News

17, November 2016

Several Turkish soldiers seeking asylum in Germany ⁰

Several Turkish soldiers at NATO’s central command in Ramstein has sought asylum in Germany in the wake of Turkey’s widespread crackdown against military personnel, journalists and political activists. According to a German official, quoted by the dpa news agency, family members of the soldiers stationed at the airbase insouthwestern Germany have also applied for asylum.

Paul Junker, a regional official in nearby Kaiserslautern, said the asylum requests had come from “more than one family,” but declined to say how many individuals were involved. German Interior Ministry spokesman Johannes Dimroth said last month that 35 Turkish diplomatic passport holders had formally applied for asylum in Germany. The actual figure of the asylum seekers, he said, could be higher.

Relations between Turkey and Germany have strained following the July 15 botched coup, which Ankara claims to have been organized by US-based opposition cleric Fethullah Gulen. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier often clashed with Turkish officials during a visit to Ankara this week, reflecting tough times in their relations.

After 11 years of negotiations, Turkey’s prospects of joining the EU look more remote than ever, with Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu telling Steinmeier on Tuesday that Turkey was “fed up” with the European Union. “We are truly fed up of these statements degrading Turkey. The criteria are clear but there are double standards and a two-faced approach. This is what we don’t like,” Cavusoglu told a joint news conference. Over 240 people were killed and more than 2,100 others injured in the coup attempt, which Gulen has strongly condemned and denied any involvement in.

Tens of thousands of people, including military personnel, judges and teachers, have been suspended, dismissed or detained as part of the post-coup crackdown. International rights groups argue that Ankara’s crackdown has gone far beyond the so-called Gulenists and targeted Kurds as well as government critics.

Turkey detains, suspends mayors over PKK links

On Thursday, Turkish officials arrested and suspected three mayors in the Kurdish-majority southeastern part of the country over alleged links to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group.

Unnamed security sources said police detained the mayor of Van city, Bekir Kaya, and four other municipal officials early Thursday.

Bekir Kaya, mayor of the southeastern Turkish city of Van

The sources said the mayors of Mardin and Siirt citties, identified as Ahmet Turk and Tuncer Bakirhan respectively, had also been discharged and replaced with administrators appointed by the Interior Ministry. Earlier this month, 13 legislators from the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) were arrested after being accused of links to Kurdish militants.

Party leaders Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ remain in custody along with eight others, waiting to stand trial on terrorism-related charges. A shaky ceasefire between the PKK, which has been calling for an autonomous Kurdish region since 1984, and the Turkish government collapsed in July 2015. Ever since, attacks on Turkish security forces have soared.

Over the past few months, Turkish ground and air forces have been carrying out operations against PKK positions in the country’s troubled southeastern border region as well as Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region and northern Syria.

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17, November 2016

Yaounde: Striking SOCATUR workers molested and detained in Kondengui ⁰

The employees of the Cameroon Society of Urban Transport (SOCATUR) paralyzed traffic for more than three hours by blocking the road to the Nlongkak district in Yaoundé on Wednesday the 16^th of November. The nearly 125 people claimed they have not been paid for over 12 months. Cameroon Concord News gathered they are actually being owed 842 million CFA francs.

President Biya had reportedly given standing instructions that the workers be paid long ago. However, on November the 15th at a meeting held with the representative of the Ministry of Finance, the striking workers were told they could not be paid. According to their spokesman Hubert Mani, the strike action was to send signals to the Head of State.

The Senior Divisional Officer for Mfoundi, Jean Claude Nsila, went down to the scene in an emergency, followed by dozens of riot police officers to try to contain the strike. The SOCATUR workers were forced to sit on the ground against their will and many were forcibly taken away and molested before being shipped to an unspecified destination.

A reporter with the Cameroon Intelligence Report hinted that some of the striking workers were detained at the Kondengui high security prison. The Prefect of Mfoundi was quoted by a local newspaper as saying “You will spend some few weeks in Kondengui”. Jean Claude Tsila has convened a crisis meeting in his office to resolve the situation as quickly as possible.

By Rita Akana in Yaounde

16, November 2016

Boko Haram has dramatically scaled back attacks in Cameroon ⁰

Boko Haram has dramatically scaled back attacks in Cameroon in recent months, analysts said on Wednesday, suggesting a regional security force is gaining ground against the militants. The Islamist movement – which controlled an area the size of Belgium in northeast Nigeria last year and raided Cameroon and other neighbours to expand its “caliphate” – had since suffered a string of defeats, International Crisis Group (ICG) said.

The report came days after security and U.N. sources said hundreds of Boko Haram fighters and their families had surrendered on another frontline in Chad. There was no comment from any of the factions of Boko Haram which is still seen as one of the main security threats in West Africa. “We’ve seen a dizzying downwards spiral in the number of attacks and suicide bombings,” said Hans De Marie Heungoup, one of the report’s authors.

Two years ago, attacks were happening on an almost daily basis, he said. But the number had fallen to between six and eight a month since September. “[Boko Haram] has suffered heavy losses and seen its conventional capacities reduced,” the study said, partly thanks to last year’s formation of a 10,000-strong regional force with troops from Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Benin.

Up to 1,000 fighters with heavy weaponry and armoured vehicles joined strikes in Cameroon’s Far North Region in 2014-15, the report said. But attacks were now focused on the northernmost tip of the region where fighters continued to control part of the fishing industry of Lake Chad amid a labyrinth of waterways.

Recruitment is also faltering in Cameroon although forced enlistment remains a risk, ICG said. Up to 4,000 Cameroonians are thought to have joined the group and some were given sign-on bonuses of up to $2000 and a motorbike, according to the study, citing interviews with locals.

Those who proved their loyalty by killing their parents often enjoyed quick promotion, it added. Analysts say the faction around the Lake Chad Basin represents the stronger branch of the group, loyal to Islamic State (IS) and led by Abu Musab al-Barnawi. Another faction led by Abubaker Shekau is based further south in Nigeria’s Sambisa forest.

Culled from Reuters

16, November 2016

Russia to withdraw from the International Criminal Court ⁰

Russia has decided to withdraw its signature from the founding statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), saying the tribunal has failed to live up to the hopes of the international community. In a statement issued on Wednesday, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said it would pull out from the ICC following a decree by President Vladimir Putin, who decided for Moscow not to be “a participant in the ICC statute.”

The statement said the main reason for the withdrawal was the ICC’s way of treating Russia’s brief war with neighboring Georgia in 2008, adding that the international tribunal had ignored Georgia’s aggression against pro-Moscow civilians in the separatist region of South Ossetia. “In these conditions one cannot speak of trust in the International Criminal Court,” the ministry said, calling the ICC’s work as “one-sided and inefficient.”

The statement also slammed the ICC’s lack of independence in dealing with war cases, saying “The court did not live up to the hopes associated with it.” Russia has yet to ratify the Rome Statute that set up the ICC, the world’s first permanent war crimes court. The government has only been a signatory to the treaty since 2000.

The decision by Moscow to pull out from the ICC could further complicate the situation surrounding the court as several African members, such as South Africa and Burundi, have already decided to withdraw from the tribunal, saying it is biased and lacks justice. Gambia has also notified the United Nations that it would leave the ICC next week.

Presstv

16, November 2016

UN says thousands of Nigerian children will be at risk of dying in “a few months” ⁰

The United Nations has warned that thousands of children will be at risk of dying in “a few months” across the militancy-riddled areas of northeastern Nigeria. Peter Lundberg, the UN humanitarian coordinator, said in the Nigerian capital Abuja on Tuesday that thousands of children could die from famine in the troubled region, adding that 400,000 children were in critical need of assistance, while 75,000 could die “in (the) few months ahead of us.”

Elsewhere in his remarks, the UN official said, “Currently our assessment is that 14 million people are identified as in need of humanitarian assistance.” Lundberg added that crisis was unfolding at “high speed” in Nigeria’s troubled northeast. The United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, warned in July that some 49,000 children would die of malnutrition in northeastern Nigeria if they did not get treatment.

Most of the children are in areas that had been inaccessible before a multinational force liberated them from the Boko Haram Takfiri terrorist group earlier this year. Doctors Without Borders, also known by its French acronym as the MSF, had earlier warned of a “catastrophic humanitarian emergency” in the city of Bama, where, it said, 200 people died in June.

Despite the government’s fight against Boko Haram, the security situation remains volatile in Borno and specifically Maiduguri, because Boko Haram terrorists still carry out attacks. Boko Haram started its campaign of militancy in 2009 with the aim of toppling the central government in Nigeria. It has so far taken the lives of more than 20,000 people and forced over 2.7 million others from their homes. The group has pledged allegiance to the Daesh Takfiri terrorists operating mainly in Syria and Iraq.

Presstv

16, November 2016

East region: 20 die after consuming “Odontol” ⁰

Twenty people from several villages in the east region of the country died between Monday and Tuesday, after consuming an adulterated whiskey. Cameroon Concord News learnt that the 20 came from seven 7 different villages in the Mindourou Sub Division and perished after consuming a local drink known as “Odontol” a product containing a high dose of methanol.

Health officials in the East region say some people who consumed the adulterated whiskey have started to lose their sight due to poisoning caused by the consumption and others have begun to develop hallucinations. Our chief correspondent in Bertoua reported that several other victims were rushed to hospitals. Local authorities have begun to raise awareness in communities about the consumption of this adulterated whiskey, sold cheaper and much appreciated by low-income populations.

By Sama Ernest

15, November 2016

President Putin initiates a phone conversation with Trump ⁰

Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President-elect Donald Trump have discussed the importance of “normalizing” ties between Moscow and Washington. According to a statement released by the Kremlin on Monday, the two held their first-ever talk during a phone conversation initiated by Putin, who had contacted Trump to “offer his congratulations on winning a historic election.”

The statement noted that the two had also agreed on making provisions for a “personal meeting,” and to keep in touch by phone. Both Putin and Trump had acknowledged “the extremely unsatisfactory state of Russian-US relations at present” and “declared the need for active joint work to normalize them.” During the conversation, the Russian president also voiced his preparedness to “create a dialogue of partnership with the new administration on the basis of equality, mutual respect and non-intervention in each other’s domestic affairs.”

They also “agreed on the need to unite efforts in the struggle with the enemy number one: international terrorism and extremism,” said the statement, noting that ending the conflict in Syria was also discussed. During Trump’s election campaign, Putin had referred to Trump as “a very outstanding person, talented without doubt.”

Hillary Clinton repeatedly claimed in her campaign that Russia was trying to rig the November election in favor of Trump. in their last presidential debate, Clinton accused Trump of having secret ties with Moscow, saying that Putin would love to see a “puppet” in the White House.

Presstv

15, November 2016

The sinister intentions on the delay of the 2016 financial bill ⁰

Following a 2 months delay, the CPDM led government has reportedly handed over the financial bill to the National Assembly. Cameroon Concord News was reliably informed that the bill was tabled on the 11^th of November 2016 and it will be examined by the Committee on Finance and Budget.

However, information has filtered that the text has so many irregularities attached to it relating to the execution of the 2015 budget. The Presidency of the Republic and the services attached to it stand prominent among the departments with short-comings in the implementation rates of their projects in 2015. This is also true with the National Assembly, Elections Cameroon (ELECAM), the National Commission for Human Rights and Freedoms, the Senate, Pensions, External and Domestic Public Debt, Grants and Contributions etc

These government departments and institutions have deliberately retained data on the implementation of their programs. The bill also revealed that the Ministry for the Advancement of Women and the Family has no rate of performance for its programs in 2015. We gathered that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MINREX) conducted four programs, one of which recorded a 0% achievement rate.

The MINREX zero achievement rate program was designed for the management of Cameroonians abroad and to improve the contribution of the Diaspora to the political, social and economic life of the country. Bello Bouba Maïgari, the Minister of Tourism, led two of the three budgeted programs in his ministerial department with the tourism and leisure showing a 0% execution rate- a program that should improve the quality of tourism and leisure facilities in the country.

During the year 2015, the Ministry of Water and Energy posted rates ranging from 0 to 55%. In energy supply, the meter has remained at zero according to the information sent to the Ministry of Finance (MINFI).

By Rita Akana with files from CIN

15, November 2016

Cameroon embassy in Brussels vandalized by armed men ⁰

There are reports that the Cameroon embassy in Brussels, the Belgian capital was vandalized by unknown gunmen. Local media reports say the discovery was made by the Cameroon Ambassador to the Kingdom of Belgium, Daniel Evina Abe.

Cameroon Concord News is yet to confirm the correctness of this developing story, but a sister publication Cameroun-info.net recently reported on the incident and cited Cameroon diplomatic sources in Yaoundé.

We gathered that several embassy vehicles including very important documents were carried away. Some reports have suggested that a Cameroonian opposition group may be behind the action. Moreover, an open inquiry announced by the Belgium police has not yet revealed its findings.

By Chi Prudence Asong

14, November 2016

Nigeria: Troops open fire at Shia Muslims holding a demonstration ⁰

Nigerian forces have opened fire at a group of Shia Muslims holding a demonstration in preparation for the upcoming Arba’een mourning rituals, which mark 40 days after the martyrdom anniversary of Imam Hussein, the third Shia Imam.

Soldiers blocked the road and fired live rounds and tear gas to disperse hundreds of people, including women and children, marching in the northern city of Kano on Sunday. The Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) said that one person was killed and several others were injured during the incident. According to the IMN, the peaceful demonstration is still underway despite the government’s attempts to stop it.

Followers of the IMN have been under a heavy-handed crackdown since last year when the army attacked a religious ceremony in their stronghold of Zaria in the north. Hundreds of people were killed and more, including the movement’s leader Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky, were thrown behind bars.

Last week, the movement said it had received information that the Nigerian army was planning to attack Arba’een processions scheduled for November 20. Meanwhile, the London-based Islamic Human Rights Commission has called on Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari to ensure the safety of mourners taking part in the processions.

This picture taken on November 26, 2015 shows members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) taking part in the symbolic procession commemorating Arba’een.

Last month, at least 20 people were killed and several others injured when Nigerian forces opened fire at Shia mourners commemorating Ashura, the martyrdom anniversary of Imam Hussein (Peace be upon him). In December 2015, Nigerian forces raided the house of the IMN’s leader Sheikh Zakzaky and arrested him after killing those attempting to protect him, including one of the movement’s senior leaders and its spokesman.

The Sheikh himself was shot seven times during the attacks and blinded in one eye and still remains in custody of the army. The raid occurred a day after Nigerian soldiers attacked Shia Muslims attending a ceremony at a religious center in the city of Zaria, accusing them of blocking the convoy of the army’s chief of staff and attempting to assassinate him. On August 1, the Islamic Human Rights Commission released a report, saying the Nigerian army killed 348 Shia Muslims during the attack on the religious ceremony.

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