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.

A lawyer for an opponent of Malawi's president says his client is no longer being watched by police at the hospital where he is being treated for heart problems. Opposition and church leaders in Malawi had joined international human rights organisations in criticizing Ralph Kasambara's treatment. Kasambara was arrested 13 February, accused of kidnapping and torturing three men he told reporters had confessed they had been sent by the government to firebomb his office. The government denies Kasambara's accusations. Kasambara denies the charges against him.

Human Rights Network for Journalists-Uganda (HRNJ-Uganda) is shocked by the Uganda government's rejection of recommendations made to it during the Universal Periodic Review Mechanism (UPRM) to admit the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression to visit the country and assess the human rights situation. UPRM is a brainchild of the United Nations Human Rights Council whose intention is to assess the human rights situation of its respective member countries. HRNJ-Uganda has learnt that an Inter-ministerial meeting held on 23 February 2012 in Kampala and chaired by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs rejected 21 recommendations out of 42 which had been reserved by the same government during the October 2011 Geneva review.

Mari Monique was pregnant when they pooled all of their savings to join one of the first emigrant groups that opened a gruelling route in search of Brazil’s economic growth promise. The same path has now been trodden by more than 4,000 fellow Haitians. The route begins in the neighbouring Dominican Republic, where emigrants embark on a plane that takes them to Panama. Continuing by bus and on foot, the groups make their way through Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and sometimes Bolivia before finally reaching the Amazon border – still a week by boat from the nearest big city. The entire journey can take up to two months, depending on the traveller’s ability to find their way through Spanish-speaking countries, and can cost as much as $3,000.

Egyptian researchers claim to have found a cheap, easy method for detecting and clearing landmines, using plants and bacteria. The three-stage process for deactivating anti-personnel mines - landmines designed for use against humans - first detects the mine before corroding its cast-iron body and, finally, neutralising it.

The former governor of Delta state has pleaded guilty in a British court to laundering millions of dollars in a rare case of a Nigerian politician being held to account for corruption. James Ibori, a former governor of the oil-rich state, pleaded guilty on Monday to 10 counts of money-laundering and conspiracy to defraud. He pleaded not guilty to a further 13 similar charges. Sentencing will take place in April.

In keeping with Western medicine’s approach to illness, the international community’s anti-corruption strategies treat the symptom of corruption rather than the cause; seeking to stifle the outcomes of a flawed system rather than rightfully treating it as the disease itself, concludes this article from the Peace and Conflict Monitor. 'The most significant conclusions relate to a re-conceptualization of our understanding of the corruption-causes-poverty narrative by calling for a re-moralization of the corruption debate within the larger systemic context of the neoliberal world order. '

An international petition launched three days ago calling for the international business community to protest Uganda’s notorious anti-gay bill has garnered the support of over 190,000 people worldwide. The more than 190,000 people have signed the petition to join a campaign on the Change.org website launched three days ago by Collin Burton, a gay Citibank customer from Washington, DC.

Hundreds of Tunisians in the capital and the wilaya of Sfax took to the streets recently to demand that the interim government shoulder its responsibility for the rising price of basic goods. 'I can no longer provide for what my family of eight needs,' Mondher Welhazi, 56, told Magharebia. He added, 'All the prices of basic materials in terms of vegetables and meat rose after the revolution in a frightening, alarming way. I am embarrassed before my children as I can no longer bring them what they want.'

Media and Information Minister Webster Shamu now has days to meet an ultimatum to implement key media reforms, which could usher in some long awaited freedom in Zimbabwe’s media space. he ZANU PF Minister has been ordered to reconstitute the boards of the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation, the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe and the Mass Media Trust.
Shamu was given the ultimatum after a meeting of the principals in the unity government.

In 'Corporate War Crimes', law professor James G. Stewart offers a roadmap of the law governing pillage as applied to the illegal exploitation of natural resources by corporations and their officers. The text traces the evolution of the prohibition against pillage from its earliest forms through the Nuremburg trials to today’s national laws and international treaties. In doing so, Stewart provides a long-awaited blueprint for prosecuting corporate plunder during war.

The Human Rights Commission (HRC) will speak against the discrimination of people on the basis of sexual orientation, chairperson Pixie Yangailo has said. Reacting to comments made by a section of Zambians after United Nations secretary general Ban Ki-Moon called for respect for sexual orientation, Ms Yangailo stressed that the Commission will oppose discrimination based on sexual orientation. Mr Ban, who is visiting Zambia, said on Saturday that no one should be stigmatised or discriminated against on the basis of their sexual orientation.

A renewed offensive against Al-Shabab insurgents by Somali government forces, backed by Ethiopian, Kenyan and African Union troops, has sparked another influx of civilians to the capital Mogadishu, locals told IRIN. 'Since 18 February, we estimate that between 10,000 and 11,000 families [60,000-66,000 people] have arrived in Mogadishu, fleeing fighting or the fear of fighting in their home areas,' said Abdullahi Shirwa, head of the government's National Disaster Management Agency.

Very few countries prevent ordinary citizens from wandering around filming or journalists from doing their jobs without the permission and control of the authorities. Zimbabwe is on a short distinguished list of nations that includes Yemen, Sudan, China, and North Korea. That's not the only abnormality in Zimbabwe's media landscape. Little about it conforms to the way things are done across the globe - or to global or African standards, reports activist group Sokwanele.

Reporters Without Borders says it is stunned to learn that Abukar Hassan Mohamoud, the manager of Mogadishu-based radio Somaliweyn, was shot dead 28 February outside his home in the capital’s Aargada district by men armed with pistols. The press freedom organisation condemns his cold-blooded murder, which joins a long list of crimes of violence against journalists in Somalia, and reiterates its call to the international community to do everything possible to ensure that these killings do not go unpunished.

The world’s rapid urbanisation means hundreds of millions of children are not getting even their most basic needs met, the United Nations children agency (UNICEF) warns in a report. Children in slums and poor urban communities lack access to clean water, sanitation and education, as services struggle to keep up with fast urban growth, says the aid agency’s flagship State of the World’s Children report which this year focuses on urban poverty.