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News in 'Security/Conflict' section

Ex-Gbagbo General Goes on Trial in Abidjan

October 8, 2012 Gen. Brunot Dogbo Ble

Former Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo sits in a cell of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague awaiting trial, but back home the trial of one of his loyal military commanders kicks off in the capital, Abidjan.

General Dogbo Ble, former Commander of the Republican Guard, was a prominent figure in last year’s post-election violent conflict that engulfed Abidjan and left scores dead.

Sierra Leone: Rights body releases mining town violence findings

October 4, 2012 A victim shot during the Bunbuna violence

Sierra Leone’s Human Rights Commission has released findings from a public inquiry into alleged gross violation of human rights in the mining town of Bunbuna, indicting the police for overreacting in quelling a violent strike at the local mine.

During the mine workers strike last April, violence erupted and  left one person killed and several others wounded in Bunbuna, Tonkolili District, in the north of Sierra Leone.

 

Nigerian Senate Wants Review of Bakassi Ruling

October 1, 2012 FLASHBACK: Pres Goodluck Jonathan taking oath in May 2011

With a few days left for Nigeria to request a review of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling giving the Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroon, the Nigerian Senate has released some ‘facts’ it alleges were not tendered during the ICJ proceedings in the land dispute pitting the two countries.

The upper legislative House now wants the Executive to use these facts in seeking the review before expiration of the 10 October, 2012 deadline for appeal.

 

Media body troubled by attacks on Guinean press

September 26, 2012 A scene of protest in Conakry

The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) says it is “deeply concerned” about the recent spate of attacks targeted at the media in Guinea, considering that within one month, two politicians have attacked two radio stations, while party militants continue to assault journalists. 

The Foundation said in a statement Tuesday that it was reiterating its call on the authorities to be critical of these attacks and safeguard the lives and rights of journalists and media personnel in Guinea.

 

Mali: Who’s at the helm in Bamako?

September 24, 2012 Mali's ex-junta leader Amadou Sanogo

Despite the official hand-over of power by the military junta to the interim civilian administration in Bamako, reality on the ground suggests that ex-junta leader Captain Amadou Sanogo and his soldiers are still pulling the strings.

Captain Sanogo and a group of soldiers last March overthrew the civilian government of former President Amadou Toumani Toure, claiming that the army was not getting adequate support to fight the advancing rebels in the north.

Ex- General ties Liberian Army defections to restructuring ‘flaws’

September 24, 2012 Image 2680

A former Liberian army Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Kpaingba Y. Konah, has cited ‘fundamental flaws’ in the restructuring process of the post-war national army as one of the key reasons for growing defections within the military.

General Konah claims that the Liberian government violated provisions for the restructuring of the army as contained in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement signed by stakeholders in Accra, Ghana that ended the 14-year civil war.

Sierra Leone: Local NGO campaigns for peaceful polls

September 24, 2012 Dr. Christiana Thorpe, Sierra Leone NEC Chair

A local non-governmental organization has kicked off a massive sensitization across the country promoting tolerance and non-violence in the run-up to and after Sierra Leone’s November 2012 elections.

Pampana Communications, with support from the Open Society Initiatives for West Africa (OSIWA), will use a multi-media approach that includes community theatre, radio drama, radio jingles and mobile public address system to spread the message for peaceful polls in the West African nation.

 

Uneasy Calm Returns to Guinean Capital

September 24, 2012 L-R Opposition leader Cellou Diallo and President Alpha Conde

Calm is returning Monday to Conakry, the Guinean capital, after President Alpha Condè called for an end to violence following two days of clashes between supporters of his party and the main opposition Union of Democratic Forces of Guinea (UFDG).

At least one member of the opposition UFDG led by Cellou Dalein Diallo was reportedly killed by law enforcement officers in a suburb known as a stronghold of the UFDG, while some two dozen others wounded during the weekend confrontations.

 

Safety of children fleeing Mali conflict being “compromised”

July 15, 2012 Children and women face the brunt of conflict

--Plan Int’l urges commitment to end suffering

With no immediate end in sight to the Malian crisis, “reports have now surfaced that safety of children fleeing the conflict in Mali has been compromised,” the children development organization, said Plan International.

CPJ on safety for Mali press after gunmen attacked publisher

July 13, 2012 Brutalized Malian publisher Saouti Labass Haïdara

Armed, masked assailants abducted and beat a veteran journalist in Mali on Thursday, leaving him with a broken hand and other injuries. And the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has condemned “this brutal attack on Saouti Labass Haïdara and are deeply concerned that it comes in retaliation for L'Indépendant's critical reporting."