13, September 2019
Tunisia’s ousted autocrat Ben Ali in Saudi Arabia hospital 0
Tunisia’s ousted autocrat Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali has been hospitalized for a ‘‘serious health crisis’‘ in Saudi Arabia, his lawyer told Reuters Friday.
Mass protests drove Ben Ali out of power in 2011, leading to the Arab Spring uprising.
This is the first time his lawyer Mounir Ben Salha or family have gone public with news of the 83 year old’s health.
Ben Ali has made no public statements since leaving for Saudi Arabia where he’s living in exile.
In 2011, a Tunisian court sentenced Ben Ali in absentia for 35 years in prison on charges of corruption ranging from torture.
The following year, a military court sentenced him to another 20 years for inciting ‘murder and looting’‘.
Tunisia will hold a free presidential election on Sunday, September 15 as it continues a path to democracy.
Reuters
14, September 2019
Is Biya’s Offer of National Dialogue in Cameroon Really Sincere? 0
At least 2,000 people have died in the insurgency that began in 2017 in the country’s North-West and South-West regions, where Cameroon’s English-speaking minority is concentrated. English-speakers have accused the French-speaking majority of marginalizing them politically and economically. A government crackdown on a 2016 strike organized by Anglophone teachers and lawyers precipitated the creation of a violent, separatist movement to form a new independent nation called Ambazonia.
Undeterred by international criticism, Biya actually appeared to be stepping up his attacks on the separatists in the months after his October 2018 reelection, as Robbie Corey-Boulet reported in April for WPR. The situation further deteriorated last month when a military tribunal sentenced an Anglophone separatist leader and nine of his followers to life in prison. Separatists have responded with attacks on government security forces and kidnappings of officials perceived to be allied with the regime. They have also instituted a broad shutdown of shops and social services in the Anglophone region. Hundreds of thousands of people have fled their homes.
“We should all know that we are Cameroonians, appointed to serve Cameroon, not our tribes or linguistic groups,” Biya proclaimed in his speech. But even as he announced the dialogue, Biya refused to confirm whether separatist representatives would even be invited.
The process is also set to address other national emergencies, including the Boko Haram insurgency along Cameroon’s border with Nigeria and post-election violence that occurred following Biya’s latest victory.
Culled from World Politics Review