By Ronnie Kasrils
When Chief Albert Luthuli made a call for the international community to support a boycott of apartheid South Africa in 1958, the response was a widespread and dedicated movement that played a significant role in ending apartheid. Amid the sporting boycotts, the pledges of playwrights and artists, the actions by workers to stop South African goods from entering local markets and the constant pressure on states to withdraw their support for the apartheid regime, the role of academics also came to the fore.
One significant move was the resolution taken by 150 Irish academics not to accept academic posts or appointments in apartheid South Africa. In 1971, the council of Trinity College Dublin took a decision not to own shares in any company that traded or had a subsidiary that traded in the Republic. The council later resolved that the university would not retain any formal or institutional links with any academic or state institution in South Africa.
Almost four decades later, the campaign for boycott, divestment and sanctions is gaining ground again in South Africa, this time against Israeli apartheid.
Earlier this month, more than 100 academics across South Africa, from over 13 universities, pledged their support to a University of Johannesburg initiative for ending collaboration with the Israeli occupation. The campaign has since grown to include up to 200 supporters. The nationwide academic petition calling for the termination of an agreement between the University of Johannesburg and the Israeli Ben-Gurion University of the Negev has attracted widespread attention. With the recent endorsement of some of the leading voices in South Africa, such as Kader Asmal, Breyten Breytenbach, John Dugard, Antjie Krog, Mahmood Mamdani, Barney Pityana and Desmond Tutu, the statement confirms the strength of the boycott call in South Africa:
"As academics we acknowledge that all of our scholarly work takes place within larger social contexts – particularly in institutions committed to social transformation. South African institutions are under an obligation to revisit relationships forged during the apartheid era with other institutions that turned a blind eye to racial oppression in the name of 'purely scholarly' or 'scientific work'."
Israeli universities are not being targeted for boycott because of their ethnic or religious identity, but because of their complicity in the Israeli system of apartheid. As the academics who have supported the call clearly articulate in their statement, Ben-Gurion University maintains material links to the military occupation. Israel's attacks on Gaza in 2009, which saw the killing of more than 400 children, drew immediate and widespread international condemnation. Israel's violation of international law was further confirmed by South Africa's Justice Richard Goldstone in his report to the United Nations. Ben-Gurion University directly and indirectly supported these attacks, through the offering of scholarships and extra tuition to students who served in active combat units and by providing special grants to students who went on reserve duty for each day of service.
The principled position of academics in South Africa to distance themselves from institutions that support the occupation is a reflection of the advances already made in exposing that the Israeli regime is guilty of an illegal and immoral colonial project. South Africa's Human Sciences Research Council, in a response to an investigation commissioned by the South African government in 2009, issued a report confirming that the everyday structural racism and oppression imposed by Israel constitutes a regime of apartheid and settler colonialism similar to the one that shaped our lives in South Africa.
More recently, the international response to the shameful attack on the flotilla carrying medical supplies and other basic goods to the ghettoised population of Gaza was a sign of the erosion of Israel's legitimacy in the eyes of the international community. In South Africa, the recall of our ambassador to Israel and the issuing of one of the strongest forms of diplomatic condemnation, the démarche, to Israel's ambassador in Pretoria was a strong statement of recognition by the South African government that Israel's actions deserve our utmost contempt.
The campaign for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel has now launched in South Africa. Trade unions in South Africa have publicly committed their support; most notably with the action by South African Transport and Allied Workers Union dockworkers early last year to refuse offloading Israeli goods at Durban harbour – a commitment that was renewed in July this year.
The consumer boycott has also been gaining ground, including the launch of the recent public campaign by leading South African activists to boycott Ahava Dead Sea Cosmetics and to join the international movement to boycott Israeli products.
The boycott and sanctions campaign ultimately helped liberate both black and white South Africans. Palestinians and Israelis will similarly benefit from this international non-violent campaign – a campaign that all South Africans can take forward.
The petition to terminate the relationship between University of Johannesburg and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev can be accessed at www.ujpetition.com.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Monday, August 30, 2010
Outrage at UN Decision to Exonerate Shell for Oil Pollution in Niger Delta
Oil giant blamed for 10% of 9m barrels leaked in 40 years • Report claims rest of leaking oil caused by saboteurs
by John Vidal
A three-year investigation by the United Nations will almost entirely exonerate Royal Dutch Shell for 40 years of oil pollution in the Niger delta, causing outrage among communities who have long campaigned to force the multinational to clean up its spills and pay compensation.
Oil pipelines in Okrika, near Port Harcourt. The UNEP denies it has been influenced by Shell, which paid for its $10m, three-year study. (Photograph: Ed Kashi)
The $10m (£6.5m) investigation by the UN environment programme (UNEP), paid for by Shell, will say that only 10% of oil pollution in Ogoniland has been caused by equipment failures and company negligence, and concludes that the rest has come from local people illegally stealing oil and sabotaging company pipelines.
The shock disclosure was made by Mike Cowing, the head of a UN team of 100 people who have been studying environmental damage in the region.
Cowing said that the 300 known oil spills in the Ogoniland region of the delta caused massive damage, but added that 90% of the spills had been caused by "bunkering" gangs trying to steal oil.
His comments, in a briefing in Geneva last week, have caused deep offence among the families of Ken Saro-Wiwa and the eight other Ogoni leaders who were hanged by the Nigerian government in 1995 after a peaceful uprising against Shell's pollution.
With 606 oil fields, the Niger delta supplies 8.2% of the crude oil imported by the US. Life expectancy in its rural communities, half of which have no access to clean water, has fallen to little more than 40 over the past two generations.
Communities accept that bunkering has become rife in some areas of Ogoniland, but say this is a recent development and most of the historical pollution has been caused by Shell operations.
Last year, Amnesty calculated that the equivalent of at least 9m barrels of oil has been spilled in the delta over the past half a century, nearly twice as much as the 5m barrels unleashed in the Gulf of Mexico by the Deepwater Horizon disaster.
Tonight the investigation was accused of bias by Nigerians and environmental groups who said the study - paid for by Shell and commissioned by the Nigerian government, who both have massive oil interests in the region - was unbalanced.
Ben Ikari, an Ogoni activist, said: "Nobody from Ogoniland would be surprised, because the federal government of Nigeria and Shell are the same cabal that killed Ken Saro-Wiwa and others."
Ben Amunwa of London-based oil watchdog group Platform said: "The UNEP study relies on bogus figures from Shell and incomplete government records. Many Ogoni suspect that the report's focus on sabotage and bunkering will be used to justify military repression notorious in the Niger delta, where non-violent activists, including Ken Saro-Wiwa, were executed."
Cowing defended the UN report. In a series of emails seen by the Guardian, he said: "UNEP is not responsible for allocating responsibility for the number of spills being found in Ogoniland. Rather, we are focusing on the science. The figures referred to are those of the ministry of the environment and the department of petroleum resources.
"This is a Nigerian issue, not a UNEP issue. However, I would add that from our extensive field work throughout Ogoniland we have witnessed, on a daily basis, very large scale bunkering operations.
"It's very controversial. We cannot say whether a particular spill is from one cause or another. Our observation is that there is a serious [bunkering ] problem. I am being seen to be siding with the oil companies, but I am not.
"We were provided with the official spill site list. This is given by the oil companies themselves but is endorsed by the [government] agencies. We are not on the side of the oil companies."
He denied the UN was being influenced by Shell or the government. "We believe that it is correct that Shell [Nigeria] fund the study, as this is in compliance with the internationally accepted norm of the 'polluter pays'. No party ... will be able to influence the science."
The full report, due to be published by December, is expected to warn of an environmental catastrophe.
"This is not directly comparable to the spills that occurred in the Gulf [of Mexico]," said Cowing. "But we have a serious and profound problem."
Tonight, environmental groups expressed shock at the report. Nnimmo Bassey, chair of Friends the Earth International and director of Environmental Rights Action, Nigeria's leading environment group, said: "It is incredible that the UN says that 90% is caused by communities. The UNEP assessment is being paid for by Shell. Their conclusions may be tailored to satisfy their client. We monitor spills regularly and our observation is the direct opposite of what UNEP is planning to report."
A June 2009 report by Amnesty International called the damage in the delta a "human rights tragedy", and blamed the government and oil firms, mainly Shell, for years of pollution. It recognised that oil bunkering had caused spills, but said "the scale of this problem is not clear".
The UN report saw more than 1,000 soil and water tests and other investigations carried out, and hundreds of communities consulted. The data generated is the first step towards a massive clean-up.
Oil production in the delta started during the 1950s, but was suspended in the 90s due to unrest. The oil fields in Ogoniland have since remained dormant.
by John Vidal
A three-year investigation by the United Nations will almost entirely exonerate Royal Dutch Shell for 40 years of oil pollution in the Niger delta, causing outrage among communities who have long campaigned to force the multinational to clean up its spills and pay compensation.
Oil pipelines in Okrika, near Port Harcourt. The UNEP denies it has been influenced by Shell, which paid for its $10m, three-year study. (Photograph: Ed Kashi)
The $10m (£6.5m) investigation by the UN environment programme (UNEP), paid for by Shell, will say that only 10% of oil pollution in Ogoniland has been caused by equipment failures and company negligence, and concludes that the rest has come from local people illegally stealing oil and sabotaging company pipelines.
The shock disclosure was made by Mike Cowing, the head of a UN team of 100 people who have been studying environmental damage in the region.
Cowing said that the 300 known oil spills in the Ogoniland region of the delta caused massive damage, but added that 90% of the spills had been caused by "bunkering" gangs trying to steal oil.
His comments, in a briefing in Geneva last week, have caused deep offence among the families of Ken Saro-Wiwa and the eight other Ogoni leaders who were hanged by the Nigerian government in 1995 after a peaceful uprising against Shell's pollution.
With 606 oil fields, the Niger delta supplies 8.2% of the crude oil imported by the US. Life expectancy in its rural communities, half of which have no access to clean water, has fallen to little more than 40 over the past two generations.
Communities accept that bunkering has become rife in some areas of Ogoniland, but say this is a recent development and most of the historical pollution has been caused by Shell operations.
Last year, Amnesty calculated that the equivalent of at least 9m barrels of oil has been spilled in the delta over the past half a century, nearly twice as much as the 5m barrels unleashed in the Gulf of Mexico by the Deepwater Horizon disaster.
Tonight the investigation was accused of bias by Nigerians and environmental groups who said the study - paid for by Shell and commissioned by the Nigerian government, who both have massive oil interests in the region - was unbalanced.
Ben Ikari, an Ogoni activist, said: "Nobody from Ogoniland would be surprised, because the federal government of Nigeria and Shell are the same cabal that killed Ken Saro-Wiwa and others."
Ben Amunwa of London-based oil watchdog group Platform said: "The UNEP study relies on bogus figures from Shell and incomplete government records. Many Ogoni suspect that the report's focus on sabotage and bunkering will be used to justify military repression notorious in the Niger delta, where non-violent activists, including Ken Saro-Wiwa, were executed."
Cowing defended the UN report. In a series of emails seen by the Guardian, he said: "UNEP is not responsible for allocating responsibility for the number of spills being found in Ogoniland. Rather, we are focusing on the science. The figures referred to are those of the ministry of the environment and the department of petroleum resources.
"This is a Nigerian issue, not a UNEP issue. However, I would add that from our extensive field work throughout Ogoniland we have witnessed, on a daily basis, very large scale bunkering operations.
"It's very controversial. We cannot say whether a particular spill is from one cause or another. Our observation is that there is a serious [bunkering ] problem. I am being seen to be siding with the oil companies, but I am not.
"We were provided with the official spill site list. This is given by the oil companies themselves but is endorsed by the [government] agencies. We are not on the side of the oil companies."
He denied the UN was being influenced by Shell or the government. "We believe that it is correct that Shell [Nigeria] fund the study, as this is in compliance with the internationally accepted norm of the 'polluter pays'. No party ... will be able to influence the science."
The full report, due to be published by December, is expected to warn of an environmental catastrophe.
"This is not directly comparable to the spills that occurred in the Gulf [of Mexico]," said Cowing. "But we have a serious and profound problem."
Tonight, environmental groups expressed shock at the report. Nnimmo Bassey, chair of Friends the Earth International and director of Environmental Rights Action, Nigeria's leading environment group, said: "It is incredible that the UN says that 90% is caused by communities. The UNEP assessment is being paid for by Shell. Their conclusions may be tailored to satisfy their client. We monitor spills regularly and our observation is the direct opposite of what UNEP is planning to report."
A June 2009 report by Amnesty International called the damage in the delta a "human rights tragedy", and blamed the government and oil firms, mainly Shell, for years of pollution. It recognised that oil bunkering had caused spills, but said "the scale of this problem is not clear".
The UN report saw more than 1,000 soil and water tests and other investigations carried out, and hundreds of communities consulted. The data generated is the first step towards a massive clean-up.
Oil production in the delta started during the 1950s, but was suspended in the 90s due to unrest. The oil fields in Ogoniland have since remained dormant.
World Bank Land Grab Report Under Fire
July 29, 2010, 8:21 AM ET
Source: Wall Street Journal
The World Bank has prepared a report on massive investments into developing world agriculture, a practice shorthanded as land grabbing.
The report is due for publication next month, but leaks are already getting out, and causing a stir among Brussels’ huge development activist community.
Amid the food and land bubble leading up to 2008, African land became the target of big corporations and sovereign wealth funds.
Most famously, Daewoo Logistics Corp. in 2008 was able to get a 99-year lease on a spread of land in Madagascar as big as Qatar, a deal that was later overturned after a coup.
The World Bank report criticizes land grabbing for not meshing with proper development strategies and leading to conflict.
Development advocates are up in arms about the Bank’s handling of the report, which say flatly contradicts the Bank’s own policy of encouraging international trade and investment. That’s why the bank proposes releasing it at the height of the summer, when noone will be watching, they claim.
In a phone interview, Olivier de Schutter, a Belgian who has been U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food since 2008, explained the outrage.
“The World Bank encourages these investments,” he said. “They argue it’s a solution for the lack of equipment, the lack of storage facilities in the development world.”
“Investment is needed,” continued Mr. de Schutter, who teaches at the University of Louvain in Belgium and Columbia Unversity. “But not investment under any conditions. You don’t want to encourage or allow a market for speculators.”
The arrival of big outside investors “often pushes the original land users off the land,” he said. “It’s an important consequence for communities who have no legal titles.”
His goal, and that of other development activists, he said, is to raise awareness about the land grab issue. “The World Bank is a complex animal, it’s not going to change right away.”
Still, he added, “this report is embarrassing for the Bank, and that’s why they’re releasing it in the middle of summer.”
A World Bank official said the Washington-based institution would never seek to muffle the work and findings of its researchers.
Source: Wall Street Journal
The World Bank has prepared a report on massive investments into developing world agriculture, a practice shorthanded as land grabbing.
The report is due for publication next month, but leaks are already getting out, and causing a stir among Brussels’ huge development activist community.
Amid the food and land bubble leading up to 2008, African land became the target of big corporations and sovereign wealth funds.
Most famously, Daewoo Logistics Corp. in 2008 was able to get a 99-year lease on a spread of land in Madagascar as big as Qatar, a deal that was later overturned after a coup.
The World Bank report criticizes land grabbing for not meshing with proper development strategies and leading to conflict.
Development advocates are up in arms about the Bank’s handling of the report, which say flatly contradicts the Bank’s own policy of encouraging international trade and investment. That’s why the bank proposes releasing it at the height of the summer, when noone will be watching, they claim.
In a phone interview, Olivier de Schutter, a Belgian who has been U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food since 2008, explained the outrage.
“The World Bank encourages these investments,” he said. “They argue it’s a solution for the lack of equipment, the lack of storage facilities in the development world.”
“Investment is needed,” continued Mr. de Schutter, who teaches at the University of Louvain in Belgium and Columbia Unversity. “But not investment under any conditions. You don’t want to encourage or allow a market for speculators.”
The arrival of big outside investors “often pushes the original land users off the land,” he said. “It’s an important consequence for communities who have no legal titles.”
His goal, and that of other development activists, he said, is to raise awareness about the land grab issue. “The World Bank is a complex animal, it’s not going to change right away.”
Still, he added, “this report is embarrassing for the Bank, and that’s why they’re releasing it in the middle of summer.”
A World Bank official said the Washington-based institution would never seek to muffle the work and findings of its researchers.
ICTR Defense Lawyers Condemn Murder of ICTR Lawyer Mwaikusa: Continuing Threats from Rwandan Government
ARUSHA, TZ --The Bureau of the ICTR Association des Avocats de la Defense (ADAD), notes with sadness and alarm the murder of our ICTR colleague, University of Dar es Salaam Law Professor Jwani Mwaikusa, who was shot to death at his home on July 14. Professor Mwaikusa had recently prevented the transfer of ICTR defendants to Rwanda on “lack of fair trial” grounds, and announced the appeal of his client’s July 3 conviction.
Our colleague’s murder is not an isolated incident. Within the past month, a prominent Rwandan opposition journalist was also shot to death in front of his home; a former Rwandan general survived an apparent assassination attempt in front of his home in South Africa, where he is seeking asylum; the de-capitated body of the Rwandan Green Party Vice-president was found near his abandoned car and, the Party’s President has been publicly threatened with assassination.
Hundreds of potential Rwandan opposition candidates and supporters have been arrested or disappeared. Presidential candidate Victoire Ingabire was arrested for suggesting that both Tutsi and Hutu were victims during the 1990-94 civil war and genocide, and her Dutch, U.S. and Rwandan lawyers were also arrested.
The Mwaikusa murder also follows the illegal arrest of other lawyers. U.S. Law Professor Peter Erlinder was arrested in late May on “genocide-denial” charges based on his public statements arising from his work in the ICTR Military 1 Trial, in which four former senior military officers were acquitted of “genocide conspiracy” charges in February 2009, and his representation of Madame Ingabire. ICTR defense lawyers refused to participate in proceedings after his arrest, and he was released after an international campaign.
But, the Rwandan government refuses to recognize meaningful UN-granted immunity for Erlinder or other ICTR defense counsel. Defense lawyer Peter Robinson (a former Assistant U.S. Attorney) has asked to withdraw from the ICTR representation because a meaningful defense is not possible, under current conditions. Other ICTR defense attorneys are considering similar measures.
Rwandan government threats to ICTR defense counsel are also not isolated incidents. In 2006, ICTR defense lawyer Me. Gakwaya was arrested on a Rwandan “genocide” warrant when he arrived at the ICTR to represent his client and, although he was eventually released, he was forced to end his ICTR work. Many other defense team members have been forced to give up ICTR work, because of threats, or arrest, by the Rwanda government. The Erlinder arrest, Mwaikusa murder and continuing threats against defense team members make clear that the ICTR cannot guarantee the safety of defense team members, anywhere in Africa.
In addition, during the past-2 months credible media reports have documented the systematic withholding of evidence helpful to the defense by the ICTR Prosecutor, which further deepens our concern because only the losing side in the Rwanda civil war has been prosecuted at the ICTR. The ADAD Bureau is deeply concerned that the impossibility of meaningful defense at the ICTR has called into question the legitimacy of the ICTR, itself, an open question.
ADAD calls on the UN Security Council to ensure the safety of ICTR defense teams; to undertake an independent investigation of the Mwaikuza murder; and, to re-establish the integrity of the Tribunal by fully disclosing evidence of crimes committed by both the former and current Rwandan government .
- 30 -
Prof. Peter Erlinder
Wm. Mitchell College of Law
St. Paul, MN. USA
651-290-6384
Our colleague’s murder is not an isolated incident. Within the past month, a prominent Rwandan opposition journalist was also shot to death in front of his home; a former Rwandan general survived an apparent assassination attempt in front of his home in South Africa, where he is seeking asylum; the de-capitated body of the Rwandan Green Party Vice-president was found near his abandoned car and, the Party’s President has been publicly threatened with assassination.
Hundreds of potential Rwandan opposition candidates and supporters have been arrested or disappeared. Presidential candidate Victoire Ingabire was arrested for suggesting that both Tutsi and Hutu were victims during the 1990-94 civil war and genocide, and her Dutch, U.S. and Rwandan lawyers were also arrested.
The Mwaikusa murder also follows the illegal arrest of other lawyers. U.S. Law Professor Peter Erlinder was arrested in late May on “genocide-denial” charges based on his public statements arising from his work in the ICTR Military 1 Trial, in which four former senior military officers were acquitted of “genocide conspiracy” charges in February 2009, and his representation of Madame Ingabire. ICTR defense lawyers refused to participate in proceedings after his arrest, and he was released after an international campaign.
But, the Rwandan government refuses to recognize meaningful UN-granted immunity for Erlinder or other ICTR defense counsel. Defense lawyer Peter Robinson (a former Assistant U.S. Attorney) has asked to withdraw from the ICTR representation because a meaningful defense is not possible, under current conditions. Other ICTR defense attorneys are considering similar measures.
Rwandan government threats to ICTR defense counsel are also not isolated incidents. In 2006, ICTR defense lawyer Me. Gakwaya was arrested on a Rwandan “genocide” warrant when he arrived at the ICTR to represent his client and, although he was eventually released, he was forced to end his ICTR work. Many other defense team members have been forced to give up ICTR work, because of threats, or arrest, by the Rwanda government. The Erlinder arrest, Mwaikusa murder and continuing threats against defense team members make clear that the ICTR cannot guarantee the safety of defense team members, anywhere in Africa.
In addition, during the past-2 months credible media reports have documented the systematic withholding of evidence helpful to the defense by the ICTR Prosecutor, which further deepens our concern because only the losing side in the Rwanda civil war has been prosecuted at the ICTR. The ADAD Bureau is deeply concerned that the impossibility of meaningful defense at the ICTR has called into question the legitimacy of the ICTR, itself, an open question.
ADAD calls on the UN Security Council to ensure the safety of ICTR defense teams; to undertake an independent investigation of the Mwaikuza murder; and, to re-establish the integrity of the Tribunal by fully disclosing evidence of crimes committed by both the former and current Rwandan government .
- 30 -
Prof. Peter Erlinder
Wm. Mitchell College of Law
St. Paul, MN. USA
651-290-6384
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Guinea protests over 'rigged polls'
Around 3,000 people marched in Conakry to protest the election results [AFP]
Police in Guinea have fired teargas at thousands of people marching against alleged fraud in last month's first round of presidential elections.
The protest took place in the capital Conakry on Monday, in defiance of a government ban on demonstrations.
Cellou Dalein Diallo, the former prime minister, won the June 27 election with nearly 40 per cent of the vote and is set to go forward into a runoff with second-placed Alpha Conde on July 18.
But losing parties including supporters of Sidya Toure, another ex-prime minister, say they have evidence of rigging.
On Monday a crowd of around 3,000 people, largely composed of women, marched in front of the electoral commission and the supreme court chanting "Sidya was cheated" and "we want Sidya for the second round".
Irregularities
Toure missed out on a place in a runoff vote to be the west African country's first freely elected president, after gaining 15.60 per cent of the first-round vote, according to provisional results.
Diallo scored 39.72 per cent and Conde 20.67 per cent.
Many of the initial 24 candidates have alleged irregularities in voting and they have eight days to contest the results, according to electoral commission rules.
The commission has itself admitted "many cases of fraud".
Over three million Guineans, 77 per cent of registered voters, participated in the country's first democratic election since independence from France in 1958 in a bid to end half a century of civilian and military dictatorships.
Police in Guinea have fired teargas at thousands of people marching against alleged fraud in last month's first round of presidential elections.
The protest took place in the capital Conakry on Monday, in defiance of a government ban on demonstrations.
Cellou Dalein Diallo, the former prime minister, won the June 27 election with nearly 40 per cent of the vote and is set to go forward into a runoff with second-placed Alpha Conde on July 18.
But losing parties including supporters of Sidya Toure, another ex-prime minister, say they have evidence of rigging.
On Monday a crowd of around 3,000 people, largely composed of women, marched in front of the electoral commission and the supreme court chanting "Sidya was cheated" and "we want Sidya for the second round".
Irregularities
Toure missed out on a place in a runoff vote to be the west African country's first freely elected president, after gaining 15.60 per cent of the first-round vote, according to provisional results.
Diallo scored 39.72 per cent and Conde 20.67 per cent.
Many of the initial 24 candidates have alleged irregularities in voting and they have eight days to contest the results, according to electoral commission rules.
The commission has itself admitted "many cases of fraud".
Over three million Guineans, 77 per cent of registered voters, participated in the country's first democratic election since independence from France in 1958 in a bid to end half a century of civilian and military dictatorships.
Arrests made over Uganda bombings
Andrew Simmons reports on the destruction in Kampala and the president's response
Ugandan authorities have made a number of arrests in connection with explosions at two sites in Kampala that left at least 74 people dead.
Kale Kayihura, the inspector-general of police, said on Tuesday that investigators had also found a unexploded suicide bomb belt at a third site, a discotheque, in the capital.
Somalia's al-Shabab group has said it carried out the attacks on Sunday.
"We have established that what was found at the discotheque was in fact a suicide vest, and it could also be used as an IED [improvised explosive device]," Kayihura said.
The vest, laden with explosives and fitted with a detonator, was found on Monday, packed in a laptop bag at a club in the southwestern Kampala district of Makindye.
"It's possible that the person who was supposed to do this was [a coward] because the system was intact," he said.
One blast hit an Ethiopian restaurant in the south of the city on Sunday, while the other occurred at a rugby sports club as people watched the World Cup final.
Al-Shabab statement
The near-simultaneous attacks on Sunday were the first time the group, which has carried out multiple suicide attacks inside Somalia, has struck outside of the country.
"Al-Shabab was behind the two blasts in Uganda," Sheik Ali Mohamud Rage, the group's spokesperson, announced in Mogadishu.
"We thank the mujahideens that carried out the attack. We are sending a message to Uganda and Burundi, if they do not take out their Amisom [African Union Mission in Somalia] troops from Somalia, blasts will continue and it will happen."
INTERACT
Were you at the scene of the Kampala attacks?
Send us your photos, video and personal accounts
Uganda and Burundi currently have peacekeepers in Somalia as part of a stabilisation mission supported by the African Union.
"[Al-Shabab's] strategy is to undermine getting troops into Somalia through attacks like this," Simmons said.
Hussein Mohammed Noor, a Somalia analyst, said the Ethiopian restaurant was likely targeted because of "Ethiopia's involvement in Somalia".
However, he told Al Jazeera that these attacks were unlikely to make African countries reconsider sending troops to Somalia.
Lieutenant-Colonel Felix Kulaigye, a Ugandan army spokesman, said: "Al-Shabab is the reason why we should stay in Somalia. We have to pacify Somalia."
Kayihura that the attacks, which took place amid large crowds at the two locations, could have been carried out by suicide bombers.
"These bombs were definitely targeting World Cup crowds," he said.
Severed head found
Investigators reportedly found the severed head of a Somali national at the scene of one of the blasts.
Officials said 60 Ugandans, nine Ethiopians or Eritreans, one Irish woman, and one Asian were also among those killed.
Two people could not be identified. At least 85 people were wounded.
The blasts had 'all the hallmarks' of al-Shabab
The attacks left scores of football fans reeling in shock.
"We were watching soccer here and then when there were three minutes to the end of the match an explosion came ... and it was so loud," Juma Seiko, who was at the Kampala Rugby Club, said.
Hassan Isilow, a Somali analyst living in Kampala, said that Somalis in Uganda feared reprisals after the claims that al-Shabab launched the attacks.
"There is fear within the Somali community at the moment," he said. "People are in panic."
"[Somalis] own lots of businesses around the city and most of them are not working today."
Ramtane Lamamra, the AU commissioner for peace and security, condemned the attack "in the strongest possible terms".
"The attacks prove that terrorists can hit anywhere, including Africa," he said.
Lamamra said that the body's annual meeting of heads of state would go ahead in Kampala next week.
Ugandan authorities have made a number of arrests in connection with explosions at two sites in Kampala that left at least 74 people dead.
Kale Kayihura, the inspector-general of police, said on Tuesday that investigators had also found a unexploded suicide bomb belt at a third site, a discotheque, in the capital.
Somalia's al-Shabab group has said it carried out the attacks on Sunday.
"We have established that what was found at the discotheque was in fact a suicide vest, and it could also be used as an IED [improvised explosive device]," Kayihura said.
The vest, laden with explosives and fitted with a detonator, was found on Monday, packed in a laptop bag at a club in the southwestern Kampala district of Makindye.
"It's possible that the person who was supposed to do this was [a coward] because the system was intact," he said.
One blast hit an Ethiopian restaurant in the south of the city on Sunday, while the other occurred at a rugby sports club as people watched the World Cup final.
Al-Shabab statement
The near-simultaneous attacks on Sunday were the first time the group, which has carried out multiple suicide attacks inside Somalia, has struck outside of the country.
"Al-Shabab was behind the two blasts in Uganda," Sheik Ali Mohamud Rage, the group's spokesperson, announced in Mogadishu.
"We thank the mujahideens that carried out the attack. We are sending a message to Uganda and Burundi, if they do not take out their Amisom [African Union Mission in Somalia] troops from Somalia, blasts will continue and it will happen."
INTERACT
Were you at the scene of the Kampala attacks?
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Uganda and Burundi currently have peacekeepers in Somalia as part of a stabilisation mission supported by the African Union.
"[Al-Shabab's] strategy is to undermine getting troops into Somalia through attacks like this," Simmons said.
Hussein Mohammed Noor, a Somalia analyst, said the Ethiopian restaurant was likely targeted because of "Ethiopia's involvement in Somalia".
However, he told Al Jazeera that these attacks were unlikely to make African countries reconsider sending troops to Somalia.
Lieutenant-Colonel Felix Kulaigye, a Ugandan army spokesman, said: "Al-Shabab is the reason why we should stay in Somalia. We have to pacify Somalia."
Kayihura that the attacks, which took place amid large crowds at the two locations, could have been carried out by suicide bombers.
"These bombs were definitely targeting World Cup crowds," he said.
Severed head found
Investigators reportedly found the severed head of a Somali national at the scene of one of the blasts.
Officials said 60 Ugandans, nine Ethiopians or Eritreans, one Irish woman, and one Asian were also among those killed.
Two people could not be identified. At least 85 people were wounded.
The blasts had 'all the hallmarks' of al-Shabab
The attacks left scores of football fans reeling in shock.
"We were watching soccer here and then when there were three minutes to the end of the match an explosion came ... and it was so loud," Juma Seiko, who was at the Kampala Rugby Club, said.
Hassan Isilow, a Somali analyst living in Kampala, said that Somalis in Uganda feared reprisals after the claims that al-Shabab launched the attacks.
"There is fear within the Somali community at the moment," he said. "People are in panic."
"[Somalis] own lots of businesses around the city and most of them are not working today."
Ramtane Lamamra, the AU commissioner for peace and security, condemned the attack "in the strongest possible terms".
"The attacks prove that terrorists can hit anywhere, including Africa," he said.
Lamamra said that the body's annual meeting of heads of state would go ahead in Kampala next week.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Rwanda: Kagame tortures opposition, arrests Ingabire's new lawyer
By Ann Garrison.
Rwandan opposition leaders Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza and Frank Habineza report ongoing torture of opposition party members arrested in Kigali on June 24th, 2010, as they attempted to protest exclusion from this year's presidential election.
Ingabire is the presidential candidate of Rwanda's FDU-Inkingi Party, Habineza of the Democratic Green Party of Rwanda.
Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza, presidential candidate of Rwanda's FDU-Inkingi Party, whom Peter Erlnder flew to Rwanda to defend against charges he is now facing himself. She has been warned that she will be arrested again if she continues to speak to the press, and now her Rwandan lawyer, Theogene Muhayeyezu, has been arrested as well.
Ingabire also reports that her Rwandan lawyer, Mr. Theogene Muhayeyezu, has been arrested, tortured, and detained incommunicado. Yesterday her former U.S. lawyer, Peter Erlinder, and his Kenyan lawyers Kennedy Ogeto and Otachi Gershom, addressed the Chicago Chapter of the National Lawyers' Guild, about the meaning of Erlinder's three weeks incarceration in Rwanda after traveling there to defend Ingabire against charges of "genocide ideology," which he called "trumped up charges" and "thought crime." Rwanda's genocide ideology statutes ban disagreement with the official version of the 1994 Rwanda Genocide, or, many say, disagreement with sitting President Paul Kagame.
Rwandan Police arrested hundreds of opposition party members on June 24th, including presidential candidate Bernard Ntaganda. Ntaganda had called for the day's protest, saying that "silence is acceptance" of the opposition's exclusion from the election. He remains in prison, now on a hunger strike, and two other P.S. Imberakuri Party officers, including the Secretary General, have
Parti Social-Imberakuri
Rwandan Police arrested Bernard Ntaganda, presidential candidate of the dissident wing of Rwanda's Parti Social-Imberakuri, on the morning of April 24th, before he could leave his home to attend a protest of the opposition's exclusion from the election, which he had called, saying "Silence is acceptance."
No candidates who've been allowed to run against Kagame in the election now heading for August 9th polls have the remotest chance of defeating him; most observers describe them as faux candidates who agreed to run so as to make Kagame's re-election look credible. Banned Umuseso Newspaper Editors Didas Gasana and Charles Kabonero, both of whom have fled to Uganda to escape imprisonment themselves, say that election observers from the UK and the US can do no more than validate a sham.
Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza of the United Democratic Forces, reports, from Kigali, that the opposition members still under arrest are being held in cells, handcuffed day and night, and tortured, with the following consequences:
"1. Ms. Alice MUHIRWA, the FDU-Inkingi Party Treasurer, is still bleeding due to boots kicks into her stomach. She has been denied access to a medical doctor.
2. Mr. Sylvain SIBOMANA, the FDU Secretary General, needs an urgent X-Ray after being beaten hard several times with legs and arms tied behind his back.
3. Mr. Theoneste SIBOMANA, FDU Party Leader in Kigali, needs to be evaluated for head injury, possibly a concussion, after his head was banged on the wall many times.
4. Maitre Theogene MUHAYEYEZU, the new defense lawyer for Ms. Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza, the party's chair and presidential candidate, has been tortured after arrest and detained incommunicado.
5. The medical condition of the party member Martin NTAVUKA is not known."
The US Embassy is next door to Rwandan President Paul Kagame's offices, and the U.S.A. and the UK are the dominant foreign powers in the region, and the most generous donors to the Rwandan government. Opposition leaders Habineza and Ingabire have both called on the U.S. and the UK to make real democracy and respect for human rights in Rwanda a condition of their ongoing support.
Umuseso Editor Didas Gasana said, "I would like the American people to know that their tax dollars are not going to build hospitals and schools, but to support one of the most brutal dictatorships in Africa."
Rwandan opposition leaders Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza and Frank Habineza report ongoing torture of opposition party members arrested in Kigali on June 24th, 2010, as they attempted to protest exclusion from this year's presidential election.
Ingabire is the presidential candidate of Rwanda's FDU-Inkingi Party, Habineza of the Democratic Green Party of Rwanda.
Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza, presidential candidate of Rwanda's FDU-Inkingi Party, whom Peter Erlnder flew to Rwanda to defend against charges he is now facing himself. She has been warned that she will be arrested again if she continues to speak to the press, and now her Rwandan lawyer, Theogene Muhayeyezu, has been arrested as well.
Ingabire also reports that her Rwandan lawyer, Mr. Theogene Muhayeyezu, has been arrested, tortured, and detained incommunicado. Yesterday her former U.S. lawyer, Peter Erlinder, and his Kenyan lawyers Kennedy Ogeto and Otachi Gershom, addressed the Chicago Chapter of the National Lawyers' Guild, about the meaning of Erlinder's three weeks incarceration in Rwanda after traveling there to defend Ingabire against charges of "genocide ideology," which he called "trumped up charges" and "thought crime." Rwanda's genocide ideology statutes ban disagreement with the official version of the 1994 Rwanda Genocide, or, many say, disagreement with sitting President Paul Kagame.
Rwandan Police arrested hundreds of opposition party members on June 24th, including presidential candidate Bernard Ntaganda. Ntaganda had called for the day's protest, saying that "silence is acceptance" of the opposition's exclusion from the election. He remains in prison, now on a hunger strike, and two other P.S. Imberakuri Party officers, including the Secretary General, have
Parti Social-Imberakuri
Rwandan Police arrested Bernard Ntaganda, presidential candidate of the dissident wing of Rwanda's Parti Social-Imberakuri, on the morning of April 24th, before he could leave his home to attend a protest of the opposition's exclusion from the election, which he had called, saying "Silence is acceptance."
No candidates who've been allowed to run against Kagame in the election now heading for August 9th polls have the remotest chance of defeating him; most observers describe them as faux candidates who agreed to run so as to make Kagame's re-election look credible. Banned Umuseso Newspaper Editors Didas Gasana and Charles Kabonero, both of whom have fled to Uganda to escape imprisonment themselves, say that election observers from the UK and the US can do no more than validate a sham.
Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza of the United Democratic Forces, reports, from Kigali, that the opposition members still under arrest are being held in cells, handcuffed day and night, and tortured, with the following consequences:
"1. Ms. Alice MUHIRWA, the FDU-Inkingi Party Treasurer, is still bleeding due to boots kicks into her stomach. She has been denied access to a medical doctor.
2. Mr. Sylvain SIBOMANA, the FDU Secretary General, needs an urgent X-Ray after being beaten hard several times with legs and arms tied behind his back.
3. Mr. Theoneste SIBOMANA, FDU Party Leader in Kigali, needs to be evaluated for head injury, possibly a concussion, after his head was banged on the wall many times.
4. Maitre Theogene MUHAYEYEZU, the new defense lawyer for Ms. Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza, the party's chair and presidential candidate, has been tortured after arrest and detained incommunicado.
5. The medical condition of the party member Martin NTAVUKA is not known."
The US Embassy is next door to Rwandan President Paul Kagame's offices, and the U.S.A. and the UK are the dominant foreign powers in the region, and the most generous donors to the Rwandan government. Opposition leaders Habineza and Ingabire have both called on the U.S. and the UK to make real democracy and respect for human rights in Rwanda a condition of their ongoing support.
Umuseso Editor Didas Gasana said, "I would like the American people to know that their tax dollars are not going to build hospitals and schools, but to support one of the most brutal dictatorships in Africa."
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