Senegal must respect freedom of expression and assembly in the run-up to presidential elections, Amnesty International said today as a five-day protest ban begun.<\/p>\n
The country’s authorities have prohibited demonstrations between 26-30 January, with the ban starting one day before a key Constitutional Council decision on the validity of the candidates to stand for presidential election,<\/p>\n
The opposition is contesting the right of outgoing President Abdoulaye Wade to stand for a third term in the elections, which are scheduled to take place on 26 February.<\/p>\n
“There is no apparent justification for this ban which undermines the right to demonstrate peacefully as enshrined in the Senegalese Constitution,” said Salvatore Sagu\u00e8s, Amnesty International’s West Africa researcher.<\/p>\n
“In this tense pre-election period where lawful political debate should be held freely, the authorities\u2019 decision to prohibit public gatherings is all the more worrying.”<\/p>\n
The constitutionality of President Wade’s candidacy has sparked intense legal and political debate in Senegal.<\/p>\n
Such rows have spilled over into clashes between protestors and security forces resulting in the death of at least one man and dozens of injuries.<\/p>\n
“Senegal is at a crossroads and the potential for destabilisation is huge. It is crucial for the future of the country that February’s election is free of human rights violations,” said Salvatore Sagu\u00e8s.<\/p>\n
In a short report released today, Amnesty International gives an overview of the human rights situation in Senegal ahead of the elections.<\/p>\n
It details the country’s grim record including attacks on freedom of expression, the persistent use of torture by security forces and the impunity enjoyed by the perpetrators of violations.<\/p>\n
In 2011, journalists and political opponents were harassed and subjected to legal proceedings simply for expressing their political opinions. Several demonstrations were violently repressed.<\/p>\n
Amnesty International also found evidence of cases of torture in detention in 2011.<\/p>\n
On 29 March the handcuffed body of Aladji Konat\u00e9 was found on the banks of the Senegal River. He had been arrested several days previously on suspicion of drug trafficking.<\/p>\n
Police said that he had jumped in the river in an escape attempt but photos of the body taken by Senegalese press showed marks indicating that he had been tortured.<\/p>\n
Konat\u00e9’s body was buried without an autopsy to identify the cause of his death.<\/p>\n
No investigation has been opened into this case in spite of calls made to the authorities by local human rights groups and Konat\u00e9’s family.<\/p>\n
Amnesty International’s report also looks at the sudden deterioration of the situation in Casamance – a region in the south of the country which has been wracked by conflict for 30 years.<\/p>\n
Late 2011 and early 2012 saw tensions increase between the armed group, which wants independence for the region, and the Senegalese armed forces.<\/p>\n
“Once the Presidential election is over, the new authorities must, as a matter of urgency, address the persistent impunity that security forces have been enjoying for so long in Senegal,” said Salvatore Sagu\u00e8s.<\/p>\n
“Perpetrators of human rights violations must be brought to justice and the credibility of the judiciary and rule of law must be upheld.”<\/p>\n
Amnesty International<\/em><\/p>\n Stay with Sierra Express Media, for your trusted place in news!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Senegal must respect freedom of expression and assembly in the run-up to presidential elections, Amnesty International said today as a five-day protest ban begun. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4039,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[751,1221,1],"tags":[11232],"class_list":["post-34370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-global-news","category-press-releases","category-uncategorized","tag-senegal-elections"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sierraexpressmedia.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34370","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sierraexpressmedia.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sierraexpressmedia.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sierraexpressmedia.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sierraexpressmedia.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=34370"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sierraexpressmedia.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34370\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sierraexpressmedia.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4039"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sierraexpressmedia.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=34370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sierraexpressmedia.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=34370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sierraexpressmedia.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=34370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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