* France continues its policy of carrying out mass evictions and expulsions of Roma, despite a warning from the European Commission, as well as a threat of EU sanctions, over a year ago. On September 29 Human Rights Watch made public a briefing paper it sent to the European Commission regarding the inadequacy of an immigration law France passed this year in June. The new law, designed to address the European Commission’s grievances, was deemed adequate by the European Commission in August, but Human Rights Watch says it in fact targets the Roma: “The law allows authorities to expel EU citizens for ‘abuse of rights’ if they have been in France on repeat short-term stays or are in France ‘for the fundamental purpose’ of benefiting from the social assistance system. This flies in the face of EU law, which allows citizens of member countries to stay in any EU country for up to three months without conditions.” Around 9,500 Roma were expelled in 2010, according to French government figures. In the first three months of this year, 4,714 Roma were expelled.

* Three protesters were killed in Guinea on September 27, on their way to a demonstration against parliamentary elections slated for December, which they say will be a sham. Amnesty International points out that the murders occurred on the eve of the second anniversary of 2009’s stadium massacre in Conakry, the nation’s capital. This underscores the continuity of violent tactics in Guinea’s recent history, despite the capitulation of military rule, which followed the contested election in 2010 that put current president Alpha Condé in power. “If this recurrent excessive use of force by police is to be stopped, it is essential to put an end to the climate of impunity that appears to be prevailing in Guinea,” said Paule Rigaud of Amnesty International. On September 27, Human Rights Watch reported that no one has been held to account for the 2009 massacre by Guinean security forces, which resulted in the death of 150 people and the rape of more than 100 women. A UN-led International Commission of Inquiry concluded, in 2009, that the Guinean government’s actions could be described as “crimes against humanity.”

* Former Rwandan public service minister Prosper Mugiraneza and his trade counterpart, Justin Mugenzi, were convicted by the ICTR on September 30 of complicity to commit genocide and incitement to commit genocide. Africa Review points out that the sentence comes 12 years after their arrest in 1999, and 8 years after the start of their trial in 2003. The ICTR acquitted two other ministers of the same charges due to lack of evidence. The trials, held in Arusha, Tanzania, address the 1994 genocide in Rwanda that claimed the lives of over 800,000 people in the span of 100 days.

Photo: turkeymacedonia.wordpress.com