Even though he was among a large group of journalists, some working for opposition newspapers, his white skin and BBC ID card singled him out.

Despite his protests at a low-level disregard for Gambia’s constitutional rules, no-one around him seemed very surprised he was not allowed access to the courtroom in question.

The court in session was hearing the case of treason against eight former government officers, accused of plotting to overthrow President Yahya Jammeh.

All eight have since been found guilty and all are fighting last-ditch appeals against a sentence of death.

Continued, as excerpted from BBC News:

“We have credible evidence from many different sources that the accused have been tortured – at least three of them,” says Etelle Higonnet of human rights group Amnesty International.

“The security forces use beatings on the genitals, places where the torture will not be visible. We’ve also heard that at least two witnesses at the trial were bribed and intimidated to give false witness.”

Human Rights groups say hundreds of suspected opponents have been rounded up since the latest crackdown began in November 2009.

It is just the latest effort, they say, to suppress dissent in the country since President Jammeh himself came to power in a military coup in 1994.

The government would not comment on these allegations, however Culture and Tourism Minister Fatou Mass Jobe argues that the president has worked hard to improve life in what was one of Africa’s poorest nations, for example by building several new schools and hospitals.

“The level of development we have here is second to no other country in Africa. We have peace and stability,” she told the BBC.

She did nothing, however, to dispel the accusations that Mr Jammeh is building up a personality cult, saying: “It’s like a blessing that we have such a visionary leader.”

The image of a police state is far from view on the beaches of Kololi, just outside the capital where tens of thousands of tourists come each year to escape the European winter.

This is Gambia’s main official source of foreign revenue.

It was in one of these beach hotels that President Jammeh held his birthday celebrations in May this year, featuring hours of films and stage performances paying tribute to the man who people say now rules this country with an iron fist.

The guests this year included the US popstar, Jermaine Jackson, who had brought an entourage of 57 people, including several of his children, from Los Angeles at the president’s invitation.

He seemed oblivious to the reports of torture and extra-judicial killings.

“He’s not just a politician, he’s a wonderful, genuine person,” enthused Mr Jackson, a convert to Islam, who is keen to highlight the connection of African Americans like himself to this former slave coast.

“It’s always the people abroad who want to say bad things about this country. The president is doing a wonderful job, and putting a smile on the faces of the people.”

I didn’t see many smiles when I visited the villagers of Jambur, a community just 80km (50 miles) from Banjul.

‘Evil-smelling concoction’

This was one of a number of villages involved in a bizarre government crackdown last year, which reveals another aspect of President Jammeh’s government.

Troops and government militia entered the village seeking out suspected witches.

Omar Bojang survived the questioning but at least six people died.

The rumour goes that the president’s aunt had recently died and he suspected a spell had been cast on her.

Dozens of elderly citizens, including the village imam, were rounded up and taken by bus to a military compound nearby.

“They made us lie on the floor and drink some kind of evil-smelling concoction,” said Omar Bojang, one of those arrested.

“People started falling over, many were just babbling all kinds of nonsense.”

After two days of incarceration, the 65 old people of Jambur were returned home, many in a delirious state.

Two of them died within hours in Jambur, and at least four others in nearby villages. Even today many still complain of routine stomach pains and other related ailments.

What is striking is that this kind of arbitrary repression goes almost completely unanswered.

Despite exhaustive testimony from hundreds of witnesses, the Gambian authorities have not either acknowledged or denied that the witch-hunt ever took place.

Nor will they comment on other idiosyncrasies of the president – such as his claim back in 2007 that he had invented a cure for HIV-Aids using local herbal remedies.

He has never produced any proof, or allowed any independent verification for this claim. The president himself has not given interviews to anyone except his own state-sanctioned media for several years.

He is standing for a fourth presidential term in office next year.

Such is the mood of fear, as well as his tight grip on the courts, the police and most of the media, that few expect any opponent to mount a serious challenge.

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During the conflict, which ended in 2005 with the signature of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), what was known as the “Red Army” was the official title of the special “youth unit” in which child soldiers served in the rebel army of the South. Unfortunately, many more children still living in the recognized southern region still rely on serving in the military out of desperation, having no other means of support. That, or they grew up with their families in army barracks as well, sources in Sudan say.

“The SPLA by the end of this year will be child-free,” said William Deng, head of the south’s commission for disarmament, demobilization and reintegration. “This army doesn’t lack manpower. If they wanted they could call millions now, but not children.”

The SPLA, the south’s former rebel movement, had already agreed with the UN to demobilize child soldiers and end their use across southern Sudan. Both the North and the South have suffered much destruction at the hands of a long civil war, though both are embracing hope out of their shared horrid histories.

Make no mistake, there’s still extreme turmoil between both the North and the South, especially while the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) still carries out attacks against its Southern enemies. SPLA chief of staff James Hoth says however, there’s no war and as such doesn’t need to recruit heavily, let alone recruit children. The LRA, however, remains extremely mobilized continuing to seek refuge in the Democratic Republic of Congo and launch attacks from there into the South. What isn’t clear, however, is to the extent of which how much responsibility the North maintains facilitates their activities. At the discussion tables however, both parties are embracing together their hopes for peace. Though both are remaining vigilant as well expressing the concerns.

“Taking a liberation army and transforming it into a professional army is a long road to walk,” said Lise Grande, the UN humanitarian coordinator for south Sudan. But she also warned that the SPLA must improve in other areas, including ensuring aid workers can safely do their jobs. Some four million people, roughly half the population of the south, depend upon some kind of food assistance in order to survive, Grande said. In addition, she states that heavy interference still hinders the distribution of food and medical supplies in general, to include LRA interception among other thieves in general,
mobilized or not.

The long civil war left much destruction, but there is a new atmosphere of hope. The southerners, who mostly belong to Christian or other religions compared to the largely Muslim and Arab population of
the North, are hoping that all will go peacefully with the vote. 2 million people returned to South Sudan after the end of the war and another 1.5 million are expected to repatriate ahead of the referendum. Some 12,200 southerners are currently living in Egypt and the government hopes to encourage them home on trains and buses and boats down the River Nile.

South Sudan still has a long way to go in overcoming all its troubles. There are still extreme tensions with the north and the country is also facing increased attacks from the Lord’s Resistance Army, who
have crossed the border from the Democratic Republic of Congo to take harvests from villagers, forcing over 25,000 people to flee their homes. But despite all the many hurdles faced by this troubled region,
the southern Sudanese seem determined to build a better country for their children.

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Uganda is a bountiful, diverse nation on the socio-economic rise. They are a people of peace and tolerance, spurring international recognition for our established and newfound bevy of resources, their majestic scenery which has long supported thriving tourism and our democratic government, each day opening its doors to showcase greater transparency. Uganda has long been a cultural melting pot, with over 30 distinct indigenous languages belonging to five linguistic groups. Indeed all the tools are in place for Uganda to be a shining star in the continent and a symbol of potential for their neighbors.

In recent months however, their thought leadership with regard to pragmatic cultural progression has been severely weakened by prejudice, fear and frankly, illegal interventionism both from targeted sects here at home and by larger organizations abroad. I am speaking of course of the Anti-Homosexuality legislation.

The bill, which flatly criminalizes the homosexual practice, is slowly working its way through the legislature, prescribing the death penalty and other harsh punishments for the community in Kampala and throughout the nation.

President Yoweri Museveni has rightly asked the authors to “soften” the bill but the administration has yet to make significant headway against a propaganda regime out to condemn homosexual behavior as sodomy and proud Ugandans as heathens. Mr. Museveni understands the geopolitical ramifications, the shutting-off of aid from governments and charitable campaigns, should this unfortunate legislation come to pass.

Martin Ssempa, who pastors the Makerere Community Church in Kampala, has largely ushered in this movement of intolerance. Ssempa, perhaps fueled by an Evangelical movement from the United States who visited months before he began his tirade, has run a brash campaign of hate which nears consent of murdering innocent Ugandans, let alone depriving them of their fundamental human right to freedom of expression.

Peter Tatchell, British MP and the London-based human rights campaigner, has supported the efforts of Ugandan activists to oppose the Anti-Homosexuality Bill.

“Congratulations to the many brave Ugandan activists – gay and straight – who are campaigning against the Anti-Homosexuality Bill. This issue is much bigger than gay rights. It is a civil liberties issue”, he stated. “The opponents of the Bill are defending individual freedom and liberty; the right individuals to live their lives as they wish, without state diktat, interference and repression.“

“Much of the impetus for this Bill has come from right-wing evangelicals in the US. They have poured money and dishonest homophobic propaganda into Uganda. Their lurid, exaggerated and sometimes downright untrue claims about gay life are fuelling homophobic sentiment. They are exploiting the poverty of Uganda to fight the battle against homosexuality that they are losing in the US.”

Arcadia Foundation founder Betty Bigombe has mediated between warring factions in the face of immense personal harm on the ground in Uganda. She understands the challenges in finding common ground. Rarely has there been such legislation that will pose the kind of cataclysmic ramifications we shall see with regard to trade and economic prosperity, ramifications that will affect all walks of life. Ssempa’s single-mindedness will not let him comprehend that there are many working parts to a functional democracy and though entitled to his opinion, his work is detrimental to our overall development.

The USIP and the Arcadia Foundation, organizations in which Ms. Bigombe participate and indeed have founded, have helped shine a light on troubled areas of the world and educated international audiences as to what their rights are and what role the government must play to uphold them. This proposed anti-homosexuality law has drawn international rebuke precisely due to the threat of these rights being stripped and indeed if processed in to law, would cause their star’s light to dim.

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Jim Burroway at Box Turtle Bulletin writes:

“Some believe that the story was planted to discredit the Ugandan LGBT community, foreign bloggers, and Integrity Uganda specifically when the story was inevitably revealed to be a fraud. Other possibilities include (someone) using this story for another run at fraudulent fundraising.”

Burroway later issued an apology for perpetuating the false story:

To say that knowing that this web site helped to propagate that hoax is humiliating would be an understatement. We’ve worked hard at BTB in establishing our credibility, and I believe that a key component of that is also to maintain an atmosphere of transparency and accountability when we get it wrong.

The more profound damage, Burroway fears, however, is that this hoax will damage the fight for LGBT rights in Uganda.

This hoax can provide ammunition to our opponents who would try to use it as proof that LGBT people are deliberately spreading rumors and falsehoods. It can be used as a “crying wolf” case to dismiss future reports in which LGBT people are really attacked and killed. The hoax can be used as an excuse to silence LGBT people, organizations, and news outlets. It can give someone an idea for a copycat crime. It can do so many other damaging things as well, and knowing that I was a part of its spread is something that I am deeply sorry for.

The story was so believable from the off-set due to the tumultuous atmosphere in Uganda, ripe for just this kind of violence against people who are gay or lesbian or are perceived as such in the nation. With the anti-homosexuality law still pending, this issue is front and center in the country.

As The Rev. Canon Albert Ogle, Integrity USA’s Vice President for National and International Affairs noted, the hoax is a call to LGBT advocates around the world to redouble their efforts to foster full acceptance of LGBT people everywhere in the world – and most especially where they face the prospect of violence and death on a frequent basis.

This story is a wakeup call for all of us to ensure that something like it will never actually happen. We cannot allow the rhetoric of misinformation and misinterpretation of Holy Scriptures to justify hatred and fear towards our fellow human beings.

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One of the more popular blogs advocating gay rights in Africa is called Gay Uganda. Its author chooses to remain anonymous.

“I am somebody in the heart of Africa who has been lonely without the rest of the Internet, without the rest of the global sphere, talking about what I would like to talk about, with that kind of freedom,” he said from Kampala.”I cannot do it elsewhere.”
While harsher laws are being proposed against homosexuality across the continent, including in Uganda, the author of Gay Uganda says what he is doing helps Africa’s homosexual community.

“It started off as a way of venting, but then later I realized that it was a way of putting across to the rest of the world what our lives were more or less,” he said. “The things that have been happening around Kampala, in Uganda, and all over the continent – it is strengthening to me personally, that is why I do it.”

Continued, as excerpted from VOA:

Uganda’s Ethics and Integrity Minister James Nsaba Buturo said recently that the government is concerned about what he called the “mushrooming” number of gays and lesbians in the country. Nsaba Buturo said he wants a law enacted that would criminalize confessing to being a homosexual.

Even in countries like Ghana, which are seen as being relatively tolerant, anti-homosexual activities, such as marches denouncing gays, are becoming more far too frequent.

A columnist from the United States, Reverend Irene Monroe, says her own work and Internet outreach have put her in contact with many gays and lesbians in Africa like a woman from Kenya who recently wrote her an email.

“She says here, ‘I need encouragement. Here homosexuality is punishable by 14 years imprisonment and 28 strokes of the cane. “The church is also extremely hostile. Some suspected lesbians from my church were once beaten and burnt,’” Monroe said.

Gay activists in Africa say it is a very difficult process to advance homosexual rights, especially in difficult economic times, when scapegoats are used by politicians and religious leaders to divert attention.

Irene Monroe links discrimination to a lack of democracy and government policies toward HIV and AIDS.
“Countries that tend to be more open around addressing the issue of HIV/AIDS and have a lot more financial solvency and really do run more in terms of employing a democratic model, you will find in those small pockets throughout Africa and other parts of the world people are more tolerant in the different ways in which people express love,” she said. “And we see it here when we see rabid forms of conservatism here we find in most groups of people who are less tolerant of certain folks, it operates similarly believe it or not in Africa too. Culturally, it looks different. But the seed around what gives rise to the kind of homophobia that blossoms in the way it does, it is planted in the same soil.”

Gay activists say they hope those advocating homosexual rights eventually will succeed – one blog entry and appeal for understanding at a time.

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We haven’t discussed much in the tone of Rwandan human rights on this site. That changes today. Enter lawyer Peter Erlinder, an American political prisoner of the Rwandan government who was detained under false charges on May 28th, just one week after his client, the opposition leader Victoire Ingabire was jailed.

Despite a formal request from the U.S. State Department that Rwanda immediately release Erlinder, things have only gotten worse, as the judge has rejected all motions for bail, extended his remand for another 30 days, while Erlinder’s own defense attorney has been chased from the country fearing his own detention.

“There has been a lot of theatrics surrounding this case, but the fundamental issue at stake is whether Rwandans believe it is permissible for Genocide defenders and deniers to threaten the hard-won stability and harmony they have built in 16 years,” Rwandan Minister of Foreign Affairs Louise Mushikiwabo said in a statement released by her office.Mushikiwabo said that the Rwandan people ‘overwhelmingly answer no‘ the right of Erlinder and ‘his co-conspirators‘ to ‘peddle lies and conspiracy‘, adding their activities threaten the rights of Rwandans to heal and prosper.

“The Prosecution of Peter Erlinder is not a political tactic; it is an act of justice. If critics disagree with the Rwandan laws against the denial or defence of Genocide, we invite and welcome that debate,” she added.

This attack against Erlinder has provoked a widespread sense of fear and vulnerability on behalf of lawyers who participate in the International Criminal Tribunal of Rwanda (ICTR), established by the United Nations in 1994. Members of the International Criminal Bar, of which Erlinder is a member, have issued a strong condemnation of Rwanda’s conduct, demanding the immediate release of the prisoner. “How can international criminal courts operate effectively if defence lawyers are at risk of being arrested for what they say on behalf of their clients?,”said Amanda Pinto of the ICB. “This affects all defence lawyers at the ICTR, but the issues are potentially the same for defence counsel anywhere in the international forum.”

“The Government of Rwanda takes no pleasure from Mr. Erlinder’s plight, but this needs to be understood; flagrant and orchestrated breaches of our Genocide ideology laws will be met with the full force of the law,” Mushikiwabo said.

Last week, Mushikiwabo said that Rwanda would not short-circuit legal procedures and release the lawyer, despite a request by the United States to release him on compassionate and humanitarian grounds.

She added that the country will have to take Erlinder through the procedures to answer charges against him, and at the same time consider his ongoing health concerns.

The eyes of the world are slowly turning back to Rwanda; despite American condemnation, this politically-motivated saga continued to unfold.

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The following post is brought to us by Amsterdam Group.net

World Cup fever is in full swing – the event shines a geopolitical spotlight on every nation showcased on a daily basis. This time around, the public relations initiatives behind each team seem to be near-tangible. For some of the more oppressive regimes, they may even be downright embarrassing.

Since leaving the country is an impossibility for prison- er, citizens of North Korea, the marketing gurus from the Jong-Il administration have decided to recruit their Chinese friends to make the trip for them and support the Chollima, the nickname of North Korea’s embattled but unbowed soccer team.

And so the Beijing office of the North Korean Sports Committee is dolling out tickets to the tournament, China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency reported. The Chinese fans, hired to be dressed head to toe with North Korean fan attire, will attend North Korea’s games against Brazil and Portugal.

North Korea is looking to distribute at least 1,000 tickets to these Chinese rent-a-fans.

North Korean President Kim Jong Il, the ‘all-powerful, everlasting son of the Eternal Leader’, is reputed not merely to meddle in the team, but actually to pick it. This will be yet another example of the politics behind the players, and symbolize the erratic authoritarianism behind the world’s most secretive regime.

I for one, will be watching their upcoming match with Brazil with pen and pad in hand.

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Ugandan lawmaker Adolf Mwesige led the commission and, according to the New York Times, “said that virtually all clauses in the legislation were either unconstitutional or redundant, and that any other clauses should be placed in another bill dealing generally with sexual offenses.” Mwesige told the paper, “If we proceeded, it would definitely provoke criticism, and rightly so.”

Indeed, international outrage and criticism from human rights groups and objections from major donors like Sweden, prompted the Kampala government to be wary of the bill. In mid-January Museveni issued a statement distancing himself from the bill. He appointed a cabinet committee to review the bill. On May 7, the committee recommended that the bill be withdrawn.

The committee’s report found that the bill has “technical defects in form and content” and that many of the clauses are either unconstitutional or redundant of existing laws. Furthermore, the committee recommends deflecting negative attention away from the bill by changing its title or combining it with Uganda’s existing law, the Sexual Offenses Act.

Only Clause 13 of the anti-gay bill — which addresses the promotion of homosexuality — “was worthy of consideration,” according to the report.

The bill won’t be dead until it is officially dropped or voted down by the Ugandan parliament. This is expected to happen within weeks, Mwesige told the Times.

We certainly agree with Mr. Capehart that “it’s sad and enraging that a bill so hateful, so backward, so wrong came so close to becoming law.”

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His recommendation? “To redouble our efforts,” adding “we can’t waste another minute.” The situation seems that pressing. If the referendum lapses, there would be little left to compel parties to come together again without putting new compromises on the table, as the situation certainly has evolved.

Options to address the situation so far have included whether or not Secretary Clinton or Ambassador Susan Rice need to take a more “visible role” in order to elevate importance among Americans. Another suggestion has been to put even more senior officials directly in charge of Sudan policy. Gration said he agrees with the analysis of Adm. Dennis C. Blair, the national intelligence director, that of all the countries likely to experience an outbreak of violence in the next five years, “a new mass killing or genocide is most likely to occur in southern Sudan.”

Though the referendum is scheduled for next January, is coming too soon. The referendum will be about allowing the mostly Christian and specific parts of southern Sudan to secede from the Arabic speaking Muslim north. Many analysts have expressed concern that tensions over the vote, and the fate of oil reserves along the potential new border, could trigger a resumption of the two decade war that led to the deaths of 2 million people. The 2005 peace agreement provided the southerners with religious and political autonomy until the referendum, set for 2011.

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Judge Chinembiri Bhunu found Bennett not guilty of all charges: banditry, sabotage, terrorism and insurgency.

“He is now a free man,” lawyer Trust Maanda said. Bennett could have faced the death penalty.

“I hope that sanity is now creeping into the system and we can now start concentrating on delivering better lives for the people of Zimbabwe,” Bennett told reporters from Harare.

The latest in what could be the shocking conclusion of the Bennett saga may bode well for rule of law in the former breadbasket of Africa. If the judiciary mechanisms are now sane, oiled and running, not stale and rusted from political paralyzation and secret shadow committee initiatives, foreign investment may slowly start to funnel in.

Bennett, a white farmer whose land was seized during Zimbabwe’s controversial land reform program in 2000, has long been a thorn in the side of Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party.

He has been thrown in and out of jail several times.

The MDC intended to make him deputy agriculture minister in the national-unity government between the former opposition and the president’s party, but Mugabe refused to swear him in.

He said Bennett first needed to be cleared of all charges.

The MDC has always maintained that the case against him was political and that Bennett was being persecuted and not prosecuted.

It remains to be seen whether Mugabe will swear in Bennett now that charges against him have been dismissed.

“Mugabe has to swear me in now,” Bennett said Monday. “My party has made it very clear that they expect nothing less.”

The Zimbabwean followed the news with less than elation. “This is core evidence and proof that Zanu PF will rather use the residual state resources fighting Bennett and MDC than feeding the poverty stricken masses of Zimbabwe. We have always maintained that Bennett was innocent, but was only subjected to persecution by Zanu PF functionaries who are still confusing white Zimbabweans with eighteenth century invaders.”

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