Although it is relatively easy to start a war, it is much harder to sustain it – or at least to sustain it in any effective way. There is an assumption that what distinguishes war from anarchy is that people are fighting for something. Anarchy, on the other hand, is just that: anarchy. While what…
West Africa is not an easy place to live if you are gay. In Gambia, fifteen men were arrested in April of this year on suspicion of being gay. After almost three months they were acquitted for lack of evidence. Five of them have since fled to Senegal where they are presently seeking asylum….
I know I blogged about Uganda’s 50th birthday earlier in the week, but this one has to be told. I have just agonisingly – and sometimes covering my face in shame – finished watching a YouTube clip that has gone viral. It’s about Uganda’s Ambassador Maurice Peter Kagimu Kiwanuka speaking at a symposium of the…
On 9 October 1962, Uganda was handed her independence with great fanfare. Today marks 50 years of self-rule – or misrule, depending on your perspective. But what are we celebrating? Did Uganda really deserve to be independent? And what has independence brought us? These are questions that we as Ugandans have to ask ourselves as we…
Under the leadership of Dawda Kairaba Jawara, the Gambia was known as a stable and democratic country where people could enjoy basic rights. However, since Yaha Jammeh came to power in a coup d’etat in July 1994, a lot has changed. Now, many human rights defenders, journalists, political opposition leaders and people who do not…
According to a public statement by SIHA on 23 August 2012, last week a female tea seller was dragged from a bus in the Baidoa region of Somalia by Al Shabaab militants, taken to the bush close by and beheaded. She had been based in Bardaale district (Bay region) and had, in the course of…
In July 2012, a 23 year old woman Laila Ibrahim Issa Jamool from Dar Hamer, a pastoralist tribe of Sudan’s South Kordofan region, found herself imprisoned in Omdurman women’s prison with her sick child who is suffering from asthma. Laila’s family moved to Khartoum because of conflict, poverty and the growing destruction of livelihoods in…
Akoi, a father of three, recently returned to Juba from Khartoum. Since arriving he has struggled to find work and barely makes ends meet by running errands in the local market. ‘When I was in Khartoum I had a small business [repairing farming equipment]. In Juba I make little money. Often my children go to…
On 16 August, police opened fire on a group of striking miners at South Africa’s Lonmin-Marikana mine leaving 37 dead and 78 injured. This took place in the new South Africa – not the old one where police repression was the norm. So how could it have happened? The answer to that question leads to…
Long serving Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has been confirmed dead. Meles, aged 57, had not been seen in public for two months, and had been reported to have been sick in a hospital in Brussels. His death follows a list of African leaders that have dropped dead while in power, including Levy Mwanawasa in…
Right now, a group of 30,000 Burundian refugees living in Tanzania’s Mtabila camp have no idea what the future holds for them. Or at least they do have an idea, and it is deeply concerning. They have been told that their status as refugees is at an end and that they must leave Tanzania by…
Displacement is often part of a cyclical process of conflict and displacement. Preventing displacement, therefore, is not only about preventing new displacement but about ensuring that people do not get re-displaced. Read the full article.
The President of the Republic of Senegal, Macky Sall, speaking on July 15 at the African Union (AU) Summit in Addis Ababa, reiterated his commitment to getting the trial of former Chadian President underway before the end of 2012. As the Senegalese Minister of Justice said during a press briefing, “this trial will be the…
Matt Corrigan is a human rights lawyer currently working on projects in South Sudan In May 2012, United Nations agencies flew thousands of South Sudanese from Kosti in (North) Sudan to Juba in South Sudan. Their transfer was forced by the authorities of Kosti who demanded that they be resettled in the South. They form…
There is growing desolation and fear among Congolese refugees following the kidnapping of a well-known Congolese refugee, Mr. Avochi Nyipir Utwikende. His kidnapping enforces a feeling of insecurity among Congolese refugees who have long feared Ugandan security and their suspected collaboration with their Congolese counterparts. It is also seen as confirmation of rumors that there…
By Matthew Corrigan, 31 July 2012 In May 2012, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) flew thousands of South Sudanese to Juba. They were part of an estimated 12-15,000 returnees that have been stranded in Kosti, Sudan waiting to travel to the South. The move was brought to ahead when the authorities of Kosti demanded…
On July 10, 2012, the International Criminal Court (ICC) pronounced its first sentence – 14 years imprisonment – for Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) militia leader Thomas Lubanga. On the ground in the DRC speculation is now turning to the next element of the proceedings – reparations. Chambers have indicated that they will pronounce…
Mohamed Salah, a university student detained by NISS, is facing serious health risks as a result of torture and ill-treatment We are the parents and siblings of Mohamed Salah, a 23 years old student in his final year at the University of Khartoum faculty of Science. Mohamed was arrested at 9:00 pm on Sunday the 24th…
The announcement on July 10 of the first sentence handed down by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the case of Thomas Lubanga has sparked diverse responses in his home province of Ituri in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Although there are some that approve of the sentence, the decision has also been attacked…
Thousands ‘choose peace’ on anniversary of South Sudanese independence Warring parties urged to pull back from the brink as UN resolution deadline looms Citizens from South Sudan and Sudan have today been joined by human rights activists, civil society organisations and faith leaders from around the world in a united call for peace within and…
