Need for protecting refugees against sexual abuse – In a release from Geneva dated April 21, 2011 Human Rights Watch says dozens of Ivorian refugee women and girls recently arrived in eastern Liberia say they have had to engage in sex to get adequate food, shelter, or money, Human Rights Watch said today. The Liberian government, the police, and United Nations agencies should take urgent measures to protect and assist vulnerable women and girls, including rapidly building protected shelter and helping them get sufficient and appropriate food, Human Rights Watch said. Over four days in early April 2011, two Human... Continue Reading
22 April 2011: The medical and humanitarian emergency in Ivory Coast persists as violence rages in several neighbourhoods in Abidjan, and security in the west of the country remains critically unstable, with populations hiding in fear in the bush without access to food, water or medical aid. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is deeply concerned for the lives and health of civilians living in fear, which is blocking them from seeking critical medical care. In the west, post-election violence intensified intercommunal tension and land rivalry, and today the population continues to live in terror of militias and reprisal attacks, particularly in... Continue Reading
By Nangayi Guyson – JUBA – The people of South Sudan, who voted successfully to become an independent state, are now facing a rise in armed conflicts with militia groups which threaten the lives of civilians, a top UN official warned on Wednesday. A UN assistant secretary general for peacekeeping operations, Atul Khare, told the UN Security Council that South Sudan’s democratic achievements could be undermined by “unresolved or incomplete” issues in the CPA. “Following the referendum, tensions in the south have risen,” Khare said. “In particular, conflicts between the Sudan People’s Liberation Army and a number of insurgents and... Continue Reading
…..Why freedom of expression advocates are unhappy – By Kemo Cham – Advocates of freedom of expression are angry with the Gambia based African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies (ACDHRS). The Gambian Executive Director of the Banjul based Centre, Hanna Foster, is at the center of this confrontation that has freedom of speech advocates up in arms against the decision of her officer to remove freedom of expression from the agenda of a panel discussion in the forthcoming 49th Ordinary Session of African Commission. This represent a damaging image for the center as it could mean its... Continue Reading
By Kemo Cham – Gambian President Yahya Jammeh is at it again; this time he is calling for the prosecution of Ivory Coast internationally recognized president Alassane Ouattara and the release of the man he believes is “the constitutionally legal president of Ivory Coast”, Laurent Gbagbo. Gambian President Yahya Jammeh Yahya Jammeh is once again trumpeting the anti-colonial rhetoric in his opposition to Western intervention in the affairs of Africa. In opposition to the rest of the world, he said “the Gambia government would not recognize any president, including president Ouattara, or government in Africa that has been imposed... Continue Reading
