News

UN human rights chief says permanent members of the Security Council second only to criminals

27, February 2018

UN human rights chief says permanent members of the Security Council second only to criminals 0

Outgoing UN human rights chief Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein has said that UNSC veto-wielding members are second only to criminals.

Ra’ad al-Hussein accused the council’s permanent members, particularly Russia, China, and the United States, of being responsible for the continuation of suffering of innocents and misusing their veto powers.

He made the remarks during his last speech before his four-year term expires at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland.

“So long as the veto is used by them to block any unity of action when it is needed the most, when it could reduce the extreme sufferings of innocent people, then it is they – the permanent members – who must answer before the victims,” he added.

The UN human rights chief further slammed the international community for failing to control what he referred to as brutal conflicts around the globe.

“Second to those who are criminally responsible – those who kill and maim – the responsibility for the continuation of so much pain lies with the five permanent members of the UN Security Council,” he added.

 

Source: Presstv


Biya regime extends curfew in Southern Cameroons

26, February 2018

Biya regime extends curfew in Southern Cameroons 0

The governor of the North West region has extended a curfew restricting movement of persons and property from 8PM to 6AM, a decision he says was taken because of ‘growing threats of secessionist activists against the forces of law and order’.

The curfew which was first imposed in the Anglophone Northwest and Southwest regions two weeks ago has been extended for a week.

The week long curfew is renewable in the ‘quest for a long lasting return to normalcy’.

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 The curfew orders are as follows;
  • During the said period (8PM to 6AM), movement of vehicles, persons and goods shall be strictly forbidden.
  • All off licenses, snack bars and night clubs shall remain closed.
  • Motor parks shall remain closed and night travel buses shall be expected to leave town before 8PM.
  • Circulation of motorbikes is completely suspended.
  • The orders do not apply to administrative authorities, forces of law and order, persons and vehicles in possession of special authorisations to circulate, and ambulances.

The security forces in the North West region including the recently created military region based in Bamenda, are charged with implementing the curfew.

Cameroon’s Anglophone crisis

What began in 2017 as peaceful protests by Anglophone activists against perceived marginalization by Cameroon’s Francophone-dominated elite has become the gravest challenge yet to President Paul Biya, who is expected to seek to renew his 35-years in power in an election next year.

Government repression – including ordering thousands of villagers in the Anglophone southwest to leave their homes – has driven support for a once-fringe secessionist movement, stoking a lethal cycle of violence.

The secessionists declared an independent state called Ambazonia on Oct. 1. Since then, violent scenes that have resulted in loss of lives for both the secessionists and government forces have played out in the Northwest region, whose capital is Bamenda.

At the end of World War One, Germany’s colony of Kamerun was carved up between allied French and British victors, laying down the basis for a language split that still persists.

English speakers make up less than a fifth of the population of Cameroon, concentrated in former British territory near the Nigerian border that was joined to the French-speaking Republic of Cameroon the year after its independence in 1960. French speakers have dominated the country’s politics since.

 

Source: Africa News


Nigeria: Buhari administration confirms 110 girls missing after militant raid on Dapchi school

26, February 2018

Nigeria: Buhari administration confirms 110 girls missing after militant raid on Dapchi school 0

Nigeria has confirmed another mass kidnapping of schoolgirls in the militancy-riddled northeast, saying it has deployed extra troops and planes to search for over 100 girls, who remain missing following a Boko Haram raid on their school last week.

Militants on February 19 drove into the town of Dapchi in northeastern Yobe State in trucks and attacked the school, causing students and teachers to flee into the surrounding bush.

It is not known how the girls were abducted, but witnesses say some of the attackers were camouflaged, making the students mistake them for army soldiers.

Government and police officials have been giving contradictory figures of those missing, with estimates ranging from 50 to 100.

The Yobe State government also added to the confusion on Wednesday, when it said dozens of the abducted girls had been rescued, prompting many locals, including the parents of the missing girls, in Dapchi to celebrate.

The next day, however, the local administration apologized for the “erroneous” statement, which it said had been based on inaccurate information.

Relatives of missing school girls in Dapchi, Nigeria on February 23, 2018 (Photo by AFP)

 

Finally, the Nigerian Information Ministry on Sunday put an end to confusion and acknowledged that 110 girls are missing in a statement based on numbers obtained from parents who said their girls had not returned home since the school raid.

“The federal government has confirmed that 110 students of the Government Science and Technical College in Dapchi, Yobe State, are so far unaccounted for, after insurgents believed to be from a faction of Boko Haram invaded their school on Monday,” the statement said.

The statement said 906 students were in the school on the day of the attack.

Information Minister Lai Mohammed said additional security officials have been deployed to schools in the state.

The Nigerian Air Force also said the chief of air staff had “directed the immediate deployment of additional air assets and Nigerian Air Force personnel to the northeast with the sole mission of conducting day and night searches for the missing girls” in coordination with the ground forces.

A picture grabbed from a video released on January 15, 2018 by the Boko Haram terror group shows at least 14 of the schoolgirls abducted from Chibok in April 2014. (Via AFP)

 

The latest kidnappings have revived the painful memories of another mass abduction in April 2014, when Boko Haram militants attacked a girl school and kidnapped 294 girls in Chibok, Borno State. Many of the girls were released after negotiations, but more than 100 remain in captivity, their whereabouts unknown.

There has been growing anger among locals over the government’s handling of the recent incident as well as reports that soldiers had been withdrawn from key checkpoints in Dapchi last month.

The Nigerian government has claimed in the past that Boko Haram was defeated, but the Takfiri outfit continues to vex especially in the country’s restive northeast.

The Takfiri Boko Haram militant group has killed more than 20,000 people and forced two million to flee their homes since the onset of its terror campaign in 2009. It pledged allegiance Daesh in 2015.

 

Source: Presstv


Southern Cameroons Crisis: Another senior gov’t official abducted, female gendarme killed

25, February 2018

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Another senior gov’t official abducted, female gendarme killed 0

Animbom Aron Yong, the Regional Delegate for Social Affairs for the North West was reportedly abducted on Saturday by unidentified individuals presented by the Biya regime as Ambazonia secessionist fighters.

The kidnapping occurred while the administrative cadre had gone to Nyen, a village in the North West constituency in the Federal Republic of Ambazonia. The Francophone governor of the region, Adolphe Lele Lafrique confirmed the disappearance of the regional delegate, whose abduction occurred some 13 days after that of the sub-prefect of Batibo.

Our senior correspondent in Yaounde has also confirmed the death of a gendarme, Larrissa Souzock Mvondo during violent clashes between suspected Ambazonian militants and the Biya regime security forces.  Concordant community sources have also indicated that violent clashes between Southern Cameroons defense groups and French Cameroun military troops occurred on Saturday.

We understand that several Southern Cameroons civilians have been killed and three soldiers were also wounded during the fighting. This new drama brings to 27 (Issa Tchiroma stats) the number of soldiers killed in attacks attributed to the crisis in Southern Cameroons.

By Rita Akana and Kingsley Betek


70 million guns produced in US since 2008

25, February 2018

70 million guns produced in US since 2008 0

US gun manufacturers have produced over 70 million firearms since 2008, quickly escalating the production of rifles and the types of semiautomatic weapons used in recent mass shootings, according to data from the US government and gun industry.

In 2016, the latest year for which data is available, firearms companies sharply increased production, building 11.5 million guns, in part due to a belief that the Democratic Party would win the presidential election that year and curtail access to semiautomatic weapons such as the AR-15 rifle.

American companies have produced more than 150 million firearms since 1986, according to the “Annual Firearms Manufacturing and Export Report” published each year by the US Justice Department.

The vast majority of all US-produced firearms were sold domestically, the Justice Department said.

The data also shows periodic spikes of production and firearm sales when there’s the possibility of new federal gun-control policies.

Remington Arms Company, one of America’s largest gun manufacturers, reported sales of firearms reached $437.8 million in 2016, up 16.7 percent from the year before.

The company said sales of “modern sporting rifles,” which includes firearms like the AR-15, increased $34.2 million that year, though it didn’t provide aggregate sales figures for this style.

The two biggest years for gun production in recent history took place in 2013 and 2016, when intense debates about whether Democrats would be able to curb access to firearms.

“Gun lovers have been convinced that their right to buy guns in general, or particular types of guns, would be taken away by the politicians and they better hurry up and get whatever guns they have considered obtaining,” said Philip Cook, professor emeritus of public policy studies at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina.

Gun sales dropped sharply in early 2017, after US President Donald Trump and the Republican Party — which oppose to gun control — took full control of government, according to sales figures from several large gun manufacturers.

To deal with last year’s falling demand, many gun companies and retailers offered steep discounts and rebates on firearms to lure more buyers.

The report comes as the National Rifle Association (NRA), a powerful gun lobby in the US, comes under increasing pressure following the mass shooting at a high school in Florida earlier this month.

Nikolas Cruz, an ex-student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, opened fire on February 14, with an AR-15-style assault rifle, killing 17 people and injuring 14 more in his former school.

It was also the 18th school shooting since January 1 in the United States, which loses around 33,000 people to gun violence every year.

 

Source: Presstv


Scuffles break out as France’s Macron visits farm fair

25, February 2018

Scuffles break out as France’s Macron visits farm fair 0

Demonstrators from vegan and animal activists group “269 Life France” demonstrated against French president Emmanuel Macron on Saturday, February 24, during his first visit as president to the country’s main agricultural fair in Paris.

Macron received whistles and other protests as he met visitors to the fair and journalists. French farmers are discontent over producer prices, European Union trade talks and Chinese land purchases.

In a country with a profound attachment to its pastoral roots, the Salon de l’Agriculture is a mandatory rite of passage for political leaders, who tend either to relish the event – as former president Jacques Chirac visibly did – or endure it. Nicolas Sarkozy, during his presidential farm show debut a decade ago, let rip with an expletive-laden insult against a man in the crowd who had declined to shake his hand. His words were caught on video and haunted him for the rest of his term.

Macron responded differently to provocation on Saturday, scrapping his itinerary to engage several of his hecklers in a lengthy and detailed exchange on trade policy, social charges and food standards in front of TV cameras.


Mexico president shelves plan to visit US after Trump phone call

25, February 2018

Mexico president shelves plan to visit US after Trump phone call 0

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto has shelved a plan to visit the United States following a phone conversation with US President Donald Trump, in which the US president reportedly lost his temper.

The Washington Post first reported the development on Saturday, citing US and Mexican officials.

It said Pena Nieto was planning to visit Washington in February or March, but “shelved” his plan after a “testy” phone call with Trump on Tuesday.

The 50-minute phone call between the Mexican president and his US counterpart reached an impasse over Trump’s campaign promise of building a wall on the US’s border with Mexico and making Mexico City pay for it.

The report said the two leaders “devoted a considerable portion” of the phone conversation to discussing the border wall. Pena Nieto reportedly asked Trump to publicly affirm Mexico’s position that it will not pay for the wall. The US president refused.

According to the Mexican account of the conversation, Trump at some point “lost his temper.” According to the American version, he was frustrated by Pena Nieto’s demand.

In this file photo, taken on April 16, 2017, border agents patrol the US-Mexico border in a vehicle prior to an Easter mass at the fence separating the two countries at Friendship Park, in San Ysidro, California. (By AFP)

 

The Mexican president had canceled an earlier trip after Trump threatened to impose a tax on Mexican imports to pay for the border wall.

During his campaign for presidency, Trump had hinted that illegal Mexican immigrants to the US were “murderers” and “rapists.” That enraged the Mexican government and people. Once the US president promised to build the wall and make Mexico pay for it, Mexico City made it clear that it was not going to.

Meanwhile, an upcoming presidential election in Mexico scheduled for July is a determining factor and any compromise by Pena Nieto may risk damaging his public image and reducing his chances for re-election.

Some experts say that a trip to the US by the Mexican president any time before the election would be a risk.

 

Source: Presstv


Intense fighting reported in Southern Cameroons’s Muyenge

24, February 2018

Intense fighting reported in Southern Cameroons’s Muyenge 0

French Cameroun army strikes against suspected Southern Cameroons fighters in the Federal Republic of Ambazonia have continued after the British Minister left the territory, with intense fighting occurring in the South West Muyenge community, where French Cameroun rockets have reportedly landed on houses.  There are reports of massive killings going on in Ngolo, Melima and Bakundu and more than a thousand have escaped into the forest.

Thousands of families have also been displaced and the Christians churches are warning that the situation in Southern Cameroons is critical. The fighting in Muyenge pits French Cameroun government forces and their allies from Chad against local Ambazonian defense groups.

In a speech recently, the acting President of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia, Dr. Samuel Sako Ikome endorsed the legitimate right of Ambazonians to self defense.

By Sama Ernest


European Union to double funding for military force in West Africa’s Sahel region

24, February 2018

European Union to double funding for military force in West Africa’s Sahel region 0

The European Union is to double the budget allocated to a multi-national force in West Africa’s Sahel region as part of a declared mission to crack down on militancy and human trafficking there.

Europe fears that growing instability in the Sahel region of Africa — an arid land mass lying to the immediate south of the Sahara Desert and stretching east-west across the breadth of the African continent — could worsen the already high levels of human trafficking toward Europe and create a springboard for militant attacks on the West.

“There is a direct European interest in restoring stability to the region,” a senior EU diplomat said as quoted by media reports published on Friday. “There is a general awareness now that the future of the European Union is also the future of Africa.”

The deaths of two French soldiers in Mali this week and four US soldiersin Niger in October last year, where most Americans did not know the United States had forces, has highlighted the security threat in the vast scrublands spanning from Mauritania to Chad.

To address the mounting security threats, Brussels and Washington have devised a two-sided strategy, including military and development aid in Africa.

The West created the G5 Sahel force — made up of troops from Mali, Niger, Chad, Burkina Faso, and Mauritania — to counter militancy in the region. The Western-backed force is to receive more than 400 million euros (494 million dollars) to be able to meet its declared objectives.

The new budget is almost double the 250 million euros it has now.

France, which has more than 4,000 troops in the region, has been frustrated that it is the only EU member with combat troops on the ground, although others have contributed trainers.

Meanwhile, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) warned that the military approach alone would not be effective and called for greater efforts to relieve the roots of the conflict, namely poverty, poor governance, and climate hazards.

“When you add more weapons, you add more suffering,” Patrick Youssef, the deputy head of the ICRC’s operations for Africa, told Reuters. “That needs to be accompanied with real measures to alleviate the suffering that is the main reason why this war was created.”


Fru Ndi steps down from presidential race

23, February 2018

Fru Ndi steps down from presidential race 0

The national chairman of the main opposition party in Cameroon, Ni John Fru Ndii, has declared that he will ‘not be presenting his candidature for the 2018 presidential elections’. The veteran politician founded the Social Democratic Front (SDF) in 1990 and has led the party since then.

Speaking at the special congress of the party held in Bamenda, 77 year old Ndii reportedly said he was leaving the stage for the younger generation. I will not present my candidature for the Presidential election, I want you to chose who is best to be the flag bearer.

Ndii has recently been embroiled in a war of words with secessionists in the Anglophone region who wanted the SDF congress moved from Bamenda to Yaounde.

Ndii maintains that he is an Anglophone citizen who is not pro-secession. Analysts will now watch whether 49 year old Joshua Osih, who is currently the deputy of the party, will now seek to be nominated as the party’s presidential flag bearer.

Electoral activities ahead of the presidential election , have already started, and the opposition party recently met in the restive Bamenda region and declared that it would participate in the March 25 senatorial polls.

President Paul Biya is expected to seek another term in office after over three decades in charge of the Central African nation. The country is currently riled by secessionist elements in the Anglophone regions – northwest and southwest regions.

Source: Africa News


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