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Thousands of Syrians headed Monday to Saydnaya military prison, just north of Damascus to search for their loved ones. Civil defense workers and teams from the White Helmets civil defense group were seen digging holes inside the prison in search for hidden cells or underground chambers
He replaces Debretsion Gebremichael, whose immunity from prosecution was removed Thursday.
Meanwhile, Amnesty International said Thursday that scores of civilians were killed in a \"massacre\" in the Tigray region, that witnesses blamed on forces backing the local ruling party.
The \"massacre\" is the first reported incident of large-scale civilian fatalities in a week-old conflict between the regional ruling party, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), and the government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, winner of last year's Nobel Peace Prize.
\"Amnesty International can today confirm... that scores, and likely hundreds, of people were stabbed or hacked to death in Mai-Kadra (May Cadera) town in the southwest of Ethiopia's Tigray Region on the night of 9 November,\" the rights group said in a report.
Amnesty said it had \"digitally verified gruesome photographs and videos of bodies strewn across the town or being carried away on stretchers.\"
The dead \"had gaping wounds that appear to have been inflicted by sharp weapons such as knives and machetes,\" Amnesty said, citing witness accounts.
Witnesses said the attack was carried out by TPLF-aligned forces after a defeat at the hands of the Ethiopian military, though Amnesty said it \"has not been able to confirm who was responsible for the killings\".
It nonetheless called on TPLF commanders and officials to \"make clear to their forces and their supporters that deliberate attacks on civilians are absolutely prohibited and constitute war crimes\".
Abiy ordered military operations in Tigray on November 4, saying they were prompted by a TPLF attack on federal military camps -- a claim the party denies.
The region has been under a communications blackout ever since, making it difficult to verify competing claims on the ground.
Abiy said Thursday his army had made major gains in western Tigray.
Thousands of Ethiopians have fled across the border into neighboring Sudan, and the UN is sounding the alarm about a humanitarian crisis in Tigray.
LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — Nigerian protesters demanding an end to police brutality defied a curfew as gunfire rang out where they were setting up a blockade Wednesday, a day after shots were fired into a crowd of demonstrators singing the country’s national anthem. That disturbing turn drew global outrage. It’s not clear if any protesters […]
[SNA] VALLETTA, MALTA,September 08(VOA)- Amnesty International condemned Malta on Tuesday for using what it described as \"illegal tactics\" in the Mediterranean against immigrants making the dangerous crossing from North Africa. The approach taken by the Maltese government might have led to avoidable deaths, it argued, in a report that alleged a string of human rights abuses against illegal immigrants.
Nigeria has been rocked by nearly two weeks of protests against police brutality and calls to disband its controversial Special Anti-Robbery Squad, better known as […]
[Nation] Charles Thomas recalled one afternoon, three years after Zimbabwe got independence in 1980, when nearly 20 soldiers stormed his village in Matabeleland with bayonets. He was 24.
Zaki was arrested on February 7, 2020, while returning to Egypt for a holiday and 19 months of detention were justified on charges of subversive propaganda made in 10 Facebook posts. The indictment instead was based on charges of \"spreading fake news inside and outside the country\"
[DW] As Paul Biya marks 38 years in office, residents in the country's Anglophone region are struggling to come to grips with a series of brutal attacks on schools.
Friday, Nov. 17 Board games in the children's department at Library from 1-3 p.m. Monday, Nov. 20 Children's Movie and Popcorn \"Thanksgiving Dance\" at Library from 2-3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 10 The Augusta Chorale of Georgia will present its Christmas Concert at 4:00 p.m. at the Gilbert-Lambuth Memorial Chapel of Paine College and will feature students from Blakeney Elementary’s school […]
Amnesty International on Monday urged authorities in Tunisia to stop using \"largely outdated, overly broad and repressive laws\" to crack down on freedom of expression online.
Protests against police brutality in Lagos turned bloody on Tuesday despite a state-wide curfew, with eyewitnesses telling CNN that multiple demonstrators have been shot by soldiers. Demonstrators have taken part in daily protests across the country for nearly two weeks over widespread claims of kidnapping, harassment, and extortion by a police unit know as the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS). Tuesday […]
LOTTO Results edit post Daily Lotto results for Sunday, 28 February 2021 2021-02-28 edit post Lotto and Lotto Plus results for Saturday, 27 February 2021
The fight against police brutality against people of color has never been just a United States problem. Currently, protests are occurring worldwide against the ongoing police violence in Nigeria, which […]
The post appeared first on Essence.
Amnesty International said late Tuesday there was “credible but disturbing evidence” that security forces in the megacity of Lagos had fatally shot protesters who were demonstrating against police brutality despite a new curfew going into effect.
The Lagos state commissioner for information, Gbenga Omotoso, said in a statement Tuesday night only that “there have been reports of shooting at the Lekki Toll Plaza following the 24-hour curfew imposed on Lagos.”
“The state government has ordered an investigation into the incident,” he said.
Video shown on Nigeria’s Channels Television appeared to capture audio of live rounds being fired at the scene.
“While we continue to investigate the killings, Amnesty International wishes to remind the authorities that under international law, security forces may only resort to the use of lethal force when strictly unavoidable to protect against imminent threat of death or serious injury,” Amnesty tweeted.
The development came just hours after Lagos state Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu warned on Twitter that the growing protests against police brutality in Nigeria had “degenerated into a monster that is threatening the well-being of our society.”
A police statement also had warned that security forces would now “exercise the full powers of the law to prevent any further attempt on lives and property of citizens.”
The reports of fatal shootings in Lekki come after two chaotic weeks of mounting protests leading to more widespread social unrest. On Tuesday, authorities said nearly 2,000 inmates had broken out of jail after crowds attacked two correctional facilities a day earlier.
The Inspector-General of Police said it was deploying anti-riot police across Nigeria, which is Africa’s most populous nation, and ordered forces to strengthen security around correctional facilities.
The governor of Lagos state said the new curfew would cover the entire city of some 14 million people and surrounding areas. The announcement came after a police station was burned down in the city and two people were shot dead by police.
“Lives and limbs have been lost as criminals and miscreants are now hiding under the umbrella of these protests to unleash mayhem on our state,” the governor said.
Lagos has been the epicenter of the protests, with demonstrators at times blocking access to the airport and barricading roads leading to the country’s main ports.
A curfew also went into effect in Benin City after a pair of attacks on correctional facilities that left 1,993 inmates missing. Interior Ministry spokesman Mohammed Manga said large, armed crowds had attacked the two prisons, subduing the guards on duty. It was unclear what the prisons’ exact populations had been before the attack.
“Most of the inmates held at the centers are convicted criminals serving terms for various criminal offenses, awaiting execution or standing trial for violent crimes,” he said in a statement.
The protests began two weeks ago after a video circulated showing a man being beaten, apparently by police officers of
A video showing soldiers executing two women at close range, kneeling and blindfolded, along with a girl and a baby two years ago had caused massive outcry in Cameroon. But there is even more outcry now.
At the time, the government denied any involvement before recanting and arresting seven soldiers.
Four of them have now received a 10-year prison sentence for the killing. Another, sentenced to two years. The last two acquitted. Human rights groups are disgusted.
Maximilienne Ngo Mbe is the Director of the Network of Human Rights Defenders in Central Africa.
\"A ten-year prison sentence is not only weak, it is insignificant. It is not only insignificant, but it is insignificant because those who get ten years are not, in fact, those who ordered the murders.\" the human rights campaigner explains.
The defence counsel however in fact wants to appeal the verdict. Me Sylvestre Mben is a lawyer for the incriminated soldiers. He says \"we should not forget a legal provision in our procedural code which states that the allegations of one co-accused against another can only be valid if they are confronted by other evidence. It is for this reason that we believe that there was, at the very least, some doubt.\"
The video was one of several to emerge in recent years of alleged atrocities by Cameroonian forces during operations against Islamist Boko Haram militants in the northern part of the country and against Anglophone separatists in the west.
The trial started in January and was conducted behind closed doors.
Protests against police violence in Nigeria entered the tenth day on Saturday with more than 10,000 people invading the streets of Lagos.
Mothers also joined the march in the city centre of Nigeria's economic capital.
\"I am here to come and protest against the killing of my children, against the killing of our children, against the killing of the youth,\" said Adepeju Dinyo.
\"We want a new Nigeria where righteousness, peace and justice reign, where our children can live, can go to school and work and live their lives in peace.\"
The rallies started last week after a video did the rounds online showing a man being beaten, apparently by police from the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) unit.
The police unit has killed and tortured many Nigerians, according to human rights groups.
Since the protests began, at least 10 people have been killed and hundreds injured, according to Amnesty International, which accuses the police of using excessive force against the demonstrators.
The #EndSARS campaign has attracted international support, including from supporters of Black Lives Matter in the U.S. and Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey who retweeted posts from Nigerian demonstrators.
In response to the widespread demonstrations by young Nigerians, the government said it would disband the SARS unit last Sunday.
But the protesters are now calling on the government to be accountable, fight corruption and grant more freedoms.
#EndSARSNow: NGO SAYS JUSTICE \"NEEDS TO BE SERVED\" IN NIGERIA
The anti-police brutality movement #EndSARSNow that has seen Nigerian youth take to the streets over the last two weeks, erupted Tuesday evening when armed security forces opened fire on a group of demonstrators in Lekki, Lagos city.
The exact number of resulting wounded and fatalities is still unconfirmed.
Amnesty International is currently taking steps to get official figures - according to Director in Nigeria, Osai Ojigho, who gives insight into the incident based on the human rights organisation's credible sources on the ground.
Osai Ojigho : The eyewitness accounts that we received last night and the views that we got and various other sources that were shared point to the fact that they were military officers. So it is important that they actually investigate this and find out what happened. What were they doing there? Were they there to protect the protesters? Were they there to stop something from happening? Were they given orders to shoot at unarmed people? It would be important for the authorities to give that information today. But for us where we sit, people have died, people have been injured and justice needs to be served.
In order to attain a just conclusion to these events, the human rights lawyer outlines the necessary legal avenues to take.
Osai Ojigho : So the first thing is the individual culpability of officers and commanders who have actually perpetrated these acts of violence against protesters and the populace. because it is not only protesters who have been affected. Earlier on in the protests, there were also individuals who were not part of the protesters who were hit by stray bullets. That is 1.
The second is Nigeria needs to recognise that it has an international obligation under international human rights law to ensure that the safety and security of people within its territory are protected.
President Muhammadu Buhari had previously issued a statement last week denouncing excessive force used by the police - and also acknowledged officers in the country who are upright. Many now speculate on his stance since Tuesday's shootings and many others question the silence from other Africa leaders.
Osai Ojigho : It would be good to see the political leadership in the African Union and ECOWAS actually come out to say, \"Nigeria, we are seeing what is happening. You need to preach nonviolence.\" This is not a time to be silent.
Not at all silent and still raising their voices - undeterred by the very same police brutality they seek to end in the country, are Nigerian youth and the NGO Director applauds their resilience.
Osai Ojigho : The events of the last two weeks, on the one hand, have been inspiring to see people come out to express themselves. The overwhelming support they've received all over the world has been an eye-opener and it was a positive feeling - you know, that Nigerians are coming out and they are speaking truth to power.
Guinean President Alpha Conde met with supporters in the country's capital on Friday, during the last rally ahead of Sunday's presidential election.
Conde, 82, is seeking a third term in office, insisting his attempt to prolong his rule does not make him a dictator, even as opposition protesters slam his candidacy as an illegal power grab.
Speaking to supporters in Conakry, Conde vowed to \"focus on the social conditions of Guineans\" if he were re-elected in the weekend's poll.
The electoral campaign has already seen deadly protests and many fear an increase in violence after the results are announced.
More than 50 people have been killed in anti-Conde protests since October last year, Amnesty International said this month, urging the government to investigate.
Conde made history in 2010 when he became Guinea's first democratically elected president since independence from France in 1958, raising hopes that the country could finally emerge from a long history of corrupt rule.
Sunday's vote is also the third match-up between Conde and his long-time rival Cellou Dalein Diallo, whom he defeated in 2010 and 2015.
The president maintains his candidacy for a third term is legal because the constitutional changes were approved by voters in a referendum earlier this year.
Diallo, the opposition candidate, is urging the international community to monitor Sunday's vote, accusing the government of rigging the electoral lists.
Demonstrators who have taken to the streets over several weeks to disband the SARS which is accused of widespread claims of kidnapping, harassment and extortion, while also targeting LGBTQ communities in Nigeria.
[Capital FM] Nairobi -- Fiery Tanzanian politician Godbless Lema, who was arrested in Kenya while fleeing persecution has been freed.
Outrage and anger in Nigeria continue to grow as the #EndSARS protests expand and contend with outright violence from the Nigerian army and police force, according to The Associated Press, New York Times and social media reports. As Blavity previously reported , peaceful protesters have been incensed since army officials opened fire on them on Tuesday at Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos, killing at least seven people under the shroud of darkness, according to local news outlet Punch. Dozens of other protesters were killed across the country that same day, the newspaper reported. The violence, covered extensively on social media, has largely been ignored by Nigerian elected officials and even president Muhammadu Buhari, who made no mention of it during his address to the nation on Thursday night. Thursday was Buhari's first appearance since the Lekki Gate shooting, but he only tacitly mentioned the actions of his armed forces, only threatening protesters to not continue their...
Guinea's main oppositon party published Friday a list of 46 people, aged between 3 and 70 years, killed during the repression of demonstrations after the October 18 election, officially won by the incumbent Alpha Condé.
Condé was declared re-elected on October 24 by the Electoral Commission for a controversial third term with 59.5% of the vote, but three of his opponents, including opposition leader Cellou Dalein Diallo, are contesting the results before the Constitutional Court, whose decision is expected on Saturday.
Diallo's party, the Union of Democratic Forces of Guinea (UFDG), denounced in a statement a \"wave of terror\" orchestrated by the government between October 19 and November 3.
\"The provisional toll of this repression is 46 dead, nearly 200 wounded by gunfire, about a hundred arrests and extensive material damage,\" according to the UFDG.
The opposition has so far reported a death toll of at least 27, while for the government, the post-election violence resulted in 21 deaths, including members of the security forces.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) Africa Officer Ida Sawyer on Twitter on October 24 accused Guinean security forces of killing \"at least 8 people, including 3 children.
Amnesty International for its part accused the same security forces of firing live ammunition at demonstrators, without giving a detailed account.
The Ministries of Security and Territorial Administration did not immediately respond to the multiple requests for a reaction from the AFP to the UFDG document.
This document includes a list of names, usually with age, profession, circumstances of death, contacts of a relative, and photos showing these people, dead or alive. In about fifteen cases, these are photos of bodies showing traces of violence.
Most of the presumed victims are young men and women between 15 and 30 years old: motorcycle cab drivers, mechanics, students...
The youngest are a boy and a girl of 3 years old, Mamadou Midiaou Diallo and Mariatou Bah, and the oldest Mamouna Camara, a housewife of 70 years old.
The UFDG also states that \"the overwhelming majority of the victims (...) belong to the same ethnic group as the opposition leader,\" in a country where community affiliations play an important role in elections.
[HRW] Kinshasa -- The Congolese authorities and the United Nations have not done enough to hold human rights violators to account and deliver justice to victims a decade after the landmark UN Congo Mapping Exercise Report was published in October 2010, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said today.
Anti-Police Brutality Protest Sees Police Brutality
National armed forces opened fire on Nigerian youth in Lagos at an anti-police brutality demonstration on Tuesday — injuring around 50 people and shooting at least 20 dead, as per unconfirmed reports
Amnesty International which has already condemned the use of excessive force by the Nigerian police to subdue protesters, stated there was ``\"credible but disturbing evidence'' of the incident.
\"While we continue to investigate the killings, Amnesty International wishes to remind the authorities that under international law, security forces may only resort to the use of lethal force when strictly unavoidable to protect against the imminent threat of death or serious injury,\" Amnesty tweeted.
#EndSARS, #EndSWAT and Police Reform.
The escalation in violence comes two weeks after the #EndSarsNow movement took to the streets across Nigeria, following the circulation of video showing a man being beaten, apparently by police officers of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, known as SARS.
The government proclaimed the dissolution of the police unit which has been accused of human rights crimes including abuse, torture and killings but has since created the Special Weapons and Tactics team (SWAT) in its stead further inciting the youth to seek complete police reform.
The university's president, Dr. Makola Abdullah, expressed in a news release of how \"grateful\" they are for the opportunity to be a significant part of the election season.
[Nile Post] In a recent alcohol sector consultative meeting with key ministries, stakeholders have voiced their dissatisfaction with the Private Member's Alcoholic Drinks Control Bill 2023, tabled by Tororo Woman Member of Parliament Sarah Opendi.
