Senegal remains tensed as President Sall's dialogue comes to an end

 

26 June 2023  

 

 

The national dialogue led by Macky Sall came to an end last weekend. Most of the opposition boycotted the talks and still wants him to abandon any plans to run for a third mandate.  

 

The President promised to speak publicly to the Senegalese people after the Muslim holiday of Eid, by the end of the month.   

"I will respond because now is the time to respond," Macky Sall told the participants of the national dialogue, closed on Saturday (24 June), "but not today," he added. "I will give a speech to the nation. I will bring my answer.” 

The Senegalese President didn't give a precise date, but said it would be after the most important holiday of the year, the Muslim day of Eid al-Adha, which falls on 29 June this year.  

From peace to violence

Violent protests erupted in this usually peaceful West African country after the popular opposition leader Ousmane Sonko was arrested in late May.  

Sonko was judged in a rape affairs then sentenced to two years in prison for “corrupting the youth” on June 1st.  

An opposition coalition has also been calling for Sonko's release in Senegal since the verdict, and renewed their demand on Sunday, with no luck so far. 

Sonko's future remains still unclear for now, but it seems very likely that he won't be able to run in the 2024 presidential election. 

While President Macky Sall is coming at the end of his second mandate, rumours have been circulating around his will to run for a third term. 

The move is judged by unconstitutional by the Senegalese, as the constitution was recently changed to limit each president to two mandates. 

But for his supporters, the change should only apply to the successors of Sall. 

This uncertainty has mounted more tension in the country, where the opposition supporters accuse the President of willing to cling to power.  

Three weeks ago, Sall's former ally and declared presidential candidate Idrissa Seck called him to clarify his position to help to bring back peace. 

Many analysts have underlined that Sall's silence is exacerbating tensions in Senegal.  

"Crimes against humanity"? 

Meanwhile, Macky Sall was in Paris on Thursday and Friday last week for the global climate finance summit called by French President Emmanuel Macron. 

On this occasion, on Thursday Sonko's lawyer, Juan Branco filed a criminal complaint against Sall with the Paris tribunal's crimes against humanity unit. 

Sonko alleged that the deadly clashes following his sentencing to jail this month are the latest step in "a generalised and systematic attack on the civilian population" of Senegal, according to his lawyer. 

Senegal's foreign minister on Friday slammed as "childish and ridiculous" the lawsuit filed against President Macky Sall. 

Sonko's case also targeted the Senegalese Interior Minister Antoine Diome, military police chief Moussa Fall and 112 others. 

He's been blaming the government for the violence in his region, Casamance, and in Dakar, since his arrest. 

The Senegalese opposition leader has also filed a separate complaint with the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague. 

 

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Read my previous pieces for RFI English:

• Senegalese opposition leader Sonko arrested and escorted to Dakar 
• Opposition calls on President Macky Sall to clarify position on third term 

Malians voted for their next constitution: What's next?

 

MALI REFERENDUM

'Yes' to junta's constitution in Mali opens way for 2024 elections

Malian voters overwhelmingly approved changes to the constitution in a referendum held on 18 June, but the low turn-out and absence of participation of the Tuareg rebels in the North are among the many remaining challenges, along with major security issues.

Issued on: 26/06/2023 - 15:17 

Text by:Melissa Chemam with RFI

Mali's electoral authority said that 97 percent of the referendum votes were cast in favour of the changes.

Voter turnout was put at 39.4 percent in the landlocked Sahel country, but according to experts it could be as low as 13 percent.

While the election was held on 18 June, the results were only announced on Friday evening.

Voting was marred by incidents and irregularities, according to observers and opponents of the reforms.

Reports show that the vote was near to impossible in the Northern region of Kidal. 

Influential religious figures, including prominent imam Mahmoud Dicko, also complained that the new constitution retained a clause defining Mali as a secular state.

Reinforced presidential role

The junta leader, Colonel Assimi Goita, has made the draft constitution a cornerstone for the rebuilding of Mali, a key step in the ruling junta's declared plans to restore civilian rule.

The vote was the first organised in the western African country since the military seized power in August 2020 in a coup; overthrowing Mali's last elected president, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita.

• Divided Mali votes on constitution that could pave way for presidential poll

The new constitution will strengthen the role of the president.

Opponents of the plan believe the vote was designed to keep the colonels in power beyond the presidential election scheduled for February 2024.

Most of Malian political analysts say they expect the junta leader to run for the job.

"To me, this referendum is a fiasco", one analyst told RFI. "Most people didn't bother to go voting, or simply could not. And the junta is obsessed with power and they just want to bring a fake legality to their electoral process."

Like many Malian analysts, he wished to remain anonymous, fearing the junta's backlash.

Major security concerns

Mali has been struggling with an 11-year-old jihadist insurgency, and is facing a deep, multi-faceted crisis. 

The insurgency then spread to the whole Sahel region, in Niger, Burkina Faso, western Niger and even, more recently, to the north of Côte d'Ivoire.

The referendum results come as Mali and the United Nations prepare to discuss the future of the UN's decade-long peacekeeping mission in Mali, MINUSMA, on 29 June.

Two days before the vote, the junta called on the UN Security Council to pull out the 15,000-man MINUSMA force immediately.

According to them, the mission had failed in its task of providing security. MINUSMA's mandate expires on 30 June.

The UN and the United States have expressed deep concerns about this decision.

• Security in West Africa at risk after Mali asks UN peace mission to leave, US says

The ruling military has also fallen out with France, Mali's former colonial ruler, which provided peacekeeping troops for decades but has since withdrawn them.

Meanwhile, the junta has deepened ties with Russia and brought in Russian paramilitaries from the infamous Wagner group.

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Latest on Sudan

 

Fighting has escalated in the Sudanese capital Khartoum following the end of a three-day ceasefire, with witnesses reporting heavy clashes between rival military factions in several areas.

Text by:Melissa Chemam with RFI

Shortly before the truce ended at 6am local time on Wednesday, fighting was reported in all three of the cities that make up the wider capital around the confluence of the Nile: Khartoum, Bahri and Omdurman.

Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been battling each other for more than two months.

Witnesses said army aircraft carried out airstrikes in Bahri. The RSF responded with anti-aircraft fire. Smoke could be seen rising from the industrial area.

Witnesses also reported artillery fire and heavy clashes in Omdurman and ground fighting in southern Khartoum.

The RSF also attacked a separate army camp in another part of the city on Wednesday, witnesses said.

In Nyala, one of Sudan's largest cities and the capital of South Darfur, the army and the RSF clashed in the centre and northern districts of the city for the second day after a period of calm, said one local activist, amid a power blackout.

Attacks on foreign embassies

Looting have also occurred during attacks of foreign diplomatic missions. Algeria is the latest country to protest.

On Wednesday, the Algerian foreign ministry said its ambassador's residence in the capital, Khartoum, was “stormed and ransacked” the day before.

Mauritania's and Zimbabwe's embassy were also attacked.

Harare condemned attacks on its embassy and on its ambassador’s residence in Khartoum: the Zimbabwean foreign ministry spokesperson, Livit Mugejo, accusing the RSF fighters of being responsible.

"We have reports that most of the countries' properties were also targeted. It's sheer criminality, to take advantage of the war to loot properties of our diplomats and our embassy there," Mugejo said.

• Sudan's conflict enters third month amid escalation of violence
• UN warns of possible 'crimes against humanity' in Sudan's Darfur

Tenth week of violent fighting

The conflict erupted amid disputes over internationally backed plans for a transition away from military rule following a coup in 2021 and four years after long-ruling autocrat Omar al-Bashir was ousted during a popular uprising.

The fighting has wrought destruction on the capital and triggering widespread violence in the western region of Darfur.

Attacks by militias linked to the RSF in the western city of El Geneina have been described by local and foreign observers as ethnic cleansing. 

Residents also reported clashes near the army headquarters in the city of Dalanj in South Kordofan, where the SPLM-N led by Abdelaziz al-Hilu, a large rebel force that is not clearly aligned with either of the factions, has been mobilising.

More than 2.5 million people to flee their homes. And half of the country is in need for urgent aid.

Impossible dialogue

The ceasefire was the latest of several truce deals brokered by Sudan's allies, Saudi Arabia and the United States, at talks in Jeddah.

As with previous ones, there were reports of violations by both sides.

Late on Tuesday, also both factions blamed the other for a large fire at the intelligence headquarters, which is housed in a defence compound in central Khartoum that has been fought over since the fighting erupted on 15 April.

Saudi Arabia and the U.S. are considering adjourning the Jeddah talks, judged by many as ineffective.

For Sudan expert Christopher Tounsel, director of the African Studies Program at the University of Washington, both army general Abdel Fattah al-Burhan – and his rival / former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo remain unwilling to open any dialogue.

 (with newswires)

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• WAR
• REFUGEES

ACCENTS DU MONDE

 

ACCENTS DU MONDE sur #RFI

23 juin 2023

Au sommaire :

- Première partie : Un nouveau pacte financier au service du climat

- Deuxième partie : Tour de l'actualité mondial

Avec : 

- Judith Geng de la rédaction chinoise pour la visite du Premier ministre chinois en Allemagne, puis en France, au moment où le ministre des Affaires étrangères américain était en Chine 

- Melissa Chemam pour la rédaction en anglais, également à propos du conflit au Soudan 

-Orlando Torricelli de la rédaction en espagnol avec la mutinerie dans une prison du Honduras. 

    Émission présentée par : Philippe Lecaplain

Pour écouter : https://www.rfi.fr/fr/podcasts/accents-du-monde/20230623-un-nouveau-pacte-financier-au-service-du-climat 

New Banksy solo show opened in Glasgow this week

 

“I’ve kept these stencils hidden away for years, mindful they could be used as evidence in a charge of criminal damage. But that moment seems to have passed, so now I’m exhibiting them in a gallery as works of art. I’m not sure which is the greater crime” – Banksy

'Cut and Run'

15 June - 28 August

Gallery of Modern Art, Glasgow

"...an enlightening retrospective of his career"- LAURA KELLY, For the Big Issue

"Bringing this terrific exhibition here is a salute to Glasgow, and the city, with a tip of the traffic cone on Wellington’s head, returns the greeting in kind." - The Scottish Herald 

Mélissa Laveaux @ Le Point Fort - Aubervilliers - 16 June 2023

 

Quick extract...

Mélissa Laveaux en concert au Point Fort à Aubervilliers le 16 juin 2023, avec le Festival 'Les Femmes s'en mêlent'

Paris' museum dedicated to history of immigration reopens this weekend • RFI English

 

The National Museum of the History of Immigration in Paris reopens its permanent exhibition, after major renovation work. 

It is celebrating with free events on Saturday 17 and Sunday 18 June.

I paid it a visit last Monday, day of the press viewing, for RFI English. Here is a short video. Article to come!

Paris' museum dedicated to history of immigration reopens this weekend • 

RFI English

Hew Locke in Conversation - at the Royal Academy of Arts, London - Wed. 5 July 2023

 

#Reminder: Join us online or in person for a special #talk at the Royal Academy of Arts in London with the amazing Guyanese British #artist #HewLocke!

We’ll be discussing art and connection, inspired by the RA’s Summer Exhibition 2023 theme ‘Only Connect’.

Wed 5 July, 6.30 - 7.30pm.

Book your tickets below ⤵️

https://roy.ac/nbx1xd

Hew Locke RA spent his formative years in Guyana before returning to the UK to study art, later completing an MA in Sculpture at the Royal College of Art. His work explores the languages of colonial and post-colonial power, and how cultures fashion identities through visual symbols of authority. In 2022, Hew was awarded Tate Britain’s Duveen Hall commission (culminating in his work The Procession) and The Metropolitan Museum of Art Facade Commission, as well as becoming a Royal Academician. His work is held in numerous collections, including the Government Art Collection, the V&A and the British Museum.

Melissa Chemam is a journalist, broadcaster and writer on art, music, social change, multiculturalism, African affairs, North/South relations, and activism. She is the author of the book Massive Attack - Out of the Comfort Zone (2019), and has been published by BBC Culture, Al Jazeera, RFI English, Art UK, CIRCA Art Magazine, the Public Art Review, the New Arab, The Independent, Reader’s Digest, UP Mag and Skin Deep. She also worked as a journalism lecturer and as the writer in residence at the Arnolfini art centre, in Bristol, from 2019 to 2022.

The event will be accompanied by speech to text transcription courtesy of Stagetext.

This event is supported by the Natalia Cola Foundation.

 

Graffiti Jam - @ La Friche (Bois-Colombes) - 10 June 2023

Graffiti Jam - 'So Fresh, So Friche' @ La Friche - Bois-Colombes (92) - near #Paris, France. On Sat. 10 June 2023. With the artists Amstead, Bears, Dize, Cubs, Hold, Mathieu1976, Zest, RPI, Ogre, Mow, Jape... #graffiti #streetart #urbanarts