DOCSLIB.ORG

Unlawful Killings in Africa a Study Prepared for the UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary Or Arbitrary Executions

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Unlawful Killings in Africa a Study Prepared for the UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary Or Arbitrary Executions Unlawful Killings in Africa a study prepared for the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions Centre of Governance and Human Rights The Centre of Governance and Human Rights (CGHR), launched in 2009, draws together experts, practitioners and policymakers from the University of Cambridge and far beyond to think critically and innovatively about pressing governance and human rights issues throughout the world, with a special focus on Africa. The Centre aims to be a world-class interdisciplinary hub for fresh thinking, collaborative research and improving practice. Since 2011 CGHR has collaborated with the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, providing research support to his mandate. In 2012 a team of researchers produced a “Research Pack” on the threats to the right to life of journalists for an Expert Meeting held in Cambridge, ultimately contributing to the Special Rapporteur’s report that year to the Human Rights Council. In 2013 work began on a broader collaboration studying violations of the right to life across the African continent. Editor: Dr Thomas Probert Publisher: Centre of Governance and Human Rights, University of Cambridge Contact: [email protected] | +44 (0) 1223 767257 | www.cghr.polis.cam.ac.uk Cover image: Police from Abyei en route to Tajalei, a village burned to the ground allegedly by northern People’s Defence Forces and troops from the Sudan Armed Forces (Tim Freccia, 12 March 2011). Licensed under Creative Commons by the ENOUGH Project. Preface by the Director of the Centre of Governance and Human Rights ......................................................iv The CGHR Research Team & Note on Sources ................................................................................................ v Executive Summary ........................................................................................................................................vi Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 1 The Special Rapporteur and the Right to Life ................................................................................................. 1 Measuring Global & African Violence ............................................................................................................. 6 Studying the Incidence of Unlawful Killings .................................................................................................. 12 Excessive Use of Force ............................................................................................................. 21 Mass Demonstrations ................................................................................................................................... 21 Policing and Counter-Terrorism Activities .................................................................................................... 58 Custodial Deaths ........................................................................................................................................... 71 Political Killing ......................................................................................................................... 89 Targeted Killing of Political Opponents ........................................................................................................ 89 Election-Related Violence ........................................................................................................................... 102 Arbitrary Application of the Death Penalty ............................................................................. 129 Conditioned Homicide ........................................................................................................... 149 Infanticide ................................................................................................................................................... 149 Killings Associated with Spiritual Beliefs ..................................................................................................... 153 Honour Killing & Other Domestic Killings ................................................................................................... 168 Hate Crime .................................................................................................................................................. 175 Mass Actor Killings ................................................................................................................ 187 Vigilantism .................................................................................................................................................. 187 Social/Ethnic Cleansing ............................................................................................................................... 194 Land Disputes ............................................................................................................................................. 199 Organised Actor Killings ......................................................................................................... 206 Private Security Companies ........................................................................................................................ 206 Organised Crime ......................................................................................................................................... 217 Targeted Killing of Vulnerable Groups .................................................................................... 223 Journalists ................................................................................................................................................... 223 Human Rights Defenders ............................................................................................................................ 233 Humanitarian Aid Workers ......................................................................................................................... 237 Unlawful Killings in Armed Conflict and Ungoverned Spaces ................................................... 241 Unlawful Killings in Africa: The Need for Further Work ........................................................... 254 Preface by the Director of the Centre of Governance and Human Rights As a young interdisciplinary research centre, drawing together academics across Cambridge (and beyond) on pressing themes of governance and human rights, I am delighted that CGHR have published this Report. Our work with the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Prof. Christof Heyns represents the Centre’s most long-standing initiatives in policy-collaboration. The project is linked with an academic partnership with the University of Pretoria, generously supported by the David and Elaine Potter Foundation. I want to pay tribute to the CGHR Research Team that was coordinated by Dr Thomas Probert. Including both undergraduates and post-graduate students across at least three different faculties, their commitment to this project drove it throughout, and allowed the Centre to contribute usefully and meaningfully to the work of the Special Rapporteur. This study on the nature and incidence of unlawful killings in Africa helps address a particular hole in the knowledge base of human rights institutions, activists and researchers, who seek to tackle an unmistakably alarming phenomenon in many African countries: the State’s direct and indirect role in violations of the right to life of African people. The study provides a unifying framework for rigorously sourcing, monitoring and analysing the many ways in which unlawful killings are perpetrated and perpetuated, and it provides an important evidentiary basis for building more systematic efforts to identify, priortise and target entry points for action. By synthesising and organising the ongoing reporting work of diverse organisations, the study is a foundational contribution to more sustained and sustainable efforts by other institutions and individuals, more directly and operationally seized of this issue. It is also my hope that CGHR will continue to support their work in the coming years. Dr Sharath Srinivasan Director, Centre of Governance and Human Rights University of Cambridge iv The CGHR Research Team Research Coordinator & Editor: Thomas Probert Researchers: Katherine Bruce-Lockhart Meenakshi Krishnan Sophie Roborgh Lou Cantwell Sean McCormick Justin Selner Mary Goodhart Dwayne Menezes Sam Sherman Charlotte Kelly Eva Namusoke Alexia Solomou Note on Sources In many cases the information contained particularly in the “Geographical Distribution” sections of this study has been drawn from the annual reporting of various actors and agencies that monitor human rights on the ground. Amnesty International publishes Annual Reports generally in May, concerning events in the previous calendar year (so the 2014 report covers events from January-December 2013). Annual Reports, along with all other Amnesty reporting, can be downloaded from the Library available here: http://www.amnesty.org/en/library. Likewise, Human Rights Watch publishes its annual World Report generally in February. As with Amnesty, these reports concern events in the previous year. Previous Human Rights Watch World Reports can be downloaded here: http://www.hrw.org/node/79288. The U.S. State Department’s Country Reports on Human Rights Practices are made public in February
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Unscreportlibyanov2011eng1.Pdf
    Le Bureau du Procureur The Office of the Prosecutor SECOND REPORT OF THE PROSECUTOR OF THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT TO THE UN SECURITY COUNCIL PURSUANT TO UNSCR 1970 (2011) INTRODUCTION 1. On 26 February 2011 the United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 1970 (2011), referring the situation in Libya since 15 February 2011 to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court and stressing “the need to hold to account those responsible for attacks, including by forces under their control, on civilians.” 2. Paragraph 7 of the Resolution invites the Prosecutor to address the Security Council within two months of the adoption of this resolution and every six months thereafter on actions taken pursuant to this resolution. The Prosecutor first briefed the United Nations Security Council on 4 May 2011. 3. This second report provides a summary of the activities of the Office of the Prosecutor undertaken to implement Resolution 1970 (2011), including: a. The request to issue arrest warrants for Muammar Mohammed Abu Minyar Gaddafi (Muammar Gaddafi), Saif Al‐Islam Gaddafi, and Abdullah Al‐Senussi. b. Cooperation, and c. The ongoing investigation. 1. THE REQUEST FOR ARREST WARRANTS FOR MUAMMAR MOHAMMED ABU MINYAR GADDAFI (MUAMMAR GADDAFI), SAIF AL‐ISLAM GADDAFI, AND ABDULLAH AL‐SENUSSI 1.1 Notice to the United Nations Security Council 4. In its Resolution 1970, the Security Council rejected ʺunequivocally the incitement to hostility and violence against the civilian population made from the highest level of the Libyan government,ʺ and considered ʺthat the widespread and systematic attacks currently taking place in the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya against the civilian population may amount to crimes against humanity.” 5.
    [Show full text]
  • Statelessness and Citizenship in the East African Community
    Statelessness and Citizenship in the East African Community A Study by Bronwen Manby for UNHCR September 2018 Commissioned by UNHCR Regional Service Centre, Nairobi, Kenya [email protected] STATELESSNESS AND CITIZENSHIP IN THE EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY 2 September 2018 STATELESSNESS AND CITIZENSHIP IN THE EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY Table of Contents List of Tables ............................................................................................................................... i List of Boxes ................................................................................................................................ i Methodology and acknowledgements ...................................................................................... ii A note on terminology: “nationality”, “citizenship” and “stateless person” ........................... iii Acronyms .................................................................................................................................. iv Key findings and recommendations ....................................................................... 1 1. Summary ........................................................................................................... 3 Overview of the report .............................................................................................................. 4 Key recommendations .............................................................................................................. 5 Steps already taken ..................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • The Crisis in Libya
    APRIL 2011 ISSUE BRIEF # 28 THE CRISIS IN LIBYA Ajish P Joy Introduction Libya, in the throes of a civil war, now represents the ugly facet of the much-hyped Arab Spring. The country, located in North Africa, shares its borders with the two leading Arab-Spring states, Egypt and Tunisia, along with Sudan, Tunisia, Chad, Niger and Algeria. It is also not too far from Europe. Italy lies to its north just across the Mediterranean. With an area of 1.8 million sq km, Libya is the fourth largest country in Africa, yet its population is only about 6.4 million, one of the lowest in the continent. Libya has nearly 42 billion barrels of oil in proven reserves, the ninth largest in the world. With a reasonably good per capita income of $14000, Libya also has the highest HDI (Human Development Index) in the African continent. However, Libya’s unemployment rate is high at 30 percent, taking some sheen off its economic credentials. Libya, a Roman colony for several centuries, was conquered by the Arab forces in AD 647 during the Caliphate of Utman bin Affan. Following this, Libya was ruled by the Abbasids and the Shite Fatimids till the Ottoman Empire asserted its control in 1551. Ottoman rule lasted for nearly four centuries ending with the Ottoman defeat in the Italian-Ottoman war. Consequently, Italy assumed control of Libya under the Treaty of 1 Lausanne (1912). The Italians ruled till their defeat in the Second World War. The Libyan constitution was enacted in 1949 and two years later under Mohammed Idris (who declared himself as Libya’s first King), Libya became an independent state.
    [Show full text]
  • Cultural Landscape Adaptation And
    NYAME AKUMA No. 72 December 2009 NIGERIA owner of the new farm. Berom men do this in turns until everyone has his own farm. But apart from pro- Cultural Landscape Adaptation and viding food for the work party, the wife or wives is/ Management among the Berom of are usually responsible for subsequent weeding in Central Nigeria order to ensure good harvests. The Berom people practice both cereal and tuber forms of agriculture. Samuel Oluwole Ogundele and James Local crops include millets, sorghum, cocoyam, po- Lumowo tato, cassava and yam. Berom farmers – men and Department of Archaeology and women – usually fence their farms with cacti. This is Anthropology an attempt to prevent the menace of domestic ani- University of Ibadan mals such as goats and sheep that often destroy Ibadan, Nigeria crops. [email protected] Apart from farming, the Berom men do practice hunting to obtain protein. Much of this game meat is also sold at the local markets. Hunting can be done Introduction on an individual or group basis. Some of the locally available game includes cane rats, monkeys, ante- This paper reports preliminary investigations lopes and porcupines. According to the available oral conducted in April and May 2009, of archaeological tradition, Beromland was very rich in animal resources and oral traditions among the Berom of Shen in the including tigers, elephants, lions and buffalos in the Du District of Plateau State, Nigeria. Berom people olden days. However, over-killing or indiscriminate are one of the most populous ethnicities in Nigeria. hunting methods using bows and arrows and spears Some of the districts in Beromland are Du, Bachi, have led to the near total disappearance of these Fan, Foron, Gashish, Gyel, Kuru, Riyom and Ropp.
    [Show full text]
  • Mauritania Legislative and Municipal Elections, 19
    DELEGATION OF OBSERVERS MUNICIPAL AND PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS IN MAURITANIA (19 November 2006) Report by Alain Hutchinson, Head of Delegation Annexes: I. Programme II. Joint press release III Preliminary statement by the EU Election Observation Mission 17 January 2007 PR\649046EN.doc PE 373.825 EN EN On 28 September 2006 the European Parliament’s Conference of Presidents decided on the basis of a recommendation by the election coordination group to send a delegation to Mauritania for the municipal and parliamentary elections on 19 and 26 November 2006. Parliament’s political groups followed their internal rules in appointing the following Members for the first round of elections: · Alain Hutchinson (PSE, Belgium) · Milan Horáček (Verts, Germany) · Ryszard Czarnecki (Europe des Nations, Poland) After some hesitation, the second round of elections was set for 3 December. The political groups had not appointed enough Members to send a delegation for the second round. The delegation met for the first time on 18 October 2006 in Brussels and appointed Alain Hutchinson as its head. It discussed the mission programme and had a meeting with a Commission representative and the Mauritanian ambassador in Brussels. The delegation visited Mauritania from 16 to 22 November 2006. It worked closely with the EU Election Observation Mission (EOM), particularly the Chief of Mission, Marie Anne Isler Béguin. The delegation met Mrs Isler Béguin on several occasions and her suggestions were duly incorporated into the preliminary statement. At the press conference after the first round of elections, the Head of Delegation published a joint press release with the EOM (Annex II).
    [Show full text]
  • POLICING REFORM in AFRICA Moving Towards a Rights-Based Approach in a Climate of Terrorism, Insurgency and Serious Violent Crime
    POLICING REFORM IN AFRICA Moving towards a rights-based approach in a climate of terrorism, insurgency and serious violent crime Edited by Etannibi E.O. Alemika, Mutuma Ruteere & Simon Howell POLICING REFORM IN AFRICA Moving towards a rights-based approach in a climate of terrorism, insurgency and serious violent crime Edited by Etannibi E.O. Alemika, University of Jos, Nigeria Mutuma Ruteere, UN Special Rapporteur, Kenya Simon Howell, APCOF, South Africa Acknowledgements This publication is funded by the Ford Foundation, the United Nations Development Programme, and the Open Societies Foundation. The findings and conclusions do not necessarily reflect their positions or policies. Published by African Policing Civilian Oversight Forum (APCOF) Copyright © APCOF, April 2018 ISBN 978-1-928332-33-6 African Policing Civilian Oversight Forum (APCOF) Building 23b, Suite 16 The Waverley Business Park Wyecroft Road Mowbray, 7925 Cape Town, ZA Tel: +27 21 447 2415 Fax: +27 21 447 1691 Email: [email protected] Web: www.apcof.org.za Cover photo taken in Nyeri, Kenya © George Mulala/PictureNET Africa Contents Foreword iv About the editors v SECTION 1: OVERVIEW Chapter 1: Imperatives of and tensions within rights-based policing 3 Etannibi E. O. Alemika Chapter 2: The constraints of rights-based policing in Africa 14 Etannibi E.O. Alemika Chapter 3: Policing insurgency: Remembering apartheid 44 Elrena van der Spuy SECTION 2: COMMUNITY–POLICE NEXUS Chapter 4: Policing in the borderlands of Zimbabwe 63 Kudakwashe Chirambwi & Ronald Nare Chapter 5: Multiple counter-insurgency groups in north-eastern Nigeria 80 Benson Chinedu Olugbuo & Oluwole Samuel Ojewale SECTION 3: POLICING RESPONSES Chapter 6: Terrorism and rights protection in the Lake Chad basin 103 Amadou Koundy Chapter 7: Counter-terrorism and rights-based policing in East Africa 122 John Kamya Chapter 8: Boko Haram and rights-based policing in Cameroon 147 Polycarp Ngufor Forkum Chapter 9: Police organizational capacity and rights-based policing in Nigeria 163 Solomon E.
    [Show full text]
  • EGYPT-PROTESTS-DOWNFALL.Pdf
    EGYPT EGYPT’S REVOLUTION 2.0 SPECIAL REPORT 1 EGYPT REVOLUTION 2.0 The first democratically elected president in Egypt began his last day at work as a free man and ended it as a prisoner of his own Republican Guard. Here’s how it happened BY YASMINE SALEH AND PAUL TAYLOR CAIRO, July 5, 2013 or Egypt’s military chiefs, the final spur to rebellion came on June 26. FThat day top generals met Mohamed Mursi, the country’s first democratically elected president, and spoke bluntly, telling the Islamist leader what he should say in a major speech he planned as protests against him intensified around the country. “We told him it has to be short, respond to opposition demands to form a coalition government, amend the constitution and set a timeframe for the two actions,” an of- ficer present in the room told Reuters. “Yet he came out with a very long speech that said nothing. That is when we knew he had no intention of fixing the situation, and we had to prepare for Plan B.” The officer added: “We had prepared for NO MURSI: Anti-Mursi protesters in Tahrir Square on July 3 (front page), the day Egypt’s armed forces all scenarios, from street violence to mass removed the president and suspended the constitution. REUTERS/ SUHAIB SALEM; Mursi (above), just clashes, and had troops ready to handle before a speech at Cairo University on June 30 last year, the day he formally took charge of Egypt. both situations.” Like other serving officers REUTERS/STRINGER interviewed for this report, the person re- quested anonymity because of the sensitiv- ity of the situation.
    [Show full text]
  • Status of Lgbti People in Cameroon, Gambia, Ghana and Uganda
    STATUS OF LGBTI PEOPLE IN CAMEROON, GAMBIA, GHANA AND UGANDA 3.12.2015 Finnish Immigration Service Country Information Service Public Theme Report 1 (123) Table of contents Disclaimer .................................................................................................................................................... 3 List of Abbreviations ................................................................................................................................... 4 1. Introduction .............................................................................................................................................. 7 1.1. The colonial legacy of anti-sodomy laws ......................................................................................... 7 1.2. The significance of current laws criminalising same-sex conduct ............................................. 11 1.3. Particularities of the situation of lesbians and bisexual women................................................. 12 1.4. Particularities of the situation of transgender and intersex people ........................................... 14 1.5. Violations of international and regional human rights law .......................................................... 14 2. Cameroon .............................................................................................................................................. 18 2.1. The legal framework ........................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Suicidal Behaviour Across the African Continent: a Review of the Literature Becky Mars1*, Stephanie Burrows2,3, Heidi Hjelmeland4 and David Gunnell1
    Mars et al. BMC Public Health 2014, 14:606 http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/14/606 RESEARCH ARTICLE Open Access Suicidal behaviour across the African continent: a review of the literature Becky Mars1*, Stephanie Burrows2,3, Heidi Hjelmeland4 and David Gunnell1 Abstract Background: Suicide is a major cause of premature mortality worldwide, but data on its epidemiology in Africa, the world’s second most populous continent, are limited. Methods: We systematically reviewed published literature on suicidal behaviour in African countries. We searched PubMed, Web of Knowledge, PsycINFO, African Index Medicus, Eastern Mediterranean Index Medicus and African Journals OnLine and carried out citation searches of key articles. We crudely estimated the incidence of suicide and suicide attempts in Africa based on country-specific data and compared these with published estimates. We also describe common features of suicide and suicide attempts across the studies, including information related to age, sex, methods used and risk factors. Results: Regional or national suicide incidence data were available for less than one third (16/53) of African countries containing approximately 60% of Africa’s population; suicide attempt data were available for <20% of countries (7/53). Crude estimates suggest there are over 34,000 (inter-quartile range 13,141 to 63,757) suicides per year in Africa, with an overall incidence rate of 3.2 per 100,000 population. The recent Global Burden of Disease (GBD) estimate of 49,558 deaths is somewhat higher, but falls within the inter-quartile range of our estimate. Suicide rates in men are typically at least three times higher than in women.
    [Show full text]
  • Of Trials, Reparation, and Transformation in Post-Apartheid South Africa: the Making of a Common Purpose
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE NYLS Law Review Vols. 22-63 (1976-2019) Volume 60 Issue 2 Twenty Years of South African Constitutionalism: Constitutional Rights, Article 6 Judicial Independence and the Transition to Democracy January 2016 Of Trials, Reparation, and Transformation in Post-Apartheid South Africa: The Making of A Common Purpose ANDREA DURBACH Professor of Law and Director of the Australian Human Rights Centre, Faculty of Law, University of New South Wales, Australia Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.nyls.edu/nyls_law_review Part of the Constitutional Law Commons Recommended Citation ANDREA DURBACH, Of Trials, Reparation, and Transformation in Post-Apartheid South Africa: The Making of A Common Purpose, 60 N.Y.L. SCH. L. REV. (2015-2016). This Article is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@NYLS. It has been accepted for inclusion in NYLS Law Review by an authorized editor of DigitalCommons@NYLS. NEW YORK LAW SCHOOL LAW REVIEW VOLUME 60 | 2015/16 VOLUME 60 | 2015/16 Andrea Durbach Of Trials, Reparation, and Transformation in Post-Apartheid South Africa: The Making of A Common Purpose 60 N.Y.L. Sch. L. Rev. 409 (2015–2016) ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Andrea Durbach is a Professor of Law and Director of the Australian Human Rights Centre, Faculty of Law, University of New South Wales, Australia. Born and educated in South Africa, she practiced as a political trial lawyer, representing victims and opponents of apartheid laws. In 1988 she was appointed solicitor to twenty-five black defendants in a notorious death penalty case in South Africa and later published an account of her experiences in Andrea Durbach, Upington: A Story of Trials and Reconciliation (1999) (for information on the other editions of this book see infra note 42), on which the documentary, A Common Purpose (Looking Glass Pictures 2011) is based.
    [Show full text]
  • Preventing Suicide: a Global Imperative
    PreventingPreventing suicidesuicide A globalglobal imperativeimperative PreventingPreventing suicidesuicide A globalglobal imperativeimperative WHO Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data Preventing suicide: a global imperative. 1.Suicide, Attempted. 2.Suicide - prevention and control. 3.Suicidal Ideation. 4.National Health Programs. I.World Health Organization. ISBN 978 92 4 156477 9 (NLM classification: HV 6545) © World Health Organization 2014 All rights reserved. Publications of the World Health Organization are The mention of specific companies or of certain manufacturers’ available on the WHO website (www.who.int) or can be purchased products does not imply that they are endorsed or recommended by from WHO Press, World Health Organization, 20 Avenue Appia, the World Health Organization in preference to others of a similar 1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland (tel.: +41 22 791 3264; fax: +41 22 791 nature that are not mentioned. Errors and omissions excepted, the 4857; e-mail: [email protected]). names of proprietary products are distinguished by initial capital letters. Requests for permission to reproduce or translate WHO publications –whether for sale or for non-commercial distribution– should be All reasonable precautions have been taken by the World Health addressed to WHO Press through the WHO website Organization to verify the information contained in this publication. (www.who.int/about/licensing/copyright_form/en/index.html). However, the published material is being distributed without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied. The responsibility The designations employed and the presentation of the material in for the interpretation and use of the material lies with the reader. In this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion no event shall the World Health Organization be liable for damages whatsoever on the part of the World Health Organization concerning arising from its use.
    [Show full text]
  • Crowd Psychology in South African Murder Trials
    Crowd Psychology in South African Murder Trials Andrew M. Colman University of Leicester, Leicester, England South African courts have recently accepted social psy­ guided by the evidence before him and by his knowledge of the chological phenomena as extenuating factors in murder case as to whether there were extenuating circumstances or not. trials. In one important case, eight railway workers were (cited in Davis, 1989, pp. 205-206) convicted ofmurdering four strike breakers during an in­ The South African legislature did not define extenuating dustrial dispute. The court accepted coriformity, obedience, circumstances, nor did it place any limit on the factors group polarization, deindividuation, bystander apathy, that might be deemed to be extenuating. In principle, and other well-established psychological phenomena as anything that tended to reduce the moral blameworthi­ extenuating factors for four of the eight defendants, but ness of a murderer's actions might count as an extenuating sentenced the others to death. In a second trial, death circumstance. In practice, the courts most often accepted sentences o/five defendants for the "necklace" killing of as extenuating such factors as provocation, intoxication, a young woman were reduced to 20 months imprisonment youth, absence of premeditation, and duress (short of in the light ofsimilar social psychological evidence. Prac­ irresistible compulsion, which would exonerate the de­ tical and ethical issues arising from expert psychological fendant entirely). The question of extenuation
    [Show full text]