Africa
ECOWAS court declines Niger junta’s request to lift sanctions
ECOWAS court declines Niger junta’s request to lift sanctions
The Community Court of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has dismissed an application by the Republic of Niger praying the court to, among others, suspend sanctions imposed on the country by the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government.
The court, in the ruling delivered by it’s President, Justice Edward Amoako Asante, agreed that it has prima facie jurisdiction over the substantive case.
It however held that it could not grant the request for interim orders sought by the applicants because they were yet to meet the additional requirement for the court to assume jurisdiction over the case.
The court noted that the Republic of Niger, as currently controlled by the military junta, lacked prima facie capacity before the Court, making the substantive application prima facie inadmissible.
It held that the substantive application was, on the face of it, inadmissible as it relates to the other applicants within the meaning of Articles 9(2) and 10(c) of the Protocol of the Court.
The court was of the view that an entity, resulting from an unconstitutional change of government, and not acknowledged by ECOWAS as a government of a member state, inherently lacks the capacity to initiate a case before the court with the aim of obtaining benefits or reprieve.
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It held that it could exercise jurisdiction over the substantive suit and the application for interim orders, which were brought in the name of the Republic of Niger, “by an unconstitutional and unrecognized governmental authority.”
It added that the other seven applicants, who the court described as “non-state applicants, suing alongside the Republic of Niger,” failed to provide specific details regarding the nature and extent of the harm suffered by each of them from the measures imposed on Niger.
The court noted that their failure to differentiate their legal interests in the case from those of the Republic of Niger was fatal to their case.
At the hearing held on 21 November, 2023 the applicants, represented by a team of lawyers led by Moukaila Yaye, argued that the sanctions imposed by the Authority of Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS have had adverse effect on the Nigerien people including shortage of food, medicine and electricity, due to the closure of borders and suspension of electricity supply by Nigeria.
They asked the court for interim orders that will compel the Authority of Heads of State and Government to immediately suspend the sanctions.
They said that ECOWAS overreacted by imposing the sanctions and that Niger was unequally and unfairly treated compared to three other ECOWAS member states (Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea) that have experienced coup d’états in recent years.
Lawyer to the ECOWAS Authority and other respondents in the case, François Kanga-Penond,
told the court the that the Republic of Niger is currently controlled by a military junta which seized power unconstitutionally in violation of ECOWAS legal instruments.
Kanga-Penond contended that since such an unconstitutional government which had been denounced by ECOWAS and the international community could not be legally deemed to represent the country, both the substantive application and request for provisional measures were inadmissible.
He therefore urged the Court to decline the request for interim orders.
In the substantive application, the applicants -the Republic of Niger, six Nigerien organisations and a Nigerien national – had prayed the court to declare the measures taken by the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS during its extraordinary sessions of 30 July and 10 August 2023, to restore constitutional order in the Republic of Niger illegal.
They urged the court to nullify all decisions of these ECOWAS organs imposing sanctions, including the decision to resort to military intervention in the Republic of Niger.
ECOWAS court declines Niger junta’s request to lift sanctions
Africa
Suspected witchdoctors arrested over attempt to ‘bewitch’ Zambia’s President
Suspected witchdoctors arrested over attempt to ‘bewitch’ Zambia’s President
Two men were detained in Zambia on charges of being “witchdoctors” tasked with attempting to bewitch the president.
The police stated they had arrested Jasten Mabulesse Candunde and Leonard Phiri in Lusaka.
“Their purported mission was to use charms to harm” President Hakainde Hichilema, according to the police statement issued on Friday.
Many individuals in the southern African country believe in and dread witches.
The police stated Mr. Candunde and Mr. Phiri were hired by Nelson Banda, MP Emmanuel “Jay Jay” Banda’s younger brother.
The MP was reportedly arrested last month in nearby Zimbabwe on robbery allegations, which he denies, but he has not been seen in public since.
He is also accused of escaping from detention in August while waiting to appear in court.
The opposition Patriotic Front (PF), led by z, has previously claimed that the charges are politically motivated.
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Emmanuel Banda, who has been an independent MP since 2021, previously worked with Lungu, who lost the presidency to Hichilema that same year.
The police stated the MP’s younger brother, Nelson, was “currently on the run” in their statement.
Mr. Candunde and Mr. Phiri face charges under Zambia’s Witchcraft Act for “possession of charms,” “professing knowledge of witchcraft,” and “cruelty to wild animals.”
The pair was found with “assorted charms,” including a live chameleon, according to the authorities.
According to the police statement, they claimed they had been given more than 2 million Zambian kwacha (£58,000; $73,000) for their “mission.”
The accused are in jail and will appear in court “soon,” according to the police, although no specific date has been set for the hearing. They have not yet responded in public to the charges.
Suspected witchdoctors arrested over attempt to ‘bewitch’ Zambia’s President
Africa
South African man sentenced to six life terms for killing his relatives
South African man sentenced to six life terms for killing his relatives
Africa
Military airstrike kills over 100 in Sudanese market
Military airstrike kills over 100 in Sudanese market
A Sudanese military air strike on a market in North Darfur killed more than 100 people on Monday, a pro-democracy lawyers’ group said Tuesday, in a war marked by claims of atrocities on all sides.
The emergency Lawyers said Monday’s air strike also left hundreds injured in Kabkabiya, a town about 180 kilometres (112 miles) west of El-Fasher, the state capital that has been under siege from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) since May.
Tens of thousands have been killed and millions displaced in a 20-month war between the RSF and Sudan’s military that has left the northeast African country on the brink of famine, according to aid agencies.
“The air strike took place on the town’s weekly market day, where residents from various nearby villages had gathered to shop, resulting in the death of more than 100 people and injury of hundreds, including women and children,” said the lawyers’ group, which has been documenting human rights abuses during the conflict.
In footage sent to AFP purporting to show aftermath of Monday’s strike, people were seen sifting through rubble as the charred remains of children lay on scorched ground.
The footage was supplied by civil society group the Darfur General Coordination of Camps for the Displaced and Refugees and AFP has not been able to verify its accuracy.
The lawyers group said in a separate incident on Monday evening three neighbourhoods were hit with barrel bombs in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur, without reporting casualties.
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Darfur, a region the size of France, is home to around a quarter of Sudan’s population but more than half of its 10 million are displaced.
A UN-backed report in July said famine had taken hold in a major refugee camp in North Darfur after a months-long RSF siege disabled nearly all trade and aid access.
‘Escalation campaign’
The lawyers group said they “condemn in the strongest terms the horrendous massacres committed by army air strikes” in Kabkabiya.
They flagged another incident in North Kordofan state in which drone that had crashed on November 26 exploded on Monday evening, killing six people.
They said recent strikes across Sudan were part of an “escalation campaign… deliberately concentrated on densely populated residential areas”, contradicting claims by warring parties that they only target military objectives.
Both the army and the RSF have been accused of indiscriminately targeting civilians and deliberately bombing residential areas.
Last week, UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher called for immediate international action to address Sudan’s deepening crisis.
Fletcher said he had heard “heart-rending stories” from refugees fleeing the conflict during a recent visit.
Nearly 26 million people — about half the population — face the threat of starvation, with both sides accused of using hunger as a weapon of war.
“These numbers are staggering, and we cannot turn our backs,” Fletcher said.
Military airstrike kills over 100 in Sudanese market
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