatories to the Rome Statue supports Al Bashir.The AU itself at one time passed a resolution to this effect.,

But now the possibility of Sudan joins the EAC as new member still hands in balance following the ongoing diplomatic row that has erupted between Khartoum and Nairobi ahead of the bloc’s Head of State meeting in Burundi which kicks off tomorrow.

A report emerging from Bujumbura says the signs of diplomatic show down during the Council of Ministers meeting on Tuesday this week. Some of the Minister openly opposed Sudan’s inclusion ahead of its neighbor the Southern Sudan’s application for the same.

Among the Ministers who openly expressed their opposition to the move was Eriya Kategaya, the Ugandan Minister for the East African Community Affairs and also the Deputy Prime Minister.

He was quoted as saying, “ It would be wrong to admit a country whose political leadership is under scrutiny for the gross violation of human rights.”

“Sudan does not share border with any member of the EAC partner states. It would therefore be wrong to admit it before that of the Southern Sudan.”If you look at several issues like their democracy, the way they beat up women and their religious and politics we feel they don’t qualify.”

The seriousness of the issue was underline when President Kibaki few minutes after arrival in Bujumbura went straight into serious briefing meetings with Kenyan Minister for the East African Community Affairs Musa Sirma his counterpart the Minister for Foreign Affairs Moses Wetangula and the Attorney general of Kenya Prof. Githu Muigai.

Prof Muigai and Minister Sirma were expected late this afternoon to continue briefing the Kenya n President who resume the EAC chair tomorrow. Top on the agenda of the deliberations are issues such as the question of Southern Sudan admission to the EAC.

Briefing the press last week, the Secretary-0General of the EAC Dr. Richard Sezibera disclosed that President Omar Al Bashir wrote a letter to President Pierre Nkurunziza last June apply for the admission of his country to the EAC while the Southern Sudan application came early this month. But there are all signs that most delegates favored the Southern Sudan application which is likely to sail through during discussion at the summit.

With President Kibaki assuming the chairmanship of the EAC tomorrow, the chances of Khartoum joining the bloc during this time of serious diplomatic thaw with Kenya is rather remote.

Ends

Africa’s Development Agenda is in State of Emergency

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from Judy Miriga

Folks,

Corruption through Conspiracy in a Planned Global Economic Recession is worse than cancer. It creeps in like a snake. It is an Economic Sabotage terrorism that are done through organized gangs, Genocide, Drug Abuse, Organ and Human Trafficking, and are Violation, Abuse and Crime Against Humanity that which is wholly and completely is unacceptable. They are illegal and unconstitutional, requiring urgent Legal Justice to take effect.

To those who feel their lives are threatened, before they are turned into meat and are consumed, they must run urgently to the nearest European Embassy for safety……….

Clearly, public taxpayer theft from public resources, facilities and equipments by politicians in the Ponzi Scheme and Hedge Funding at World Bank, IMF and wall street, is a serious crime and has escalated sorry situation of poverty in Africa transcending and affecting the whole world, through engineered selfish cartels by means of consuming public corporations’ with other mineral Wealth, Crime against humanity in forms and shape by the cartels has caused world economic collapse. This is critical and require urgent fixing………by combined force from good people of the world, before more lives are consumed…….We cannot be blinded, World Bank and IMF with other International financial institutions funding programs in Africa are all in a conspiracy to kill Africans and take over Africa in their Ponzi Scheme and Hedge Funding. They are already in bankruptcy and are in search of other ways and means to raise money to impoverish Diaspora from monies transferred to Kenya. Watch out people…..! It is the reason they are watching capital of total money transferred in remittances to Kenya by the Diaspora. World Bank and IMF are not trading in money worth, it cannot be acceptable that they possess public corporation and other National public wealth. Any change of constitution must be rejected as it is posing catastrophic menace and strangulation to Kenyans public wealth.

Economic Sabotage must not be given space in the present age of Democratic Governance or anywhere in the world. For example, how will Diaspora engage effectively in investments of vision 2030 in Africa when Government cannot be trusted and where there is no guarantee that their investment will be protected or compensated, considering cases like the recent Demolition of millions of dollars of houses that were pulled down in Nairobi ….???…..How can the Diaspora be convinced which papers issued by the Government officials to Diaspora investors are authentic……???……This is impoverishing and exploiting the third world from sustainable feasible economic development. This is why, vision 2030 of Raila and Kibaki must be rejected by all people of Diaspora. It is a wicked monster. In the recent event of Kazi kwa Vijana enquiry, If PM Raila was not able to effectively implement Kazi kwa Vijana funding according to the official reason for its request, and having been caught with hands dipped in the jar of honey, consuming it illegally, he sneakilly quickly ran to return the money back to World bank. This shows he did not value the joblessness of the youth program for the fund, he did not care that the country is falling apart from economic and development collapse, he did not regard that the youth are the engine of economic development and progress…..and consequently, he is co-joined with those who plan to create vacuum of joblessness of the youth to destroy the mind of youth through drug and gang recruitments. It is clear that when youth are not engaged, they can be easily used into gangs, so there could be no proper reasonable and meaningful job development program for the youth……This clearly confirms that, PM Raila cannot rule…….he has failed the test of leadership. “It is their time to Eat”

Normalizing the unthinkable behavior where Economic for survival is crashing livelihood is unacceptable…….and where technology is not improving and advancing society progressiveness, spells doom that something is not right…..that the disadvantaged are not living decent livelihood, that they are exposed from inaccessibility of basic normal things we all need in our day to day livelihood and survival, it explains the system of Governance is dysfunctioning, and change is urgently needed to normalize situation to human right perspectives. This is crucial to Africa and more specific Kenya.

Casualties of Economic Terrorism, shows that enormous amount of individuals are suffering, and families who are struggling are worse than they ever have been before. There are increasing number of middle class and poor people who are not able to find shelter or descent housing. Others, their houses are demolished and are made displaced squatters with heavy loans to be paid from the demolished house. In general, millions of people are struggling to find work or are just part of the story of abject poverty, driven by economic terrorism injustices of Crime Against Humanity.

Rise of the International Corporate Special Interest Cartels is taking place in the African Government Rulership. It is the prime factor reason why Devolution of Counties with date of election has become an uphill struggle because of their vested interest to control, acquire and own illegally and unconstitutionally, public wealth. They are the reason the World Bank and IMF with other financial institutions participate in Ponzi Schemes and Hedge Funding to rob unsuspecting innocent citizens off their public wealth…….they are the reason of Global Economic Collapse:

When people are struggling to get by and things are not working well for them because of lack of financial accessibility, when CEOs and Lobbyist of Large Corporations, International Foundations and International NGOs are experiencing record-breaking profits and bonuses, know that, things are not going well…….It is because there is stagnation somewhere which caused the balance to stall from effecting and harmonizing Socio/Economic and Political dispensation and eventually halted the efficiency for dispensation in providing the Economic balance necessary for Economic Stability. It is equally the reason why there is no meaningful effective reaction required to harmonize and trigger Socio/Economic and Political stimulant to take effect and provide for Progressive Development Agenda to reciprocate and sustain the economic distributive balance needed to maintain mutually shared common interest of all stakeholders.

Skyrocketing Costs of Living:

This state-of-affair is pathetic and unthinkable. It is a corrupt strategy to have cost of living skyrocketing so people would perish in the midst of it all…..It is a situation that was maneuvered and elevated primarily for special interest, driven by greed from corrupted fraudulent market which is controlled by the Special Corporate interest Cartels, who got the situation manipulated through conspiracies to consume Public Corporations and Resources illegally and take full control to drive up cost of livelihood and rise prices on top of the overburdened taxes imposed on public basic needs.

Life has therefore become too expensive for ordinary middle class and poor people of the world, where jobs and employment got reduced to fit their connected network, blocking every way for the general public to survive responsibly or access honorable means to survival. Small and peasant farmers have been pushed to the edge, middle class housing of the middle class are tampered with and are demolished to create despair. This is brutal because many people cannot afford or access basic needs presently, largely because collection of wealth and sharing of the same is controlled and managed by a few corrupt of the unscrupulous wealthiest cartels who are linked to their World of cartels. They are destined to destroy survival for the middle class and the poor of the world……while, the largest corrupt corporation network and cartels are experiencing record-breaking profits, do not want to pay taxes (except the poor pay taxes for their business and lifestyle) and their CEOs and lobbyists are receiving record-breaking bonuses, so the life of the middle class and the poor could be terminated from the face of earth. The middle class and the poor will soon not access even water to drink, because water is now being controlled by the wealthiest of the cartels network and their linkages. Public utilities cannot be accessed anymore as public beaches for example have been privately fenced and local fishermen cannot access water for their fishing, land is grabbed and houses are demolished if you do not belong to their class of network. This is just one example…….

If we take a look at the ever-increasing interest rates on credit cards, student loans, rising of prices for food, medical expenses, rent and cable costs for phone, cell-phone, internet, bank fees, etc., etc., etc…. We find that, we are being robbed and gouged in every way in all costs of living and in every aspect of our life. No wonder bankruptcies are skyrocketing, people are losing their homes and the number of people in pain and suffering from psychological depression has reached climax to an epidemic level. The circle is vicious and is spiraling in excessive burden of debts which has been put on us to struggle with for the rest of their lives, if possible, is expected to drive us to an early death bed.

We have been conquered into slavery and deepen into intense debt we have to pay by our blood and life……. from stage-managed organized Violation, Abuse and Crime Against Humanity: through looting of our private and public National Resources Corporation wealth, Human Organs and trafficking to slavery, minerals, land, water and are impoverished from clean air.

How could we sit, watch and look helplessly as our feet are drifted to hopelessness and in despair………this calls for each and every person of the world to wake up and get involved to change this world for the better…….We must ask ourselves, how did we get to this point, and how can we get out of this mess before the world is caught in consuming fire?

The cartels of the Economic International Corporate Special Interest have conspired to dominate our lives Globally, it is the reason we have Economic Crisis……we must peacefully unite to engage in Way Forward………We must expose them all………Yes, expose them and confront them with facts and we must all demand legal justice. Yes, we will win because we must Fight Back and win…….We all are grounded in shared common issues…….lack of basic means for meaningful livelihood for survival, lack of employment, lack of financial accessibility, lack of level playing field to democratic reform agenda, inaccessibility to fair legal justice and the right to public service mandate in a fair Democratic Governance, Planned Global Economic Recession through World Bank, IMF, Wall Street, IFAD, AfDB, etc.,

Judy Miriga
Diaspora Spokesperson
Executive Director
Confederation Council Foundation for Africa Inc.,
USA
http://socioeconomicforum50.blogspot.com

– – – – – – – – – –

— On Wed, 11/23/11, charles oyaya wrote:

People

How come we are not asking questions about the Uungana, Mulolongo Brothers and company? Who are they? Under what circumstances did they acquire such huge chunks of lands? To whom are they or were they connected within the corridors of power, Mavoko Municipal Council, Ministry of Lands, Laws Courts, legal profession, Parliament and Kenya Airports authority? Are they holy of holies? I believe they are the ones who should compensate those who lost or are yet to lose their property. If you have been conned by such smart characters before, you will never doubt that they indeed sold innocent Kenyans what they knew and still know was not theirs. They should be held culpable instead of asking the people of Kenya (tax payers) to whom the land in question belongs to pay back for the sins of a few greedy criminals. They acquired allotment letters for the public lands in question for free(only paying registration and stamp duty fees) and then selling the same to desperate Kenyans as if the land belonged to them. Because of such characters Kenya has lost all public land that was reserved for development and investment. This in turn has made the cost of investment too high thereby discouraging creation of employment opportunities which the youth of this country desperately need.

The costs of correcting the wrong things that had gone on in this country for many decades will certainly be very high in the short run but in the long run, the benefits for the future generations will be immense. We cannot realize Vision 2030 if we remain sympathetic to lords of impunity, plunder, theivery and disorder. I am sure many of us are now enjoying the scenery of and the ride on Thika Road. For this to happen some past wrongs had to be corrected/righted.

Charles Oyaya

Kenya and UAE agree on protection of investments

By PPS

Kenya and the United Arab Emirates yesterday signed an agreement on the prevention of double taxation.

The two countries also made great strides towards finalising agreement on Customs Administrative Support and Promotion and protection of Investments.

In a statement during a meeting with members of the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry at his hotel residence in Abu Dhabi, President Kibaki confirmed that Kenya’s largest source of imports is the United Arab Emirates.

The President appreciated that Kenya’s exports to the United Arab Emirates had increased by over 1,000 per cent in the last twenty years signalling a healthy trade relations between the two countries.

“However, there is room for improvement. As both countries strive for further improvements, I am certain that the business community will work towards complimenting the efforts of both Governments.”

Head of State said that the government had for last ten years concentrated on creating a conducive investment climate, making Kenya one of the leading investment destinations of choice.

In this regard, President Kibaki affirmed that there existed lucrative investment opportunities in the country especially the promotion and encouragement of the private sector participation in infrastructure development and management.

He said, “Indeed, my Government has just approved a policy and statutory institutional Framework for Coordinating and Managing Public Private Sector Partnerships which opens an important window of opportunity for investors.”

In the ICT sector, the Head of State assured that Kenya had so far installed three strategic linkages through undersea fibre optic cables.

Corruption, high cost of living deprive Kenyans of basic needs

Published on 05/11/2011

By Billow Kerrow

Ignore what the Government tells you about how well we are. The fact is most Kenyans are not satisfied with the quality of their lives. It is not about those elite or affluent folks in the cities but the ordinary Kenyans suffering deprivation of basic life requirements. The UN Human Development Index 2001 just published reveals how the lives of most Kenyans are getting more miserable. Our poverty levels are rising just when the global poverty population is declining.

The report that ranks Kenya at position 143 of 187 countries surveyed portrays a worsening quality of life for the citizens. Our people live a poorer quality of life than the citizens of the occupied Palestinian territories, Iraq or the Congo. In the region, we can only hold our heads high when talking to the poor little neighbours; not much to be proud of! Our per capita income of $1,492 is lower than that of many countries we look down upon, including Sudan, Djibouti and war-torn Yemen and below the mean for sub-Saharan region of $1,966.

It raises fundamental questions of access to better quality of life that all citizens expect from their governments. The UN index measures how a country provides basic needs to its citizens. These essentials then help the citizens to live a longer, healthy life, access education and live a decent life. Our life expectancy is 57 years; compared to 81 years for Norwegians who top the table.

An Ipsos-Synovate poll released this week confirms the UN reports. And 69 per cent of Kenyans polled last week indicated they are not satisfied with their lives and are worried about the high cost of living. In fact, 20 per cent say they are totally deprived of life’s essential requirements.

They have no access to food, shelter and live on handouts. The ravaging famine, unemployment and corruption top their list of worries. The high food and fuel prices have pushed inflation to more than over 20 per cent. And one does not need to read the UN report or poll results to assess the impact of poverty and deprivation in our midst. Ordinary Kenyans who do not find a meal a day can literary be seen in many towns, living one day at a time. Most are the youth who make up 30 per cent of the population and 75 per cent of the unemployed.

Yet, if we used our resources, our youth would not live in squalor or seek solace in militia adventure in other countries. The so-called Kazi Kwa Vijana programme is an apt example. In 2009, Sh3.4 billion was allocated for this programme, and a further Sh6.6 billion last year. Much of it was spent on poorly designed, unsustainable short-term projects with little or no impact on the lives of the youth.

Last year, World Bank chipped in with $60 million, with a focus on innovative projects and capacity building.

Parliament was treated to a circus that ridicules even the daftest in our society when the Government alleged World Bank concern was ‘ineligible expenses’ and that the Government would refund the same. The Treasury disclosed unashamedly that it refunded donors Sh2.6 billion this year arising from such ‘ineligible expenses’.

Ineligible expenses simply mean the money was misappropriated. The funds were used on wrong beneficiaries, or were spent on goods or services not intended for. In our common language, it was stolen; which is why the donors are diplomatically seeking a refund.

We have clearly demonstrated to our donors that the corrupt cannot be convicted. If you steal public funds, you can get away with a pat on the back. Corruption is a key factor in the poverty and deprivation that degrades our quality of life. If we do not express outrage on such plunder, socio-economic development will be an illusion.

—The writer is a former MP for Mandera Central and political economist

Nigeria: Firing of Anti-Corruption Czar Won’t Fix Agency

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from Yona Maro

(Lagos) – The sudden dismissal of Nigeria’s controversial anti-corruption chairman will not fix the troubled agency she led, Human Rights Watch said today. The government should carry out broad institutional reforms if Nigeria is to make real progress against corruption.

On November 23, 2011, President Goodluck Jonathan dismissed Farida Waziri, chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). The commission’s record in fighting high-level corruption has been consistently disappointing under both Waziri and her well-regarded predecessor, Nuhu Ribadu, Human Rights Watch said. Partly due to the commission’s own failures, it has been largely unable to secure convictions against senior government officials charged with corruption. As Human Rights Watch showed in a recent report on the institution’s problems, broader institutional failures – such as executive interference and judiciary inefficiency – will need to be addressed if the commission is to improve its anti-corruption record, Human Rights Watch said.

“The EFCC’s mandate is to fight corruption that the political system actually rewards, and to accomplish that by working through institutions that are either broken or compromised,” said Daniel Bekele, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “That’s an almost impossible job no matter who is in charge.”

The commission, established in 2003, is the only government institution that has publicly challenged the longtime impunity of Nigeria’s ruling elite. It has arraigned 35 nationally prominent political figures on corruption charges, including 19 former state governors. But many of those cases have made little progress in the courts, and not a single politician is currently serving prison time for any of these alleged crimes. The commission has secured four convictions of senior political officials since 2003, but they have faced relatively little or no prison time.

The Jonathan administration should present legislative amendments granting tenure security to the commission chairman, Human Rights Watch said. The institution can never be truly independent if the president can dismiss its chairman at will. The government should also bolster Nigeria’s other key anti-corruption institutions, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission and the Code of Conduct Bureau.

Nigeria’s weak and overburdened judiciary has also been an obstacle to effective prosecutions. Most of the corruption cases against high-level political figures have been stalled in the courts for years, with their trials not even begun. In early November, Nigeria’s new Supreme Court chief justice, Dahiru Musdapher, took a long overdue initiative by instructing judges to expedite corruption cases, giving them a six-month deadline to complete these cases.

The government should build on this promising initiative by beginning the long-term process of repairing the battered federal court system, reforming federal criminal procedure, and examining ways consistent with due process rights to establish special courts or designating specific judges to hear only corruption cases, Human Rights Watch said.

Human Rights Watch has also called on Jonathan to pledge publicly not to interfere in the EFCC’s work and to support aggressive efforts to fight corruption no matter who is implicated. Past governments have openly interfered in key anti-corruption cases, discouraging the commission from acting as aggressively as it otherwise might.

“One of the EFCC’s greatest weaknesses has been its lack of independence and susceptibility to political pressure,” Bekele said. “President Jonathan’s sudden firing of Farida Waziri will only make that problem worse unless the government pushes through reforms to bolster both the EFCC and the other institutions it depends on.”

Waziri was appointed in 2008 in controversial circumstances after Nuhu Ribadu was forced from office in apparent reprisal for his attempted prosecution of a powerful former governor, James Ibori. Waziri has been widely criticized as ineffective and politically beholden, but in the months leading up to her sudden ouster she initiated a flurry of prosecutions against senior political figures. In October the commission arraigned four former state governors and a serving senator on corruption charges, and in June the agency filed corruption charges against the former speaker and deputy speaker of the House of Representatives – all of them members of the ruling People’s Democratic Party.

During Waziri’s three-and-a-half years in office, the agency arraigned 21 senior political figures on corruption charges but only secured two convictions in these cases. Her four-year term in office was due to expire in May 2012.

Endemic corruption at all levels has kept Nigerians mired in poverty despite the country’s considerable oil wealth. Human Rights Watch research has documented how political corruption in Nigeria fuels violence, police abuse and denial of basic health and education services.

—
East Africa Jobs www.kazibongo.blogspot.com

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Riot police use tear gas on Congo protesters

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From: Judy Miriga

Folks,

There is need to urgently reignforce poll observers from European Nations as well to boost confidence, free and fair participation of fearful citizens.

Let us also Pray for Congo people and God to step in in a special way to save the oppressed.

Judy Miriga
Diaspora Spokesperson
Executive Director
Confederation Council Foundation for Africa Inc.,
USA
http://socioeconomicforum50.blogspot.com

– – – – – – – – – – –

Riot police use tear gas on Congo protesters

Riot police used tear gas to disperse hundreds of protesters in the Congolese capital Kinshasa on Saturday November 26, as campaigning by rival groups drew to a close two days before presidential and parliamentary elections, Reuters reporters said.

There were bouts of rock-throwing between opposing supporters and brief bursts of gunfire, the reporters said. Citing local health and security officials, a United Nations source said at least one person had died but there was no official confirmation of the death or its circumstances.

President Joseph Kabila and two of his main challengers, Etienne Tshisekedi and Vital Kamerhe, were all due to hold campaign rallies within several hundred metres of each other later on Saturday.

The stand-off between riot police and protesters took place near the central Kinshasa stadium where Kabila was due to appear. There were no immediate reports of injuries.

It was the latest sign of tension in the run-up to Congo’s second presidential election since a 1998-2003 war, a poll which has been marked by opposition allegations of irregularities and concerns that voting arrangements will not be in place in time.

Despite a logistics operation supported by helicopters from South Africa and Angola, it is not clear whether all the ballot slips will have reached the 60,000 voting stations in the thickly-jungled country two-thirds the size of the European Union.

Commission Head

Veteran opposition leader Tshisekedi said he could accept a delay but only if the head of the national election commission, who he accused of having political ties with Kabila and turning a blind eye to alleged irregularities, was sacked.

“I would agree (to a delay) if that meant a more credible, democratic and transparent process,” the 78-year-old veteran opposition leader told French RFI radio.

“But one thing is clear: if we say there will be a delay, it is clear that the election commission cannot be led by Daniel Ngoy Mulunda,” he said, accusing him of having been a founding member of Kabila’s PPRD political party.

Mulunda, who will have the deciding vote if his commission is split on any election dispute, said this week he did not deny having been a member of the delegation that accompanies Kabila on foreign trips, but denied he was a founding PPRD member.

Tshisekedi alleged the existence on paper of fake polling stations to allow vote-rigging, an allegation which authorities have denied. His party also accuses Kabila of using state media and transport assets in the service of his campaign.

For many Congolese, there was a last-minute scramble to find out where they should be voting on Monday. Gervis Ilunga, a 44-year-old security guard, said he registered in one Kinshasa voting district but ultimately found his name elsewhere.

“In 2006, things were at least organised,” he said of the first post-war poll largely organised under the auspices of the United Nations. “It is not like that this time … There will be too many challenges this time.”

Under constitutional amendments signed off by Kabila this year the presidential vote will be decided in a single round, meaning the winner can claim victory without securing an absolute majority. Analysts say that favours Kabila against the split opposition.

Blessed with lucrative resources of copper, cobalt and precious metals, Congo remains plagued by poverty and insecurity, especially in its rebel-infested east where a simmering low-level conflict persists.

-Reuters

IS AFRICA HEADING TOWARDS FAILED STATES?

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From: omolo.ouko
Colleagues Home & Abroad Regional News

BY FR JOACHIM OMOLO OUKO, AJ
NAIROBI-KENYA
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2011

As tensions and spirits are running high in the Democratic Republic of Congo where 11 presidential candidates are struggling to lead the country with $24 trillion of known mineral deposits and 80 percent of all known coltan reserves required for every mobile phone, computer, games consol and TV, the big question we are asking is whether Africa is heading towards failed states.

In almost all African countries, addressing electoral fraud and violence is becoming a major problem on the continent. In many African countries most elections are not free and fair because they are rigged in favour of the incumbent president.

In Gambia President Yahya Jammeh has already proclaimed that neither an election nor a coup can shake his grip on power, meaning that it is certain he is going retain power by all means. Ecowas had predicted the poll would not be free and fair because of high levels of intimidation by the ruling party.

President Yahya Jammeh who seized power in a coup in 1994 and has won three widely criticised elections since then has been accused of intolerance to both criticism and dissent. Mr Jammeh, 46, was facing Ousainou Darboe, leader of the United Democratic Party (UDP), and Hamat Bah, who has being backed by a coalition of four opposition parties.

Similar case was with Uganda elections where President Yoweri Museveni who has been in power for 25 years vowed to stop any street protests and warned that Egyptian-style demonstrations could not happen in Uganda. It meant he would retain power by all means.

Museveni altered the constitution to allow him to run for another five-year term and his reason for running for another 5 years was on a platform of combating terrorism and extremism and maintaining stability in the key East African nation.

Museveni won despite the fact that African Union election observers said the polls suffered from severe shortcomings, and could not be described as free and fair. Other international observers also criticised the election process.

Opposition Forum for Democratic Change leader Dr Kizza Besigye who is currently in the United States of America to seek medical attention following days of reported ill health, claimed victory but was rigged out in favour of Museveni.

Besigye was clobbered and sprayed with irritant pepper spray to near blindness by police officers at the height of the walk-to-work demonstrations in April this year. This is the second time since May that Dr Besigye has flown to the US on medical grounds.

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He is being treated for injuries he sustained from that violent arrest after he was hauled unconscious onto the back of a police pick-up truck. He was treated at Nairobi Hospital where he spent at least one week before returning to Uganda.

Similar cases have been witnessed in Zimbabwe, Kenya, and Ivory Coast, leading to political unrest in these countries, and the forging of marriages that never were. In Ivory Coast about 3,000 people were killed and 500,000 displaced in the unrest after the November 2010 poll. Alassane Ouattara took power in April after a four-month stand-off with his predecessor, Laurent Gbagbo, who had refused to accept defeat.

Ivory Coast’s Constitutional Council had declared Laurent Gbagbo, president, the winner run-off elections, overturning earlier results that gave victory to Alassane Ouattara, the opposition candidate and a former prime minister.

Like Ivory Coast Kenya also suffered its worst electoral violence following the December 2007 results of a hotly-contested presidential election. Opposition leader Raila Odinga and his supporters rejected the declared victory of incumbent Mwai Kibaki, alleging it was the result of rampant rigging.

More than 1,200 people were killed and some 350,000 displaced into temporary camps, with an equal number seeking refuge with friends or relatives. Agricultural activity was seriously hampered as farmers moved away from their fields, posing long-terms risks for the country’s food security.

Similar story was also in Liberia where recent presidential election was thrown into deadly chaos after at least two people were shot dead. The violence broke out when at least 100 Liberian security forces and UN peacekeepers descended on the Congo Town area of Monrovia, where they secured the perimeter of the CDC headquarters, setting up roadblocks to redirect traffic.

Incidents of political related chaos and violence also continued to rock the Lake regions with two days before Tanzanians cast their votes. In one incident, the Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) secretary in Burunga ward, Serengeti District, Mara Region, Mr Emmanuel Nyarata was attacked and badly wounded by his fellow party members on allegations of being a traitor.

In Nigeria the violence left at least 500 people dead and several thousand injured and displaced. In these countries, post election violence has destroyed the lives of many people, mostly the poor and vulnerable, taking away their wealth, health, livelihoods and in some cases their lives.

In Zimbabwe where President Robert Mugabe has vowed the next polls will take place before March next year, the Finance Minister, Mr Tendai Biti has been used to convince Zimbabweans to vote for Mogabe because if re-elected he will ensure the economy will grow by more than nine percent next year.

Although according to Biti the economic growth will be fueld by continued recovery and increased mining activity, Zimbabwe faced international opposition to sales of its alluvial diamonds because human rights activists say the military killed and beat many people while seizing control of the diamond fields in 2008.

The fact however remains, that even with increased revenue, Zimbabwe will still continue to face major economic problems. The country has a foreign debt of $7 billion and survives on tax revenues, as it cannot raise loans. More than half of the budget is for public service worker salaries.

Even in Zambia where elections have been described as free and fair, incidences of stone-throwing mobs smashed cars and blocking roads during voting were reported. This happened after opposition leader Michael Sata accused President Rupiah Banda’s rival camp of rigging the ballot.

Crowds of mainly young people set flaming tyres in the streets, smashed cars belonging to elections officials, set buses alight, and threw stones at police who tried to charge the mobs from their vehicles.

Sata won probably because the campaign for his Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) centred on growth and development. Nicknamed “King Cobra”, Sata attacked Banda as soft on corruption and criticised him for failing to do more to spread the wealth in a country where 64 percent of people still live on less than $2 a day.

Even Benin where the Beninese citizens took to the polls on March 13, 2011 to re-elect President, Thomas Yayi Boni to serve a second term in office, elections were to be postponed twice after problems with voter registration, which according to the opposition leaders was one way to rig elections.

Despite the fact that the Republic of Benin is a small state in West Africa with a population of 8.5 million, since the first multi-party election which took place in 1991, Benin has had five Presidents. This leaves a lot to be desired.

Observers from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) declared the elections free and fair but shared concerns with the African Union (AU) about the late opening of voting stations.

And in Ghana where a movie on Ghana’s 2008 General Elections has been released, featuring Nana Akufo-Addo, John Atta Mills, Jerry Rawlings, John Kufuor, Afari-Gyan, Kwesi Pratt, Hannah Tetteh, Rojo Mettle-Nunoo and Kwabena Agyepong, among others, and it has received great reviews across the globe, with the Los Angeles Times describing the documentary feature film as “the gripping examination of Ghana’s 2008 presidential contest on display,” when it comes to elections similar problems arise.

The film which premiered in London this week is aptly titled, “An African Election”. The 2008 presidential elections in Ghana serve as a backdrop for this feature documentary that looks behind the scenes at the complex political machinery of a third-world democracy struggling to legitimise itself.

The movie portrays how perilously close we got to unleashing electoral violence as it shows footage of young teenagers being trained as militias with wooden guns wearing NDC T-Shirts.

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) MP for Assin North, Kennedy Agyepong has already issued a stern warning to the National Democratic Congress saying if the ruling party does not abandon plans to rig the 2012 elections, Ghana would be like Rwanda where an estimated 800,000 died in genocide.

Hon. Agyepong’s comments come in the wake of threats by Communications Director at the Presidency, Koku Anyidoho that the NDC would deal with the flagbearer of the NPP, Nana Akufo-Addo if he dares incite people ahead of the 2012 elections.

In DRC, even though in the ground Étienne Tshisekedi is very popular and liked by the vast majority of 71 million Congolese, it almost certain that Monday November 28, 2011 elections President Joseph Kabila will emerge the winner.

As one way to rig the election, Kabila was forced to use parliamentarians to amend the constitution, removing the “Presidential runoff vote to be with simple majority” in an attempt to make it easier for him to stay in power. Etienne campaign team have alleged that Kabila used $25,000 to his MPs, and more $50,000 for opposition parliamentarians earlier this year to pass the law.

Etienne is the most liked candidate due to his campaign strategy that give promise that when elected he will implement new anti-corruption laws governing public sector officials and create an effective judicial system to prosecute individuals accused of crimes on DRC home soil, a promise Kabila has never fulfilled. Currently judicial system is pathetic.

Etienne who boycotted the 2006 election, saying it had been rigged also aims at working with the International Criminal Court and international community to build a justice system that is capable of bringing sound and transparent justice to those who commit the most terrible crimes in Congo. He believes it is only this policy that will help bring peace to the Eastern provinces of the Congo.

He has also promised he will ensure that the Congolese Justice system must be strong enough to face down corruption in DRC. Currently corruption is said to be holding back economic growth in the country.

Another preferable candidate is former Kabila’s campaign manager, Vital Kamerhe- he is 52, making him to be one of the youngest candidates. He has not only been largely credited for Kabila’s election victory in 2006 but also breaking with Kabila’s PPRD party in 2009 after voicing his disapproval of an executive order that allowed Rwandan troops to operate within the country without parliament’s knowledge or approval. He was once the speaker of the National Assembly.

Kabila’s campaign strategy on creating employment and rural electrification if re-elected has been challenged-people are asking why he has not done this since 2001 when he took power from his father. Roads are in pathetic situation and are impassable.

His rapprochement with Rwandan President Paul Kagame in 2008 has also angered many Congolese who see their tiny neighbour as the cause of the continuing unrest in Congo’s rebel-infested east, where rape and other abuses by gunmen remain common.

His resistance to reopen the unfinished investigation into the 2001 assassination of his father Laurent, for which 50 people remain behind bars has also made Congolese to lose trust in him.

Laurent Kabila was shot by a member of his own staff in his office at the presidential palace in Kinshasa in 2001 as part of a coup attempt. He died in Zimbabwe a week later.

The murderer, Rashidi Kasereka, was shot dead shortly after the attack and a small group of the presidential guard escaped the DRC. The real circumstances of President Kabila’s death and who was responsible are still murky questions, with several conflicting explanations being circulated.

Continuous violence in the country including rape of women has also led to Kabila’s unpopularity. Women in the Democratic Republic of Congo have been raped at a rate 26 times higher than previously thought. The shockingly high number is equivalent to 1,152 women raped every day, 48 raped every hour, or four women raped every five minutes.

More than 400,000 women ages 15 to 49 were raped across all provinces of the DR Congo during a 12-month period in 2006 and 2007, according to a new study in the American Journal of Public Health.

The study, “Estimates and Determinants of Sexual Violence Against Women in the Democratic Republic of Congo,” represents the first-ever estimates of sexual violence in DRC based on rigorous examination of government-collected and nationally representative data.

Sexual violence occurred in all provinces, the study shows, while the number of women raped at least once in the eastern conflict area of North Kivu—67 per 1,000—is more than double the national average of 29 per 1,000. That means a woman in certain parts of the Congo is 134 times more likely to be raped. Rates of rape in other provinces show that Congo’s sexual violence pandemic is not limited to armed-conflict zones.

People for Peace in Africa (PPA)
P O Box 14877
Nairobi
00800, Westlands
Kenya

Tel +254-7350-14559/+254-722-623-578
E-mail- ppa@africaonline.co.ke
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Website: www.peopleforpeaceafrica.org

Egypt’s transition: the democratic tests

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from Yona Maro

As protestors take to Tahrir Square once again, this time to protest against Egypt’s interim military rulers, Alina Rocha Menocal reflects on the protests, mapping the problems of democratic transition, and argues that ousting Egypt’s dictator was only one step in an unavoidably rocky road towards democratisation.
http://www.opendemocracy.net/alina-rocha-menocal/egypts-transition-democratic-tests
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Tender and Consultancy http://mytenderzone.blogspot.com/

Egypt: Free Blogger Held in Maspero Case

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from Yona Maro

(New York) – Egypt’s military prosecutor should immediately release an award-winning blogger charged in connection with the demonstration by Christian Copts on October 9, 2011, which turned deadly, Human Rights Watch said today. Alaa Abdel Fattah was detained and later charged with incitement and theft of a military weapon, even though the prosecutor had presented no evidence to support the charges. His detention came as military prosecutors started questioning activists and priests about their alleged involvement in publicly encouraging Copts to demonstrate on that day.

During the protest in the Maspero area, military vehicles ran over demonstrators and the military used excessive force to disperse protesters, resulting in the deaths of 27 civilians and one military officer. A November 2 report by the National Council for Human Rights, Egypt’s government-appointed human rights commission, said members of the military were responsible for killing demonstrators. Investigations related to this demonstration remain solely in the hands of military prosecutors, who have called in activists and priests for questioning but have refused to reveal any information about whether they are investigating any military officers for their roles in killing Coptic protesters.

“Instead of identifying which members of the military were driving the military vehicles that crushed 13 Coptic protesters, the military prosecutor is going after the activists who organized the march,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “Abdel Fattah’s detention is a blatant effort to target one of the most vocal critics of the military. The prosecutor’s acts further entrench military impunity by failing to build public confidence that there will be a transparent investigation of those responsible for the deaths.”

On October 30 Abdel Fattah and Bahaa Saber, another political activist, appeared before the military prosecutor in response to an official summons. Prosecutors questioned them about their political affiliations and involvement in the protests at Maspero, but the two men refused to answer, saying they did not recognize the military’s authority to try civilians before military courts.

Abdel Fattah’s father, Ahmed Saif al-Islam, who is also serving as one of his defense lawyers, told Human Rights Watch that he and the team of defense lawyers contended during the interrogation that the military court was not competent to question civilians with regard to the Maspero violence because the military itself was party to the violence and the head of the military police was responsible for the deaths of protesters.

In response, the military prosecutor ordered Abdel Fattah’s detention for 15 days. The prosecutor released Saber pending further investigation.

On November 3 the head of the military justice system released a statement saying the military prosecutor had charged Abdel Fattah with “theft of a military weapon, the destruction of military property, incitement to the assault of military officers, illegally demonstrating and use of force against members of the armed forces.” At no point in the proceedings has the prosecutor presented any evidence against Abdel Fattah. Given the absence of evidence, Human Rights Watch believes it is highly likely that the charges were trumped up and are politically motivated, related to Abdel Fattah’s activism. On November 3 his lawyers filed an appeal against his detention, which the prosecutor rejected and on November 14, the prosecutor renewed Abdel Fattah’s detention for a further 15 days.

Abdel Fattah is an award-winning blogger and activist who has been one of the most vocal critics of abuses by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), the interim governing authority in Egypt. Abdel Fattah has written regular columns in the independent daily Al Shorouk and appeared on private satellite TV stations such as ON TV. The Mubarak government imprisoned him in 2006 for 45 days for participating in protests calling for judicial independence. The Egyptian daily Al Shorouk and The Guardian published a letter written by Abdel Fattah on November 1 in which he wrote, “I never expected to repeat the experience of five years ago: after a revolution that deposed the tyrant, I go back to his jails?”

“The military government has no business prosecuting Abdel Fattah, or any other civilian, in a military court, much less in a case involving the military’s own unlawful violence against protesters,” Whitson said. “These charges presented without evidence against one of the country’s best known activists are further reflection of the military’s desire to silence its critics.”

Investigation of Protest Organizers on Charges of Incitement

Military prosecutors have summoned at least seven people – five activists and two priests – to question them about allegations that they incited the demonstration and attacked the military, based on an October 17 police report by the Interior Ministry’s criminal investigations department. The report claimed to identify 12 individuals and seven political activist groups, including the April 6 Youth Movement, the Maspero Youth Movement, and Copts Without Chains, as responsible for inciting the events at Maspero.

Based on this report, military prosecutors opened an investigation, case number 855 of 2011, at the East Cairo Military Criminal Court, and started summoning people for questioning. Defense lawyers who saw the report during the interrogation of their clients told Human Rights Watch that it contained a list of generalized charges against all 12 people named without providing any evidence or even narrating specific facts to link any of the accused to the charges. The charges include illegally demonstrating in front of the TV building to harm public order, inciting to violence against the armed forces, inciting and participating in the destruction of military property and vehicles, and membership in an organization that seeks to harm public order.

“The military is relying on Mubarak’s old playbook, charging activists with absurdly vague offenses such as ‘illegally demonstrating,’” Whitson said. “These laws have no place in an Egypt that respects the rights of its citizens to organize, assemble, and protest.”

Those listed in the Interior Ministry’s report as prime suspects in the incitement investigation are:

Mina Daniel, activist, shot dead on October 9 during the Maspero protest
Ramy Kamel, member of the Maspero Youth Union, interrogated on October 27
Hany Geziri, has not received a summons yet
Joseph Nasrallah, lives in the United States
Father Filopeter Gamil Aziz, interrogated on October 26
Father Mitias Nasr, interrogated on October 20
Sherif Ramzy Aziz, member of Copts without Chains, interrogated on October 26
Ibram Louis, member of the April 6 Youth Movement and of Copts without Chains, interrogated on Oct 27
Sarwat Kamal
Sabry Zachary
Bahaa Saber, activist, interrogated on October 30
Alaa Abdel Fattah, blogger and activist, interrogated on October 30

Daniel was shot dead with a live bullet during the violence at Maspero. The autopsy stated that a bullet had entered the top of his back and exited through his stomach in the front, indicating that it must have been fired from a height. His sister Mary Daniel spoke at a news conference on November 3 organized by the campaign group No To Military Trials, saying, “I was stunned, didn’t know whether to laugh or cry when I heard [that he was a suspect], after they killed him they now want to ruin his reputation. They may have silenced Mina but there will be a hundred Minas who come after him.”

Said Fawzy, defense lawyer for Ramzy, a member of Copts without Chains, and Louis, a member of Copts without Chains and the April 6 Youth Movement, told Human Rights Watch that the military had questioned them on the basis of their memberships in those activist groups. Hany Ramsis, defense lawyer for Kamel, an active member of the Maspero Youth Union, told Human Rights Watch that the military prosecutor had asked Kamel about his involvement in the group and the October 9 demonstration.

The April 6 Youth Movement leader, Mohamed Adel, who is serving in the army as a conscript, was summoned to the military prosecutor on October 27 on allegations of having incited the Maspero protest. His lawyer Gamal Eid told Human Rights Watch that the charges against him were dropped when his presiding officer confirmed that Adel had not left the military base that day.

Two priests, Father Mitias Nasr and Father Filopeter Gamil Aziz, were among those the prosecutor summoned for questioning about incitement allegations, on October 20 and 26 respectively. Mitias told Human Rights Watch that he had thought the prosecutor was summoning him to take his testimony about a complaint Mitias had submitted against Gen. Ibrahim El Maty, deputy head of the military police, accusing military police officers of attacking peaceful protesters on October 6. The military prosecutor interrogated Aziz, priest of the Virgin and Maryohanna Church in Giza, on allegations of incitement and abusing religion to cause sectarian violence and the destruction of military property and assaulting members of the military.

No Transparency About Whether Military Officers Being Investigated

The civilian Office of the Public Prosecutor has referred all complaints filed by the families of victims killed or injured at Maspero to the military prosecutor, who is exercising sole jurisdiction over the Maspero investigation. Military prosecutors are investigating 31 people, mostly Copts, arrested on the evening of October 9 and charged with assaulting military officers.

Prosecutors are refusing to tell the lawyers whether anyone is being investigated for the killing of protesters through live gunfire and crushing by military vehicles. A human rights lawyer, Taher Abul Nasr, confirmed to Human Rights Watch that lawyers representing victims have been unable to view any of the prosecutor’s reports to determine whether prosecutors are interviewing any military officers driving the armored personnel carriers (APC) or otherwise deployed that evening.

Said Fayez, the lawyer for the Daniel family, told Human Rights Watch that despite the fact that he is representing one of the victims, he has not been able to obtain any information about whether military prosecutors are interrogating any military officers for their role in the violence and therefore whether there is any genuine investigation of military responsibility. Fayez said that the Office of the Public Prosecutor sent all the complaints submitted by the families of victims to the military prosecutors under one case number.

Vivian Magdy, who was with her fiancé, Michael Mus’ad, when he was crushed by an APC on the evening of October 9, said at a news conference organized by the No To Military Trials Groupon November 2 that she went to the military prosecutor to give her testimony but the prosecutor only asked her about whether she saw “thugs” attacking the military.

“The military justice system is not going to bring justice for Michael’s killing,” she said. “Only civilians can do this. The time for silence is over, this massacre cannot happen again, it can’t happen again.”

Egypt’s military has tried at least 12,000 people before military courts this year. Despite the military’s vague promises to limit the use of military courts, there are at least four ongoing investigations before the military prosecutor, including the cases of the 28 Copts arrested on the night of Maspero and charged with assaulting military officers. Human Rights Watch has previously set out thereasons that only a civilian judicial body can conduct an independent and impartial investigation into the events at Maspero, since the military is directly implicated in the violence at the demonstration.

Military Responsibility for the Maspero Massacre

From its first reactions in response to the violence at Maspero, the military has blamed external forces for the deaths. In an October 12 news conference, Gen. Adel Emara blamed “foreign elements” and “incitement and threats by political personalities and religious men to gather in front of the TV building at Maspero” for the violence. He went on to say that, “There has not been a case of rolling over people with vehicles,” and instead that the people controlling the armored military vehicles at the demonstration were “trying to avoid running into protesters, not rolling over them.”

Human Rights Watchinterviewed 20 participants in the demonstration who consistently said that between 6 and 7 p.m. on October 9, at least two APCs were driven recklessly through crowds of demonstrators, in some cases appearing to pursue the demonstrators intentionally. The evidence overwhelmingly suggested that the protest of thousands of Copts had been peaceful until the point that the APCs were driven through the crowds, and that the military’s subsequent response to violence by some of the demonstrators was disproportionate. The large, heavy vehicles crushed and killed at least 10 demonstrators, as autopsies later showed.

On November 2 the National Council for Human Rights (NCHR), Egypt’s national human rights commission, released the report of its fact-finding committee on Maspero. It concluded that three APCs “moved one after another, at great speed along the Corniche toward the October Bridge … the movement of the first two APCs in the midst of demonstrators was fast and circular, they changed their direction from the October bridge to the opposite direction toward Maspero. As a result of the extreme speed at which the first and second APCs were driving, they ran over a number of demonstrators, killing at least 12.” The NCHR said that the military had violated the right to life but was less categorical on whether the military had used live ammunition, saying that some statements confirmed they had but others had said they had only used sound bullets and that the military had denied the use of live gunfire.

The report also stated that the group had little faith in a government fact-finding committee. On October 10 the cabinet established a six-member government fact-finding committee headed by Assistant Justice Minister Amr Marwan to “investigate the causes of the Maspero events, the instigators and all those responsible… in addition to investigating the truth of what happened in the village of Marinab, including reviewing the results of the investigations conducted by the public prosecution.”

The committee has thus far visited Marinab on October 12 to investigate the destruction of the church there, one of the reasons for the October 9 demonstration, but has yet to make public its findings and it does not formally have the power to question any members of the military or to access any of the investigations conducted by military prosecutors. An earlier Justice Ministry-led fact-finding committee set up to investigate the excessive use of force by the military in breaking up a demonstration in Tahrir square on April 9 has yet to make public any of its findings.

In the draft principles on military justice adopted by the United Nations Human Rights Commission, principle no. 9 states: “In all circumstances, the jurisdiction of military courts should be set aside in favor of the jurisdiction of the ordinary courts to conduct inquiries into serious human rights violations such as extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances and torture, and to prosecute and try persons accused of such crimes.” In the European Court of Human Rights Case Al-Skeini and others v UK, the court found that:
For an investigation into alleged unlawful killing by State agents to be effective, it is necessary for the persons responsible for and carrying out the investigation to be independent from those implicated in the events… a prompt response by the authorities in investigating a use of lethal force may generally be regarded as essential in maintaining public confidence in their adherence to the rule of law and in preventing any appearance of collusion in or tolerance of unlawful acts. For the same reasons, there must be a sufficient element of public scrutiny of the investigation or its results to secure accountability in practice as well as in theory.

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Egypt: Don’t Deport Eritreans

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from Yona Maro

(Geneva) – The Egyptian authorities are preparing to deport 118 detained Eritreans to Eritrea, where they risk persecution, Human Rights Watch said today. On October 29, 2011, guards at the al-Shalal prison in Aswan beat the 118 men, including 40 who already have refugee status, to force them to sign papers for their “voluntary” return to Eritrea, according to sources with access to the detainees.

Egypt should stop forcing detained Eritreans to sign repatriation forms and allow the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to interview all detained Eritreans to identify refugees among them, Human Rights Watch said. According to UNHCR, it has already registered 40 of the group as refugees in Sudan and Ethiopia. The renewed deportations signal a return to Egypt’s mass deportations of Eritreans in 2008and 2009, Human Rights Watch said.

“Detaining Eritreans and then beating them to force them to sign ‘voluntary’ return papers can’t mask the fact that Egypt is about to commit refoulement, the forced return of refugees to likely persecution,” said Gerry Simpson, senior refugee researcher and advocate at Human Rights Watch. “Instead of ripping up refugee law, ignoring UNHCR, and beating migrants and refugees, Egypt should protect them.”

Eritrea, ruled by an extremely repressive government, requires all citizens under 50 to serve in the military indefinitely. Anyone of draft age leaving the country without permission is branded a deserter, risking five years in prison, often in inhumane conditions, as well as forced labor and torture. UNHCR considers that, in practice, the punishment for desertion or evasion is so severe and disproportionate that it constitutes persecution.

Human Rights Watch spoke with multiple credible sources with regular recent access to about 160 Eritrean men and women detained for the past month in al-Shalal prison in Egypt’s southern city of Aswan.

According to the sources, the detainees said that on October 26 an Eritrean embassy official visited them and asked why they had left Eritrea. He returned on October 29 with voluntary repatriation forms and told them they would all be photographed to help prepare travel documents. The detainees all refused to sign the forms.

One of the sources who spoke with all of the detainees said the prison guards then beat 118 of them, mostly young men, to force them to sign the voluntary return papers, though the 30 or so women and seven children were not forced to sign.

Some of the detainees told one of the sources that on November 9 an Egyptian immigration officer and an Eritrean official visited the prison with additional deportation documents, including “laissez passer” papers, indicating deportation is imminent.

Ten of the men are recent deserters from Eritrea’s military. They include two senior personnel – a colonel and a person responsible for the military’s radio service – the source said. The other eight are more junior personnel, two of whom worked in food distribution services in Eritrea’s infamous Sawa military camp.

The camp is the country’s main military training center and notorious for its use of torture to punish draft evaders and people trying to escape the country, as well as for its use of forced labor.

Under Egypt’s 1954 memorandum of understanding with the UN refugee agency, the agency is supposed to carry out all refugee status determination in Egypt. This means Egyptian officials are obliged to give UNHCR access to all detained migrants to identify those who want to claim their right to seek asylum from persecution.

In practice, Egyptian authorities often deny the UN refugee agency access to detained migrants. The Egyptian authorities have not allowed UNHCR to visit the detainees, the refugee agency told Human Rights Watch.

“By blocking UNHCR from visiting asylum seekers, the Egyptian government not only tramples on their right to seek asylum but disregards its own agreements,” Simpson said. “Egypt needs to reaffirm its agreement to protect asylum seekers and let the refugee agency interview them.”

According to credible sources, over the past two months Egyptian Interior Ministry officials have given Eritrean embassy officials access to detained Eritreans, including asylum seekers registered by UNHCR in other countries, to help prepare travel documents for deportation.

Human Rights Watch said that allowing Eritrean diplomatic officials to visit detained Eritreans, including potential asylum seekers, means Egypt is violating the principle of confidentiality, essential to asylum procedures.

According to reports by Egypt’s official Middle East News Agency, in October the Egyptian authorities announced that 111 Eritreans had “voluntarily” returned to their country after they had signed Eritrean embassy paperwork. Credible sources told Human Rights Watch that Eritrean Embassy officials had visited them in prison before they were deported.

The news agency reported on October 14 that two days earlier, Egypt had deported 50 Eritreans and that, on the same day, 32 Eritreans had “illegally entered the southern border of Egypt with the intention of making their way to Sinai to illegally enter Israel.”

UNHCR said that the Egyptian authorities denied UNHCR access to some of the deportees, in line with Egypt’s policy of generally denying the refugee agency access to detained migrants. In the case of migrants intercepted in Egypt’s eastern Sinai region, UNHCR says the authorities argue that legitimate refugees should try to register with UNHCR in Cairo instead of crossing the Sinai desert.

In June 2008, Egypt summarily returned to Eritrea up to 1,200 undocumented Eritreans who had entered Egypt from Sudan. In December 2008 and January 2009, Egypt forcibly returnedmore than 45 Eritrean asylum seekers to Eritrea.

Until the reports in October, Egypt had appeared to end the deportations, except for one UNHCR-recognized Sudanese refugee, Mohammed al-Haj Abdallah, on January 25, 2010.

Under the African Refugee Convention, asylum seekers have a right to seek asylum, regardless of how they enter a country or whether they have identity documents.International law forbids countries from forcibly returning asylum seekers without first allowing them to apply for asylum and considering their cases.

Both the Convention against Torture and the African Refugee Convention forbid Egypt from sending individuals to countries where they face a serious risk of persecution or torture. Egypt is also a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which, under article 13, prohibits arbitrary expulsion and entitles foreigners to an individual decision on their removal/expulsion. The UN Human Rights Committee has interpreted article 7 of the ICCPR to forbid refoulement – or forced return – of people to places where they would be at risk of torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment.

Human Rights Watch said that no international agencies in Eritrea, including UNHCR, have been able to monitor the treatment of deported Eritreans once they are back in Eritrea. However, Eritrean refugees in various countries have told Human Rights Watch that Eritreans forcibly returned to their country are routinely detained and mistreated in detention.

UNHCR’s official Guidelines to States on the protection needs of Eritrean asylum seekers state that “[i]ndividuals of draft age who left Eritrea illegally may be perceived as draft evaders upon return, irrespective of whether they have completed active national service or have been demobilized,” and that “[t]he punishment for desertion or evasion is so severe and disproportionate such as to amount to persecution.”
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DRC: Letter to DRC President Joseph Kabila From Civil Society Representatives in LRA-affected areas of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic and South Sudan

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From: Yona F Maro

20 civil society groups in northern Congo, Central African Republic,
and South Sudan write to President Joseph Kabila , calling his
attention to the ongoing atrocities committed by the Lord’s Resistance
Army (LRA) in Haut and Bas Uele districts of northern Congo, and the
neighboring regions of CAR and South Sudan.

This is not a letter from Human Rights Watch, but we believe it is
particularly powerful.

Dear President Joseph Kabila,

We, the civil society representatives of Haut and Bas Uele districts
in northern Democratic Republic of Congo, Western Equatoria State in
South Sudan, and Mbomou and Haut Mbomou prefectures of the Central
African Republic, write to call your attention to the ongoing
atrocities committed by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in Haut and
Bas Uele districts of northern Congo, and the neighboring regions of
CAR and South Sudan.

In northern Congo, we have traversed an incredibly difficult period
since 2008, losing many innocent lives and being forced to flee from
our homes time and again. In total, the LRA has killed more than 2,400
civilians and abducted at least 3,400 others since September 2008.
Most of the victims were Congolese, and the attacks continue. Most
recently, the LRA has attacked the area around Bangadi, in Haut Uele
district, numerous times in the past several weeks, killing and
abducting civilians each time.

As we prepare for presidential and parliamentary elections in Congo,
we urge you to work together with United Nations peacekeepers and
other regional partners to help ensure that voters in northern Congo
are protected on election day and can safely access voting centers,
without the fear of an LRA attack.

We also urge you to recognize the LRA threat publicly and to cooperate
meaningfully with regional and international partners working to end
the LRA problem and protect civilians in our region.

We feel that our own governments have abandoned and forgotten us, and
it only discourages us further when we hear statements from our
elected leaders that the LRA is no longer a threat. In Congo, we were
particularly disheartened when we heard on the radio senior government
and military leaders denying the existence of the LRA – while at the
same time, those of us who live in LRA areas continue to suffer from
the LRA’s attacks.

We urge you to cease politicizing the LRA story and to stop denying
the group’s existence in Congo. Our sole interest is peace. Today, the
LRA is a regional problem and we must search for a regional solution.
Protecting populations in this remote area where the borders of all
three of our countries meet is possible only if the Congolese
government and military acknowledge the LRA threat, engage fully to
end the problem, and cooperate with other partners.

We are also greatly discouraged when soldiers of our own national
armies resort to killing, raping, and looting civilians, and are a
threat to the populations they’re supposed to protect. These abuses
must not be tolerated and those responsible for abuses should be held
to account. At the same time, we have noticed that our soldiers lack
communications equipment, transportation and ammunition. When the LRA
attacks, our soldiers are often forced to flee along with the
population.We urge you to ensure that the Congolese army deploys only
well-trained, well-equipped, and disciplined forces and commanding
officers to protect civilians in the LRA-affected areas.

We welcomed the announcement by the United States government to send
100 well-equipped military advisors to counter the Lord’s Resistance
Army (LRA) menace and help protect civilians, and we hope you will
work with them to ensure a more effective response to the LRA problem.

We can only truly rejoice when the LRA threat is over and when we hear
that Joseph Kony is no longer terrorizing our region. We have suffered
too much and we are tired of living in total insecurity – afraid to go
to our fields to farm and unsure when or where the rebels may surface
again. We don’t know whether our children who were abducted by the LRA
will ever come back home.

Your Excellency, please do what you can to end to these LRA atrocities
and to protect Congolese men, women, and children living in Haut and
Bas Uele districts. Our communities are traumatized, and we have never
before in our region experienced such levels of fear, loss, and
suffering. We want to end the LRA problem so we can finally return to
our normal lives.

Yours sincerely,

1. Association africaine de défense des droits de l’homme
(ASADHO), Kinshasa, RDC
2. Association des victimes de la LRA, Obo, RCA
3. Association Zereda, Obo, RCA
4. Commission Diocésaine pour la Justice et la Paix (CDJP),
Dungu, Haut Uélé, RDC
5. Commission Diocésaine pour la Justice et la Paix (CDJP),
Duru, Haut Uélé, RDC
6. Commission Diocésaine pour la Justice et la Paix (CDJP),
Ngilima, Haut Uélé, RDC
7. Commission Paroissiale pour la Justice et la Paix (CPJP),
Bangadi, RDC
8. Communauté des Églises Évangéliques en Centrafrique (CEEC),
Zemio, RCA
9. ECS Nzara Diocese, Yambio, South Sudan
10. Justice and Peace Commission, Catholic Diocese of Tombura-
Yambio, South Sudan
11. Société civile d’Ango (SOCIDA), Bas Uélé, RDC
12. Société civile de Doruma, Haut Uélé, RDC
13. Société civile de Faradje, Haut Uélé, RDC
14. Société civile de la Chefferie Mopoy (SOCICOMO), Banda, Bas
Uélé, RDC
15. Société civile de Poko (SOCIPO), Bas Uélé, RDC
16. Solidarité et Assistance Intégrale aux Personnes Démunies
(SAIPED), Dungu, RDC
17. Traumatisme blessure du Cœur, Zemio, RCA
18. Union des Jeunes de Doruma pour le Loisirs (UJDL), Doruma,
Haut Uélé, RDC
19. Union of Journalists of South Sudan, Yambio, South Sudan
20. Unity Is Strength, Yambio, South Sudan

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USA: Word smithing a 1st Amendment Pledge

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from Chuck Watts chuck

To Dayton & Wilmington explorers of Caring Citizens Chapters.

How would you improve this 1st Amendment pledge, written to remind one of the Pledge of Allegiance?

Our 1st Amendment Pledge

I pledge to gather
with my neighbor
in weekly peaceable assemblies
and to freedom to have
conversations that matter
strong public government
caring and effective
to protect and empower us all.

—

Caring citizens communicating American values are the solution to expanding liberty and justice for all,

Chuck Watts, Founding Partner
Caring Citizens Chapters
An Empathy Surplus Project

937-725-4317
http://www.empathysurplus.com
http://twitter.com/#!/empathysurplus
http://www.facebook.com/empathysurplus

Netherlands & USA: A founding organizer of O.W.S. is interiviewed

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After the church service, Caring Citizens activist group met for discussions this past Sunday.

An upcoming event is planned. At the local ‘Occupy [your town]’ event site, Courthouse Square, an allegence pledge will be read.

I pledge allegiance
to my gathered neighbors
to protect and empower them forever
and to our commitment
to which we all invest
Shared responsibility & empathy.

On a website operated by John Waterman, the Occupy Wall Street movement has received some coverage. An excerpt follows. Note the audio interview link featuring one of the movement founders in New York City USA. He provides some background including the early startup. The interviewer is from a similar movement in the Netherlands.

– Octimotor –

– – – – – – – – – –

http://thewatermanfiles.com/
2 nov2011 blog post
NEW – ARGUSOOG RADIO & OCCUPY RADIO
By TWF •

Liberty loving people of the groundcrew, are fighting tyranny in the Netherlands and are striving to rid themselves of that same tyranny thrust upon us here [in USA].

Below is the audio from the live radio broadcast, and I have edited it for English listeners (except for the music) … enjoy! First is music, then a lengthy English language interview with Occupy – New York, then more music.

http://thewatermanfiles.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Argusoog-and-Occupy.mp3

Kenya: Prof Edward Akong’o Oyugi join the race for the lucrative and powerful position of Migori County governorship

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Writes Leo Odera Omolo In Awendo Town.

The Lucrative and most powerful position within the new regional governance set up under the new constitution dispensation has attracted one of the top and controversial intellectuals in academic fraternity in Kenya in general and Luo-Nyanza in particular.

Prof. Edward Akong’o Oyugi, whose radicalism and political activities gave sleepless nights to the retired former President Daniel Arap Moi in the 1980s and early 1990s, has declared his interest in the Migori County governor.

His declarations of the intention to run for the County governor has already sent shock-waves on the spine code of other hopeful taking into account his many years of steadfast and consistency in the struggle for the rule of justice and democracy in Kenya.

Aged 68 and married with one son and two daughters – – all grown up – – Prof Akong’o Oyugi, who had early in the 1980s teamed up with other radical groups which gave sleepless nights to the retired former President Daniel Arap Moi, earning him several arrests and detentions by the authorities under KANU monolithic one party system.

Prof Akong’o Oyugi came to the fame in early 1980s when he joined hands with the group of radical politicians of politicians who were demanding for the re-introduction of pluralism system of government in Kenya as opposed to the dictatorial and autocratic one party system under KANU regime.

He was arrested by KANU regime along with other radicals who included Maina Wa Kenyatti, Kamoji Wachira, Al Amin Mazrui, Katama Mkangi, Dr Willy Mutunga {now Kenya’s Chief Justice}Raila Odinga,Georg Moseti Anyona,Vincent Otieno Makonyango,Koigi Wamwere, John Khaminwa, and Mukari Ng’ang’a.

Prof Akong’o Oyugi’s tribulation took place between 1982 ND 1995. He was later released from detention, but after failing to get a job for two years, he fled the country and went into exile in Germany where he secured a teaching job at the University of Bayreuth {1986-1988}.

Upon his return home, he was re-hired as a senior lecturer at Kenyatta University, but within only two years Moi’s hawk-eyed police sleuths were on his neck once again. He was re-arrested in 1990, once more with the late George Moseti Anyona,Ngotho Kariuki and Njeru Kathanga. They were prosecuted and each jailed for seven years with hard labor.

Their only crime was demanding that the late Jaramogi Oginga Odinga and the late George Moseti Anyona be llowed to form another political party.

But they were released after serving for two years only when both internal and external pressure piled up on the government, which later entered nolle-prosequi against the sentence.

Denied employment in Kenya for the second time by the Moi regime, Prof.Akong’o Oyugi voluntarily went into exile once again and went back to Germany to teach at the University of Heidelberg.

Prof Akong’o Oyugi took his early education at Migori Primary School, Luwala Intermdiate School and attended Kamagambo SDA Mission Secondary School.He studied at Cologne University in Germany where he earned Bachelor, Masters and PHD streak of degrees

Upon his to Kenya Prof.Akong’o Oyugi joined Kenyatta University {College} in 1972 as a lecturer in Educational Psychology. He was later promoted to a senior lecturer in the same department in 1975 and was made an Associate Professor in 1990.

Prof Akong’o Oyugi returned to Kenya after a brief sojourn in Europe and established Social Development Network {SODNET} a Non-Governmental Organization {NGO}, specializing in accountability, budget literacy and good governance as its Executive Director{CEO}

He also rejoined Kenyatta University on contract. He is also become a member of the Organized Word Social Forum {WSF} in 2007.

The professor of a board members of the following organizations; AFODAD {Zimbabwe},KNDRI in Kenya, BEACON in Kenya, Reality in AID IN Kenya, Karibu Rafiki Foundation in the USA/California and Recepassa in Kenya.

He is the chairperson of USHINDI in the USA, He is also a member of the National Economic and Social Council Task Force n Devolved Government. NEPAD APRM – National Governing Council representing Nyanza Province and the International Council of Governing Social Forum Council in Brazil, African Social Forum Council.

Prof Akong’o Oyugi has scooped several international awards in recognition of his massive contribution in both academic and social forums world-wide. Thy included Ono Benecke Foundation Award {1980} Germany Academic Award of the Fund for Free Expression, New York {1992} and a regular contributor to many publications in academic journals and newspaper.

He will battle for the governorship with other political luminaries within the region like Eng. Mark Nyamita of the Airtel, Joseph Ken Ngao of the Ojele Medical Center in Migori Town, Eng Ezra Odondi, Kisumu Yown Clerk Christopher Rusana and Sam Onyango.

All the aspirants for the Migori County governorship position are men of substantial means and top academicians. They are well spread in all the four parliamentary constituencies, namely Rongo, Awendo, Uriri, Migori East, Migori West and Nyatike. Two new parliamentary electoral constituencies, namely Migori West and Awendo were recently created, bringing them to a total of six.

The agriculturally region, according to the residents needs somebody of high standing within the society, an here is where Prof.Akong”Oyugi has the head start against the other aspirants

Ends

In the enclosed attached photograph is that of Prof.Edward Akong’o Oyugi who has declared his interest in contesting the Migori County Governor in the impending general elections scheduled for December 2012.

ICC & Kenya: “Tomorrow will come” film

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from Tebiti Oisaboke

Viewer discretion required while watching this video

TOI

– – – – – – – – – – –

“Tomorrow will come” is a film about the ICC process following the naming of the six suspects most responsible for the post election violence which occurred in Kenya in 2007-2008.

Tomorrow Will Come Part 1-MPEG-4 .mp4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCQY13XtYxc&feature=email

Tomorrow Will Come Part 2-MPEG-4 .mp4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJEfHqq8jxc&feature=email

The Impact of Education Across Sectors: Democracy

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from Yona Maro

This policy brief summarizes the ways in which investments in democratic institutions and in education are mutually supportive. For example, well-functioning democratic institutions require an educated citizenry. Educated citizens are supportive of democratic ideals and institutions, and they play active roles in civic life and public decision making. Democratic regimes invest in education, and investments in better quality universal primary education lead to equitable growth.
http://www.aed.org/Publications/loader.cfm?url=/commonspot/security/getfile.cfm&pageid=41404
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USA, Ohio: Caring Citizens, Occupy Dayton, music;

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from Octomotor

My Sunday experience today included the weekly gathering of Caring Citizens after the church service.

This group envisions that the communication and use of progressive values & visions which were held by founders of USA can aid the solution of many contemporary ills. Empathy for others is a major ingredient. See website, www.enpathysurplus.com, and publications authored by George Lakoff, including the one titled, _Thinking Points_

Also, one of the participants in the Dayton Ohio portion of the “Occupy Wall Street” protest action attended our Caring Citizens gathering today. Afterward, the path from church to my afternoon activities led past their Courthouse Square site. Their counter marked 22nd day of this public oriented protest effort. Their signs indicate web site,

www.occupydaytonohio.org

Today during early Sunday afternoon, some music was being performed. Some individuals were playing guitars, drum, and singing songs such as the one which states, “This land is your land, … is my land … it belongs to you and me”.

Hence I was reminded that likely this was the same weekend as the yearly Fri. – Sun. musical event in Columbus Ohio called Ohio Valley Filk Fest (OHVFF). It features music on themes of science fiction, fantasy, political satire. It has traditional European & USA folk music as well.

At OHVFF, often addressing the topics reflective of dissident mass political movements, are likely to be the composers / singers Kathy Mar and Lesley Fish. Both are veterans 1960’s hippy era songsters.

on web page, http://www.worldpolicy.org/journal/fall2011/innovation-starvation

Neal Stephenson wrote that there are . . .
‘those who have no sympathy that an affluent, middle-aged white American has [lived to not see] his boyhood fantasies fulfilled’.

Ones lacking that sympathy could be from the viewpoint of either those persons in the first world’s economic top most layer, or some of those among the very vocal spokespersons for the social justice and green politics causes. (The affluent middleclass oriented open society idea now has significant critics, though I dissagree with them.)

I will mention a song by F&SF themed song writer / singer Berry Child Helton a few years ago. It expressed a similar idea. The title is “Monorail from Atomland”. It told of his regret for the situation in which the optimistic science fiction tales, published during the 1950 – 1960’s, depicting the historical era we now inhabit as a time and place for the kind of technical, social, and economic progress, which could lead to widening benefits of liberty and economic prosperity for most people, did not come to pass. Rather, we now do not have inexpensive energy, opening access for many people into settling interplanetary space, excellent terrestrial transportation, and perhaps even anticipatory democracy. He, along with his wife Salley, who is also talented musically, likewise have been usual attendees of OHVFF.