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Chuckie Taylor convicted of torture

Chuckie Taylor, son of former Liberian president Charles Taylor, was found guilty of torture and related crimes by a US court on Thursday 30 October. Taylor could face between 20 years to life imprisonment for the crimes he committed in Liberia, while serving as the head of the former Liberian President's Anti Terrorist Unit (ATU). These include the use of electric shocks on the genitals, burning victims with cigarettes and hot irons and melting plastic and rubbing salt into wounds. According...

Zimbabwe's victims of violence can no longer wait for political solution

Amnesty International today released a report and new video footage that graphically demonstrates the ongoing suffering of the Zimbabwean people, as the three main political parties in Zimbabwe struggle to form an inclusive government. “Every day that passes without a political solution, the living conditions for ordinary Zimbabweans become more and more desperate,” said Simeon Mawanza, Amnesty International’s Zimbabwe expert, speaking from Johannesburg. The Amnesty International report,...

Former Chadian leader receives death sentence

Hissen Habre, the former President of Chad, has received a death sentence for plotting to overthrow the Chadian government. He is currently in exile and is living in Senegal. In addition, the head of Rally of Forces for Change, Timane Erdimi, was sentenced to death in absentia as well as 10 other individuals. Erdimi is related to the current President of Chad, Idriss Déby. 32 other people were penalized with hard labor. The inquiry said that Habre's government was responsible for 40,000...

KENYA: Investigate “torture” in Mt Elgon operation, government urged

A public inquiry should be set up into “torture and war crimes” committed by the Sabaot Land Defence Forces (SLDF) militia and the military in Mt Elgon District, human rights activists said. "We need an independent civilian inspectorate of the police and military ... to restore trust in the security forces," Ben Rawlence of Human Rights Watch (HRW) Africa Division said in Nairobi at the launch of a report, All the Men Have Gone: War Crimes in Kenya's Mt Elgon District.  The report documents...

ZIMBABWE: Regrets of a hired political thug

Stanlus Marowa's brief stint as a henchman recruited by local ZANU-PF party leaders is coming back to haunt him since they abandoned him, and he is now facing the wrath of his community and charges of assault and theft. Marowa, 24, unemployed and living the dormitory town of Chitungwiza, 30km south of the capital, Harare, told IRIN that he had engaged in acts of torture against supporters of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) after the 29 March poll, in which the ruling...

COMOROS: New polls promised as military take over Anjouan

Comoros will establish an interim government on the island of Anjouan by the end of the week, paving the way for a swift democratic election on the renegade island, a government official said on Wednesday. The Comoros government, supported by soldiers from Tanzania and Sudan, quickly took control of Anjouan on Tuesday 25 March in a military operation aimed at toppling renegade leader, Mohamed Bacar. “The operation went very smoothly, there were no casualties. There were no heavy...

Government-backed agents of torture and death in DRC

The government of President Joseph Kabila must launch an urgent and independent investigation into the systematic detention, torture and murder of alleged political opponents committed by security forces in the DRC, said Amnesty International in a report released today. The report DRC: Torture and killings by state security agents still endemic, documents the leading role taken by the Special Services police (Direction des Renseignements Généraux et Services Spéciaux de la police) in the...

Rwanda: Genocide suspects must not be transferred until fair trial conditions met

Amnesty International today urged governments worldwide not to transfer people suspected of crimes during the 1994 genocide to Rwanda for trial. The organization released a memorandum outlining the criteria national governments and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) should apply when considering transferring people to Rwanda for trial. Despite improvements in the Rwandan justice system in recent years, serious concerns remain about its ability to investigate and prosecute...

ZIMBABWE: State violence targets women says report

In a preliminary report detailing widespread state violence, including the torture and the unlawful detention of its members, a Zimbabwean social movement is warning southern Africa's political leaders to temper their optimism about the country's prospect of free and fair elections next year. Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA), whose 55,000 membership is comprised of women aged between 16 and 73, mainly in low-income employment, released its interim report after the 14-member Southern African...

In airport trespass case first accused testifies

Mustapha Touray, a native of Yundum village and first accused person in the trespass incident at the Banjul International Airport, on Tuesday testified before Magistrate EF M’Bai of the Brikama Magistrates’ Court. Mustapha Touray recalled that he was with his friends at his home when some security personnel came together with some boys, asking for him. He told the court that he then identified himself, before the officers informed him about a stolen bag at the Banjul International Airport. He...