Congo
SA
decides not to host warlord Bemba - 16 August
The Hague, Netherlands : South Africa has turned down a request
from the International Criminal Court (ICC) to host former
Democratic Republic of Congo warlord Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo,
pending his trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The ICC's pre-trial chamber on Friday granted Bemba's
application for a conditional release. - IOL
website
Bemba
denied bail by world court - 4 September
The International Criminal Court has ruled that former Democratic
Republic of Congo vice-president Jean-Pierre Bemba will remain
behind bars pending an appeal against a court order for his
release. This lets South Africa off the hook for the time being.
Bemba had asked for sanctuary here when the court offered him
conditional bail. - Eye
Witness News website
Critical
issues in the Bemba confirmation decision
On 15 June 2009 the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued its
third confirmation decision against Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo, the
former president of the rebel group Mouvement de Libération du
Congo and commander-in-chief of its military wing, the Armée
de Libération du Congo. The decision constitutes a further
consolidation of the ICC case law and breaks new ground in some
important areas, particularly the law of crimes against humanity and
command responsibility. These issues are discussed and analysed in
this commentary, published in the Leiden Journal of International
Law. - Article by Kai Ambos on the Cambridge
University Press website
Tintin
'to be sued' for Congo book - 1 September
A Congolese accountant is to launch a lawsuit in France against
Tintin for racism, accusing judges in the cartoon hero's native
Belgium of trying to bury his case to protect a "national
symbol". Bienvenu Mbutu Mondondo, 41, is taking legal action
claiming Herge's controversial Tintin In The Congo is propaganda for
colonialism and amounts to "racism and xenophobia".
Mr Mbutu Mondondo launched a case in Belgium two years ago for
symbolic damages of one euro from Tintin's Belgian publishers
Moulinsart, and demanded the book be withdrawn from the market. - Telegraph
website
Ethiopia
Eritrea
to pay Ethiopia millions - 18 August
An international tribunal in The Hague has ruled that Eritrea will
have to pay Ethiopia millions of dollars in compensation for war
damages. Both were ordered to pay each other damages for the
1998-2000 border war, but the verdict leaves Eritrea with $10m (£6m)
more to pay. The ruling covers compensation for businesses and goods
lost and villages destroyed during the bitter conflict. - BBC
News website
Libya
Libya
called for Switzerland to be abolished - 4 September
Col Muammar Gaddafi's Libya proposed a UN motion calling for the
abolition of Switzerland after a dispute over the arrest of one of
the president's sons, it has emerged. The Alpine country should be
folded into France, Germany and Italy, according to the bizarre
proposal. However, the motion never came before the council
because it was dismissed as against the principals of the UN
charter, a spokesman for the multi-national body said. - Telegraph
website
Mali
Mali
protest against women's law - 23 August
Tens of thousands of people in Mali's capital, Bamako, have been
protesting against a new law which gives women equal rights in
marriage. The law, passed earlier this month, also strengthens
inheritance rights for women and children born out of wedlock. - BBC
News website
Mali
women's rights bill blocked - 27 August
The president of Mali has announced that he is not going to sign the
country's new family law, instead returning it to parliament for
review. Muslim groups have been protesting against the law, which
gives greater rights to women, ever since parliament adopted it at
the start of the month. President Amadou Toumani Toure said he was
sending the law back for the sake of national unity. Muslim leaders
have said the law is an attack on Islam and traditional values. - BBC
News website
Nigeria
Nigeria
oil rights grab 'illegal' - 20 August
Nigeria's high court has ruled that the government illegally
revoked exploration licences granted to a South Korean oil
consortium. The Korea National Oil Corporation (KNOC) had filed an
action demanding the restoration of two offshore licences, granted
in 2005. Nigeria called off the deal in January, alleging that the
consortium failed to make agreed payments. But the court said that
President Umaru Yar'Adua did not have such power. - BBC
News website
Sudan
Sudanese
woman spared whipping in trouser case - 7 September
A Sudanese woman journalist was on Monday spared a whipping for
wearing trousers, but a court instead fined Lubna Ahmed al-Hussein
500 Sudanese pounds ($200). "I won't pay. I'd rather go to
prison," Hussein told Agence France-Presse by telephone, though
her lawyers said they would try to persuade her to pay up. Speaking
as they emerged from the hearing which was barred to the press,
witnesses said the court had ruled that Hussein be jailed for a
month if she failed to pay the fine. - Mail
& Guardian website
Sudan
says Mbeki panel to recommend hybrid courts for Darfur crimes -
2 September
A commission established by the African Union (AU) this year to look
into ways to resolve the Darfur conflict in Western Sudan will
recommend homegrown justice mechanisms to look into war crime
issues, Sudanese officials said. The panel headed by the former
South African president Thabo Mbeki suggested a conference which
would include the government and opposition as well as rebel groups,
NGO’s and civilian administration in Darfur, the officials said. -
Sudan Tribune website
Zambia
'Shopaholic'
ex-president of Zambia cleared of corruption - 18 August
A court in Zambia yesterday acquitted the former president Frederick
Chiluba of looting the treasury while in office in a decision
greeted as a major setback to anti-corruption efforts across Africa.
The surprise verdict confounded expectations of a historic first
graft conviction for an African leader by the courts in his own
country – a move that would have reverberated throughout the
continent. - The Independent
website
Zimbabwe
Mugabe
pardons 1 500 prisoners to ease jail congestion - 3 September
Congestion in Zimbabwe's prisons is set to ease a bit after
President Robert Mugabe acceded to pleas by prison authorities to
pardon more than 1 500 prisoners. Mugabe granted the amnesty last
month, but the Zimbabwe Prison Service is still identifying 1 544
prisoners to release. Zimbabwe's prisons are congested because the
crime rate has escalated due to the country's economic collapse,
prison officials have said. - CNN
website
Zanu-PF
shakes off SADC tribunal - 3 September
Zimbabwe
has formally withdrawn from the jurisdiction of the
Windhoek-based SADC tribunal. Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa
said the
Harare
government was no longer bound by the tribunal's rulings
against grabbing white-owned farms. President Robert Mugabe and his
henchmen have ridiculed the tribunal's rulings against their
confiscation of white farms and the brutal thuggery of so-called war
veterans. - Eye Witness
News website