Commonwealth Human Rights weekly update (09/07 - 15/07/2011)

Kenya

Wednesday 13/07: Row over Refugee Camp: Kenya's Assistant Internal Security Minister Orwah Ojodeh said he was against opening a new section to the Dadaab refugee camp. It is claimed that it would encourage more Somalis to cross the border.

The proposed new section would have room for up to 40,000 people and would ease the over-crowding. Currently 370,000 people are crammed into an area set up for 90,000 people.

Kenyan Immigration Minister Otieno Kajwang said he was embarrassed that the government was refusing open a new refugee facility.

Malawi

Thursday 14/07: Malawi’s Aid Cut: The UK's Department for International Development (DFID) released a statement stating Malawi's government was suppressing demonstrations. It says it will be cutting budgetary support to the Malawian government.

The statement is the latest stage in a diplomatic spat between Britain and Malawi. Early on this year Malawi expelled Britian’s high commissioner after he was quoted criticising Malawi’s human rights record,

However, the UK is continuing to give Malawi aid through non government channels. This is targeted at £90 million over the next year.

Namibia

Wednesday 13/07: Country Running out of Condoms: According to The Namibian, one of Namibia’s national papers, The Ministry of Health is running out of free condoms after it terminated its agreement with Namibia’s sole producer of condoms, Commodity Exchange (ComEx).

The paper reports that the Ministry of Health stopped buying condoms from ComEx Last year after claiming that there condom’s were too expensive. The Ministry has instead opted to source them from abroad.

Sexual health is part of the wider “Right to Health” contained within the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

Commonwealth Human Rights weekly update (02/07 - 08/07/2011)

Horn, East and Central Africa

Monday 04/07: Aid agencies launch multi-million pound appeals to address food crisis

Aid agencies launched huge appeals this week in order to tackle the impending humanitarian emergency in east Africa, where severe drought and high food prices have left 10 million people needing help.

The drought in some pastoralist regions of Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Uganda comes as a result of the second failed rainy season in the last year. The drought has destroyed livestock, which at a time where cereal prices are soaring has caused hunger levels to increase sharply.

Almost a thousand Somalis refugees per day continue to cross across the Kenyan border to Dadaab, already the largest refugee settlement in the world, as covered in a previous post.  The greatest proportion of people in need are located in Kenya’s northern regions, where cereal prices have risen sharply in recent times. This is partly due to an increase in the global price, however a shortage of the maize has also been attributed to poor planning by the government, who claimed to have a surplus earlier in the year, before declaring a national disaster in May. There have also been allegations that politically connected Kenyans have sold maize meant for domestic consumption to neighbouring countries.

Sub-saharan Africa

Thursday 07/07/2011: Sub-saharan Africa on route to achieve MDG2

Sub-saharan Africa has been recognised as having up the best record for improvement in primary school enrolment, according the UN's annual report card of regional progress towards the eight MDGs.

The report highlighted that the world is far from achieving universal primary education. However Burundi, Madagascar, Rwanda, Samoa, São Tomé and Principe, Togo and Tanzania are among the countries that have achieved, or are nearing the goal of universal primary education. The abolition of school fees has contributed to progress in many of these countries, the UN said.

To achieve universal primary education, children must complete a full cycle of primary schooling. Currently, 87 out of 100 children in poor countries complete primary education.

Swaziland

Monday 04/07: Aid agencies launch multi-million pound appeals to address food crisis

The Commonwealth Secretariat is continuing to help Swaziland in advance of the country’s first Universal Periodic Review (UPR) human rights evaluation through a series of workshops for civil society organisations.

The UPR is a four yearly review of the human rights records of all 192 member states of the Commonwealth.  Swaziland is due to present its report to the Human Rights Council this month, and answer questions on it in October.

Karen McKenzie, Human rights adviser with HRU stated ‘engagement was contructive around a number of the burning human rights issues confronting government currently – some of these issues have been pending for a while.’ CHRI has covered Swaziland’s human rights record in previous posts and official statements.

African Commonwealth Human Rights Weekly Update (11/06 - 17/06/2011)

Kenya

10/06/2011 – Humanitarian emergency as world’s biggest refugee camp runs out of room

Dadaab, a sprawling refugee camp in Kenya, has run out of space, Medicines Sans Frontiers has declared. Situated in the barren desert of Kenya’s north-eastern province, the camp’s population is expected to reach 450,000 by the end of the year.

Three years ago, the UN declared that the camp had no more room for new arrivals, but conflict and the worst drought in years have forced 44,000 Somalis to seek admittance into Dadaab since the beginning of this year.

The refugees – most of whom are women and children – arrive with no money, no food, no water and no shelter. 60% report illness on arrival, having walked through the desert for days. They are left without food or shelter in dry heat of 50C and are said to be vulnerable to attack by animals.

‘More refugees are on their way,’ Nenna Arnold, an MSF nurse, said. ‘We are already at bursting point, but the figures keep growing. This situation is a humanitarian emergency.’

Nigeria

17/06/2011 – Radical Islamist sect claims responsibility for suicide bombing

A radical Islamist sect has claimed responsibility for Nigeria's first suicide bombing, saying the attack that killed two at Abuja's police headquarters was aimed at Nigeria’s police chief.

The group, Boko Haram, stated ‘We are responsible for the bomb attack on the police headquarters in Abuja which was to prove a point to all those who doubt our capability.’

The group had threatened ‘fiercer’ attacks the day before the bombings, declaring their anger at a police declaration that its days were ‘numbered.’

Thursday’s powerful explosion ripped through the car park inside the police headquarters compound, killing a police officer and the bomber, wounding several others and destroying dozens of cars, according to police. The death toll is still to be confirmed.

The event was the first suicide bombing in Nigeria, a country of 150 million people facing a growing threat from Islamic militants. Levels of insecurity are already high in the country only weeks after President Goodwill Jonathan's election late April for his first full term.

Boko Haram, whose name means ‘Western education is sin’, launched an uprising in 2009 which was brutally repressed by the military, leaving hundreds dead. The group advocate for the creation of an Islamic state, and have been blamed for shootings of police and community leaders, bomb blasts and raids on churches, police stations and a prison.

Rwanda

16/06/2011 – Rwandan Parliament admitted to CPA

The Rwandan Parliament were officially admitted as the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association’s 19^th member. Rwanda is hosting the 42^nd African CPA annual conference under the theme ‘Consolidation Growth and Development.’

Sessions will include issues of food security and sustainable livelihood, and the role of Parliament in mitigating the impact of genetically modified crops on poverty and food security. The agenda also covers the role of Parliaments in promoting democracy and good governance.

Uganda

16/06/2011 - Uganda's former vice president charged with fraud

Former vice-president Gilbert Bukenya has been charged with fraud.

He is accused of being responsible for the fraudulent procurement of luxury cars, which provided the transport for several heads of state during the 2007 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Kampala.

Mr Bukenya chaired the cabinet team in charge of preparations for the event but denies that he benefited from the $3.9m deal.

The former vice president was sacked in May, as part of a reshuffle in the wake of February's elections.