Human Rights Watch - The African Mirror

Feb

04

2021

Angolan security forces kill protesters

NEWS

ANGOLAN authorities should immediately ensure a prompt, independent, and thorough investigation into the killing by security forces of at least 10 unarmed protesters on January 30, 2021 during a protest organized by the Lunda Tchokwe Protectorate Movement in Lunda Norte province, Human Rights Watch said today. Four witnesses told Human Rights Watch that Angolan security forces indiscriminately fired at protesters who had peacefully gathered to demand better public services, including water and electricity supply, in the diamond-rich town of Cafunfu. The Angolan police reported that 6 people were killed, more than 20 were injured, and 16 were detained after officers…

Feb

07

2021

By The African Mirror

International Criminal Court rules it has jurisdiction over Palestinian Territories

WORLD

THE International Criminal Court has ruled that it has jurisdiction over war crimes or atrocities committed in the Palestinian Territories, paving the way for a criminal investigation, despite Israeli objections. Judges said their decision was based on jurisdictional rules in the Hague-based court's founding documents and does not imply any attempt to determine statehood or legal borders. Israel, which is not a member of the court, has rejected its jurisdiction. The court's prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, said in December 2019 there was "a reasonable basis to believe that war crimes have been or are being committed in the West Bank, including…

Jul

21

2021

By The African Mirror

‘Kenya plan to help poor plagued by irregularities’

COVID-19

GEORGE OBULUTSA A Kenyan government programme intended to help the capital's poorest citizens weather the pandemic was crippled by irregularities including cronyism and benefited just a fraction of those in need, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Tuesday. President Uhuru Kenyatta announced the 10 billion-shilling ($92.51 million) cash transfer programme in May 2020, two months after the East African nation entered a strict lockdown. A report by the U.S.-based rights group found that officials in charge of enrolment frequently ignored eligibility criteria "and directed benefits to their relatives or friends, even in cases where they did not meet the criteria".…

Feb

27

2021

By The African Mirror

Cameroonian soldiers accused of mass rape

NEWS

JOSIANE KOUAGHEU CAMEROONIAN soldiers raped at least 20 women and killed a man in a raid on a village last year, Human Rights Watch (HRW) alleged on Friday, calling it one of the worst attacks by the army since an insurgency by Anglophone separatists began in 2016. Witnesses told the New York-based rights group that the attack on March 1, 2020, was a reprisal against civilians in the western village of Ebam suspected of collaborating with rebels seeking independence from the mostly Francophone state. Reached for comment, Cameroon's army spokesman dismissed the findings. "We have better things to do than…

May

26

2021

By The African Mirror

Governments urged to boost cash grants to end pandemic-fuelled child labour

HUMAN RIGHTS

KIM HARRISBERG FROM brick kilns to carpet factories, COVID-19 has pushed children as young as eight years old into dangerous and abusive jobs, rights groups have said, urging governments to roll out cash allowances to reduce child labour. Human Rights Watch and advocacy organisations in Ghana, Nepal and Uganda interviewed 81 children working in often risky settings, including gold mines, fisheries and construction sites, during the coronavirus pandemic. "The most shocking finding for me was the exploitation ... some children were paid in alcohol at stone quarries," said Angella Nabwowe Kasule, programmes director for the Ugandan charity Initiative for Social…