SOCIETY
SENEGAL – The Collective for the Defense of the Rights of Adji Sarr (CODDAS) is born, the initiator Françoise Hélène Gaye explains
The political activist, well known on social networks, Françoise Hélène Gaye Ditwiller “comes to the aid of Adji Sarr, the masseuse who accused the leader of Pastef-Les Patriotes of rape and threats with weapons. The Senegalese who lives in the United States has created a Collective “Collective for the Defense of the Rights of Adji Sarr (CODDAS)”. Objective: to provide full support to the complainant in order to shed light on this politico-judicial affair which provoked violent demonstrations in Senegal, protests which caused 14 deaths, more than 500 injured and hundreds of arbitrary arrests. Françoise Hélène Gaye the initiator of this Support Collective gives details of the organization and principles of this support.
“We found that little Adji Sarr was left on her own. Many personalities in public life have beaten their careers on this principle. Organizations that are in the field of Defense of Women’s Rights almost attacked Adji Sarr. They all refused to take up their mission. The women deputies including Aida Mbodji who was Minister for Women, took a stand for the accused without having listened to Adji Sarr on the basis of the presumption of holiness of Ousmane Sonko. They positioned themselves for Sonko without having met or expressed any empathy or humanism for Adji Sarr. Organizations present in the square have demonstrated that the Senegalese woman was an orphan. Even murderers have the right to a lawyer. For weeks, his detractors have called for a statement or appearance from Adji Sarr. When she spoke, they denied her the right to speak. When she invoked the name of her marabout, they denied her the right to have faith in her marabout. She covered herself according to the rules of Islamic law, they denied her the right to cover herself. They denigrated her, slandered her, insulted her, threatened her with death just as they have done to me for over 2 years. Never in the history of our Nation has a young girl been the victim of so much persecution, insults and slander.
This Collective goes beyond Adji Sarr and Ousmane Sonko. He fights against the misogyny of Senegalese society and the trivialization of violence against women and girls in Senegal. Many girls and young boys are abused or raped without daring to report. Imagine that during this time there are millions of young people: Talibés, students, young girls, housekeepers who are today abused, raped by a relative, a teacher, a stranger without daring to denounce. With the treatment of Adji Sarr, these young victims may never dare to break the silence and ask for help. The cycle of violence will thus continue and we thus give carte blanche to thousands of predators and thereby condemn thousands of our children to suffer in silence and sentence them to life imprisonment. They will now live at the mercy of their torturers.
This collective does not ask for money or donations of any kind for Lady Adji Sarr. We just want to open their eyes to the many Senegalese who pretend not to see the flagrant injustice against our young compatriot Adji Sarr and ask that the Senegalese people give them the right to speak and allow them to hear their complaint. “
You can read the Collective’s clauses below:
“We, Senegalese citizens of the diaspora, and indigenous people, bring to the attention of national and international opinion, the birth of the collective for the defense of the rights of Adji Sarr (CODDAS).
- Considering the serious threats to his physical integrity, the death threats, and the torrents of insults and mud that are poured out on his person.
- Considering the intimidation attempts, and the smear and demonization campaign against her, with the sole purpose of silencing her.
Considering that justice is served in the name of the people, and that there cannot be an untouchable litigant in our country and that no one is above the law.
We, members of CODDAS, warn against any attempt to infringe the rights of the alleged victim ADJI SARR.
From now on, we set ourselves up as shields and sentries to defend Republican principles through this private history that the opposing party has transferred to the political arena.
From now on, we intend to assert all of Adji Sarr’s rights, so that no one ignores his side of the story.
Nevertheless, we appeal for serenity and vigilance, and demand that the law be said through a fair trial.
For the Collective for the Defense of the Rights of Adji Sarr
CODDAS The President Françoise Helene Gaye Ditwiller ”
In Cameroon, about 7 million children, including more than 1.5 million in school, do not have a birth certificate. The absence of this essential document for access to education, health and other public services, particularly affects rural areas and the regions of the Far North, Northwest and Southwest. The subject was discussed during the 3rd International Economic Days of Municipalities (JEICOM), held from June 2 to 4, 2025, at the Palais des Congrès in Yaoundé.
A deplorable situation at the moment when Cameroon is celebrating the 5th edition of Children’s Day under the theme “Child-sensitive budgeting and planning: a strategic lever for the promotion and protection of children’s rights”.
Faced with the constant problem of establishing birth certificates in Cameroon, the government, through the National Civil Registry Office (BUNEC), collaborates with partners such as UNICEF or the World Bank in order to provide an effective response to the phenomenon.
In this dynamic, the Bunec provides the town halls with tools to ensure a “compliant and reliable registration of births”. It also supports them in the modernization of the civil status system, including the digitization of registers. UNICEF has enabled some town halls to strengthen their human resources capacities and develop innovative strategies.
Several initiatives were launched, notably the national forum on universal birth registration, organized in April 2024, which brought together mayors, civil status officials, and partners to discuss solutions to the problem.
A violent mutiny broke out this Tuesday, June 3, 2025, at the Maison Pénale de Bouaké in Ivory Coast. While the Prison Administration was conducting a routine search within the establishment, it encountered hostility from the inmates of Building E. According to the prosecutor’s statement, they “were attacking them with the help of clubs, machetes and other blunt objects.” To clear themselves, the agents were forced to carry out warning shots in order to cover their retreat.
Unfortunately, this incident led to a heavy toll: “the death of five (05) detainees is to be deplored. Twenty-nine (29) injured, including six (06) prison officers and twenty-three (23) detainees, were also recorded,” said the public prosecutor. He specifies that the injured were taken care of and a coroner was requested for findings of use in such circumstances.
The rapid intervention of the forces of the Gendarmerie and the National Police allowed to limit the violence and restore order. The search operation then continued without further incidents. She led to the discovery of “several blocks of cannabis, platelets of Tramadol tablets, eighteen (18) mobile phones, including eight (08) smartphones, three (03) grenades, knives etc… strictly prohibited in detention.
The prosecutor recalled that previous excavations had already led to the discovery of bladed weapons
More than 200 people were found dead after the sudden floods that hit the Central West of Nigeria on Thursday, May 29, 2025, announced the humanitarian coordinator of the state of Niger in a new report, Tuesday, June 3. Hundreds of victims are still missing.
The balance sheet is getting heavier. Trapped by sudden floods in west-central Niger, many people were still missing on Tuesday 3 June. The humanitarian coordinator of Niger state said that the death toll now exceeds 200, while hundreds of people are still missing.
“We have more than 200 bodies,” Ahmad Suleiman told Channels Television. “No one can say at the moment how many deaths there are in the state of Niger because we are still looking for other bodies,” he added.
The research continues
“We continue to search but sincerely, we cannot be sure of anything,” he added. Many victims were counted in Mokwa, the most affected agglomeration and a neighborhood of which was wiped out within hours Thursday by flood waters from the Niger River. Since then, volunteers and rescue teams have been combing the area under an overwhelming heat, sometimes finding bodies up to 10 kilometers away.
The coordinator’s announcement comes after the official toll remained stuck at 150 deaths, although some residents deplore the loss of more than a dozen family members.
Fifteen of the 36 states in Nigeria had been placed on flood alert a few days before the disaster. Climate change amplifies extreme weather events in Nigeria but for the people of Mokwa, the tragedy is also linked to human failures. In Mokwa, muddy waters swept away hundreds of houses in the town, including the lack of maintenance of the nozzles designed to evacuate floodwaters, which were clogged with debris on the day of the flood.
The death toll could exceed the 321 deaths from the floods that occurred in 34 of Nigeria’s 36 states in 2024. The Nigerian government claims to have provided aid, but on the spot, the inhabitants feel left to themselves and several families said they had received nothing.
Source: la-croix.com/ Photo credit: TV5
