More election trouble is brewing, this time in Angola: Human Rights Watch issued a press release calling the country’s closure of the field office of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) an ominous sign of “growing government intolerance of human rights scrutiny and other criticism in the run-up to September’s elections.” The Angolan government claims the office is no longer necessary due to the consolidation of peace and democratization, but HRW observers beg to differ.
Former vice president of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) Jean Pierre Bemba was arrested in Belgium on a war crimes indictment by the International Criminal Court (ICC). Bemba’s militia was called on by the president of the Central African Republic (CAR) in 2002 and 2003 to counter a rebellion. Bemba’s counterinsurgent strategy? Rape, torture, degradation, and looting of civilians and insurgents alike. Bemba nearly won the presidency of the DRC in 2006, but was defeated in a run-off.
A Somali news source reports attacks by Islamist insurgents against government troops in Mogadishu, as well as against suspected pirates in the coastal town of Hobyo. The waters off the coast of Somalia are notorious for pirates, despite a US naval presence, due to the 17-year lack of functioning central government.
Sudanese refugees in Uganda are resisting repatriationby the UN High Commission for Refugees following the collapse of peace talks between the Ugandan government and the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). The refugees fear renewed attacks by the LRA, which is currently across the border in the DRC, would force them to flee once again. The LRA is infamous for attacking, looting, and burning civilian villages throughout the region, as well as abducting women and children to become soldiers or sex slaves.
The Nation, a Kenyan publication, takes a harsh stance against the xenophobic mob violence in South Africa, accusing the government--as well as others on the continent--of fueling the violence through lack of decisive action. Citing a Swahili proverb that warns “if you fail to seal a crack, you will certainly have to rebuild the wall,” the editorial says that the South African government ignored signs that xenophobia was becoming a serious problem. South African news sources continue to assess the damage of the nationwide attacks, both material and human, even going as far as calling it “ethnic cleansing.”
MDC and ZANU-PF run-off campaigns are underway in Zimbabwe. Mugabe threatened to expel the US ambassador for “meddling” in the country’s internal affairs--he must’ve borrowed a Chinese political rhetoric book--telling supporters at a rally, "I am just waiting to see if he makes one more step wrong. He will get out." As discussed by MF in a previous post, Ambassador James McGee has braved police obstruction and intimidation to gather evidence of government-sponsored violence against civilians.
As the military government in Burma slowly acquiesces to international assistance to cyclone victims, aid workers are pressuring the junta for full access to the devastated region. While allowing international aid workers into the country, the government continues to deny American and French naval ships stocked with supplies to dock and unload.
And finally: A Washington Post article on the impact of the food shortage on UN peacekeeping efforts.
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