Login to BlackFacts.com using your favorite Social Media Login. Click the appropriate button below and you will be redirected to your Social Media Website for confirmation and then back to Blackfacts.com once successful.
Enter the email address and password you used to join BlackFacts.com. If you cannot remember your login information, click the “Forgot Password” link to reset your password.
On Sunday, demonstrators in Lagos expressed their thoughts on an early request made by Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to halt the weeks-long protests in the country against economic challenges.
He replaces Debretsion Gebremichael, whose immunity from prosecution was removed Thursday.
Meanwhile, Amnesty International said Thursday that scores of civilians were killed in a \"massacre\" in the Tigray region, that witnesses blamed on forces backing the local ruling party.
The \"massacre\" is the first reported incident of large-scale civilian fatalities in a week-old conflict between the regional ruling party, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), and the government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, winner of last year's Nobel Peace Prize.
\"Amnesty International can today confirm... that scores, and likely hundreds, of people were stabbed or hacked to death in Mai-Kadra (May Cadera) town in the southwest of Ethiopia's Tigray Region on the night of 9 November,\" the rights group said in a report.
Amnesty said it had \"digitally verified gruesome photographs and videos of bodies strewn across the town or being carried away on stretchers.\"
The dead \"had gaping wounds that appear to have been inflicted by sharp weapons such as knives and machetes,\" Amnesty said, citing witness accounts.
Witnesses said the attack was carried out by TPLF-aligned forces after a defeat at the hands of the Ethiopian military, though Amnesty said it \"has not been able to confirm who was responsible for the killings\".
It nonetheless called on TPLF commanders and officials to \"make clear to their forces and their supporters that deliberate attacks on civilians are absolutely prohibited and constitute war crimes\".
Abiy ordered military operations in Tigray on November 4, saying they were prompted by a TPLF attack on federal military camps -- a claim the party denies.
The region has been under a communications blackout ever since, making it difficult to verify competing claims on the ground.
Abiy said Thursday his army had made major gains in western Tigray.
Thousands of Ethiopians have fled across the border into neighboring Sudan, and the UN is sounding the alarm about a humanitarian crisis in Tigray.
Prime Minister Andrew has pledged three quarters of $1 million from his Positive Jamaica Foundation to the Northern Caribbean University's Alumni to fund scholarships and grants for students affected by COVID-19.
In a message endorsing the university's media-thon on his Twitter page, Holness said the economic challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have affected students financing their tertiary education.
\"This administration supports any initiative to fund the establishment of scholarships and grants to assist needy students to fulfil their goals achieving higher education,\" he continued.
The media-thon will be streamed live via the university's social media platforms and its radio and television station.
Follow The Gleaner on Twitter and Instagram @JamaicaGleaner and on Facebook @GleanerJamaica.
BY LORRAINE MUROMO/SILAS NKALA At the weekend, Vice-President and Health minister Constantino Chiwenga announced tightened lockdown measures that started yesterday aimed at controlling the spiralling cases of COVID-19. As of January 3, the country had recorded TRADE unions have blasted government’s decision to impose a 30-day stringent COVID-19 lockdown without consulting key stakeholders such as informal traders. 15 265 total confirmed cases, with 11 574 recoveries, 3 311 active cases and 380 deaths. The measures include immediate closure of some formal and informal businesses across the country except those providing essential services, a dust-to-dawn curfew, and suspension of intercity travel, cross-border trading, among others. In an interview with NewsDay, workers and cross-border traders’ representatives said government should have consulted key economic stakeholders before imposing the travel and trading ban. Cross Border Traders Association president Killer Zivhu said informal traders were the worst affected as they had not yet recovered from the previous lockdown regimes. “Considering the economic challenges at this juncture where it is January and we are looking at the opening of schools soon where there is need for fees and rentals, the move was a total disaster,” Zivhu said. “At some point, it’s a win-win situation. The pandemic is very dangerous, it would be a bad situation to gain business and lose lives and at the same time losing business can lead to death and poverty,” said Zivhu. He added: “What we are pleading with authorities that those with authentic COVID-19 certificates should be allowed to pass and on their way back, provide the same proof.” Zivhu said it was necessary to allow cross border traders to carry on with their operations instead of confining them to their homes without providing alternative sources of income. Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions secretary-general Japhet Moyo said as a union, they did not agree with the way government was dealing with the situation. “What the authorities are doing is wrong, we understand that the pandemic is surging but what they are prescribing is not the solution. The people caged in their homes will die of hunger,” Moyo said. “We don’t agree with that at all, people are dying because at the moment they are not able to do basic economic activities, therefore, do not have money to even purchase medication. For example, cross-border traders are going to starve.” The International Coalition Against Coronavirus for Africa Development (ICAC-AD) also warned government that level four lockdown would cripple the country’s economy. In an interview yesterday, South Africa-based ICAC-AD vice-president Chandangwinyira Chose said: “We are against any lockdowns now, but the government should enforce the wearing of masks. The people are struggling with this lockdown which is making them poorer as they fail to do their vending where they get income from.” ICAC said it was also lobbying all African government to develop home-grown remedies to COVID-19 to avoid instanc
Uganda, twice the size of Pennsylvania, is in East Africa. It is bordered on the west by Congo, on the north by the Sudan, on the east by Kenya, and on the south by Tanzania and Rwanda. The country, which lies across the equator, is divided into three main areas—swampy lowlands, a fertile plateau with wooded hills, and a desert region. Lake Victoria forms part of the southern border.
Multiparty democractic republic.
About 500 B.C. Bantu-speaking peoples migrated to the area now called Uganda. By the 14th century, three kingdoms dominated, Buganda (meaning state of the Gandas), Bunyoro, and Ankole. Uganda was first explored by Europeans as well as Arab traders in 1844. An Anglo-German agreement of 1890 declared it to be in the British sphere of influence in Africa, and the Imperial British East Africa Company was chartered to develop the area. The company did not prosper financially, and in 1894 a British protectorate was proclaimed. Few Europeans permanently settled in Uganda, but it attracted many Indians, who became important players in Ugandan commerce.
Uganda became independent on Oct. 9, 1962. Sir Edward Mutesa, the king of Buganda (Mutesa II), was elected the first president, and Milton Obote the first prime minister, of the newly independent country. With the help of a young army officer, Col. Idi Amin, Prime Minister Obote seized control of the government from President Mutesa four years later.
On Jan. 25, 1971, Colonel Amin deposed President Obote. Obote went into exile in Tanzania. Amin expelled Asian residents and launched a reign of terror against Ugandan opponents, torturing and killing tens of thousands. In 1976, he had himself proclaimed President for Life. In 1977, Amnesty International estimated that 300,000 may have died under his rule, including church leaders and recalcitrant cabinet ministers.
After Amin held military exercises on the Tanzanian border in 1978, angering Tanzanias president, Julius Nyerere, a combined force of Tanzanian troops and Ugandan exiles loyal to former president
The seditious libel case involving Sierra Leone’s former minister of social welfare and journalist – Dr Sylvia Olayinka Blyden, was adjourned today to Friday 12 June 2020, after prosecution witness who is the lead police investigator – Detective M.K. Alieu, was cross-examined by Blyden who is representing herself in court.
On Friday, 22nd May 2020, Dr Blyden was charged with seditious libel under Sections 33, 32 and 27 of the notorious Public Order Act No 46 of 1965, which successive governments of Sierra Leone have used to harass, intimidate and persecute those with whom they disagree, especially journalists.
According to Section 33 (1): “Any person who (a) does or attempts to do, or makes any preparation to do, or conspires with any person to do, any act with a seditious intention; or (b) utters any seditious words; or (c) prints, publishes, sells, offers for sale, distributes or reproduces any seditious publication; or (d) imports any seditious publication, unless he has no reason to believe it is seditious shall be guilty of an offence and liable for a first offence to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years, or to a fine not exceeding one thousand leones or to both such imprisonment and fine, and for a subsequent offence shall be imprisoned for a term not exceeding seven years, and every such publication shall be forfeited to the government.”
Section 32 (1) states: “Any person who publishes any false statement, rumour or report which is likely to cause fear or alarm, to the public or to disturb the public peace shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding three hundred Leones or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding twelve months, or to both such fine and imprisonment.
Section 27 states: “Any person who maliciously publishes any defamatory matter shall be guilty of an offence called libel and liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding seven hundred leones or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding two years or to both such fine and imprisonment.”
The rights group said in a report that victims were accused of being supporters of the Oromo Liberation Army, the breakaway armed wing of the Oromo Liberation Front, which the government had previously declared a terrorist movement but which has been unbanned by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.
“Security forces have continued to violate human rights despite reforms introduced by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, and this is due to widespread impunity and lack of accountability for those violations,” Amnesty International’s Ethiopia researcher Fisseha Tekle said.
Security forces have continued to violate human rights despite reforms introduced by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, and this is due to widespread impunity and lack of accountability for those violations.
“The report is further proof that the new administration has not parted ways with the practice of forcefully stifling dissent, committing egregious human rights violations and carrying out extrajudicial killings,” the Oromo Liberation Front and the Oromo Federalist Congress, an opposition party, said in a joint statement, calling on the government to investigate the findings.
Based on interviews with 80 victims or direct witnesses of violence, Amnesty’s report said the Ethiopian army and regional security forces in Amhara and Oromiya were involved in inter- ethnic killings, mass arbitrary detentions and rape.
In the last few decades, millions of unskilled workers from South Asia have migrated to Gulf countries due to limited opportunities at home.
In 2019, migrant workers from South Asian countries sent back $122 billion to their home countries, according to the World Bank.
The steep fall in oil prices slashes major source of revenues for the energy-rich Gulf states, a favorite destination of South Asia’s migrant workers.
Amnesty International reports that about 23 million migrant workers living in the Middle East have had their work hours cut short and lost their jobs, reducing their ability to send home money to families dependent on remittances.
This recent fall in remittances is the sharpest in recent history, World Bank projections show, adversely affecting millions of vulnerable unskilled workers.
[Nation] Two human rights lobbies and five victims of alleged police brutality have sued the government for killings and use of excessive force allegedly perpetrated by security agencies while enforcing the dusk-to-dawn curfew meant to contain coronavirus spread.
[Capital FM] Nairobi -- Fiery Tanzanian politician Godbless Lema, who was arrested in Kenya while fleeing persecution has been freed.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by this author are their own and do not represent the official position of the Barbados Today Inc. by Rev David Durant, J.P. In the early hours of Thursday June 17, just after midnight, this 166 square mile Island, sandwiched between the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, was […]
The post #SpeakingOut - Could that freak storm be a precursor? appeared first on Barbados Today.
BY PRAISEMORE SITHOLE MASVINGO province has joined Bulawayo and Victoria Falls in lobbying pension authorities to pay pensioners sustainable stipends given the economic challenges in the country. The development comes after Bulawayo pensioners launched the Bulawayo Pensioners Forum last November in order to get representation on issues regarding their pay-outs. Zimbabwe has an estimated 500 000 pensioners who earn a paltry $1 500 monthly stipend when the poverty datum line is pegged at $20 000. In an interview with the Southern Eye, Masvingo Pensioner’s Forum co-ordinator Charles Gonzi they had joined their counterparts in Bulawayo and Victoria Falls to ensure that pensioners get better stipends. “As Masvingo province, we have joined NSSA (National Social Security Authority) pensioners’ forum with the aim of lobbying for better pay outs and benefits that are sustainable under the prevailing economic environment,” Gonzi said. “We also want to lobby for NSSA to include pensioners’ representatives in their board. However, we are facing challenges getting in touch with most pensioners since most of them are not on WhatsApp platforms.” Bulawayo Pensioners Forum co-ordinator Winos Dube said they are now pushing for a national structure that will represent all members at national level. “We are happy that other provinces are joining in as this is a national issue. We are working on having a national structure that will represent pensioners at national level. “We have been heavily disturbed by the COVID-19 lockdown because initially, we had planned that we would meet as provinces that have joined to come up with a way forward,” he said. Dube recently said every province should come up with a structure for pensioners because they were facing the same problems. He said the initiative had received a positive response from other pensioners across the country unhappy with their meagre payouts. lFollow Praisemore on Twitter @TPraisemore
Non-governmental organizations have called on Governments in Southern Africa and donors to ramp up efforts and increase resources to speedily vaccinate as many people as possible, in order to avoid third wave catastrophe. Amnesty International and 27 other Non-Governmental Organizations have urged high income countries and their groupings, including G20 and G7, to ensure that […]
The post Governments in Southern Africa urged to speedily vaccinate as many people as possible appeared first on Malawi 24.
BOUIRA, Algeria — The Algerian state has stepped up its crackdown on journalists and pro-democracy activists in recent weeks, despite warnings from the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Radio.M journalist El Kadi Ihsane and political activist Karim Tabou were kidnapped near their respective homes in Algiers on June 10. “Tabou was beaten and then abducted by unknown persons,” Djafer […]
The post Algeria Intensifies Crackdown On Journalists, Pro-democracy Activists first appeared on The Florida Star | The Georgia Star.
With the economic challenges arising out of the advent of the coronavirus pandemic still some distance away from being overcome, the Biden administration is reportedly in the process of formulating plans for a Caribbean Region Trade Mission and Business Conference in October.
The article US to mount October trade mission to the Caribbean appeared first on Stabroek News.
