Burkina Faso Journalist Sentenced to Three Years for Defamation
On July 23, 2015, a county court in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, sentenced Boureima Ouédraogo, the managing editor of Le Reporter, a privately-owned investigative newspaper, to three years in prison. The court also fined Ouedraogo CFA Francs 300,000 (about US$500). Ouedraogo’s sentencing followed a libel suit by a lawyer named Bouyain Armand. In a series of […]
South Sudan govt suspends peace talks despite sanctions threat
South Sudan’s government said Friday it was pulling out of peace talks to end a 20-month-long civil war after rebel forces split despite international threats of sanctions. Tens of thousands of people have been killed in a war marked by widespread atrocities on both sides, and diplomats warned the collapse of the latest peace efforts […]
United Nations inquiry into Central African Republic child rape claim
The UN mission in the Central African Republic (CAR) has launched an investigation into allegations its soldiers raped a 12-year-old girl. It will also focus on accusations by Amnesty International that UN peacekeepers shot dead a 16-year-old boy and his father earlier this month. UN chief Ban Ki-moon said he was “personally dismayed and disappointed” […]
Democratic Solution to Sahrawi Issue Is Only Way to Peace and Stability in Region
Member of the National Secretariat of the Polisario Front in charge of the Political Branches, Mr. Salem Basir, stressed that the only way to peace and stability in the region is through finding a democratic solution to the conflict in Western Sahara. In speech during the conclusion of the the 6th Edition of the Summer […]
Swedish Government Renews Support to Saharawi People’s Self-Determination
Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven said his government is launching an in-depth study to identify ways to be followed to find an accelerated peaceful and lasting solution to Western Sahara conflict, reiterating his country’s position of support to the right of the Saharawi people to free self-determination, in a speech delivered at the closing ceremony […]
Libya’s death sentences cast long shadow over rule of law
In July, a court in Tripoli ruled against more than 30 officials and personalities who had served under Col Muammar Gaddafi’s government. The rulings included nine death-penalty verdicts, four acquittals and a range of other prison sentences for war crimes. Those condemned to death by shooting squad include Col Gaddafi’s son Saif al-Islam and former […]
I Can Not Arrest Sudan President, Bashir, If He Ever visited Uganda – President Yoweri Museveni
DESPITE Uganda being a signatory to the Rome Statute that instituted the International Criminal Court, President Yoweri Museveni has ruled out ever arresting the indicted Sudan president, Omar Bashir, if he ever visited Uganda in future. Bashir has an indictment by The Hague based court hanging over his head on account of his alleged role […]
Swazi soldiers torture old ladies so badly they had to be taken to their homes in wheelbarrows
Swaziland soldiers beat up old ladies so badly they had to be taken to their homes in wheelbarrows, a member of the Swazi parliament has reported. Titus Thwala said that elderly women were among the local residents who were regularly beaten by soldiers at informal crossing points between Swaziland and South Africa. Thwala said the […]
Women Lack Access to Safe Abortions in Humanitarian Crises, Experts Say
Efforts to provide safe abortions in countries hit by conflict or disasters are being held back by a lack of information and funding, said health experts in London as they presented new research on the state of reproductive health in emergencies. The research found international health workers in South Sudan and Burkina Faso failed to […]
Do the Lives of the South Sudanese Really Matter to Kiir and Machar, or Anyone Else?
The forces allied to the two main parties to the conflict in South Sudan, President Salva Kiir and former vice president Riek Machar, continue to inflict pain, suffering and despair on the South Sudanese people as a result of their unwillingness to take the necessary steps to end the civil war. Since fighting started in […]
