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[DW] With Ethiopia at the center of two conflicts, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has seen his international reputation tarnished.
In May, Burundi held a presidential election which was won by Evariste Ndayishimiye, candidate of the ruling National Council for the Defense of Democracy - Forces for the Defense of Democracy (CNDD-FDD) party.
Ndayishimiye was hurriedly sworn in after the untimely death of president Pierre Nkurunziza in June.
Rights violations continue
The Council encouraged donor countries which had suspended aid to Burundi to continue dialogue towards resumption of development assistance.
A report by a UN watchdog in September said human rights violations were still being committed in Burundi, including sexual violence and murder.
The country was plunged into a crisis in April 2015 when Ndayishimiye’s predecessor Pierre Nkurunziza decided to run for a controversial third term, which he ultimately won in July 2015.
His candidature, which was opposed by the opposition and civil society groups, resulted in a wave of protests, violence and even a failed coup in May 2015.
Hundreds of people were killed and over 300,000 fled to neighboring countries.
Côte dIvoire (also known as the Ivory Coast), in western Africa on the Gulf of Guinea, is a little larger than New Mexico. Its neighbors are Liberia, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Ghana. The country consists of a coastal strip in the south, dense forests in the interior, and savannas in the north.
Republic.
Côte dIvoire was originally made up of numerous isolated settlements; today it represents more than sixty distinct tribes, including the Baoule, Bete, Senoufou, Agni, Malinke, Dan, and Lobi. Côte dIvoire attracted both French and Portuguese merchants in the 15th century who were in search of ivory and slaves. French traders set up establishments early in the 19th century, and in 1842, the French obtained territorial concessions from local tribes, gradually extending their influence along the coast and inland. The area was organized as a territory in 1893, became an autonomous republic in the French Union after World War II, and achieved independence on Aug. 7, 1960. Côte dIvoire formed a customs union in 1959 with Dahomey (Benin), Niger, and Burkina Faso. The nations economy is one of the most developed in sub-Saharan Africa. It is the worlds largest exporter of cocoa and one of the largest exporters of coffee.
From independence until his death in 1993, Felix Houphouët-Boigny served as president. Massive protests by students, farmers, and professionals forced the president to legalize opposition parties and hold the first contested presidential election in Oct. 1990, which Houphouët-Boigny won with 81% of the vote.
Beginning in Sept. 1998, thousands of demonstrators protested a constitutional revision that granted President Henri Konan Bédié greatly enhanced powers. Bédié also promoted the concept of ivoirité, which, roughly translated, means “pure Ivoirian pride.” Although its defenders describe ivoirité as a term of positive national pride, it has led to dangerous xenophobia, with numerous ethnic Malians and Burkinans driven out of the country in 1999.
President Bédié was overthrown in the
Ambassador Brita Wagener talks to DW about Ethiopia's reforms, its impending constitutional crisis prompted by its deferred August elections and how COVID-19 is affecting AU-EU relations.
To make matters worse, the coronavirus crisis hit Ethiopia just after it finally set a date to hold national elections in August.
Germany's government sent strong signals of support at the very beginning of Prime Minister Abiy's tenure with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas making his inaugural visit to Africa in Addis Ababa.
Do you believe that Germany and Europe, which have been very concerned with their own internal affairs in the coronavirus crisis, but also beforehand, are becoming less of a focus for Ethiopia?
The coronavirus crisis hit the cooperation between the European Union and the African Union at a time when the new European Commission President, Ursula Von der Leyden from Germany, had been very supportive of a union on the continent.
An Explicit Call to Action
Congolese 2018 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Dr Denis Mukwege — currently visiting Kinshasa in the Congo as part of the \"political consultations\" initiated by President Félix Tshisekedi, is explicitly calling on the head of state to right the wrongdoings that span over 25 years in the country. The human rights activist stated publicly and brazenly, \"Crimes cannot go unpunished. Criminals continue to make the eastern part of our country unsafe and thus make the whole Republic unsafe. The third thing that has been asked of the President of the Republic is that he get personally involved, that he be the torch-bearer in this fight against impunity, by asking UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to address the Security Council for the implementation of an international criminal court for the Congo.\"
A Local Hero
Mukwege already made the plea in July for the creation of an international criminal tribunal for the DRC.
In addition, he condemned the massacre of 18 people in South Kivu. A move which saw the human rights doctor — who provides medical treatment to victims of sexual violence in war, be the target of serious death threats.
As such, Denis Mukwege is now under the protection of the United Nations.
Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is not rebuffing international calls for calm amid an escalating conflict in the country's restive Tigray region that many fear is sliding toward civil war, his office's spokesperson said.
Alor Koul, chief administrator for Abyei, reacted positively Monday to word that the United Nations Security Council extended the mandate for Abyei for six months, but cautioned that renewing the U.N. mandate will not alone solve the dispute between Sudan and South Sudan over who controls the area.
The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously on Thursday to extend the mandate of the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) and urged Khartoum, Juba and local communities to take all necessary steps to ensure that the area is effectively demilitarized and to fully cooperate with UNISFA.
Yousif Malok, who is from the Ngok Dinka, and heads the Abyei Civil Society in Sudan, said he is not optimistic about UNISFA’s role in the region, saying the U.N. mission failed in the past to protect lives and property in the Abyei area.
Under the terms of U.N. resolution 2519, the Council extended the mandate for activities in the area bordering Sudan and South Sudan and reiterated its demand for both countries to provide full support for the mission, including removing any obstacles hindering efforts to protect civilians.
The Security Council first authorized the deployment of a peacekeeping force to Abyei in June 2011 following renewed violence, escalating tensions and population displacement in the area as Southern Sudan prepared to formally declare its independence from the Sudan.
A SENIOR Kingspan employee said a builder who questioned the fire safety of it’s product...
The post Grenfell inquiry: Senior Kingspan employee said builder who questioned fire safety should go 'f*ck themselves' appeared first on Voice Online.
[UN News] The \"indiscriminate consequences\" of the COVID-19 pandemic have underscored the importance of multilateralism and how the world handles global challenges and contradictions, the President of Burundi told world leaders gathered virtually for the UN General Assembly.
The Prosecutor of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (Mechanism) Serge Brammertz has called for an intensification of efforts in locating and arresting fugitives wanted for their participation in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.
Referring to the recent arrest of alleged mastermind Felicien Kabuga, Brammertz said that cooperation from Member States played a critical role further success can be achieved if this continues as the search for major fugitive, Protais Mpiranya and the five other ICTR fugitives who remain at large continues.
Brammertz reminded that cooperation to track the fugitives is not only a legal requirement but also a moral obligation to the victims and survivors.
\"The victims and survivors of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda deserve nothing less than our collective best efforts,\" he said.
Brammertz recognized the victims and survivors of the genocide noting that their demand for justice, trust and support made his work possible.
Volume of gold smuggled from the country is higher than the amount legally traded.
Sources say the video conference was called by the US on behalf of Egypt.
[AI London] The UN Security Council must extend the mandate of the peacekeeping mission in Darfur (UNAMID) by at least six months in light of failure by government security forces to protect civilians in recent months, said Amnesty International, with weeks left to the end of the mission's mandate.
As Ethiopia's 2021 election nears, a territorial dispute has flared between Amhara and Tigray, two northern regions.
Tigray and Amhara, the powerhouse regions of northern Ethiopia, are locked in a bitter land dispute exacerbated by national politicking that pits their elites against each other.
In late 2018, in north-western Amhara, local Amhara killed hundreds and displaced thousands of Qimant, an ethnic minority pursuing greater autonomy within the region, amid regional officials' claims that Tigray's ruling party is funding the self-rule campaign.
Were Tigray willing to instead grant political representation and language rights to minority populations in the territories, some Amhara officials have suggested this could help lead to an acceptable outcome.
The Amhara not only assert historical ownership of the land but also charge that TPLF rebels killed and uprooted Amhara in the disputed areas, thus altering the demographic balance in favour of Tigrinya speakers and laying the basis for a TPLF claim to the lands under Ethiopia's ethnic federal system.
The Security Council on Thursday extended the deployment of the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) and set out the parameters for a follow-on mission that will start its work on 1 January next year.
Unanimously adopting a twinset of resolutions through its silence procedure, the Council, recognizing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on UNAMID's drawdown, tacked an extra two months onto its mandate and kept the number of troops and police assigned to the mission unchanged.
Briefing the Council on 24 April, UN peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix said that the response to the COVID-19 pandemic - including airport closures and the suspense of troop rotations - made it impractical for UNAMID to exit by 31 October as scheduled.
UNAMID was established on 31 July 2007 when the Council adopted resolution 1769 (2007) on the situation in Sudan, including Darfur, with the protection of civilians at the core of its mandate.
The Security Council is currently adopting resolutions by written votes cast by its 15 members under provisional measures put into place in March in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
At least four people were killed as protests spread across several Ethiopian cities on Tuesday after a prominent singer from the country's largest ethnic group was shot dead, according to medical sources and a relative.
With his political lyrics, he was seen as a voice of the Oromo people during years of anti-government protests that swept Abiy to power in 2018.
On Tuesday morning, large crowds of protesters poured into the capital Addis Ababa from the surrounding Oromia region, snarling roads with stones and blocking traffic.
A resident of Western Hararge, in Oromia told AFP on condition of anonymity that his cousin had been killed by young Oromo nationalists known as Querroo, because he was from the Amhara ethnic group.
The US embassy said Tuesday that it was \"monitoring reports of protest and unrest, including gunfire throughout Addis Ababa\".
Kenya has won the UN Security Council seat after beating Djibouti in second round of voting Thursday.
The contest between Kenya and Djibouti headed to the second round of voting Thursday after the first phase saw Nairobi's victory insufficient to win the UN seat.
In this race, it was competing against Djibouti, a country from the same eastern African region as Nairobi and which it beat at the African Union endorsement election last year.
In the wake of AU endorsing Kenya, Djibouti touted support from the Francophone Organisation as well as the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, both of which includes members from Africa.
The outcome of the vote will have great implications on not only the power and image of AU but also the cohesion of IGAD,\" said Mr Wilfred Nasong'o Muliro, who teaches international relations and security at the Technical University of Kenya.
The death toll from demonstrations that have erupted in Ethiopia following the murder of a popular singer from the Oromo ethnic group has risen to 239.
