The authorities here must revoke jail sentences given to four anti-slavery activists who protested against the enslavement of a 10-year old girl, Amnesty International said on Tuesday 23rd August. The four men, who belong to an anti-slavery NGO, were arrested on Thursday 4th August on charges of ‘unauthorized gathering’ and ‘rebellion’. They were given six-month [...]
Amnesty International has called for Côte d’Ivoire’s new government to make sure that the compensation paid by Swiss oil-trading corporate group Trafigura reaches the thousands of victims affected by a toxic waste dumping in 2006. The payouts by Trafigura went missing after a group falsely claiming to represent the victims obtained an Ivorian court order [...]
Perhaps not since way back in ‘97, when South African investigative journalists for the renowned TV series ‘Carte Blanche’ exposed illegal canned lion hunting, has there been such a scandal involving the country’s wildlife. Recently, there have been a number of headlines detailing alarming poaching statistics and the increase in the poaching of rhinos despite [...]
The independence of South Sudan last month should be tempered by the huge development task facing the new nation and its unresolved relationship with the north government, writes Desmond Davies The euphoria and pomp and pageantry that heralded an independent Republic of South Sudan on July 9 are over. In splitting from Sudan in the [...]
It is no secret that global food prices are rising drastically. But, when combined with continued volatility the poorest people in the developing world will be at continued risk, according to the World Bank Group’s Food Price Watch. High food prices have worsened the crisis in the Horn of Africa together with prolonged droughts, especially [...]
Amnesty International is urging the authorities here to immediately release two men due to stand trial on Thursday 18th August on charges of homosexuality and to repeal the law used to imprison them. The two men – a 19-year-old known only as Jonas, and a 20-year-old known only as Francky – were arrested on 25th [...]
The recurring orgy of violence which is clearly along socio-religious lines continues unabated in Maiduguri , North Eastern Nigeria, with some politicians cashing in , on the issue , purely to promote their political interests. The city and its environs continue to smolder with hundreds of people who can afford to, fleeing the area while [...]
Three powerful NATO countries have announced that Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi could stay in Libya if he is willing to step down from his 42-year reign of power. The International Criminal Court (ICC), who issued an arrest warrant against him in June, is saying that he can’t be left in Libya. The question now is: [...]
The worst drought in two decades has left about 11 million East Africans in acute need of food and water. Western NGOs are urging people to donate money while images of malnourished children appear on the world’s TV screens. Is Africa still the helpless and weak continent the media portrayed it to be twenty years [...]
In the middle of a roundabout in the southern Sudanese capital of Juba there is a 23 feet tall digital clock counting down the days, minutes and seconds until the 9th of July. Tomorrow, the world will have a new country. It is uncertain what will happen when South Sudan takes leave from Khartoum 55 [...]
