Nigeria Girls Detail Horrific Boko Haram Abuse

Girls who escaped Nigerian terror group Boko Haram have described the physical torture, rape and forced marriage that many endure in their secret forest camps.

Some victims are also forced to take part in attacks and carry ammunition for fighters during battle. Others have been used as 'bait' to lure Christian men to their deaths.

The abuse is detailed in a Human Rights Watch report, which includes first-hand accounts from some of the schoolgirls who escaped after April's Chibok kidnappings.

The group has waged war with a long-running bombing campaign

More than 270 were taken from a boarding school in the north-east of the country, prompting a high-profile political and social media campaign using the hashtag #Bring Back Our Girls.

It comes after a weekend during which another 30 youngsters - some of them girls aged as young as 11 - were abducted in northeast Nigeria by suspected Boko Haram rebels, according to a local village chief.

Video: 12 May, 2014: Taken Girls On Show

In a video released after the abduction the group's leader, Abubakar Shekau, said the girls were "slaves" and threatened to "sell them in the market".

The Nigerian government has said a ceasefire deal with the militant Islamist group is on the verge of freeing the group, but last week more were kidnapped.

Human Rights Watch says new "shocking details" emerged from its interviews.

It reports that the group targets students and Christians, threatening them with whipping, beating, or death unless they convert to Islam, stop attending school, and wear the veil or hijab.

Forced marriage, forced labour, physical torture and rape are also common.

Video: 20 June 2014: Fighting Boko Haram

A 19-year-old student, from Borno State, described how militants ambushed her and five friends and threatened to kill them for going to school.

One of the men shouted: "Aha! These are the people we are looking for, so you are the ones with strong heads who insist on attending school when we have said 'boko' is 'haram.' We will kill you here today."

The girls were held for several days in the Sambisa forest and only released after they promised to convert to Islam and give up school.

Boko Haram translates roughly from the Hausa language as "Western education is forbidden" and has carried out a campaign of bombings in Nigeria over the past five years, killing 7,000 people, according to Human Rights Watch.

More than 500 girls and woman are said to have been been kidnapped by the group since 2009.

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1. Gallery: Profile: Boko Haram Leader

   Abubakar Shekau is the leader of Boko Haram. He took control of the Islamist group after the death of founder Mohammed Yusuf in 2009.

2. Little is known about him, although he was born in Shekau village in the northeastern state of Yobe and is now thought to be in his early 40s.

3. Shekau is Nigeria's most-wanted man and was designated a terrorist by the U.S. government in 2012. A reward of $7m (£4.6m) and 50m Nigerian naira (£182,000) has been issued for information leading to his location.

4. Shekau is also known as "Darul Tawheed", a reference to his knowledge of an orthodox doctrine of Islam centred on the oneness of Allah.

5. Nigerian authorities thought he had been killed in 2009 during clashes with security forces, but he reappeared in a video in 2010 to claim leadership of Boko Haram.

6. Shekau is believed to have been behind the August 2011 bombing of the UN compound in the capital Abuja, which killed at least 21 people.

7. In a video released after the abduction of 276 girls from a boarding school in the village of Chibok on April 14, he described the youngsters as "slaves" and threatened to "sell them in the market".

Girls who escape the group's clutches are often ignored despite having vital intelligence about Boko Haram's inner workings, says the report.

For example, they often have information on chain of command, ammunition, and how the fighters keep tabs on Nigeria's military.

But Human Rights Watch claims the government "rarely, if ever" interviews the girls.

The report - called Those Terrible Weeks in Their Camp: Boko Haram Violence against Women and Girls in Northeast Nigeria - includes evidence from 46 witnesses and victims of the group.

Daniel Bekele, Africa Director at Human Rights Watch, says the Nigerian government must do more to protect and rehabilitate the girls, and also to track down those behind the abuse.

12.14 | 0 komentar | Read More

Prosecutors To Appeal Oscar Pistorius Verdict

South Africa's state prosecutors say they will appeal against the conviction and sentence handed to Oscar Pistorius.

They say they are not happy with the five-year jail term that he was handed last Wednesday, or the manslaughter offence for which he was convicted.

National Prosecuting Authority spokesman Nathi Mncube said on his Twitter feed: "Oscar Pistorius judgement, NPA will be appealing both the conviction and sentence."

Mr Mncube said the next step was to file papers in court.

Pistorius started serving his prison sentence on October 21 after a seven-month trial.

Video: Pistorius Trial: The Sentence

Judge Thokozile Masipa acquitted him of murder and found him guilty of a lesser charge of culpable homicide, or manslaughter, for shooting his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp through a toilet door in his home.

As things stand, the Olympic runner is eligible for release after 10 months so he can complete his sentence under house arrest.

Sentencing options available to the judge in a culpable homicide case included up to 15 years in jail, a suspended sentence, a correctional supervision or a fine.

Video: ANC Women's League Reaction

Pistorius' legal team argued during the trial that he mistook Ms Steenkamp for an intruder and believed they were both in danger.

During the trial, state prosecutor Gerrie Nel had argued that only 10 years' imprisonment would satisfy the public.

He said that any lesser sentence could result in a widespread loss of faith in the justice system.

Video: South Africa's Appeal Process

Reeva Steenkamp's family initially said that the "verdict is not justice", but later welcomed the five-year term.

But the decision drew criticism from some legal experts who said the judge had made an error in her interpretation of a legal concept that holds a person accountable for the foreseeable consequences of their actions.

Known as Blade Runner because of his carbon-fibre prosthetics, Pistorius achieved global recognition at the London 2012 Olympics when he reached the semi-finals of the 400m against able-bodied athletes.

Video: Pistorius Faces First Night In Jail

Mr Mncube had previously refused to be drawn over whether prosecutors would appeal, saying only that: "The matter is under serious consideration and the announcement will be made in due course."

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Canada: Ottawa Parliament Gunman Made Video

The gunman who killed a soldier and stormed Canada's parliament made a video of himself before the attack, authorities have said.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police Commissioner Bob Paulson said the video was "persuasive evidence" that Michael Zehaf-Bibeau had "ideological and political motives."

The video is being analysed in detail and has not yet been released.

Zehaf-Bibeau gunned down Corporal Nathan Cirillo at Canada's war memorial in Wednesday's attack in Ottawa.

He was later killed by Sergeant-at-Arms Kevin Vickers when he caused chaos by storming the capital's parliament building.

Video: Family's Tribute To Shot Soldier

A knife carried by the 32-year-old was taken from his aunt's house in Mount Tremblant, Quebec, but detectives are still investigating the origins of the rifle.

"It is an old and uncommon gun. We suspect that he could have similarly hidden the gun on the property but our inquiries continue," they said a statement.

Police added that Zehaf-Bibeau had worked in oil fields in Canada's Alberta province to buy a car and pay for his activities leading up to the attack.

However, in the days leading up to the shooting he had been living in a homeless shelter in Ottawa.

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1. Gallery: How The Ottawa Attack Unfolded

   At around 10am on Wednesday, 32-year-old petty criminal Michael Zehaf-Bibeau killed a soldier standing guard at Ottawa's war memorial

2. He then ran into the nearby Canadian Parliament building where he was shot to death by the ceremonial Sergeant-at-Arms

3. Conservative and Liberal MPs were holding their weekly caucus meetings at the time

4. Cabinet minister Tony Clement tweeted that at least 30 shots were heard inside Parliament

5. In a national TV statement, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said: "We will not be intimidated. Canada will never be intimidated"

6. It was the second deadly attack in three days against members of the Canadian military

7. On Monday, a man Harper described as an "ISIL-inspired terrorist" ran over two soldiers in Quebec, killing one and injuring another before being shot to death by police

8. Witnesses said the soldier killed in the latest attack, Cpl Nathan Cirillo, was gunned down at point-blank range by a man carrying a rifle and dressed all in black, his face half-covered with a scarf

9. One said: "The honour guard dropped to the ground, and the shooter kind of raised his arms in triumph holding the rifle"

10. At least three people were treated for minor injuries

11. Some people fled the complex by scrambling down scaffolding erected for renovations

12. Others took cover inside as police with rifles and body armour took up positions outside and cordoned off streets

13. The two attacks have raised fears Canada is being targeted for reprisals for joining the air campaign against Islamic State extremists in Iraq and Syria

14. The National War Memorial contains an arched granite cenotaph, or tomb, with bronze sculptures commemorating World War I

15. The gunman had convictions for assault, robbery, drug and weapons offences, and other crimes. Swipe through for more images of the attack and its aftermath

Possible links with others who may have helped the killer are also urgently being investigated.

"The RCMP is confident we will have an authoritative and detailed account of the shooting, including a complete reconstruction of the heroic actions of those involved, in the weeks to come," said Commissioner Paulson.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has called Zehaf-Bibeau's actions a terror attack.

The country recently joined US-led airstrikes against Islamic State fighters in Iraq, viewed by many as ample motivation for a potential revenge attack.

Video: Footage Emerges Of Shooting Hero

The attack came two days after a man described as an "ISIL-inspired terrorist" ran over two soldiers, killing one of them, in a Quebec car park.

That man had been under surveillance, unlike Zehaf-Bibeau, who was not on a list of around 90 "high-risk" individuals.

12.15 | 0 komentar | Read More

Brazil's President Re-Elected In Tight Race

By Karine Mayer, South America News Editor

In one of the tightest races for the presidency in Brazil in the last 30 years incumbent President Dilma Rousseff won a second term in office by a margin of just over 3% of the total votes.

As many as 143 million Brazilians, aged between 18 and 70, in the world's seventh-largest economy went to the polls to choose between leftist Dilma Rousseff and Social Democrat Aecio Neves.

Her win gives the Workers' Party its fourth straight presidential victory.

Ms Rousseff's supporters in Sao Paulo

She said in her victory speech: "The country is not divided… it is searching for a better future."

Looking at the political map it seemed that her challenger Mr Neves won mainly in the rich south, and she won in the poorer north which benefits from her social reforms.

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1. Gallery: All Votes Count In The Final Round Of Brazil's Presidential Elections

   Nearly 143 million people are expected to go to the polls in Brazil's presidential election run-off.

2. Voters will choose between incumbent Dilma Rousseff of the Workers Party and Social Democratic Party rival Aecio Neves.

3. Both parties have been accused of corruption.

4. Fariza, an estate agent, chose Aecio, "Brazil is a young country and needs someone young who inspires hope." Her mother added "it's time to end this monopoly and bring some change."

5. Helena, a pensioner told Sky News "it's with great joy that I vote and press the green button to cast my vote for change."

6. Roberto a lawyer in Rio, said "we need change. That's why I am supporting him" (pointing to the Aecio sticker on his shirt).

7. Joana, a statistician "I am proud to support a government who have done so much socially for this country. Tackling the class differences, and narrowing the gap between rich and poor. I want someone who is going to continue doing this."

8. Marina de Oliveira Baptista , physiotherapist "Brazil has been riding the wave of the success of the former government for the last twelve years. Dilma is only a puppet."

9. Saul Estrela de Oliveira, a 79 year-old retired doctor, whose shirt was covered in Dilma stickers said with a big smile "why change a winning team? You know I wasn't a supporter of the Worker's Party but they're doing such a good job that I'm now a fan!"

10. "You have to be proud of your choice!" Swipe through to see the rest of the images

In her speech, she promised to focus on the economy and to work on fighting inflation which has been creeping back as the Brazilian economy has slowed down for the first time in a decade.

The economy had been the focus of Mr Neves, who had managed to turn around from broke to zero deficit during his time as governor.

Ms Rousseff said she was open to dialogue, leaving a glimmer of hope for her critics who think she may not be able to turn around the economy.

Amid her victory promises she said: "The first and most important reform is the political reform." She was alluding to the corruption scandal of state-owned oil company Petrobras which added to her rollercoaster ride with voter support.

Her popular social programmes include the family allowance "bolsa familia", which helps over 40 million Brazilians out of poverty, and "minha casa, minha vida" (my house, my life), which has helped over 3 million low income families purchase their home.

But public spend to fund these is out of control, and the country is in technical recession.

And yet Brazil still has one of the biggest rich-poor income divides in the world. And this will be a tough obstacle for Ms Rousseff as she tries to put the country's economy back on track and lure back foreign investors.

The reality of a fragmented congress also means that Ms Rousseff will be forced to further dilute her agenda in order to build alliances.

But 51.6% of Brazilians voted for Ms Rousseff. As Saul Estrela de Oliveira, a 79 year-old retired doctor, told Sky News: "Why would you want to change a winning team?"

12.15 | 0 komentar | Read More