| Group of elderly Kenyans who say they were tortured by British officers in the 1950s uprising take case to London court. Last Modified: 07 Apr 2011 09:56 | ||
A group of elderly Kenyans who say they were tortured by British officers during the suppression of the Mau Mau rebellion in the 1950s are taking their case to the High Court in London. The four claimants, three men and one woman in their 70s and 80s, are seeking compensation and a statement of regret for the treatment they suffered, including castration, torture, sexual abuse, forced labour and beatings. Dan Leader, their lawyer, is expected to argue at the hearing on Thursday that the British government knew both UK and African officers were abusing prisoners during the anti-colonial uprising. The case could open the door for claims from hundreds of other people who survived detention camps during the uprising, which saw Kenyans fighting against British rule in their country. However, the British foreign office, which was recently forced to release hundreds of files relating to the case, insists that Britain cannot be held legally liable. The Mau Mau uprising began in central Kenya in a bid to regain land seized by British authorities. But more than 10,000 people were killed in the rebellion, which lasted from 1952 to 1960, and tens of thousands were detained, including the grandfather of Barack Obama, the US president. Wambugu Wa Nyingi, one of the four claimants, says he was detained without charge for nine years, subjected to forced labour and beaten daily with sticks. Nyingi told the AFP news agency that he survived a massacre at the British-run Hola Camp, lying unconscious for three days alongside 11 people who were killed. "I suffered physical violence on my head, on my legs, I still have the scars today because of the beatings from the colonial administrators," he said. "I am here to get justice for the many of my colleagues who have since died, and others who are still alive but living in abject poverty because of the injustices that were committed by the British colonial government." A spokesperson for the foreign office said that the period in Kenyan history "remains a deeply divisive issue" within the country and "caused a great deal of pain for many on all sides", but that the UK would defend the cases. "The UK government is not transferring responsibility to the government of Kenya for dealing with the allegations; we are simply stating that under the law, Her Majesty's Government cannot be held liable in this case." | ||
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| Source: Agencies |
Thursday, 7 April 2011
Kenyans seek Mau Mau compensation in UK
Attack on Ivorian leader's bunker repelled
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| Fighting raged for a third consecutive day in Abidjan as Alassane Ouattara's forces tried to unseat Laurent Gbagbo. Last Modified: 06 Apr 2011 20:30 | ||||||||||
Laurent Gbagbo, the incumbent president of Cote d'ivoire, is still holding out in a bunker as fierce battles continue in Abidjan. "The negotiations which were carried out for hours yesterday between the entourage of Laurent Gbagbo and Ivorian authorities have failed because of Gbagbo's intransigence," Juppe told the French parliament.
It was not clear if Juppe was simply formally filling them in on earlier events, or if they have tried again to coax Gbagbo out of his bunker. Earlier in the day, forces loyal to Alassane Ouattara, the president-elect, stormed the residence where Gbagbo is hunkered down.
"Alassane Ouattara has given formal instructions that Gbagbo is to be kept alive because we want to bring him to justice," he said. "Gbagbo is still hiding and President Ouattara wants him seized and alive." South Africa, Togo and Angola are possible safe havens for Gbagbo should he negotiate an exit from his West African country, African Union (AU) sources said on Wednesday. Gbagbo, meanwhile, said it was not his "aim to die" fighting Ouattara's forces and called for direct talks with his rival.
Al Jazeera's Haru Mutasa, reporting from Bassam near Abidjan, said Wednesday's attack followed Gbagbo's refusal to "sign a document" in which he had to say he was ready to step down. "Gbagbo refused. That infuriated the Ouattara camp and then, it seems, they tried to go forward and try to capture him," she said. The UN and France, the former colonial master with more than 1,000 troops in Cote d'Ivoire, had said Gbagbo's departure was being negotiated following a fierce assault by Ouattara's forces. "We have asked the United Nations to guarantee his physical security and that of his family," Juppe had told France Info radio on Wednesday. He reiterated that he considered himself the winner of the election, although the AU and ECOWAS, the west African regional bloc, both endorsed Ouattara.
Al Jazeera's Jacky Rowland, reporting from Paris, said there was no word from the foreign ministry on the fate of Gbagbo. "There were talks involving two generals loyal to Gbagbo, but it is quite clear now that talking has past and it looks as though this crisis may indeed be resolved by military force after all." She said some Ivorians in French capital were elated at the news of Ggabo's ouster while others protested against France's intervention in Cote d'Ivoire's internal affairs.
The November election in the world's top cocoa producing nation was meant to end a 2002-2003 civil war, but Gbagbo's refusal to cede power plunged the country into a violent political standoff that has killed over 1,500 people. "I think he's playing for time,'' said a senior diplomat who has closely followed events and spoke on condition of anonymity because he had not been cleared to speak to the press. "His aim is always to buy himself just one more day." Choi Young-jin, the UN envoy in Cote d'Ivoire, said by telephone that Gbagbo's surrender was "imminent". "He accepted [the] principle of accepting the results of the election, so he doesn't have many cards in his hands," Choi told the Associated Press Television News. "The key element they are negotiating is where Mr Gbagbo would go." | ||||||||||
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| Source: Al Jazeera and agencies | ||||||||||
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Mass grave discovered in Mexico
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| At least 59 bodies have been found near the site where suspected drug gang members massacred 72 migrants last summer. Last Modified: 07 Apr 2011 02:42 | ||
At least 59 bodies have been found in a series of pits in the northern Mexico state of Tamaulipas, near the site where suspected drug gang members massacred 72 migrants last summer, authorities said. The bodies are being examined to determine whether they were bus passengers who were reportedly abducted on March 25, the Tamaulipas state government said in statement on Wednesday in which it "energetically condemned" the crimes. The pits were found in the farm hamlet of La Joya in the township of San Fernando, in the same area where the bodies of 72 migrants, most from Central America, were found shot to death on August 24 at a ranch. The victims in the August massacre were illegal immigrants from El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Ecuador and Brazil. Authorities blamed the killings on the Zetas drug gang, which is fighting its one-time allies in the Gulf cartel for control of the region. An Ecuadorean and Honduran survived the attack, which Mexican authorities say occurred after the migrants refused to work for the cartel. Mexican drug cartels have taken to recruiting migrants, common criminals and youths, Mexican authorities say. Protests against violence The wave of drug-related killings, which has claimed more than 34,000 lives in the four years since the government launched an offensive against drug cartels, drew thousands of protesters into the streets of Mexico's capital and several other cities on Wednesday in marches against violence. Many of the protesters said the government offensive has stirred up the violence. "We need to end this war, because it is a senseless war that the government started," said protester Alma Lilia Roura, 60, an art historian. Several thousand people joined the demonstration in downtown Mexico City, chanting "No More Blood!" and "Not One More!" A similar number marched through the southern city of Cuernavaca. Parents marched with toddlers, and protesters held up signs highlighting the disproportionate toll among the nation's youth. "Today a student, tomorrow a corpse," read one sign carried by demonstrators. The marches were spurred in part by the March 28 killing of Juan Francisco Sicilia, the son of Mexican poet Javier Sicilia, and six other people in Cuernavaca. | ||
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| Source: Agencies |
Bahrain hospitals 'paralysed' by unrest
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| In new report, Medecins Sans Frontieres accuses Bahrain's military of deliberately targeting doctors and hospitals. Last Modified: 07 Apr 2011 08:38 |
 The group accuses Bahraini security forces of targeting protesters in Salmaniya hospital [EPA]The Bahraini government's crackdown on protests has "paralysed" hospitals in the country and turned them into "places to be feared", according to a new report from Medecins Sans Frontieres. Health facilities in Bahrain have been largely overwhelmed since large-scale protests began in Manama in mid-February. Thousands of protesters, many of them with severe injuries, passed through the hospitals in a matter of weeks, taxing a health care system that was simply unprepared to deal with the influx of casualties. But making matters worse, the group reported, is the military's "targeting of health facilities and workers", which turned the country's largest health centre into what MSF called an "occupied hospital". Many patients, even some with severe injuries, have simply refused to go to the hospital out of fear for their safety, MSF reported. "Wounds are used to identify demonstrators, restricted access to health care is being used to deter people from protesting, and those who dare to seek treatment in health facilities are being arrested," the group wrote. 'They would beat us in the night' MSF singled out Salmaniya hospital, the country's largest, as an example of the politicisation of health care in Bahrain. Doctors and nurses in Salmaniya hospital told Al Jazeera last month that they were beaten Opposition protesters routinely sought medical treatment in Salmaniya, not just because of its facilities, but also because it was viewed as a "safe place". But that changed in mid-March, after Bahraini security forces cleared the protesters massed in Pearl Roundabout with clouds of tear gas and a hail of bullets. "The military took over the hospital and established checkpoints with tanks and masked military personnel all around its perimeter," the group wrote in its report. "MSF has met different patients in their homes who confirm that they were systematically beaten and intimidated within the ward." The Bahraini government has denied attacking patients inside the hospital, insisting that troops were deployed to Salmaniya only to maintain order. But MSF's reporting tracks with accounts from eyewitnesses, who told Al Jazeera last month that security forces were roaming the hospital, looking for protesters. Doctors and nurses said that they were beaten up, and that patients were often not allowed to enter or leave. "I tried to escape from Salmaniya for five days," one 40-year-old man told MSF. "They would beat us in the night. They called us terrorists. They even ripped off my IV line and pushed me to the floor." Ongoing crackdown It seemed a month ago that the thousands of protesters staging daily rallies in Manama were close to winning substantial concessions from Bahrain's government. Many of the protesters were Shia, and they were frustrated with economic and political discrimination at the hands of the country's ruling Sunni elite. But the harsh crackdown on March 16 brought an end to protests in Manama, and the government continues to keep pressure on what remains of the opposition. The opposition Wefaq group says hundreds of airport workers, most of them Shia, were sacked this week for going on strike to support pro-democracy protesters. Earlier in the week, the government shut down Al-Wasat, the country's main opposition newspaper, on charges of "unethical" coverage. Hundreds of people arrested during the crackdown remain missing; several who have been released say they were tortured, often with electric shocks. The island kingdom remains under a state of emergency, and a heavy security presence has restored calm in the capital. Protests have largely shifted to Shia villages outside of Manama. |
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| Source: Al Jazeera |
Libyan rebels regain ground near Brega
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| Rebels claim regaining new ground in port town as Gaddafi's forces cripple oil production in eastern Libya. Last Modified: 07 Apr 2011 09:39 | ||||||
Rebels said the loss of ground early this week to forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi is a normal occurrence in fluid desert wars, and will not prevent them from ousting the Libyan leader. Meanwhile, NATO stepped up the pace of its air campaign over Libya on Wednesday, a day after facing fierce criticism of not doing enough to protect civilians in Misurata. The alliance dismissed opposition criticisms, saying the safety of civilians is its top priority and pledged to do everything it can to ensure that. But Al Jazeera's Laurence Lee, reporting from Benghazi on Thursday, said that Abdel-Hafidh Ghoga, the vice-chairman of the Libyan National Provisional Council, continues to insist that NATO do more. "He has certainly strengthened his language, and he even went on to call NATO a 'burden', which is an extraordinary thing to say under the current circumstances." "There is obviously agreement here among the opposition that if more military gains are to be made, international forces must step up their operations."
On Tuesday Gaddafi's forces pushed back rebels from Brega in the pro-democracy movement's first significant loss of territory in almost a week. "This kind of desert fight is very fluid; advancing 20 kilometres and then retreating 20 kilometres is normal in a desert war," Mustafa Gheriani, a rebel spokesman, said. "Look at the desert war during the second world war, around [the eastern Libyan town of] Tobruk: they were moving by 50 kilometres every day." Gheriani said "our forces are at the eastern border of the city, the [Gaddafi] militias are inside the city and the fight is going on". He said Gaddafi's army "has a lot of weapons left" and can threaten Ajdabiya, about 80km further east, "but we hope our resolve and most of all the resolve of NATO will prevent them to do that". Gaddafi's letter Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, rebuffed a personal appeal from Gaddafi to Barack Obama, the US president, saying the Libyan leader should impose a ceasefire, withdraw his forces and go into exile. The White House confirmed Gaddafi had written a letter to Obama but did not disclose its contents. The Associated Press news agency, which first reported the letter, said Gaddafi had appealed to Obama for a ceasefire in a rambling, three-page letter. "Mr Gaddafi knows what he must do. There needs to be a cease-fire, his forces need to withdraw from the cities that they have forcibly taken at great violence and human cost," Clinton said at a news conference with Franco Frattini, the Italian foreign minister, on Wednesday. "There needs to be a decision made about his departure from power and ... his departure from Libya. "I don't think there is any mystery about what is expected from Mr Gaddafi at this time. The sooner that occurs, and the bloodshed ends, the better it will be for everyone." Targeting oil fields Attacks by government troops this week have also halted production in rebel-held oil fields, just as a tanker with the first shipment of crude left Tobruk on Wednesday. The rebels have a deal to export oil via the Gulf state of Qatar and use the profits to pay salaries and buy food, medicine and arms to fight Gaddafi. Ghoga, the rebel official, said groups of armoured vehicles attacked the oil field of Messla and of Sarir earlier this week. "I think we will not depend on oil revenues in the coming stage because our production has been affected in this crisis."
He said that while the extent of damage remains unclear, the rebels can no longer sustain the 100,000 barrels a day they had been producing. By contrast, in 2009, Libya produced 1.65 million barrels of oil per day. The rebels still have about one million barrels in storage in Tobruk, which is being exported through the Qatari deal. "Colonel [Gaddafi] seeks to deprive us of even this by hitting the oil fields that feed this port. This is our wealth and we have to protect it," Ghoga said. The two fields are part of the massive Sirte Basin region, which is one of the world's largest oil fields and holds 80 per cent of Libya's oil reserves. Sarir field was discovered in 1961 and is the largest oil field in the country, with estimated reserves of 12 billion barrels. A pipeline carries its oil north to Tobruk. Messla, discovered in 1971 and just 40km north of Sarir, is estimated to hold three billion barrels of oil. Libya has the largest proven oil reserves in Africa, even more than Nigeria, at an estimated 46.4 billion barrels as of January 2011, according to Oil and Gas Journal. | ||||||
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| Source: Al Jazeera and agencies |
Wednesday, 6 April 2011
Tahrir Square at AUC
A transparent plastic tent decorated with an Egyptian flag erected over a couple of blankets is the highlight of the photography exhibition held in Abdul Latif Jameel Hall at the American University in Cairo.
The tent is identical to the many that were set up in Tahrir Square, sheltering protesters for 18 days during the 25 January revolution.
“The exhibition is very realistic. If the ground was asphalt like the street was, I would have surely felt I am in Tahrir Square with the tent and all,” said Yara Sakr, an AUC student.
The gallery features around 90 photographs by ten photographers to tell the story of the revolution. The photographs are taped to the walls in what appears to be an improvised fashion; some hang from a rope in the middle of the gallery.
Slogans repeated during the revolution are painted on the gallery walls--“Put your head up … you are Egyptian”; “We want freedom and equality”; “The army and the people are one." They recall the language of the revolution in graffiti, its most prominent art form. Huge Egyptian flags hang from the gallery ceiling to the floor.
Shams Friedlander, the gallery's creative director, said he didn't want to frame or arrange the photographs in a typical way. Instead, he wanted to recreate the atmosphere in Tahrir--taping them on the walls and making an installation with stones on the ground.
"We just want an environment that people could come in and have a little feeling," Friedlander said.
Heba Khalifa, a participant and a photographer for the newspaper Al-Shorouk, said she liked the natural display of the photos, but thought it would work better in a bigger area so people could walk through wider passages. Khalifa contributed two pictures -- one of a family holding a one-year-old child and the other a banner asking Mubarak to resign.
Randa Shaath, another Al-Shorouk photographer, said that the photographers hoped to tell the full story of the revolution.
“We ten photographers selected, from the many photographs we took during the revolution, the best pictures in order to create a full chronology of the events in Tahrir, beginning with the first protests and police attacks, to sit-ins and funerals," Shaath said.
David London, Assistant Professor in the AUC Journalism and Mass Communication Department, said he is currently organizing a gallery himself. He expressed admiration for the photographers.
“Some of the pictures actually leave you speechless. The courage of the people involved is really astounding to me,” London said.
Thomas Hartwell, an AUC photography professor, contributed 24 photographs. Hartwell said that selecting 90 pictures from 500 submissions was not easy.
“Tahrir was different on different days. Some days there were peaceful demonstrations, some days attacks, so we tried to include pictures from the different situations that came together in the square,” he said.
On 3 April, in the middle of the exhibition, musician Laila Bahgat played the oud and sang national songs, adding to the revolutionary spirit in the gallery.
“I live on Tahrir Square and heard many of the national songs that were being played during the revolution, so I am singing here to create the same patriotic mood as was in Tahrir square,” she said.
The exhibition, organized by the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, is open from Sunday 3 April to Thursday 5 May from 10 am to 5 pm.
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