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A U.N. official in Ivory Coast says forces loyal to incumbent president Laurent Gbagbo are “indiscriminately” shelling areas seen as backing Mr. Gbagbo’s rival, Alassane Ouattara.
Human rights official Guillaume Ngefa told a news conference Thursday that the shelling and other attacks have killed at least 50 people in the last week, including five children, and wounded dozens more.
Ngefa, who was speaking in Abidjan, said the attacks bring the confirmed death toll from post-election violence in Ivory Coast up to 462.
The Gbagbo government has denied using heavy weapons against civilians, and accuses the U.N. of siding with Mr. Ouattara in the Ivory Coast political crisis.
Mr. Gbagbo has rejected calls from the U.N., African Union, and the west African bloc ECOWAS to give up power. All three bodies recognize Mr. Ouattara as the winner of last November’s presidential election.
Fighting between Ouattara and Gbagbo supporters has intensified in recent weeks, sparking fears that Ivory Coast will fall back into civil war.
A brief war in 2002 left Ivory Coast split into a rebel-controlled north and a government controlled south. The former rebels are now backing Mr. Ouattara, and have captured several towns in the country’s west.
In 1966, the United Nations General Assembly declared 21st of March as International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. Celebrated annually, and meant to remind countries of their collective responsibility in the fight against all forms of discrimination, this day’s observation owes its existence to the 1960 Sharpeville Massacre in which 69 people who were part of a peaceful demonstration against “pass laws’’ were brutally murdered by the South African apartheid regime. At that time, indigenous black Africans were legally required to carry dompas identity documents and to produce them whenever required to do so by the South African police. There were dire consequences for those who failed to produce such documents and many ended up in jail. In 1960, people of the township of Sharpeville participated in a peaceful march against ‘pass laws’ but were fired upon by the police. In South Africa, 21 March is celebrated as Human Rights day and is a public holiday.
More than 50 years after the Sharpeville Massacre, human rights activists and peaceful demonstrators still go through unimaginable suffering at the hands of those in authority. The ongoing killing of innocent civilians and peaceful demonstrators in Yemen, Bahran, and Libya are but a few examples that remind us that in some parts of the world people who dare question their governments still risks a similar fate to that of Sharpeville residents. As the world celebrates International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination thousands of people pursuing the struggle against elimination of all forms of discrimination, intolerance and other injustices are either behind bars, in exile or await dire consequences including death. Human Rights Watch reports on the state of human rights practises around the world paints a disturbing picture. What is further worrying though is the lacklustre approach that leaders and international bodies seem to adopt when occasions arise for them to show leadership and harshly condemn human rights violations. The 2011 Human Rights Watch’s report note that “in place of a commitment to exerting public pressure for human rights, they (governments that can be counted on to be on the side of human rights activists) profess a preference for softer approaches such as private “dialogue” and “cooperation”. The report goes further to list recent examples of soft approaches and these include “ASEAN’s tepidresponse to Burmese repression, the United Nations’ deferential attitude toward Sri Lankan atrocities, the European Union’s obsequious approach toUzbekistan and Turkmenistan, the soft Western reaction to certain favoredrepressive African leaders such as Paul Kagame of Rwanda and Meles Zenawiof Ethiopia, the weak United States policy toward Saudi Arabia, India’s pliantposture toward Burma and Sri Lanka, and the near-universal cowardice in confrontingChina’s deepening crackdown on basic liberties. In all of these cases,governments, by abandoning public pressure, effectively close their eyes torepression”.
Months back, the world welcomed the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma’s pro-democracy leader from almost 20 years of house arrest by Burma’s military government yet Chinese writer, human rights activist and Nobel Laureate Liu Xiaobo is still behind bars. Liu Xiaobo, the only winner of the Nobel Peace Prize still in detention was sentenced to eleven years in prison by the Chinese government after co-authoring ‘Charter 08’, a manifesto that is robustly calling for democratic rights for the people of the People’s Republic of China. There is currently an ongoing campaign against his ongoing imprisonment. The campaign consists of more than 70 organisations including PEN South Africa’s Writers in Prison Committee and Poetry International South Africa. The question is, what are we doing as individuals when faced with situations of injustices? This year’s celebration should therefore challenge us to be more tolerant of those that differ from us and less tolerant of repressive governments and people in our lives who show disregard of the rights of others. Martin Luther King Jnr once said “our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter”. He further maintained that “the ultimate treasure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience but where he stands at times of controversy”. In deed these wise words remain relevant even today and challenge all good men and women not to close their ears and deliberately block the loud cries of help from those around them.
10 March 2011 – A top United Nations official warned today that human rights violations, including rapes, abductions and killings, are escalating amid the ongoing post-electoral crisis in Côte d’Ivoire, with at least 27 people killed in just the past week.
According to investigations conducted by UN human rights officers in the country, at least 392 people have been killed in Côte d’Ivoire since mid-December amid the unrest resulting from Laurent Gbagbo’s refusal to leave office after his UN-certified defeat by opposition leader Alassane Ouattara in last November’s presidential election.
“Overall, the situation appears to be deteriorating alarmingly, with a sharp increase in inter-communal and inter-ethnic confrontations,” said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay.
“Human rights abuses, including rapes, abductions and killings, are being committed by people supporting both sides,” she added. In addition, families of high-profile individuals known to be politically active have been targeted, media groups seen as pro-Ouattara have been threatened, and the residences of members appointed to the Ouattara Government have been the targets of looting and ransacking.
Ms. Pillay cited the killing last week of seven women by security forces supporting Mr. Gbagbo at a peaceful demonstration in Abobo in support of Mr. Ouattara, saying video footage of the slayings was shocking and could be used to prosecute the individuals responsible.
Another four people were killed in clashes yesterday between the Forces de Défense et de Sécurité (FDS), loyal to Mr. Gbagbo, and the “Invisible Commando,” a previously unknown group which appears to be opposing pro-Gbagbo forces, after a peaceful demonstration to mourn and pay tribute to the seven women killed last week.
The High Commissioner condemned the reported use of civilians as human shields by the Invisible Commando, which is said to be actively preventing civilians from leaving Abobo and other tense areas of the commercial capital, Abidjan.
“I strongly urge all sides to respect the rights of civilians,” said Ms. Pillay. “Particularly worrying is the constant incitement to violence by influential leaders, most notably Blé Goude, who appear to be deliberately stimulating attacks against political opponents, other ethnic groups, nationals from other West African countries, as well as against the UN staff and operations working in Côte d’Ivoire.”
Warning of a risk of a resurgence of the civil war that in 2002 split the country into a Government-held south and a rebel-controlled north, she urged all parties to show utmost restraint to prevent it, and to resolve their differences peacefully.
Also today, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon confirmed that the UN peacekeeping mission in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI) will maintain its flight operations and take “all necessary measures” to protect its assets and fulfil its mandate, particularly with regards to protecting civilians.
This came after the Ouattara Government issued a statement invalidating a declaration by the authorities supporting Mr. Gbagbo that banned UN and French peacekeeping aircraft from flying over or landing in Côte d’Ivoire.
Mr. Ban deplored this latest attempt to disrupt UNOCI’s operations and warned all parties that any attempt to disrupt flights conducted by the impartial forces is “unacceptable,” his spokesperson said in a statement.
The 9,000-strong UNOCI has been supporting the stabilization and reunification efforts in the country over the past seven years. The Security Council has rejected Mr. Gbagbo’s demands for a withdrawal of the mission, instead extending its mandate and authorizing the deployment of an additional 2,000 troops and three armed helicopters.
The Secretary-General notes with satisfaction the statement issued by the Government of President Ouattara regarding as invalid a declaration by the authorities supporting Mr. Gbagbo, banning United Nations and Licorne flights inside Côte d’Ivoire.
He deplores this latest attempt to disrupt the operations of the United Nations Operation in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI) and warns all parties that any attempt to disrupt flights conducted by the impartial forces is unacceptable.
The Secretary-General confirms that UNOCI will maintain its flight operations and take all necessary measures, as directed by unanimous Security Council resolutions, to protect its assets and fulfil its mandate, particularly with regards to protection of civilians.
‘Dream’ is a natural phenomenon of the human species. This natural process which usually occurs when a person is at deep rest or sleep has a ‘dynamic’ way of relating with humans. Dreams could reveal to an individual a course of event in the future, bring a past memory to light, mystically warn of an impending danger, fills one’s subconscious world with imaginations, and sometimes, dreams could be a reflection of one’s hopes, aspirations or desires in life.
For the purpose of this piece, the last role played by this natural phenomenon will be the focal point; that is, a dream’s role as a reflection of human’s hopes and aspirations or desires in life. My African dream is about my hopes, aspirations and desires for the African continent.
Contemporary literary works have undeniably traced civilization to Africa. Egypt has historically and scientifically been confirmed to be the source of human civilization. Down the ages, the African continent lost its amiable glory to colonialism. Undoubtedly, today, the foundation which laid the glory of modern development in the Western hemisphere, was built by Africans and of course people of other races who labored tirelessly for centuries as slaves under servitude.
Ironically, even after centuries of post–slave trade or colonization, most African states are still under the influence of imperialism. Policy formulation and implementation of African nations are subject to national and international treaties and conventions. This is a major reason several nations in Africa today are either economically or politically challenged.
My African Dream examines my hopes, aspirations and desires for the continent under these three parameters: LEADERSHIP, HUMAN RIGHTS and VALUES.
LEADERSHIP– Poor leadership this has been identified by political commentators, the media, academics and individuals as the root cause of Africa’s present position in the global community. Take an analogy of Nigeria, the acclaimed giant of the continent, the sixth-oil producing nation in the world, and an active and leading member of OPEC. Today, an average Nigerian still ‘hunger for water while in the middle of the sea’. Needless to state that the proceeds accrued over the decades from oil have had little or no effect economically on the people.
Leadership in the political arena, especially, has been abused in Africa. An ex-president of an African nation was once quoted in the media as referring to politics as ‘a do or die affair’. That in itself is the driving force or mentality of politicians, especially in Africa. Public office has now become a platform for greedy individuals to enrich themselves to the detriment of the masses. Political office is exploited to abuse and intimidate others and as a lifetime career.
Eschewing the words of Martin Luther King (Jnr.)…
‘I Have a Dream’…………………..
I also have a dream……. ”that Africa will soon experience a revolution that will bring about leaders of national interest, integrity, patriotism, selfless service, amongst other virtues. I dream of an Africa that will produce notable leaders as exemplified by Barrack Obama (an offspring of Kenya), Nelson Mandela (S/Africa), and Obafemi Awolowo (Nigeria).
I dream of an Africa that will prove that blacks are no different to other races in terms of knowledge, potential, abilities, and expertise. I have a dream of African with leadership that is seen as ‘idea and philosophy’ globally, and who believe in service devoid of corruption and abuse of power. An Africa that will take the Comity of Nations by surprise, emerging strong in human and infrastructural developments. Leaders who believe that change is the only constant thing in life which must be wholly embraced. An Africa that will live up to the dreams of her founders.
I HAVE A DREAM……………………
HUMAN RIGHTS– Closely associated with leadership is Human Rights abuses in Africa. This comes in various forms; from sexual harassment and molestation, lack of regard to human life and human dignity. Mostly, during civil wars, as was the case in Darfur (Sudan), African women have been victims of sexual abuse in the hands of those meant to protect them. Similarly, those perpetrating the heinous crime of human trafficking have handed over young women to foreign ‘contactors’ to be sexually abused. Innocent and defenseless civilians have been repeatedly assaulted by law enforcement agents due to money not ‘exchanging hands’, or not showing ‘due regard’ to the agents of the government.
I have a dream…………. ”that Africa especially those vested with power and authority will see their privileged office not as a means to exploit and abuse their fellow, but as a means to serve their motherland and fellow Africans in the spirit of Love and Unity”. I HAVE A DREAM…………………………
VALUES– Most of Africa’s treasured values has been lost in recent times to western culture. Values are simply the embodiment of our principles, standards, mores, cultures and believes, entrenched in all spheres of our lives; from religion, education, family, politics and so forth. Values define an individual or group of people from another as much as color differentiates one race from another today. In Africa, for example, our values are expressed in the way and manner we dress, our multilingual languages and dialects, our diet, our cultures and traditions. However, as noted earlier, most of these are best known to be penned on paper about Africa but not expressed in their best to the world. Reasons for this are not far-fetched: African societies are becoming increasingly westernized. The media have also in recent times promoted more of foreign programs to the detriment of locally produced ones. Especially in this age where information is easily available and abundant, the youth population in African societies is increasingly spending time on websites that expose them to information that may not be helpful to them and actually may turn to be harmful.
I have a dream…………….” that African value system will be restored and upheld with pride by Africans home and abroad. That the values with which we are defined as people will refine us. That with our joint effort as Africans, we can take the continent to the point of global recognition
Sitting at less than five metres from the former President of Ghana, John Kufuor, I listened to what turned out to be one of my favourite public lectures in my adult life. The venue was the Rhodes House in Oxford. President Kufuor was still in power then.
Three words summarised his incisive paper: freedom, opportunity and tolerance. He said in a university, individuals were free, they had opportunity to express their ideas, but these must be nurtured with tolerance if progress was to be made.
I have always held a similar view that we proceed to a higher level of consciousness only when we can tolerate other people’s views. This idea of tolerance, or what some social scientists would call ‘toleration’, does not mean jettisoning our independent opinions for those of other folks. What tolerance actually means is that we are broad-minded, open-minded, namely we reconcile our views with those of others.
Freedom to think, act, and make judgements about issues of life is never absolute. But, in one way or the other, we are all, more or less, free, in the highly globalised, opinionated and competitive world.
Opportunity is available, even though it is not always widespread. But if we dig deep, inside of us, we will see modicums and atoms of opportunity, inherent in all of us. What we need most to keep freedom and opportunity afloat is tolerance. We need to reconcile ourselves with others. We need to complain less, and act more. We need to do as Mahatma Ghandi of India did: be the change we wish to see in others. If we all seize opportunity that comes our way, and we cherish our freedom, and respect the freedom of others, within the context of a tolerant global society, the world, not only us, will be better for it.
Let’s go back to some intellectual basis of reconciliation of opposite views and epochal events. Remember Karl Marx, and remember Thomas Kuhn. Karl Marx (1818-1883) argued fervently, that historically, every society is not static, and that after primitive communism comes slavery, then feudalism, then capitalism, then socialism, then classless communism, which he believed will be the result of all former epochs.
What this means is that all historical stages of development are never perfect, and that remnants of them are carried over into a new beginning. For Thomas Kuhn (1922-1996), the writer of The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, there is always a Thesis, the reigning paradigm, which then gives away to an Anti-thesis, which in turn gives a way to a resultant outcome called the Synthesis. What this means is that no knowledge is absolute, and that no matter what we know of an issue, there will always be an additional knowledge about it.
This makes us remember the position expressed by the award-winning writer of Half of a Yellow Sun, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, who passionately spoke about ‘The Danger of a Single Story’ at TED Talks. Please see and hear her out on possibly ted.com or TalkAfrique.com, and you will get more insights of what she meant, and what I am actually talking about.
It is only a dialectic and eclectic approach to issue, or what Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe called the ‘harmony of opposites’ that can enrich our freedom as a people, increase our opportunities as a human race , and in turn, make tolerance a virtue we all can share, we all must share, and we all will share
Although Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM) has been condemned by international bodies as an abuse of human rights, a vast majority of people from the Sebei tribe in Uganda still practice the dangerous tradition.
Despite the practice having been banned outright in the eastern African country since last year, some 200 young girls from the Sebei tribe have “willingly” registered to be circumcised in December this year.
The practice, which is common among people from the Sebei tribe of Bukwo and Kapchora districts at the foot of mountain Elgon, 400 kms east of Kampala, is categorized by World Health Organization as Female Genital Mutilation due to the damage it causes to circumcised women’s sexuality. It also leads to various complications.
After confirming that women in Sabiny tribe are among the most affected by the practice, anti Female genital mutilation advocate, Dr Betty Nalongo, explained how the bloody practice affects women: “FGM, refers to the removal of the external female genitalia. It is not only painful but also makes the victim never to enjoy sex after the mutilation.”
Notwithstanding its adverse effects, including childbirth related complications, a Sabiny man, Rogers Kyesang says that people from his tribe want their “girls and women to be circumcised because circumcised women are less interested in sex and therefore can not have extra-marital relationships while in marriage.”
But Cecilia Chemutai, 30, a woman who underwent the painful experience 10 years ago says: “I regret why I accepted to be circumcised. I feel much pain during sexual intercourse with my husband… and childbirth is very difficult”. She does not understand why girls voluntarily go for the exercise.
One of the girls who has decided to get circumcised in December this year, Gladys Ketrai, 19, says she wants “to be circumcised” in order for her to “fit well among the already circumcised women” of her “tribe.” “It is an old tradition which all women in the past underwent. Why should I avoid the exercise when my mother and grandmother went through it?” she argues.
Meanwhile, a government official in Sebei, Thomas Sakkwa has hinted that the decision from the girls are anything but voluntary. “Some of the young girls are teased into being circumcised… by elderly women. Whenever they they come across uncircumcised girls, they tease them that they are not fit to be within their company because they are not yet circumcised.”
But with all the government official’s concern, no politician has dared to remind the people of Sebei of the illegality of the practice due to the pending elections. They fear that any attack on the practice could cost them vital votes due to the fact that many local people there revere circumcision. A law against Female Genital Mutilation has been in place in Uganda for several months.
Uganda is to hold presidential and general elections in Febuary, 2011, and many people hope that the law against circumcision will be resurrected to save girls and young women from the blade after the elections.
"Spare the stick, spoil the child." That was the advice from proponents of the tough love approach to parenting that prevailed in Victorian times.
Plus ça change. Looking around the world today, encouraging leaders in fragile states to do the right thing, whatever that might be, is more about punishing them for erring in the performance of their governance duties than rewarding them for doing good.
There is a panoply of international sanctions to punish leaders who abuse human rights, undermine constitutionality or indulge in corruption. Some are regional, others global. Some are formal, others informal. Whatever their provenance or legal standing, the stick remains the instrument of choice.
Mechanisms to recognize or reward good leadership are few and far between. Yet leaders are human and, unless they are beyond redemption, they are more likely to respond to recognition and rewards than sanctions and reprimands.
The Nobel Peace Prize and the Ibrahim Prize are both strong incentives and could be emulated to acknowledge the contribution of leaders who consistently do well. Why not find ways, for example, to reward ministers who make a lasting impact on corruption or top brass in the military who reform the security sector peacefully?
Initiatives such as the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) and the Board of the Natural Resource Charter might want to find ways to boost the standing of leaders in government, civil society, and the private sector who improve the transparency of resource revenues and expenditures.
International and regional organizations could use top jobs as incentives for national reformers. The United Nation's Department of Peacekeeping Operations vets senior appointments for past human rights abuses. Other multilateral organizations could follow suit and use recruitment to reward successful reformers while barring those who have violated international law.
Rewards are often carefully calibrated diplomatic gestures rather than signals of fulsome support. For example, we learned this week that President Obama has told Sudan that if it allows the referendum on the status of Southern Sudan to go ahead in January 2011, and then abides by the results, the United States will take Sudan off its list of state sponsors of terrorism.
Realpolitik aside, if the carrot is to become mightier than the stick, we need to agree on what we can reasonably expect of leaders in countries scarred by violence and accept that it will take them a long time to show progress.
Without agreement on what is worthy of reward, we are unlikely to see much shift in the balance between recognition and sanctions. But then it took decades for British parents to stop beating their children.
