29, September 2017
Movement restricted in Southern Cameroons ahead of independence day 0
Authorities in the South West Region of Cameroon have restricted movement of people and vehicles and banned meetings from Friday to Monday. The ban imposed by the Francophone Governor Bernard Okalia Bilai affects the celebration of independence day in the region on October 1.
Among the regulatory measures announced on Thursday are the closure of all borders, bars, night clubs, parks and “prohibition of any public gatherings and assembly of more than four persons in any public location”.
He said the measures are intended to preserve public peace and guarantee security “following persistent threats of destabilization through manipulation by individuals acting from outside the national territory.” This was followed by another ban on restriction imposed by the Senior Divisional Officer of the Manyu Province in the region, Oum II Joseph from Friday to Tuesday.
“All public meetings and manifestations are banned within the entire division with effect from Tuesday 26th September to Tuesday 10th October 2017,” he added. The measures follow last week’s massive demonstrations in several English-speaking towns in the North-West and South-West Regions against the continuous detention of some of the inhabitants of the regions and independence from French Cameroon.
It started in Bamenda last Friday despite a ban on movement of persons imposed the night before by Governor Adolphe Lele Lafrique following a bomb attack that injured three police officers. The demonstration spread to Buea in the South-West Region where women led the march with hundreds behind them carrying leaves, tree branches and flags of the Cameroon separatist movement.
It was the same scene in the towns of Fontem, Kumba and Mamfe among others in the same region who are also demanding to be independent from French Cameroon. Tensions are still high ahead of the October 1 independence day celebrations which risk facing demonstrations in the Anglophone regions.
Culled from Africa News
30, September 2017
UN Human Rights Council extends Burundi abuses probe 0
The UN Human Rights Council voted Friday to extend the mission of an international probe into atrocities in Burundi, overriding strong pushback from the government accused of crimes against humanity.
The adoption of the European Union resolution to prolong the mandate by a year came a day after the council’s African bloc approved a separate measure to send a team of experts to Burundi that would report their findings to the government.
The controversial African proposal, strongly supported by Burundi’s UN delegation, angered Western delegations and rights groups.
They blasted it as an underhanded attempt to suppress the impact of the UN-backed probe, which has collected evidence of egregious crimes orchestrated by Burundi’s government and security forces.
The EU proposal, which was backed by the United States, passed Friday with 22 votes in favor, 11 against with 14 abstentions.
The African group was split on the EU measure: South Africa and Ghana voted against, while Kenya, Nigeria and Ivory Coast abstained.
With both Burundi resolutions having been approved by the council, the crisis-riddled country is now in the rare circumstance of being subject to two investigations.
In accordance with the African-backed plan, three experts will be “urgently” dispatched to Burundi to study the situation and then “forward” their findings to the judicial authorities, who will assess their validity.
The EU resolution extends the work of the independent Commission of Inquiry, which earlier this month accused the government of crimes against humanity, including executions and torture.
“The Commission can now continue its crucial work to end the abuses and hold perpetrators accountable,” the Geneva director for Human Rights Watch, John Fisher, said in a statement.
“Burundi’s victims deserve no less”, he added.
Burundi plunged into crisis in 2015 after the country’s President Pierre Nkurunziza sought a fiercely contested third term in office.
The violence claimed between 500 and 2,000 lives, according to differing tolls from the UN and civil society groups, while more than 400,000 Burundians have fled abroad.
(Source: AFP)