Photo: IRIN

Securing the 700-km border with Cote d’Ivoire is a challenge for UNMIL troops (file photo)

MONROVIA, – More than a year after the end of the conflict in neighbouring Côte d’Ivoire, the Liberian government has pledged to deal once and for all with longstanding complaints of its nationals being party to military operations and serious human rights violations on the other side of its western border.

By sending troops from the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) to Grand Gedeh County in eastern Liberia, helping to extradite alleged Ivorian militia fighters, temporarily closing the border, and pledging tighter surveillance of Ivoirian refugees as well as greater cross-border cooperation, the government of Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has sought to show it is serious about tackling a now acknowledged mercenary problem in Liberia’s territory.

Critics have accused the Liberian authorities of tailoring their security policy to the needs of Côte d’Ivoire, at the expense of needlessly opening old wounds from Liberia’s civil wars (1989-1996 and 1999-2003).

Thomas Nimely, former head of the Movement for Democracy in Liberia (MODEL), one of the main rebel movements in the war against former President Charles Taylor, and long-based in Grand Gedeh, told Voice of America that: “If Ivory Coast wants peace, they should look for their own peace”, adding that Liberians in the border regions should not suffer as a result.

Changing tack on mercenaries

Liberia initially appeared to make light of a damning report on 6 June by Human Rights Watch (HRW), Liberia: Ivorian Government Foes Wage, Plot Attacks.

Accused by HRW of “having its head in the sand in responding to the flood of war criminals who crossed into the country at the end of the Ivorian crisis”, the government suggested the report had seriously overstated the extent of Liberian involvement.

That position changed when unidentified militia fighters near Tai in southwestern Côte d’Ivoire killed seven Nigerien peacekeepers and at least 10 civilians on 8 June, and pushed border security issues sharply into focus.

Linking with Abidjan on security

Senior Liberian officials joined their Ivorian counterparts, representatives of the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) and the UN Operation in Côte d’Ivoire (ONUCI), for a meeting in the Ivoirian commercial capital, Abidjan on 13 June. It ended with a joint communiqué offering to stabilize territory on both sides of the border, improve information exchange; tighten extradition procedures and consult more with community leaders.

The following day Liberia’s Information Minister, Lewis Brown, invited 10 “persons of interest” to turn themselves in to the authorities, implying they had been involved in mercenary activities.

Liberia delivered on its pledge to hold an extradition hearing for 41 Ivorian nationals in Zwedru, the capital of Grand Gedeh, and ensured their passage into Côte d’Ivoire on 23 June. The Liberian government has also reportedly suspended alluvial gold mining in Grand Gedeh, in which former Liberian combatants from a variety of factions actively participate.

Shamed into action

The mercenary issue has long been a source of embarrassment to the Liberian government. President Johnson-Sirleaf issued periodic warnings during the post-electoral crisis in Côte d’Ivoire that Liberians should not get involved.

Liberia has been praised for its efforts to deal with an influx of over 200,000 Ivoirian refugees, but has also faced accusations of negligence and incompetence for failing to stop a steady flow of battle-hardened fighters into Ivorian territory.

High-profile mass arrests have sometimes been followed by the discreet release of those taken into custody.

A border beyond control

Even with the presence and active support of UNMIL, the Liberian authorities have difficulty policing a porous 700km frontier with Côte d’Ivoire, much of which runs through dense forest. The thinly scattered checkpoints and border controls are outnumbered by dozens of informal crossings.

Cross-border ethno-linguistic ties remain strong, particularly between Ivorian Yacouba and Liberian Gio in Liberia’s Nimba County, and Ivoirian Guéré and Liberian Krahn in Grand Gedeh.

Relief agencies and refugees confirm that the strong affinity between host communities and incomers was crucial in helping Ivorian refugees settle, particularly in Nimba. But the Krahn-Guéré connection has featured prominently in reports of mercenary recruitment and the alliances between Ivorian forces still loyal to ousted president Laurent Gbagbo and Liberian fighters.

Liberians at large

The UN Panel of Experts on Liberia believes at least 300 Liberians, mainly from Nimba, fought on the side of the Forces Républicains de Côte d’Ivoire (FRCI), backing current Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara.

But many more, particularly Krahn, were allied to the Forces Armées Nationales de Côte d’Ivoire (FANCI), fighting for ex-president Laurent Gbagbo, and were particularly active in western Côte d’Ivoire, where pro-Gbagbo militias had longstanding ties with Liberian combatants.

In a report submitted to the UN Security Council in November 2011, the UN Panel of Experts on Liberia documented not only the direct involvement of Liberian fighters in some of the worst atrocities in the later stages of the Ivorian crisis, but also their predictably messy exodus from Ivorian territory in the wake of Gbagbo’s overthrow. The report made clear the inability of a weakened Liberian judicial and security system to track, try and detain combatants.

HRW has welcomed Liberia’s public commitment to resolving its mercenary problem. Matt Wells HRW’s West Africa researcher, noted that: “the Liberian government has taken important steps, making it clear that those responsible for devastating attacks on Ivorian border residents and the deaths of peacekeepers will be held accountable”. But they have caveats too about the role of the AFL, the revived national army, which has some experienced commanders, but inexpert personnel.

Anti-Krahn backlash?

The Krahn are the dominant ethnic group in Grand Gedeh. Former President Samuel Doe was born in Tuzon, about 10km from Zwedru. During his 10 years in power (1980-1990), the Krahn held dominant positions in government and the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL). Later, as the struggle to oust Charles Taylor intensified, the rebel Movement for Democracy in Liberia (MODEL) drew heavily on a Krahn support base in eastern Liberia, while also receiving support from Côte d’Ivoire.

MODEL is now defunct, but former senior commanders from its ranks were on the government’s “wanted” list of 10 alleged mercenaries, including Isaac Sayou Chebgo (also known as ‘Bob Marley’), Amos Cheyee, Bobby Sharpee and Nehzee Barway.

MODEL’s former leader, Thomas Yaya Nimely, who served as foreign minister in the Transitional Government of Gyude Bryant in Liberia, warned against state harassment of former MODEL personnel, alleging that his own farm in Grand Gedeh has frequently been put under surveillance by security operatives. In a recent interview on the Voice of America (VOA) radio station, Nimely confirmed that the government had invited him to Monrovia, the Liberian capital, to talk about the situation in his home area in eastern Liberia, while hinting that the government’s approach had been too heavy-handed.

Photo: UN Photo/Erin Siegal

President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf says the government is cracking down on alleged mercenaries (file photo)

Parliamentarians from Grand Gedeh have echoed Nimely’s criticisms, and have been rebuked in turn by national ministers and sections of the media, accused of raising ethnicity as an issue. But Alex Chersia Grant, who represents District Three of Grand Gedeh County, on the Ivorian border, said the government had blundered in issuing its “wanted” list. “Eight out of 10 names on that list are Grand Gedeans,” Grant told IRIN. “I know some of them personally. One man who gave himself up has been around here in Monrovia, struggling to maintain his livelihood.”

Grant said concrete evidence of Liberian involvement in recent violence in western Côte d’Ivoire, notably the killings near Tai, had yet to be provided. He stressed the complexities of the fall-out from the Ivorian conflict, the dangers of false information circulating, and the need for government leaders to do more consultation before springing into action. “This whole thing [cross-border militia action] requires proper investigation before action can be taken,” Grant said.

The MP said he had fielded numerous phone calls from concerned constituents in Grand Gedeh, who were worried about the government troop deployment. While acknowledging that tensions appeared to have eased, Grant urged the Armed Forces of Liberia to tread carefully, hinting that a strong-armed deployment would antagonize a population with bad memories of past conflicts. “Some of our political leaders have short memories”, Grant warned. “We should be careful how to respond to little things so they don’t escalate into bigger things.”

The same grievances have been taken up in the diaspora, notably by the Grand Gedeh Association in the Americas (GGAA). In a statement issued on 22 June they strongly questioned the government’s “wanted” list of 10, saying, “We are troubled by the level of intimidation directed at peaceful citizens within Grand Gedeh County by overzealous Government security forces and functionaries, in the form and manner that are designed to install fear and apprehension among the population”.

Among the concerns raised by Grant and others is Liberia aligning itself so clearly with Côte d’Ivoire’s president Ouattara when many in western Côte d’Ivoire, particularly in the Guéré community, have bitter memories of atrocities allegedly committed by the FRCI (Forces Républicains de Côte d’Ivoire) towards the end of the Ivorian conflict. Interviewed in the French weekly, L’Express, senior FRCI commander Losséni Fofana was quick to blame Liberians for the attack near Tai, adding that his soldiers should be given the right to cross into Liberia in pursuit operations, “but we are waiting for the politicians to decide”.

Mats Utas, Associate Professor in Cultural Anthropology at the Nordic Africa Institute in Uppsala, Sweden, has researched command structures among Liberian former combatants and their role in the artisanal mining sector in Grand Gedeh. [ http://matsutas.wordpress.com ] Writing weeks before the June attacks, Utas noted that the presence of training camps in Grand Gedeh was “highly unlikely”, and that cross-border attacks, while part of the local reality, were “extremely rare and… appear in isolation”.

In a phone interview with IRIN, Utas said it was important to differentiate between small-scale operations by Liberians and the more significant attacks inside Ivorian territory. He warned of the likelihood of tougher treatment of Ivorian refugees by the Liberian security forces, but also stressed the dangers of the military antagonizing sections of the Liberian population. “Grand Gedeans already have this sense of abandonment, of things being mishandled by Monrovia, and this is not going to help.”

cs/aj/he
source www.irinnews.org

————-

Photo: Siegfried Modola/IRIN

Hundreds of women are allegedly trafficked into forced sex work every year (file photo)

KAMPALA,  – Uganda set up a national human trafficking task force in April, but a national action plan to combat trafficking – originally due in June – could be delayed for months as officials take stock of existing and fragmented law enforcement efforts.

Minister of State for Internal Affairs James Baba, who set up the task force, highlighted the importance of improved coordination.

“Traffickers have often taken advantage of this fragmentation of interventions and uncoordinated responses and have exploited the vulnerabilities of the very people we seek to protect,” he said in his speech to officially commission the task force.

A government inventory showed that everyone working on the issue – from Interpol to immigration – is understaffed, underfunded, and operating ad hoc, essentially lacking the very coordination the task force was put in place to address.

The TIP office itself is currently operating out of an existing immigration office, with only four permanent staff and is yet to confirm its own budget.

A report by Uganda’s honorary consul in Kuala Lumpur in February said more than 600 Ugandan women were trapped in Malaysia’s sex industry, the Ugandan Ministry of Internal Affairs has begun to implement the requirements under its 2009 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) legislation.

Meanwhile, Umar Mutuya, deputy Special Investigation Unit (SIU) commandant and officer-in-charge of its TIP desk, said his officers could not get ahead of traffickers as things stand. “It is so rampant,” he said. “Unless someone makes a complaint we won’t follow it because we are overwhelmed already.”

According to the US State Department, which publishes an annual global trafficking report, Uganda remains in a middle-tier ranking.

US report’s criticisms

The report highlighted the lack of prosecution as a major barrier to progress in Uganda. Although officials identified five trafficking cases in the past year, and prosecuted three, it is yet to convict anyone under its trafficking legislation.

In mid-June, police said a suspected human trafficker was released from a magistrate’s court in Kampala on 600,000 Ugandan shillings (about US$240) bail despite an investigation which suggested he exploited more than 50 people through a front company that also acted as an illegitimate labour recruitment agency.

“Some of these courts don’t give us time,” said Mutuya. “We know he is involved – we have cases of people he had trafficked who are coming out now.”

The US report also singled out the one-person External Employment Unit (EEU) – the Labour Ministry’s arm in charge of the country’s 22 recruitment agencies – as lacking both the financial and human resources to adequately monitor their activities.

Following accusations of women ending up in domestic slavery in Iraq thanks to contracts by Ugandan labour recruitment agencies, the EEU put in place a policy prohibiting any Ugandan from being sent abroad to do domestic work. EEU travelled to Iraq in 2010 to investigate the slavery claims, but admits to not being able to get a full picture.

In the past year, the US TIP report said, Ugandan trafficking victims were reported in the UK, Denmark, Iraq, South Sudan, Kenya, China, Thailand and Malaysia. In addition, Interpol reported Ugandan women trafficked to India, Egypt, Afghanistan, Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates.

[Human trafficking] is so rampant. Unless someone makes a complaint we won’t follow it because we are overwhelmed already

Action

Meanwhile, the task force says action is being taken: Since the task force’s inauguration, more than 50 victims have been repatriated or prevented from being trafficked, according to Eunice Kisembo, the taskforce chair, who oversees the range of ministries involved.

She said under their watch, SIU had been given three more officers to handle complaints, police are keeping better records, and airport security has become much more stringent. According to Kisembo, last week eight young women were prevented from being trafficked into domestic slavery in Egypt thanks to the vigilance of border officials.

A parliamentary committee which visited Malaysia in March recently released a report detailing at least 13 Ugandan women languishing in prisons there. The MPs called for a campaign to raise awareness of the dangers of trafficking.

“Trafficking will only continue if the public isn’t aware,” said Dorah Mafabi, Uganda programme manager of the American Bar Association’s Rule of Law Initiative, who coordinates civil society partners working on the issue.

She called on the government to fund a campaign modelled on those designed to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS in the 1990s.

pc/kr/cb
source www.irinnews.org

Photo: Delayed Gratification/Flickr

A Swazi teacher offers informal teaching to orphans and vulnerable children

MBABANE, – A strike called by Swaziland’s largest teachers’ union demanding a below-inflation salary increase is beginning to spread across the country – after the government refused to entertain any wage demands – and has led to sporadic clashes and arrests.

“There is no money to pay teachers a 4.5 percent increment. They have been told this again and again,” Education Minister Wilson Ntshangase told the media. Inflation is currently running at about 9 percent.

Strikes by the 9,000-strong Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) began on 25 June 2012. Government spokesman Percy Simelane says all teachers who take part in the strike will be fired; he has called the teachers “delinquents and criminals”.

On 28 June public transport was also hit after the Swaziland Transport and Allied Workers Union (STAWU) joined the strike. The government has applied to the industrial court for a 30-day detention order for the SNAT leadership.

“As expected, a court order was sought [by the government] to declare the strike illegal and was granted by a government-appointed judge, but because this happens whenever a strike is called in Swaziland the aggrieved parties take to the streets anyway. But it gives the security forces a green light to attack us,” Amos Dlamini, a striking teacher from the Manzini region, told IRIN.

“That [firing teachers] would certainly cut down on government’s wage bill, because a majority of teachers will be dismissed. But it shows government sees education as a political battleground, not as a national crisis that needs attention. As an African teacher I wonder why I am not respected. Why do some African leaders give lip service to the importance of education but do so little in terms of policy and expenditures?” a striking teacher in the second city of Manzini, who declined to be named, told IRIN.

SNAT has members in primary and secondary schools, and also in some tertiary institutions. According to the union, 30-50 percent of Swaziland’s 153 primary and 172 secondary schools have so far been affected by industrial action. The government has ordered school principals to keep the doors open, but in the absence of teachers, lessons have been disrupted and in some urban areas there have been incidents of students joining their teachers in street protests.

It is unusual for whole schools to empty and children taking to the streets like this

“It is unusual for whole schools to empty and children taking to the streets like this. I’ve never seen anything like this that is so widespread. This is not the Swazi [practice] to be confrontational or disrespectful to police and authority, and you can see these children are very frustrated and angry,” Felicia Simelane, a seamstress whose shop provided a bird’s eye view of a confrontation between police, students and teachers in Manzini, told IRIN.

The average monthly wage (before tax) for a primary school teacher is about US$470 and $700 for a secondary school teacher.

Arrests

Several students in Manzini and three teachers in the capital Mbabane were arrested on 26 June 2012 for allegedly throwing stones at riot police, who have so far responded with tear gas and warning shots, according to police spokesperson Superintendent Wendy Hleta. A further 25 teachers were arrested on 27 June 2012 on their way to peri-urban schools to encourage teachers in those areas to observe the strike, according to the union.

“We are tired of going to school where there is no water for the toilets, no electricity and food that makes you sick to your stomach. The teachers are abused because they are paid peanuts. We know where the money goes in Swaziland. We know who has it,” Nhlanhla Mkhonta, a secondary school student in Manzini, told IRIN.

King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, has increasingly been criticised for his and the royal household’s spending habits.

A teacher, who declined to be named, told IRIN: “These children are not revolutionaries, they are just Swazis who feel Swaziland should belong to all Swazis and the resources of the country should be used for everyone. As a teacher it breaks my heart… These children are suffering because they don’t have a functioning science lab or even a decent soccer pitch.”

A significant drop in revenue from the Southern African Customs Union in the wake of the global economic slowdown helped precipitate a financial meltdown in Swaziland. A key IMF recommendation was that Swaziland’s public sector workforce be trimmed by 10 percent. But with private sector unemployment estimated at more than 40 percent, analysts say the government fears large-scale public sector retrenchments would spark unrest.

tg/go/cb
source www.irinnews.org

——