Decoding the ignorance of the world towards rising terrorism in Africa: A new Jihadist battlefield?
Posted: 17 January, 2022 Filed under: Shelal Lodhi Rajput | Tags: 300 school girls, Africa, al Qaeda, Algeria, AQIM: Al Qaeda in the West, Boko Haram, Burkina Faso, campaigns of violence, Chad, civil war, French hostages, immoral activities, imposing taxes, ISIS, Islamic State groups, Islamist militants, Jihadist terror groups, mounting violence, new Syria, Syria, terrorism, terrorist attacks, United Nations, War on Terrorism Leave a comment
Author: Shelal Lodhi Rajput
BBA LL. B (Hons.)) candidate at Symbiosis Law School, Pune, India
Some of the greatest concerns for humanity right now, apart from the ongoing pandemic are the problems of climate change, ecocide and the rise of terrorism and jihadist outfits. Following the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001, the threat of radical Islamic terrorism, which has its roots in the Middle East and South Asia, has taken center stage. While these violent religious extremists constitute a small percentage of the population, their danger is real. The International community has not been completely able to neutralise ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant). In 2015, ISIS expanded into a network of affiliates in at least eight other countries. Its branches, supporters, and affiliates increasingly carried out attacks beyond the borders of its so-called caliphate. Now once again a ‘new Syria’ is being built in West Africa but the world is ignoring it, world media is not highlighting the plight of the people.
Natural resources: The cause of the permanence of armed conflicts in Africa?
Posted: 3 August, 2021 Filed under: Boubakar A. Mahamadou | Tags: armed conflict, arms, arms dealers, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, conflict, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), development, economic crimes, economic interests, governance, legal framework, legal measures, mineral resources, natural resources, Rwanda, troops, Uganda, war, War economy, warlords, Zimbabwe Leave a comment
Author: Boubakar A. Mahamadou
Graduate, Swiss Umef University
Africa is undoubtedly a continent rich in natural resources thanks to its subsoil which abounds in 30% of the world’s mineral resources. However, these resources have not allowed the long-awaited development of the continent to be achieved. These resources have also become the main sources of conflict on the continent. Indeed, the presence of significant natural resources on the territory of a State increases the risk of armed conflict. They can motivate secessionist demands, finance rebellions or even stir up violence. According to the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), natural resources are associated with 40% of internal conflicts around the world. It is in this sense that in Africa, we have been witnessing for some time now, the development of an economy of armed conflict.
The conviction of Hissène Habré by the Extraordinary African Chambers in the Senegalese Courts: Bringing justice in cases of serious human rights violations in Africa
Posted: 30 June, 2016 Filed under: Juan Pablo Pérez-León-Acevedo | Tags: Africa, African Union, Chad, Charles Taylor, crimes against humanity, criminal justice, dictator, domestic courts, EAC, EAC Trial Chamber, Extraordinary African Chambers, gender crimes, genocide, Hissène Habré, human rights, hybrid criminal courts, ICC, ICTR, impunity, international crimes, International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, Jean Kambanda, Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo, justice, Laurent Gbagbo, National Armed Forces of Chad (FANT), Omar Al-Bashir, regional mechanisms, restorative justice, SCSL, Senegal, sexual crimes, Special Court for Sierra Leone, torture, Transitional Government of National Unity (GUNT), Uhuru Kenyatta, universal jurisdiction, victims, war crimes, William Ruto, zero tolerance Leave a comment
Author: Juan Pablo Pérez-León-Acevedo
Vice-Chancellor Postdoctoral Fellow, Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria
Background
On 30 May 2016, the Extraordinary African Chambers in Senegal (EAC) found the former Chadian dictator Hissène Habré criminally responsible for crimes against humanity, war crimes and torture. The EAC condemned Hissène Habré to life in prison. The EAC indicated that the defence would have 15 days to appeal the conviction. Accordingly, the defence lawyers proceeded to appeal the conviction on 10 June 2016. During the trial that started on 20 July 2015 and ended on 11 February 2016, 96 witnesses, victims and experts participated, and 5600 transcript pages and over 56 exhibits were examined. The trial concerned crimes committed in Chad between 7 June 1982 and 1 December 1990, which corresponded to Habré’s rule. The EAC Trial Chamber convicted Habré, as a member of a joint criminal enterprise (involving, among others, directors of his political police aka the Direction de la documentation et de la sécurité (Documentation and Security Directorate (DSS)), of crimes against humanity of rape, sexual slavery, murder, summary execution, kidnapping followed by enforced disappearance, torture and inhumane acts committed against the Hadjerai and Zaghawa ethnic groups, the inhabitants of southern Chad and political opponents. As a member of a joint criminal enterprise, Habré was also convicted of torture. Additionally, the Chamber convicted Habré, under the modality of superior or command liability, of the war crimes of murder, torture, inhumane treatment and unlawful confinement committed against prisoners of war (international armed conflict), and of the war crimes of murder, torture and cruel treatment (non-international armed conflict). War crimes were examined, on the one hand, in the context of the non-international armed conflict between the Forces Armées Nationales du Tchad (National Armed Forces of Chad (FANT)) and the Gouvernment d’Union Nationale de Transition (Transitional Government of National Unity (GUNT)), and, on the other one, in the context of the international armed conflict between Libya, allied to the GUNT, and Chad supported by France and the United States. Nevertheless, the Chamber acquitted Habré of the war crime of unlawful transfer.
AfricLaw 