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Quotes of the Week
‘We had information that the group has been planning an attack, and that is why the raid was conducted.’
– Mombasa police chief Geoffrey Mayek confirming that 200 people were arrested today (Monday) as Kenyan security forces raided mosques accused of links with Somalia’s al-Qaeda-affiliated Shabaab militants
‘Amnesty International firmly believes Shell knew the Bodo data were wrong. If it did not it was scandalously negligent – we repeatedly gave them evidence showing they had dramatically underestimated the spills.’
– Audrey Gaughran, Director for Global Issues at Amnesty International addressing a UK legal action against Shell brought by 15 000 people whose livelihoods were devastated by oil pollution in N igeria in 2008. The court action has forced Shell to finally admit the company has underplayed the true magnitude of at least two spills and the extent of damage caused.
‘Can it be said that the minister overstepped the bright line between meddling and oversight? There is no evidence that suggests that such a line was breached.’
– Lindi Nkosi-Thomas SC, in closing argument at the Farlam Commission of Inquiry into whether a conversation between former Lonmin non-executive director, now Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa and then Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa was appropriate during the strike at Marikana
‘This would include motions which cast aspersions on the character of other honourable members, judges, or other office bearers... or which contravene the rules in any other way.’
– National Assembly Speaker Baleke Mbete explains the rules for submitting a motion without notice, as she turns down an Economic Freedom Fighters motion in which she is criticised
‘This crime was committed four years ago. There were lengthy extradition proceedings, statements have been made, video clips have been made, police have gone on television, Panorama programmes and other programmes about the State’s case. And now you are telling me that you are waiting for something as fundamental as primer residue?’
– Western Cape High Court Deputy Judge President Jeanette Traverso lambastes a prosecutor during the Shrien Dewani murder trial
‘These troubling developments are clear signs that Libya is descending on the wrong path on its transition to what was hoped would be a peaceful country that respects and pays homage to the rule of law, justice and accountability.’
– International Criminal Court chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda expressing concern at the ongoing spate of assassinations, threats to journalists, human rights activists and women in particular as well as to prosecutors, judges and lawyers
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AFRICA FOCUS
General: Turbulence in the corridors of power
It’s been an extraordinary week in Africa’s corridors of power as parliaments across the continent find themselves on shaky ground in the face of political turbulence. Legalbrief reports that the roles of these seats of governance are also being questioned, leading to an increasingly uneasy alliance with the state. The International Criminal Court (ICC) has warned that deep divisions in the Libyan Government have created a breeding ground for war crimes. ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda told the UN Security Council that the violence in Libya had worsened over the past six months with the country now split between two governments and two parliaments vying for control. ‘There are, indeed, indications that crimes that fall within the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court are being committed,’ Bensouda said. A report on the aljazeera.com site notes that she also expressed concern at the ongoing spate of assassinations in Benghazi, threats to journalists, human rights activists and women in particular, as well as to prosecutors, judges and lawyers.
Full report on the aljazeera.com site
Last week’s shambles in South Africa’s Parliament, which included fisticuffs, has brought threats of legal action, a defiant statement from the Speaker who says it is her duty to defend Parliament, charges against the police, and a warning from the opposition Democratic Alliance that it will no longer recognise the authority of Baleka Mbete, notes Legalbrief. Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema says the party will seek an urgent interdict against the riot police who entered the National Assembly during the heated session on Thursday. ‘It can never and will never be correct for the police to interfere with the proceedings of Parliament, because elected members of Parliament will always be in fear that whatever they say and do in Parliament will be subjected to the police,’ he is quoted as saying in a report on the News24 site. ‘Like in Marikana, the police have once more engaged in an illegal activity, demonstrating their incompetence and that they act on political instructions.’ Malema said the EFF had approached its lawyers with a view to asking a court to declare it illegal for the police to enter the chamber. Tempers flared in the House on Thursday when MPs of the governing African National Congress retaliated by objecting to motions the opposition tried to bring to delay the tabling of a report on upgrades to President Jacob Zuma’s homestead at Nkandla.
Full report on the News24 site
The DA will no longer recognise National Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete, the party’s parliamentary leader Mmusi Maimane said, according to a report on theIoL site. He said what happened last week had prompted a ‘fundamental change’ in the DA’s approach to the institution. ‘(Speaker) Baleka Mbete lost control of the House and destroyed her credibility as Speaker. Accordingly, we will cease to recognise her authority as Speaker.’ Every time Mbete presided over the House, ‘the DA will send only its Chief Whip, its deputy Chief Whip, and those members participating in the debate itself’. Maimane said he had written to the leader of government business, Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, asking that he support the passing of a motion of no confidence in Mbete, and that Parliament elect a new Speaker. He had further called on Ramaphosa to take other steps to restore order in the House, including ‘that he supports the election of a member of the opposition as one of the presiding officers to restore objectivity in the position’. Referring to the events of Thursday evening, which saw riot police entering the House, he said Ramaphosa should also take steps to ensure that this never happened again.
Full report on the IoL site
In neighbouring Zimbabwe, Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC-T will approach the Constitutional Court appealing against Parliament’s rejection of its demands to withdraw 18 MPs until a competent judicial ruling determines who are the legitimate leaders of the opposition party. BBC News reports that the MPs to be recalled include former secretary-general Tendai Biti who is now one of the leaders of a splinter MDC calling itself the Renewal Team. The Speaker of the National Assembly, Jacob Mudenda, and Senate leader Ednah Madzongwe turned down MDC-T secretary-general Douglas Mwonzora’s request to declare the seats vacant. But, notes the report, party spokesperson Obert Gutu expressed disappointment at Friday’s ruling ‘which did not consider that the party had held its congress which elected new leadership’. The party says it formally withdrew its High Court case on 7 November and the withdrawal papers were duly served to Biti and other respondents, the report states.
Full BBC News report
In Somalia, commotion overshadowed a parliamentary session where a motion on a vote of no confidence in Prime Minister Abdiweli Sheikh was supposed to be tabled. A report on the allAfrica.com site notes that MPs who were opposing the tabling of the motion disrupted the session. They opposed the documents proposing the motion to be distributed among the MPs. A report on the mereeg.com site notes that Sheikh issued a statement saying that political disputes should be solved through negotiations. ‘Somalia has been through 24 years of conflict, famine and political crises that destroyed governance structures in the country. Taking lessons from the challenges we have been through, all of us have to stand together to free the country and the people from this past. We have to commit ourselves to the protection of the provisional constitution and other laws of the country,’ he said, according to the report.
Full report on the allAfrica.com site
Full report on the mareeg.com site
Kenya’s National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi and his Senate counterpart Ekwee Ethuro have clashed over the role of the two Houses in the tabling of Bills. The Nation reports that Muturi has declined to refer several Bills to the Senate, maintaining that only legislation affecting counties can be tabled there. But Senate Speaker Ekwe Ethuro insists that the Bills at issue do concern the counties. The Bills in contention include Military the Veterans Bill, Parliamentary Society of Kenya Bill and The Value Added Tax Bill. The report notes that of the 38 Bills that have come before the National Assembly since April last year, only four have been referred to the Senate after conclusion in the Assembly. They are the Public Procurement and Disposal Bill, Statute law, Fertilisers and Animal Foodstuffs Bill and the Division of Revenue Bill, the report states.
Full report in The Nation
NEWS BY REGION
North Africa
Sudan: UN official summoned over r ape allegations
Sudan has summoned the head of the UN-African Mission in Darfur (Unamid) over reports government troops had carried out a mass r ape in the war-torn region. According to a report on the News24 site, Unamid claimed the Sudanese military had sought to intimidate villagers to suppress allegations that more than 200 women and girls were r aped. ‘We summoned the chief of Unamid to clarify the situation and I told him the general prosecutor in Darfur is carrying out an investigation’ into the r ape claims and the source of the reports, said government spokesman Abdullah al-Azraq. The Sudanese Government has repeatedly denied its troops carried out the alleged r apes, the report notes.
Full report on the News24 site
Egypt: Cairo targets foreign defendants
Egypt’s President has issued a decree that allows him to deport foreign defendants convicted or accused of crimes in the country. According to a report on the News24 site, the decree by President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi was issued on Wednesday night and comes amid international criticism over Egypt imprisoning three journalists from the Al Jazeera. The presidency did not elaborate about the decree, which allows extradition whenever the President decides it is the best interest of the country. The journalists are currently awaiting an appeal hearing set for 1 January, according to the report which notes el-Sissi previously said he was unable to take action in the Al Jazeera case until after the final verdict. El-Sissi said he thinks the ideal way to deal with ‘transgressions’ by foreign journalists would be to deport them, the report states.
Full report on the News24 site
Meanwhile, an Egyptian court has sentenced three Germans and six Egyptiansto five years jail in for stealing fragments of a pharaonic artefact from Cairo’s Great Pyramid. According to a report on the News24 site, a court in Giza sentenced in absentia three Germans, who had claimed they were researchers for stealing pieces of an ancient scroll bearing the name of the Pharaoh Khufu as well as rock samples, the source said. The Great Pyramid is the biggest and most famous of the three Giza pyramids. It houses the tomb of Pharaoh Khufu. Six Egyptians, including three employees of the antiquities ministry, two pyramid guards and the director of a travel agency, were also jailed for five years for aiding the robbery, the report states. It says the crime was discovered at the end of 2013 by Egyptian authorities, who announced in August that the missing fragments had been recovered.
Full report on the News24 site
West Africa
Burkina Faso: Interim president appointed
The New York Times reports that a committee of political, military, religious and traditional today (Monday) named a former Foreign Minister and veteran diplomat to oversee a transition to new elections following the ouster of President Blaise Compaoré. Under pressure to cede to civilian rule, the military joined an electoral college of 23 mainly civilian representatives, which named Michel Kafando, a one-time ambassador to the UN, as interim president. His prime task is to oversee a transition to elections by November next year. The closed-door debate began yesterday (Sunday), hours before a deadline set by the AU to hand power to civilians or face sanctions that could have compounded Burkina Faso’s economic woes. A report on the News24 site notes that AU chief Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma praised the country’s leaders ‘for their political maturity and sense of responsibility’, and called for ‘a smooth transition under the direction of civil authorities’.
Full report in The New York Times
Full report on the News24 site
Last week, military, civilian and religious leaders reached an agreement to return the country to civilian rule after three weeks of uncertainty. According to a report on the dw.de site, the accord was agreed unanimously. Three weeks after the ousting of Compaoré, Burkina Faso’s military leadership announced it had reached an agreement with opposition parties as well as civil and religious leaders to transition to civilian rule. ‘Today was the day of compromise,’ said Herve Kam, a member of the civil society group Balai Citoyen. ‘Both soldiers and civilians agree on a civilian transition. The institutions of the transition will be led by civilians.’ The report says the charter will return the small West African nation to civilian rule and provide for elections late next year. On 1 November, Lieutenant Colonel Isaac Zida proclaimed himself head of state after violent protests led to the resignation of Compaoré after 27 years in office, the report notes.
Full report on the dw.de site
Sierra Leone: Talk show host gets bail in defamation case
A journalist held in Sierra Leone since 3 November after a guest on his radio show criticised President Ernest Bai Koroma’s handling of the Ebola outbreak has been released from jail. According to a report on the News24 site, David Baryoh, host of the weekly Monologue programme on the private Citizen FM station, was incarcerated at Freetown's notorious Pademba Road jail following an executive order signed by the President earlier this month. He has been granted $10 000 bail by the Criminal Investigation Department after giving a statement about the incident, the report notes.
Full report on the News24 site
Mali: HRW critical of peace plan
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has criticised a draft agreement aimed at establishing peace in Mali, saying the deal would not provide justice for abuses committed by opposing factions. According to a report on the News24 site, the accord has been accepted by the government and rebel groups ahead of talks scheduled to begin this week in Algiers. ‘The final agreement should include provisions to support the prosecution of war crimes, strengthen the truth-telling commission, and ensure the vetting of security force personnel,’ HRW spokesperson Corinne Dufka is quoted in the report as saying. She added that any deal ‘which turns a blind eye to the need for justice will not only disregard the rights of victims and their families, but also encourage further abuses and sabotage a truly durable peace’.
Full report on the News24 site
East Africa
Kenya: Security forces raid radical mosques
One person was killed and 200 others were arrested today (Monday) as Kenyan security forces raided mosques accused of links with Somalia’s al-Qaeda- affiliated Shabaab militants. A report on the News24 site notes thatsecurity forces targeted the Masjid Musa and Sakina mosques in the port city of Mombasa. A 20-year-old man was shot dead by police during the raid in the Musa mosque after he tried to throw a grenade at officers, Mombasa police chief Geoffrey Mayek said, according to the report. It notes several Islamic preachers have been shot dead in Mombasa in recent years in alleged extra-judicial killings by security forces and power struggles between rival Muslim factions. Churches have also been attacked.
Full report on the News24 site
Last week, Kenyan police said they had arrested 10 suspected attackers, including two female suicide bombers, who had crossed into the country from war-torn Somalia. New Vision reports that according to police spokesperson Gatiria Mboroki ‘these 10 suspects were involved in recent terror attacks in Nairobi before they fled to Somalia, and now they have sneaked back’.Mboroki did not reveal the nationalities of those arrested or provide any other details, according to the report. It notes Kenya has been hit by a string of attacks in recent months blamed on Somalia's al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab insurgents.
Full New Vision report
Kenya: Church claims vaccine used to sterilise women
A Kenyan parliamentary committee has ordered an investigation into a vaccine which the Catholic Church claims is being used to secretly sterilise women. TheDaily Nation reports that Dr Robert Pukose, chairperson of the House Committee on Health, called for the investigation after observing that the Ministry of Health and the church appeared to get different results from samples tested. The report notes the church said the Ministry was either ‘incapable or unwilling’ to act to stop the ‘permanent poisoning’ of women through tetanus vaccines. A panel of the church’s medical experts claim it is laced with a human hormone (Beta Chorionic Gonadotrophin) which will make it impossible for women who have been vaccinated to conceive, according to the report.
Full Daily Nation report
Uganda: Lawyers take aim at ruling party
A group of catholic lawyers have warned the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) that it risks embarking on a wild goose chase if it fails to rectify ‘irregularities’ in the current preparations for its national conference next month. New Vision reports that under their umbrella body, Uganda Ca |
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