Wednesday July 3, 2013 - Coup? What coup?... as Egypt's freely and first democratically-elected President is giving his marching orders by the army. Whatever hype given to what has happened in the last couple of days, it is a coup by the military that should not be condoned never mind the arrogance of ousted President Morsi.

Barely in office and beset by one problem after another including the latest demonstrations calling for him to go, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi has been told by the military that he is no longer the President of Egypt with reports saying he has been banned from travelling outside the country. The 12 months in office of President Morsi has been one of confrontations, defiance and a general picture to appear tough and inflexible with the inevitable arrogance setting - a man set on a course he would not be deflected from no matter how strident the protests of opponents. The BBC reports 

"The general commander of Egypt's armed forces, General Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, has declared in a televised address that the constitution has been suspended and the chief justice of the Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC) will assume presidential powers, effectively overthrowing President Mohammed Morsi. The Chief Justice, Adli Mansour, would oversee an interim period with a technocratic government until presidential and parliamentary elections were held, Gen Sisi said. The country's highest Islamic authority, the Grand Sheikh of al-Azhar, and the head of the Coptic Church, as well as the leading opposition figure Mohammed ElBaradei all spoke after the general, giving their approval....earlier, troops backed by armoured vehicles secured key sites in the capital, Cairo, as hundreds of thousands of opposition protesters and Morsi supporters took to the streets."

The UK-based Daily Mail in its report suggests that the ouster of President Morsi appears to have been given a nod by at least one top Western country -

"Sisi called for presidential and parliamentary elections, a panel to review the constitution and a national reconciliation committee that would include youth movements. He said the roadmap had been agreed by a range of political groups. 'The people and the army are one hand,' protestors cheered in the square, amid the roar of horns and chanting. Two U.S. officials have said Egyptian defence leaders, who ousted the president, have assured the U.S. that they are not interested in a long-term rule. The official says the leaders, in calls with Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, pledged to put a civilian government in place quickly"

Kenya's Daily Nation adds

Tuesday June 25, 2013 - Nigeria hangs four of its own citizens after more than a decade in prison. The sword of Damocles hanging over convicted persons gives no comfort that countries do not intend to carry out executions. Let it be on the statute books.

Nigeria has hanged four prisoners in a jail in southern Edo State with a fifth man spared the drop at the gallows at the last minute after been dragged to meet his fate at the hands of state executioners on Monday night.

Not that the authorities in Edo State had had a sudden change of mind. No it was reported that the man's life would be snuffed out of him using another method of execution - the firing squad as directed by a former military regime that had condemned him to death!!! Last night's hanging exercise is the first such since 2006 and once more highlights what we had always stood for - that a moratorium on carrying out the death penalty on convicted persons is not guarantee that a government would not get up one morning and decide to execute its own citizens.

We witnessed this in the Gambia where the man with the cure-all for any known and unknown afflictions has boasted that he had the power to effect a cure. The execution of nine people including a Senegalese woman in August last year evoked loud protests from rights groups as well as from Gambians within and outside the borders of the Gambia. The BBC quoted the rights group Amnesty International which stated that it had received "credible reports" that President Yahya Jammeh had ordered the execution of the nine by firing squad with threats from the Gambian Head of State that more would be executed to clear what he called the backlog on death row of forty seven people. The last execution is recorded to have been carried out in 1985.

On the latest execution in Nigeria, Amnesty International has noted that "neither the prisoners nor their families were told of the executions in advance. Secret executions, where prisoners, families and lawyers are not informed beforehand, violate international standards on the use of the death penalty. The four men hanged at Benin Prison last night still had appeals pending in their cases. Their executions came only hours after a federal High Court had dismissed a lawsuit against three of the execution warrants. Chino Obiagwu of the Nigerian national lawyers' rights group LEPAD is reported to have told the Associated Press news agency that a court dismissed his organisation's appeal challenging the state government's signing of execution warrants and a motion to stop executions. That was around 3pm (local time). 'They (authorities) had already started preparing for the executions, they turned us away from the prison and by 6.15pm we heard from clients (in the prison) that they had been executed.' He said traumatised inmates called him to describe 'terrible sounds' like a drum rolling, shackles scratching and the screams of those condemned begging for mercy.

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Monday June 24, 2013 - A new United Nations Security Council Resolution (United Nations S/RES/2106 (2013)) aimed at sending a strong message to perpetrators of sexual violence in conflict and post conflict situations has been unanimously adopted by the UN Security Council, paving the way for governments to punish perpetrators of violence as well as ending impunity.

A new UN Security Council Resolution that should send a strong signal to perpetrators of sexual violence in conflict that their crimes will not be tolerated and bring an end to impunity has been adopted by the world body. According to the United Nations media outlet, the Security Council recognised the need for "more timely, objective, accurate and reliable information" as a basis for prevention and response and requested UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and the relevant United Nations entities to speed up the establishment of monitoring, analysis and reporting arrangements on conflict-related sexual violence". It is worth noting that this time round the net has been closed on perpetrators not only in ongoing conflicts but in post-conflict situations as is to be found in countries like Sierra Leone where the UN agencies as well as rights groups within Sierra Leone have reported the unwillingness and apathy of the Ernest Bai Koroma government in bringing to justice perpetrators of violence against children, men and women. Among those who made passionate pleas for the protection of people at risk in conflict and post-conflict situations is the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, our very own Zainab Hawa Bangura who noted that today, it is still largely “cost-free” to rape a woman, child or man in conflict. “But for the first time in history, we can reverse this reality. Speaking from her experience as a lawyer and activist working to bring justice to victims of sexual violence in conflict, Jane Adong Anywar of the Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice said that leadership on accountability for conflict-related crimes, including sexual violence, must be provided at the national level, with priority given to resourcing; adequate legislation prohibiting acts of sexual violence; and capacity building for police, investigators, lawyers and judges regarding the adjudication of these crimes. Sierra Leone, it must be noted has legislation that could be used in the detection, investigation and brining to justice such perpetrators but must be noted also that the government remains unmoved in dealing with such terrible crimes. The UN Secretary General did not mince his words on the matter as he noted that "Sexual violence, whenever and wherever it occurs, is a vile crime. It must be exposed and met with the anger and action that it deserves". Meanwhile in Sierra Leone the Ernest Bai Koroma setup continues to ignore the pleas of victims crying for justice especially if such violence acts are carried out by his security forces.

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Sunday June 2, 2013 - Sixteen years ago today, a master stroke was delivered by the AFRC Mk1 propaganda machine as international news agencies and "experts on conflicts and crisis management" swallowed hook, line and sinker the great lie that Freetown had been bombed by Nigerian forces trying to oust the illegal and murderous AFRC forces that had seized power from the democratically-elected government of President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah. It was a master stroke in deception, murder and chicanery.

Residents of Freetown who were around after the May 25, 1997 APC-inspired coup can still recall the sounds of heavy weapons which seemed to be coming directly from the waters surrounding Sierra Leone's capital. The sounds were characteristic of the heavy and dull thud residents in the capital were now getting used to as the coup makers tried to justify their hold on power, using any and every excuse that some of their sometimes drunken mouth pieces could manage on the SLBS, the national radio broadcaster. There was the voice of one Gborie, followed by another called Paul Thomas and soon followed by others claiming to speak on behalf of Sierra Leone's "new liberators".

On June 2, 1997 a combined force of murderous, heavily-armed and machete-wielding and out of control renegade soldiers of the Johnny Paul-led Armed Forces Revolutionary Council, the AFRC and their dreaded allies of the Revolutionary United Front launched a sustained and withering attack on the seaside Mammy Yoko Hotel with the aim of dislodging Nigerian and other ECOMOG forces that had taken up defensive positions around and within the hotel, protecting civilians and other such foreign nationals that were trapped there.

One time ECOWAS Chief Scribe and Foreign Minister one Abass Bundu of Sierra Leone came out later with what he believed was a document aimed at convincing the international community that Nigeria was up to no good in Sierra Leone.

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Friday March 8, 2013 - Today is International Women's Day - a day dedicated to the celebration of women. This year's theme "A promise is a promise: Time for action to end violence against women" should serve as a reminder, nay warning, to the Ernest Bai Koroma set up that what is put on paper and documents safe-guarding the lives and rights of women must be put into practice. Ernest Bai Koroma has taken his smoke and mirrors antics to new high as he declares today, International Women's Day a national holiday!!!

Today March 8 is International Women's Day and all governments, organisations and like minded people all over the world interested in the welfare of women would today once more galvanise all the resources at their command to highlight the failures of the past and what is now needed to protect the integrity and dignity of women. This year's theme - "A promise is a promise: Time for action to end violence against women" is an apt reminder to the government in Sierra Leone that all those words from government functionaries about how they care for the women of Sierra Leone must now pass the lips of lying politicians, must go beyond files and dossiers of promised action that was never meant to be implemented but was designed for the eyes and ears of the international community. We would therefore now call on the Ernest Bai Koroma administration to put a stop to all the smoke and mirrors act of protecting the rights of women and take action that would send a clear message that it cares about the rights of the women of Sierra Leone, we mean all women within the borders of the country.

Remember Musu Conteh, the woman who was murdered by the armed wing of the APC known as the OSD? We would urge President Koroma to provide justice for the victims of those brutalised and murdered by elements under his direct or indirect command. We still have the case of one Abdul Mustapha who, together with a female friend got murdered and the house in which they were killed set alight in an attack that has baffled many in Sierra Leone.

There's the case of the women who were in the offices of the main opposition SLPP and were attacked and allegedly raped in broad daylight by ruling APC party operatives as well as elements of the armed wing of the APC, the paramilitary OSD. We say to Cherie Blair and others of the high-level UN team led by UNIDO Chief, Sierra Leonean Dr Kandeh Yumkellah visiting Sierra Leone - your host Ernest Bai Koroma does not care about the rights, integrity and safety of women within the borders of Sierra Leone. All the women he cares about are those with APC party connections or those with whom he has one sort of connection/relationship or the other. It seems strange, very odd that the national holiday declaration has not been carried by the usual Ernest Bai Koroma gbatolite brigade, nor have the outlets thought it fit to write a thing or two about the delegation which had arrived in Sierra Leone since 6th March and which includes Cherie Blair, the wife of former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair. Strange and odd, very odd.

This is sickening!!!!

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