AFRICAN SCENE
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DAILY CHALLENGE THURSDAY, MAY 12, 2011
AFRICAN SCENE
48 womenf raped every hour in Congo, study D A K A R , Senegal The American Journal of Public Health has found in a new study a staggering increase in the rate of rape in the central African nation of Congo. The study says 1,152 women are raped every day in Congo, a rate equal to 48 per hour. That’s 26 times more than the figure reported by the United Nations, which said around 16,000 women were raped in one calendar year. Congo is a nation of 70 million people equal in size to the United States east of the Mississippi. It’s been plagued by decades of war. The new numbers were found by scouring nationwide health surveys. Previous figures were derived from rapes reported to police or at health clinics in only a small section of the country.
Nigeria launches probe into election violence ABUJA, Nigeria Nigeria is launching a probe into the electionrelated violence that left more than 500 dead last month. President Goodluck Jonathan told journalists Wednesday that an investigation panel will submit a report in six weeks. He said one of the panel’s tasks is to determine how many people were killed.
Authorities have said that at least 500 people died after riots broke out in northern Nigeria after an April 16 presidential poll, but no official death has been toll announced. Many in Nigeria’s predominantly Muslim north were angered that Jonathan - a Christian from the south - had won the vote. The last elected president was a Muslim northerner but he died before his term ended.
Kenya deports British human rights defender N A I R O B I , Kenya - A Kenyan official says a British human rights investigator looking into the illegal deportations and detentions of terror suspects from Kenya to Uganda has herself been deported. Hassan Omar Hassan of the government-funded Kenya National Commission on Human Rights says lawyer Clara Gutteridge was deported Wednesday on government orders. Gutteridge was investigating alleged abuses by Kenyan authorities who arrested and held eight suspects longer than allowed by law, then deported them to Uganda without court orders. Kenyan courts have said the deportations were illegal. Authorities accused the eight of involvement in a July bomb attack in Uganda that killed 76 people. The attack was claimed by the Somali militant group al-Shabab.
Uganda’s anti-gay bill not on agenda after outcry
By GODFREY OLUKYA & JASON STRAZIUSO KAMPALA, Uganda Uganda’s parliament appeared Wednesday to have dropped plans to debate a controversial bill that once proposed the death penalty for some gays and lesbians following an outcry from U.S. leaders and rights groups. The bill was first proposed in 2009 but wasn’t debated until last Friday. It had been scheduled to be debated before the full parliament on Wednesday but was dropped from the schedule. The future of the bill remained murky as Wednesday was parliament’s last scheduled day of session. It wasn’t clear if the proposed legislation could be carried forward to the next session or if the author would have to offer a new bill, which he has said he will do if needed. The original bill would mandate a death sentence in some cases, part of the reason it attracted global attention. The bill’s author, David Bahati, has said a new version would not contain the death penalty, but no amended version has been released publicly. One member of parliament, John Arumadri, said Wednesday that the bill may have been dropped from the agenda because of the worldwide outcry
against it. Online petitions from the groups Avaaz and Allout said they had gathered more than 1.4 million signatures. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch called the bill’s progress deeply alarming. A U.S. congressman said if the bill passes he would urge huge cuts in international aid, and the U.S. State Department again voiced its opposition. “If adopted, a bill further criminalizing homosexuality would constitute a significant step backwards for the protection of human rights in Uganda,” said Hilary Fuller Renner, a spokeswoman for the State Department’s Bureau of African Affairs. “Respect for human rights is key to Uganda’s long-term political stability and democratic development, as well as its public health and economic prosperity.” Gay rights groups say that the harassment of gays has increased in Uganda since the introduction of the bill in October 2009. Last year a tabloid newspaper in Uganda published the names and photos of men it alleged were gay. One cover included the words “Hang Them.” Shortly afterward, a prominent gay rights activist whose picture was published was bludgeoned to death, though authorities contend David Kato’s sexual orientation had nothing to do with the killing. Bahati’s original bill would
mandate a death sentence for active homosexuals living with HIV or in cases of same-sex rape. “Serial offenders” also would face capital punishment. Anyone convicted of a homosexual act would face life imprisonment. Anyone who “aids, abets, counsels or procures another to engage of acts of homosexuality” would face seven years in prison. Landlords who rent rooms or homes to homosexuals also could get seven years. If the bill is picked up by the next session, some, all or none of those provision could change during parliament negotiations. Homosexuality is highly unpopular in Uganda, and pastors in this Christian country speak out loudly against it. Bahati has said he thinks the bill would become law if voted on. U.S. Rep. Barney Frank said in a statement Tuesday he was disturbed that parliamentarians were again discussing the bill. He said if it becomes law that he would urge the U.S. government to oppose any aid to Uganda from international institutions that the U.S. belongs to, such as the World Bank and African Development Bank. Avaaz, an Internet group that champions action on issues such as poverty and climate change, said it had collected more than 1 million Internet signatures from people opposed to the bill. The group wants parliament to reject the bill or Uganda’s president to veto it if it passes.
Suspect booed at Morocco blast reconstruction MARRAKESH, Morocco - The chief suspect in the Marrakesh cafe bombing that killed 17 people, mostly foreign tourists, reconstructed the attack for authorities on Wednesday as crowds of onlookers hurled insults. A large deployment of hooded special forces was on guard as the 25year-old Moroccan showed police how he arrived in the central city on April 28, detonated the bombs and then returned to his hometown. Dressed as he was on the day of the blast in a blue-and-white sweat-
shirt and with a wig, hat, sunglasses and guitar, Adil El-Atmani was first taken to the city’s railway station where he described arriving on a 6:00 am train. He was then taken to the Djemaa El-Fna Square, a tourist magnet in the city’s old quarter where the bombs ripped through the Argana cafe, killing 17 people. He said he had triggered the explosions with a mobile phone about 300 metres (330 yards) from the cafe, according to a police official speaking on condition of anonymity.
Atmani appeared to cooperate with authorities during the reconstruction and even smiled at one point, according to an AFP photographer. Large crowds kept back by barricades at the square shouted insults at Atmani as he passed. According to police, the suspect said he committed the attack with “conviction”. The reconstruction ended at the Bab Doukkala bus station in the city centre where the suspect told how he got rid of his wig in a nearby garden and then returned by bus to his home in Safi, 350 kilo-
metres (220 miles) south of Casablanca. Atmani was arrested last week with two other Moroccan suspects, also from Safi. They were described by police as “admirers of Al-Qaeda”. Moroccan authorities had initially blamed AlQaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) for the bombing but the group denied responsibility. Three other suspects were arrested this week but a security official said they only knew about the plan to carry out the attack and did not take part in its execution.