Day: September 29, 2022

The U.N. refugee agency says nearly 6,000 Congolese refugees have been helped to return home since December 2021, after years of exile in Zambia.

The voluntary repatriation of Congolese refugees was based on a tripartite agreement signed in 2006 by the UNHCR and the governments of Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The refugees had fled political and inter-ethnic clashes in the DRC’s southeast region in 2017. They have gone back to their communities of origin in Haut-Katanga. Many parts of the DRC are riven with conflict and remain highly insecure.

However, UNHCR spokesman Boris Cheshirkov said Haut-Katanga is stable, making the returns possible. He said some 600 people are transported from Zambia on buses in weekly convoys to the DRC’s Lukinda border post. He said more than 11,000 Congolese refugees are expected to have gone back to the DRC by the end of the year.

“Refugees have been issued with voluntary repatriation documents and have received expedited immigration clearance, health screening, security, food, and water prior to their journey,” he said. Children account for 60% of those refugees that are now returning.”

Cheshirkov said children born in Zambia have been issued birth certificates as proof of their identity. He said the Ministry of Education has issued transfer documents to schoolchildren so they can continue their education in the DRC.

He noted the refugees have expressed excitement and joy at returning home, and that they look forward to reuniting with family and friends and starting their lives anew. He said the UNHCR is providing returnees with cash assistance to help them cover basic expenses upon arrival.

“It also helps them with transportation costs to meet their ultimate destination,” Cheshirkov said. “They are able to purchase hygiene items, household items and then to pay their own first rent, which gives them a step in the right direction. Then, based on family size, they also are provided with a package that includes pulses (soybeans) and maize meal, oil, and salt, and other basics that will help them to move in.”

Cheshirkov said the UNHCR continues to work with local and traditional authorities.

He said the agency also conducts monitoring missions to the locations to make sure the returns are sustainable.

Zambia currently hosts more than 95,600 refugees, asylum seekers and former refugees. They include just over 60,000 from the DRC.

Source: Voice of America

BLOEMFONTEIN (South Africa), Sept 29 (NNN-SANEWS) — Former Minister of Mineral Resources, Mosebenzi Zwane, has appeared in the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court on charges of alleged fraud and corruption related to the failed R280 million Estina Dairy Farm Project.

Zwane, who is currently a Member of Parliament, appeared in the court alongside former Sahara employee Ugeshni Govender and former director of Islandsite Ronica Ragavan.

The former minister was the MEC for Agriculture and Rural Development in the Free State at the time the project was signed off in 2012.

National Prosecuting Authority Investigating Directorate (NPA ID) head Advocate Andrea Johnson said the arrests and the appearance in court is another step in the unit’s crackdown of those accused of facilitating and participating in State capture.

“The enrolment of this case demonstrates the commitment of the ID to deal with perpetrators of State capture. This case should serve to remind the people of the Free State that this matter was not forgotten.  It does however take long to investigate and put together appropriate charges for prosecuting such complex cases.

“The Vrede Dairy Project destroyed the lives of the people and communities it was supposed to empower and uplift. The enrolment of the matter is a step closer to delivering justice to the people who were alleged to have been prejudiced by the criminal conduct of the accused,” Johnson said.

NPA ID spokesperson Sindisiwe Seboka explained that the project was aimed at benefitting emerging farmers in the Free State but investigations revealed that the entire project “was designed to extract funds from the State”.

“On 05 July 2012, Estina…entered into an agreement with the Free State Department of Agriculture to establish and implement a dairy farm project in Vrede to benefit previously disadvantaged farmers and to uplift the people of the Vrede area.  In terms of the agreement, Estina was to provide a capital injection of R228 million. Paras Dairy – a company incorporated in India – was presented as Estina’s partner in the Vrede Dairy Project.

“In the charge sheet, the Investigating Directorate  alleges that [in] terms of the agreement between the Department of Agriculture and Estina, the beneficiaries were to own 51% of the AGRIBEE entity and the remaining shares were to belong to Estina.

“The agreement further stipulated that the department was to contribute R342 million…[and] Estina received R280 million from July 2012 to April 2014.  Investigations also revealed that no proper tender procedures were followed with regards the decision to fund the proposed Vrede Dairy Project. Estina did not adhere to its obligations in terms of the agreement as only the department paid its contribution into bank accounts held by Estina,” Seboka said.

All three accused were released on R10,000 bail.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

Oumy Diallo recalls the day she wanted to die. She was attending a pro-democracy protest in 2009 at a stadium in Conakry, Guinea, when a group of government security officials opened fire.

As she attempted to escape, shrapnel pierced her back and forced her to the ground. She felt a pair of hands grab her ankles, she said, then several men took turns raping her.

“Could I even count? Could I even count?” she said, trying to recall how many men raped her. “I just wanted to die.”

Diallo, whose name has been changed to protect her privacy, was among at least 100 women who were raped that day, according to a report by a United Nations-mandated international commission. At least 150 were killed.

Witnesses described horrific scenes: women being pulled from hiding places to be raped by multiple men, some people being knifed to death while others were shot, corpses piled on top of each other and draped over walls.

Following the attack, security forces sealed off the entrances to the stadium and morgues in an effort to cover up the crimes. Bodies were removed and buried in mass graves.

On Wednesday, exactly 13 years after the massacre, a trial accusing 11 former security and government officials of participating in the attack finally opened.

The 2009 protest, which drew tens of thousands of demonstrators, was organized in response to a presidential bid by Guinea’s then-military ruler, Moussa Dadis Camara.

Camara, who came to power in a 2008 coup, has since lived in exile in Burkina Faso, but returned to Guinea to stand trial. He has denied responsibility for the attack, placing the blame on errant soldiers.

One year before the incident, Diallo said she had easily gotten pregnant with her first child, a daughter. But she has since been unable to conceive. Now, at 34 years old, Diallo suspects it’s due to internal injuries sustained from the rape.

“Back then, I didn’t have the strength to explain what had happened to a doctor, so I self-medicated,” she said as she listed off the painkillers and antibiotics she took. “It wasn’t until later that I realized I should have gone to the hospital. But by then it was too late.”

Despite repeated commitments from Guinean authorities to seek justice for the victims, the trial has suffered from numerous delays and obstacles. In 2009, government inaction prompted an examination by the International Criminal Court (ICC), which has since pressured officials to make good on their promise.

Human rights abuses mounted under former Guinean president Alpha Conde, who was overthrown in a coup in September 2021. Guinea’s junta leader, Mamady Doumbouya, has expressed support for victims of the massacre and pushed for the trial to open before the 2022 anniversary.

But a ban on public protests persists, and in August the government dissolved the opposition coalition when it called for credible talks with Guinea’s transitional military rulers.

Guinea also continues to be plagued by high levels of sexual violence against women, according to a report released on the eve of the trial by Amnesty International. More than 400 cases of rape were recorded by Guinean police in 2021, and most of the victims were minors. But true figures are “undoubtably” higher, the report said.

Though Guinea recently established a specialized police unit to respond to sexual violence, cases are often settled out of court and perpetrators are rarely punished, according to the report. Furthermore, it said, officials are not adequately trained on how to respond to accusations of sexual assault.

“When you want to file a complaint, some policemen will not really take you seriously or the victim will not be able to talk freely and in a confidential way,” said Fabien Offner, a researcher for Amnesty International.

The cost of healthcare and the stigma associated with rape create additional barriers, he added.

The first day of the trial was broadcast live on national television and radio. A judge called each of the 11 men to the bar and read out their charges: murder, attempted murder, torture and rape.

“That a military that had been brought to a stadium killed Guineans, raped Guineans, hurt Guineans – that that same government has recognized the actions committed by the state in front of the national and international community – that already is a good thing,” said Mamadou Barry, secretary of the Association of Victims, Relatives and Friends of September 28, 2009.

While the simple recognition of the atrocities brings solace to many, others are demanding more.

“Of course, the organization of a trial is a first step,” said Amnesty’s Offner. “But it’s not justice.”

The trial will resume October 4.

Source: Voice of America

The environmental group Greenpeace Africa has released a report saying planned oil and gas exploration in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo could expose more than 1 million people to pollution and disease.

The planned selling of 30 eastern land blocks that extend into a famous gorilla reserve would also threaten wildlife and food security, while fueling conflict, poverty and corruption, according to the report.

Residents in the area accuse the government of keeping them in the dark and expressed fear of losing their livelihoods when companies start drilling for fossil fuels.

Representatives for Greenpeace Africa and partner organizations visited about 30 villages in July to gauge the community’s awareness of the planned exploration and how they intend to protect their land and livelihoods.

Mbong Akiy Fokwa Tsafack, head of communication at Greenpeace Africa, said many communities are not aware of the government’s plan to auction their land.

“The thought of the government thinking of auctioning their lands for oil was really a shock for them. They were unaware, so they didn’t know this was underway, which is quite shocking given how much the government has said it plans to really put people ahead of everything else,” Tsafack said.

No one asked residents what they thought of the oil and gas drilling project, said Bantu Lukambo, who works with Innovation for the Development and Protection of the Environment, an NGO monitoring the welfare of communities around Virunga National Park.

The government is supposed to have public input before undertaking such exploration, he said, but failed to do so. Even parliament members were not included in the decision-making process, he added.

DRC President Felix Tshisekedi defended his government’s plan while speaking at the United Nations General Assembly last week, saying oil discovery would bring economic development to his people.

Hydrocarbons Minister Didier Budimbu Ntubuanga, speaking at the Africa Oil Week conference in Senegal early this month, said the DRC has received two offers for the oil blocks and said any exploration will follow environmental guidelines.

Lukambo is doubtful that will be the case.

He fears all the fish will die if the exploration begins, and fishermen and their families will be in trouble. In addition, he added, 14 of the oil blocks are in Virunga National Park, and the others are in farming areas. If exploration starts on the land, he said, farmers won’t farm their land.

The oil exploration blocks overlap parts of Congo’s most pristine ecosystems and Virunga Park, which is home to over 1,000 species of animals and birds.

Tsafack said Congo’s leaders need to reconsider their decision to allow oil exploration in the park and nearby areas.

“This is a moment when we need to see leadership coming through, in terms of the zeal to uproot corruption, to strengthen good governance and to put the people of the DRC at [the] heart of any kind of development agenda,” Tsafack said. “And putting the people of DRC at the heart of any development agenda means really looking into the communities and finding out what it is that will uplift their lives.”

The 20-page report from Greenpeace urges the government to halt the projects and encourage alternative investments in renewable energy sources.

Source: Voice of America