Image copyrightAFPImage caption
Many of the 700 foreigners who have fled their homes took refuge at a church in Lusaka
In
our series of letters from African journalists, film-maker and
columnist Farai Sevenzo considers the implications for Zambia of recent
riots.
Six bodies of murdered citizens have turned up in the Zambian capital Lusaka in the last month.
It was widely reported that the victims had been mutilated and were missing their hearts, ears and private parts.
At
the heart of the matter lay the darkness of ritual killings - when
people are murdered for their body parts in the malevolent belief that
in the hands of powerful sorcerers, these organs can be employed as
charms to enhance political ambition and improve the lot of individuals
in the pursuit of business and money.
While no African imagination
is bereft of these tales, the practice of ritual murder has been
shocking because of the frequency of its occurrence.
Albinos have
borne the brunt of it in Burundi, Tanzania and now Malawi - where just
this week police arrested 10 men for allegedly killing a 21-year-old
albino woman.
Other cases of ritual killings have been reported from Nigeria to South Africa.
As
a short cut to riches and influence, ritual murders have never been
proven to work or they would have long replaced the tried paths of
education, ambition and sweat.
What
they do instead is polish "Heart of Darkness" labels for constant use
on a continent awaking to her full potential and the promise of a 21st
Century free of superstition.
Hunger and unemployment
The consequences of these murders were to prove far more serious for President Edgar Lungu's Patriotic Front (PF) government.
The
residents of Lusaka's townships of Zingalume, George and Matero - where
the bodies were discovered - attacked the police with stones for not
doing enough to protect them from the ritual murderers. Image copyrightAFPImage caption
More than 250 people have been arrested by police sent out to stop the looting
But far more insidious enemies have been stalking Zambia's poor - hunger and unemployment.
The
collapse of the Zambian copper trade as well as the kwacha currency and
the onset of the southern African drought could easily be detected in
the motives of the subsequent riots which saw xenophobic attacks on
foreigners in Lusaka's high-density suburbs.
The rioters took what they could to eat and blamed foreign shopkeepers for the ritual murders.
The
"foreigners" under attack had spilled over the borders of the
Democratic Republic of Congo and then into Zambia after the Rwandan
genocide in 1994.
They were mainly Hutu refugees who had stayed
on in Zambia, despite the UN refugee agency declaring Rwanda a safe
destination for their return back in 2013.
There is nothing
glamorous about being a refugee - for 22 years some 6,000 Rwandans have
wondered stateless in Zambia without passports and legal status.
They
then mingled with the locals in townships just like Zingalume, which
are by no means upmarket addresses, and set up little shops to trade and
survive. Image copyrightAFPImage caption
Troops have been patrolling the streets of some suburbs
It is in xenophobia's nature to point the finger of
blame at those foreigners who own something, who show evidence of money
where there is none to be found.
The former Rwandans found
themselves seeking shelter in churches and assurances for their safety
from the Zambian government with more than 700 displaced after two days
of rioting.
In the short and dangerous history of xenophobia in South Africa
and now Zambia, the word "foreigner" invariably refers to black
Africans, not to the Portuguese escaping Lisbon's meagre prospects for
the oil fields of Luanda, or the Chinese who run Zambia's copper mines,
supermarkets and chicken farms.
Afrophobia is our xenophobia; it appears to be as African and as regular as ritual murders and deserves to be shunned.
Freedom fighters welcomed
Zambia's history of welcoming Africans without a home is legendary.
South
Africa's African National Congress (ANC) was based in former President
Kenneth Kaunda's Zambia as they fought apartheid, as were Zimbabweans
fighting white-minority rule in what was then Rhodesia. Image copyrightAFPImage caption
A month after his release from jail in 1990, Nelson
Mandela visited Zambia to thank the country for its help in the fight
against apartheid
At the centre of President Lungu's dilemma is the
economic crisis now gripping Zambia as copper mines fold and the rains
refuse to fall.
Youth unemployment and a rising cost of living seems more likely to be the roots of future riots, not ritual murders. A Global Hunger report has grouped Chad, the Central African Republic and Zambia as the "three most hungry countries on the global hunger index".
Mr Lungu became president in January 2015 following a rushed poll necessitated by the death in office of Michael Sata.
Zambia's
gloomy economic outlook has him trying to put out fires on many fronts
as the country prepares for general elections due in August 2016.
The
move to deploy soldiers to the townships is being seen as a calculated
government plan towards voter intimidation, not a means to restore
security.
It is unlikely that any amount of soldiers on the streets will make this an easy ride for the PF government.
The
ritual killings may have left six citizens dead and mutilated, hundreds
of refugees displaced and soldiers on the streets; but as long as the
economic crisis continues to grip Zambia, further riots may come to
Lusaka sooner than the rains.
Children as young
as 11 are among more than 1,000 alleged victims of revenge porn who
reported offences in the first year of the new law coming into effect,
it has been revealed.
In April 2015, it became an offence to share private sexual photographs or films without the subject's consent.
The BBC analysed Freedom of Information requests from 31 forces in England and Wales between April and December.
Online safety charities said victims were left "hugely damaged".
Revenge
porn refers to the act of a partner or ex-partner purposefully
distributing images or videos of a sexual nature without the other
person's consent.
Our analysis shows:
There were 1,160 reported incidents of revenge pornography from April 2015 to December 2015
Three victims were 11 years old with some 30% of offences involving young people under 19
The average age of a revenge porn victim was 25
Around 11% of reported offences
resulted in the alleged perpetrator being charged, 7% in a caution and
5% in a community resolution
Some
61% of reported offences resulted in no action being taken against the
alleged perpetrator. Among the main reasons cited by police include a
lack of evidence or the victim withdrawing support
Facebook
was used by perpetrators in 68% of cases where social media was
mentioned in reports. Then came Instagram (12%) followed by Snapchat
(5%)
Explore the full dataset here.
The new law was introduced after campaigners lobbied MPs to make it a criminal offence.
Previously, convictions for this type of offence were sought under existing copyright or harassment laws.
It covers images shared on and offline without the subject's
permission and with the intent to cause harm. Physical distribution of
images is also covered.
Laura Higgins, of the Revenge Porn Helpline, said being a victim was a "hugely distressing, damaging and violating experience".
She said: "The effect on victims is often pervasive and long-lasting.
"Whilst
they have been the victim of a crime, often individuals internalise
feelings of guilt and shame, which can negatively affect an individual's
sense of self-worth and self-esteem.
"Victim-blaming attitudes only exacerbate these feelings. Some feel so isolated and overwhelmed they consider suicide." Image copyrightThinkstock
Who has been prosecuted?
Jason
Asagba, 21, of Romford, east London, shared intimate pictures of a
woman on Facebook and was handed a six-month jail sentence, suspended
for 18 months. He first threatened to post the pictures three days
after the new laws came into force
David
Jones, 53, of Wallasey in Merseyside, was jailed for 16 weeks for
posting sexually explicit photographs of a woman on social media. The
woman said she felt "complete terror" when the photos appeared online
Luke
King, of Aspley in Nottingham, shared an explicit photo of a woman
using the messaging service WhatsApp. He was jailed for 12 weeks for
harassment. The woman, from Derbyshire, told police she was "disgusted"
and "really upset"
Ms Higgins said the new legislation was flawed
because it did not ensure the anonymity of the victim; it did not cover
historical cases; and it did not cover images that had been altered via
Photoshop.
The English Regions data unit analysed data from police
forces in England and Wales. Some 31 responded - Dorset, Hampshire and
Lincolnshire denied the request on cost grounds, while responses from
Avon and Somerset, Leicestershire, Bedfordshire, Cleveland, South
Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, Wiltshire, Dyfed Powys and Gwent Police
remain outstanding.
There were wide variations in the charge rate
among police forces. Nobody had so far been charged in Lancashire,
Devon and Cornwall or Cumbria, for example. In the West Midlands, 25% of
reported offences resulted in a charge, while in Staffordshire, the
rate dropped to 3%.
Simon Kempton, the lead on cyber crime for the Police Federation of
England and Wales, said: "While some officers have had training in the
new legislation across the board, there have been some inconsistencies,
and there may be some officers who are yet to be given a full awareness
and understanding of the new offence."
Mr Kempton said the federation welcomed the new legislation.
"Any
sexual offences, including revenge porn, can have a devastating effect
on victims. Until the new offence was enacted, police officers were
often unable to show a criminal offence had taken place," he said. Image copyrightPA
How social media giants tackle revenge pornography
Facebook said the sharing of
non-consensual images had absolutely no place on its site. But with
more than half the UK population using Facebook, the law of averages
meant at times its service would sometimes be abused
It said it had built up an extensive
infrastructure for people to report offences, which were investigated by
a team of experts across the globe, 24/7. The team pays special
attention to non-consensual sharing, and removes offending photos as
quickly as possible
This year it teamed up with Google to
host an EU Child Safety Summit, bringing together experts to discuss how
the industry could keep young people safe online. It works with safety
experts including Women's Aid, The Revenge Porn Helpline and Spunout to
improve the way it tackles sharing of non-consensual images
Instagram and Snapchat said they
encouraged people to follow their community guidelines and if someone
was threatening to share something intended to be private it should be
reported. They both said reviewers check these reports 24/7 and move to
remove any content or shut down accounts, which violate its guidelines
A petition urging a change in the law to give victims the right
to anonymity has been launched by the Police and Crime Commissioner for
North Yorkshire, Julia Mulligan, and a revenge-porn victim.
Media outlets routinely withhold the names of victims.
The Crown Prosecution Service was contacted for a comment, but has not yet responded. Additional reporting: Sandro Sorrentino
A crazed Delaware mother with known drink and drug
addictions and a history of mental instability, delusions and poor
cookery skills was arrested this week after reportedly mistaking her
four month-old baby for a THANKSGIVING TURKEY and trying to COOK
it for two hours at 190 degrees. The woman, who is yet to be publicly
named by Wilmington Police, is thought to have been on a heady cocktail
of valium, ecstasy, methamphetamine, cocaine and wine spritzers when the
incident occurred. Luckily, a freak power cut had hit the neighborhood
just minutes before she put her son, whom thankfully she had neither
basted nor stuffed, into the oven.
The potentially fatal mix-up was only discovered when the woman’s
sister later looked in the baby’s crib to check up on him and found a
large uncooked Thanksgiving turkey snugly tucked in next to a teddy
bear. She immediately checked the oven and discovered what her sibling
had done. Fearing for the child’s safety, she alerted authorities
immediately. Child Protective Services arrived shortly afterwards and
removed the child. The police followed shortly after and took away the
oven.
[hr]
The woman told police that she was doing a practice run for the
upcoming Thanksgiving festivities and thought she’d see how long it
would take to cook the turkey, but must have got confused between the
bird and her offspring because her infant son ‘usually lies on his back with his legs in the air, real still. Just like a turkey…’
By a sheer freak occurrence, a nearby lightning storm had taken out
the power, meaning that the oven hadn’t been pre heated at all. A police
statement said, ‘it is extremely fortunate that the power cut meant
that the oven could not heat up. Otherwise that poor baby would have
roasted to death after two hours at a medium heat, having been turned
once halfway through and then served with cranberry sauce and gravy.’
The mother will have to undergo intensive drink and drug
rehabilitation, as well as a four week poultry cooking course, before
being considered a fit mother and allowed her baby son and oven to
return home.
Read more: http://richmondglobe.com/drug-addict-puts-baby-in-oven/
When the body of an elderly homeless man was discovered
in a discarded cardboard box behind the back of a fast food joint in
downtown Kingston, Jamaica, coroners had a problem: Who was this
mysterious old man? No identification had been found on the body;
indeed, the only possessions the old man had on him were a faded
photograph of the Houses of Parliament in London, a dented tin
containing a small quantity of marijuana and a battered old guitar.
The restaurant where the remains were found.
With no leads to go on, the authorities turned to Jamaica’s national
DNA database. When the results came back from the lab, the coroners
couldn’t believe their eyes.
“I thought it must be a joke,” says Jacob Chambers, the chief
coroner. “My colleague came running into my office waving a piece of
paper in the air. ‘You’re not going to believe this,’ he shouted. I told
him to calm down and explain what all the excitement was about. When he
told me, I couldn’t believe it.”
The results of the DNA test reveled that the old man police had
discovered behind the fast food restaurant was none other than reggae
superstar … BOB MARLEY.
“I stared at the results wide-eyed,” Chambers admits. “My jaw dropped to the floor. This had to be a mistake.”
It had always been presumed Bob Marley had died from cancer in 1981
as he made his way back to Jamaica by plane from Germany. But if that
was the case, why was his elderly body lying on a slab in a downtown
Jamaican morgue? Chambers could come up with only one explanation:
“Naturally I concluded somebody was playing a joke on us, and told my
assistant to label the body as ‘persons unknown’. This would mean it
could be cremated by the authorities and the death filed as that of an
unknown male in his late sixties to early seventies. But it was then
that things got really weird.”
That afternoon, the coroners office was visited by men in sunglasses.
They were wearing dark suits and called themselves ‘government
officials’. They confirmed that the body was indeed that of the late
reggae legend, and that Marley’s death had been faked back in 1981 on
the request of the star who had grown tired of all the attention he was
getting and just wanted to live the quiet life of a street busker in
Jamaica, earning enough for food, reggae tapes for his Walkman and
cannabis. The Jamaican government agreed to go along with Marley’s plan,
on the understanding that they would receive the royalties from his
most successful album, Exodus.
Chambers claims the ‘government officials’ removed the body of
Marley, along with the DNA results and the coroner’s report into the
death. They then left, warning Chambers and his staff to keep quiet
about the matter or they would face – in Chambers’ words – ‘serious
consequences’.
“I decided I couldn’t stay silent about this, despite having no
evidence because the government took it all away to a secret location
somewhere,” says a defiant Chambers. “Bob Marley did not die in 1981,
and I’m damned if I’m going to keep that a secret just because some
shady officials told me to. The truth must be heard, even if that means
the government losing the royalty rights to Exodus, which is a fantastic
album by the way.”
Read more: http://richmondglobe.com/homeless-man-was-bob-marley/
Tax and customs investigators join swoop on Artemis, Berlin’s biggest
sex club, as authorities allege women were exploited and possibly
trafficked
Police vans lined up outside the Artemis brothel in Berlin.
Photograph: Paul Zinken/EPA
Agence France-Presse in Berlin
More than 900 German police, tax and customs investigators have
raided Berlin’s biggest brothel, charging it is linked to the Hells
Angels biker gang, and making six arrests.
They detained the two managers of the so-called nude sauna club
Artemis and four “madames” in the raid, in which they encountered 117
sex workers and more than 100 clients, said police and prosecutors.
Prostitution is legal in Germany
but police charge that the four-storey brothel complex constituted a
“brutal and illegal” system that severely exploited dependent women.
Those detained in the raid were accused of tax fraud and withholding
social security contributions, said police, who added that they were
also investigating possible human trafficking by the club.
Most of the women were from eastern Europe, Russia and several countries in the Middle East.
Hells Angels bikers allegedly procured women for the club in return
for favours including free admission, said state prosecutor Sjors
Kampstra.
Police acted on information from a worker who had spoken out after
fleeing her ex-partner, a Hells Angels biker, who she alleged had
mistreated her.
Investigators focused on tax evasion charges “like they did with Al
Capone”, said Berlin chief prosecutor Andreas Behm, referring to the
charges that landed the infamous 1920s US-Italian mafia boss behind
bars.
Police charge that while Artemis had officially engaged the women as
“self-employed” sex workers, they were in fact regular employees with
set work hours, price rates and instructions to perform specific sexual
acts.
By withholding social security payments for them, the club had
cheated the state out of at least €17.5m (£13.9m/US$17m), on top of its
alleged tax evasion, said Michael Kulus from the Berlin customs office.
Police said they had confiscated €6.4m euros in cash, cars and
property, also including 12 apartments and other premises in Berlin and
nationwide.
The
number of suspected human trafficking victims in the UK has increased
by almost 40 per cent in the last year as crime gangs exploit EU free
movement rules.
In
new official figures, 3,266 immigrants from 102 countries - a third of
them children and more than half women – were deemed as victims of human
trafficking.
Hundreds
and possibly thousands more are believed to remain undetected by
authorities and are surviving within the black economy living in
substandard accommodation.
+2
The National
Crime Agency is investigating reports that organised crime gangs from
Romania are involved running begging and petty crime gangs around London
and other major British cities
+2
Criminal gangs have been smuggling in people from Vietnam to operate cannabis farms, file photograph
The
figures represent a 40 per cent rise on the 2,340 cases recorded in
2014. Many of those smuggled into the country and being sold into
prostitution, slave labour and exploiting the benefit system.
The National Crime Agency is investigating five cases of organ harvesting, with three involving children.
Also,
105 children are believed to have been smuggled into the country to be
sexually abused, up by some 70 per cent on the previous years.
Investigators
believe that Britain is being targeted by international criminal gangs
who are exploiting the free movement of goods and people within much of
the EU to target Britain.
The Albanian mafia is suspected of smuggling 394 adults and 206 youngsters for sex, slave labour and domestic servitude.
A
further 478 victims are believed to be from Vietnam, an increase of 121
per cent on 2014. More than half of the men and boys are understood to
have been trafficked to work on illegal cannabis farms.
The
National Crime Agency is also investigating organised crime gangs from
Romania, including Roma gipsy criminals who have highly organised
begging and pick-pocketing rings.
Other
nationalities who have been trafficked and abused include people from
Poland, Slovakia and Bulgaria. Many of these people are enticed into the
UK on the promise of well paying jobs and good quality accommodation,
but end up being exploited.
The figures show an almost 500 per cent increase in people exploited from the Sudan.
The
figures come from the National Referral Mechanism (NRM), a government
safeguarding framework which authorities and charities refer potential
trafficking victims to.
The North West saw notable increases in potential victims – from three to 25 on Merseyside and 30 to 89 in Manchester.
According
to campaigners, migrants are duped into believing they are travelling
to the UK for work and enter the country legally under the EU's Free
Movement Directive.
The
traffickers then seize control of their bank accounts and travel
documents, and force them to work in often unsafe and exploitative
conditions.
At
the Bandeu checkpoint in Nepal, inspectors and a police constable
approach a bus to look for potential victims of child trafficking
onboard. Photo: OCHA/Tilak Pokharel.
9 February 2016 – While the world clearly has the political will
and legal tools to take on human traffickers and their criminal
networks, what are needed is more meaningful international cooperation
and adequate funding to take effective action, senior United Nations
officials said today, warning that the scourge now has victims spread
across 152 different citizenships in 124 countries.
“No region is immune,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said
in a statement delivered alongside the President of the General
Assembly and the head of the UN anti-crime agency, at the high-level
event, 'In Stronger Partnership and Coordination to Stop Human
Trafficking: Eradicating Modern-Day Slavery through Sustainable
Development,' held at UN Headquarters in New York.
Mr. Ban stressed the importance of strengthening partnerships
and coordination in efforts to end the suffering of all victims of
trafficking, including those subjected to slavery, servitude, forced
labour or bonded labour. “With solid partnerships and a clear approach,
we can ensure the criminals are brought to justice,” he said.
Today, more than 60 million women, children and men are fleeing
conflict, escaping wars, or seeking a better life, he said, noting that
many are being coerced into exploitation during their journey, and
thousands are dying on sea and on land at the hands of callous
smugglers. Far too many are women and children, he added.
“The promotion of human rights is central to our strategy,” he
said, urging all Member States to ratify and fully implement the UN
Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and its protocols, the
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against
Women, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon addresses “In stronger
partnership and better coordination of efforts to stop human
trafficking: Eradicating modern-day slavery through sustainable
development” speciaal event. UN Photo/Rick Bajornas
He also urged full support for the UN Voluntary Trust Fund for
Victims of Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children and the
UN Voluntary Trust Fund on Contemporary Forms of Slavery.
Recalling that the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
promises “more peaceful, just and inclusive societies which are free
from fear and violence,” he called on the international community to
work together for a world of universal respect for equality and
non-discrimination; a world where the rights of all, regardless of
national and social origin, can be protected, respected and fulfilled; a
world of justice and accountability where human trafficking and
smuggling, slavery, servitude, forced labour and bonded labour are no
more.
In September, the United Nations will convene a high-level summit on
“Addressing Large Movements of Refugees and Migrants” to enhance
coherence and build alliances to confront these issues head-on.
For his part, Assembly President Mogens Lykketoft noted
that the General Assembly agreed to hold a high-level meeting in late
2017 to conduct the second appraisal of the Global Plan of Action
against Trafficking in Persons, adopted by in 2010.
Mogens Lykketoft (right), President of the seventieth session
of the General Assembly, addresses the special high-level event. UN
Photo/Rick Bajornas
“The Global Plan of Action emphasizes the need for countries to
comprehensively and vigorously address human trafficking and encourages
them to assess the success of these activities,” he said, adding that
the meeting in 2017 will allow Member States to further strengthen
cooperation and coordination on prevention, on the prosecution of
traffickers and on offering greater assistance to those who suffer most
from this crime.
He went on to stress that the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
demand that States join together in partnership and cooperation to
support people and communities everywhere. Through the Goals, member
States had made a solemn promise that must be honoured in comprehensive
and effective action. Such work includes the elimination of human
trafficking, migrant smuggling and violence against women and children.
“Let us live up to this pledge, and by doing so, let us create the
peaceful and inclusive societies that are foundations for lives of human
rights, security and prosperity,” he said.
Also adressing the event, Yury Fedotov, the Director General of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC),
said the 2030 Agenda recognizes that human trafficking must be targeted
in order to realize a number of SDGs, from achieving gender equality
and empowering all women and girls, to promoting peaceful, inclusive
societies and economic growth.
Yury Fedotov, Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and
Crime (UNODC), addresses the special high-level event. UN Photo/Rick
Bajornas
He also explained that as the guardian of the UN Convention against
Transnational Organized Crime and its Protocols, UNODC remains committed
and fully engaged in supporting Member States, including through our
global programmes and network of field offices.
“We have also launched a joint EU-UNODC four-year Global Action to
Prevent and Address Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants,
which will address the needs of thirteen countries in Africa, Asia,
Eastern Europe and Latin America,” he explained.
“With the Convention and Protocol, we have the necessary foundation.
We have well established frameworks and tools, and the right experience
and expertise. What we need is more meaningful international
cooperation and adequate funding to take effective action. Otherwise our
efforts to stop this terrible crime, which hinders development and so
unscrupulously profits from the despair and vulnerability of people
everywhere, can only fall short,” warned Mr. Fedotov.
He also urged full support for the UN Voluntary Trust Fund for
Victims of Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children and the
UN Voluntary Trust Fund on Contemporary Forms of Slavery.
“The Global Plan of Action emphasizes the need for countries to
comprehensively and vigorously address human trafficking and encourages
them to assess the success of these activities,” he said, adding that
the meeting in 2017 will allow Member States to further strengthen
cooperation and coordination on prevention, on the prosecution of
traffickers and on offering greater assistance to those who suffer most
from this crime.
He also explained that as the guardian of the UN Convention against
Transnational Organized Crime and its Protocols, UNODC remains committed
and fully engaged in supporting Member States, including through our
global programmes and network of field offices.