Africa

Meeting the only Chinese on campus

Lu Cheng's family moved to Zambia from China seven years ago.

Provides overview, key facts and events, timelines and leader profiles along with current news about Tunisia

Provides an overview of Niger, including key events and facts about this arid state on the southern rim of the Sahara.

Concise information about Mali and its people, including figures for area, population, main languages, religions, exports, and more.

Coding classes started by a non-profit organisation in Ghana are targeting girls living in poverty.

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Provides an overview, basic information and key events for this oil-producing, mainly desert country in west Africa

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Khadidja Hassan Zidane testifies during the trial of the former dictator of Chad Hissène Habré in Senegal on October 19 and 20, 2015. She and other women described their experiences in the desert camp at Oudi-Doum, where nine women and girls were allegedly forced to serve the soldiers of Hissène Habré’s army. 

© 2015 Radiodiffusion Télévision Sénégalaise

Khadidja told me she had been repeatedly tortured, and imprisoned in Hissène Habré’s presidential palace in N’Djamena. She had promised me that the day she came face-to-face with the former president, whose brutal rule in Chad lasted from 1982 until he was ousted in 1990, she would reveal what she had really experienced. Khadidja kept her promise.

Some reveal it openly, others indirectly. The alleged crimes took place over 25 years ago, but for these women the effects have lingered. Taking the witness stand, they all recounted how they were held prisoner, transported, raped, or tortured. Humiliated, degraded, stigmatized. Still, they had the courage to come to Dakar to testify at  Habré’s trial. Habré is being tried for crimes against humanity, torture, and war crimes by the Extraordinary African Chambers, a special Senegalese court established with support of the African Union.

Each victim called to the stand had trodden the same path: first the wait in a drab Dakar hotel, then the wait in a small windowless room in the Palais de Justice in the Senegalese capital. A bailiff comes for you. You enter the courtroom. The lights are bright and harsh. The courtroom is filled with cameras; the trial is being broadcast via streaming over the internet and on Chadian television.

To the left: the public, at times as many as several hundred onlookers, some there in support of the accused. To the right: the court officials; two clerks, three judges, four prosecutors, all in long red robes, all looking down at you. All are men, with the exception of one prosecutor. The bailiff walks you toward someone wearing a large white tunic, his head wrapped in a white turban, sunglasses pressed to his nose. There sits the defendant, Hissène Habré, in a leather armchair,

All eyes are riveted on you. Everyone in the room hangs on your every word. You are placed in the middle of the courtroom, eye–level with the former president of Chad, about 15 feet away, also facing the president of the chamber.  He asks you to proceed with your deposition.

Many of the voices are faint as the women begin, trembling, broken. Some cry. The more one has suffered, it seems, the more difficult and painful is the exercise. Until now, sexual crimes have yet to be mentioned at the trial.

In an open letter dated October 16 addressed to the president of the chamber and the chief prosecutor, the representatives of 17 organizations—including the winner of the 2014 Sakharov prize, Dr. Denis Mukwege, known as “the man who repairs women” for his surgery to repair damage from rape—criticized the lack of attention to sexual violence at Habré’s trial. They hadn’t counted on these four impressive women of courage.

Each woman stated that she had been arrested by agents of the regime and held for several months in N’Djamena prisons run by the DDS (Directorate of Documentation and Security), Habré’s dreaded secret police. Some were raped there. Merami testified that she had been subjected to electric shock and tortured upon arrest. “I was practically dying by the time they put me in prison. They gave me no treatment, except for a few pills.”

Speaking in a melodious, Chadian-accented Arabic, her voice firm, Khadidja described her multiple arrests, the appalling conditions of her imprisonment, the times she was tortured. She showed no sign of being intimidated. As soon as she began speaking of sexual assaults the chief judge offered to hear her in closed session. The witness refused. “No, I’m not going to hide a thing. They slept with me. I’ll even take my clothes off to show you.” Several times she declared that she was prepared to display where she had been stabbed with a pen in the legs and genitals.

Questioned by the prosecutors, she answered unhesitatingly. “Habré raped me four times.” When Habré’s court-appointed lawyers challenged the veracity of what she alleged, she countered: “I’m ashamed to say it, it’s shameful for my family. Even here, I feel ashamed to say it. I’m telling the truth, Allah knows ... Habré asked me to sit down and when I did he pulled me onto the floor by my hair,” she said, miming how it happened.

Like Khaltouma, Haoua and Merami, who testified afterward, Khadidja was sent to Ouadi Doum, in the northern Chadian desert. “It was a military base, no civilians were there. We lived in a hangar and ate dried okra and uncooked rice,” said Haoua, arrested at age 14 by the DDS in an effort to trap her mother, then living in Nigeria. “The soldiers’ wives weren’t there. We washed their uniforms and cooked their meals.”

Khaltouma, a former flight attendant for Air Afrique who was arrested while her plane was making a stop in N’Djamena, provided more details on life in the military camp. “At night in Ouadi Doum two out of the six women were used in rotation as sexual slaves for the soldiers. It’s shameful. They planned it. They gave us pills so we wouldn’t get pregnant.” Merami, who was transported with her daughter, told the court that, “she was raped a number of times, even though she was only 12 years old.”

When they were finally freed, they were taken to the office of the head of prisons in N’Djamena. On the wall was a picture: “There was one monkey with his hands over his eyes, one monkey with his hands over his mouth, and another with his hands over his ears. They made us swear an oath in front of this picture, on the Quran, never to speak of it all,” Khadidja said. All these women, like almost all prisoners of the regime, were made to take the same oath. Committed to seeking justice, they decided to break it.

The women’s determination overcame their fear of the scrutiny of Chadian society, for which this subject remains taboo. They came to Dakar to tell the court and the world of the horrors they experienced. “Now that I see him there, silent, when he was so strong, so powerful before, I feel no more hatred,” said Khaltouma to the court, speaking of Habré. Habré’s defense team, which is boycotting the trial, issued a communiqué calling Khadija a “nymphomaniac prostitute.” But she said, simply, “I was very afraid in the beginning. Then I felt a strength inside that pushed me to complete my testimony. I feel a weight off my shoulders.”

Henri Thulliez is coordinator at Human Rights Watch for the Hissène Habré case.

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November 16, 2015 (BENTIU) – The two main warring parties in South Sudan's conflict have accused each other of fresh violations in areas south west of Rubkotna county in oil-producing Unity state, despite the recent security deal reached in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

South Sudanese rebel troops loyal to former vice-president Riek Machar stand on guard in Unity state capital Bentiu on 12 January 2014 after recapturing the strategic town from government troops (Photo: Reuters)

This latest accusations, if confirmed, signify a serious setback to last month's breakthrough in the security arrangement between the armed opposition faction (SPLA-IO) and President Salva Kiir's government.

An armed opposition told Sudan Tribune that pro-government attacked areas around Nhialdiu payam and parts of south and northern Unity state in violation of the peace deal.

“Since yesterday [Sunday] evening, pro-government were shelling our positions in various frontlines until this morning [Monday] when our gallant forces and local youths from Rubkotna responded in self-defence to overrun Nhialdiu,” Major Weirial Puok, the spokesperson for SPLM-IO said.

The said pro-government forces acted with instructions from Unity state's caretaker governor, claims Sudan Tribune could not independently verify.

Puok said the armed opposition was committed to the security agreement and urged the Juba govermment to desist from acts of military aggression.

“It is very clear that the government is on violation. This mean that they do not value the peace agreement which has a few weeks left for its effective implementation,” he stressed.

Meanwhile, Unity state's cabinet affairs minister also confirmed the clashes that occurred in Nhialdiu payam, but largely blamed the attack on the armed opposition forces.

“Yesterday [Sunday] there was actually an attack until today people are now fighting in Nhialdiu and that is a government control area. I report it officially to UN [United Nations] and I have informed the IGAD [Intergovernmental Authority on Development] to talk with the IO in their part and to verify the information correctly,” said Chuol Biel.

“And my message to the armed opposition is that they should observe and abide by the signed peace agreement,” added Biel, who is currently the acting caretaker governor.

(ST)

November 16, 2015 (JUBA) – Angry civilians attacked a military barracks in South Sudan's Eastern Equatoria state over the weekend and killed a soldier before making off with several ammunitions, area authorities and local residents said on Monday.

South Sudanese SPLA soldiers are pictured in Pageri in Eastern Equatoria state on August 20, 2015 (Photo AFP/Samir Bol)

The attack came a day after an area engineer was killed and the suspects allegedly retreated to a barracks located near Ikwotos county headquarters.

Local residents told Sudan Tribune that Engineer Lopus Athanasio was shot dead about three kilometers from the county headquarters Wednesday.

Traces of the killer's footsteps reportedly led residents to an army barracks forcing angry youth armed with machetes and rifles to retaliate. While at the army unit, the group demanded that soldiers hand over the engineer's killers.

The army allegedly responded by firing at the youth and this sparked off the violence.

“When we talked to them, they denied and ordered us out of the barracks and as we were getting out they started shooting us with machine guns and threw a hand grenade [at us]. We then decided to shoot back to them,” a local resident, who preferred anonymity, told Sudan Tribune over phone.

Sounds of gunfire reportedly caused panic as scared residents scampered for safety.

Authorities in Eastern Equatoria state, however, said they had dispatched a team of investigators to determine the cause of the violence.

“Between the time of following the footprints which went to the barracks but did not enter inside, and before they investigated why the footprints were traced to the barracks, confusion erupted among the civilians and the army of which 32 huts of the army were burnt and one army [man] killed,” said local government minister, Lokai Iko.

According to the commissioner for Ikwotos county, Peter Lokeng, those who attacked the military detach stole properties, including six AK-47 rifles.

“We received some guns which have been looted by civilians about six and also the properties of soldiers were reportedly burnt,” he said, urging residents to remain calm.

The army spokesperson, Col. Philip Aguer said he was unaware of the violent incident.

(ST)

November 16, 2015 (KHARTOUM) - More than 381 people have been infected and 118 others have died over the past four months after coming down with dengue fever in the western Sudan region of Darfur, a heath official said on Monday.

yellow fever patients being treated at the isolation wards of Nyala Teaching Hospital -(File Photo WHO)

The Sudanese state health minister Sumia Idriss said that the outbreak of dengue fever, killed 118 people in the five states of Darfur since last August. However she expected a decrease on cases suspected of the disease saying the region may be declared free of the fever within three weeks.

While briefing the parliament about the situation in Darfur, Idriss further said that up to Friday 13 November the highest number of reported cases is in West Darfur (268) followed by Central Darfur (53), North Darfur (43), East Darfur (11) and South Darfur (6).

She further told the Sudanese legislators that the death rate stands at one percent.

The state minister further said that the ministry dispatched medical teams to the region and provided the technical support. She said the government allocated 103 Million SP to address the situation, indicating that the dengue fever have no specific medical treatment so far but efforts are focused on the preventive measures to combat the transmission of the disease.

Dengue fever is spread by mosquito bites and manifests itself in symptoms including a sudden high fever, rashes, nausea, headaches and others. There is no treatment that specifically addresses the ailment though measures can be taken to mitigate its symptoms.
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For his part, the federal minister of Health Bahar Idriss Abu Garda Monday briefed President Omer Hassan al-Bashir about the measures taken by his ministry to combat the outbreak in Darfur.

Speaking to the media after the meeting, Abu Garda said that the dengue fever has been reduced in Darfur thanks to the efforts exerted by the ministry of health in the region.

He pointed out that the ministry is ready to combat any outbeak, adding that President Bashir has directed to provide the needed services through the comprehensive health coverage.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that there is a need for $1.94 million to implement a comprehensive response and containment plan the the World Health Organization (WHO) prepared together with the Sudanese health ministry.

OCHA further said that the government provided 3.45 million Sudanese Pounds (about US$557,000), for the affected states.

The comprehensive response plan covers all aspects of disease surveillance, laboratory analysis, vector control, case management and community mobilization, the UN agency said.

(ST)

November 16, 2015 (BOR) - The Twic East county population in South Sudan's Jonglei state have asked for military protection in the wake of increased rebel activities in the area.

The map of Jonglei state in red

A state MP representing people with special needs in Twic East, Deng Ajang, told reporters in the capital, Bor Monday that fear has forced several people out of their houses after the Maar village incident that killed 21 people, injuring eight others.

Ajang accused the country's armed opposition forces (SPLM/IO) of attacking Maar village last week. These allegations were, however, dismissed by the rebels.

“The fear is there, the fear of any attack since they [the rebels] are targeting civilians, it has caused a lot of fear among the people. People who fear their lives, will see how best they will be safe”, he said, in reference to civilians who fled to flooded islands in swamps.

Ajang said government forces have not surfaced in the village since last week's attack.

“The [Sudan Peoples Liberation Army] SPLA is informed, and will come to verify the attack and see the body of one of the attackers who has been killed”, stressed the lawmaker.

Meanwhile, humanitarian agencies currently operating in the world's youngest nation have expressed their concerns over the thousands of the population fleeing the area, mostly children and women, amidst warnings of a potential disaster in the offing.

Other agencies, on the other hand, said their developmental projects in villages affected would be derailed for a number of months since they would have no civilians to assist.

Critics of the country's ruling party say the SPLM policy of taking towns to the people in the villages wouldn't be feasible this time where nobody, within the government, allegedly cares about the mass killing of unprotected civilians by either rebels or raiders.

(ST)

November 16, 2015 (JUBA) – The South Sudanese justice minister, Paulino Wanawilla on Monday acknowledged the existence of corrupt officials in government, saying even staff in his ministry mandated to prosecute those involved in corruption engage in the practice.

Anti-corruption activists demonstrate in the South Sudan capital, Juba,on 11 June 2012 (ST)

Speaking at the opening of a one month long training for public prosecutors on Monday, Wanawilla urged legal experts to have ethics and professionalism.

“I know in South Sudan corruption is not in one place, but it's very sad when everybody is stealing,” he said.

“I know [there is corruption]. I have evidences of people in this ministry [of justice] who are legal counselors and take bribes,” the minister added, without further elaboration.

Allegation of corruption and admission of it existence are not new in South Sudan. Since its independence, however, nobody has ever been prosecuted for graft.

Since the ruling Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement (SPLM) came to power in 2005 over $4 billion of state funds have gone unaccounted for, according the South Sudan's President Salva Kiir.In July 2012, President Kiir wrote to 75 top politicians asking them to return money stolen from public coffers and be exempted from prosecution. It remains unknown if any money was returned to an account opened in neighbouring Kenya.

South Sudan was perceived as one of the most corrupt countries in the world, the 2014 Transparency International's annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) indicated. Only four countries ranked worse than South Sudan, which was 171st out of 175 nations listed.

(ST)

November 16, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) warned that unusually heavy and widespread rains that fell recently in northwest Africa, the Horn of Africa and Yemen could favor desert locust breeding.

A man holds locusts as a Swarm of locusts arrives in Israel near the Egyptian border on March 6, 2013 in Kmehin, Israel (Photo by Uriel Sinai/Getty Images)

"Extreme weather events, including torrential downpours, have the potential to trigger a massive surge in locust numbers. Rain provides moist soil for the insects to lay their eggs, which in turn need to absorb water, while rains also allow vegetation to grow which locusts need for food and shelter," said Keith Cressman, FAO Senior Locust Forecasting Officer.

"The effects of a locust plague can be devastating on crops and pastures and thus threaten food security and rural livelihoods," he added.

FAO said that in the winter breeding areas along both sides of the Red Sea, seasonal rains began in early October, which is slightly earlier than normal.

“If the rains continue, there would be sufficient time for two generations of breeding to occur this year in the coastal areas of Sudan, northern Eritrea, southeast Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Yemen”.

FAO emphasized that prevention through early warning and early reaction is the key in reducing damage caused by desert locust on agricultural areas.

“After unusually heavy rainfall, it is imperative that countries mount the necessary field surveys and maintain them on a regular basis for routine monitoring of breeding conditions and locust infestations. The finding of significant infestations requires control operations to avoid a further escalation in locust numbers. It is critical that the results of survey and control operations are reported quickly and accurately so that swift decisions can be taken to prevent the spread of locusts to other countries”.

FAO noted that it operates a desert locust Information Service that receives data from locust-affected countries. This information is regularly analyzed together with weather and habitat data and satellite imagery in order to assess the current locust situation, provide forecasts up to six weeks in advance and if required issue warnings and alerts.

In 2013, Sudan entered a dispute with FAO with the former saying that the latter is conspiring against the country in its attempt to combat a locusts invasion.

At the time, the Sudanese government said it wrote to FAO asking it for help but that the UN body offered a mere $25,000 in assistance which they saw as an insult.

(ST)

November 16, 2015 (KHARTOUM) - Security agents at Khartoum airport Monday have delayed entry of two opposition figures into the country upon their return from France where they attended opposition meeting.

Civil Society Initiative (CSI) delegation members Galeela Khamis (L), Abdallah Musa (C) and Babiker Mohamed al-Hassan wait to collect their belongings after their arrival to Khartoum airport on Nov 16, 2015. (Picture taken by Mariam al-Mahdi)

The deputy chairman of the opposition National Umma Party (NUP) Mariam al-Mahdi said in a WhatsApp text message the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) delayed her entry to the country along with the member of the Civil Society Initiative (CSI) Babiker Mohamed al-Hassan upon their arrival from Paris.

She pointed out that security agents handed them over their passports and allowed them to enter the country after 15 minutes.

However al-Mahdi didn't mention whether the two other members of the CSI delegation Galeela Khamis and Abdallah Musa who were accompanying them went through the same measure or not.

On Sunday, the opposition alliance National Consensus Forces (NCF) said that NISS detained the chairman of the Sudanese National Alliance Party (SNAP) Kamal Ismail early morning upon his return from Paris for several hours and expected that the rest of the returnees would face the same fate.

The opposition “Sudan Call” forces including the NCF, National Umma Party (NUP), rebel umbrella Sudan Revolutionary Forces (SRF) and the Civil Society Initiative (CSI) held a four-day meeting outside Paris to discuss issues of regime change as well as organizational issues pertaining to the alliance.

They decided to work for the establishment of a transitional national government either through dialogue or popular uprising.

(ST)

November 16, 2015 (KHARTOUM) - The African Union (AU) said that Khartoum and the rebel movements have officially approved to participate in talks on security arrangements in the states of Blue Nile, South Kordofan and Darfur region in Addis Ababa on Wednesday.

AUHIP head Thabo Mbeki chairs a meeting with of the government (R) and rebel delegations on 30 November 2014 (Courtesy photo/ AUHIP)

The head of the AU Liaison Office in Sudan, Mahmoud Kane, told the pro-government Sudan Media Center (SMC) that the Sudanese government and the rebel movements are ready to resume the talks on Wednesday, stressing that all negotiating teams will arrive in Addis Ababa on Tuesday.

He said that Khartoum informed the AU that its negotiating team for the Darfur issue would be headed by the Darfur peace implementation follow-up office state minister, Amin Hassan Omer, while the presidential aide Ibrahim Mahmoud Hamid will lead the delegation for the talks on the Two Areas.

Kane also pointed that all Darfur movements and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/North (SPLM-M) have named their negotiating teams except the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM-AW) led by Abdel-Wahid al-Nur.

The SLM-AW which refuses to participate in any negotiations with the government since Abuja peace process, says Khartoum provide security to civilians by disarming its militias and expel new comers from the land of IDPs before to negotiate a peace agreement of the root cause of the conflict.

In the same context, the secretary general of the Popular Congress Party (PCP) and member of the dialogue body known as 7+7 Kamal Omer said the presidential aide Ibrahim Mahmoud will travel to Addis Ababa on Tuesday, saying he is expected to discuss with the rebel leaders Thursday the necessary guarantees for their participation in the ongoing dialogue conference in Khartoum.

Omer told Sudan Tribune that he will also leave for Addis Ababa to convince Darfur rebels to participate in the dialogue conference, saying the PCP would seek to capitalize on its good ties with Darfur movements.

He stressed that the chairman of the Reform Now Movement (RNM) Ghazi al-Attabani won't participate in the dialogue preparatory meeting because he is no longer member of the 7+7 mechanism following his party's withdrawal from the dialogue process.

For his part, the government spokesperson Ahmed Bilal Osman said the agenda of the talks with the SPLM-N on the Two Areas would revolve around the cessation of hostilities while negotiations on Darfur will based upon the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD).

He pointed that a dialogue preparatory meeting including the government, rebel umbrella Sudan Revolutionary Forces (SRF) and the National Umma Party (NUP) would be held subsequently if the government and the rebels reached an agreement on the cessation of hostilities.

Osman said the mini preparatory meeting will be based upon the roadmap approved by the 7+7 committee and the Addis Ababa agreement.

The SRF and the NUP from one side and 7+7 committee from the other side on 5 September 2014 signed an agreement on identical term with the AU High Implementation Panel (AUHIP) “on the national dialogue and constitutional process”.

Last October, the AU announced that a mini-pre-dialogue meeting will be held with the participation of the SRF and the NUP following the security talks on the Two Areas and Darfur , disclosing the Sudanese government agreed to take part in the meeting.

Khartoum had previously refused to participate in a comprehensive preparatory meeting including the political opposition and civil society groups. Only it reiterated its readiness to meet the rebels to discuss the conditions and guarantees related to their participation in the internal process.

However, the Sudanese president Omer al-Bashir last October instructed the 7+7 committee to meet with the signatories of Addis Ababa agreement.

REBEL LEADERS TO JOIN DIALOGUE CONFERENCE

Meanwhile, the 7+7 committee has disclosed that some rebel leaders will join the dialogue conference during the coming few days.

7+7 committee member from the opposition side Omran Yahia Omran told reporters Monday that the dialogue conference would reveal much of its outcome next week, saying the committee is delighted that some rebel groups are closely following the conference and seeking to participate in it.

“The ongoing conference is a Sudanese/Sudanese dialogue and it doesn't need international monitoring or guardianship of any party,” he said.

He added the national constitutional dialogue which was demanded by the opposition “Sudan Call” forces in its recent meeting in Paris could be held within the dialogue conference in Khartoum.

Omran said the dialogue conference is going on as planned, pointing the 7+7 committee held three meetings since October 10th to assess the dialogue process and challenges facing it.

He said the 7+7 committee has urged that holdout opposition to participate in the dialogue conference.

MEETING THE EU

In another context, information minister Ahmed Bilal Osman has briefed the European Union (EU) ambassador to Khartoum, Thomas Ulicny, on the dialogue process and the upcoming talks with the rebel movements in Addis Ababa.

Ulicny said in press statement following the meeting that the EU would support the talks between the government and the rebel groups.

He expressed appreciation for Sudan's stance towards the recent terrorist attacks in Paris.

(ST)