Tapang Ivo Tanku, Special for CNN 22 January 2013 Michele Mbala Mvogo, a 17-year-old high school student, left home to go to school one morning, and she never came back. On Friday, police found Michele’s corpse with four other bodies dumped outside a kindergarten school. Fighting back tears, Deborah Ngoh Tonye described what was left [...]
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Afghanistan: Kabul police headquarters attacked
BBC News 21 January 2013 Read article (and watch news video) Militants have attacked the traffic police headquarters in the Afghan capital, Kabul, taking control of the building for several hours. At least three policemen and five insurgents were killed during the battle to regain control. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, which began [...]
Afghanistan: UNAMA releases report on treatment of conflict-related detainees in Afghan custody
United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan 20 January 2013 Read article Download report “Ill-treatment of conflict-related detainees in Afghan custody requires greater preventive measures and reform” KABUL, 20 January 2013 – In a report released today, UNAMA found that despite significant efforts by the Government of Afghanistan and international partners to address ill-treatment of conflict-related [...]
Zimbabwe: UN condemns attacks on human rights defenders ahead of elections
UN News Centre 18 January 2013 Citing arbitrary arrests, intimidation and harassment, the United Nations human rights arm today condemned recent attacks against human rights defenders in Zimbabwe ahead of elections expected later this year. “We are concerned about the crackdown on non-governmental organisations and dissenting voices seen as critical of President Robert Mugabe’s rule [...]
Sri Lanka: removal of Chief Justice ‘calamitous setback’ for rule of law in Sri Lanka – UN official
UN News Centre 18 January 2013 The United Nations human rights chief today spoke out against the impeachment and removal of Sri Lanka’s Chief Justice, saying it is a “calamitous setback” for rule of law in the South Asian nation, as well as for accountability and reconciliation. Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake was served notice of [...]
Afghanistan: Suicide bomb attack on Afghan security offices in Kabul
BBC News 16 January 2013 [Watch video at BBC news site] A suicide bomb attack has been launched on a building belonging to Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security (NDS) in the capital, Kabul, officials have told the BBC. Three civilians were killed and 30 hurt, the officials said. Five attackers were killed. Another car packed [...]
Malawi president refuses to commit to repeal anti-gay laws
Dan Littauer, Gay Star News 2 January 2013 Joyce Banda, Malawi’s president, said she has no power to repeal anti-gay law and the matter is best left for the people to decide Malawian president, Joyce Banda, refused to commit to repealing the country’s anti-gay laws. She said she had nothing to state on whether the [...]
Cameroon jails ‘gay’ man for texting ‘I’m in love with you’ to male friend
Associated Press via The Guardian 17 December 2012 Jean-Claude Roger Mbédé’s three-year prison term upheld by appeals court in Africa’s most repressive state for homosexuals An appeals court in Cameroon has upheld a three-year sentence against a man found guilty of homosexual conduct for sending a text message to another man saying: “I’m very much [...]
Zimbabwe: ongoing risks for human rights defenders in the context of political deadlock and pre-electoral period
International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) 13 December 2012 The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), has published the report “Zimbabwe: Ongoing risks for human rights defenders in the context of political deadlock and pre-electoral [...]
Somalia: Puntland instability underscores Somali militants’ staying power
Gabe Joselow, VOA News 8 December 2012 Al-Shabab militants attacked this week an army post in the Galgala mountains of Puntland, killing at least 10 soldiers, in one of the deadliest strikes by the group in months. The attack underscored the growing presence of al-Shabab in northeastern Somalia and the real security threat still posed [...]
