Day: February 21, 2022

Al-Shabab Collects Millions to Spend on Weapons, Report Finds

Somalia’s al-Shabab militant group has an annual budget of $24 million to spend on purchasing weapons, a new report finds.

The report by a Mogadishu-based research group, the Hiraal Institute, said the group uses various methods to procure weapons, including direct purchases from local black markets, and from arms traders contracted to buy and deliv¬er weapons from abroad, mainly Yemen.

Hiraal said the acquisition of firearms, ammunition, explosives and other lethal capacity weapons remains a priority for al-Shabab, with nearly a quarter of its budget going to such transactions.

“Out of an annually planned expenditure of approxi¬mately USD 100 million, al-Shabab’s annual planned ex¬penditure on arms procurement is assessed to be USD 24 million, budgeted monthly at USD 2 million,” the report said.

Samira Gaid, the executive director of Hiraal Institute, told VOA Somali that during research they had access to al-Shabab’s annual budget documentation. They have also interviewed former al-Shabab members, clan leaders, business owners, government officials and other sources who have knowledge of how the group functions.

“Just like the FGS [Federal Government of Somalia], the biggest chunk of its resources is currently being spent on security-related expenses; these, of course, include wages and operational costs,” Gaid said. “The group also manufactures certain types of ammunition and explosives, and a certain amount of its budget goes towards that.”

Al-Shabab has recently increased its attacks in Somalia as parliamentary elections continue at a sluggish pace. Since last week, the group has carried out multiple attacks in Mogadishu and the towns of Bosaso and Beledweyne.

On Monday, the group claimed responsibility for a roadside explosion, which targeted a convoy escorting Said Abdullahi Deni, the president of the semi-autonomous region of Puntland. Deni survived the attack, but two of his soldiers were killed and four others injured.

On Saturday, al-Shabab also claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing in Beledweyne in which 15 people were killed and at least 20 others injured.

To finance its operations, al-Shabab has a sophisticated extortion system which it uses to collect money from the business, agricultural, and livestock sectors, according to a 2021 United Nations report by the Panel of Experts on Somalia.

Al-Shabab as well as Islamic State militants have been collecting extortion money from businesses in Mogadishu for years. Last month, death threats from Islamic State led to the closure of some businesses that refused to pay extortion money. The stores later reopened after the government deployed security forces. Police also told the businesses they would not have the stores closed except on orders from the government.

The store closures forced Somali Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble to instruct Interior Security Minister Abdullahi Mohamed Nor and the security agencies to come up with a plan to counter the terrorist threats and harassment of traders at Somalia’s biggest market.

The U.N. Panel of Experts report on Somalia estimated that al-Shabab now operates around 100 checkpoints throughout the country. In one of the most profitable checkpoints north of Kismayo town, which sees an average of 30 trucks pass through in a 24-hour period, the panel reported that al-Shabab collects an estimated $15,000 to $30,000 per day.

Hiraal recommended the implementation of several measures aimed at disrupting al-Shabab’s weapons purchases, including the targeting of key militant explosive experts, targeting individuals involved in the arms trade and countering arms imports from the Gulf of Aden.

Source: Voice of America

UN to CAR Military, Russian Mercenaries: Stop Obstructing Rights Investigations

The United Nations’ independent expert on human rights in the Central African Republic says the government and its Russian allies should stop obstructing investigations.

The U.N.’s Yao Agbetse says the C.A.R. military and Russian mercenaries prevent access for U.N. investigators and are believed responsible for nearly half the country’s rights violations.

Clashes are still going on in the Central African Republic countryside, where the national army and Russian mercenaries are chasing the rebels who attacked the capital of Bangui last year.

During the past four months, at least 229 civilians have died, according to a recent U.N. report. But that figure could be underestimated, because U.N. investigators are prevented from accessing sites of various alleged crimes.

The U.N. recently sent Agbetse to Bangui with a message for the Central African government: Draw a red line that allies cannot cross, he said. If U.N. investigators are impeded from accessing places where violations could have been committed, he added, the assumption is that the government doesn’t want the truth to be known.

The U.N. said it documented at least 4 cases of mass executions since October, mostly around mining sites.

When asked why the C.A.R. government is blocking access to the sites, presidential spokesperson Albert Yaloke Mokpeme questioned why the U.N. has been in the country for eight years, but failed to protect them from attack.

He also said that for years the rebels illegally occupied ore deposits and exploited them to buy weapons, so his government acted accordingly.

When asked again why the government is impeding access to the sites, Mokpeme said, “We are not preventing anyone from doing their job, but don’t tell us what to do.”

Experts say Russian mercenaries from the private company Wagner Group gain mining contracts in the C.A.R. in exchange for their military support.

Wagner Group is widely believed to have links to the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Russian government has denied any such link.

Source: Voice of America

Protesters Demand Longer Prison Sentences for LGBTQ in Senegal

A group of men gathered around a burning gay flag in Dakar Sunday and chanted: “Senegal will never accept homosexuality.” Others held signs that read: “Senegal says no to homosexuality” and “We demand an end to the LGBT agenda.”

They were among the thousands that flocked to Place de l’Obélisque to call for harsher penalties for sexual minorities, often referred to as LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning or queer) people.

The event was organized by ultra-conservative Muslim groups who say homosexuality is being imposed on them by the West and threatens their traditional values.

LGBTQ people and numerous medical associations contend that sexual orientation and gender identity are innate and cannot be “imposed” or changed. A U.N. panel in 2018 flatly rejected the notion that homosexuality is a Western phenomenon, writing: “Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people exist everywhere, in all countries, among all ethnic groups… . Claims that same-sex attraction and transgender identity are Western are false.”

Senegal is a 95% Muslim country that already prohibits any “indecent or unnatural acts between individuals of the same sex,” as is written in the penal code. Offenders can be punished with up to five years in prison and a fine of between 100,000 to 1,500,000 CFA – about $2,500.

Some anti-gay activists want even harsher penalties against sexual minorities, up to 10 years in prison.

A proposed bill that would have increased the prison sentence for homosexual acts to between five and ten years was rejected by lawmakers in January.

“We simply want the government to criminalize homosexuality just like they criminalized rape, like they criminalized cattle theft,” said Ngoné Dia, a university student. Dia heads the women’s department at And Samm Jikko Yi, the collective of Islamic associations that organized the event. From Wolof, the name translates to: “Together for the Safeguarding of Values.”

“We want them to be imprisoned, even if it’s forever,” she said. “Senegal is a homophobic country and we’re proud to say it.”

Homosexuality is criminalized in more than half of African countries. Many of these laws date back to colonial times, when British and Arab communities brought with them anti-homosexual values.

But anthropologists have found evidence of homosexuality throughout pre-colonial Africa.

In Senegal, for example, the góor-jigéen, meaning “man-woman” in Wolof, used to be an accepted and even celebrated community in Senegalese society.

In 1935, English anthropologist Geoffrey Gorer wrote: “They do not suffer in any way socially… on the contrary, they are sought after as the best conversationalists and the best dancers.”

Fast forward to today and the Senegalese see homosexuality as a Western import.

“The Europeans, they mistreated our grandparents with slavery. But now the African youth, we’re awake, we know what we want and it’s now our turn to make our own decisions,” said Ibrahima Cisse, a construction worker who attended Sunday’s rally.

He held a sign in Wolof that translates to: “If you catch a homosexual, kill them.”

“Westerners need to understand that this is Africa, this is Senegal, and they should keep their problems to themselves. We don’t want that here,” he said. “I’m not alone – all of Senegal is against this. So if they show themselves, all of Senegal will kill them.”

Cisse said he hadn’t yet killed any gays, but was prepared to do so in the event he found one.

When visiting Senegal, some Western leaders have urged local lawmakers to ease restrictions on sexual minorities.

During a 2020 visit with Senegal’s president Macky Sall, for example, Canada’s Justin Trudeau made headlines when he raised the issue of the criminalization of homosexuality.

Sall later told journalists that “we’re comfortable with our laws.”

In its 2020 global human rights report, the U.S. State Department criticized Senegal for “violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or intersex persons” and the “existence or use of laws criminalizing consensual same-sex sexual conduct between adults.”

Last May, And Samm Jikko Yi, the Muslim collective, held a demonstration similar to Sunday’s rally that also drew thousands of protesters. In the weeks that followed, LBGTQ activists reported a rise in assaults.

In addition to physical persecution, sexual minorities in Senegal also face difficulties finding employment, said Souleyman Diouf, the president and founder of the LGBTQ rights group Free Senegal. Diouf identifies as bisexual and uses a fake name to protect his identity.

He says he survived two assassination attempts, which led him seek refuge in France. But he still receives messages from people who threaten his infant daughter who is still in Senegal.

The problem is that the youth are being radicalized by terrorist organizations whose influence has spread rapidly throughout the Sahel, he said.

“I risk being assassinated, I maybe risk being assassinated in Europe. It’s just a matter of time for people like me,” he said. “But that won’t stop us from raising our voices to say that what’s happening in Senegal falls within the framework of terrorism – not, in fact, within the framework of a major religion.”

If Senegal continues down this path, he said, sexual minorities could face genocide.

“It’s unfortunate,” he said. “It’s very unfortunate.”

Source: Voice of America