African Commonwealth Human Rights Weekly Update (18/06 - 24/06/2011)

Lesotho

Saturday 18/06: Tackling Tobacco in Lesotho

The Commonwealth made available its report “Taking up the challenge of non-communicable diseases in the commonwealth: 17 good-practice Case Studies”.

The report gives an insight into successful health initiatives undertaken by Commonwealth governments. One of the seventeen case studies was The Lesotho Network on Anti-Smoking.

In 2008 it was found that 11.8 per cent of boys and 7.5 per cent of girls aged 13–15 in Lesotho use tobacco and that 36.9 per cent of children live in a house where family members smoke in their presence.

The smoking and health programme, which costs US$50,000 a year, is aimed at reducing the numbers of smokers aged between 12 and 18. The programme involves 52 secondary and high schools. Each school is visited by a member of the Network and a teacher at each school is trained in anti-tobacco activities such as counselling. In addition over 2,000 ‘peer educators’ have been trained about tobacco issues.

Rwanda

Friday 24/06: Verdict due on Genocide Charge

The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda is due to give its verdict on the case of Mrs Nyiramasuhuko, the first Rwandan woman charged with genocide. Mrs Nyiramasuhuko was Rwanda's minister for Family and Women's Development at the time of the genocide.

The prosecution accuses her of taking part in the government decision to create militias whose mission was to wipe out the Tutsi population as fast as possible. She is also accused of organising the kidnap and rape of Tutsi women and girls with her son, Arsene Shalom Ntahobali, who was in his early 20s at the time.

The verdict is expected on the afternoon of Friday 24/06/2011.

South Africa

Wednesday 22/06: Michelle Obama urges African women to be at the forefront of change.

As part of her official visit to South Africa and Botswana Mrs Obama delivered a keynote speech to 70 young African women leaders about the need for women to be agents of change in Africa. The speech was given in the Regina Mundi church in Soweto, which was at the heart of the anti apartheid movement.

Mrs Obama said the successful fight against apartheid should inspire young people today and stated...

"You can be the generation that ends HIV/Aids in our time, the generation that fights not just the disease, but the stigma of the disease"

"You can be the generation that holds your leaders accountable for open, honest government at every level, government that stamps out corruption."

Swaziland

Wednesday 22/06: Mswati asks SA for a bail out.

King Mswati, Swaziland’s autocratic king, has been forced to turn to South Africa for funding as his government is facing a crippling deficit. The country was badly affected by the global financial crisis and the closure of the SAPPI Paper Pulp mill in Bhunya. As a result civil servants salaries have been slashed and plans for the King’s Silver Jubilee have reportedly been shelved.

Many activists in South Africa and Swaziland are opposed to a bail out because of the country’s poor democratic credentials.

Lucky Lukhele the spokesperson of the Swaziland Solidarity Network said, “Swaziland must be given a clean slate from which to begin, both politically and economically. The country’s citizens could not ask for more than that. The world should allow king’s Mswati’s reign to prove to be the dead end that it is, so that a new political dispensation can emerge from its ashes.”

African Commonwealth Human Rights Weekly Update (28/06 - 03/06/2011)

Kenya

31/06/2011 – Kenya plans to appeal ICC decision

Kenya has declared its intention to appeal the decision of the International Criminal Court which rejected their request that trials of six men accused of crimes against humanity be held in Kenya’s national court.

The ICC ruled that the application did not contain sufficient evidence that the government could deliver justice locally, stating that it ‘did not provide concrete evidence of ongoing proceedings before national judges, against the same persons suspected of committing crimes falling under the ICC's jurisdiction.’

Kenya had earlier challenged the jurisdiction of the ICC, saying its own authorities would investigate and prosecute the cases on Kenyan soil.

Mozambique

01/06/2011 - Free weekly newspaper marks its third year

@Verdade, (truth, in Portuguese) is an extraordinary newspaper. With an aim of increasing access to information, it is distributed free of charge in Maputo and four other towns to people who could otherwise not afford to buy a newspaper.

‘@Verdade was designed and set out to be a tool for development,' says Erik Charas, the papers founder and developer. ‘The development of the citizen, the human being who is entitled to be an active participant of their country's economy simply by being informed. By being able to take or make informed decisions. By being able to speak and be heard. By being allowed to dream, to want and to do. And to change things.’

And three years on, signs show that the newspaper is working as an agent for change in a country that continues on its road to recovery following a sixteen year civil war. A study by Paul Collier, Jenny C Aker and Pedro C Vicente about the 2009 national elections found that access to @Verdade had increased political participation by 10%.

Nigeria

02/06/2011 – Nigerian police raid ‘baby farm’

An alleged ‘baby farm’ in the southern city of Aba was raided by Nigeria police this week. Thirty two pregnant girls, mostly of school age, were found locked up at the Cross Foundation clinic. Their babies were to be sold for illegal adoption or for use in ritual witchcraft.

Human trafficking is the third most common crime in Nigeria after financial fraud and drug trafficking. The UN estimates that at least ten children a day are sold across the country. Traffickers are seldom caught.

The police carried out similar raids on such clinics in neighbouring Enugu state in 2008.

Rwanda

02/06/2011 – Rwanda disputes claims of repressing free speech

This week saw the publication of an Amnesty International report stating that the genocide ideology and sectarianism laws enacted in Rwanda following the 1994 genocide have been used to stifle free speech and political opposition. The report stated that the policies are overly vague, broad and are being used by the government to punish journalists, human rights workers and political opposition.

Justice Minister Tharcisse Karugarama stated that Rwanda is already in the process of reviewing the policies. The government has labelled the report ‘inaccurate’ and ‘highly partisan’.