A federal jury on Thursday convicted the son of the former president of Liberia of torturing suspected opponents of his father’s government. It was the first case brought under a 1994 law that makes it a crime for United States citizens to commit torture overseas. During the trial, witnesses said the defendant, Charles McArthur Emmanuel, 31, stood by and laughed as soldiers forced prisoners to play “stone football,” kicking large stones until their bare feet were bruised and bleeding. One witness described having flaming plastic melted onto his skin, and another said soldiers had cut his genitals.
Mr. Emmanuel, who was known in Liberia as Chuckie and commanded a military unit known as the Demon Forces, was convicted of conspiracy and torture after two days of jury deliberations. He faces a possible life sentence. The case coincides with the trial of Mr. Emmanuel’s father, Charles Taylor, in a war crimes tribunal in The Hague for atrocities in West Africa during his presidency.
Elise Keppler, senior counsel for the International Justice Program at Human Rights Watch, said that the verdict was a milestone in the fight against human rights abuses around the world and that she hoped to see more prosecutions like it. “That’s going to be the key here,” Ms. Keppler said. “This can’t be an anomaly in U.S. practice, but should be the beginning of a trend where the United States actively prosecutes human rights violations committed abroad.”
When the case began a month ago, defense lawyers said the witnesses had fabricated their stories for financial gain and to win political asylum. In opening statements, an assistant federal public defender said that if this case were a newspaper headline, it would read, “Desperate and disgruntled Africans accuse American to escape war-torn Liberia.”
The witnesses shared gruesome stories about Mr. Emmanuel. Sulaiman Solo Jusu, a refugee from Sierra Leone who had been living in Liberia for more than a year, described a 1999 attack in the Liberian town of Voinjama and his arrest by security forces at a bridge checkpoint. Mr. Jusu said Mr. Emmanuel accused the prisoners of being rebels sent to overthrow his father’s government, and he described Mr. Emmanuel shooting three men in the head. “I don’t know how to describe that feeling,” Mr. Jusu testified. “You can just think of you being the next one. I was so afraid.”
In court, as the guilty verdict was read aloud, Mr. Emmanuel sat quietly with his hands in his lap. When all 12 jurors agreed he was guilty, he looked over at his lawyer, who gently patted him on the back. He refused to stand when the jury was dismissed and seemed impatient to leave. In a news conference afterward, United States Attorney R. Alexander Acosta said of Mr. Emmanuel, “The acts of which he was convicted were horrific.”
Born in Boston, Mr. Emmanuel spent most of his life in Orlando, Fla., with his mother, stepfather and older sister. He joined his father in Liberia as a teenager, a few years before Mr. Taylor won the 1997 presidential election. He was arrested on charges of carrying a false passport when he arrived in Miami from Trinidad in March 2006. He will be sentenced in January 2009.
Source: New York Times
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Why Kader Asmal resigned from Parliament
Former Cabinet minister Kader Asmal resigned from Parliament because he did not want to vote for the disbanding of the Scorpions, he said in a lecture on Tuesday evening. It would have been immoral of him to vote for the disbanding of the elite crime fighting unit, Asmal told an audience at the University of Johannesburg, Beeld newspaper reported on Wednesday. He said he had made it clear that he did not want the Scorpions to be disbanded and that he stuck to his principles by retiring.
Asmal also said the so-called Travelgate MPs should not have been allowed to vote on the disbanding of the unit. "The issue here is not whether the member of Parliament is legally entitled to vote, the issue is how it is perceived as a matter of ethics. Is it right to take actions against the very body that has completed the investigation against you?," asked Asmal, according to Sowetan newspaper.
MPs implicated in the Travelgate scandal were allowed to vote on the Scorpions last week after businessman Hugh Glenister failed in a court bid to block them. Glenister insisted that because MPs allegedly involved in the travel-voucher scam had been investigated by the Scorpions, there was a conflict of interest. The National Assembly last Thursday approved legislation to disband the unit, which was responsible for criminal investigations against African National Congress president Jacob Zuma and suspended police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi.
Source: Mail & Guardian
Asmal also said the so-called Travelgate MPs should not have been allowed to vote on the disbanding of the unit. "The issue here is not whether the member of Parliament is legally entitled to vote, the issue is how it is perceived as a matter of ethics. Is it right to take actions against the very body that has completed the investigation against you?," asked Asmal, according to Sowetan newspaper.
MPs implicated in the Travelgate scandal were allowed to vote on the Scorpions last week after businessman Hugh Glenister failed in a court bid to block them. Glenister insisted that because MPs allegedly involved in the travel-voucher scam had been investigated by the Scorpions, there was a conflict of interest. The National Assembly last Thursday approved legislation to disband the unit, which was responsible for criminal investigations against African National Congress president Jacob Zuma and suspended police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi.
Source: Mail & Guardian
Friday, October 24, 2008
WORLD BRIEFING | AFRICA; South Africa: Anticrime Unit Disbanded
The Scorpions, for years the nation's elite crime-fighting unit, were disbanded on Thursday by Parliament and merged into South Africa's police force. Even though the country has one of the world's worst crime rates and the Scorpions had a better track record than the police, the elite unit has been sharply criticized for its corruption investigation of Jacob Zuma, the leader of the African National Congress. The African National Congress has a large majority in Parliament.
Source: New York Times
Source: New York Times
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
United States: Judge rejects 'forced' confession
A military judge in Guantanamo Bay has thrown out the U.S. government's evidence against an Afghan detainee because it was obtained under coercion, a rights group said yesterday. The decision came late Wednesday in a preliminary hearing in the trial of Mohammed Jawad, arrested in Kabul in 2002 on charges of throwing a grenade that wounded two U.S. soldiers and their interpreter.
A representative for the American Civil Liberties Union revealed that Mr. Jawad's confession had been rejected as evidence in the case. "Col. Stephen Henley held that evidence collected while Jawad was in U.S. custody cannot be admitted in his trial" because the evidence was "gathered through coercive interrogations," the ACLU said in a press release.
Lawyers for Omar Khadr, 22, accused of five war crimes charges including the murder of a U.S. serviceman, say the prosecution's evidence against the Canadian-born youth also relies on statements Mr. Khadr says have been coerced. Under the commissions system, a judge can accept "coerced" statements if he thinks they were true anyway, but cannot accept statements obtained under "torture."
Source: Canada
A representative for the American Civil Liberties Union revealed that Mr. Jawad's confession had been rejected as evidence in the case. "Col. Stephen Henley held that evidence collected while Jawad was in U.S. custody cannot be admitted in his trial" because the evidence was "gathered through coercive interrogations," the ACLU said in a press release.
Lawyers for Omar Khadr, 22, accused of five war crimes charges including the murder of a U.S. serviceman, say the prosecution's evidence against the Canadian-born youth also relies on statements Mr. Khadr says have been coerced. Under the commissions system, a judge can accept "coerced" statements if he thinks they were true anyway, but cannot accept statements obtained under "torture."
Source: Canada
Friday, October 17, 2008
Major ANC donor in graft probe
A case of corruption has been opened against Robert Gumede, the chairperson of listed information technology company GijimaAST. The case, opened with the Roodepoort police station under case number 781/2/2007, concerns alleged bribes paid by Gumede to Telkom executives.
Gumede, who recently donated R10-million to the ANC during a fundraising dinner in Sandton, vehemently denies bribing Telkom officials and said he was not aware of the police's probe against him. The charge comes after a series of battles between Gumede and his former business partner, John Sterenborg. Gumede claims to have won all combat rounds thus far. Sterenborg, who lives in England, could not be reached for comment.
The Mail & Guardian has established that the South African Police Service's commercial branch in Johannesburg is actively pursuing the corruption charge against Gumede, relating to the award of a R600-million tender by Telkom to his Gijima Afrika Smart Technologies (GAST) in 2002. GAST is not related to the listed GijimaAST, which Gumede joined in 2005 as its black empowerment partner. Gumede's Guma group, formerly known as Gijima, acquired 37% of AST's shares in 2005 to form GijimaAST. Gumede is the non-executive chairperson of GijimaAST. The investigation of Gumede follows several bouts of litigation between him and Sterenborg about the acquisition of Applied Card Technologies (ACT), a smart-card manufacturer previously owned by Sterenborg.
Gumede was Sterenborg's black business partner in ACT when the company was placed under provisional liquidation. During that period ACT was asked by Telkom to tender for a R600-million contract to manufacture telephone cards until 2005. Gumede bought ACT and the Telkom tender was subsequently awarded to GAST. During a 2006 inquiry by the master of the high court into ACT's liquidation Sterenborg accused Gumede of irregularly diverting the phone card tender to his own company [GAST] while ACT was in dire need of revenue. However, Gumede told the M&G this week he believed Sterenborg "abandoned" the inquiry because he knew it would make adverse findings against him and not Gumede. Now the SAPS is investigating allegations that Telkom executives received benefits from Gumede while adjudicating his bid for the phone card contract.
Gumede told the M&G: "Your approach to this issue is clear: 'Aha, we have dirt on a man who is funding the ANC. Let's expose him.' But you know as well as I do that this 'dirt' does not exist -- because it is not 'dirt' on me, it is mud that was thrown at me by someone (the British citizen Dr John Sterenborg) who has himself been exposed as a liar, fraudster, an extortionist and a rogue," Gumede said in response to the M&G's questions. "I am not aware of any so-called investigation and will expect the SAPS to talk to me directly if there is such an investigation ... I am a law-abiding citizen."
Source: Mail & Guardian
Gumede, who recently donated R10-million to the ANC during a fundraising dinner in Sandton, vehemently denies bribing Telkom officials and said he was not aware of the police's probe against him. The charge comes after a series of battles between Gumede and his former business partner, John Sterenborg. Gumede claims to have won all combat rounds thus far. Sterenborg, who lives in England, could not be reached for comment.
The Mail & Guardian has established that the South African Police Service's commercial branch in Johannesburg is actively pursuing the corruption charge against Gumede, relating to the award of a R600-million tender by Telkom to his Gijima Afrika Smart Technologies (GAST) in 2002. GAST is not related to the listed GijimaAST, which Gumede joined in 2005 as its black empowerment partner. Gumede's Guma group, formerly known as Gijima, acquired 37% of AST's shares in 2005 to form GijimaAST. Gumede is the non-executive chairperson of GijimaAST. The investigation of Gumede follows several bouts of litigation between him and Sterenborg about the acquisition of Applied Card Technologies (ACT), a smart-card manufacturer previously owned by Sterenborg.
Gumede was Sterenborg's black business partner in ACT when the company was placed under provisional liquidation. During that period ACT was asked by Telkom to tender for a R600-million contract to manufacture telephone cards until 2005. Gumede bought ACT and the Telkom tender was subsequently awarded to GAST. During a 2006 inquiry by the master of the high court into ACT's liquidation Sterenborg accused Gumede of irregularly diverting the phone card tender to his own company [GAST] while ACT was in dire need of revenue. However, Gumede told the M&G this week he believed Sterenborg "abandoned" the inquiry because he knew it would make adverse findings against him and not Gumede. Now the SAPS is investigating allegations that Telkom executives received benefits from Gumede while adjudicating his bid for the phone card contract.
Gumede told the M&G: "Your approach to this issue is clear: 'Aha, we have dirt on a man who is funding the ANC. Let's expose him.' But you know as well as I do that this 'dirt' does not exist -- because it is not 'dirt' on me, it is mud that was thrown at me by someone (the British citizen Dr John Sterenborg) who has himself been exposed as a liar, fraudster, an extortionist and a rogue," Gumede said in response to the M&G's questions. "I am not aware of any so-called investigation and will expect the SAPS to talk to me directly if there is such an investigation ... I am a law-abiding citizen."
Source: Mail & Guardian
Monday, October 13, 2008
Politics influencing Zuma probe
The Scorpions' investigations into ANC deputy president Jacob Zuma are calculated to undermine any leadership role he holds or is called to hold in the ANC, his lawyer said on Thursday.
Michael Hulley said a recent meeting convened by the head of the Directorate of Special Operations (Scorpions) which aimed to consider resolutions adopted by the ANC at its mid-year Policy Conference was a matter of "grave concern". "It is a matter of concern that the Scorpions would deem it necessary to react to resolutions of a political party in a manner which influences its prosecutorial decisions against Mr Zuma and other named individuals," he said. Hulley said that at the meeting, the "Zuma matter" was considered problematic and needed to handled in view of the ANC National Conference in December.
He said that according to the minutes of the meeting, Scorpions head Leonard McCarthy and other regional heads and investigators resolved to use "Hollywood Style" tactics to "market" the Scorpions, lobby politicians favourable to the Scorpions "with a view to influence them" and lobby named business executives favourable to the Scorpions in order to similarly influence them. This all needed to be done before the national conference, he said. "This has re-affirmed the long held view that the ongoing investigation against Mr Zuma is influenced by improper political motive, calculated to frustrate any leadership role to which Mr Zuma may be called, by the membership of the ANC," he said.
Hulley said repeated denials by the National Prosecuting Authority and in turn the Scorpions that they had acted without favour or prejudice regarding Zuma, were, in light of recent findings, a "cold comfort".
Source: News 24
Michael Hulley said a recent meeting convened by the head of the Directorate of Special Operations (Scorpions) which aimed to consider resolutions adopted by the ANC at its mid-year Policy Conference was a matter of "grave concern". "It is a matter of concern that the Scorpions would deem it necessary to react to resolutions of a political party in a manner which influences its prosecutorial decisions against Mr Zuma and other named individuals," he said. Hulley said that at the meeting, the "Zuma matter" was considered problematic and needed to handled in view of the ANC National Conference in December.
He said that according to the minutes of the meeting, Scorpions head Leonard McCarthy and other regional heads and investigators resolved to use "Hollywood Style" tactics to "market" the Scorpions, lobby politicians favourable to the Scorpions "with a view to influence them" and lobby named business executives favourable to the Scorpions in order to similarly influence them. This all needed to be done before the national conference, he said. "This has re-affirmed the long held view that the ongoing investigation against Mr Zuma is influenced by improper political motive, calculated to frustrate any leadership role to which Mr Zuma may be called, by the membership of the ANC," he said.
Hulley said repeated denials by the National Prosecuting Authority and in turn the Scorpions that they had acted without favour or prejudice regarding Zuma, were, in light of recent findings, a "cold comfort".
Source: News 24
Thursday, October 9, 2008
U.S. Africa Command Stands Up
On the first day of October, the new United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) became fully operational. The last major action proposed by former defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld, the new command is chartered to support U.S. military and diplomatic initiatives across a huge continent and among an enormously diverse population. It's no secret that the decision to establish the command was controversial in Africa, and that reception initially ranged from cool to frosty, though that is said to be warming slightly.
Certainly the new command is making every effort to appear helpful and collaborative. The four-star commander has two deputy commanders, one three-star for military operations and one ambassador for civil-military relations; its mission statement and other supporting guidance focus on "soft" activities like conflict prevention, consultation and aid. Signally, the title "combatant command," another holdover from the Rumsfeld era, does not appear, replaced instead by "regional military command" and the more historic "unified command." Considering the state of affairs on the African continent, this is all to the good.
Despite understandable uneasiness (or confusion) in some African capitols, this is a propitious time for Africom to stand up. First, change is coming to Africa, though unevenly. In the Moslem north, would-be moderate Arab states are clashing with radical Islamist movements. In the south, states like Botswana are emerging as stable countries after decades of post-colonial and post-Cold War violence; South Africa, the regional powerhouse, continues its emergence from apartheid to a true modern, multiparty democracy. American objectives and policies, distracted by ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and chastened by reality, are more likely to be more consultative and expectations are likely to be more modest than when the Neocons made sweeping gestures over large-scale maps. As a result, U.S. Africa Command's operations are likely to be more truly sensitive to the concerns and needs of host countries than previously, and the United States will be less likely to blunder into ill-considered adventures on the continent. The command's new structure and the military-civil makeup of its staff holds out the hope that U.S. civil-military operations will at long last be better coordinated.
There are certainly reasons why the United States should be involved in Africa's continued development. The command's area of operations covers 53 African countries, ranging from stable democracies to utterly failed states like Somalia. Aside from internal strife from tribalism or other political friction, disintegrative narco-criminal gangs and burgeoning Islamic radicalism challenge many of Africa's 53 states. State terrorism, such as in Sudan, continues to be a source of instability and terror. Finally, the potential reemergence of great-power competition for Africa's natural resources, and in particular its energy supplies, supports a greater American focus on the continent's diverse challenges and opportunities. There has never been a real issue about whether we should take an interest in Africa; the question was always how. Here are a few suggestions for the new commander and his staff.
First, it's essential that every member of the command understand the essentially modest contribution that a headquarters of 1300 people can actually make in Africa, an enormous continent of 800 million people, where nearly half of the population is under the age of 15, where disease and malnutrition are rampant in vast areas and where, despite chaotic conditions, the economy is expected to grow 6.2 per cent next year. A strong dose of humility, and a focus on supporting the aspirations of emerging states, will go a long way.
Second, do not underestimate the great value of American diversity. While the conditions of the African diasporas to the United States was tragic, the consequences are that Africa is the ancestral home to a huge number of Americans, forging common ties of blood and kin not found with any other major power. In a sense, Africans see their African-American descendants "returning" to Africa, much like Irish-Americans going "home" to Erie. This can give the United States a huge advantage in overcoming bitter memories of colonialism if our policies and objectives recognize it.
Third, given the scope and diversity of the continent, U.S. Africa Command's activities will necessarily bring the command much closer to U.S. diplomatic missions and the chiefs of missions, the resident U.S. Ambassador. Given the Africa Command's mission and operational dynamics, the U.S. missions will essentially be the command's "maneuver units," and it is vital for the command and the U.S. ambassadors in the region to work out effective relationships. Even given the necessity for military-to-military contacts, it is the U.S. ambassador, not the commander of Africa Command, who should be the "face" of U.S. policy toward, say, South Africa or Gambia. Rather, U.S. Africa Command's dedication to effective civil-military cooperation should extend beyond its staff, and include recognition of, and support to, U.S. ambassadors and their resident military assistance teams, if present. U.S. foreign policy has a long history of confusion and occasionally conflict between diplomats and soldiers; Africom should dedicate time and effort to insuring that "conflict prevention" -- part of the Africom concept of operations -- begins at home.
Fourth, the Africom staff, teamed with appropriate Department of Defense officials, should propose and support legislation designed to untangle the present laws and regulations governing military assistance. The present laws governing U.S. assistance generally, and military assistance in particular, date back to the passionate 1970s, when legislators set out to clip the wings of military adventurism. The past decade has awakened many in Washington for the need for a fundamental rewrite, but until the present there has been no service or agency willing to take on the bone-wearying, long-term task of seeing military assistance untangled, and the advent of a new administration -- of whatever party -- makes it probable that there won't be movement on this unglamorous but vital subject for at least a couple of years. As a new command with an obvious stake in the outcome, the new military-civilian hybrid headquarters could well take this on.
Fifth, and along the lines of military assistance, the number of African military officers attending U.S. military schools should be ramped up. "African" covers a lot of ground, and in this case includes both the cosmopolitan, Europeanized officer corps of the Mediterranean littoral with those of the deepest interior. Not only would all take back to their home countries ties with America and American officers -- some of whose careers would intersect with their African classmates over the years -- but the command's, and America's interests would be considerably advanced. At present, attendance at U.S. service schools is too expensive, handled by the State Department instead of more expeditiously by Defense, and too restricted by Service classroom space; all should be reversed. Costs should be cut or shared, the Defense Department should have the lead on defense-related schools, and more classroom space should be made available. The lure of a school in the United States is a potent sweetener for military-to-military relations, and U.S. Africa Command should make this an urgent priority above other legislation outlined above. Finally, the command should vigorously resist the well-meaning suggestion, made in some quarters, that special schools or courses should be organized for African officers. The ghettoization of African officers to second-rate schools -- for that is exactly how it would be perceived on the continent -- would be deeply resented, and would frustrate the strategic intent of schooling foreign officers in American classes, alongside American counterparts.
At a recent conference, retired ambassador Bob Houdek, a senior official with wide experience in Africa and the national intelligence community, spoke urgently against the placement of Africom headquarters in Africa itself. Ambassador Houdek pointed out that the establishment of a thousand-person headquarters, with families and homes maintained to U.S. standard, with the attendant and necessary security measures --walls, barbed-wire fences, armored cars -- would create the appearance of a colonial oasis in the midst of a country most liable to be in poverty, and at the mercy of unanticipated coups and changes of government. Better, he said convincingly, to put the headquarters in the United States, as in the case of Central Command, and commute to advanced command posts in Africa when necessary. The United States, he pointed out, is in the process of closing a number of posts in the United States that could easily accommodate a unified command headquarters at a minimum of the cost of establishing a U.S. base in Africa.
Whatever the final form it takes, the establishment of U.S. Africa Command is a good idea whose time has come -- finally. The command's emphasis on civil-military integration and a low-key operational profile is appropriate and well suited to its mission. We should wish it well.
Source: USAFRICOM
Certainly the new command is making every effort to appear helpful and collaborative. The four-star commander has two deputy commanders, one three-star for military operations and one ambassador for civil-military relations; its mission statement and other supporting guidance focus on "soft" activities like conflict prevention, consultation and aid. Signally, the title "combatant command," another holdover from the Rumsfeld era, does not appear, replaced instead by "regional military command" and the more historic "unified command." Considering the state of affairs on the African continent, this is all to the good.
Despite understandable uneasiness (or confusion) in some African capitols, this is a propitious time for Africom to stand up. First, change is coming to Africa, though unevenly. In the Moslem north, would-be moderate Arab states are clashing with radical Islamist movements. In the south, states like Botswana are emerging as stable countries after decades of post-colonial and post-Cold War violence; South Africa, the regional powerhouse, continues its emergence from apartheid to a true modern, multiparty democracy. American objectives and policies, distracted by ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and chastened by reality, are more likely to be more consultative and expectations are likely to be more modest than when the Neocons made sweeping gestures over large-scale maps. As a result, U.S. Africa Command's operations are likely to be more truly sensitive to the concerns and needs of host countries than previously, and the United States will be less likely to blunder into ill-considered adventures on the continent. The command's new structure and the military-civil makeup of its staff holds out the hope that U.S. civil-military operations will at long last be better coordinated.
There are certainly reasons why the United States should be involved in Africa's continued development. The command's area of operations covers 53 African countries, ranging from stable democracies to utterly failed states like Somalia. Aside from internal strife from tribalism or other political friction, disintegrative narco-criminal gangs and burgeoning Islamic radicalism challenge many of Africa's 53 states. State terrorism, such as in Sudan, continues to be a source of instability and terror. Finally, the potential reemergence of great-power competition for Africa's natural resources, and in particular its energy supplies, supports a greater American focus on the continent's diverse challenges and opportunities. There has never been a real issue about whether we should take an interest in Africa; the question was always how. Here are a few suggestions for the new commander and his staff.
First, it's essential that every member of the command understand the essentially modest contribution that a headquarters of 1300 people can actually make in Africa, an enormous continent of 800 million people, where nearly half of the population is under the age of 15, where disease and malnutrition are rampant in vast areas and where, despite chaotic conditions, the economy is expected to grow 6.2 per cent next year. A strong dose of humility, and a focus on supporting the aspirations of emerging states, will go a long way.
Second, do not underestimate the great value of American diversity. While the conditions of the African diasporas to the United States was tragic, the consequences are that Africa is the ancestral home to a huge number of Americans, forging common ties of blood and kin not found with any other major power. In a sense, Africans see their African-American descendants "returning" to Africa, much like Irish-Americans going "home" to Erie. This can give the United States a huge advantage in overcoming bitter memories of colonialism if our policies and objectives recognize it.
Third, given the scope and diversity of the continent, U.S. Africa Command's activities will necessarily bring the command much closer to U.S. diplomatic missions and the chiefs of missions, the resident U.S. Ambassador. Given the Africa Command's mission and operational dynamics, the U.S. missions will essentially be the command's "maneuver units," and it is vital for the command and the U.S. ambassadors in the region to work out effective relationships. Even given the necessity for military-to-military contacts, it is the U.S. ambassador, not the commander of Africa Command, who should be the "face" of U.S. policy toward, say, South Africa or Gambia. Rather, U.S. Africa Command's dedication to effective civil-military cooperation should extend beyond its staff, and include recognition of, and support to, U.S. ambassadors and their resident military assistance teams, if present. U.S. foreign policy has a long history of confusion and occasionally conflict between diplomats and soldiers; Africom should dedicate time and effort to insuring that "conflict prevention" -- part of the Africom concept of operations -- begins at home.
Fourth, the Africom staff, teamed with appropriate Department of Defense officials, should propose and support legislation designed to untangle the present laws and regulations governing military assistance. The present laws governing U.S. assistance generally, and military assistance in particular, date back to the passionate 1970s, when legislators set out to clip the wings of military adventurism. The past decade has awakened many in Washington for the need for a fundamental rewrite, but until the present there has been no service or agency willing to take on the bone-wearying, long-term task of seeing military assistance untangled, and the advent of a new administration -- of whatever party -- makes it probable that there won't be movement on this unglamorous but vital subject for at least a couple of years. As a new command with an obvious stake in the outcome, the new military-civilian hybrid headquarters could well take this on.
Fifth, and along the lines of military assistance, the number of African military officers attending U.S. military schools should be ramped up. "African" covers a lot of ground, and in this case includes both the cosmopolitan, Europeanized officer corps of the Mediterranean littoral with those of the deepest interior. Not only would all take back to their home countries ties with America and American officers -- some of whose careers would intersect with their African classmates over the years -- but the command's, and America's interests would be considerably advanced. At present, attendance at U.S. service schools is too expensive, handled by the State Department instead of more expeditiously by Defense, and too restricted by Service classroom space; all should be reversed. Costs should be cut or shared, the Defense Department should have the lead on defense-related schools, and more classroom space should be made available. The lure of a school in the United States is a potent sweetener for military-to-military relations, and U.S. Africa Command should make this an urgent priority above other legislation outlined above. Finally, the command should vigorously resist the well-meaning suggestion, made in some quarters, that special schools or courses should be organized for African officers. The ghettoization of African officers to second-rate schools -- for that is exactly how it would be perceived on the continent -- would be deeply resented, and would frustrate the strategic intent of schooling foreign officers in American classes, alongside American counterparts.
At a recent conference, retired ambassador Bob Houdek, a senior official with wide experience in Africa and the national intelligence community, spoke urgently against the placement of Africom headquarters in Africa itself. Ambassador Houdek pointed out that the establishment of a thousand-person headquarters, with families and homes maintained to U.S. standard, with the attendant and necessary security measures --walls, barbed-wire fences, armored cars -- would create the appearance of a colonial oasis in the midst of a country most liable to be in poverty, and at the mercy of unanticipated coups and changes of government. Better, he said convincingly, to put the headquarters in the United States, as in the case of Central Command, and commute to advanced command posts in Africa when necessary. The United States, he pointed out, is in the process of closing a number of posts in the United States that could easily accommodate a unified command headquarters at a minimum of the cost of establishing a U.S. base in Africa.
Whatever the final form it takes, the establishment of U.S. Africa Command is a good idea whose time has come -- finally. The command's emphasis on civil-military integration and a low-key operational profile is appropriate and well suited to its mission. We should wish it well.
Source: USAFRICOM
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Plans to mine Wild Coast postponed
Controversial plans to mine titanium at Xolobeni on a pristine stretch of the Wild Coast have been put on hold. The decision came after Minister of Minerals and Energy Buyelwa Sonjica declared that more consultation with the community is needed.
Source: Mail & Guardian
Source: Mail & Guardian
Russian troops leave Georgia war zones
Russian forces on Wednesday abandoned military positions deep inside Georgia in a major pull-back the Kremlin vowed to complete by midnight, two months after the South Ossetia war began.
Source: Mail & Guardian
Source: Mail & Guardian
In bleak forecast, IMF sees major global downturn
In its bleakest forecast in years, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Wednesday the world economy was set for a major downturn, with the United States and Europe either in or on the brink of recession.
Source: Mail & Guardian
Source: Mail & Guardian
Mandoza found guilty of culpable homicide
Kwaito music star Mandoza was found guilty of culpable homicide by the Roodepoort Magistrate's Court on Monday. Justice spokesperson Zolile Nqayi said 30-year-old Mandoza, whose real name is Mduduzi Tshabalala, pleaded guilty to the charge that stemmed from a car accident in March last year.
Two men were killed in the crash on the N1 highway outside Johannesburg. Mandoza admitted that he caused the accident when he drove into the back of the victims' VW Jetta at high speed with his Chrysler Crossfire. He was given a prison sentence of three years and nine months, suspended for five years.
Mandoza was also ordered to reimburse the families of the deceased for all costs incurred because of the accident.
Source: Mail & Guardian
Two men were killed in the crash on the N1 highway outside Johannesburg. Mandoza admitted that he caused the accident when he drove into the back of the victims' VW Jetta at high speed with his Chrysler Crossfire. He was given a prison sentence of three years and nine months, suspended for five years.
Mandoza was also ordered to reimburse the families of the deceased for all costs incurred because of the accident.
Source: Mail & Guardian
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Russia's last tsar rehabilitated
Russia's Supreme Court has ruled that the last Tsar, Nicholas II, and his family were victims of political repression and should be rehabilitated. The rehabilitation has long been demanded by imperial descendants.
Nicholas, his wife Alexandra, their five children, doctor and three servants were shot dead by Bolshevik revolutionaries in July, 1918. Lower courts had previously refused to reclassify the killings, which had been categorised as simply murder. The Romanov family have been canonised as saints by the Orthodox Church, which has enjoyed a post-Soviet revival. For most of the last century, Tsar Nicholas II was officially reviled as a tyrant. To Russia's Soviet regime, he personified all they had tried to destroy in the revolution of 1917. The Romanovs were shot by a firing squad without a trial, in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg.
The Supreme Court "declared as groundless the repression of Tsar Nicholas II and his family and ordered their rehabilitation", the judge's decision said on Wednesday. The ruling overturned a decision by a Supreme Court panel in November 2007 not to rehabilitate the imperial family.
The descendants' lawyer, German Lukyanov, argued that the lack of a trial was not sufficient grounds to reject the plea that they be considered victims of political repression. Coercion by state bodies, restricting the freedom and rights of citizens for class, religious or social reasons, constituted repression, he told the court.
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, official attitudes to the royal family have changed dramatically. In 1998, their remains were reburied with great ceremony in St Petersburg. The BBC's James Rodgers in Moscow says the supreme court's decision is largely symbolic - but has been welcomed by monarchists and the tsar's descendants.
Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna, a Romanov descendant who led the campaign to get the imperial family rehabilitated, "expressed her joy and satisfaction after the decision," her spokesman Alexander Zakatov told the AFP news agency.
A spokesman for the Russian Orthodox Church, Georgy Ryabykh, said the decision "strengthens the rule of law, restores historical continuity and 1,000 years of state tradition".
Source: BBC News
Nicholas, his wife Alexandra, their five children, doctor and three servants were shot dead by Bolshevik revolutionaries in July, 1918. Lower courts had previously refused to reclassify the killings, which had been categorised as simply murder. The Romanov family have been canonised as saints by the Orthodox Church, which has enjoyed a post-Soviet revival. For most of the last century, Tsar Nicholas II was officially reviled as a tyrant. To Russia's Soviet regime, he personified all they had tried to destroy in the revolution of 1917. The Romanovs were shot by a firing squad without a trial, in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg.
The Supreme Court "declared as groundless the repression of Tsar Nicholas II and his family and ordered their rehabilitation", the judge's decision said on Wednesday. The ruling overturned a decision by a Supreme Court panel in November 2007 not to rehabilitate the imperial family.
The descendants' lawyer, German Lukyanov, argued that the lack of a trial was not sufficient grounds to reject the plea that they be considered victims of political repression. Coercion by state bodies, restricting the freedom and rights of citizens for class, religious or social reasons, constituted repression, he told the court.
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, official attitudes to the royal family have changed dramatically. In 1998, their remains were reburied with great ceremony in St Petersburg. The BBC's James Rodgers in Moscow says the supreme court's decision is largely symbolic - but has been welcomed by monarchists and the tsar's descendants.
Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna, a Romanov descendant who led the campaign to get the imperial family rehabilitated, "expressed her joy and satisfaction after the decision," her spokesman Alexander Zakatov told the AFP news agency.
A spokesman for the Russian Orthodox Church, Georgy Ryabykh, said the decision "strengthens the rule of law, restores historical continuity and 1,000 years of state tradition".
Source: BBC News
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