USA: Ambassador Assaults Embassy Protesters

Protesters want to know: Where’s our money? A protest at the Embassy of the Republic of Cameroon turned violent this morning when the Cameroonian ambassador stormed from the building and assaulted two people outside, a well-placed source tells News4. Ambassador Joseph Bienvenu Charles Foe Atangana rushed into the crowd and assaulted the leader of the protest, and then pushed a woman to the ground, witnesses said. The woman, a passer-by not involved in the protest, had been taking pictures. Her camera was thrown to the ground. Both of the injured were transported from the scene by ambulance. Local police and the Secret Service responded to the scene. The matter’s now been turned over to the State Department. The group of paid protesters, bearing signs in French, were gathered outside the embassy at 2349 Massachusetts Ave. N.W. They claim that Cameroonian officials are siphoning off U.S.-granted funds intended for the people of Cameroon. The frustrated protesters say they were supposed to be paid for their work. Now that their leader has been taken from the scene, they’re saying it’s not clear if they’ll receive payment.

Cameroon: Cases of rape increase

A recent survey carried out in ten regions of Cameroon shows that rape
cases are on the rise. According to IPS, 20 percent of the nearly
38,000 women interviewed reported having been raped. The German
Technical Cooperation (GTZ) and Cameroon's National Association of
Aunties – (RENATA), an organization of more than 10,000 teenaged
mothers working against sexual violence, found most rapes were
committed by people known to the victims. "The rapists are family
members, including fathers, school teachers, pastors and priests,
classmates, colleagues, friends and neighbours," Dr Flavien Tiokou
Ndonko, one of the researchers, told IPS. Family members were reported
to be the assailants in 18 percent of cases. Nearly a quarter of those
raped became pregnant as a result. "These statistics cannot in any way
show the full extent of rape in the country, because most victims
never tell anyone they have been raped," said Ndonko.

A separate study jointly carried out by the GTZ and RENATA, entitled
Constraints in Seeking Justice for Rape Victims in Cameroon, revealed
that of the 33 reported cases between 2004 and 2007 at the Bamenda
High Court, in Cameroon's North West region, "only two of them were
sentenced, 22 were struck out as lacking evidence, eight cases were
discharged on grounds of simple threats, while one was withdrawn."

The report further indicates that the procedures for getting legal
redress are too cumbersome and take too long, essentially because of
"the need for preliminary investigations, from the police and/or
hospital to the legal department, before getting to court."

In the course of these lengthy procedures, the report says, "most
victims encounter lots of interventions and negotiations whereby the
case is stopped or withdrawn before justice is rendered."

Constraints such as a lack of counseling for survivors and accused,
lack of specialized judges for rape cases, the high cost of court
action and administration, as well as threats from the accused, all
combine to make justice for rape survivors a privilege, not a right in
Cameroon.

According to Patience Siri Akenji, the legal consultant who supervised
the study, what happens in the Bamenda High Court is a microcosm of
what happens in courts across the country.

She suggests the legal system be improved to make deadlines applicable
to judicial officers to prosecute, specific laws should also be
enacted to protect rape victims and also also recommends that court
sessions be held in the magistrates' chambers for the protection of
rape survivors, away from the pressure of the court room, and as a way
to uphold the dignity of the victim.

"This will encourage the reporting of these cases, and encourage
cooperation, leading to rapid intervention in rape cases," Akenji
said.

Despite Cameroon's penal code that states, "Whoever by force or moral
ascendancy compels any female, whether above or below the age of
puberty, to have sexual intercourse with him shall be punished with
imprisonment from five to 10 years," few perpetrators of rape are ever
prosecuted in Cameroon.

CISA
www.cameroononline.org

'Dramatic' resurgence in rape and murder

The number of rapes, killings and burnings of entire villages has
exploded in the Democratic Republic of Congo as armed groups take
advantage of a period of limbo before an expected deployment of
government troops against rebels.

There has been a huge increase in rapes and killings in eastern DR
Congo by armed groups – including Congolese government troops – since
Kinshasa announced imminent operations against rebels, a UN
spokesperson said.

Elisabeth Byrs, spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), told FRANCE 24 in a telephone interview
that there had been a "dramatic" resurgence in rapes and attacks in
Sud-Kivu province, with civilians burned alive in their homes, and
added that both government and rebel groups were responsible.

Sud-Kivu and particularly Nord-Kivu provinces, on the country's
eastern border, remain volatile after five years of a regional war
fought across the country (1998-2003), followed by a civil war in the
east.

Apart from internal conflict, hundreds of thousands of civilians have
been displaced in the east and northeast of the DR Congo by the
activities of rebels from neighbouring Rwanda and Uganda.

"Any man in a military uniform in the area is a threat to the safety
of these vulnerable villagers," Byrs said. "Since April there has been
a huge increase in extortion, rape, and murder," she added.

Byrs said the violence was directly linked to increased militarization
in the region following the announcement of impending operations
against rebel groups, including Hutu rebels group FDLR and Mai-Mai
militia.

"They are taking advantage of a period of limbo between the
announcement of operations and actual deployment to create havoc and
chaos in the region," said Byrs.

"There is a clear link between militarization and rape.

"Rape has always been used as a weapon of war, and without this
situation becoming public knowledge, it could go on and on with total
impunity. Enough is enough," she added.

Burned alive

Some 1,128 homes were burned down in three villages during attacks in
which 77 people were killed with machetes and knives then burned alive
in one attack by the FDLR, according to the UN.

"There is terrible violence currently in Sud-Kivu, especially in the
region of Kakeli," Byrs explained.

During the first three months of the year, 463 rape cases were
recorded in most of the province, equivalent to more than half of the
total cases registered there last year.

FRANCE 24 correspondent Arnaud Zaijtman, who is based in the DRC, says
the report proves that a current lull in fighting between Government
troops and rebel militias has hidden the reality of increasing
violence.

According to Zajtman: "Combatants who were previously supported by
Rwanda have joined the DRC national army – but they have kept many of
their weapons and money to keep up their illegal attacks."

"There is a definite feeling that fighting will erupt again. And the
rebels are taking advantage of the lull to get more funds and more
weapons to fight," our correspondent adds.

www.france24.com

Child rights

Children count for approximately half of Africa's population. However,
despite the sheer numbers, there is little awareness of international
human rights standards relating to the rights of the child. African
children have been the subject of neglect especially in countries
plagued by conflicts. Children are victims of rape and other forms of
sexual and economic exploitation. They suffer gaps in education; in
conflict societies they are separated from their families and
conscripted as militias. In post conflict societies, they are not
easily reintegrated. Domestic laws relating to the rights of a child
remain outdated and the steps towards law reform have been relatively
slow.

The Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa lays special
emphasis on the rights of the child through identifying the problems
that facilitate the violation of the rights of the child and engaging
in educating the various communities through public lectures and
sensitization campaigns. We train local stakeholders on improving the
rights of the child and provide legal aid for juveniles, including
advocacy for law reform in such countries.
http://www.chrda.org/children

Achieve better results in human development

Progress toward the human development

must be accelerated. That will

require commitment of more resources,

including increased donor support, to key

programs in education and health—for

example, the Fast-Track Initiative in education,

health systems strengthening, and

combating malaria.

More spending on education and health

programs, however, is not the sole answer.

The quality and equity of spending are

equally important. Improved governance,

stronger accountability mechanisms, and

sound expenditure management are essential

to raising the quality of education and

health services and improving the access

of poor, underserved populations.

A stronger focus is needed on combating

malnutrition, especially among children,

to underpin better human development

outcomes.

Policies and programs must factor in the

strong links that exist betweena health and

education outcomes, nutrition, and environmental

factors—water and sanitation,

pollution, and climate change.

Iraq shoe thrower 'was tortured'

"At the time that Prime Minister Nouri Maliki said on television that he could not sleep without being reassured on my fate... I was being tortured in the worst ways, beaten with electric cables and iron bars,"

The United States contributed in toeturing this guy;  
MUNTADAR AL-ZAIDI is a hero and not a criminal, he just did what was right, Bush merrits that. Bush is the criminal, he is the one who had to be jailed.

Lubna Al Hussein liberated

sudanesse government finally liberated Lubna after imprisoning her because she wore trousers in public(judges claiming her atire wasnt desent)
this law is based on what? on islam? i am not sure...even in Saudi Arabia the mother of Islam women do ware tousers


sudan must know that without gender equality development is not possible ,gender equality is part of development(who knows may be the government doesnt desire progress)...