Maat: 887 people were killed in the brown continent during February 2023..and the West African region has the most number of victims

Okail: We recommend to international mechanisms to appoint a Special Rapporteur on violence and terrorism in Africa

Kenzi Darwish: We call on the Ethiopian government to respect the rights of sects as a major component of society

The danger of terrorism and its extremist ideas reflects negatively on African societies and social peace, just as it threatens stability, national security and national unity, and causes societies to enter into wars and civil conflicts with no winner, this is what Maat Foundation for Peace, Development and Human Rights mentioned in its monthly report “The Lens of Terrorist Operations Acts of Violence in Africa - February 2023", which confirmed that the continuation of terrorist organizations' activity in West Africa, the continuation of the activity of the Al-Shabaab terrorist movement in Somalia, as well as the continuous renewal of armed violence in Ethiopia led to the death of 887 people in Africa during the month of February 2023.

The monthly report also mentioned that during the month of February 2023, the West Africa region came in first place as a result of the continued activity of Boko Haram, ISIS and some rebel organizations, with 485 victims, while the East Africa region came in second place as a result of the activity of the Al-Shabaab movement in Somalia and the renewal of ethnic conflict. In Ethiopia, terrorism left 314 dead, while the Central African region came in third place with 75 victims, while South Africa had 11 dead, and North Africa was the quietest with only two dead.

With regard to the numerical distribution of terrorism victims by country, the number of victims has increased dramatically in Burkina Faso, making it the first among African countries in the number of victims, with 235 deaths, compared to 83 deaths last January, which means that there is a qualitative shift. And logistically, it occurred in the structure of terrorist organizations in Burkina Faso, while Somalia came in second place, with 192 deaths, as a result of the continued activity of the Al-Shabaab terrorist movement, while Nigeria, which suffers under the weight of Boko Haram and ISIS organizations, came in third place with 188 deaths.

Commenting on the report, Ayman Okail indicated; The international human rights expert and head of the Maat Foundation, pointed out that fundamental shifts occurred in the structure of terrorist organizations in Africa, which led to shifts in their foci of activity, especially in West Africa, explaining that despite African legislation at the state level to limit the phenomenon of terrorism, these Legislation is not sufficient to limit it, and the main reason for the spread of the phenomenon is due to the absence of regional and continental coordination.

Therefore, "Okail" called on the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism to provide the necessary technical support to African governments, to work to limit the emergence of new extremists, and the human rights expert also recommended the international and regional mechanisms concerned to the need to appoint a Special Rapporteur on the security situation and the operations of violence and terrorism in Africa, to work on strengthening International humanitarian law in the five African regions.

While, Kenzi Darwish, a researcher in combating hate speech and violent extremism at Maat, recommended that the Ethiopian government must wor on developing a comprehensive national plan to reduce the rupture of the social fabric as a result of the civil war that has been going on for more than 15 months, which has caused tens of thousands of deaths and hundreds of thousands of displaced persons, With the need to respect the rights of sects as a major component of society.