Cuba: One dead, more than 100 arrested after anti-government protests

14, July 2021

Cuba: One dead, more than 100 arrested after anti-government protests 0

One person died and more than 100 others, including independent journalists and dissidents, have been arrested after unprecedented anti-government protests in Cuba, with some remaining in custody on Tuesday, observers and activists said.

A 36-year-old man named by the state news agency as Diubis Laurencio Tejeda died during an anti-government protest on the outskirts of Havana on Monday, the interior ministry said.

The ministry said it “mourns” his death while the news agency said he had taken part in “disturbances.”

Relatives and friends of those detained during and after Sunday’s historic demonstrations engaged in a desperate search on Tuesday for news on their whereabouts.

“They took him from the house handcuffed and beaten, without a shirt, without a mask,” said a 50-year-old woman who did not wish to give her name, enquiring about her 21-year-old son at a police station in the capital.

“They took many from the neighbourhood, young and old,” she said, before leaving empty-handed.

Cuba’s San Isidro free speech protest movement published late on Monday a list on Twitter of 144 people held or reported as disappeared after thousands of Cubans took to the streets in dozens of cities and towns in a spontaneous outburst of public anger.

Droves of demonstrators chanted “Down with the dictatorship” in protests dispersed by police in some 40 different locations Sunday.

About 100 protesters again gathered in Havana Monday evening, shouting “Down with communism.”

The rallies were unlike any seen since the Cuban revolution. They came as the country endures its worst economic crisis in 30 years, with chronic shortages of electricity, food and medicine and a recent worsening of the coronavirus pandemic.

But Cuba’s foreign minister Bruno Rodriguez denied on Tuesday there had been a “social outbreak” on Sunday, insisting that the people still support “the revolution and their government.”

‘Economic suffocation’

Havana blamed the show of discontent on the United States pursuing a “policy of economic suffocation to provoke social unrest in the country.”

Cuba has been under US sanctions since 1962.

But Washington pointed the finger at “decades of repression” in the one-party communist state.

Cuba’s Catholic church called for “understanding” in a statement published on the Bishops Conference website, adding that “the people have the right to express their needs, desires and hopes.” The bishops also criticised the government’s “immobility that contributes to giving continuity to the problems, without solving them.”

Many Cubans were looking for loved ones.

“They took my daughter yesterday (Monday) and I have no news of her,” said a woman at a Havana police station.

A young man said his brother, 25, was taken from a neighbor’s house. “They gave him a tremendous blow, unjustly, and took him away,” he said.

A police official told worried family members that those arrested were taken to different detention centers, without providing details of who went where.

Julie Chung, acting assistant secretary in the US State Department’s Bureau for Western Hemisphere affairs, called in a tweet Monday for the “immediate release” of the detainees.

“Violence and detentions of Cuban protesters & disappearances of independent activists… remind us that Cubans pay dearly for freedom and dignity,” she said.

Those held included dissident Guillermo Farinas, former political prisoner Jose Daniel Ferrer and artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara.

‘Counterrevolutionary elements’

Granma, the official newspaper of Cuba’s governing Communist Party, said Tuesday that President Miguel Diaz-Canel had met with his retired predecessor Raul Castro and the rest of the communist party politburo on Sunday to discuss the protests.

They “analysed the provocations orchestrated by counterrevolutionary elements, organized and financed from the United States for destabilisation purposes,” Granma said.

Mobile internet was down in Cuba for much of Sunday and on Monday the authorities cut access to major social media platforms, according to London-based group NetBlocks.

The United States on Tuesday urged Cuba to end the internet restrictions and demonstrate “respect for the voice of the people by opening all means of communication, both online and offline.”

‘Treated like rubbish’

Among those arrested was theatre director Yunior Garcia, a leader of the 27N movement which was born after a much smaller protest by members of the art community on November 27 last year to demand free speech.

Garcia said on Facebook that he and a group of friends were beaten “and forcefully dragged and thrown into a truck.”

“We were treated like rubbish,” he said, adding they were taken to a detention center in Havana where they saw “dozens of young people” arrive.

He was released on Monday afternoon.

Also arrested on Monday was Camila Acosta, a Cuban correspondent for the Spanish newspaper ABC, its foreign editor said.

Spain’s foreign ministry on Tuesday urged the Cuban authorities to respect the right to protest and demanded that Cuba “immediately” release Acosta.

The last major protests, and the first since the revolution that brought Fidel Castro to power in 1959, were in 1994.

Those were also against economic hardship but were limited to the capital and quickly put down by police.

(AFP)

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Cho Ayaba gang targeting Amba fighters instead of backing them

14, July 2021

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Cho Ayaba gang targeting Amba fighters instead of backing them 0

A senior Southern Cameroon front line leader in South Africa has denounced the destabilizing role of the Cho Ayaba criminal group in Southern Cameroons, saying the so-called ADF fighters are targeting Ambazonia Restoration Forces and innocent Southern Cameroons civil servants instead of supporting them.

Speaking on Tuesday exclusively to Cameroon Concord News, Dr Patrick Ayuk urged Vice President Dabney Yerima of the Southern Cameroons Interim Government to call for an end to all ADF missions in Ground Zero and to push for a united command for all Restoration and Self Defense Groups.

“The ADF agents are not a pro-Independence fighting group, but rather a destabilizing factor helping the occupying French Cameroun army. To many in Ground Zero, Cho Ayaba’s small group of armed men seems to be inciting many other groups opposed to their existence in Ground Zero, which is a source of instability” Dr Patrick Ayuk said.

“Dr Cho Ayaba and his gang are not fulfilling Ambazonia Restoration duties of providing support to Amba fighters but are targeting Self Defense groups instead, especially the commanders loyal to the Interim Government” Dr Patrick Ayuk added.

Cameroon Concord News understands that Cho Ayaba wants to be leader at all cost with the pitiful argument that he has been advocating for the Southern Cameroon’s cause for 32 years. Longevity in the struggle is respected but solid personal achievements, integrity, leadership skills, and a clear vision are revered.

The people of Southern Cameroons want leaders who know where they are going. The Ambazonia people understand that 32 years in the struggle while making the same mistakes is akin to insanity. The nature of our emergency calls for much more than a village celebrity with a long history of divisiveness and fraud.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Francophone army soldiers get text messages asking them to stop serving Biya

14, July 2021

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Francophone army soldiers get text messages asking them to stop serving Biya 0

Scores of Cameroon government army soldiers have reportedly received messages via the WhatsApp text messaging service advising them to stop serving the Biya Beti Ewondo regime or get killed in action in Southern Cameroons.

Cameroon Intelligence Report sources in Yaoundé citing a secret correspondence to defense Minister Beti Assomo reported that French language messages from a source linked to the Southern Cameroons Interim Government had reached soldiers from several combat brigades in the Cameroon government army, and they were strongly believed to have been sent by the communications department of Vice President Dabney Yerima.

“Amba fighters can reach you and drop explosives at the area where your camps are located. Biya and his corrupt gang have abandoned you, so why should you die? You have your whole life ahead of you. Do not seek adventurism, or else death is your destiny,” the messages read.

At the heart of the crisis, which started in 2016, was a strike by teachers and lawyers, in the English-speaking regions of Cameroon. The professionals, supported by citizens of their areas, protested the unfair use of the French language and unjustified appointments of French speakers in their territories. Cameroon is passing for a bilingual country.

By 2017, the situation had spiralled out of control and developed into a fully-fledged separatist war. Both government forces and separatists are now bogged down in a conflict that observers say, can only be resolved through dialogue.

By Rita Akana in Yaounde

General No Pity: “Our Big Rubbergun will not leave any La Republique soldier alone”

14, July 2021

General No Pity: “Our Big Rubbergun will not leave any La Republique soldier alone” 0

The commander of the Southern Cameroons Self Defense Group in Mezam says Ambazonia Restoration Forces will celebrate the liberation of Southern Cameroons over the remains of French Cameroun soldiers.

“Our Big Rubbergun will not leave any La Republique army soldier alone and will celebrate the victory and liberation the Federal of Ambazonia over the remains of the Francophone occupying soldiers,” General No Pity said in an audio statement released in Bamenda on Monday addressing Cameroon government troops deployed to Southern Cameroons.

The remarks came after Cameroon government soldiers reportedly killed an innocent Southern Cameroonian in Bamenda last week following a surge in attacks against Cameroon government army positions in Southern Cameroons.

General No Pity also stressed that Ambazonia Restoration Forces are fairly capable of ending the presence of Francophone dominated Cameroon government occupation forces on Southern Cameroons soil.

The War in Southern Cameroons-Ambazonia has already claimed at least 40 000 lives, almost all of them civilian children, men and women, murdered by Cameroun troops in a series of targeted killings, organized massacres, and killings by fire in over 400 villages burnt down to ashes across Southern Cameroons-Ambazonia. Over half a million people have been forcibly displaced as refugees living in various countries and especially in refugee camps in Nigeria. Over another half a million people have become IDPs hiding in forests, caves and hills due to forced displacement. Additionally, over 1.5 million people are facing a humanitarian disaster.

Republique du Cameroun uses not only arson and the destruction of food, livestock, and crops in the fields as weapons of war. It also uses rape. Rape of Ambazonian women and girls by Cameroun troops is systematic and widespread. This agonizing situation is compounded by the fact that a high percentage of French Cameroun troops are HIV positive and also has other STDs. When they rape they infect the women and girls. This appears to be part of the genocide agenda of Cameroun. Reports are now emerging of scores of school girls raped, impregnated and infected by La Republique du Cameroun’s troops. This poses a nightmare not only of the HIV and STD infections but also of rampant teenage pregnancies. Cameroun troops have burnt down health facilities and killed health workers in rural and semi-urban areas. Accessing health facilities or health practitioners is a huge challenge for rural and semi-urban folks.

By Fon Lawrence

France to hold 2022 presidential election rounds on April 10 and 24

13, July 2021

France to hold 2022 presidential election rounds on April 10 and 24 0

The first round of France’s presidential election will be held on April 10 next year, with the second round scheduled on April 24, government spokesman Gabriel Attal said on Tuesday.

Legislative elections will take place on June 12 and June 19, he added.

The elections had been the subject of talks between France’s political parties and Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, whose ministry is responsible for preparing and organising the country’s elections.

The other set of dates up for discussion for the two presidential election rounds were a first round on April 17, which falls on Easter Sunday in 2022, and a runoff on May 1, the Labour Day holiday in France.

President Emmanuel Macron was elected to a five-year mandate on May 7, 2017, and took office on May 14.

(FRANCE 24 with REUTERS, AFP)

Taliban say do not want to fight inside Afghanistan’s cities

13, July 2021

Taliban say do not want to fight inside Afghanistan’s cities 0

The Taliban do not want to battle government forces inside Afghanistan’s cities, a senior insurgent leader said Tuesday, as the militants also warned Turkey against extending its troop presence.

The insurgents have swept through much of northern Afghanistan in recent weeks, and the government now holds little more than a constellation of provincial capitals that must largely be reinforced and resupplied by air.

On Tuesday, the head of a Taliban commission that oversees government forces who surrender to the insurgents urged the residents of cities to reach out to them.

“Now that the fighting from mountains and deserts has reached the doors of the cities, Mujahiddin don’t want fighting inside the city,” Amir Khan Muttaqi said in a message tweeted by a Taliban spokesman, using another term for the group.

“It is better… to use any possible channel to get in touch with our invitation and guidance commission,” he said, adding this would “prevent their cities from getting damaged”.

The strategy is one well-worn by the Taliban — particularly during their first rise to power in the 1990s — cutting off towns and district centres and getting elders to negotiate a surrender.

In a separate statement Tuesday, the Taliban said Turkey’s decision to provide security to Kabul airport when US-led forces leave was “reprehensible”.

“We consider stay of foreign forces in our homeland by any country under whatever pretext as occupation,” the group said, days after Ankara agreed with Washington to provide security for Kabul airport.

– Rapid changes –

As foreign forces wind up their withdrawal — due to be completed by August 31 — the situation on the ground is changing rapidly.

The top US general in Afghanistan relinquished his command Monday at a ceremony in the capital, the latest symbolic gesture bringing America’s longest war nearer to an end.

The pace of the pullout — and multiple offensives launched by the Taliban — have raised fears that Afghanistan’s security forces could be swiftly overwhelmed, particularly without vital US air support.

Around 650 American service members are expected to remain in Kabul, guarding Washington’s sprawling diplomatic compound.

But Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday he had agreed with the United States on the “scope” of how to secure Kabul airport.

Peace talks between the insurgents and the government supposedly taking place in Doha have largely fizzled out, and the Taliban now appear set on a complete military victory.

But claims by the hardline group to control 85 percent of the country are impossible to verify independently — and strongly disputed by the government.

Last week in Moscow, a visiting Taliban delegation said the group now controls more than half the country’s near-400 districts — a claim steadfastly rejected by security forces spokesman Ajmal Omar Shinwari.

Still, the situation has alarmed foreign nations, and on Sunday India became the latest country to evacuate some of its diplomats.

On Monday, Russia announced it was relocating some diplomats to Uzbekistan, while China also evacuated 210 nationals from Afghanistan.

Source: AFP

The Ugly Game: ‘Never apologise for who I am’ says Rashford after racist abuse

13, July 2021

The Ugly Game: ‘Never apologise for who I am’ says Rashford after racist abuse 0

England’s Marcus Rashford said he will “never apologise for who I am” in an emotional statement after receiving racist abuse following the side’s Euro 2020 final defeat.

The Manchester United forward was one of three players, along with Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka, who were attacked by racist trolls after missing penalties in Sunday’s 3-2 shoot-out defeat by Italy.

Rashford’s England team-mate Tyrone Mings criticised British Home Secretary Priti Patel, saying she had “stoked the fire” by defending those who booed players taking the knee.

Rashford has become a hero to many outside football by lobbying the British government to provide free school meals for under-privileged children during the coronavirus pandemic.

“I’m Marcus Rashford, 23-year-old black man from Withington and Wythenshawe, South Manchester. If I have nothing else I have that,” Rashford wrote in a statement on Twitter.

Rashford, who came on late in the second period of extra time, apologised for his penalty miss and said “something didn’t feel quite right” when he came to take the kick.

“It’s been playing in my head over and over since I struck the ball and there’s probably not a word to quite describe how it feels. Final. 55 years. 1 penalty. History. All I can say is sorry. I wish it had gone differently,” he wrote.

“I can take critique of my performance all day long, my penalty was not good enough, it should have gone in but I will never apologise for who I am and where I came from,” Rashford added.

– ‘Stoke the fire’ –

Images on social media showed a mural honouring Rashford in his hometown of Withington had been defaced before locals covered the hateful language with messages of support.

“Seeing the response in Withington had me on the verge of tears,” Rashford said.

He added that he was proud to have worn the England jersey during his side’s first major final appearance in 55 years, and grateful for the “brotherhood” that was created in the England camp.

Mings criticism is not the first time he has disagreed with Patel.

The Aston Villa star criticised her — after the opening Euro 2020 win over Croatia — for her remarks that taking the knee was “gesture politics”.

She also refused to condemn the England fans who booed the team for doing it.

Premier League teams have taken the knee since last year following the murder of George Floyd at the hands of a white police officer in the United States.

Patel had said on Monday the racial abuse of the three players was “disgusting” but it did not wash with Mings.

“You don’t get to stoke the fire at the beginning of the tournament by labelling our anti-racism message as ‘Gesture Politics’ and then pretend to be disgusted when the very thing we’re campaigning against, happens,” tweeted Mings.

Mings remarks received support from Patel’s fellow Conservative lawmaker and former defence minister Johnny Mercer.

“The painful truth is that this guy (Mings) is completely right,” Mercer tweeted.

“Very uncomfortable with the position we Conservatives are needlessly forcing ourselves into.

“Do I fight it or stay silent? Modern Conservatism was always so much more to me. We must not lose our way.”

England captain Harry Kane lashed out at those who had posted the racial slurs — following England manager Gareth Southgate who had said the abuse was “unforgivable”.

“Three lads who were brilliant all summer had the courage to step up and take a pen (penalty) when the stakes were high,” tweeted Kane.

“They deserve support and backing not the vile racist abuse they’ve had since last night (Sunday).

“If you abuse anyone on social media you’re not an England fan and we don’t want you.”

The racist attacks were strongly condemned by the English Football Association whose president, Prince William, said he was “sickened” by the abuse.

Source: AFP

Southern Cameroons Interim Gov’t committed to a political solution

13, July 2021

Southern Cameroons Interim Gov’t committed to a political solution 0

The Vice President of the Southern Cameroons Interim Government, Dabney Yerima has stressed that the people of Southern Cameroons are committed to a political solution aimed at preserving Southern Cameroon’s unity and territorial integrity.

During an Ambazonian town hall in South Africa dedicated to discussing the recent killing of Southern Cameroons academics by the Cameroon government military, Vice President Dabney Yerima emphasized that there was an urgent need for the two Cameroons to meet in a neutral country and discuss the terms of separation. Yerima added that Southern Cameroons firm principles cannot be compromised.

Vice President Dabney Yerima further stressed that the insistence of certain world powers to not listen to the voice of Southern Cameroonians and their Interim Government and to not change their governments’ wrong Southern Cameroons policies is bringing nothing but terror, chaos, instability and looting of Southern Cameroons resources by the criminal gangs running the political affairs in French Cameroun.

Dabney Yerima also referred to the on-going ghost town operation known popularly as “Kontry Sunday” saying that such mass public participation confirms Ambazonians commitment to their country’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, and independent national choices.

The War in Southern Cameroons-Ambazonia has already claimed at least 40 000 lives, almost all of them civilian children, men and women, murdered by Cameroun troops in a series of targeted killings, organized massacres, and killings by fire in over 400 villages burnt down to ashes across Southern Cameroons-Ambazonia. Over half a million people have been forcibly displaced as refugees living in various countries and especially in refugee camps in Nigeria. Over another half a million people have become IDPs hiding in forests, caves and hills due to forced displacement. Additionally, over 1.5 million people are facing a humanitarian disaster.

Republique du Cameroun uses not only arson and the destruction of food, livestock, and crops in the fields as weapons of war. It also uses rape. Rape of Ambazonian women and girls by Cameroun troops is systematic and widespread. This agonizing situation is compounded by the fact that a high percentage of French Cameroun troops are HIV positive and also has other STDs. When they rape they infect the women and girls. This appears to be part of the genocide agenda of Cameroun. Reports are now emerging of scores of school girls raped, impregnated and infected by La Republique du Cameroun’s troops. This poses a nightmare not only of the HIV and STD infections but also of rampant teenage pregnancies. Cameroun troops have burnt down health facilities and killed health workers in rural and semi-urban areas. Accessing health facilities or health practitioners is a huge challenge for rural and semi-urban folks.

By Isong Asu

Bamenda Killings: Cameroon military spokesman offers new lies, excuses to avoid liability

13, July 2021

Bamenda Killings: Cameroon military spokesman offers new lies, excuses to avoid liability 0

Cameroon government army spokesman Captain Cyrille Atonfack Nguemo has resorted to new falsehoods and fabrications to avoid accountability about the recent killings in Southern Cameroons.

Southern Cameroons has been in the throes of a military conflict for more than four years now and the violence has continued to claim both civilian and military lives.

In Bamenda last week, a young man was killed by soldiers in a neighborhood known as “Below Foncha” and the killing revolted young people in the city, sending thousands of them to the streets.

The latest killing including that of a physics teacher has resuscitated old demons, with many young people calling on the military to pack and leave their land.

The military check-point where the young man was gunned down has been dismantled by angry youths who say they were sick and tired of the military brutality that the country’s arrogant government has unleashed on the Southern Cameroonian population.

The killings will surely not be ending anytime soon.

Yaoundé and its military spokesperson are now blaming Ambazonia Self Defense Groups for the killings in Bamenda and Kumba, an allegation rejected by the Southern Cameroons Interim Government.

The Biya Francophone regime has erected a stone wall against international human rights groups pushing for a fact finding mission to Southern Cameroons and the Cameroon government military is   censoring all internal media outlets and it is involved in a multi-stage cover-up trying to conceal evidence of its genocidal campaign in Southern Cameroons.

The War in Southern Cameroons-Ambazonia has already claimed at least 40 000 lives, almost all of them civilian children, men and women, murdered by Cameroun troops in a series of targeted killings, organized massacres, and killings by fire in over 400 villages burnt down to ashes across Southern Cameroons-Ambazonia. Over half a million people have been forcibly displaced as refugees living in various countries and especially in refugee camps in Nigeria. Over another half a million people have become IDPs hiding in forests, caves and hills due to forced displacement. Additionally, over 1.5 million people are facing a humanitarian disaster.

Republique du Cameroun uses not only arson and the destruction of food, livestock, and crops in the fields as weapons of war. It also uses rape. Rape of Ambazonian women and girls by Cameroun troops is systematic and widespread. This agonizing situation is compounded by the fact that a high percentage of French Cameroun troops are HIV positive and also has other STDs. When they rape they infect the women and girls. This appears to be part of the genocide agenda of Cameroun. Reports are now emerging of scores of school girls raped, impregnated and infected by La Republique du Cameroun’s troops. This poses a nightmare not only of the HIV and STD infections but also of rampant teenage pregnancies. Cameroun troops have burnt down health facilities and killed health workers in rural and semi-urban areas. Accessing health facilities or health practitioners is a huge challenge for rural and semi-urban folks.

By Rita Akana

CPDM Crime Syndicate: Biya ratifies continental treaty for establishment of African Medicines Agency

12, July 2021

CPDM Crime Syndicate: Biya ratifies continental treaty for establishment of African Medicines Agency 0

Cameroonian president Paul Biya has signed the treaty for the establishment of the African Medicines Agency (AMA), a specialized organ of the African Union (AU), state broadcaster CRTV reported on Sunday.

The treaty for the establishment of the AMA was adopted by the AU in February 2019. Last week, Cameroon Senate approved a bill that authorized the country’s president to ratify the treaty.

The AMA should serve as the continental body that will govern the regulation of medicines and medical products on the African continent. It will regulate the access to safe, effective, good quality and affordable essential medicines and health technologies.

Source: Xinhuanet

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