The country’s rival authorities are planning to hold parliamentary and presidential elections later this year, but no date has been set.

The United Nations and the European Union support the upcoming vote.

But HRW worries “voters, candidates, and political parties” are at risk of “coercion, discrimination, and intimidation” if the ballot goes ahead.

The US-based rights group thinks the conditions needed for free and fair elections will be hard to meet in the North African state, which was thrown into chaos following the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

“Libya today couldn’t be further away from respect for the rule of law and human rights, let alone from acceptable conditions for free elections,” Eric Goldstein, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.

HRW says free speech, rule of law, assembly and a “functioning judiciary that is able to deal fairly and promptly with disputes concerning the elections” must be respected.

But armed groups continue to threaten, intimidate, and attack judicial figures and officials, HRW says.

It also points out that the “legal framework for an election remains opaque”, and has urged the elections commission to conduct “transparent audits of its voter register to rule out any inaccuracies”.

The country is currently run by a myriad of rival groups, which has made it difficult to secure any kind of electoral process.

They have yet to introduce new election laws, nor have they amended articles in its constitutional declaration, which would define the powers of the elected president.

Presidential hopefuls include Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj, who leads the UN-backed government of national accord, and the military commander in East Libya, Khalifa Haftar, who leads the so-called Libyan National Army (LNA).

They both agreed to hold elections within the first half of 2018 during a July 2017 meeting in Paris, which was convened by French President Emmanuel Macron.

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Source: BBC

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The finances of Mr Jammeh would also be investigated, Abubacarr Tambadou added.

People would be encouraged to confess to crimes, and victims would be offered compensation, he said.

The former regime was accused of widespread torture and enforced disappearances during its 22-year rule.

There were also unconfirmed allegations that more than $11m (£8.8m) went missing from The Gambia’s state coffers following Mr Jammeh’s departure in January.

He fled to Equatorial Guinea in January after regional troops entered the tiny West African state to force him to accept defeat to property developer Adama Barrow in elections the previous month.

“A Truth and Reconciliation Commission with appropriate reparations for victims will be set up within the next six months and public hearings will be expected to commence by the end of the year,” Mr Tambadou said in a statement.

Former intelligence chief Yankuba Badjie was arrested in January, making him the first of Mr Jammeh’s security officials to be taken into custody by the new government.

No official reason was given for his arrest.

Five notorious cases for The Gambia’s TRC:

• Opposition member Solo Sandeng allegedly beaten to death in detention in April 2016
• Journalist Alagie Abdoulie Ceesay allegedly forced to drink cooking oil and beaten unconsciousness in detention in July 2015
• Ex-army chief of staff Ndure Cham allegedly ordered to dig his grave and shot dead in 2013 for plotting coup
• Journalist Ebrima Manneh missing since he left his newsroom on July 2006
• Newspaper editor Deyda Hydara shot dead in his car in December 2004

After his election victory, Mr Barrow pledged that his government would not seek vengeance against officials of the former regime, and would instead set up a South Africa-styled Truth and Reconciliation Commission to heal wounds of the past.

In a 2015 report, campaign group Human Rights Watch said Mr Jammeh’s regime “frequently committed serious human rights violations, including arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, and torture against those who voiced opposition”.

Torture methods included the “electroshock of body parts, including genitals and dripping melted plastic bags onto the skin”, it said.

The regime relied heavily on its intelligence agency to target opponents, and was also accused of running paramilitary hit squads.

It denied the allegation, insisting that it upheld the law.

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Source: BBC

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The Commission in a statement to mark this year’s international women’s day, said Ghanaian women continue to face a number challenges including Female Genital Mutilation, Child and forced marriages, discriminatory practices and sexual harassment at work places which prevents them from reaching their full potentials in their respective fields.

[contextly_sidebar id=”9BL15UXP4lXEOjmXEDTs0RDESSwH2HzK”]“There is no gainsaying the fact that Ghanaian women continue to face a myriad of challenges which hold them back from reaching their full potential including opportunities in the world of work. Challenges such as obnoxious cultural practices including Female Genital Mutilation, Child, Early and forced marriages, discriminatory practices and sexual harassment at the work place which regrettably continue to be practices in some of our communities and work places even though our Constitution prohibits discrimination on the grounds of gender as well as harmful traditional practices whiles the Criminal and other Offences Act, 1960 Act 29 and the Children’s Act have both criminalized genital mutilation and child marriage.”

The statement, signed by the Commission’s head, Joseph Whittal, expressed regret that the previous Parliament could not pass the Affirmative Action bill that sought to address gender inequality in the country.

It thus urged the Government to liaise with the new Parliament to have the bill quickly passed.

“It is regrettable that the Affirmative Action Bill, intended to rectify discrimination on the basis of sex or gender by redressing social, economic and educational gender imbalances- was not passed into law by the previous Parliament. CHRAJ, therefore, urges the current Government to liaise with Parliament to get the Bill passed as quickly as possible to address the intended mischief that law seeks to rectify.”

“Additionally, there should be a Legislative Instrument to set out the modalities for implementation so that the law does not become dysfunctional,” the statement said.

It also called for the implementation of the National Gender Policy in order to mainstream gender equality into the national development processes.

It added that, “progress across the globe will not be possible if women continue to be denied their full human rights and opportunities. CHRAJ, therefore calls on all stakeholders to work together to ensure women and girls enjoy equal access to quality education, economic resources and political participation, as well as equal opportunities for employment, leadership and decision-making at all levels.”

Wednesday, March 8, 2017, was marked globally as International Women’s Day. The theme for this year’s celebration in Ghana is ‘Women in the Changing World of Work: Planet 50-50 by 20130’.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @jnyabor

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