Africa

Kenya's anti-doping agency says it will investigate claims an athletics official offered to warn athletes about drug tests in return for money.

August 6, 2016 (KHARTOUM) – In an unexpected development, the opposition Future Forces of Change (FFC) Saturday boycotted the National Dialogue General Assembly to protest the organizers' refusal to give them the opportunity to address the consultative meeting.

FFC leaders at the launch ceremony held in Khartoum on 23 February 2016 (ST Photo)

The FFC which gathers some Islamist groups that splinted from the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) are not part of the government sponsored dialogue but they held a series of meetings facilitated by the African Union mediation to prepare them to join a holistic process.

In a statement released Saturday evening, the alliance said they accepted to attend the General Assembly meeting after the emergence of new positive developments in support of an inclusive process.

“The Future Forces of Change agreed to attend the General Assembly with the understanding that it will have an opportunity to address the meeting to explain its position (...) and to express its perception on how to move the dialogue process forward".

Especially since the written invitation extended to the FFC has provided that the meeting is" a continuation of consultations over the upcoming period programme of the dialogue National," the group further stressed.

The FFC went to say they reached some organizers to confirm that they would be allowed to address the meeting as it was said in the invitation.

“But three hours before the beginning of the meeting they informed us that we can not address the meeting,” the group said.

So, the alliance decided not to attend the General Assembly "because it is not acceptable to attend a consultative meeting that will last for long hours without having the opportunity to speak".

However, the coalition reiterated its commitment to work with all the political forces including the governing parties and the 7+7 mechanism to achieve peace and democratic reforms.

The General Assembly will hold its next meeting next October to adopt the final resolution of the internal dialogue process.

The FFC groups, are National Forces Alliance (NFA), National Forces of Change (NFC) and National Unity Parties (NUPs). Some members of these groups, like Reform Now Movement (RNM) and Just Peace Forum (JFM), were part of the national dialogue process.

(ST)

August 6, 2016 (JUBA) - The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said it had started responding to the growing food security emergency causing malnutrition in children in both rural and urban areas of, a month after violence broke out in South Sudan.

Acute food insecurity Feb- Sept 2016 (Photo credit: FEWS NET)

“The situation in South Sudan is catastrophic, and even more so for children,” UNICEF spokesperson Christophe Boulierac said in a statement on Friday.

This year, UNICEF has reportedly treated 120,000 children under age five for severe malnutrition, a figure higher than what the agency had in the same period last year.

“Initially, UNICEF had been planning to provide support to 166,000 children in 2016, but that figure has been revised to more than 250, 000,” the official said.

Last month, clashes between South Sudan's rival forces in the capital, Juba displaced over 40,000 civilians, the world body said.

Seven out of the country's 10 states have reached the malnutrition-rate-emergency threshold of 15 per cent, while in Northern Bahr el Ghazal, the malnutrition rate stands at 33 per cent, noted Boulierac.

According to agency, a sharp rise in malnutrition in urban areas, including Juba, where the rates of children admitted for malnutrition to UNICEF-supported Al-Sabbah children's hospitals were some 20% higher in the first six months of 2016 than for the same period last year.

The official, in the statement, also cited the country's inflation rate as one of the main reasons for the high increase, explaining that it made basic household staples too expensive for many families.

He, however, said although UNICEF could not provide the numbers of children dying from starvation, “one quarter of a million children in South Sudan are facing severe malnutrition.”

Inaccessibility of roads due to the ongoing conflict has further limited UNICEF's ability to respond in the most urgent cases, leaving the more expensive option of air transport to deliver supplies, said Boulierac.

“Due to insecurity and the rainy season, UNICEF staffs in South Sudan are unable to be fully mobile and deliver their goods and services,” he stressed.

Meanwhile, of the $154.5 million UNICEF needs for South Sudan in 2016, the agency has reportedly received only $52 million to assist with water and sanitation, child support services, nutrition, health and education.

More than 900,000 children, Boulierac further disclosed, have been displaced in the country, which – with 1.8 million children, or 51 per cent of school-age youngsters out of school – also had the highest proportion of out-of-school children in the world.

“An estimated 16,000 children had been recruited by armed groups, and there were concerns that the renewed violence would lead to a further expansion of that practice,” he explained.

Meanwhile the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), said a total of 917, 418 South Sudanese refugees have been displaced, mostly in Uganda.

(ST)

August 6, 2016 (KAMPALA) – Members of South Sudan's armed opposition youth chapter in Uganda have dismissed their chairman for allegedly joining Taban Deng Gai.

Buay Keake, the former chairman of the SPLM-IO youth in Uganda (ST)

The spokesperson for the youth chapter, Magok Chuol told Sudan Tribune that the decision to dismiss Buay Keake Turoal was reached during a meeting in Kampala on Saturday.

Keake was nominated among the new armed opposition lawmakers, a move that did not go well with the youth.

“SPLM-IO in Uganda and their supporters would like to bring to the attention of the general public that our office strongly condemns the conspiracy plan against us by our member," said Chuol.

"We would like to remind you to distance yourself from Keake who is a supporter of Taban Deng Gai," he added.

He said the former chairman even failed to honour an emergency meeting conducted by the youth members, prompting them to replace him with Stephen Waat Bipal.

According to the armed opposition youth official, President Salva Kiir's decision to replace Riek Machar with Gai contravened the accord that ended South Sudan's conflict.

Meanwhile, Bipal confirmed that they fired Keake from the helm after he failed to explain his recent appointment as MP, adding their members fully support Machar.

Keake was unable to be reached, despite several attempts by Sudan Tribune.

(ST)

August 6, 2016 (JUBA) – South Sudan army, the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), has strongly denied United Nations preliminary report that squarely blamed government forces and allied militia of massive rape and targeted killing in the capital, Juba.

A woman prepares food as displaced women, men and children gather, in Juba, South Sudan at the UN compound in Tomping area, Tuesday, July 12, 2016 (AP Photo)

SPLA spokesman Brig. Gen. Lul Ruai Koang said the UN report is a complete “make-up.”

“There is no single truth in that document. It is a mere accusation to spoil the image of the SPLA,” said Koang, speaking by phone on Friday.

The UN report alleged targeting of Nuer ethnic community in Juba during the fighting last month. SPLM in Opposition leader, Riek Machar, is a Nuer, the second largest group after President Salva Kiir's Dinka tribe.

Koang himself a Nuer, however admitted that the SPLA have arrested 19 soldiers on charges of looting, loitering and other indiscipline behaviours during and after the July 7-11 street battle between the rival SPLA forces.

The clashes dislodged SPLM-IO leader Machar and his small number of troops from his base in Juba and his whereabouts remain unknown for three weeks.

He told international media by phone from his hiding that a third force proposed by regional body, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), and endorsed by the African Union (AU) should first arrive to Juba before his return.

President Kiir has rejected additional foreign force, telling a Kenyan television this week that UN peacekeepers in the country can protect Machar on his arrival to Juba.

IGAD member states are meeting in Addis Ababa today to decide on the next course of action.

(ST)

August 6, 2016 (WAU) - Wau state St. Mark's Centre of Coptic Orthodox church said its facility for water projects that has been run by the church in Wau town was ransacked this week by thieves.

Bishop Yusuf Ramadan told the press on Thursday in Wau that the church facility has recently experiencing targeted looting incidents since violence erupted in the town last month.

He said that building comprises of a preaching centre and one nursery school as well as one primary school at Bazia residential area in Wau town, were also among the ransacked facilities.

“We have lost properities amounted to 200,000 SSP including solar power panels for water projects,” he said.

He added that the incident has forced them to halt all developmental projects which were expected to be conducted in Wau.

“As per now, we are calling on state relevant authorities to impart us a strong security for our developmental projects to continue in Wau and all over the country,” he said.

Nobody has been apprehended for the crime.

(ST)

August 6, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Leader of the opposition National Umma Party (NUP) al-Sadig al-Mahdi has pledged to launch the largest political coalition to achieve comprehensive peace and full democratic transformation in Sudan.

Malik Agar, SRF leader (L) and Sadiq al-Mahdi NUP president shake hands after the signing of Paris Declaration on 8 August 2014 (ST Photo)

In a message he titled “Spring Flower”, al-Mahdi described the upcoming signing of the Roadmap Agreement by the Sudan Call forces as “national ceremony”, saying the invitation was extended to a large number of national figures to attend the event.

Last March, the Sudanese government signed a Roadmap Agreement for peace and dialogue proposed by the African Union High Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP).

Sudan Call groups rejected the Roadmap saying it excludes the other opposition groups, didn't address some confidence building measures like political freedoms and release of political detainees and prisoners.

Following five months of reluctance, the Sudan Call forces decided to sign the Roadmap, saying its reservations on the peace documents have been met.
The signing ceremony is expected to take place in Addis Ababa on August 8th.

Al-Mahdi said although the government-led dialogue was not comprehensive but it has achieved some items of the national agenda advocated by the opposition, pointing the Roadmap would pave the way for holding an inclusive dialogue to achieve peace, democratic transformation and the national constitutional conference.

He said that issues pertaining to ending the war should be negotiated abroad between the government and the rebel groups while agenda of the peace agreement must be discussed inside Sudan after implementing the confidence-building measures.

“This is a consensual approach to establish a new regime that is capable of building the nation under the shadow of the just and comprehensive peace and the full democratic transformation” he said.

He pointed that they agreed to endorse the Roadmap in order to achieve the abovementioned objectives, saying they intend to make the signing event a national celebration with the participation of several national figures.

The NUP leader added that Sudan is at crossroads, saying the Sudanese people have a rich heritage of achieving consensus during the major historical events.

He pointed to the consensus that has been achieved during the independence battle against the British rule, mentioning the popular uprisings of October 1964 and April 1985.

Al-Mahdi addressed the holdout opposition who refused to sign the Roadmap, saying most of the conflicts in the world during the twentieth century have been resolved through dialogue.

It is noteworthy that some parties within the opposition umbrella National Consensus Forces (NCF) including the Sudanese Communist Party, Arab Ba'ath Party (ABP), the Unified Democratic Unionist Party and the Nasserite Socialist Party refuse to endorse the peace plan, saying it wouldn't make a real change in the structure of the regime.

He stressed if they failed to achieve the national agenda through dialogue, they would resort to the popular uprising.

The veteran leader further underscored that their goal is to establish the largest political coalition in order to achieve comprehensive and just peace and full democratic transformation.

He said the agreement among Sudanese people on issues of peace, governance and constitution would yield foreign benefits including the lift of sanctions, cancelling the external debt and dealing positively with the resolution of the UN Security Council.

Al-Mahdi called on the Sudanese people to support the national dialogue and its requirements, saying the legitimate national objectives including ending the war and building peace, establishing the good governance and achieving development and social justice would be accomplished whatever the means.

(ST)

August 6, 2016 (JUBA) - Former First Vice-President of South Sudan Riek Machar Saturday has welcomed the East African block decision to send a regional force to his country but expressed fear that President Salva Kiir could reject the idea
.
Leaders of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) on Friday decided to send a regional force to South Sudan to protect civilians and to back the reinstatement of Riek Machar as First Vice President to ensure the implementation of a peace agreement they brokered in August last year.

Machar's spokesman Goi Jooyul Yol on Saturday told Agence France-Presse (AFP) in Addis Ababa that formation of the IGAD force could take many months and Kiir may eventually decline to accept it.

He added that they “welcome the IGAD decision but the devil is in the detail”, pointing that the nature, size and details of deployment need to be discussed with Juba.
“What would this force do? We will have to wait and see,” he said.

IGAD leaders called on Machar to return to Juba and underscored that the newly appointed First Vice President Taban Deng Gai is ready to relinquish his position if he accepts their call.

However, Jooyul Yol stressed that Machar wants Gai to offer his resignation before he return to Juba.

Last month, fighting erupted in South Sudan's capital Juba between followers of President Kiir and Machar, the former rebel leader who became first Vice- President under a deal to end a two-year civil war.

The violence, which has killed hundreds of people, broke out as the world's newest nation prepared to mark five years of independence from Sudan on July 9.

(ST)

August 6, 2016 (BOR) - At least five butcher men are now behind bars after they were arrested in Bor this week, following the protest waged by the butcher men against the reduction of meat prices by the Municipality council.

A trader sells items to customers in Bor town March 26, 2015 (ST)

The mayor of Bor town, Akim Ajieth, passed the order, reducing the price per kilogram of meat previously sold between South Sudanese pounds (SSP)110 and SSP120 to SSP40 and SSP50 respectively in Bor.

On Wednesday, a day after the order was passed, all the slaughtering houses did not work, probably in rejection of the order, saying the price cut by the government would make them lose much of the money they had spent on the heads of cattle they already bought.

But the office of the mayor was allegedly said to have ordered the arrest of the butcher men in which five were jailed.

Kuer Ajak told the press that his group, negotiated with the mayor to give them time to finish selling their current number of livestock waiting to be slaughtered, after which the prices would be reduced, but their request was turned down.

“Five of our members were arrested, jailed and their trading licenses were confiscated from them. They were fined a total of SSP10,000. This was not a good move,” Ajak told the media in Bor on Thursday.

The chairperson of the meat market, Alier Yuot, who spoke while in the police cell said that they didn't know why most of them were arrested.

“I thought that the government belongs to us, I didn't know why I am arrested with four people. What I told him [the Mayor] was that, I told him that cows are very expensive and they [cows] are not bought from here, they are being brought from different areas,” he said.

He said their prices were normal compared to the high cost they spent on buying the cattle from Duk and Twic East counties.

This week, authorities of Bor municipality council issued an order to reduce prices on fish and meat in the market of Bor.

Bor's Mayor Akim Ajieth Buny said those arrested had not respected the provisional order. Ajieth said those who refused to implement the provisional order would lose their job licenses.

“Only five these are people who refuse to comply with our order, they refuse to comply with our order so we have decided to put them in the cell and then today they will answer their charges then after that we will be able to withdraw the license from them and therefore they will no be longer with us,” he said.

More butcher men who resumed work on Thursday and Friday were said to be have been asked to pay a fine ranging from SSP300 to SSP500 for the delay that caused when they refused to operate on Wednesday and Thursday.

(ST)

August 6 ,2016 (JUBA) - South Sudan president Salva Kiir has accepted the deployment of additional foreign troops from regional countries help protect and boost the fighting capacity of the United Nations mission as it defends civilians at risk of extreme violence.

South Sudanese president Salva Kiir (Photo: Reuters)

Addressing reporters on arrival from Ethiopia on Saturday, South Sudan's information minister Michael Makuei Lueth said the force will have limited roles.

"We accepted the force that will protect civilians in UNMISS, international NGOs and international facilities, not more than that," said Makuei who attended the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) heads of states summit.

The regional troops, IGAD said in a communiqué issued at the end of the summit, will take control of Juba and vital installations as well as fighting, disarming and neutralize any South Sudanese forces igniting violence in the capital and around the country.

Sources within the presidency told Sudan Tribune that government resolved to accept the deployment of additional foreign troops in the country in compliance with the outcome of an ordinary summit of heads of state and governments in Addis Ababa.

“The government and the president have accepted the outcome of the summit of the IGAD heads of state and government held yesterday in Addis Ababa. The summit has now clarified the mandate of the new troops, which was not the case in the previous messages which our people were getting," a presidential source told this publication.

"The previous messages were confusing and creating panics to the society. The messages were vague the lacked clarity but now it is clear. It will now be a protection force, not an intervention force”, added the official.

The official said the South Sudanese leader and the government was now waiting for the final communique on the outcome of the regional summit and the briefing from the government delegation, which traveled to the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

Another senior government official separately said the summit resolved to send troops from neigbouring countries in the region under the United Nations with clear mandate.

"The outcome is not really bad, though the details are yet out. But it has been agreed at the summit that the mandate of the regional force will be clearly stated with participation of the government. Discussions have been concluded. It is now the technical committee of the IGAD secretariat which is left to work out the details and come out with the communique. I don't know when it will be released but it may come out today," the source said.

He added, "But what is clear is that the mandate of this new force is that it will have to set a buffer zone between the warring parties as defined by peace agreement. It will also be mandated to respond to any side intending to violate the [peace] agreement.

Another very important mandate, the official further explained, is that this force will protect civilians at risk of danger by the activities of the two warring parties. It will have a role to play in reforming security sector by separating the military from politics.

"This is what the summit agreed on and government was happy with the outcome," he stressed.

(ST)

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August 6, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Leader of the East African block have decided to send a regional force to the South Sudan to protect civilians and to back the reinstatement of Riek Machar as First Vice President to ensure the implementation of a peace agreement they brokered in August last year.

The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) heads of state and government and the African Union Ad-hoc Committee on South Sudan, referred to as the IGAD Plus met to discuss the situation in South Sudan in Addis Ababa on Friday.

The meeting was attended by all the IGAD leaders, except President Salva Kiir who dispatched the newly appointed First Vice President Taban Deng Gai. JMEC and UNMISS chiefs were part of the meeting which was chaired by the Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn.

“The IGAD leader unanimously decided to work to stop the fighting in South Sudan and secure Juba through a regional force to be agreed by the chiefs of staff of the armies of the east African block ,” said the Sudanese Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour after the return of President Omer al Bashir from Addis Abba on Friday evening.

Ghandour further said the meeting has “called for a dialogue between Kiie and Machar, agreed to work for Machar's reinstatement as First Vice President, and to implement the security arrangements as provided in chapter II of the peace agreement in order to stop definitively the fighting and move forward towards the full implementation of the agreement”.

The Sudanese top diplomat who accompanied al-Bashir to the meeting pointed that these decisions have been adopted unanimously with the participation of Taban Deng, “who expressed his willingness to work with IGAD and its partners in order to implement these decisions”.

The Arabic service of the Turkish news agency Anadolu reported similar statements attributed to the IGAD Executive Secretary Mahboub Maalim.

A detailed statement on the outcome of the meeting would be released on Saturday.

After the meeting, South Sudanese information minister Michael Makuei Lueth, expressed his government support to the decisions of the IGAD summit, saying the regional force is “a protection and not intervention force”.

The South Sudanese government “will take part in the arrangements for those troops to be deployed in specific areas of southern Sudan" Lueth further said in a statement to Anadolu.

(ST)

August 5, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Sudanese government announced on Friday it will participate in a “consultation meeting” with the opposition Sudan Call Groups in Addis Ababa next week.

Sudan's Presidential aide Ibrahim Moahmoud Hamid and AUHIP chair sign the Roadmap Agreement in Addis Ababa on 21 March 2016 (courtesy photo of AUHIP )

The opposition Sudan Call Groups calls to organize a preparatory meeting before joining the national dialogue inside the country, while the government and the National Dialogue Coordination Committee (7+7) say the meeting is “consultative” and not “preparatory meeting”.

Sudanese Presidential Assistant and the head of government negotiation team for the Two Areas, Ibrahim Mahmoud Hamid, announced that government delegation will participate in the “consultation meeting” with armed groups, National Umma Party of Sadiq al-Mahdi and allied opposition groups after receiving an invitation from the African Union High Implementation Panel (AUHIP) to participate in the meeting next week.

“The government delegation will meet Sadig al-Mahdi, Darfur rebels, SPLM-N immediately after they sign the Roadmap Agreement in their meeting with AUHIP in Addis Ababa on Monday and Tuesday,” said Hamid.

He pointed the meeting will discuss the cessation of hostilities, the humanitarian access and the framework agreement. He added the latter will be finalized according to the deal of 2011 which the government and the SPLM-N agreed on 90% of its items.

The government delegation and (7+7) committee will travel to Addis Ababa to resume talks on the Two Areas and Darfur from nine to eleven August.

The meeting was initially planned to be between the four opposition groups and the 7+7 committee. However, to make more inclusive now it will include the Sudan Call forces and not only the four groups, the dialogue committee and the Sudanese government. Also the opposition Future Forces for Change (FFC) will attend the meeting as an observer.

(ST)

(Kampala) – Ugandan police unlawfully raided an event late in the evening of August 4, 2016, the third night of a week of Ugandan LGBTI Pride celebrations, brutally assaulting participants, seven human rights groups said today.   Expand

The venue for Uganda’s Pride 2016 pageant that police raided  on August 4, 2016.

© Edward Echwalu 2016 The event was a pageant in Kampala’s Club Venom to crown Mr/Ms/Mx Uganda Pride. Police claimed that they had been told a “gay wedding” was taking place and that the celebration was “unlawful” because police had not been informed of the event. However, police had been duly informed, and the prior two Pride events, on August 2 and 3, were conducted without incident.

“We strongly condemn these violations of Ugandans’ rights to peaceful association and assembly,” said Nicholas Opiyo, a human rights lawyer and executive director at Chapter Four Uganda. “These brutal actions by police are unacceptable and must face the full force of Ugandan law.”

The police locked the gates of the club, arrested more than 16 people – the majority of whom are Ugandan LGBT rights activists – and detained hundreds more for over 90 minutes, beating and humiliating people; taking pictures of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) Ugandans and threatening to publish them; and confiscating cameras. Witnesses reported that the police assaulted many participants, in particular transgender women and men, in some cases groping and fondling them. One person jumped from a sixth-floor window to avoid police abuse and is in a hospital in critical condition.

By approximately 1:20 a.m., all those arrested had been released without charge from the Kabalagala Police Station. This episode of police brutality did not happen in isolation, the groups said. It comes at a time of escalating police violence targeting media, independent organizations, and the political opposition.

“Any force by Ugandan police targeting a peaceful and lawful assembly is outrageous,” said Frank Mugisha, executive director of Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), who was among those arrested. “The LGBTI community stands with all Ugandan civil society movements against police brutality.”

“The Ugandan government should condemn violent illegal actions by police targeting the LGBTI community and all Ugandans,” said Asia Russell at Health GAP. “The US and all governments should challenge President Museveni to intervene immediately and hold his police force accountable.”

LGBTI Ugandans routinely face violence, discrimination, bigotry, blackmail, and extortion. The unlawful government raid on a spirited celebration displays the impunity under which Ugandan police are operating. “The state has a duty to protect all citizens’ enjoyment of their rights, including the right to peacefully assemble to celebrate Pride Uganda,” said Hassan Shire, executive director at Defend Defenders. “A swift and transparent investigation should be conducted into last night’s unacceptable demonstration of police brutality.”

Activists called on the governments to immediately and publicly condemn the raid and to take swift disciplinary action against those responsible for the gross violations of rights and freedoms. The organizers said that Pride Uganda celebrations will continue as planned, with a celebration on August 6.

“Our pride and resilience remain steadfast despite these horrible and shameful actions by Ugandan police,” said Clare Byarugaba of Chapter Four Uganda.

“Celebrating with LGBTI people and demonstrating solidarity in calling for their rights to be respected is as basic a show of free expression and association under human rights law as you can get,” said Maria Burnett, senior Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Ugandan authorities should not only refrain from trying to stop such activities, but they have binding legal obligations to ensure others do not interfere in this fundamental exercise of basic rights.”

Signatories:
Chapter Four Uganda
Defend Defenders
Health GAP
Human Rights Awareness and Promotion Forum
Human Rights Watch
Sexual Minorities Uganda
Uganda Pride Committee

 

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Opposition supporters demonstrate on April 16, 2016 in the Gambian capital, Banjul, following the death in custody of opposition activist Solo Sandeng. Gambian security forces broke up the protest and arrested more than 20 demonstrators, including opposition leader Ousainou Darboe.

© 2016 Getty Images

Gathered together on the floor of a dusty house, Solo Sandeng’s children remember their father with a mix of sadness, anger and pride. “We want him to be remembered for what he did,” Aminata, 24, tells me, “But we also want justice.”

Her sister, Fatoumatta, 22, listens to my questions with her eyes fixed to the floor, her head wrapped in a black headscarf. When she looks up, the calm authority in her voice suggests she will continue her father’s struggle. “The Gambian government wants to silence us,” she says. “But what they did to Solo, they created an anger that will not relent.”

Sandeng, a prominent Gambian opposition politician, was allegedly beaten to death by members of the Gambian security services within hours of his arrest on April 14. That day, he and a small group of activists had taken part in a demonstration calling for electoral reform ahead of December’s presidential election.

The protest was a rare example of dissent in a country that a former army officer, Yahya Jammeh, has ruled with an iron fist since coming to power in a 1994 coup. Human Rights Watch (HRW) has documented how Jammeh’s regime uses arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances and torture to create a climate of fear that suppresses opposition.

The government’s response to the protest in April was a stark reminder of the risks that opposition parties face in the run-up to elections. “In a country where there was any sort of democracy, my father’s actions would have been taken with grace,” Fatoumatta told me. Instead, Gambian police quickly descended on the protest, arrested Sandeng and his fellow protesters and eventually charged 25 with public order offenses. Several allege that, like Sandeng, they were badly beaten while in detention.

Upon hearing media reports of her father’s death in the early hours of April 16, Fatoumatta and her brother, 19-year-old Muhammed, marched with leaders of Sandeng’s political party, the United Democratic Party (UDP), toward the police headquarters where Sandeng had initially been detained. The demonstrators chanted, “Release Solo Sandeng, Dead or Alive.”

Fatoumatta recalled that as they walked, she kept thinking that “after all they did to Solo, they will leave us alone.” But the police fired teargas to disperse the crowd and beat protesters with batons. Fatoumatta escaped after being ushered hastily into a taxi. Muhammed was chased by police officers and struck on the arm, but eventually got away. More than 20 other protesters, including UDP leader Ousainou Darboe and several UDP executive members, were arrested.

News of Sandeng’s death and the arrest of the UDP leadership led to widespread condemnation from African human rights bodies, the United Nations, the European Union, and the United States. President Jammeh responded in May, saying that human rights groups and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon could “go to hell.”  On June 22, Saihou Omar Jeng, a senior official at Gambia’s National Intelligence Agency, stated that Sandeng had died in custody of “shock” and “respiratory failure” but provided no explanation of the circumstances that led to his death.

Half an hour after Fatoumatta and Muhammed arrived home on April 16, a police convoy drove up to their gate. They understood what it meant. “Family members of people involved in the April 14 and 16 protests were being targeted,” Fatoumatta says. “So we knew it wasn’t safe, we never went back to our house.” A subsequent protest on May 9 in solidarity with those arrested on April 14 and 16 was quickly suppressed.

Now in exile, Sandeng’s children hope that people remember the call for electoral reform that led to their father’s death. On July 20, Darboe and several UDP executives were sentenced to three years in prison, meaning the UDP’s leadership will remain in detention during the upcoming presidential elections. Eleven protesters arrested with Sandeng were also sentenced, on July 21, to three years in prison.

Gambian government officials told HRW that opposition groups are able to operate without restrictions. But leaders from opposition parties decry their lack of access to media, with state radio and television dominated by Jammeh and the ruling party. An inter-party dialogue intended as a forum to discuss electoral reform has stalled.

As the elections approach, the U.S. and EU should consider imposing targeted sanctions—such as travel bans and asset freezes—on senior officials implicated in human rights violations unless the government begins an impartial and transparent investigation into Sandeng’s death, releases all peaceful protesters, and engages in a genuine dialogue over electoral reform. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) should consider suspending Gambia from ECOWAS decision-making bodies if the human rights situation does not improve, and improve quickly.

Fatoumatta hopes that her father’s death will be a turning point for Gambia. But she acknowledges that the threat of arrest still stifles independent voices. “Fear still rules in Gambia,” says Fatoumatta. “Only if that changes can we really talk about free elections.”

Jim Wormington is an Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch. He tweets @jwormington.