Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir has condemned an International Criminal Court arrest warrant issued for his defence minister. The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Defence Minister Abdel Raheem Muhammad Hussein as part of an investigation into atrocities in Darfur. Hussein is the latest of several senior officials in Sudan to be indicted by the court in The Hague, which is also seeking the arrest of Bashir on charges of orchestrating genocide.

South Africa is sneaking E2.4 billion (US$320 million) to Swaziland to help it shore up its ailing economy so that the undemocratic kingdom does not have to instigate political reforms, a Swazi campaigning group claimed. The Swaziland Coalition of Concerned Civic Organisations (SCCCO) says the loan money is being channelled into Swaziland disguised as cash from the Southern African Customs Union (SACU). This way Swaziland gets the money without reforms by King Mswati.

'Troubled Waters: How Mine Waste Dumping is Poisoning Our Ocean, Rivers, and Lakes' is a new investigative report from Earthworks and MiningWatch Canada that documents how mining companies are using the world's waterways as dumping grounds for their toxic mine wastes. These mine wastes, or tailings, can contain up to three dozen dangerous chemicals, including arsenic, lead, mercury, and cyanide. Each year, mining companies dump over 180 million tonnes of these hazardous mine wastes into rivers, oceans, and lakes

The Africa Today broadcast for 27 February has interviews with Dr. Nia Imara and Pierre Labossiere of Haiti Action Committee for an update on Haiti eight years after the coup and talks with Nehanda Imara of Communities for a Better Environment on a series of community classes on urban agriculture, the environment, and health.

Two weeks ago the Institute for Race Relations published a letter from Yorshire academics protesting that a contract for housing asylum seekers had been awarded to G4S. The company responded to its critics and in reponse to this, the group have released a further letter. 'We sent our original letter because of sheer outrage that a vast private sector security company feared and distrusted by asylum seekers should be considered as suitable to manage asylum seeker housing. We could see immediately that such a contract would mean up to 900 asylum seekers in Yorkshire facing eviction and displacement over the next few months.'

The World Development Movement has warned that the UK’s new drive to provide aid to Somalia is looking like a ‘cynical’ attempt to grab its oil, rather than being aimed at ensuring a better future for people in one of the world’s poorest countries. A report in the Observer newspaper on Sunday revealed that UK officials have been engaged in secret negotiations with Somali leaders to secure access to the country’s immense oil reserves. The revelation came after the UK announced a large aid package for Somalia, and David Cameron hosted a conference in London last week on the development of the war torn state.

Côte d’Ivoire’s national commission of inquiry investigating the 2010-2011 post-election violence should extend its mandate by six months to August 2012, Human Rights Watch said. The extension would better ensure an impartial and comprehensive investigation into crimes committed by all sides, Human Rights Watch said. In meetings with Human Rights Watch, Ivorian civil society representatives, United Nations officials, and diplomats highlighted serious problems with the commission. They cited its failure to include representation from pro-Gbagbo groups and to consult sufficiently with civil society, and said the commission appears to have rushed its work.

The government will soon table a Contract Farming Bill in parliament, seeking to enact a law to protect smallholder farmers and rural communities against exploitation by private investors. Principal Legal Officer with the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security Audax Rutabanzibwa said in Dar es Salaam over the weekend that among other things, the law will clearly state the kind of crops to cultivate and nature of relationship between private investors and rural farmers.

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On the 23 May 2011, 14 men were abducted from their cells by military police at the central prison in Nouakchott, the capital city of Mauritania. All of them were convicted on charges related to terrorism and at least six of the men were tortured while in police custody before their abduction. None of them have been seen or heard from since; no one but their captors knows if they are dead or alive. If they are alive, there are major concerns for their safety.

Insecurity in the north of Central African Republic (CAR) has caused thousands of people to flee their homes. 'Villages have been violently destroyed and looted, including some health centers,' says Pablo Marco, head of mission for Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in CAR. Since the end of January, fighting around Gondava and Ouandago, along the border with Chad, has brought instability to the region. The Chadian rebel group, the Popular Front for Recovery (FPR) is fighting against Chadian and Central African forces. Some 3,000 displaced people have arrived in the villages of Farazala, Ouandago, and Nana-Outa, in addition to the 3,000 people already sheltering in Kabo.

The of the Fahamu Refugee Legal Aid newsletter produced by the Fahamu Refugee Legal Aid Network is now available on their blog. The latest issue includes the following highlights:

- How to apply for asylum in Brazil
- Practice Advisory on Interim Memo regarding law students, graduates and other representatives appearing before United States Citizenship and Immigration Services
- The importance of psychosocial support in the refugee status determination process
- Asylum approval rate in Japan still shockingly low
- Changes to refugee system in Canada further undermine refugees
- Italy rebuked by European Court after deportations of Somali and Eritrean asylum seekers
- Statement on Kenyan Government plan to relocate refugees back to Somalia
Deportation news
- Syrian refugees in Europe: news from Belgium and Sweden
- Syrians in Jordan: Guests, not refugees
- Democratic Republic of Congo London embassy staff resign and claim asylum
- Open letter from Eritrean refugees and asylum seekers in Djibouti
- Letter from the Rwandan Refugee Community in Zambia to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon
- Refugees in Brazil denounce ‘exploitation network’

In addition to these articles, the edition also includes: Request for Sahrawi COI expert; Publications; Country of Origin and legal news; Conferences and courses; Info links; Resources; Vacancy announcements; Announcements; and Scholarships for African Commonwealth candidates for University of Oxford part-time masters in International Human Rights Law.

Visit http://frlan.tumblr.com/ to read the edition.

On a recent hot Saturday afternoon, tempers flared outside a school building in the village of Madina as organizers tried to work out who could and could not attend the meeting inside between the visiting government delegation and community representatives. The meeting's agenda was clear: the activities of Sime Darby Plantation Liberia (SDLP) and their impact on the surrounding land and its inhabitants. One of the most prominent in a club of new, high-profile investors committed to long-term projects in Liberia, SDLP's future activities are meant to bring Liberia billions of dollars in revenue and some 35,000 jobs.

Over the past few years, a number of allegations of alleged brutality and the excessive use of force by the Swaziland Police have been made. In the Siteki area, these allegations have recently led to public protests and strikes. It has been reported that four residents of the area have died at the hands of the police. This piece documents testimony from witnesses, friends and family members of the four people who were killed.

The Radical History Review seeks submissions for an issue on the global politics of the anti-apartheid movement, 1946-1994. The time frame underlines our sense of the global significance of what we call the Anti-apartheid Era, inaugurated by the postwar United Nations Debates on discrimination suffered by Indians in South Africa and culminating in the post-Cold War transition to democracy in South Africa during the 1990s. As we see it, this anti-apartheid era encompasses the evolution of the United Nations, decolonization, the Cold War, the founding of the non-aligned movement at Bandung, the rise [and fall] of Third World solidarity structures, the US Civil Rights Movements, Left-Leaning Revolutions, human rights politics, upheavals of the global Sixties, and the onset of neoliberal globalization and offers new ways of connecting and contextualizing these various developments.

While genuine historic commitment to transformation and upliftment by South Africa, and the University of the Western Cape (UWC) in particular, went 'without saying', it was not clear that the country remained on the path to 'achieving the vision for which so many struggled', said Archbishop Thabo Makgoba.vSpeaking at his inauguration as UWC Chancellor, Makgoba said the fact that economic disparities in South Africa 'remain vast, and are even growing', was 'truly immoral' and a 'scandal'.

'This joint submission examines the gendered aspects of sexual violence in correctional centres, how rape shapes offenders understandings of gender and sexuality, and how it fuels a cycle of violence both in and out of prisons. We also underscore the connection between HIV and sexual violence in prisons, and highlight the specific needs of male survivors of sexual assault, who are largely invisible in our society.'

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called on Senegalese authorities to thoroughly investigate recent attacks on the media and ensure that the press is able report freely on the country's presidential election results and potential run-off. In a statement, the media rights group said it had documented at least 12 incidents of threats and physical harm against journalists reporting on the campaign, Sunday's vote, and its aftermath.

Nigeria has repatriated around 11,000 foreigners mainly from Niger and Chad over the past six months to curb a growing Islamist insurgency, the Immigration services said. 'The latest number of foreigners repatriated as at this morning is 11,000,' immigration services spokesman Joachim Olumba told AFP, updating an earlier figure.

Egypt's interim government will have to muster all its skills of persuasion to sell austerity measures to a country weary after a year of political and economic strife, if details emerging on Cairo's planned deal with the IMF are anything to go by. Egypt wants the $3.2 billion IMF accord to help it head off a looming crisis. But in return the IMF wants Egypt to cut its budget deficit.