Ex-officer tried for 'Dirty War' crimes in Argentina

An ex-navy captain dubbed the Blond Angel of Death has gone on trial in Argentina with 18 others for kidnap and torture during military rule.

Alfredo Astiz and the other defendants are accused of abuses at the Navy Mechanics School detention centre.

He is accused of involvement in the disappearance of dozens of people, including two French nuns.

Between 10,000 and 30,000 people are believed to have been disappeared during the 1976 to 1983 dictatorship.

Mr Astiz is alleged to have had a central role in the abduction and disappearance of the nuns, Alice Domon and Leonie Duquet, investigative journalist Rodolfo Walsh and several founders of a human rights group, the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo.

He is said to have helped security forces by infiltrating meetings of the Mothers at a church in Buenos Aires.

Leonie Duquet was thrown from a plane during one of the many "flights of death" during which the military disposed of prisoners.

Her body was washed ashore and she was buried in an unmarked grave, until her remains were formally identified in 2005. Alice Domon's remains have never been found.

Mr Astiz denies any knowledge of such flights and argues that he was following orders to protect Argentina from extremist violence.

The Argentine courts have identified 250 navy personnel who worked in the Navy Mechanics school at the time - some 70 have been charged so far.

23 years later, Dele Giwa's killers-IBB and cohorts- walk free

Dele Giwa was a founder and editor of Newswatch magazine. Twenty-three years ago today, on October 19 1986, he was killed by a letter bomb sent by agents of the former dictator, Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida.
On October 17 1986, Mr. Giwa, who was Nigeria’s most feared editor, had been summoned by two notorious officials of the Babangida regime: Halilu Akilu, former Director of Military Intelligence (DMI), and Lt.-Col. A. K.Togun, former Deputy Director, State Security Service (SSS). Forty-eight hours later, he was killed via a bomb with a parcel bearing the coat of arms of the Nigerian state. He recognized it so well, and just before the bomb went off as he opened it, had exclaimed, “this must be from the President,” referring to Babangida.Babangida ruled Nigeria from 1985 to 1993, when popular protests forced him to leave office unceremoniously as he engaged in one of the most grievous acts of political infamy in annulling the nation's freest and fairest election in history. Throughout his tenure, Babangida jailed or repressed his political opponents, real or imagined, or sponsored assassinations against them. Also in 1986, one of Babangida's closest childhood friends, General Mamman Vatsa, who was the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, was accused of involvement in a coup plan. Despite a clear lack of evidence, Babangida ensure he was summarily tried and quickly executed.

Illegal Directive On The Renewal Of Passports Of Messrs Nuhu Ribadu and Nasiru El-rufai

In a desperate but primitive display of executive lawlessness the Federal Government has instructed its missions abroad not to renew the passports of Messrs Nuhu Ribadu and Nasiru El-Rufai or grant any consular services to them.
The decision is a tragic reminder of the dark days of brutal military dictatorship when the confiscation of the passports of political opponents, human rights activists and pro-democracy campaigners was the order of the day. Even then, none of the military dictators ever directed Nigerian missions not to renew passports of their opponents.Since the Federal Government is not exposed to sound legal advice it is pertinent to draw its attention to the case of Director, SSS v. Olisa Agbakoba (1999) 6 NWLR (PT 595) 314 where the Supreme Court held inter alia:
“It is not in dispute that the Constitution gives to the Nigerian citizen the right to move freely throughout Nigeria and to reside in any part thereof. It also guarantees to the citizen the right not to be expelled from Nigeria nor be refused entry thereto or exit therefrom. Section 38(1) of the Constitution provides: