Tag: justice

Justice at last in the Central African Republic, but the government’s work is not finished yet

Posted on by cswpress in Central African Republic, Sub-Saharan Africa

In late October the internationally-backed Special Criminal Court in the Central African Republic (CAR) released a verdict in the chamber’s first full trial. The case was brought against three leaders of the armed group Retour, Réclamation et Réhabilitation (3R), who were found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Issa Sallet Adoum (alias Bozizé) was sentenced to life imprisonment, and his co-defendants, Mahamat Tahir and Yaouba Ousman, each received 20-year prison sentences.

All three were accused of orchestrating attacks on the northwestern villages of Koundjili and Lomouna on 21 May 2019 in which at least 46 unarmed civilians were killed and dozens more were injured. The men are said to have targeted civilian populations that did not support 3R, tying up and shooting civilians before proceeding to subject women and girls in the villages to mass rape and sexual violence.

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Central African Republic: is justice being sacrificed for the illusion of peace?

Posted on by cswpress in Central African Republic, Sub-Saharan Africa

On 21 May, over 26 people were killed and dozens injured when an armed group attacked two villages in the north west of the Central African Republic (CAR). The attacks were reported by the UN peacekeeping mission in CAR, MINUSCA, which confirmed that twelve people were killed in Koundjili village and 14 in Djoumjoum village. 

Whilst reports of violent and devastating attacks on civilians in CAR are not new, these attacks represent a new challenge for the recently re-constituted government following the latest peace agreement between the government and armed groups.

The alleged perpetrator of the attacks on the two villages is the rebel group known as 3R (Return, Reclamation and Reconciliation). The group was formerly part of the Seleka alliance that took over the country following a coup in March 2013.  The alliance was subsequently disbanded, but armed groups fragmented and seized territories outside of the capital, Bangui.

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Mexico’s Culture of Impunity Part 1: Mediation in lieu of justice

Posted on by cswpress in Latin America, Mexico

While Mexico’s drug trade is far from vanished, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) recently stated that “there is no longer a war.” He has a new strategy. The president says they are no longer trying to arrest drug lords, but instead want to look at the causes of violence.

“We have not detained the bosses [of criminal gangs] because this is not our main function. The government’s main function is to guarantee public security…What is important to me is lowering the number of homicides, robberies, that there are no kidnappings. This is what is essential! Not the spectacular, because we lost a lot of time in this and it resolved nothing.”

To achieve this, AMLO appears to be looking to religious groups.

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Venezuela: “If we, as Christians who yearn to live in justice, look at the reality of our nation, we cannot remain silent.”

Posted on by cswpress in Latin America, Venezuela

A young church leader is unwittingly caught up in a security dragnet, arrested, falsely accused and imprisoned. Another church youth leader is shot and killed when security forces open fire on peaceful protestors. In the same country, the military surrounds a cathedral where over a thousand peaceful protestors have sought refuge after fleeing tear gas and violence at the hands of security forces.

What is happening in Venezuela today shows how religious groups can become caught up in larger political movements, sometimes despite their best efforts to remain neutral and disengaged from politics.

Once religious groups find themselves in situations like these they can be forced out of their neutrality, putting them in opposition to powerful forces; this in turn can lead to violations of freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) as the authorities crack down on what they perceive to be rebellious religious groups.

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Justice for Noura, Justice for Sudanese women

Posted on by cswpress in Sub-Saharan Africa, Sudan

A petition is circulating for Noura Hussein, a young Sudanese woman, to receive clemency after she was sentenced to death by hanging by a court in Khartoum last week.

Noura was charged with pre-meditated murder after she stabbed and killed a man who raped her six days after she was forced to marry him.

Her case has brought to light the legal discrimination that women in Sudan face regularly. The name of the person being charged may change, but the oppressive laws that discriminate against women of all religious and ethnic identities remain in place.

Four years ago the case of Meriam Ibrahim, a Sudanese Christian woman, caused international outcry after she was sentenced to death for apostasy and adultery. Noura’s case has yet to garner the same level of attention.

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