5-11 February 2018 - 16-min

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10 5 - 11 February, 2018 Africa News NEW DELHI TIMES Rwanda, Uganda trade claims over treatment of refugees M ore than a month after he was allegedly tortured by members of Uganda’s secret service, Rwandan citizen Fidel Gatsinzi is still limping from his injuries. Gatsinzi claims he was arrested by security agents after visiting his son at a Ugandan university in December and that 12 days of being hooded and beaten left him in a wheelchair for days after his release. “They were accusing me of being a Rwandan spy and a killer. That I was in Uganda to hunt down Rwandan refugees living in Uganda to harm them,” Gatsinzi told The Associated Press, denying the accusations. He said he saw another Rwandan who had been tortured and was “really in a bad shape.” The neighboring East African countries have faced years of uneasy relations over Uganda’s refusal to forcibly repatriate Rwandan refugees, including some who are suspected of involvement in Rwanda’s genocide in 1994. People like Gatsinzi claim they are caught in the middle, suspected by one country or the other. Now some are taking their claims to court. For Rwanda’s government, the continuing existence of refugees challenges its narrative of peace and stability after years of recovery from the genocide. But many of those refugees worry they would be jailed on trumped-up charges if they returned home. As Uganda pursues Rwandans it suspects of hunting down refugees, some are subjected to torture in the process, said Gawaya Tegulle, a Ugandan lawyer who has visited Rwandan nationals in detention. S www.NewDelhiTimes.com “I visited Gatsinzi and the kind of torture he was subjected to is inhumane. He could not speak,” Tegulle said. He plans to file a case with the High Court against Uganda’s government claiming illegal detention and torture. After such claims were made public in recent weeks, Rwandan President Paul Kagame chaired a meeting last month between the two countries to discuss the issue. The Jan. 5 meeting in Rwanda’s capital, Kigali, addressed, among other things, “arrests and disappearances of Rwandan citizens in Uganda,” Rwandan Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo said on Twitter. Uganda’s state minister for international relations, Henry Okello Oryem, has said tensions will not escalate. “Rwanda is a historical strategic ally of Uganda and both countries work for peace,” he told the AP. Uganda army spokesman Brig. Richard Karemire declined to comment on the allegations of detention and torture of Rwandan citizens. Rwanda’s president has long been accused by critics and human rights groups of plotting the assassination or disappearance of former allies and dissidents, including in other countries. He has denied it. Late last year, Ugandan police officers and a retired Rwandan army officer, Rene Rutagungira, were arrested and charged by a military court in Uganda’s capital, Kampala, in the kidnapping of a Rwandan refugee and his transfer to Rwandan authorities. They are charged with conspiracy with Rwanda to carry out the abduction. They are accused of kidnapping Lt. Joel Mutabazi, a former bodyguard of Kagame South Africa’s Zuma faces another no confidence vote Feb. 22 outh Africa’s parliament will vote on a motion of no confidence in embattled President Jacob Zuma on Feb. 22, the parliamentary speaker said in an escalation of pressure on the leader to resign after a series of scandals. Photo Credit : AP Photo Parliamentary speaker Baleka Mbete decided to hold the vote in response to a request from the Economic Freedom Fighters, an opposition party that has often disrupted proceedings in parliament because of corruption allegations against the president, Mbete’s office said. While Zuma has survived similar votes in parliament, many former allies in the ruling African National Congress party have since abandoned him and are pushing for his replacement by Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, the new party leader who in recent days has delivered hard-hitting messages about the fight against corruption. ANC leaders have been considering terms of an early exit for Zuma but previously have been uncomfortable with the idea of an opposition-sponsored vote of no confidence that would embarrass the ruling party. On the other hand, Zuma has become a liability and many members want the president to leave soon so the ANC, in power since the end of apartheid in 1994, can rebuild ahead of 2019 elections. The timing of the motion of no confidence later this month took into account a busy parliamentary schedule, including a Feb. 8 state of the nation address to be delivered by the president, according to Mbete’s office. The speaker turned down a request from another opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, to postpone the address until the ruling party had resolved its internal conflict and a new president was in place. Zuma is a “lame-duck president” and he shouldn’t address the nation on Feb. 8 because “neither he nor his administration will be around to implement any of the policies or plans he announces,” the Democratic Alliance said. Zuma has been embroiled in scandals, including multi-million-dollar upgrades to his private home with state money and his association with the Guptas, a business family accused of looting state enterprises and influencing Cabinet ministers for their own benefit. Zuma and the Guptas deny any wrongdoing, though the president paid back some money for the home upgrades after the Constitutional Court ruled against him. In a separate case, Zuma’s lawyers this week submitted arguments to prosecutors about why he shouldn’t be prosecuted for corruption charges tied to an arms deal two decades ago. The charges had been thrown out but a court reinstated them last year. Credit : Associated Press (AP) Photo Credit : AP Photo who fled the country in 2011 while alleging persecution, and forcefully taking him back to Rwanda in 2013. Mutabazi was sentenced to life in prison for involvement in terrorism and other charges, which he denied. It is not clear how Mutabazi, who was in the care of the U.N. refugee agency, ended up in the hands of Ugandan police and then Rwandan authorities. “It’s unconscionable that they handed him over summarily to the police force of the country whose persecution he fled,” Daniel Bekele with Human Rights Watch said at the time. The group has long urged Uganda’s government to protect Rwandan critics now living in the country. The return of refugees must be voluntary, a U.N. refugee agency spokeswoman in Rwanda, Nana Heltberg, told the AP, saying about 250,000 Rwandan refugees are still in exile today. Meanwhile the lawyer for the former Rwanda army officer who faces charges told the AP that he was held in Ugandan custody for longer than the permitted 48 hours and subjected to beatings, electric shocks, water immersion and solitary confinement while accused of being a spy. Lawyer Eron Kiiza said a case has been filed with the High Court seeking damages and Rutagungira’s unconditional release. Credit : Associated Press (AP) 900 trapped South Africa miners evacuated after power outage A t least 900 miners who were trapped in a South African gold mine for more than 24 hours after a power outage have been safely evacuated. The Sibanye-Stillwater company, which manages the Beatrix mine in Free State province, said that the miners will have medical tests and counseling and that it expects the mine to start operating again soon. Mine unions and others, however, expressed concern that there was no functioning backup plan for evacuation after a storm knocked out power om 31st January night and say the incident reflects continuing safety problems in South Africa’s mines. Company managers and unions said food and water was delivered to the trapped miners while they awaited the restoration of power, which enabled elevators to ferry them to the surface. “I am relieved because for about 32 hours of being underground ... The fans were not working, so everything was not working,” said Lawrence Sithole, a production supervisor who was trapped underground. “But we managed to calm down all the employees. So I think the management of Beatrix mine or Sibanye-Stillwater must make sure for the next time something like this must not happen.” Credit : Associated Press (AP) India’s only International Newspaper
5 - 11 February, 2018 11 O North America News Puerto Rico reports 78 killings in one of deadliest months ne of Puerto Rico’s deadliest months in recent years has closed, with 78 killings reported in January as the U.S. territory struggles with a surge in violent crime and growing discontent among thousands of police officers. The killings included a 20-year-old woman found kneeling and burned to death inside a car in the upscale city of Guaynabo and a triple homicide reported in the eastern mountain town of San Lorenzo. Puerto Rico’s homicide rate is roughly 20 killings per 100,000 residents, compared with 3.7 per 100,000 residents on the U.S. mainland. has said most of the killings in January were tied to drugs but added that there was “no rhyme or reason” to explain the surge. In mid-January, local and federal officials announced they would implement a “broken windows” policing campaign to help reduce the number of killings. The plan is to crack down on all types of violations, including traffic infractions and illegal tints on car windows, to help get criminals off the street and prevent bigger crimes. The increase in killings came weeks after thousands of police officers began calling in NEW DELHI TIMES Cuba state media: Fidel Castro’s son has killed himself T he oldest son of late Cuban leader Fidel Castro killed himself on 1st February after months of treatment for depression, state media reported. He was 68. Official website Cubadebate said Fidel Castro Diaz-Balart had been in a “deeply State. He was vice president of the Cuban Academy of Sciences. He previously led its nuclear program. Castro Diaz-Balart was born to Fidel Castro’s first wife, Mirta Diaz-Balart, a woman from Cuba’s aristocracy who Fidel “I’m gravely concerned about these violent incidents reported in recent days,” said Sen. Miguel Laureano. “It’s a dramatic situation that requires immediate attention.” The majority of people killed last month were young men shot to death. The central mountain town of Caguas reported the highest number of homicides at 18, followed by the capital of San Juan with 14. Police have issued warrants or arrested suspects in only a handful of the cases. On 1st February, authorities asked the public for help in solving the case of the young woman found burned inside the car. Police said they believe she was on her way to pick up a family member the day she was killed. Hector Pesquera, head of Puerto Rico’s newly created Department of Public Safety, India’s only International Newspaper sick daily to protest millions of dollars owed in overtime pay following Hurricanes Irma and Maria. Absences have returned to the normal daily average, Pesquera says, but thousands of police officers are still upset about austerity measures, including a sharp reduction in their monthly pensions and an end to being able to cash in unused sick days. Puerto Rico Rep. Felix Lassalle, president of the commission of public security, is holding public hearings to address those issues. “There’s a big commitment ... to address situations that can affect police officers and find solutions,” he said. Last year, Puerto Rico reported an overall drop in killings with 679 homicides compared with 700 in 2016. Credit : Associated Press (AP) Photo Credit : AP Photo depressed state.” A brief note read on state television said his treatment had “required an initial hospitalization then outpatient follow-up.” The oldest son of Cuba’s late revolutionary leader was known for his resemblance to his father, earning him the nickname Fidelito or Little Fidel. Castro Diaz-Balart studied nuclear physics in the former Soviet Union and served as scientific adviser to Cuba’s Council of married in his youth before beginning the revolutionary struggle that later brought him and his brother Raul to power. Because of his maternal lineage, Castro Diaz- Balart is cousin to Republican Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart, who represents Cuban exiles in Florida. Fidel Castro, the father, died in November 2016 at age 90. Credit : Associated Press (AP) Photo Credit : AP Photo Oil giant Shell wins 9 blocks in Mexican deep water bidding R oyal Dutch Shell has won nine of the 29 deep-water oil exploration blocks Mexico put up for bid in the Gulf of Mexico. The Anglo-Dutch oil giant won four of those bids in alliance with other companies. Shell was the biggest winner in the bidding round, in which 10 blocks drew no bids. Malaysia’s PC Carigali won seven blocks alone or in alliances, and Mexico’s stateowned Pemex won four blocks, two of them as part of an alliance. The head of Mexico’s National Oil Commission said that the bidding ensures that nearly two dozen deep-water exploration wells would be drilled as part of billions of dollars in investment. Shell said in a statement México “is ready to successfully compete in attracting investment in the oil and gas sector.” Credit : Associated Press (AP) www.NewDelhiTimes.com
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5-11 February 2018 - 16-min

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