FRANCIS TEMMAN, Washington | Tuesday
WAR and internal conflicts, poverty and a lack of political pluralism all contribute to the woeful human rights situation in Africa, the US State Department said in an annual report released this week.
The worst abuses occur in countries rent by civil war or “external intervention,” the department said in its yearly assessment of human rights around the globe.
“War, exacerbated by external intervention, continued to wrack the Democratic Republic of the Congo, enabling perpetrators of human rights violations to enjoy virtual impunity in large portions of the country,” the report said.
In Sierra Leone, there were “reports of serious abuses, such as extrajudicial killings, rapes, and beatings in the 60% of the country” in the hands of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF).
In Sierra Leone, Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda, armed rebels coerce children into joining up. The department notes arbitrary arrests and detentions, “disappearances,” and torture in Angola, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Guinea, Nigeria, and Uganda, while mob lynchings are still not a thing of the past in places like Tanzania.
In countries ruled by military juntas, like Burundi, summary executions, rape, and violence against civilian populations are common, according to the report.
In Cameroon, “security forces reportedly killed many dozens of persons over a six month period in the city of Douala, and the abuse of detainees throughout the country remained endemic.”
“In many parts of Africa, female genital mutilation continued to damage the physical and psychological health of women and girls,” according to the report, which said the practice was present in Benin, Ethiopia, Mali and other nations.
The department also pointed to ongoing ethnic violence or tribal discrimination in places like the Central African Republic, Burundi, Kenya and Liberia.
In Nigeria, clashes between Christians and Muslims left more than 1 500 dead last year, according to the report.
In many nations, the report says, widespread corruption and a lack of political rights – like freedom of the press or association – result in serious human rights violations and are a drag on economic development.
The US State Department underlined the considerable progress in South Africa, despite a high – though shrinking – level of political violence.
“Political violence remained a problem; however, it was reduced from 1999 levels, both in KwaZulu-Natal and countrywide,” the report said. – AFP