Amnesty International Calls for the Trial of Gaddafi's Son by ICC; AU to Debate Member States Pull-out

Again the cry is on Africa. After the deposition of Maummar Gaddafi and the turning of Libya into a 'beggar nation' those who never believed anything good can come out of Africa are calling again for the transfer of erstwhile figures of the Gaddafi regime to the Hague for trial. The Kenyan deputy President, William Ruto is currently facing trial at the Hague over the post-election violence of 2007. He is the first serving official to stand trial at the Hague. Uhuru Kenyatta, the Kenyan President is to begin his own trial in October.

Kenya's spokesman for the presidency Manoah Esipisu said the country had not canvassed for the coming AU summit on October 13, but "welcomed the opportunity by African leaders to discuss what is obviously an important matter for the continent". Kenya's Parliament has passed the resolution endorsing the withdrawal of the country as a signatory to the Rome Statute.

"The Kenyans have been criss-crossing Africa in search of support for their cause, even before their parliament voted to withdraw from the ICC," an AU official told Reuters. "An extraordinary summit will now take place to discuss the issue. A complete walk-out of signatories (to the Rome Statute) is certainly a possibility, but other requests maybe made." The summit would be preceded by a meeting of African foreign ministers a day earlier, he said.

Questions continuously have been asked on the real target and mission of the ICC owing to the fact that George Bush and Tony Blair were never even called into question over their involvement in the Iraqi massacre not to talk being indicted by the body. It is always easy pointing to Africa by ICC than to Syria, Britain and the United States because the powers are present there.

Amnesty International called on Libyan authorities to hand over Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, second son of late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, and former intelligence chief Abdallah Senussi to the International Criminal Court (ICC). Both are wanted for crimes against humanity. Amnesty met with both detainees last week ahead of the referral of their cases to the Indictment Chamber in Tripoli on September 19.

However, Libya insists they be put on trial inside the country. “The referral of these cases to the Indictment Chamber brings us one step closer to the start of national trial proceedings for Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, in violation of Libya’s legal obligation to surrender him to the ICC,” Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa, Hassiba Hadj Sahrahoui, said. In 2012, the ICC charged Saif al-Islam with crimes against humanity during the revolution that toppled his father the year prior. The court also ruled that he be extradited to The Hague.

The perceived selective justice of the ICC is making it lose all credibility if it ever has any in the face of many reasonable African nations. The next AU summit will discuss the revocation of the acceptance of the statute by African states in solidarity with Kenya. No one doubts the fact that impunity of African leaders and their gluttonous acts for bloodshed and wanton desire for destruction all because of greed and avaricious tendencies must be checkmated but it is about time Africans take their destiny in their hands than rely on those who brought the continent to this state since 1443.

Leopard and Its Spots: Harassment and Intimidation all Over Again in Zimbabwe

Amnesty International revealed Zimbabwean police raided the offices of civil society organisations and detained human rights workers in the run-up to elections scheduled to be held on July 31.

“The clampdown on the work of human rights defenders is a worrying indicator that government agencies remain actively hostile to civil society,” Noel Kututwa, Amnesty’s deputy programme director for Africa, said in an e-mailed statement. Even, the Carter Centre, created by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, said it was refused permission to monitor Zimbabwe's elections.

Amnesty in its report titled “Walk the Talk.” said 'civil society organisations carrying out election-related activities including voters' education, domestic election observation and those perceived to be critical of government policies have had their offices raided by police and equipment, including computers, seized whilst human rights defenders have been unlawfully detained.'

Rugare Gumbo, spokesman for Mugabe’s Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front, did not answer calls to his mobile phone before the report was released according to amnesty. Zimbabweans will vote in presidential and parliamentary elections on July 31, to end a power-sharing government led by President Robert Mugabe and his rival Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai. The coalition was formed four years ago following a disputed election that was marred by voter irregularities and violence, according to international observers.

Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change, failed in a bid to postpone the election. The Southern African Development Community, which brokered the power-sharing agreement four years ago also pushed for the ballot to be delayed to allow more time for voters to be registered and ensure certain reforms are carried out for free and fair elections but all efforts proved abortive.

Amnesty said it is 'concerned that partisanship by some members of the country’s security services, who have openly expressed their preferred outcome in the next election, is directly undermining Zimbabwe’s ability to realise its obligation to respect and protect internationally guaranteed civil and political rights.' Robert Mugabe, 89 has dubbed the election to be a 'do or die affair' showing the level of desperation which of course must definitely come with harassment.

Four Prisoners Hanged in Nigeria

Four prisoners have been hanged in Nigeria, an official said on Tuesday, in the first known executions since 2006 which Amnesty International described as "a truly dark day for human rights in the country".

Nigeria has faced international criticism over its death penalty and an estimated 1,000 people are on death row.

The four prisoners were convicted of either armed robbery or murder and were hanged in southern Edo state on Monday, the state's justice minister told Reuters by phone.

"They have been on death row for a long time and they were executed yesterday," Henry Idahagbon said. He did not say why authorities had decided to use the death penalty after a gap of seven years.

"These executions mark a sudden, brutal return to the use of the death penalty in Nigeria, a truly dark day for human rights in the country," said Lucy Freeman, Amnesty International's Deputy Director for Africa.

Idahagbon said two of the death warrants had been signed by Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole, and the other two by the previous governor.

"If the international community deems it wrong they should approach the national assembly for review of the law," he said.

China Slams the US; Amnesty International says Snowden Commits no Crime

China has taken a swipe at the US over its allegations that Beijing allowed NSA leaker Edward Snowden to leave Hong Kong. The spokesperson for the Chinese Communist Party said  the US has gone from ‘model of human rights’ to manipulator of internet rights.

The damning article in the overseas edition of the People’s Daily, the party’s official newspaper, came in response to Washington’s accusations of the “deliberate choice by the government to release a fugitive despite a valid arrest warrant.”

Addressing Washington’s allegations, the People’s Daily wrote that China could not accept "this kind of dissatisfaction and opposition.”

"Not only did the US authorities not give us an explanation and apology, it instead expressed dissatisfaction at the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region for handling things in accordance with the law,” wrote Wang Xinjun, a researcher at the Academy of Military Science in the People's Daily commentary.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying also denounced the US accusations as "groundless and unacceptable.”

"It is unreasonable for the US to question Hong Kong's handling of affairs in accordance with law, and the accusation against the Chinese central government is groundless," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying.

The Hong Kong government released an official statement on Sunday, saying that US fugitive Edward Snowden had left the Chinese territory for Moscow legally and voluntarily. The statement also mentioned that the extradition documents submitted by the US on charges of espionage were not sufficient to warrant Snowden’s arrest under Chinese law.

The column praises the former CIA contractor for “his fearlessness that tore off Washington's sanctimonious mask."Snowden has been branded by the US as ‘traitor’ by US politicians for the leaking of classified documents to The Guardian newspaper that revealed the existence of the spy programme Prism.  

"In a sense, the United States has gone from a model of human rights to an eavesdropper on personal privacy, the manipulator of the centralised power over the international internet, and the mad invader of other countries' networks," the People's Daily said.

The case of Edward Snowden has captivated world media since he fled from the US in May. Although the fugitive’s whereabouts are unknown, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange confirmed to Russia Today that Snowden was en route to Ecuador via Moscow accompanied by WikiLeaks legal representative Sarah Harrison.

The whistleblower has applied for asylum in Ecuador and the country’s government confirmed that it is processing the application.

The US has called on all countries in the northern hemisphere to surrender Snowden to US jurisdiction and has resolved to seek cooperation from his destination country. However human rights organisation Amnesty International has launched an appeal, urging the US not to prosecute anyone who discloses data on US government human right violations.

"No one should be charged under any law for disclosing information of human rights violations by the US government. Such disclosures are protected under the rights to information and freedom of expression," said Widney Brown, Senior Director of International Law and Policy at Amnesty International.

In addition, the organization also stressed that an individual who has an asylum bid underway cannot legally be extradited.

More than 1,700 people detained in Turkey over Protest

Turkish police have fired tear gas and water cannon to disperse a massive demonstration against the demolition of a park in central Istanbul. The rally grew into a wider anti-government protest and is spreading across the country. Prime Minister Erdogan seems to be acting the Mubarak he once  cricitised in Egypt.

More than 1,700 people have been detained since a harsh police crackdown against activists staging a sit-in protest at Gezi Park near Taksim Square spiraled out of control on Friday. Turkish Interior Minister Muammer Guler said "a large majority of the detainees were released after being questioned and identified," the state-run Anatolia news agency cites him as saying.Officials claimed that 53 civilians and 26 police officers had been hurt in the clashes, though Amnesty International alleges that hundreds have been wounded and two have been killed.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced that a mosque, and not a shopping mall will be built in the Artillery Barracks project intended to replace Taksim Gezi Park, the Turkish daily Hurriyet reports.  Erdogan added that he did not need permission from the political opposition or a “few marauders” for such projects, as the authority had already been granted by the people who voted his ruling Justice and Development Party into power.

Police have fired tear gas and used water cannons to disperse around 1,000 protesters who were attempting to march to the Prime Minister’s office in the Turkish capital of Ankara, AFP reports.