QUOTE OF THE DAY
“I am the president of the republic, and I’ve been here since 7 in the morning sitting in this dump.”
Mohammed Morsi, the deposed Egyptian president, who was locked in a soundproof glass cage during his trial related to his 2011 escape from prison Article, 1A
African rebels’ capital exit raises cheers
BANGUI, Central African Republic - Thousands of jubilant residents took to the streets of Central African Republic’s capital to celebrate Tuesday as peacekeepers escorted dozens of rebels from downtown military bases, in the latest sign the fighters are losing their grip on the country after nearly a year of abuses.
Meanwhile, the United Nations Security Council paved the way Tuesday for hundreds more troops to mobilize, authorizing the use of force by European Union troops to join 1,600 French and nearly 5,000 African peacekeepers.
The former Seleka rebels departed from Camp Kasai a day after others left the hillside Camp de Roux for another base on the capital’s northern outskirts. Other top brass from the Seleka movement were escorted north of the capital Sunday, believed to be heading toward neighboring Chad.
The mostly Muslim rebels known as Seleka arrived from the country’s far north in March 2013 to overthrow the 10-year presidency, backed by mercenary forces from Chad and Sudan. Their 10-month reign was marked by widespread human-rights abuses and deepening divisions between the country’s Muslim minority and Christian majority.
Ireland told to pay in school sex abuse
PARIS - Europe’s top human-rights court ruled Tuesday that Ireland’s government failed in its duty to protect children in the case of a woman sexually abused by a lay teacher at a state-backed Roman Catholic school four decades ago.
The European Court of Human Rights’ grand chamber ruled by 11 votes to six that Louise O’Keeffe’s rights to be spared “inhuman and degrading treatment” and to an effective remedy were violated.
The Strasbourg, France-based court ordered the Irish government to pay O’Keeffe about $40,950 in damages and $116,000 in costs - a result that could pave the way for claims against the Irish government by hundreds of people who were abused in schools.
O’Keeffe, 48, said she was abused by her teacher during lessons in his classroom when she was 9 years old. She argued that the Irish state failed to put in place appropriate measures to stop “systematic abuse” at the Dunderrow National School in 1973.
O’Keeffe - who has already received damages from the offender - took the case to the European court after the Irish Supreme Court ruled that the government was not legally liable for her abuse.
S. Africa’s ruling party faces challenge
JOHANNESBURG - Ahead of elections this year, South Africa’s main opposition party merged with a smaller group Tuesday to jointly challenge a ruling party whose immense popularity, buoyed by its anti-apartheid credentials and close ties to Nelson Mandela, has frayed because of corruption scandals and other problems.
In a racially charged barb, the ruling African National Congress said the new coalition’s choice of presidential candidate was a “rent a black” ploy to present a diverse front to voters.
The candidate is Mamphela Ramphele, who was the domestic partner of Steve Biko, the Black Consciousness leader who was tortured and died in police custody in 1977. Ramphele, who has been an activist, doctor, academic and World Bank executive, last year formed her own party, named “Agang” or “Build” in the Sesotho language, but struggled to gain political momentum and now has linked her group with the larger Democratic Alliance party.
In seething Thailand, vote to proceed
BANGKOK - Thailand’s government announced Tuesday that it will go ahead with an election this weekend despite an opposition boycott, months of street protests and the likelihood of more violence in the country’s political crisis.
The government made the announcement after Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra met with the Election Commission, which had sought a delay in the polls.
The decision to hold Sunday’s parliamentary balloting likely will further inflame tensions in the country. A protest leader was killed and about a dozen others were injured in a clash Sunday as protesters swarmed dozens of polling stations to stop advance voting. Since Nov. 30, 10 people have died and at least 577 have been injured.
Anti-government protesters occupying parts of Bangkok are demanding that Yingluck step down before any election, and that she be replaced by a nonelected interim government that would institute changes to remove her family’s influence from politics. The opposition Democrat Party, which backs the protests, is boycotting the election.
Front Section, Pages 6 on 01/29/2014