Africa: Indigenous Rights Ruling Could Have Big Impact on Land Disputes

In 1973, Kenya forced the Endorois people off their ancestral land in the heart of the Great Rift Valley to create a wildlife reserve, plunging a community of traditional… Read more »

Sudan: Hague Court Attacks Prosecution Evidence as 'Weak,' 'Unreliable'

The International Criminal Court has described evidence against a Darfur rebel leader accused of an attack on African Union peacekeepers variously as "weak", "scant" and… Read more »

Liberia: Former Liberian Leader's Son Ordered to Pay Torture Victims

A federal court in the United States has ordered the son of former Liberian president Charles Taylor to pay more than US$22 million in damages to five people tortured by his… Read more »

Uganda: Anti-Homosexuality Law Sets Off Firestorm in the West

Ugandan MPs probably didn't know what a firestorm David Bahati of the ruling National Resistance Movement would raise when he first presented his proposed Anti-Homosexuality Bill… Read more »

Uganda: Obama Condemns Proposed Anti-Gay Law

U.S President Barack Obama has criticized the controversial anti-gay law which has been proposed to Uganda's legislature. Read more »

Sudan: Court to Reconsider Bashir Genocide Charge

An Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court has again opened the prospect of charging Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir with genocide over killings in Darfur. Read more »

Uganda: Continent's Govts Watch Anti-Gay Bill Debate

For years, Uganda’s population has endured human rights violations at the hands of both government agents and rebel groups. Ugandans have been subjected to harassment, unjust… Read more »

South Africa: Zuma Educates Journalists Over Wives

The rise to power of South Africa's first polygamous head of state in the modern era* is causing confusion in the media, and the office of President Jacob Zuma is now trying to set… Read more »

Congo-Kinshasa: Lubanga Trial Highlights Plight of Child Soldiers

The defence in the trial of alleged Congolese warlord Thomas Lubanga Dyilo  – the first war crimes trial to be conducted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) … Read more »

Sudan: Govt Reneges on Southern Independence Referendum Deal

The United States has condemned the Sudanese ruling party for introducing last-minute unilateral changes to the law under which southern Sudanese will vote on whether they want… Read more »

South Africa: 'Flawed Democracy' Slips in Governance Rankings

Which way is governance going on the African continent and particularly in South Africa? According to the newly released 2009 African Governance Report (AGR-II), put together by… Read more »

Nigeria: Abuja, Executive Branch Have Too Much Power, Says Peer Review

A major review of Nigeria compiled by its African peers says too much power is concentrated in the central government, inhibiting "true federalism," and that the executive branch… Read more »

Sudan: North, South Agree on Independence Referendum

Officials from the ruling parties in Khartoum and Southern Sudan have reached an agreement on new legislation governing national elections next April as well as a later referendum… Read more »

Uganda: Civil Society Condemns Anti-Gay Bill

Ugandan civil society groups marked international Human Rights Day on Thursday by calling for the withdrawal of what they call the “discriminative and oppressive”… Read more »

Sudan: Govt Arrests Leading Southern Politicians

The Sudanese government arrested leading figures of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) during a protest outside the National Assembly in Khartoum on Monday, news… Read more »

Equatorial Guinea: Govt Frees Mercenaries

The government of Equatorial Guinea has freed four South African mercenaries jailed for plotting to overthrow President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, South Africa's foreign ministry has… Read more »

Africa: French Court Blocks Probe of Three Presidents

A French Appeal Court in Paris yesterday rejected the demand of the Transparency International (TI) organization for leave to open a probe in France into the estates of three… Read more »

Madagascar: Ravalomanana Refuses to Sign Interim Deal

The agreement on a multi-party transitional government for Madagascar has got off to a difficult start, with the deposed head of state, Marc Ravalomanana, refusing to sign the… Read more »

South Africa: The Right to Know and Justice in Africa

Ironically, International Right to Know Day, which is celebrated today, has been one of the world’s best-kept secrets. Read more »

South Africa: Al-Qaeda Threatened U.S. Offices - Report

United States government offices in South Africa are expected to reopen on Friday after being closed for two days, reportedly after a threat from an al-Qaeda splinter group. Read more »

Cote d'Ivoire: Toxic Waste Claimants Offered Payouts

A Dutch-based oil trading company has offered to pay more than 30 million Euros (U.S. $48 million) to up to 31,000 Ivorians who said toxic waste dumped in Abidjan made them ill in… Read more »

Zimbabwe: Tsvangirai Accuses Zanu-PF of Law-Breaking, Hate, Land Invasions

Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has accused President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF party of breaking the law, spreading "the language of hate," invading productive farms,… Read more »

Sudan: Panel to Back 'Home-Grown' Justice for Darfur?

The high-level African Union (AU) panel appointed to help end the Darfur conflict is reported to be advocating a South African-style "truth and reconciliation commission" and… Read more »

Gambia: Court Jails Six Journalists

Six Gambian journalists, including the editors of two independent newspapers, have been sentenced to two-year jail terms and each fined about U.S. $10,000 on sedition and criminal… Read more »

South Africa: Zuma Nominates New Chief Justice

South Africa's President Jacob Zuma has moved to end a political battle which has threatened to damage the country's judiciary and its independence by making an early… Read more »