Amnesty International: The Gambia is a Torture Chamber

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Amnesty International: The Gambia is a Torture Chamber
July 24, 2011 | Filed under: The Gambia | Posted by: MarieC
Friday 22 July marks the 17th year of Dictator Yahya Jammeh’s rule in The Gambia. Amnesty International has used the occasion to warn the international community that the dictator’s period of leadership has been marked by torture, murder, imprisonment and disappearances of critics.

God’s Dictator?

The Gambia is currently facing forthcoming presidential elections, elections which Jammeh has bragged he will win, as it is the will of God. Watchdog groups, however, are saying that it is because Jammeh has effectively destroyed the opposition with a campaign of violence and suppression. Critics have been arrested and intimidated, or forced into exile.

Jammeh’s highly militarised country is run by gangs of thugs authorised by the dictator to hunt down those brave enough to speak out.

Even those who have his favour risk being thrown into prison should they deviate from his wishes.

Amnesty’s report comments that: “Life in the Gambia for people who are perceived to belong to the opposition or journalists who have issued statements that are perceived to be critical of the authorities is quite bad. Most people end up in prison, in Mile Two prison, where they are subjected to torture. A lot of people have to flee the country, and a lot of people are currently living in exile,” [AI Deputy Africa Director] Hondora said.


Jammeh: “Too Much Expression”?
President Jammeh has responded to criticism in the past by accusing campaigners for what he calls “so-called human rights” of trying to undermine his government. He has restricted press freedoms, saying Gambia suffers from “too much expression.”

He goes on… “Human rights groups have pressed repeatedly for a full investigation into the killing of newspaper editor Deyda Hydara. Amnesty International calls detained journalist Ebirma Manneh a “prisoner of conscience.”

The Vanishing Opposition

Hondora says those who oppose President Jammeh risk being picked up by security forces and never seen again.

“Some people have ended up disappeared. These are people who are arrested by security forces and nothing is heard about them. And this extends to journalists, extends to opposition political party supporters or members, and including people in the security forces who are considered to have turned against the regime in Banjul,” Hondora said.

AI and other human rights groups are calling for massive reforms in the country, and for international pressure on Jammeh, who has been relying on foreign aid. Jammeh himself is incredibly wealthy, having claimed huge tracts of land for himself.

Will The Gambia be able to free itself after 17 years of Jammeh-hell? His autocratic rule may make it impossible for a functioning opposition to offer an alternative, but there is a climate of change in the country as Gambians grow weary with his tyranny.

•Indicators: Yahya Jammeh has crushed the opposition- not with his leadership abilities, but with his

•systematic oppression of critics, whom he tortures, murders or imprisons

Gabon Buys Former Kennedy House for US$6.5 Million

http://www.africandictator.org/?p=3382


Gabon Buys Former Kennedy House for US$6.5 Million
July 26, 2011 | Filed under: Gabon | Posted by: MarieC

Son of a devil always a devil. Omar Bongo's flamboyant son who succeeded him as ruler of Gabon,.

The Republic of Gabon,s pFlamboyant leader is the buyer of the Kalorama Heights mansion that once belonged to Senator Ted Kennedy in Washington DC, United States.

The West African dictatorship paid $6.5 million for the six-bedroom home, significantly less than the $8 million it was originally listed for.

Sources said that the home would likely be used by visiting dignitaries and ambassadors, or that it would make a pleasant home for the Gabonese ambassador to the US.

Lovely Bathrooms, Fireplaces and Arnie’s Gym

The white mansion with six bedrooms, seven bathrooms, five fireplaces, an indoor swimming pool and a gym kitted out with equipment selected by Arnold Schwarzenegger who is in the process of divorcing Kennedy’s niece Maria.

Dictator Ali Bongo of Gabon made all the wrong headlines last month when he was received by US President Barack Obama- international media branded Ali Bongo a dictator, and slammed Obama for meeting with him.

Ali Bongo wasn’t worried- the oil-rich tyrant presides over a government (and family) which controls almost all of the tiny country’s wealth.

Mansions vs. Poverty

A large percentage of Gabonese live in absolute poverty, although the revenue from oil skews the GDP- so vast is the revenue, that it makes it appear that the per capita income is far more evenly divided than it is in reality.

Perhaps Ali Bongo can do some renovations to his latest mansion, and add on a few extra bedrooms for some of his poorer people.

•Indicators:
•Ali Bongo is investing millions in mansions in foreign countries while his own people starve.
•His oil wealth buys him a place in the most powerful arena in the world.

You’re Under Arrest, Mrs. Dictator

http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=52848
You’re Under Arrest, Mrs. Dictator
April 13, 2011 | Filed under: Cote d’ Ivoire | Posted by: MarieC

Simone Gbagbo is the President of the Parliamentary Group of the Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) and is a Vice-President of the FPI. As the wife of Laurent Gbagbo, the President of Côte d’Ivoire, she was also first lady prior to their arrest by Pro-Ouattara forces.

As is often the case with dictators, their wives have no small amount of power of their own, and Mrs. Gbagbo has held her own in public office. Sometimes known as the Hillary Clinton des tropiques, she has always been at the midst of controversy. In addition to numerous arrests during the 70s as a militant trade unionist, Gbagbo and her husband were arrested for allegedly inciting violence in February 1992 and spent six months in prison.

She has also been investigated by the UN for allegedly organizing death squads and for other human rights abuses during and after the civil war in Cote d’Ivoire. She is said to have organized the death squads, while the UN report also mentions the mass executions of opponents, as well as the stirring up of hatred of certain ethnic groups in the unstable country.

Simone Gbagbo was questioned by a French legal representatives in connection with the disappearance (and presumed death) of French-Canadian journalist Guy-Andre Kieffer, who vanished while on his way to a meeting with her brother-in-law. Her role in the disappearance is disputed, and she has since filed a defamation suit against a former member of the Ivorian Security Services who accused her of being involved.

The 61 year old wife of Laurent Gbagbo now faces charges of her own, and, should the expressed intentions of Cote d’Ivoire prosecutors be carried out, be held accountable for her reign of terror as first lady of a dictatorship.

She is succeeded by Dominique Ouattara, wife of President-elect, Alassane Ouattara.

Cote d’Ivoire’s Climate of Fear

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Cote d’Ivoire’s Climate of Fear
July 28, 2011 | Filed under: Cote d’ Ivoire | Posted by: Eric
Gaëtan Mootoo from Amnesty International
Not enough is being done in terms of reconciliation and security in post-conflict Cote d’Ivoire, various human rights groups are saying.

Militias are preventing the reintegration of Internally Displaced People and refugees, especially those deemed to be young and fit enough to be seen as potentially former deposed dictator Laurent Gbagbo supporters.

Despite President Alassane Ouattara’s attempts at restoring peace and promising justice, even to the extent of encouraging investigations into the actions of forces loyal to him during the period of civil strife in early 2011, Cote d’Ivoire is failing to offer a safe haven to civilians.

Journalists face life imprisonment

Reporters Without Borders is alarmed by the arrests and intimidation of journalists, some of who face life imprisonment. The formerly pro-Gbagbo media houses have had to move their offices repeatedly. Their journalists, RWB is saying, should be tried under media laws rather than those which infringe on their human rights, even if they are guilty of publishing propaganda.

Journalist Hermann Aboa was charged on 21 July with threatening the nation’s defences, attacking and conspiring against state authorities, undermining national territorial integrity, participating in an armed band, participating in an insurrectional movement and attacking public order. He faces life imprisonment if convicted.

Five other journalists or former journalists allied with old regime are currently detained or under house arrest. They are Franck Anderson Kouassi, head of the former National Council for Broadcasting Communication (CNCA), Gnahoua Zibrabi, former publisher of L’Oeil du Peuple and onetime Gbagbo adviser, Armand Bohui Komé, former member of the National Press Council (CNP) and press officer to the First Lady, and RTI journalists Serge Boguhé and Germain Guezé.

More than three months have passed since the post-election crisis ended with Alassane Ouattara’s installation as president but journalists are still frightened about working for opposition or independent media. Some have simply given up their jobs and are in hiding.

The fate of independent and state media echoes that of certain ethnic groups, whom Amnesty International say face retribution.

•Refugee Retribution
Amnesty International is concerned by the “security role” given to the Dozo militias by the official FRCI forces. Armed Dozos are manning checkpoints on major roads in west Côte d’Ivoire which is deterring displaced people from returning home.

“The freedom with which the Dozos now operate indicates that their actions are tolerated or even instigated at the request of the FCRI,” said AI’s Gaëtan Mootoo.

“President Ouattara and Prime Minister Guillaume Soro must work hard to create a security force that is impartial and who can protect all Ivorian citizens regardless of their ethnic group,” said Mootoo.

President Ouattara has struggled with implementing reconciliatory measures, and is in the difficult position of undoing the effects of a dictatorship.

The UN has extended its security mandate in the country for another year.

•Indicators: As a dictatorship ends, it’s possible that the new leader may be forced to replicate autocratic measures in order to restore peace. However,
• press freedom and
•political representivity should not be hampered. Gbagbo’s former regime has left Cote d’Ivoire struggling to deal with the
•issue of succession, always the mark of a former dictatorship.

Mubarak Fears Egypt’s Hunger for Justice

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Mubarak Fears Egypt’s Hunger for Justice
July 28, 2011 | Filed under: Egypt | Posted by: MarieC

The tail-end of a dictatorship: Hosni Mubarak is starving. He’s embarked on a hunger strike in jail which has left him weak, even prompting premature rumours of his death. The deposed dictator’s trial is supposed to start next weak, but now it seems as though revolutionaries, activists and civilians may never see justice meted out.

The military is struggling to manage unrest in Egypt. Protesters continue to gather in Tahrir Square, symbolic centre of the revolution, to call for the resignation of the military generals who have been in charge since February and the swift trial of former senior leaders in the Mubarak regime.

Death Penalty

Mubarak could face the death penalty for his role in the deaths of hundreds of protesters during the Arab Spring uprisings.

Protesters labeled “spies” by military head

The protesters in Tahrir Square have been labeled spies by Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, the head of the military junta, who also claimed that they had suspicious motives, and were being influenced by foreign groups.

The Field Marshal’s comments led to violent protests which saw over 300 injured.

“It is possible that there is lack of understanding, that foreign players are pushing the people into inappropriate directions,” Tantawi said, adding that such foreign parties “did not want stability for Egypt.”

Tantawi, who has received the brunt of activists calls for change – including his removal – did not call on his troops to intervene in the civilian battles last weekend.

His comments have stirred up unrest, as Egyptians have begun to believe that the protesters are not acting in Egypt’s best interests, sparking fears that the country may once again experience the chaos of divided interests and violent reprisals.

Daily Press Death Watch

There’s plenty of rage. The fury of Egyptians is mounting as it appears they may be deprived of seeing Mubarak and his two sons going on trial for murder and corruption.

The postponement of the trials is prompting angry remarks that Mubarak is faking it [the infirmity], although, according to news agencies, the ex-dictator is not eating enough to stay alive.

The daily death-watch continues in the Egyptian press- failing the triasl and conviction of the tyrant, Egyptians appear to be living in the hope that he will die an ignominious death: Alone, broke, powerless and far, far away from the life of untouchable luxury he once enjoyed.

•Indicators: Mubarak is supposed to be facing justice for his crimes against humanity
•and corruption.