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Thousands of Syrians headed Monday to Saydnaya military prison, just north of Damascus to search for their loved ones. Civil defense workers and teams from the White Helmets civil defense group were seen digging holes inside the prison in search for hidden cells or underground chambers
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.
Bayern Munich defender Raphael Guerreiro hit a second-half stunner and Thomas Mueller scored late to beat Cologne 2-0 on Saturday, delaying Bayer Leverkusen's title party to Sunday at the earliest.
The post Bayern beat Cologne to delay Leverkusen title party appeared first on The Guardian Nigeria News - Nigeria and World News.
[Nation] Charles Thomas recalled one afternoon, three years after Zimbabwe got independence in 1980, when nearly 20 soldiers stormed his village in Matabeleland with bayonets. He was 24.
On Tuesday ( Oct 20) Beyoncé took to Instagram to share her support of protestors and activists fighting on the frontlines of the #EndSARS movement and speak out against the violent attacks that they are facing at the hands of police. According to published reports, Amnesty International has confirmed that the Nigerian army and police killed at least 12 peaceful protesters Tuesday at two locations in Lagos.
BY VENERANDA LANGA NORTON MP Temba Mliswa (Independent) has sensationally claimed that the late Lands minister Perrance Shiri (pictured) confided in him that he was not involved in the 1980s Gukurahundi massacres, although he was commander of the dreaded Fifth Brigade which carried out the atrocities. According to human rights groups, the army unit killed over 20 000 people in Matabeleland and Midlands regions, as then Prime Minister Robert Mugabe pursued Zpra dissidents plotting to topple his government. Shiri succumbed to COVID-19 in July this year and was buried at the National Heroes Acre despite protests from pressure groups in Matabeleland angry over his role in the massacres. But Mliswa told Parliament on Tuesday that Shiri confided in him that he was not given an opportunity to clear his name. “He asked me ‘do you really think I was responsible for killing people in Matabeleland?’ I said, but you were the commander. He said ‘but would I command without taking instructions?’ I listened to him speak,” Mliswa said. “He said, ‘I was never a general, there were commanders in the army and we worked through instructions.’ He said ‘I have never had an opportunity to defend my position to the public because I am a military person. I am very disciplined, Temba, but I work under instructions.” Mliswa added: “He said, ‘unfortunately, those whom I work under and whose instructions I take are not prepared to stand by me and say, we give him instructions. We had an air force commander and an army commander and a Ministry of Defence and all that.’ “I said to him, but for as long as you do not give that side of the story, it would be difficult. He said, ‘unlike you, you are a civilian, I am a military person, discipline is critical,” Mliswa said. The motormouth MP said Shiri said people should not point at one man over the Matabeleland massacres. “So,why are we also not bringing all the other soldiers who killed people and say, why did you kill? We choose to say, because he was a commander in Matabeleland and he had other commanders above him, he is responsible,” he said. Mliswa praised Shiri, describing him as a humble person who never abused his authority. In his eulogy, he also revealed some intricate details about the former Airforce commander, saying that he once survived an assassination attempt and was a book worm.
[AI London] Amnesty International has graded Twitter on progress to keep women safe on platform
[Nile Post] In a recent alcohol sector consultative meeting with key ministries, stakeholders have voiced their dissatisfaction with the Private Member's Alcoholic Drinks Control Bill 2023, tabled by Tororo Woman Member of Parliament Sarah Opendi.
LOTTO Results edit post Daily Lotto results for Sunday, 28 February 2021 2021-02-28 edit post Lotto and Lotto Plus results for Saturday, 27 February 2021
Outrage and anger in Nigeria continue to grow as the #EndSARS protests expand and contend with outright violence from the Nigerian army and police force, according to The Associated Press, New York Times and social media reports. As Blavity previously reported , peaceful protesters have been incensed since army officials opened fire on them on Tuesday at Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos, killing at least seven people under the shroud of darkness, according to local news outlet Punch. Dozens of other protesters were killed across the country that same day, the newspaper reported. The violence, covered extensively on social media, has largely been ignored by Nigerian elected officials and even president Muhammadu Buhari, who made no mention of it during his address to the nation on Thursday night. Thursday was Buhari's first appearance since the Lekki Gate shooting, but he only tacitly mentioned the actions of his armed forces, only threatening protesters to not continue their...
Amnesty International said late Tuesday there was “credible but disturbing evidence” that security forces in the megacity of Lagos had fatally shot protesters who were demonstrating against police brutality despite a new curfew going into effect.
The Lagos state commissioner for information, Gbenga Omotoso, said in a statement Tuesday night only that “there have been reports of shooting at the Lekki Toll Plaza following the 24-hour curfew imposed on Lagos.”
“The state government has ordered an investigation into the incident,” he said.
Video shown on Nigeria’s Channels Television appeared to capture audio of live rounds being fired at the scene.
“While we continue to investigate the killings, Amnesty International wishes to remind the authorities that under international law, security forces may only resort to the use of lethal force when strictly unavoidable to protect against imminent threat of death or serious injury,” Amnesty tweeted.
The development came just hours after Lagos state Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu warned on Twitter that the growing protests against police brutality in Nigeria had “degenerated into a monster that is threatening the well-being of our society.”
A police statement also had warned that security forces would now “exercise the full powers of the law to prevent any further attempt on lives and property of citizens.”
The reports of fatal shootings in Lekki come after two chaotic weeks of mounting protests leading to more widespread social unrest. On Tuesday, authorities said nearly 2,000 inmates had broken out of jail after crowds attacked two correctional facilities a day earlier.
The Inspector-General of Police said it was deploying anti-riot police across Nigeria, which is Africa’s most populous nation, and ordered forces to strengthen security around correctional facilities.
The governor of Lagos state said the new curfew would cover the entire city of some 14 million people and surrounding areas. The announcement came after a police station was burned down in the city and two people were shot dead by police.
“Lives and limbs have been lost as criminals and miscreants are now hiding under the umbrella of these protests to unleash mayhem on our state,” the governor said.
Lagos has been the epicenter of the protests, with demonstrators at times blocking access to the airport and barricading roads leading to the country’s main ports.
A curfew also went into effect in Benin City after a pair of attacks on correctional facilities that left 1,993 inmates missing. Interior Ministry spokesman Mohammed Manga said large, armed crowds had attacked the two prisons, subduing the guards on duty. It was unclear what the prisons’ exact populations had been before the attack.
“Most of the inmates held at the centers are convicted criminals serving terms for various criminal offenses, awaiting execution or standing trial for violent crimes,” he said in a statement.
The protests began two weeks ago after a video circulated showing a man being beaten, apparently by police officers of
[SNA] VALLETTA, MALTA,September 08(VOA)- Amnesty International condemned Malta on Tuesday for using what it described as \"illegal tactics\" in the Mediterranean against immigrants making the dangerous crossing from North Africa. The approach taken by the Maltese government might have led to avoidable deaths, it argued, in a report that alleged a string of human rights abuses against illegal immigrants.
Shops were shuttered and streets empty as Nigeria's largest city Lagos was locked down under curfew after unrest flared following the shooting of protesters.
Anti-Police Brutality Protest Sees Police Brutality
National armed forces opened fire on Nigerian youth in Lagos at an anti-police brutality demonstration on Tuesday — injuring around 50 people and shooting at least 20 dead, as per unconfirmed reports
Amnesty International which has already condemned the use of excessive force by the Nigerian police to subdue protesters, stated there was ``\"credible but disturbing evidence'' of the incident.
\"While we continue to investigate the killings, Amnesty International wishes to remind the authorities that under international law, security forces may only resort to the use of lethal force when strictly unavoidable to protect against the imminent threat of death or serious injury,\" Amnesty tweeted.
#EndSARS, #EndSWAT and Police Reform.
The escalation in violence comes two weeks after the #EndSarsNow movement took to the streets across Nigeria, following the circulation of video showing a man being beaten, apparently by police officers of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, known as SARS.
The government proclaimed the dissolution of the police unit which has been accused of human rights crimes including abuse, torture and killings but has since created the Special Weapons and Tactics team (SWAT) in its stead further inciting the youth to seek complete police reform.
[HRW] Kinshasa -- The Congolese authorities and the United Nations have not done enough to hold human rights violators to account and deliver justice to victims a decade after the landmark UN Congo Mapping Exercise Report was published in October 2010, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said today.
Guinea's main oppositon party published Friday a list of 46 people, aged between 3 and 70 years, killed during the repression of demonstrations after the October 18 election, officially won by the incumbent Alpha Condé.
Condé was declared re-elected on October 24 by the Electoral Commission for a controversial third term with 59.5% of the vote, but three of his opponents, including opposition leader Cellou Dalein Diallo, are contesting the results before the Constitutional Court, whose decision is expected on Saturday.
Diallo's party, the Union of Democratic Forces of Guinea (UFDG), denounced in a statement a \"wave of terror\" orchestrated by the government between October 19 and November 3.
\"The provisional toll of this repression is 46 dead, nearly 200 wounded by gunfire, about a hundred arrests and extensive material damage,\" according to the UFDG.
The opposition has so far reported a death toll of at least 27, while for the government, the post-election violence resulted in 21 deaths, including members of the security forces.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) Africa Officer Ida Sawyer on Twitter on October 24 accused Guinean security forces of killing \"at least 8 people, including 3 children.
Amnesty International for its part accused the same security forces of firing live ammunition at demonstrators, without giving a detailed account.
The Ministries of Security and Territorial Administration did not immediately respond to the multiple requests for a reaction from the AFP to the UFDG document.
This document includes a list of names, usually with age, profession, circumstances of death, contacts of a relative, and photos showing these people, dead or alive. In about fifteen cases, these are photos of bodies showing traces of violence.
Most of the presumed victims are young men and women between 15 and 30 years old: motorcycle cab drivers, mechanics, students...
The youngest are a boy and a girl of 3 years old, Mamadou Midiaou Diallo and Mariatou Bah, and the oldest Mamouna Camara, a housewife of 70 years old.
The UFDG also states that \"the overwhelming majority of the victims (...) belong to the same ethnic group as the opposition leader,\" in a country where community affiliations play an important role in elections.
[DW] As Paul Biya marks 38 years in office, residents in the country's Anglophone region are struggling to come to grips with a series of brutal attacks on schools.
