Politics

Right groups accuse Ethiopian forces of ethnic cleansing in Tigray region

Published

1 year ago

April 7, 2022

Two international human rights groups, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have accused Ethiopian forces from the Amhara region of committing war crimes and ethnic cleansing in the neighboring Tigray region.

The new report jointly issued by the two rights groups on Wednesday, revealed that hundreds of thousands of civilians in western Tigray have been unlawfully killed, sexually assaulted, forced from their homes with threats and denial of aid, which “amounted to crimes against humanity as well as war crimes,” the report said.

The report also reveal widespread abuses against civilians in the embattled Tigray region allegedly perpetrated by security officials and civilian authorities from the neighboring Amhara region.

“Sometimes, these abuses are with the acquiescence and possible participation of Ethiopian federal forces.

“The abuses are part of a widespread and systematic attack against the Tigrayan civilian population that amount to crimes against humanity as well as war crimes.”

The report, a result of months-long investigation including more than 400 interviews, also allege that several atrocities have been reported in the Tigray war, with Ethiopian government troops and their allies, including troops from neighboring Eritrea, commiting most of the crimes.

Ethiopian federal authorities have, however, strongly refuted the allegations but they have been accused of deliberately targeting Tigrayans for violent attacks since the outbreak of war in November 2020.

Western Tigray has long been a contested territory and has been a point of contention between the ethnic Amhara and Tigray communities for decades.

The Amhara authorities say the area was under their control until the 1990s when the Tigray-led government which ruled Ethiopia for nearly 30 years, redrew internal boundaries that put the territory within Tigray’s borders.

The outbreak of the war brought these longstanding and unaddressed grievances to the fore with Amhara regional forces, along with Ethiopian federal forces, reportedly seizing these territories and displacing Tigrayan civilians in a brutal ethnic cleansing campaign, the report added.

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Politics

Opposition party wins majority seats in Guinea Bissau’s parliament

Published

15 hours ago

June 9, 2023

Ifeoluwa Dada

After a thirteen months break in Guinea-Bissau’s parliament, the opposition coalition has won majority seats after the legislative elections held on Sunday.

Over 20 political parties and coalitions, including the former ruling PAIGC party and its rival MADEM G15, presented candidates for various constituencies across the country.

According to official results, the PAI Terra Ranka coalition, led by the former ruling PAIGC party, won 54 of 102 seats in Sunday’s poll, while the ruling Madem G15, won 28 seats.

The development alters the planned constitutional reforms of President Embalo which would have allowed him to consolidate power by ridding the country of its semi-presidential system.

Under the current political system, the majority party or coalition appoints the government but the president has the authority to dismiss it in certain circumstances, a situation that has led to political gridlock and infighting in the past.

The political stability of the country has been consistently threatened by military incursions with successful and failed coup attempts. The latest was in February 2022 when gunmen stormed a government compound where President Embalo was holding a cabinet meeting, in an attempt to stage a coup.

Politics

Algeria, Sierra Leone get non-permanent seat at UN Security Council

Published

3 days ago

June 7, 2023

Ifeoluwa Dada

Algeria and Sierra Leone, have been elected as non-permanent members of the the United Nations’ Security Council for 2024-2025.

The two countries are part of the ten countries elected for two years in the Council outside the five power bloc countries— the United States, China, Russia, France and the United Kingdom.

The countries replace Albania, Brazil, Gabon, Ghana and the United Arab Emirates and will join Ecuador, Japan, Malta, Mozambique and Switzerland who were elected last year.

For Sierra Leone, it’s a return to the council after 53 years. Its Foreign Minister, David Francis said it was “a great day for this small, progressive and confident country…which has successfully transitioned from war to peace.”

Guyana and South Korea were also elected unchallenged while Slovenia handily beat Belarus for the only contested seat.

An official of rights agency, Human Rights Watch, Louis Charbonneau remarked that “the vote in the General Assembly shows why a competition for UN elections is essential” after Slovenia edged Belarus for the seat going to Eastern Europe and obtained 153 votes, against 38 in Belarus.

“UN member states have undoubtedly decided that Belarus’ grave human rights violations at home and attempts to cover up Russian atrocities in Ukraine disqualify it from serving on the Security Council, a crucial body for ensuring human rights. humans,” he added.

Algeria got 184 votes, South Korea 180 votes, Sierra Leone 188 votes and Guyana 191 in a single candidate votes for four seat reserved for Africa, Asia-Pacific and Latin America/Caribbean.

There has been a long debate about the place of Africa in international relations. At the inception of the United Nations, only four independent African countries represented the continent when 50 representatives of different countries met in San Francisco, California, in 1945 to complete the Charter of the United Nations.