Situation: Côte d’Ivoire
Case: The Prosecutor v. Laurent Gbagbo

Today, 12 June 2012, following the request submitted by Laurent Gbagbo’s Defence, Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court (ICC) decided to postpone the opening of the confirmation of charges hearing in the case The Prosecutor v. Laurent Gbagbo to preserve the rights of the Defence in fair proceedings. The new date will be communicated in the near future.

On 5 June 2012, Mr Gbagbo’s Defence requested the Chamber to postpone the opening of the hearing to allow the Defense team to prepare for an effective and efficient defence. Deciding on this request, Pre-Trial Chamber I took into consideration the fact that, in the context of the legal aid accorded to Mr Gbagbo, the Defence team was granted additional resources by the Court shortly before the opening of the confirmation of charges hearing, initially scheduled on 18 June 2012. The Chamber decided to postpone the opening of the hearing, to give the Defence time to apply effectively these additional means for its preparation for the confirmation hearing.

Background information

Pre-Trial Chamber III found that there are reasonable grounds to believe that Mr Gbagbo bears individual criminal responsibility, as an indirect co-perpetrator, for four counts of crimes against humanity, namely murder, rape and other sexual violence, persecution and other inhuman acts, allegedly committed in the context of post-electoral violence in the territory of Côte d’Ivoire between 16 December 2010 and 12 April 2011.

The Chamber also found that there are reasonable grounds to believe that in the aftermath of the presidential elections in Côte d’Ivoire pro-Gbagbo forces attacked the civilian population in Abidjan and in the west of the country, from 28 November 2010 onwards, targeting civilians who they believed were supporters of the opponent candidate. Allegedly, the attacks were committed pursuant to an organisational policy and were also widespread and systematic as they were committed over an extended time period, over large geographic areas, and following a similar general pattern. The attacks were allegedly often directed at specific ethnic or religious communities and left a high number of reported victims.

A plan allegedly existed between Mr Gbagbo and his inner circle and they were allegedly aware that implementing it would lead to the commission of the crimes charged. Mr Gbagbo, together with others, allegedly exercised joint control over the crimes, and made a coordinated and essential contribution to the realisation of the plan.

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source ICC

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Photo: Felicity Thompson/IRIN

This leader of the ethnic Mende group, Matthew Jibao Young, is the face of justice for many in his community

FREETOWN,  – While an international court hands down a 50-year sentence to Sierra Leone’s former warlord, Charles Taylor, most Sierra Leoneans seek justice away from their country’s courts and turn instead to traditional arbiters.

“When I went to the police, I was thinking about the court and all the time we would waste,” said Richard Jimmy, a street vendor who settled a recent dispute with another vendor in the capital, Freetown, through a local street-sellers’ association.

“People don’t believe too much in the formal system because of the delay. A simple case that we can handle in two or three days… could sit in the magistrate’s court [lowest court] for months,” said Matthew Jibao Young, head of the Mende ethnic group in Sierra Leone’s urban Western Area, comprising Freetown, the capital, and the surrounding peninsula communities. Every month he deals with dozens of disputes ranging from abusive language to debt and witchcraft.

A recent briefing by the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), a British think-tank, noted that most of Sierra Leone’s population seek justice and security through “non-state” actors such as provincial or village chiefs, paralegal practitioners, professional associations, unions, and traditional “secret societies” that regulate the country’s sexual, social and political conduct.

Yet global trends show that almost 80 percent of donor funds for justice and security reform go to state systems. Since the civil war in Sierra Leone ended in 2002, such funds have mostly gone to the state, including the courts, police, legislature, civil service and the military.

This focus needs to change if justice and security reforms are to have a “meaningful impact”, said Lisa Denney, author of the ODI report. “There is a sense now that non-state actors are really important, and that they are often the dominant providers, particularly in fragile states. Donors agree. Now they want to know, ‘What can we do about that?’”.

A grant of US$43.3 million over six years for a justice and security development programme that began in 2006 is a major donation by the UK’s Department for International Development’s (DfID). The programme has focused mainly on rebuilding magistrate’s courts, barracks, holding pens and prisons, as well as the human resources to staff them.

But despite this and other significant investments, most residents still shun formal justice institutions because capacity is low. Court proceedings are in English and interpreters for non-English speakers are rare, while distance and pressure to settle outside of court discourage many from making a trip that can be long and arduous.

Slideshow – Charles Taylor’s legacy in Sierra Leone and Liberia

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In a nation of six million people there are just 16 state judges, nine of whom are based in Freetown, home to approximately 1.5 million people. The remaining seven judges cover 12 rural districts, where 70 percent of Sierra Leoneans live, and means that some remote districts do not see a judge for months at a time.

Alternatives

“In most of the [rural] areas where we are working there is no formal justice system in place,” said Hassan Feika, director of the Peace and Reconciliation Movement Sierra Leone (PRM-SL), an NGO based in the country’s second largest city, Bo.

PRM-SL has trained 350 local people, called “peace volunteers”, in alternative dispute resolution methods to help resolve conflicts in 1,400 communities across the Southern Region. The Freetown-based NGO, Timap for Justice, has trained 76 paralegals since 2009 to work nationwide.

Sonkita Conteh, from Open Society Institute, which funds the training, told IRIN that people in rural areas have traditionally preferred to resolve disputes through their chiefs, but this is slowly changing as NGOs increasingly make basic justice services available.

“You see more and more people turning to paralegals rather than going to the chief… the chief will ask for money, whereas paralegal services are offered free of charge… Discretion can be abused by the chief, and there are not serious checks and balances there.”

While traditional leaders and arbiters known as “paramount chiefs” are not allowed to adjudicate, many still do. Most of the population live in areas where these chiefs often exercise considerable influence. Young of the Mende group conceded that some chiefs abuse their powers but said, overall, they are key to maintaining the peace.

“We do not sentence. We don’t send them [offenders] to jail, we try to make peace because by sending someone to jail within the same community you are dividing the community, and that is one of the agents that brought the war. Whenever there is a spark of trouble, that person will take the chance for revenge.”

Sierra Leone’s decade-long civil war saw 10,000 children forced to take up arms, killed and maimed hundreds of thousands of people, and destroyed the country’s infrastructure.

Risks

The ODI report noted that there are risks to investing in informal justice, “given that some [non-state actors] violate the basic rights that security and justice systems are meant to protect”, but Denney said formal courts are often guilty of the same charge.

Hundreds of alleged perpetrators in rape cases are going unpunished by the formal justice system, according to police records from recent years.

Supporting non-state actors can improve access to justice for some, but needs to be carefully monitored, said Olayinka Phillips, the deputy coordinator of the governmental Justice Sector Coordination Office.

“It [the non-formal sector] can bring quick results, but if it is not properly managed and regulated then it will bring a lot of damage, because we are talking about less trained people,” Phillips commented.

“If a rape or abuse case is settled in the informal sector, justice is likely to be denied to the victim and the perpetrator often goes free,” she said. “The perpetrator can bring a cow or some money to the family, or even marry the victim.”

Hybrid

DfID’s ongoing four-year Access to Justice and Security Programme, launched in 2010, plans to work with state and non-state actors.

Sierra Leone’s parliament passed a Legal Aid Bill earlier in May, proposing a body to regulate “primary” justice providers, and recognizing the role of paralegals in the formal system, but not other non-state actors like chiefs or union chairmen.

There are still risks for donors but the potential is huge, said Conteh. “We want to take conflict resolution to the people so that it is with them every day.”

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Photo: CIMMYT

The Maize Lethal Necrosis disease threatens output

NAIROBI,  – Maize lethal necrosis (MLN), a disease which has affected at least 300,000 maize farmers mainly in Kenya’s Rift Valley Province, could adversely affect harvests of the staple nationally if it is allowed to spread, warn experts.
 
Citing data from the Ministry of Agriculture, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation reported that some 15,732 hectares of maize had been affected by the disease, and that in severely affected fields total crop loss was anticipated.

“Unless the disease is stopped in good time, and that time must be now, this country will have no harvests of maize this season. That is how serious this can get if we joke around,” said Peter Siele, a crop science lecturer at the University of Nairobi.

Scientists at the state-owned Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Services, have urged the government to destroy the entire crop affected by the disease as a control measure.

In the worst-hit Rift Valley Province, at least 70 percent of the maize crop has been affected, say government officials. The province produces about half the country’s maize.

The disease causes infected plants to stunt, show chlorosis (turn pale) and die close to the flowering stage.

MLN occurs after combined infections by two viruses – maize chlorotic mottle virus (MCMV) and either maize dwarf mosaic virus (MDMV) or wheat streak mosaic virus (WSMV). No lethal necrosis develops if only MDMV and WSMV occur together.

“The devastation the disease has caused is huge and we can’t deny that. But what we are now going to do quickly is to stop it from spreading to other regions,” said Johnson Irungu, director of crop management at the Ministry of Agriculture.

“I don’t think the disease will affect what we have now in stocks or future harvest,” said Agriculture Minister Sally Kosgey.

According to David Nyameino, head of the Kenya Cereal Growers Association, the government should compensate affected maize farmers. 

About 2.7 million tons of  maize are produced every year in Kenya, where, at over 90kg, annual per capita consumption is one of the highest in Africa.

Prices rising

MLN, which began in the Rift Valley district of Bomet in September 2011, coupled with an erratic supply of maize seeds and fertilizers, may mean more expensive maize imports, say food security analysts.

At present, maize supply is already tightening and prices rising.

“Between April and mid-May, maize prices have increased by 10-25 percent in markets situated within the surplus producing areas including Chwele, Kitale, Eldoret, and Nakuru… In the major urban markets, maize prices are up to 25 percent above [what they were in 2011] and 40- 90 percent above the five-year average,” according to the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET).

According to the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), about 75 percent of the short-term (three-year) average area put to maize production had been planted by mid-May, noted FEWS NET.

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source www.irinnews.org

Photo: Siegfried Modola/IRIN

Migrant sex workers at risk

NAIROBI,  – When Redempta*, 22, fled the violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) two years ago and came to Kenya, she quickly had to find a source of income to feed and house herself and her two younger siblings. But as an illegal immigrant with no knowledge of local languages, her options were very limited.

“I met some women from my country [DRC] and they introduced me to sex work because I needed to pay for the house and buy food for my siblings. I couldn’t get any [other] work,” she told IRIN/PlusNews.

As an illegal immigrant she is especially vulnerable because she can’t report violent clients to the police, and is too afraid to seek medical help for her injuries.

“When I refuse to have sex with them without a condom, some threaten to report me to the police. They say they will tell the police I stole from them,” she told IRIN/PlusNews. “I don’t have any papers to allow me [to stay] here, so I just have sex with them without a condom when they want.”

Redempta sometimes has up to eight clients in two days, but despite not always using a condom she has only been tested for HIV once in the last two years. “I just tested once when they conducted a public one [testing campaign], but I fear going to a facility to test for HIV. I don’t know what the health workers will tell me when I go there because I am not a Kenyan,” she said.

The Kenya HIV Prevention Response and Modes of Transmission Analysis, 2009, noted that commercial sex workers and their clients together were contributing 14 percent of all new HIV infections.

An integrated biological and behavioural surveillance survey of migrant sex workers in Nairobi, Kenya’s capital, released in April 2012 by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Kenya National AIDS and Sexually transmitted infections Control Programme (NASCOP), revealed that HIV prevalence among migrant female sex workers was 23.1 percent, which is consistent with the rates found among Kenyan sex workers and more than three times the national average of 6.3 percent.

However, Kenyan sex workers had better knowledge of HIV and health-seeking behaviour, and 98 percent of female sex workers who were citizens had heard of sexual transmitted infections, compared to 70 percent of migrant female sex workers.

The study was conducted in 2010, when just over half of the 628 participants said they had ever tested for HIV, and 25.8 percent did not know that condoms protected against HIV. Some 72 percent of migrant female sex workers knew where to go for an HIV test, compared to 92 percent of women in the general population.

“Migrant female sex workers, due to various reasons, seem not to be following or to understand the campaigns around HIV prevention and treatment, and that could be reason for the disconnect between knowledge and behaviour,” Kelsi Kriitmaa, the lead researcher for the study told IRIN/PlusNews.

“Services for this population could be integrated into programmes for general female sex workers, with special attention to regular sexually transmitted infections, and treatment and universal knowledge of HIV serostatus promoted. However, special care must be given to the language and cultural needs of the migrants,” the authors recommended. “Awareness of post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) and the importance of seeking medical treatment in case of rape or sexual violence among female sex workers are necessary.”

The authors also proposed that stakeholders lobby the Kenyan government to provide a legal framework for the regulation of sex work, which would increase access to services and provide protection for sex workers.

Migrant female sex workers were more likely to engage in sexual activity at a younger age, and according to the study 93 percent reported having a vaginal sexual encounter when they were between 5 and 14 years old, which experts say could be due to the lack of support systems in a foreign country.

I don’t have any papers to allow me [to stay] here, so I just have sex with them without a condom when they want

“Family support systems are important in cushioning young girls from sexual abuse or early sexual activity. Many migrant girls do not have this, and they are likely to use sex as survival tactic in a foreign land,” Lucy Waweru, psychology lecturer at the University of Nairobi, told IRIN/PlusNews.

“There is a need to sensitize health workers on how to provide services to migrant populations, and take into account their vulnerabilities and provide friendly services that are, for instance, time sensitive,” said Jason Theede, migration health programme officer at the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

IOM has is running a combination pilot programme to educate migrant sex workers about human rights and local languages as well as other issues, and the trained workers will then be expected to educate their peers.

“The mapping exercise that was done is aimed at finding out the hot spots where you are likely to find migrant sex workers. After this, we will embark on providing services that are friendly to them, but within the normal services provided to Kenyan sex workers,” Helgar Musyoki, most at-risk populations programme officer at NASCOP, told PlusNews.

While acknowledging that illegal migrant status could hamper provision of services to these sex workers, Musyoki said health workers were under instructions to focus on providing the services, rather than on their migrant status.

“The legality or not of their migrant status is for other organs of the state to look into,” she said. “Our [job] is to provide health services, and that should be it.”

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source www.irinnews.org