Month: February 2024

Senegalese authorities on Tuesday suspended mobile internet and banned a march against the delayed presidential elections, which were due to be held this month.

President Macky Sall’s abrupt decision on February 3 to postpone the elections until later this year has sparked ongoing protests across the country, with three people reported killed.

The Aar Sunu Election (“Let’s protect our election”) collective, which includes some 40 civil, religious and professional groups, had called for a peaceful rally in the capital Dakar on Tuesday. Authorities then banned the march citing logistical concerns.

Organisers of the rally have now postponed it until Saturday.

“We will postpone the march because we want to remain within the law,” said Malick Diop, coordinator of the collective.

The United Nations and human rights organisations have voiced their concern about the situation in Senegal, with spokesman for the UN’s Secretary General Antonio Guterres calling on authorities to respect the rights of Senegalese to demonstrate peacefully.

“We are[…] very concerned about the continuing situation in Senegal,” Guterres’s spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. “It is first of all extremely important that all Senegalese have their right to demonstrate peacefully respected,” he added, calling for the situation to be “resolved through established constitutional means.”

The United States and France on Tuesday urged Senegal to hold the elections as soon as possible.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken “spoke to the president of Senegal this morning to reiterate our concern about the situation there and to make quite clear that we want to see elections continue as they were scheduled – we want to see them take place as soon as possible,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.

In a stark warning, the United Nations chief said on Tuesday that the combined impact of climate chaos and food crises are increasing threats to global peace.

Speaking at the UN Security Council in New York, Antonio Guterres said climate disasters have a negative impact on food production which kindles social unrest.

“A global food crisis is creating a hellscape of anger and heartache for many of the world’s poorest people. And the climate crisis is accelerating with the deadly force, and last year was the hottest ever.”

“Both of these facts undermine peace. Empty bellies fuel unrest. In Portugal, we have a saying, ‘In a house with no bread, everyone argues and no one is right,” he said.

Guterres urged the UN Security Council to address the impact of food shortages and rising prices on international peace and security, saying climate and conflict are the two leading drivers of the global food crises.

“In Gaza, no one has enough to eat. Of the 700,000 hungriest people in the worlds, four in five inhabit that tiny strip of land,” he said.

“In many places, climate disasters add another dimension. Every one of the 14 countries most at risk from climate change are suffering conflicts; 13 of them faced humanitarian crises this year.”

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization said over two-thirds of the 258 million people in 58 countries facing high levels of acute food insecurity, are there because of climate and conflict.

Haiti which is recovering from a recent spate of violent demonstrations demanding the resignation of the Prime Minister, grapples with violence once again.

Hundreds of families have been steadily leaving their homes under heavy shootouts since Sunday as rival gangs fight for control of the capital Port-au-Prince.

Onne Monday (Feb. 12), a fresh bout of gang violence had driven new families out of their homes.

“We have a lot of victims,” Joseph, a Fuji resident said.

“We don’t know who and how many yet, but we are sure that it will be a lot of victims because it was a heavy shootout in an open area today [Editor’s note: February 12]”

“There was heavy gunfire, so we decided not to stay,” Maricia, a displaced grandmother says.

“They burned houses we don’t know if our house was burned. We have been in the street since this morning we don’t know where we are going.”

Some of the displaced are residents of the Fuji neighbourhood in the in the north of Port-au-Prince, most of them women and children.

Most violent month since 2022

Kenya was supposed to lead a UN-backed security mission but a court ruling has halted the Haiti deployment.

A spokesperson for the Kenyan government said in late January that the decision would be contested legally.

Kenya was supposed to send 1,000 police officers. Burundi, Chad, Senegal, Jamaica and Belize also have pledged troops for the multinational mission.

Speaking in Geneva on Friday (Feb. 09) the UN Human rights spokesperson said that january 2024 had been the most violent month in two years.

“At least 806 people, not involved in the in the violent exchanges taking place, were killed, injured, or kidnapped in January,” Marta Hurtado said.

“In addition, some 300 gang members were killed or injured bringing the total number of people affected to 1,108, more than three times the number recorded in January 2023. People in areas controlled by gangs have been targeted directly. Gangs also continue to use sexual violence against women and girls as a weapon.”

“The impact of this torrent of violence on children continues to be of particular concern. In 2023, 167 children were killed and injured by bullets. Some were executed by gangs or so-called “self-defence” groups for their suspected support for rivals. The recruitment of children into gangs remained extremely worrisome,” Hurtado said.

Displaced families now camp with their few belongings near a police station they hope will keep them safe.

In addition to the violence, the island nation experiences a profound gorvernance crisis, the 11 million Haitians have no elected representative.

Correspondent reports from the ground revealed the grim reality faced by those affected by the explosion, with families grappling with the aftermath of the tragedy and communities shaken by the violence that disrupted what should have been a day of celebration and unity.

A devastating explosion marred Cameroon’s National Youth Day commemoration, as an improvised explosive device ripped through a food sales outlet in the town of Nkambe, leaving a trail of destruction and injuring numerous individuals, including children. The attack, believed to be orchestrated by separatist fighters, underscored the ongoing unrest in the country’s Anglophone regions and cast a shadow over the annual celebration.

According to reports from state radio and television station CRTV, the explosion occurred just two hours after a parade of schoolchildren marked the occasion of National Youth Day. Videos circulated on social networks depicted scenes of chaos, with children clad in blue school uniforms fleeing the scene alongside injured adults receiving assistance from bystanders.

On Saturday (Feb. 10) at least two people were confirmed dead after protests were held across Senegal, Friday (Feb. 09).

Demonstrators were not allowed to gather, and groups were dispersed by security forces.

The victims confirmed so far, two men in their twenties, were killed in Saint-Louis and in Dakar according to local media reports.

The victim in Saint-Louis was a student. He was killed on a school campus following demonstrations in the northern city, according to a statement from the public prosecutor.

Anger has mounted since President Sall last week postponed presidential elections scheduled this month.

The delay came hours before official campaigning was due to begin.

Parliament backed a delay until December and voted to keep Sall in power until his successor takes office, which is unlikely to be before early 2025.

Sall’s second term was due to end April 2nd.

The president said he postponed the vote because of a dispute between parliament and the Constitutional Council over aspiring candidates who were not allowed to stand.

In an interview Friday (Feb. 09), he said he wants to rapidly organize a national dialogue that will pave the way for a peaceful electoral process.

Opposition lawmakers have filed an appeal at the Constitutional court while presidential candidates appealed to the Supreme Court.

A new round of protests is planned for Tuesday (Feb. 13).

Senegalese in the diaspora have also taken to the streets. In France where a large community of Senegalese lives, crowds gathered Saturday (Feb. 10) in major cities including Paris, Bordeaux (South west) and Nice (south).