Puntland State Constitution Adopted

Puntland State Constitution Adopted

Delegates to the constitutional convention for the northern Somalia breakaway region of Puntland. The document was approved by nearly 500 delegates., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on 

An estimated 480 representatives, honorable guests and foreign dignitaries attended the constitutional convention in Puntland State's capital, Garowe. (Photo Courtesy Garowe Online) Garowe, Somalia — The Puntland Constitutional Convention came to a close on Wednesday with a finalized Puntland constitution, Radio Garowe reports.Throughout the 4 day convention, held in the newly constructed parliament, Puntland constitution's 138 articles were painstakingly discussed by the 480 representatives from all regions in Puntland. In an outstanding majority, 472 representatives voted to adopt the Puntland constitution.
Mohamed Hassan Bare Chairman of the Puntland Electoral Commission (PEC) - who spoke after the representatives voted to adopt the constitution - said, "I speaking behalf of the PEC have witnessed 472 representatives, the majority vote adopts the Puntland constitution and I hereby sign this document."

Burning humans, suspected of witchcraft in the "stable" democracy of Kenya

Religion at its best again. Five people from Kenyan village Kisii Nyamataro were slowly burned alive because they were suspected of witchcraft. Translation -- they did not acknowledge Jesus Christ as their God. The five young people, both men and women were beaten with sticks and set on fire to slowly roast while other villagers, including priests watched the spectacle. Religion always brings out the best in people, doesn't it?

Goodluck Jonathan 'to win outright

Goodluck Jonathan 'to win outright"

Goodluck Jonathan is set for election as Nigeria's president with almost double the vote of his main rival, partial results suggest. Figures provided by regional officials suggest he has garnered enough votes to avoid a run-off. A BBC correspondent says there is a sense of relief and jubilation that the vote and count have been relatively calm, unlike in past years.

Nigeria's elections postponed over logistical 'chaos"

Nigeria's elections postponed over logistical 'chaos" (2011) 
(but in 2009 >> Nigerian government minister has expressed relief at the death of an Islamic sect leader !!! )

 the Captured leader of Boko Haram Yusuf Mohammed is executed.

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Parliamentary elections in Nigeria have been postponed until Monday because of organisational problems, officials say. The electoral officials - who have apologised for the delay - say ballot papers have not been delivered in time to many polling stations. The decision is seen as a big blow to the credibility of the electoral body in Africa's most populous country. Some 73m people have registered for the parliamentary, presidential and gubernatorial polls over two weeks.

French forces take over Abidjan airport

French forces have taken over the airport in Abidjan as forces loyal to Cote d'Ivoire's presidential rivals continue to battle for control of the country's main city. http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/04/20114215401513945.html

Reporting the French intervention, state television urged the city's residents to mobilise and protect Laurent Gbagbo, the incumbent president. The channel also accused Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, of wanting to engage in genocide in the West African country.
Paris called for French citizens in Abidjan to assemble together without delay, Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, said on Sunday.

Oh now Mr Wallace....

Wallace: You go to Nigeria, which is, if not the most corrupt nation in Africa, and it is, it could be the most corrupt nation in the world Minister Farrakhan.

Farrakhan: Oh now Mr Wallace.

Wallace: It is the most corrupt nation that I have ever covered. I’ve been there 25 years ago and I’ve been there as recently as last year.

Farrakhan: Fine. So what? 35 years old, that’s what that nation is, now here’s America 226 years old! You love democracy? But there in Africa, you’re trying to force these people into a system of government, when you just have accepted 30 years ago that black folk got the right to vote. You’re not in any moral position to tell anyone how corrupt they are! You should be quiet and let those of us who know our people go there and help them get out of that condition. But America should keep her mouth shut wherever there is a corrupt

The aristocrat of totalitarianism-Could Ethiopia survive the Jasmine Revolution ?

The aristocrat of totalitarianism -
Could Ethiopia survive the Jasmine Revolution ?

The Indian Noble-Prize winning economist, Amartya Sen, postulates:
“Shortfalls in food supply do not cause widespread deaths in a democracy because vote-seeking politicians will undertake relief efforts; but even modest food shortfalls can create deadly famines in authoritarian societies.”

Ethiopia is the only country in Africa, or I may say, in the world that needs pre-emptive foreign intervention to save it from total destruction as Meles Zenawi’s regime sits on a thin ice that needs a flicker of fire to pull down his domino house of power. The ongoing winds of change that engulfed the countries to the north of Ethiopia (Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan, Yemen, Sudan and etc) which are relatively much better, in terms of civil liberty and economic life, are bound to sweep through Ethiopia with vengeance in the very near future.

   

Ethiopia under the current dictatorial regime has all the ingredients that cause to trigger uncontainable mass uprising that has the potential to melt down Mele Zenawi’s regime.  The forth coming uprising, unlike Egypt or Tunisia, will result rivers of blood on the streets of Addis followed by ethnic cleansing of the Tigrean people because the regime and the army that committed untold human rights violations are entirely   based on one ethnic (Tigrean) group. Besides the economic and political sectors which are colonised by ethnic Tigreans, the security sector and the Army for the first time in the history of Ethiopia became the monopoly of one ethnic group -Who is who of Ethiopia’s Top Army Brass.

(also here >> about Megistu Haile Mariam)

http://garizo.blogspot.com/2011/02/mengistu-haile-mariam.html

Mengistu Haile Mariam

In 1974, Emperor Haile Selassie's regime had lost public confidence within Ethiopia following a famine in Wello province, leading to the Ethiopian revolution. As a result, power came into the hands of a committee of low ranking officers and enlisted soldiers led by Atnafu Abate, which came to be known as the Derg. Originally, Mengistu was one of the lesser members, officially sent to represent the Third Division because his commander, General Nega Tegnegn considered him a trouble-maker and wanted to get rid of him.^[5] Between July and September 1974, Mengistu became the most influential member of the shadowy Derg, but preferred to act through more public members like his former mentor, general Aman Andom, and later Tafari Benti.^[7]

Kadafi - "δρυός πεσούσης πας ανηρ ξυλεύεται"

Muammar al-Gaddafi

Demonstrations Erupt Against U.S. and French Supported Regime in Djibouti

Demonstrations Erupt Against U.S. and French Supported Regime in Djibouti
By Abayomi Azikiwe
Editor, Pan-African News Wire

Anti-government demonstations have spread to the Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti where the opposition said that 30,000 people took to the streets on Feb. 18 demanding the resignation of President Ismael Omar Guelleh who has been in power since 1999. Two people were reported killed when police attacked protesters in the capital city of Djibouti.

Clashes break out at Tunisia protest

Clashes break out at Tunisia protest

Clashes have broken out between security forces and demonstrators during an anti-government protest near the office of the interim Premier Mohammed Ghannouchi in the capital Tunis. Mon Jan 24, 2011 7:51AM

Reports say Police fired tear gas at protesters after they threw stone at security forces during the Monday protest in the North African country. Defying a state of emergency, thousands of protesters camped out in front of the office building on Sunday, calling for dissolving the Tunisian government and the resignation of Ghannouchi more than ten days after the ousted President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali fled the country. Ghannouchi vowed in a televised speech on Saturday to quit his post after the upcoming election due in six months and put an end to his political career, but insisted that he should be there to guard the country through transition to democracy. Opposition politicians and human rights groups, however, called on the interim government to release all political prisoners. Despite the new government's repeated insistence that it has given a blanket amnesty to all political groups, including the banned Islamist opposition, protesters have complained that only a few hundred of those imprisoned for political reasons during Ben Ali's 23-year rule have been released. Tunisia's revolution, which led to the overthrow of Ben Ali, has greatly affected the North African nations and sparked similar protests across the region. On Saturday, hundreds of Egyptians gathered outside the Tunisian Embassy in the capital Cairo to show their solidarity with Tunisians and called for protests similar to those in Tunisia. Meanwhile, hundreds of Algerians defied a ban to stage protest rallies in the capital Algiers on Saturday amid fears that the Tunisian example might repeat itself in the neighboring country. Algerian protesters were confronted by dozens of police officers armed with batons and tear gas. The opposition, Rally for Culture and Democracy (RCD), says several people were arrested and injured as Algerian police broke up the demonstrations. 

DB/HRF

Algeria: Opposition to hold street protest - Tunisian protesters forcing govt. to quit

Algeria: Opposition to hold street protest Posted on Friday 21 January 2011 - 13:18

Algerian pro-democracy opposition party, Rally for Culture and Democracy (RCD), said it would stage a rally in Algiers on Saturday to call for democracy, defying a government ban on such a meeting, AFP said.

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   Public grievances over unemployment and rising costs sparked protests in Algeria earlier this month which left five people dead and more than 800 injured.  Observers have said that the Tunisia’s kind of protests could break out in Algeria.Security services are on alert and local officials have received instructions to avoid provocations, according to local newspaper Oran Daily.  Youth unemployment is a major issue in Algeria, a country where, according to the authorities, 15 million of the 36 million population is under the age of 30. Algeria's League for the Defence of Human Rights and four labour unions said they had scheduled a meeting for Friday to address youth unemployment.  The ruling party held a similar gathering Wednesday, which allowed students to air their grievances.
   

Chaos, looting engulf Tunisian capital ..The ghost of Tunisia is hovering over the Maghreb

Το φάντασμα της Τυνησίας πλανάται πάνω από το Μαγκρέμπ και την Μ Ανατολή. Οι δικτάτορες της περιοχής φοβούνται μήπως έρχεται και η σειρά τους και κάνουν σχέδια.
The ghost of Tunisia is  hovering over the Maghreb and M. East. The dictators of the region fear that comes their turn and make plans

Chaos, looting engulf Tunisian capital

A protester hits a policeman during clashes with riot police in downtown of Tunisia's capital, Tunis, on January 14, 2011.

In the wake of the unprecedented ouster of former Tunisian President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, a new wave of mayhem and disorder have swept across the capital Tunis.

Looters and violent gangs are exploiting a security vacuum in several parts of the Tunisian capital early on Saturday after Ben Ali relinquished power to Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi and left the country for Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Reuters reported. Ghannouchi, who held the reins of power in the country as the interim president shortly after Ben Ali fled the country, has declared a state of emergency. 

However, witnesses say marauding groups were seen thronging neighborhoods, setting ablaze buildings and targeting people as the absence of police forces were conspicuous in the capital. 

Somalians Convicted of Piracy Based on US Slave-era Law

Convicted of Piracy Based on Slave-era Law 

Federal trial stems from U.S. aims in the Horn of Africa

By Abayomi Azikiwe

Editor, Pan-African News Wire

Five Somalians nationals were convicted of piracy in a United States federal court in Norfolk, Virginia on Nov. 24. The sentencing of the Somalians will take place in March 2011 and they could be given life in prison based on a combination of slave-era laws and criminal statutes that have not been litigated in this manner since 1861.

The captured Somalians claimed that they were fishing off the coast of the country and were forced to fire on the “Nicholas”, a U.S. boat that was part of an international flotilla of warships stationed in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. Government prosecutors tried the case on the allegation that the defendants fired on a U.S. military boat thinking it was a commercial ship that could be held for ransom.  U.S. Attorney Neil MacBride stated after the convictions that “Today marks the first jury conviction of piracy in more than 190 years. Today’s conviction demonstrates that armed attacks on U.S.-flagged vessels are crimes against the international community and that pirates will face severe consequences in U.S. courts.” (examiner.com, Nov. 27)

Egyptians Reject Inheritance of Power

Hundreds demonstrate in Egypt to oppose the succession of power by the son President Hosni Mubarak
By Hoda Abdel-Hamid in Middle East
September 22nd, 2010

About 300 people took to the streets on Tuesday in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, and a couple of other hundred did the same in Alexandria. The protests came on a historic day. In 1882, Ahmed Orabi - an army general - stood up against the then-Khedive (ruler) of Cairo to repeal a new law that was issued to prevent peasants from becoming officers. He declared that Egyptians should no longer be slaves. Orabi succeeded in having the law overturned and unleashed the wave of anti-colonialism that eventually led to European powers leaving Egypt. A century later, protesters were making similar calls, but this time against what they see as a hold over the country's power by the family of Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian president. In a country of nearly 80 million people, fewer than a thousand people demonstrating should have gone unnoticed. But it is big news here because the protestors voiced what many Egyptians say quietly: no to inheritance of power. Protesters do the 'unthinkable' Demonstrating in Egypt is not a matter for the faint-hearted. Security forces - in full riot gear and plain clothes - always outnumber protestors in Egypt.

"Blood Diamonds," Imperialist Domination and the International Courts at The Hague

“Blood Diamonds,” Imperialist Domination and the  International Courts at The Hague
Charles Taylor trial ignores who really controls the world trade in “precious metals”
By Abayomi Azikiwe
Editor, Pan-African News Wire
If the viewers and readers of the corporate media only had access to the recent coverage of the testimony of British model Naomi Campbell at the Special War Crimes Court on Sierra Leone proceedings at The Hague in the Netherlands, they would not have a clue as to the background of the current war crimes trial of former Liberian President Charles Taylor. Taylor took control in Liberia following a 1997 election that he won overwhelmingly in the aftermath of a tumultuous civil war which lasted for seven years.

Taylor survived another seven years amid attempts by armed opposition groups to topple his regime. In 2003, after the intervention of United States troops in Liberia, Taylor was convinced to go into exile in Nigeria. He was later handed over to the International Court in the Netherlands for prosecution where he has remained over the last six years.
Naomi Campbell was forced into testifying before the ongoing tribunal charging Taylor with utilizing diamonds to fund the rebel group in Sierra Leone that was known as the “Revolutionary United Front.” Yet the questions asked of her and the content of her testimony revealed nothing about the origins of the political crises in Liberia and Sierra Leone or the historic role the United States, Britain and other imperialist states in the utilization of their influence over the marketing and distribution of diamonds.

18 children die on Lake Victoria

18 children die on Lake Victoria

1. 
   
   Posted on Friday 6 August 2010 - 12:50
   AfricaNews Monitoring Team Credit: Reuters

   Eighteen Tanzanian children drowned when their crowded boat capsized in strong winds on Lake Victoria, a regional official said on Friday. Thirty seven people were on board the small boat when it sank on Thursday in Africa's largest lake.

   

   Boats capsize often on Lake Victoria, which is roughly the size of Ireland, due to rough waters and poorly maintained ships.
   
   "All 36 passengers on the boat were primary school pupils. Eighteen of them died," Mwanza regional commissioner Abbas Kandoro told Reuters by phone. He said 19 were rescued, including a crewman.
   
   "We suspect the cause of the accident was overcrowding of the boat and bad weather."
   
   Kandoro said rescue workers had so far recovered 13 bodies from the lake which is bordered by Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya.
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   μία είδηση που δεν ακούστηκε.. λές η ζωή των Αφρικανών δεν έχει αξία.. 

Horror of Nigeria clashes uncovered

Horror of Nigeria clashes uncovered

An estimated 300 people have died in violence between Muslims and Christians in northern Nigeria.

Reports on Saturday said that about 150 bodies had been recovered from wells in Kuru Jantar, near the city of Jos, where clashes began last week before spreading to nearby villages.

Locals in Kuru Jantar, also known as Kuru Karama, told Andrew Simmons, Al Jazeera's Africa editor, that a massacre had taken place in the village.

They said armed men had surrounded and attacked the village on Tuesday.

Al Jazeera saw the bodies recovered from wells, as well as the burnt bodies of children recovered from ransacked houses.

Up to 18,000 people in the area are thought to have been left homeless by the clashes in Nigeria's Plateau State.

Military presence

The violence abated after Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria's vice-president, deployed the military to contain the situation.

Simmons reported that the military presence in Jos was extensive, but that it did not spread effectively into the countryside.

"The whole area is inundated, everywhere there are roadblocks and a curfew, which has been relaxed, is still fairly limiting ... the military have orders to shoot on sight after warning shots right the way through the night," he said.

"But many, many people are packing their bags and leaving [Jos]. They're going outside the control of the military and into the rural areas, which are virtually unprotected - as we saw in Kuru Jantar."

The military said it had arrested three people, all wearing military-style uniforms and in possession of a firearm. Two men were detained and one was released.

Political failure

Muslim leaders have told Human Rights Watch at least 364 people have been killed in the region in the last week, while the Christian death toll was still being compiled.

The state government has given no official death toll for the violence.

Jos and other central and northern areas in Nigeria have been plagued by religious violence in recent years.

There are conflicting reports about what triggered the violence. But some residents say the clashes started due to a dispute over the building of a mosque.

But Christian and Muslim leaders in Plateau State said previous bouts of unrest owed more to the failure of political leaders to address ethnic differences than to inter-faith rivalries.

Violence erupts in Nigeria's Bauchi State

Violence erupts in Nigeria's Bauchi State

LAGOS, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) -- Nigerian police said it is curtailing a violence that broke out on Monday in some part of northern Nigeria's Bauchi State. "We are curtailing its spread," Emmanuel Ojokwu, the country's police spokesman, told Xinhua on phone. He said the state command has ordered its armed policemen to curtail it spread. "For now, we are studying the situation before making any further comment," he added. Sources in Bauchi said they woke up into the pandemonium, as sporadic gunshots were heard across the city. The cause of the crisis could not be ascertained as at the time of filling this report. In July, the state witnessed a sectarian unrest that erupted in northern Nigeria's Bauchi State that spread to neighboring Adamawa, Kano, Bornoand Yobe States where about 600 people were reportedly killed. Nigeria is a secular country with the population evenly divided between Christians and Muslims. The northern region with 19 out of the country' s 36 states is predominantly Muslim, while Christians dominate the south

War criminals... far away from Sudan !!

The Complexities Behind the al-Bashir Case
The arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir is a victory for the court's top prosecutor !!!!?? . But the chances that the case will ever come to trial are slim. The international arrest warrant issued for Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir by the International Criminal Court is without question a feather in the cap of its top prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo. But what is the point of indicting someone when the chances that he will ever stand trial are close to none? Sudan doesn't recognize the ICC and refuses to cooperate with it. Unless al-Bashir travels to a country that does recognize the ICC, and gets arrested, or finds himself betrayed at home by his own people, he has nothing to fear from the ICC. A man protests against Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir outside the International Criminal Court in The Hague."The court must show what it stands for in this case," says Göran Sluiter, a professor of international criminal law at the University of Amsterdam. "Until now, the image was that the ICC has mainly gone after rebel movements. It needs to be seen as going after whoever bears the greatest responsibility for these crimes." The situation in Darfur, where at least 200,000 people have been killed and millions have been displaced, is the first to have been referred to the ICC by the United Nations Security Council. Past referrals -- Uganda, Congo and the Central African Republic -- have always come from the governments of those countries. In all three of those cases, the ICC's prosecutor's office took action only against rebel movements, even though the governments had also been accused of atrocities. In the case of Darfur, the Security Council asked the ICC to investigate the violence regardless of who perpetrated it. When Ocampo announced in June 2008 that he intended to prosecute the president himself -- on genocide charges, no less -- there was considerable uproar from many Arabic and African countries, China and even from some analysts and activists involved with Darfur. They feared the arrest warrant would only exacerbate the violence. There was criticism from legal circles as well. In January, Sir Geoffrey Nice, who was the prosecutor in the Milosevic trial, filed an amicus curiae brief with the ICC on behalf of an umbrella group of Sudanese unions and activists (who had collected the signatures of a million Sudanese), asking the court not to issue an arrest warrant against al-Bashir. The leaders of three ethnic groups in Sudan -- who, Ocampo said, were the main target of the genocide -- also supported the call. The risk of more violence was simply too great, and an arrest warrant would further discredit the ICC's image in Sudan, according to the critics.
Security Council Resolution Sudan, the Arab League, the African Union, Russia and China all hope the Security Council will use its prerogative to suspend al-Bashir's indictment in the interest of peace. But three of the five permanent members of the Security Council -- the US, France and Britain -- are likely to oppose any such move."It would look pretty bad," says Sluiter, "if the Security Council referred a case to the ICC only to stop prosecution once it reaches the president. An arrest warrant is very important. There are malicious and complex politics being played out in the case."