Metro

EU to stop training Mali’s armed forces over Moura Village massacre

Published

1 year ago

April 12, 2022

Following recent reports and claims that the army in Mali assaulted civilians in supposed recent clashes with terrorists, particularly at Moura, a village in central Mali, the European Union says it will stop part of its training of Mali’s armed forces.

EU’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell made the disclosure on Monday, citing a lack of guarantees from Malian authorities that Russian military contractors would not interfere in the work.

Recall that the United Nations countered the claim revealed in a statement by the Mali military issued in which the army said it “neutralized 300 terrorists” in Moura village. The UN believed 300 civilians were killed in the village.

The US State Department had also condemned the “extremely disturbing accounts” of Mali’s military activities in Moura village. The US also stressed that it is concerned that many reports suggest that the perpetrators were unaccountable forces mercenaries from the Kremlin-backed Wagner Group.

Borrell said in a news conference after a meeting of EU foreign ministers, “we have decided to suspend, to stop, certain formations of our training mission in Mali focused on the units of the armed forces of the Malian national guard,”

While the United Nations Security Council had call for an independent investigation of the killing in Moura, africanewswatch.com reported on Sunday Russia and China disagreed with the request.

The EU on its own side has however made the decision on the case with the explanation that it was not convinced the army did not use mercenaries in the claimed neutralization of the terrorists in Moura.

Although Borell said the EU was not leaving Mali, he however said “there are not enough security guarantees from the Malian authorities over the non-interference of the well-known Wagner Group.”

The Wagner Group is a Russian paramilitary organization variously described as a private military company, a network of mercenaries, or a de facto private army of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Mali has been a point of concern for the international community lately with Goïta’s continued stay in power. Recall that the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) ramped up sanctions on Mali after Goïta took over the government in August 2020. Mediators for the regional bloc had also been to Bamako in recent weeks to broker peace and transition into civil government.

Metro

South Africa slams 54 fraud, immigration charges on Rwandan genocide suspect

Published

19 hours ago

June 9, 2023

Akanimoh Etim

One of the most wanted Rwandan Genocide suspects, Fulgence Kayishema has been slammed with a 54-count charge by South African prosecutors, including fraud and immigration charges.

Kayishema, an ex-Rwandan police officer who is wanted internationally over his alleged role in Rwanda’s 1994 genocide, was arraigned at a Cape Town court on Friday.

After being on the run for over two decades, Kayishema was arrested on May 24 on a grape farm in South Africa where he had been hiding under a false name, according to a prosecutor, who said refugees working in the farm gave him up.

Spokesperson of the South African prosecutors, Eric Ntabazalila, who addressed a press conference outside the court, said the fugitive now faced 54 separate charges relating to fraud and immigration offences, up from five previously preferred against him.

“Kayishema had been a fugitive from justice since 2001, when the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) indicted him for genocide for allegedly ordering the massacre of 2,000 people hiding in the Nyange Catholic Church,” Ntabazalila told journalists.

Some of the charges could see Kayishema imprisoned for up to 15 years, said Ntabazalila.

South Africa’s National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) also allege that Kayishema used a false identity to apply for asylum and refugee status in South Africa.

The case was adjourned to June 20 to allow Kayishema’s defence team to consult, at which point he could apply for bail, while he is also expected to face extradition to Rwanda to be tried over the ICTR genocide indictment.

With Kayishema’s arrest, there are only three indicted fugitives still on the run after a sweeping indictment by the international tribunal.

Metro

US, WFP, USAID suspend food aid to Ethiopia

Published

19 hours ago

June 9, 2023

Akanimoh Etim

The United States along with the World Food Program (WFP) and the USAID have suspended food aid to Ethiopia following allegations of theft and diversion by government officials.

The WFP and the USAID announced the suspension on Friday, a day after the US government announced that it was suspending the programme due to the same reasons.

WFP Executive Director, Cindy McCain, who made the announcement early on Friday, said the suspension was temporary, until a full investigation was conducted by the Ethiopian government.

“We will temporarily cease food aid in Ethiopia, but nutritional assistance to children, pregnant and lactating women, school meals programs and activities to strengthen farmers and herders in the face of external shocks will continue without interruption,” McCain said in a press release.

“Diversion of food is absolutely unacceptable. The Ethiopian government’s commitment to investigate and hold those responsible accountable is welcomed.

“WFP is working closely with its UN partners, humanitarian organizations and local actors to reform the way aid is distributed across Ethiopia,” she added.

On Thursday, the US government’s international aid agency, USAID, had announced the suspension of its food aid to Ethiopia, while denouncing a “widespread and coordinated operation to divert.”

“USAID intends to immediately resume food aid as soon as we have confidence in the integrity of the distribution systems to get aid to its intended recipients,” the agency had said.

In a joint statement with the USAID, Ethiopian authorities assured that a joint investigation was underway “so that the perpetrators of these hijackings are accountable.”

According to the UN humanitarian agency (OCHA), more than 20 million people of the 120 million Ethiopian population, about 16%, depend on food aid due to conflicts or recurring drought in the region which has also displaced 4.6 million people in the country.