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Dozens of Sudanese rallied in Khartoum on Thursday to demand the closure of illegal detention centres. The protests came after the alleged torturing and killing of a man by a paramilitary force whose members once formed the backbone of a militia.
In May, Burundi held a presidential election which was won by Evariste Ndayishimiye, candidate of the ruling National Council for the Defense of Democracy - Forces for the Defense of Democracy (CNDD-FDD) party.
Ndayishimiye was hurriedly sworn in after the untimely death of president Pierre Nkurunziza in June.
Rights violations continue
The Council encouraged donor countries which had suspended aid to Burundi to continue dialogue towards resumption of development assistance.
A report by a UN watchdog in September said human rights violations were still being committed in Burundi, including sexual violence and murder.
The country was plunged into a crisis in April 2015 when Ndayishimiye’s predecessor Pierre Nkurunziza decided to run for a controversial third term, which he ultimately won in July 2015.
His candidature, which was opposed by the opposition and civil society groups, resulted in a wave of protests, violence and even a failed coup in May 2015.
Hundreds of people were killed and over 300,000 fled to neighboring countries.
HUMAN rights lobby group, the Zimbabwe Human Rights Forum says it recorded at least 920 human rights violations involving State security agents under the guise of enforcing the COVID-19 lockdown restrictions. BY Nhau Mangirazi In a report launched yesterday, the rights group said the violations included abductions and torture, extra-judicial killings, assaults on citizens by law enforcement officers, attacks on journalists, unlawful arrests and gunshots. Most of the violations were recorded ahead of the foiled July 30 protests where citizens intended to demonstrate against the deteriorating human rights situation and corruption in the country. “Other violations that could not be adequately quantified due to their high frequency include harassment, threats and intimidation,” read part of the report titled 180 Days of What?. “The lockdown was also marred by reports of violations on fundamental rights to dignity and rights not to be tortured, rights to water, food, medical services, access to information, and restrictions to freedom of expression, non-compliance with court orders and corruption.” According to the report, about 280 reports of assaults and torture, including dog bites, were recorded, while 20 cases of assault on journalists and 538 unlawful arrests and detention were recorded. The rights defenders also recorded 12 abductions, two gun shots, four extra-judicial killings, eights raids, 57 displacements and two cases of harassment, threat and intimidation across the country. In a country with a fragile economy, the pandemic further exacerbated the plight of citizens in relation to social and economic rights. Access to water, food and health was also a major challenge for communities, forcing the majority to venture out in search of the services and inadvertently violating lockdown regulations. The report also noted the failure by government to provide personal protective equipment in hospitals as the biggest cause of the spread of the COVID-19. “This report was compiled from stories recorded across the length and breadth of our country. It captures personal accounts of victims of all sorts of violations, through 180 stories. The report is also a scorecard of the performance of duty bearers in this time of crisis,” Musa Kika, the rights group executive director said. “The 180 days national lockdown period was marred by violations of civil and political rights as well as economic, social and cultural rights.” Police were urged to conduct a thorough investigation into all outstanding reported cases concerning excessive use of force and live ammunition by security forces on citizens and bring the perpetrators to book. The human rights lobby group also urged government to stop persecuting whistleblowers and establish an independent and credible department that monitors and oversees compliance to prevent human rights violations, corruption and malpractices by police officers.
June 19: UN rights body to report on racism after Floyd killing
\tThe U.N.’s top human rights body agreed unanimously Friday to commission a U.N. report on systemic racism and discrimination against black people while stopping short of ordering a more intensive investigation singling out the United States after the death of George Floyd sparked worldwide demonstrations.
Advocacy group Human Rights Watch said the measure fell far short of the level of scrutiny sought by hundreds of civil society organizations, but nonetheless set the stage for an unprecedented look at racism and police violence in the United States — over the efforts of U.S. officials to avoid the council’s attention — and showed even the most powerful countries could be held to account.
June 18: African nations backtrack on US UN probe
\tAfrican countries on Thursday backed off their call for the U.N.’s top human rights body to launch its most intense scrutiny on the hot-button issue of police brutality and systemic racism in the United States, after American officials led back-channel talks to air opposition to the idea, diplomats said.
The Africa Group was reworking a draft resolution but had already cut out language calling on the Human Rights Council to set up a commission of inquiry — its most potent tool of scrutiny — to examine issues like systemic racism and abuse against “Africans and of people of African descent” in the U.S. and beyond, said the diplomats, who were part of the talks.
June 16: African nations drag US to UN human rights council
\tAfrican nations have prepared a draft resolution at the U.N.’s top human rights body that singles out the United States and would launch intense international scrutiny of systemic racism against people of African descent in the wake of recent high-profile killings of blacks by American police.
By BOBBY CAINA CALVAN and MICHAEL KUNZELMAN Associated Press TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Terry Beth Hadler was so eager to get a lifesaving COVID-19 vaccination that the 69-year-old piano teacher stood in line overnight in a parking lot with hundreds of other senior citizens. She wouldn't do it again. Hadler said that she waited 14 hours and that a brawl nearly erupted before dawn on Tuesday when people cut in line outside the library in Bonita Springs, Florida, where officials were offering shots on a first-come, first-served basis to those 65 or older. 'I'm afraid that the event was a […]
The post Race to vaccinate millions in US off to slow, messy start appeared first on Black News Channel.
Independent inquiry
\"Independent journalists covering the conflict are often tagged as accomplices of separatists and tried in military courts.
The press in Cameroon has never been free throughout the two regimes that have ruled the country,\" says DW's Mimi Mefo.
\"As an independent investigative journalist in Cameroon, you know you could be jailed or killed.\"
Regime stays mute
DW's Mimi Mefo is one of many journalists jailed in the central African country in recent years.
South West Governor Barnard Okalia Bilai has told journalists that only Yaounde can answer over the fate of Samuel Wazizi.
[This Day] As the year 2020 gradually comes to an end, Onyebuchi Ezigbo captures some of the key events that shaped this highly eventful and turbulent year, especially in the health sector
Back in early January, before COVID-19 was as familiar as the furniture, I went in for my annual physical. My doctor looked at my test results and shook his head. Virtually everything was perfect. My cholesterol was down. So was my weight. My blood pressure was that of a swimmer. A barrage of blood tests […]
The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, described President Muhammadu Buhari's Democracy Day address as a huge and unpardonable slap on the face of the nation's democratic process.
This is as the party noted that President Buhari's silence on the values of democracy as well as the myriads of violations under his watch \"has further vindicated its stance and that of majority of Nigerians that the Buhari administration has no regard for democracy and is not prepared to uphold its tenets in our country.\"
\"President Buhari's failure to express any commitments to electoral reform in his 38-minute pre-recorded address shows that his administration has no plans to guarantee credible elections in our country.
\"Furthermore, President Buhari had no words of commitment on how to tackle the constitutional and human rights violations under his watch, including reported intimidation and brutalization of citizens, disobedience to court orders, arbitrary arrests, illegal detentions, extra-judicial killings as well as hounding of opposition and dissenting voices.
Executve Director, Civil Society Legislative and Advocacy Centre, CISLAC, Ibrahim Auwal Rafsanjani, like Ozekhome faulted the claims of Buhari, especially the President's stand on the fight against corruption and road projects completion statistics.
When two lives are at stake and it involves a baby and a mother, the tendency is for the mother to want her baby saved over her life. Monique Jones took that bittersweet decision in early September when she was intubated, and her baby girl’s life hung in the balance. The nurse who walked her...
The post 'It was possible that I wouldn't live' - The mom who gave birth while intubated with Covid-19 appeared first on Face2Face Africa.
ECHO PARK — The body of an apparent accidental drowning victim was found floating Thursday in Echo Park Lake during an evangelical music event. The discovery of the man’s body was made about 10:30 a.m. in the lake at 751 Echo Park Ave., said Officer Drake Madison of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Media Relations […]
WHAT a low-spirited start to the New Year it has been. All the dark episodes of 2020, with all the grief and death seem to have spilled to 2021 with COVID-19 arguably the worst nightmare. This time, it appears it is more deadly and has a strong appetite to devour judging by the soaring numbers of infections and deaths. After the reckless partying that ushered merrymakers into the New Year, authorities had to act and indeed, the lockdown was the only viable action. The swift reaction by the government to impose a lockdown that includes closure of bars, bottlestores, gyms and other facilities could not have come at a better time. It was timely and life-saving but of course with its own negativity. In the last week alone, Zimbabwe recorded 1 342 COVID-19 cases and 29 deaths, representing the highest number of cases recorded to date. On January 2, 2021, 407 new cases were recorded and eight deaths and such numbers are nothing to ignore. The reality we all feared is with us now. COVID-19 is a killer and is ravaging communities hence the need to stop the recklessness that had taken centre stage. The lockdown will, however, mean nothing if there is no proper enforcement and this time, vigilance is needed by enforcers. Of course we are not saying the military and police should use maximum force that borders on human rights violations like we witnessed last year. Soaring cases, particularly in the last two months have risen to terrifying levels and we have been waiting for the government to act. Government was relaxed in that period with some of its officials posting on their social media platforms pictures of themselves partying, completely oblivious of COVID-19 regulations. That was inexcusable recklessness by Cabinet ministers at a time the people needed to be shepherded into responsible behaviour. As if such carelessness by ministers was not enough, President Emmerson Mnangagwa addressed hundreds of Zanu PF supporters in Chivi, Masvingo province, exposing them to the deadly disease. Well, that is now in the past but the point remains that it is incumbent upon the leadership to lead by example so that the followers will follow responsibly. We also witnessed towards the end of the year a “super-spreader” event in the form of a chaotic MDC-T extraordinary congress and that Thokozani Khupe was immediately taken ill after the indaba. This is no longer a joke and the deaths, some of them of prominent people in the last two days, should be enough lessons for authorities to act responsibly. Thankfully, the lockdown is a step in the right direction. It will, however, come to naught if it ends just as a lockdown without putting in place other measures including availing ventilators in hospitals and improving testing for the virus. In these trying times, we must not forget those in the frontline, the health workers who are daily exposed to COVID-19 as they try to save lives. The government needs to act and provide all the necessary support. It is a fight we must win together, and we will.
One of the famed Tuskegee Airmen — the first Black pilots in the segregated U.S. military and among the most... View Article
The post Theodore Lumpkin Jr, member of famed Tuskegee Airmen, dies from coronavirus appeared first on TheGrio.
Police officers have intercepted a truck driver. They found the truck was transporting beer valued at an estimated R1.9 million.
Evariste Ndayishimiye, a retired general, will take over from President Pierre Nkurunziza, after he beat the main opposition candidate Agathon Rwasa, and five others, avoiding a runoff by securing more than 50% of the vote.
The main opposition candidate, Agathon Rwasa, president of the National Council for Liberty (CNL), has already described these results as “fanciful” and accused the government of “cheating” and “pure manipulation”.
Election held in the midst of COVID-19
\tAccording to partial results compiled by AFP covering 105 communes, Mr. Ndayishimiye obtained an absolute majority of the votes in 101 communes.
The CNL is also outraged at the case of the Musigati commune (west), where Mr. Ndayishimiye received 99.9% of the vote.
Burundi is ranked among the three poorest countries in the world according to the World Bank, which estimates that 75% of the population lives below the poverty line, compared to 65% when Mr. Nkurunziza came to power in 2005.
by Sherry Kolade The second round of stimulus checks [albeit smaller] are on tap to be deposited into most Americans bank accounts and via check soon after President Donald Trump approved a $900 billion coronavirus relief bill recently. The checks will be $600 and those eligible for the checks are for people earning up to … Continued
The post Show Me the Money: Treasury says when $600 stimulus payments for direct deposit, checks will drop appeared first on New Pittsburgh Courier.
President Paul Kagame’s condolence message to Burundians following the death of the outgoing President Pierre Nkurunziza marked his first public message to the country since relations between Rwanda and Burundi turned sour in 2015.
“The government of Rwanda wishes to congratulate the newly elected president of Burundi, Maj-Gen Evariste Ndayishimiye and takes this opportunity to express her willingness to improve the historical relationship that exists between the two brother countries,” the statement from Rwanda’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Co-operation said.
Rwanda has since desisted from commenting on Burundian politics, which experts argue is aimed at not causing tensions with Tanzania — which is not just a strong political ally of Burundi, but also a strong trade ally of Rwanda’s.
“President Nkurunziza’s successor will most likely continue the political line of the ruling party, which for long has been in open conflict with the government of Rwanda.
But there is a chance, as we have seen before in politics, that a new president can develop their own different personality and prefer to pursue or implement reforms that can bring about better relations with neighbours,” Charles Kabwete, Associate Professor of History at the University of Rwanda told The EastAfrican.
Lester Walton was a journalist, entertainment professional, and diplomat who promoted civil rights at home and abroad. Born Lester Aglar Walton on April 20, 1882 in St. Louis, Missouri, his early life was spent as a journalist. At the age of 20 in 1902, when he was hired by the St. Louis Star to be its golf writer and later its court reporter, he became the first black reporter to write for a white daily paper in St. Louis.
In 1906 Walton moved to New York City, New York and in 1908 he became theatrical editor for the New York Age, which was the largest black newspaper in the nation at the time. He remained at the Age until 1914. In 1912 he married Gladys Moore, the daughter of Fred Moore, publisher of the newspaper. The couple had two daughters.
During this period he also wrote for the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, the largest newspaper in the city, and from 1922 to 1931 he was a reporter with the New York World. He then worked briefly with the New York Herald Tribune, quitting in 1933 when the paper refused to give him a byline. Walton then returned to the New York Age. During his years with these newspapers, Walton started the movement which was eventually supported by the New York Times and the Associated Press, to have the spelling of the word “Negro” written with a capital “N.”
Walton was also actively involved in entertainment throughout his adult life. Between 1917 and 1919 he managed New York City’s Lafayette Theater. He later served as vice president of the Negro Actors Guild of America, and in the 1950s became chair of the Coordinating Council of Negro Performers, lobbying corporate and broadcast leaders to include more black actors in theatrical and broadcast performances. Walton was a songwriter, director, and founder of Walton Publishing Company, which published instrumental music.
Walton’s journalistic endeavors encouraged his interest in world affairs. He traveled as a correspondent to the Versailles Peace Conference outside Paris, France in 1919 and visited Liberia in 1933 to write articles
As we moved in 2021, Sunny Hostin, co-host of ABC's The View, did so without her in-laws. Hostin announced on... View Article
The post 'The View's' Sunny Hostin reveals in-laws died of coronavirus days apart appeared first on TheGrio.
[HRW] Human Rights Watch thanks the Commission of Inquiry for a much-needed update on the grave human rights violations that Burundian state agents, most notably the National Intelligence Service and administrative authorities, and members of the Imbonerakure, have committed against the population since May 2019.
