United States Africa Command

Public Affairs Office

15 March 2010

USAFRICOM -related news stories

TOP NEWS RELATED TO U.S. AFRICA COMMAND AND AFRICA

No wish to 'Americanize' Somali conflict: US official (AFP)

WASHINGTON, DC — A top US official on Friday denied reports of a boost in US
military aid to Somalia's transitional federal government (TFG), and said there was no
intention to "Americanize" the conflict in the horn of Africa.

U.S. report accuses Eritrea of systematic abuses (Reuters)

ASMARA, ERITREA - The United States has intensified its criticism of Eritrea, saying
the Red Sea state systematically abuses human rights and is a destabilizing influence in
the Horn of Africa.

Niger Coup: A Blow for Stability and Democracy? (Family Security Matters)
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK - At one o’clock on the afternoon of February 18th,
Mamadou Tandja, ruler of Niger, sat down to a cabinet meeting during which he
planned to announce the withdrawal of his landlocked country from the Economic
Community of West African States (ECOWAS) as well as the forced retirement of a
number of military officers whose loyalty to had begun to suspect. The latter beat
Tandja to the punch and, in less than an hour, he and his chief ministers had been taken
effortlessly taken into custody and a junta styling itself the Supreme Council for the
Restoration of Democracy (Conseil supreme pour la restauration de la démocratie,
CSRD) was firmly in control of the dusty capital of Niamey.

Africare to Receive Nobel Prize Money from President Obama

(Africare Press Release)
WASHINGTON, DC - Africare, the oldest and largest NGO working exclusively to
provide development and humanitarian assistance to Africa is among 10 charities that
will receive a portion of President Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize money awarded to him
in October 2009.

Morocco Begins Large-Scale Expulsion of Foreign Christians (Compass Direct News)

ISTANBUL – Moroccan authorities deported more than 40 foreign Christian aid
workers this week in an ongoing, nationwide crackdown that included the expulsion of
foster parents caring for 33 Moroccan orphans. Moroccan authorities expressed their
intention to deport specifically U.S. nationals.
UN News Service Africa Briefs
Full Articles on UN Website

• Lack of funding threatens humanitarian efforts in Zimbabwe, says UN

• UN expert group urges Nigeria to address core issues behind repeated violence
• Security Council extends UN Force for two months, as talks with Chad continue
• Safety of uprooted Somalis key concern for UN refugee agency
• UN agency begins airlifting food aid for refugeesuprooted from DR Congo

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FULL ARTICLE TEXT

No wish to 'Americanize' Somali conflict: US official (AFP)

WASHINGTON — A top US official on Friday denied reports of a boost in US military
aid to Somalia's transitional federal government (TFG), and said there was no intention
to "Americanize" the conflict in the horn of Africa.

"We have provided limited military support to the TFG... (but) the US does not plan,
does not direct, and does not coordinate the military operations of the TFG," said
Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Johnnie Carson.

He insisted that The New York Times inaccurately reported last week that US special
operations forces could help the Somali government dislodge Al-Qaeda-linked
insurgents Shebab from Mogadishu.

"We are not providing nor paying for military advisors for the TFG. There is no desire
to Americanize the conflict in Somalia," Carson said.

Asked to comment on the Somali government's reconciliation strategy, he said the TFG
should "broaden its base as much as possible, to bring in as much clan as possible."

In Washington's view, he added, "any moderate Islamists who are seeking peace, are
denouncing el Shebab and want to be part of a peace process should in fact be
considered for inclusion in the TFG government."

Mogadishu and other parts of central and southern Somalia under insurgent control
have been bracing for a major offensive by the government and the African Union
peacekeeping mission, known as AMISOM.

The head of the US Africa Command, General William Ward, told a Senate hearing
Tuesday that he supported the TFG's effort to retake Mogadishu and bring stability to
their nation.
US President Barack Obama's administration has stepped up support for the TFG,
sending it weapons since last year to help fend off the Shebab.

Many Americans remain haunted by the last US intervention in Somalia which began as
a relief operation to avert famine in the early 1990s.

In October 1993, forces loyal to warlord Mohamed Farah Aidid killed 18 US soldiers,
dragging some of their bodies through the streets.

More than 100,000 people have been forced to flee their homes across Somalia since the
start of the year amid "relentless and indiscriminate" fighting, the UN refugee agency
said Friday.
---------------------------------------
U.S. report accuses Eritrea of systematic abuses (Reuters)
ASMARA (Reuters) - The United States has intensified its criticism of Eritrea, saying the
Red Sea state systematically abuses human rights and is a destabilizing influence in the
Horn of Africa.

In its annual human rights country report, released late on Thursday, the U.S. State
Department accused Eritrea of sponsoring terrorism in the Horn of Africa, and acting as
a source and conduit for arms to insurgents in Somalia.

It said Asmara oversaw unlawful killings by its security forces, routine beatings and
torture, arbitrary arrests, and severely restricted freedom of speech, the press, assembly,
association and religion.

"(Throughout 2009) consistent and systemic gross human rights violations persisted
unabated at the government's behest," the report said.

Citing a June report by the U.N. Munitions Monitoring Group, it said the Red Sea state
was guilty of sponsoring terrorism in the Horn of Africa.

The State Department report went on: "The government acted as a principal source and
conduit for arms to antigovernment, extremist, and insurgent groups in Somalia."

Asmara says there is no concrete evidence for the allegations, accusing Washington of
inventing statistics and interfering in the region, and blames years of intrusive U.S.
foreign policy as a cause of the conflict in Somalia.

RELATIONS STRAINED

Ties between the United States and Eritrea have been severely strained by a series of
accusations and counter-accusations.
In February, the U.S. embassy suspended its consular services and last week issued a
travel warning, referring to a rise in anti-U.S. sentiment among Eritreans. Eritrea then
accused Washington of trying to create chaos in the country..

Asmara has still not officially recognized the U.S. ambassador and the state-owned
media are running a sustained campaign against what they say are decades of U.S.
persecution.

The United States sees Eritrea as an enemy in the fight against Islamist radicalization,
alleging support for the al Qaeda-linked Somali militant group al Shabaab.

U.S. prosecutors said this week an Eritrean arrested in Nigeria was brought to New
York to face charges after receiving bomb-making training from al Shabaab.

The United States bankrolled Eritrea's regional rival Ethiopia during its long occupation
of Eritrea, a memory that still rankles among Eritreans when ties with Washington start
to go cold.

The occupation ended in the early 1990s when the outnumbered Eritreans fought
Ethiopia and won independence.
---------------------------------------
Niger Coup: A Blow for Stability and Democracy? (Family Security Matters)
At one o’clock on the afternoon of February 18th, Mamadou Tandja, ruler of Niger, sat
down to a cabinet meeting during which he planned to announce the withdrawal of his
landlocked country from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)
as well as the forced retirement of a number of military officers whose loyalty to had
begun to suspect. The latter beat Tandja to the punch and, in less than an hour, he and
his chief ministers had been taken effortlessly taken into custody and a junta styling
itself the Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy (Conseil supreme pour la
restauration de la démocratie, CSRD) was firmly in control of the dusty capital of
Niamey. While, by definition, a coup d’état upends constitutional order, but, given the
unique circumstances in Niger, the putschists might indeed fulfill their self-declared
objective and it would certainly be in the interests of the United States and other
responsible members of the international community to engage them to that end.

The septuagenarian Tandja, himself a retired army lieutenant Col., has been a fixture in
Nigerien politics since 1974, when he participated in General Seyni Koutché’s successful
coup against the country’s first president, Hamani Diori, and rewarded with a series of
prefectural, ministerial, and diplomatic appointments over the next two decades. By the
time that one of Koutché’s military successors, Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara, was
overthrown and killed during the April 1999 coup led by Major Daouda Malam Wanké,
Tandja had reinvented himself as a civilian politician. Wanké promised a return to
civilian rule within a year and, to the surprise many, kept his promise, organizing
presidential and parliamentary elections barely six months after tossing out the
previous uniformed strongman. Tandja won the presidential poll and took office before
the year was out. He was subsequently reelected for a second and, according to the
Nigerien constitution of 1999, final term in 2004.

Had he bowed out gracefully at the end of his second mandate, Tandja might have been
remembered for not just respecting constitutional norms and managing a peaceful
transition of power – itself an unprecedented achievement in Niger’s five decades of
independence – but also his efforts at economically developing one of the poorest
countries in the world (the 15 million Nigeriens are ranked at the absolute bottom—
182nd place out of 182 countries surveyed – on the United Nations Development
Programme’s Human Development Index for 2009). In fact, during his two terms in
power, Tandja oversaw the signing of several major deals with European firms to
exploit Niger’s uranium reserves, the sixth largest in the world, according to the
European Nuclear Society. The development of this sector, the president claimed,
would provide the impetus for economic growth in the country. Instead, he will go
down as yet another African ruler who refused to quit when his time was up. In fact,
during the course of his second term, he showed signs of being increasingly out of
touch with ordinary Nigeriens, at one point during the country’s 2005-2006 food crisis
telling a BBC news crew, “the people of Niger look well-fed, as you can see,” and
dismissing reports of famine as “false propaganda.”

The political crisis began in late 2008 when Tandja’s supporters, reprising his campaign
slogan of “Tazarché!” (“Continuity!” in Hausa), began organizing “spontaneous”
demonstrations in Niamey to demand that the presidential term of office be extended.
Political opposition and civil society groups soon mobilized counter marches
throughout Niger. While Tandja at first disclaimed any connection to the movement to
“draft” him, even telling visiting French President Nicolas Sarkozy in March 2009 that
“I am ready to leave at the end of my term,” less than two months later, he changed his
tune to “The people demand that I stay, I cannot ignore their appeal.” His spokesman
then announced that there would be a referendum before the year’s end to adopt a new
constitution allowing Tandja to run for a third term. That news brought some 30,000
demonstrators into the streets of Niamey to express their opposition as well as a threat
from ECOWAS of sanctions should the referendum go forward since it would break the
subregional agreement to respect each member state’s constitutional order contained in
the organization’s 2001 Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance (article 136 the
Nigerien constitution specifically bars amendments affecting the country’s territorial
integrity and extending presidential mandates beyond the maximum two five-year
terms provided for in the document).

When, at the end of May, the Nigerien Constitutional Court issued an advisory opinion
calling the referendum plans illegal, Tandja dissolved the National Assembly. In early
June, the president unveiled a plan for a plebiscite, scheduled for August, to give him a
three-year extension in office during which time he would elaborate a new constitution
for voter approval. The new constitution would shift from a semi-presidential system in
which the president and the prime minister share executive power to presidential
system in which the head of state is “the sole holder of executive power.” The proposal
turned out to be a catalyst, unifying a broad opposition coalition of elder statesmen,
political parties, civil society groups, and trade unions that mobilized tens of thousands
of their supporters to attend rallies. The Constitutional Court also intervened again,
declaring null the presidential decree calling for the referendum. Tandja responded on
June 26 by invoking emergency provisions of the constitution which grant the head of
state extraordinary powers “when the independence of the nation or national territorial
integrity are immediately and seriously threatened and the regular functioning of the
constitutional public authorities is interrupted.” Three days later, he dissolved the
troublesome court, replacing it with a more pliant bench.

Despite widespread international condemnation, Tandja then went ahead with his
referendum on August 4th, his supporters claiming that 68 percent of the electorate
turned out and 92.5 percent of them endorsing the three-year “interim” extension of the
presidential mandate. Opposition gatherings were banned and such protesters who
dared to gather were dispersed with tear gas. In the lead up to the parliamentary
elections subsequently scheduled for October 20th, Tandja unleashed witch hunt
against members of the opposition, journalists, and human rights activists, jailing
dozens and putting former opposition parliamentarians under surveillance after
interrogating some of them. Warrants were issued by the minister of justice for the
arrest of former President Mahamane Ousmane, Niger’s first democratically elected
leader, as well as former Prime Ministers Hama Amadou and Mahamadou Issoufou, all
of whom had voiced opposition to Tandja’s designs. Not surprisingly, with the
hounded opposition boycotting the polls, the vote resulted in a lopsided “victory” for
Tandja, his National Movement for the Society of Development (Mouvement National
pour la Société du Développement, MNSD) and its allies taking all but 101 of the 113
seats in the National Assembly (independents won a dozen constituencies, but one of
those races was subsequently annulled by the Tandja-appointed oversight tribunal).

The situation reached a stalemate at the end of last year as December 22nd, the end of
Tandja’s second and last constitutional term came and went. While tens of thousands of
demonstrators continued protests in Niamey, the international community turned on
the Tandja regime. The ECOWAS mediation team lead by former Nigerian head of state
Abdusalam Abubakar having failed to bring the Nigerien parties to a consensus on
resolving the impasse, the subregional body issued a communiqué taking “note of the
fact that December 22, 2009, marks the legal end of the mandate of President Mamadou
Tandja.” The next day, the U.S. State Department put out a statement declaring: “In
response to President Tandja’s refusal to relinquish his mandate, the United States is
suspending its non-humanitarian assistance to the Government of Niger. The Secretary
of State has imposed travel restrictions on certain members of the Government of Niger,
as well as other individuals who support policies or actions that undermine Niger’s
return to constitutional rule.” On the same day, President Barack Obama signed a
proclamation terminating Niger, along with Guinea and Madagascar, from eligibility
for trade benefits granted under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA),
enacted under President Bill Clinton and subsequently expanded under President
George W. Bush.

Tandja remained unmoved, however, and went ahead with elections on December 27
for representatives to Niger’s 265 municipal councils. With the opposition parties again
boycotting the poll to avoid giving legitimacy to a regime that had overstayed its
constitutional mandate, the MNSD and its allies won all 3,759 seats being “contested.”
Increasingly isolated, Tandja took to bribery to shore up support, reportedly handing
out government-owned villas and up to 50 million West African CFA francs
(approximately $100,000) in cash to senior officers. Unfortunately for him – but perhaps
fortunately for Niger – he neglected to tend to the lower military ranks, whose members
faced a halving of their salaries since last year’s peace with Tuareg rebels in the north
meant an end to combat pay.

Thus the stage was set for the storming of the presidential palace last month. The
Presidential Guard at the palace (whose members were disproportionately drawn from
Tandja’s ethnic kin in eastern Niger) was the only unit to put up even minor resistance,
and it was quickly overwhelmed by the well-armed and disciplined rebels. The
putschists were led by Major Salou Djibou, who commanded a key company based in
the southwestern part of the capital. Djibou is widely respected in the Nigerien military
as one of the officers who rose through the ranks by merit, rather than political or
familial connections. Djibou was backed by a number of well-regarded senior officers,
including Col. Goukoye Abdul Karim, the army chief of doctrine who was noted last
year for trying to keep the military out of Tandja’s machinations for a third term; Col.
Abdoulaye Adamou Harouna, former commander of the Nigerien peacekeepers with
the Mission of the United Nations Organization in Côte d’Ivoire (MONUCI) and
onetime aide de camp of Wanké, the military officer who restored democratic rule to
Niger in 1999; and Abdoulaye Adamou Harouna’s brother, Col. Djibrilla Hima
Harouna, a.k.a. Pelé (he heads the army’s soccer league), another Wanké protégé who
was serving as commander of the Niamey military district and played a crucial role in
securing the capital during the coup. Djibou was quick to announce that no member of
the ruling CSRD would be eligible to stand for election in the presidential election
which he promised to organize.

Five days after the coup, the military appointed a civilian prime minister, Mahamadou
Danda, a political scientist with a doctorate from the University of Bordeaux who has
most recently been working as a political counselor at the Canadian Embassy in
Niamey. Auspiciously enough, Danda had served as a minister briefly in two previous
military regimes, that of Wanké and the earlier government of Ali Seibou, both of which
actually honored their pledges to restore democratic rule. Last week, the CSRD junta
unveiled a transitional cabinet with consisting of just five well-known military
officers—taking the portfolios for defense, environment, equipment, sports, and
transport – sitting alongside fifteen civilians, including Aminata Djibrilla Maiga,
hitherto Nigerien ambassador in Washington, as foreign minister, and Badamassi
Anou, a Nigerien economist living in the United States, as finance minister. With the
exception of the deposed Tandja and his minister for the interior and public security,
Albadé Abouda, who was also secretary-general of the ruling MNSD and is accused of
responsibility for last year’s crackdown on regime opponents, all those taken prisoner
during the coup last month have been released.

The new authorities have been enthusiastically welcomed by Nigeriens and cautiously
engaged by the country’s international partners, especially when they hastened to
pledge a speedy return to constitutional rule and democratic elections. In fact, Niger’s
new rulers were greeted by outpourings of popular support from their fellow citizens.
A spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Niamey even told the New York Times that he
had seen “thousands of people and a lot of homemade signs, saying things like ‘Long
Live the Army’ and ‘100 Percent Support’” and went on the describe the mood on the
streets as “festive” and “celebratory.” In contrast to the immediate ruptures with the
juntas that took power in Mauritania and Guinea in 2008 – the former unintentionally
creating complications for the fight against al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM)
and the latter only coming to a resolution of sorts after a botched assassination attempt
disabled the head of the junta (see my most recent report on the situation) – U.S. State
Department spokesman Philip Crowley took pains to be measured, telling the press that
“We do note the public assurances by the Supreme Council for the Restoration for
Democracy, for a speedy return of civilian rule to Niger. We support the efforts of
ECOWAS, the African Union, and the United Nations to promote Niger’s speedy return
to the rule of law, and together we will hold Niger to those public pledges.”

While its straitened financial circumstances – despite its vast uranium and other
mineral wealth, the Nigerien government faces a severe cash crunch – will render the
CSRD susceptible to donor pressure to adhere to its pledge to rapidly restore
democracy, Niger’s international partners need to be careful not to overplay their hand.
After all, the country is the least developed on the planet, lagging behind even
Afghanistan. Isolating the country would not only adversely affect the welfare of an
already vulnerable population, but it would threaten both the fragile peace with the
Tuareg nomads in the vast empty spaces of the Nigerian north along the borders with
Mali, Algeria, and Libya – the very area where AQIM is active – and the new
government’s ability to govern the population centers in the south.

Thus the balanced approach outlined by the State Department is probably the right one.
While there is always a potential danger that the junta might seek to perpetuate its stay
in power, there was already a real threat to constitutional rule in Tandja’s subversion of
the system to extend his rule. As a number of African pundits have pointed out, the
former ruler got what he had coming: the cumulative effect of all the changes he sought,
if implemented, would have concentrated unprecedented power in his hands while
rendering it nearly impossible to remove him from office (on coups as one way to
address bad governance, see the provocative analysis piece by Dalatou Mamane and
Rukmini Callimachi of the Associated Press). Moreover, Niger is also a strategic partner
of the United States, a charter member of the Pan Sahel Initiative (PSI), the State
Department-funded, Defense Department-supported program designed to enhance
border capabilities throughout the region against arms smuggling, drug trafficking, and
the movement of transnational terrorists, as well as its successor, the Trans-Sahara
Counterterrorism Partnership (TSCP), militarily supported by the U.S. Africa
Command (AFRICOM) Operation Enduring Freedom-Trans Sahara (OEF-TS). Having
just returned from the region last week, I can attest that, far from being defeated, al-
Qaeda’s local franchise is transforming itself into a veritable nexus of terrorism and
criminal activities and, if anything, gathering strength. This is no time for a prolonged
governmental crisis in Niger, the geographic crossroad between North Africa and the
Sub-Saharan Africa. Consequently, the United States, the European Union, and other
responsible stakeholders in the international community would do well to continue
engaging the authorities in Niamey, supporting the efforts of neighboring countries to
facilitate the ongoing political transition in Niger (which ought to include putting
Tandja on trial for trying to subvert the country’s constitution), and realizing that what
the fragile states of the region need most is the stability and good governance that can
only come from robust institutions, not all-too-human individuals.
---------------------------------------
Africare to Receive Nobel Prize Money from President Obama (Africare Press
Release)
Africare, the oldest and largest NGO working exclusively to provide development and
humanitarian assistance to Africa is among 10 charities that will receive a portion of
President Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize money awarded to him in October 2009.

“These organizations do extraordinary work in the United States and abroad helping
students, veterans and countless others in need,” said President Obama. “I’m proud to
support their work”

With more projects in Africa than any other U.S. based charity, Africare works to
improve the quality of life for the people of Africa by assisting families, communities
and nations in four principal areas—health and HIV/AIDS, food security and
agriculture, water and sanitation, and emergency and humanitarian assistance.

Dr. Darius Mans, President of Africare remarked, “We are honored by this recognition
of 40 years of building local capacity and achieving sustainable concrete results on the
ground in Africa. We are encouraged to do double our efforts and do more to
contribute to an already rising Africa.”

Since its founding in 1970, Africare has delivered nearly $1 billion for development
projects to communities in 36 countries Africa-wide. The $100,000 donation from
President Obama will enable Africare to continue working in partnership with the
African people to build sustainable, healthy and productive lives and communities, and
to be a leading voice addressing African development and policy issues.
Of every Africare dollar 93 cents goes to programs in Africa only 7 cents goes to
administration. For more information on Africare visit www.africare.org.
---------------------------------------
Morocco Begins Large-Scale Expulsion of Foreign Christians (Compass Direct News)
ISTANBUL –Moroccan authorities deported more than 40 foreign Christian aid workers
this week in an ongoing, nationwide crackdown that included the expulsion of foster
parents caring for 33 Moroccan orphans.

Deportations of foreign Christians continued at press time, with Moroccan authorities

expressing their intention to deport specifically U.S. nationals. Sources in Morocco told
Compass that the government gave the U.S. Embassy in Rabat a list of 40 citizens to be
deported.

The U.S. Embassy in Rabat could not comment on the existence of such a list, but
spokesperson David Ranz confirmed that the Moroccan government plans to deport
more U.S. citizens for alleged “proselytizing.”

“We have been informed by the Moroccan government that it does intend to expel more
American citizens,” said embassy spokesperson David Ranz.

Citing Western diplomats and aid groups, Reuters reported that as many as 70 foreign
aid workers had been deported since the beginning of the month, including U.S., Dutch,
British and New Zealand citizens.

At the Village of Hope orphanage near Ain Leuh, 50 miles south of Fez, the government
on Monday (March 8) expelled 16 staff workers, 10 foster parents and 13 natural-born
dependents from the country. The orphanage arranges for orphaned children to live
with a set of foster parents rather than in a traditional dormitory setting, according to its
website.

Police first came to the orphanage Saturday afternoon (March 6), questioning children
and looking for Bibles and evidence of Christian evangelism; by late Sunday night they
had told all foster parents and staff that they had to leave on Monday.

New Zealand native Chris Broadbent, a worker at Village of Hope, told Compass that
the separation of the foster families and the children under their care was traumatic. As
much as they hoped to be re-united, he said, that did not seem likely – officials told
them they could visit as tourists in the future, but in reality authorities do not allow re-
entry for those who have been expelled.

“At this stage, as much as we want to see the parents get back with their kids, we
understand that may be almost impossible,” Broadbent said. “We’re not searching for
scalps here, we don’t want to harm Morocco or anything like that, but we want to see
the parents re-united with their children.”

Broadbent emphasized that government accusations that they had been proselytizing
were unfounded, and that all staff had signed and adhered to a non-proselytizing
policy.

“We were a legal institution,” he said. “Right from the start they knew that it was an
organization founded by Christians and run by a mixture of Christians and Muslim
people working together.”

Authorities told orphanage officials that they were being deported due to proselytizing
but gave no evidence or explanation of who, when, where or how that was supposed to
have occurred, according to a Village of Hope statement.

The orphanage had been operating for 10 years. Moroccan authorities had never before
raised any charges about the care of the children, according to Village of Hope’s
website.

In the village of Azrou, about 100 miles east of Rabat, another orphanage called
Children’s Haven has been under investigation this week. Although it was still
operating at press time, sources said its 20 staff members were prepared for a fate
similar to that of Village of Hope, 30 minutes south.

“This action against the Village of Hope was part of a nationwide crackdown against
Christians living in Morocco,” read a statement on Village of Hope’s website.

Some Christians in Morocco attribute the change in the country, generally known for its
tolerance towards religious minorities, to the appointments of Mohammed Naciri as
Minister of Justice and Taieb Cherkaoui as Minister of Interior in January.

Communications Minister Khalid Naciri said the government would be “severe with all
those who play with religious values,” reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Local Christians Next?

A Moroccan pastor, his wife and a relative were arrested on Wednesday [March 10] and
released on the next day, raising fears among local Christians that the wave of
intolerance may spread to the country’s small but growing church of nearly 1,000
believers.

An expert on religious freedom in the Middle East who requested anonymity said that
attacks on the church are inevitable even in a Western-looking, modern country like
Morocco, as the church grows and becomes more visible.
“Because conversion is a taboo, if the government looks like it is doing nothing in
regard to all the foreign missionaries that are coming and ‘corrupting’ the country and
its ‘national soul,’ it gives credit to Islamists who could challenge the ‘Islam-ness’ of the
Royal Family and the government, and that’s just what Morocco can’t afford,” said the
expert.

The clampdown on foreign workers could signal government malaise toward the
growing church.

“The more they grow, the more visible they become, the more they’ll attract this
reaction,” said the expert. “And that’s why they’ve been so quiet with house groups. It’s
just a matter of time.”

Communications Minister Naciri reportedly denied the new, tougher line against non-
Muslims was a step backward in terms of religious freedom in Morocco.

“Morocco has always been and remains a land of openness and tolerance,” he told AFP.
“The rare cases of expulsion have nothing to do with the practice of Christianity but
with acts of proselytism.”

The children have reportedly been placed in a care home.

Contradictory Documents

As a signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Morocco’s

accusations of “proselytization” by foreign aid workers apparently contradict its pledge
to allow freedom to manifest one’s faith. Article 18 of the covenant affirms the right to
manifest one’s faith in worship, observance, practice or teaching.

The covenant also states, however, that “freedom to manifest one’s religion or beliefs
may be subject only to such limitations as are prescribed by law and are necessary to
protect public safety, order, health, or morals or the fundamental rights and freedoms of
others.”

Previously the North African country had a history of religious tolerance. Morocco’s
constitution provides for freedom to practice one’s religion, contradicting Article 220 of
the Moroccan Penal Code, which criminalizes any attempt to induce a Muslim to
convert to another religion.

In its 2009 international religious freedom report, the U.S. Department of State noted
that on April 2, 2009, a Moroccan government spokesman asserted that freedom of
religion does not include freedom to choose one’s faith.
“The fight against Christian proselytizing in accordance with law cannot be considered
among human rights abuses,” the Moroccan government spokesman said, “for it is an
action aimed at preventing attempts to undermine the country’s immutable religious
values. The freedom of belief does not mean conversion to another religion.”

The crackdown this month appears unprecedented, with only smaller groups
previously deported. In March 2009, Moroccan authorities expelled five foreign female
Christians for trying to “proselytize” although sources said they were foreign visitors
merely attending a Bible study with fellow Christians. In November 2009, police raided
a Christian meeting in northern Morocco and expelled five foreigners.

Last month a large, military-led team of Moroccan authorities raided a Bible study in a
small city southeast of Marrakech, arresting 18 Moroccans and deporting a U.S. citizen.

In a message yesterday to U.S. citizens registered with the embassy, U.S. Ambassador
Samuel Kaplan reportedly expressed concern about how the authorities conducted the
deportations. Foreign Christians were told their residence permits were cancelled and
that they had to leave the country immediately; they had no rights to appeal or
challenge the decision.

“We were disheartened and distressed to learn of the recent expulsion by the Moroccan
government of a number of foreigners, including numerous Americans, who had been
legally residing in Morocco,” Kaplan said in a statement. “Although we expect all
American citizens to respect Moroccan law, we hope to see significant improvements in
the application of due process in this sort of case.”
---------------------------------------
UN News Service Africa Briefs
Full Articles on UN Website

Lack of funding threatens humanitarian efforts in Zimbabwe, says UN

12 March – Aid agencies in Zimbabwe are appealing to donors to support the $378
million appeal launched last December to support humanitarian and early recovery
efforts in the country, the United Nations humanitarian wing reported today.

UN expert group urges Nigeria to address core issues behind repeated violence
12 March – The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
is calling on Nigerian authorities to tackle the underlying causes of repeated outbreaks
of deadly ethnic and religious violence near the northern city of Jos.

Security Council extends UN Force for two months, as talks with Chad continue
12 March – The Security Council today extended the mandate of the UN peacekeeping
mission in the Central African Republic and Chad until 15 May, as discussions continue
on the future of the operation.
Safety of uprooted Somalis key concern for UN refugee agency
12 March – The United Nations refugee agency today expressed its deep concern for the
safety of more than 8,000 people trapped in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, by clashes
which have uprooted more than 100,000 people since the start of the year.

UN agency begins airlifting food aid for refugeesuprooted from DR Congo

12 March – The United Nations today started to airlift urgent food aid for tens of
thousands of people who have fled ethnic violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo
(DRC) and are seeking refuge in neighbouring Republic of Congo (ROC).

Visit us at
http://www.africom.mil