“Our staff tell us that most of the people fleeing Sudan have arrived on foot, donkeys or on carts to save their lives,” UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) spokesperson, Melissa Fleming, told journalists in Geneva.

“Refugees witnessed their houses being destroyed and villages completely burnt down. Many reported their relatives being killed in the latest round of violence,” Fleming noted, adding that people are “exhausted, traumatized and visibly disturbed.”

The number of refugees is expected to increase, Fleming said with more clashes, “Our staff report witnessing thick heavy smoke in the Darfur skies fearing this may be the result of more houses being set on fire in the nearby Darfur villages.”

The groups, the majority of the latest arrivals being women and children, are fleeing fresh tribal clashes in the Sudanese town of Um Dukhun, according to UNHCR. In last two months, clashes have now displaced over 74,000 people into Chad including Sudanese and Chadians – who lived as refugees in the conflict zone.

The first waves of civilians who fled Darfur arrived in March earlier this year to seek safety in the neighbouring town of Tissi in Chad. Among some 24,000 people, records show that 8,000 are Sudanese and 16,000 Chadians.

“They have no water, no food and are sleeping under trees,” Fleming said about Tissi where new refugees arrive daily.

“Among them are people wounded by bullets that are abandoned to their fate and are sleeping on the ground. There is no health centre, or operational clinic with surgical materials in this area,” she added.

The location is some 231 kilometres away from UNHCR’s nearest field office in Koukou Angaranana, which she said was “an eight hours drive with bad road conditions”.

UNHCR said it has deployed teams on the Chad-Sudan border to register and assist the arriving refugees, and to provide basic items, such as blankets.

“Our teams since last Wednesday are busy registering the new arrivals before relocating them to the Goz Amir Camp, in Dar Sila region of Chad,” Fleming said, noting that the camp is nearing capacity.

“UNHCR is working with the Chadian authorities and partners to develop a new refugee camp to accommodate the latest arrivals,” she added.

The UN agency is working with other partners, including the Canadian non-governmental organization ADESK to help evacuate those seriously wounded, and to provide for the immediate needs, which remain shelter, clean drinking water, food and medicine.

“The combined immunization campaign constitutes an important step forward for Chad in its agenda to accelerate child survival and development,” said Bruno Maes, the Representative in Chad for the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), which is supporting the effort along with the World Health Organization (WHO).

“Vitamin A supplementation offers the child a better chance of survival and lower risks of being infected by serious infectious diseases. Meanwhile, children who are de-wormed have a better nutritional status, grow faster and develop better learning skills,” Maes added.

More than 9,600 additional community workers have been mobilized across the country to ensure that all targeted children are reached, including nomadic children, who are often difficult to reach, according to a UNICEF press release.

The agency noted that Chad has made tremendous progress towards the eradication of polio, with only 5 cases diagnosed in 2012 compared to132 cases in 2011.

“The campaign will help consolidate gains made in polio eradication in Chad, where no cases have been reported since June 2012,” Maes said.

He cautioned, however, that fundamental concerns remain in the country. There are still a significant number of unvaccinated or missed children during campaigns. “This is a concern in 8 of the 19 regions where the proportion of unvaccinated children has increased during supplementary immunization activities,” he said.

The Government is committed to overcoming those challenges, UNICEF says, noting that Chad has joined the UNICEF global initiative known as ‘Commitment to child survival: a promise renewed’, which aims to reduce the infant mortality rate in countries to below 20 per 1,000 births by 2035.

In 2003 and 2008, thousands of people from CAR were forced to flee their homes because of political instability and armed conflict. Many of them have since been living in camps in the Chadian cities of Yaroungou and Moula, according to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

“Our hope is that the relocation will be a welcome break for the refugees of Yaroungou and Moula where heavy seasonal rains have been causing extensive damage over the past three years,” UNHCR’s chief spokesperson, Melissa Fleming, said in a press briefing in Geneva.

“In the Moula camp, some 260 hectares of farmland are currently flooded. At Yaroungou, the floods have destroyed 85 per cent of the maize and rice crops,” she added. “Stockpiles of food and seeds have also been wiped out as most of Chad is affected by flooding.”

Since Monday, when the operation started, UNHCR has moved 1,687 refugees in seven convoys to a new site in Paris-Sara. Ms. Fleming said the refugee agency is organizing convoys twice a day and expects to complete the relocation by the end of the month, assuming new rainfalls do not hamper movement.

According to UNHCR, Chad currently hosts more than 300,000 refugees settled in 18 camps. Twelve of the camps are in the country’s east and host some 260,000 Sudanese refugees originating from Darfur. The other six camps, in the south, house some 60,000 Central Africans. In addition to the refugees, there are 83,000 internally displaced Chadians staying in camps in the east and also receiving UNHCR assistance.

“Despite the immense humanitarian needs in Chad, it is one of our least-funded operations with only 25 per cent of our budget of $177 million received so far,” Fleming said.

She noted that UNHCR estimates that $3.5 million are needed to rehabilitate damaged camp infrastructure such as shelters, schools, water points, health centres, playgrounds, latrines and drainage systems.

Habré, 69, is accused of responsibility for thousands of political killings and systematic torture when he ruled Chad, from 1982 to 1990. He has been living in exile in Senegal for more than 21 years but has yet to face justice there. Senegal’s recently elected president, Macky Sall, has said he wants to prosecute Habré in Dakar and ordered that proceedings begin by the end of the year. After prosecution in Senegal stalled, Belgium indicted Habré in 2005 and has since requested his extradition four times.

“The world’s highest court said today that we have a right to justice,”said Souleymane Guengueng, who nearly died during almost three years of mistreatment in Habré’s prisons and later founded an association of victims to seek justice. “Today, my friends who were tortured, the people I saw die in jail, those who never gave up hope, are one step closer to achieving justice.”

The decision brings an end to the suit Belgium filed against Senegal in February 2009 after Senegal refused to extradite Habré and continued to stall on his trial before domestic courts. Belgium charged that Senegal had failed to meet its obligations under the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Under the charter of the United Nations, the World Court’s ruling is binding on Senegal.

The court found that Senegal had failed to meet its international legal obligations under the torture convention and ordered Senegal to bring Habré to justice “without further delay” either by prosecuting him in Senegal or extraditing him to Belgium.

“This decision is a victory for Hissène Habré’s victims, who have been fighting for 21 years for their day in court; it is a vindication for Belgium, which had the courage to stand up for the victims; and it is a strong message to the new leaders of Senegal that they must move swiftly to fulfill their pledge to bring Habré to justice,” said Reed Brody, counsel for Human Rights Watch, who has worked with the victims for 13 years. “The ICJ declared that the Torture Convention means exactly what it says – if someone commits torture, he has to be brought to justice, no ifs, ands, or buts.”

By unanimous decision, the court ordered Senegal to “without further delay, submit the case of Mr. Hissène Habré to its competent authorities for the purpose of prosecution, if it does not extradite him.” All but two judges agreed that Senegal breached the torture convention, first by failing to make an immediate preliminary inquiry into the crimes allegedly committed by Habré once it became aware of the allegations against him, and again by failing to submit the case to its competent authorities for prosecution. The court noted that Senegal could have fulfilled its obligations by extraditing Habré to Belgium.

The court rejected Senegal’s argument that difficulties in securing international financing prevented it from moving faster to bring Habré to trial. It also ruled that Senegal’s obligation to “prosecute or extradite” Habré was unaffected by a 2010 ruling by the Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) requiring Habré’s trial before a “special ad hoc procedure of an international character.”

The court found that it lacked jurisdiction to consider Belgium’s claim that Senegal had also breached its obligations under customary international law.

The ICJ, which sits in The Hague, is the United Nations’ highest court and generally deals with cases between UN member states. It has no jurisdiction to prosecute individuals.

Reacting to the court decision, the Senegalese government “reaffirm[ed] its commitment to hold [Habré’s] trial.”

The International Committee for the Fair Trial of Hissène Habré – which comprises the Chadian Association for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (ATPDH), the Association of Victims of Crimes of the Regime of Hissène Habré (AVCRHH), the African Assembly for the Defense of Human Rights (RADDHO), Human Rights Watch, and the International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH), among others – said that the decision would increase pressure on Senegal to bring Habré to justice quickly. They also said it sets an important precedent for the 150 countries that have ratified the torture convention.

“Today’s decision is a resounding blow to the impunity of torturers and tyrants and a victory for torture victims all over the world,” said Souhayr Belhass, presidentof the FIDH. “We are confident that Senegal will finally initiate legal proceedings against Habré for all crimes perpetrated during his regime.”

Abdoulaye Wade, Senegal’s former president, raised obstacle after obstacle to preclude Habré’s trial in Senegal. However, following Sall’s victory in presidential elections in March, he said he wanted to prosecute Habré in Senegal rather than extradite him to Belgium. In June, he called for proceedings to begin by the end of the year, and Senegal and the African Union (AU) are now engaged in talks in Dakar over creation of a special court within the Senegalese justice system to try Habré.

“The decision by the world’s highest court marks another important step in the victims’ tireless fight for justice,” said Jacqueline Moudeïna, lawyer for the victims and president of the Chadian Association for the Promotion of Human Rights. “Now it’s up to Senegal to follow through and ensure Habré is tried for his crimes.”

The Nobel Peace Prize winner Bishop Desmond Tutu and 117 groups from 25 African countries in July 2010 denounced the obstacles to justice for the victims as an“interminable political and legal soap opera.” The ICJ decision and the ongoing negotiations between Senegal and the AU could mark a turning point to bring justice within reach of Habré’s victims, the coalition said.

“The new Senegalese government has engaged on a campaign against corruption and impunity at the highest levels,” said Alioune Tine, president of the Dakar-based RADDHO. “It should take heart from this ruling and show the world that an African country can deliver justice for crimes committed in Africa.”

Source: Human Rights Watch

Sub-Saharan Africa has continued to enjoy robust growth as it is relatively isolated from the negative factors pulling down growth in most advanced countries, the IMF says in its Regional Economic Outlook for sub-Saharan Africa.

The region is also benefiting from one-off factors such as new natural resource production coming on stream, and recovery from drought and civil conflict in West Africa.

Growth from domestic demand has been relatively self-sustaining thanks to improved economic policies, higher foreign exchange reserves, and lower government debt. Rising levels of investment and consumption -particularly in the service sector- have been critical to growth.

But economic prospects differ across the region. Some middle-income countries -most notably South Africa- are performing less strongly because of their greater exposure to global developments, especially those in Europe.

In contrast, oil producers are projected to record robust growth because of new production coming on stream in Angola, and higher output levels in Nigeria and Chad. Finally, low-income countries are expected to continue enjoying strong growth of around 5½ percent.

In a background study published in the outlook, the IMF highlights the resiliency of sub-Saharan African financial systems. While confidence has been shaken in Europe by excessive government debt and vulnerable banking systems, sub-Saharan African financial systems have, so far, been generally insulated from global financial turmoil.

A second study reviews developments over the past decade in those countries where non-renewable natural resources are an important contributor to exports and government revenue. It considers the role played by natural resources in boosting incomes and the complex problems they present for macroeconomic management.

The outlook is subject to substantial downside risks. Renewed turbulence in euro area financial markets would adversely affect both exports and investment flows across the region. This would slow, but not derail growth in most countries.

A surge in oil prices, stemming from supply shocks, would pose serious challenges for oil-importing countries, squeezing real incomes and adding to external financing needs.

Clashes erupted on Sunday between former rebel fighters from Sebha, Libya’s fourth largest city, and gunmen from the Tibu tribe after a Sebha man was killed in a argument over a car, according to al Arabiya.

A truce was agreed on Wednesday, but reports of fighting emerged later in the day.

The clashes stress the problems the government faces in imposing its authority following the ouster of Muammar Gaddafi last year.

Abdelmajid Seif al-Nasser, a local official who said he had quit his post on the ruling National Transitional Council (NTC) in protest at the violence, told AFP news agency: “There are still clashes in Sabha but not as intense.”

Some African tribes in southern Libya, such as the Toubou, feel they are discriminated against by Arabs from the coastal cities of the north who tend to dominate the country’s government and security forces, according to BBC. Other Libyans blame the Toubou of involvement in the smuggling of illegal migrants trying to get to Europe through Libyan ports.

The Toubou are black oasis farmers by custom who also have connections beyond Libya’s borders. They live in southern Libya, northern Chad and in Niger, and have previously denied having nationalist ambitions.

The EU is concerned about reports of clashes in Sebha, and calls for restraint from all who are involved in the conflict in a statement by Catherine Ashton, EU high representative. The EU underlined its support for all efforts aimed at national reconciliation and for the process of democratic transition in Libya.