Category: Foreign

Lawyers from across Africa have urged governments of states in the continent to learn to give effect to decisions of continental, sub-regional courts and tribunals as a way of bolstering democracy and rule of law in the continent.

The lawyers, under the aegis of the Pan African Lawyers Union (PALU) and other stakeholders, deplored the growing practice where countries in the continent treat decisions of African international courts and tribunals with scant regard.

The event, tagged: “Continental symposium on the implementation of African courts and tribunals’ decisions: The role of legal professionals, national human rights institutions (NHRIs) and  civil society organisations (CSOs) was organised by PALU with support from the Raoul Wallenberg Institute for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law (RWI).

Speakers argued that it makes no economic and legal sense for African countries to spend huge resources in building and maintaining such courts only to refuse to implement their decisions.

Among the speakers were the Vice President of the Community Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Justice Gberi-Be Ouattara; Boniface Ogoti of the East African Court of Justice; Meredith Lwanga of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights; and a rights activist, Femi Falana (SAN).

Others included Donald Deya of PALU, Moussa Coulibaly, President of the West African Bar Association (WABA); Archilleus Romward of the East Africa Law Society; Deborah Nyokabi Mburu of the Network of African Human Rights Institutions (NANHRI); Osai Ojigho of Amnesty International (AI); Simitie Lawvalry of the Human Rights Commission of Sierra Leone, and Anne Mary Okutoyi of the Kenya Nation Commission of Human Rights.

Justice Ouattara, who expressed discomfort with some recent policy decisions of the governments of ECOWAS states in relation to the court, said it was becoming difficult for the court to meet its obligations.

He noted that aside that most member states were reluctant to implement the court’s decisions, they have decided to reduce the number of its judges and their tenure despite the growing workload of the court.

 

Nigeria has called for strict implementation of the competition policy of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Regional Competition Authority (ERCA).

Besides, Nigeria also demands for strong protection against anti-competitive practices and other exploitative tendencies against consumers across the region.

This is as trade experts in the country yesterday converge in Abuja to discuss ECOWAS competition policy.

The sensitisation and advocacy programme was jointly organised by the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) and ECOWAS Regional Competition Authority (ERCA).

The sensitisation and advocacy discussion was meant to bring Nigerians abreast of the necessary policies guiding trade, competition and consumer protection within the West African region.

Speaking at the occasion, the Executive Vice Chairman, FCCPC, Mr. Babatunde Irukera, underscored the importance of competition in economic growth.

Irukera said competition encourages innovation and efficiency, which in turn bring about quality and decrease in pricing.

He said: “It is very important that the competition policy of ERCA is strictly implemented across all member states. Additionally, ERCA must provide strong protection against all anti-competitive practices and unscrupulous exploitation of consumers across member states and within the region.”

FCCPC EVC, who was represented by EC, Operations, Dr. Adamu Abdullahi, also added: “The role of competition as a driver of trade and economic growth cannot be over emphasized, especially in a developing economy like ours. Competition creates a level playing ground for businesses to compete fairly and ethically. It encourages innovation and efficiency amongst businesses which results in increase in quality and decrease in pricing. Competition also protects consumers by offering more choices at competitive prices.”

 

Former Danish immigration minister, Inger Stojberg, has been sentenced to 60 days in prison for misconduct in office after a special court found her guilty on Monday.

A clear majority of an impeachment court specially appointed for this trial found that Stojberg had acted with intent in a case regarding the separation of an asylum-seeking couple from Syria.

The prosecution had demanded four months in prison, while the defence sought acquittal.

“I am very, very surprised, I must say,” Stojberg said in response to the verdict, which she cannot appeal.

A majority of the court found that the instruction at the heart of the case had been unlawful, court Chairman, Thomas Rordam, said upon delivering the verdict in Copenhagen.

However, 25 of the 26 judges were in favour of conviction, and one was in favour of acquittal, Rordam said.

Stojberg had served as minister of immigration and integration from 2015 to 2019 under then head of government, Lars Lokke Rasmussen.

The conservative politician was accused of having unlawfully ordered the separation of a couple from Syria because the woman was a minor.

READ ALSO: ‘Denmark are thinking of Eriksen every day’

Her ministry had said in a memo in February 2016 that all asylum-seeking couples would be housed separately without exception if one of the partners was a minor.

According to the court, it was illegal; 23 couples were affected.

A majority of Danish lawmakers voted in early February to try Stojberg in the special court for misconduct in office, a very rare procedure in Denmark.

The system deals with accusations against ministers for unauthorised exercise of office.

This is only the sixth such trial in Danish history and the second in the past 100 years.

Whether Stojberg will actually go to prison remains to be seen.

In Denmark, prison sentences of up to six months can be served by electronic monitoring.

However, a number of conditions must be met, first and foremost, the accommodation must be suitable for monitoring, and the convicted person must apply to the relevant authority.

It is unclear whether this is an option for Stojberg.

One of her defence attorneys, Rene Offersen, declined to answer a question about this after the verdict was handed down. (dpa/NAN)

At least one person has died in the United Kingdom after contracting the Omicron Coronavirus (COVID-19) variant, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday, the first publicly confirmed death globally from the swiftly spreading strain.

Since the first Omicron cases were detected on Nov. 27 in the United Kingdom, Johnson has imposed tougher restrictions and on Sunday cautioned that the variant could overcome the immune defences of those inoculated with two shots of vaccines.

Britain gave no details on the death or whether the patient had been vaccinated or had underlying health issues.

Deaths from Omicron may have occurred in other countries but none has been publicly confirmed yet outside Britain.

“Sadly at least one patient has now been confirmed to have died with Omicron,” Johnson told reporters at a vaccination centre in London.

The variant now accounted for around 40 per cent of infections in the capital, he said.

“So I think the idea that this is somehow a milder version of the virus – I think that’s something we need to set on one side – and just recognise the sheer pace at which it accelerates through the population.”

Before the death was announced, Britain said 10 people had been hospitalised with the Omicron variant in various parts of England.

Their ages ranged from 18 to 85 years and most had received two vaccination doses.

The UK Health Security Agency said Omicron – first detected in South Africa, Botswana and Hong Kong in late November – can overcome the immunity of those who have had two shots of vaccines such as AstraZeneca or Pfizer-BioNTech.

South Africa’s health ministry said it was unable to say with certainty if any of its COVID-19 deaths were caused by Omicron as deaths were not broken down by variant.

Johnson, who is grappling with a rebellion in his party over measures to curb Omicron and an outcry over parties at his Downing Street office during last year’s lockdowns, said people should rush to get booster vaccines to protect “our freedoms and our way of life”.

After COVID-19 was first detected in China in late 2019, he faced criticism for initially resisting lockdown.

He has also been criticised for overseeing mistakes in transferring patients into care homes, and for building a costly test-and-trace system that failed to stop a deadly second wave.

Johnson has repeatedly said that while mistakes were made, the government was making decisions swiftly in the biggest public health crisis for generations and that his government was quick to roll out vaccines.

READ ALSO: Study finds Omicron variant can partially escape immunity induced by Pfizer vaccine

More than 146,000 people have died from COVID-19 in the United Kingdom.

Asked if he could rule out tougher restrictions in England before Christmas, Johnson avoided giving a direct answer.

Johnson faces growing anger from libertarians in his party over stiffer restrictions and sinking poll ratings.

He has also faced criticism over his handling of a sleaze scandal, the awarding of lucrative COVID contracts, the refurbishment of his Downing Street flat, and a claim he intervened to ensure pets were evacuated from Kabul during the chaotic Western withdrawal in August.

An Ipsos MORI survey for The London Evening Standard newspaper showed opposition Labour leader Keir Starmer’s ranking was 13 percentage points ahead of Johnson, the first time a Labour leader had been viewed as a more capable prime minister since 2008.

It also echoed other polls by showing Labour up three points on 39 per cent ahead of Johnson’s Conservatives, who were down one point since the last survey in November on 35 per cent.

At St. Thomas’ Hospital Vaccination Centre in central London, a queue of hundreds of people snaked back onto Westminster Bridge.

Reuters journalists also documented queues across London and in Manchester, northern England.

“The COVID vaccine booking service is currently facing extremely high demand so is operating a queuing system,” the National Health Service said on Twitter.

It suggested trying again later.

Home testing kits were also unavailable to order.

(Reuters/NAN)

Hundreds of the migrants stranded on the border of Belarus and Poland in plummeting temperatures are hoping to travel onwards to Germany.

A 25-year-old Iraqi Gashtjar told dpa at a logistics centre in Brusgi which is currently functioning as an emergency shelter on Monday that “there are still 900 to 1,000 of us, including many children.’’

The trained nurse, who speaks German, said he hoped the new German government would resolve the migration crisis, following Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s visit to Poland on Sunday.

However, there were no indications that any of the migrants and refugees were being allowed to enter Poland, where the government has placed additional security along the border.

Migrants from war-torn regions have been waiting on the borders between Belarus and several EU countries in the hopes of being allowed to enter the bloc.

READ ALSO:  Belarus clears main camps at EU border, brings migrants in from cold

Many see the crisis as having been deliberately orchestrated by Minsk in an attempt to destabilise the region, in retaliation for sanctions relating to a crackdown following a fraudulent election.

Meanwhile, Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko complained that the EU had failed to deal with the crisis for weeks, during comments to Turkish state television station TRT.

More than 3,000 people had left Belarus to return to Iraq or Syria, he said.

Lukashenko said that no one was being forced. “We do everything the way they want. They are starving people, poor people fleeing war. They really have no home in their homeland.”

The EU has already imposed a slew of sanctions on Belarus.

(dpa/NAN)

European Union foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, on Monday said the EU would use dissuasion and dialogue to prevent an escalation of the situation in Ukraine.

Borrell made the statement ahead of the EU foreign affairs council adding that “we are on the deterring mode, on the dissuasion mode in order to avoid the crisis to start.

“But in any case, we will send a clear signal that any aggression against Ukraine will have a high cost for Russia if it happens.

“Now, we are trying to do our best in order to prevent this from happening’’.

READ ALSO: Ukraine crisis: ‘Don’t arm Kiev’, Russia warns U.S.

Tensions are currently running high as Ukraine accused Russia of mobilising troops at the border and preparing for an invasion.

In a video call with Russian President Vladimir Putin last week, U.S. President Joe Biden affirmed Washington’s support for Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Biden warned of “strong economic measures” if Russia allows the situation to escalate.

The Kremlin has denied accusations of preparing to invade Ukraine and reiterated that the responsibility should not fall entirely on Russia, since NATO has been increasing its military presence near Russian borders, posing a direct threat to the country.

(Sputnik/NAN)

United Nations special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen said that the UN is working on finding appropriate ways to allow Syrian refugees in Lebanon to return to their homeland.

A statement by Lebanon’s presidency was reported on Monday.

“This is a priority for the UN during the deliberations taking place in Geneva, in which Lebanon was invited to participate.”

Pederson expressed the appreciation of the UN and the international community for the care provided by the Lebanese state to the displaced Syrians despite the difficult economic conditions prevailing in Lebanon.

Meanwhile, Lebanese President, Michel Oun said that the international community must assume its responsibilities by securing the return of displaced Syrians to their homeland instead of staying in Lebanon and relying on financial support from international organisations.

READ ALSO: Refugees travel 2b km annually to reach safety, says UNHCR

Aoun also gave an overview of the difficult economic and living conditions in Lebanon which were further exacerbated by the presence of a large number of Syrian refugees on Lebanese territories.

More than one million Syrian refugees are registered with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Lebanon.

The Lebanese government estimated the true number of Syrians in the country at 1.5 million.

(Xinhua/NAN)

Russian officials have recovered the bodies of 51 people who died at a Russian coal mine following a gas explosion two weeks ago.

The governor of Kemerovo Oblast, Sergei Tsvilyov, in a statement Monday, said that Civil defence forces brought the last body from the “Listvyazhnaya” shaft to the surface in western Siberia.

The recovery operation is now over, Tsvilyov said.

One injured person is still being treated in the hospital.

After a methane gas explosion in late November, 46 miners died at the coal mine, along with five emergency workers who had been trying to rescue them.

READ ALSO: Russian firms to invest $500m in Nigeria

Rescue work was however hampered by the threat of new explosions.

It was the worst mining accident in Russia in more than a decade. More than 100 people were injured in the explosion.

Five arrest warrants have been issued for members of the mine management and supervisory authorities on suspicion of violating safety regulations at the mine in the town of Belovo, some 3,000 kilometres east of Moscow.

Work in the mining industry releases methane, a highly flammable gas that can accumulate in the shafts underground if ventilation is poor.

In response to the incident, Russian President Vladimir Putin criticized “greed for profit” in the mining industry, which exposed people to deadly risk, and called for reforms.

(dpa/NAN)

British scientists revealed that two-dose COVID-19 vaccine regimens do not induce enough neutralising antibodies against the Omicron coronavirus variant.

This is an indication that increased infections in those previously infected or vaccinated persons may be likely.

Researchers from the University of Oxford, published results on Monday from a study yet to be peer-reviewed.

They analysed blood samples from participants who were given doses from AstraZeneca-Oxford or Pfizer-BioNTech in a large study looking into the mixing of vaccines.

READ ALSO: Omicron: Fed Govt to ban flights from UK, Canada

The results come a day after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned that two shots would not be enough to contain Omicron, following findings from the UK health agency that boosters significantly restore protection against the variant.

The Oxford study said that there was no evidence yet that the lower level of infection-fighting antibodies against Omicron could lead to a higher risk of severe disease, hospitalisation or death in those who have got two doses of approved vaccines.

Matthew Snape, Oxford professor and co-author of the paper says “these data are important but are only one part of the picture.

“They only look at neutralising antibodies after the second dose but do not tell us about cellular immunity, and this will also be tested’’.

(Reuters/NAN)

IVORIAN President Alassane Quattara at the weekend inaugurated the country’s newly completed embassy in Abuja.

Quattara, who is in the country for the 60th Ordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) inaugurated the embassy located in the Diplomatic Drive, Central Area, Abuja

The foundation stone-laying ceremony of the Chancellery was laid in December 2018. The three story building sits on an area of 8130m2.

According to the current Ambassador of Côte d’Ivoire to Nigeria, Kalilou Traore, the building consists of eight ambassador’s offices, 15 Agents’ offices, three large meeting rooms and a Presidential Suite.

Speaking at the ceremony, the Minister of State, Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Integration and Diaspora, Mrs. Kandia Camara, said the new building is a prospects for cooperation between the two countries.

Camera said with more than 860 billion CFA francs in global trade, Nigeria is the first African trading partner of Côte d’Ivoire.

She also invited Nigerian businessmen to strengthen their partnership with their Ivorian counterparts.

She expressed the hope that the building will also play an interface role between our country and ECOWAS, adding that the embassy will constitute a solid foundation for the strengthening of cooperation between the two countries as well as for exchanges with Nigeria, ECOWAS and all partners, while being the House of Côte d’Ivoire.

The ceremony ended with a guided tour by the President Ouattara.

The Nigerian Government was represented at the ceremony by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr. Mohammed Mahmoud Aboubakar and ECOWAS by the President of the Commission, Mr. Jean Claude Brou.