Hundreds of Moroccan women a day are resorting to backstreet abortions, a leading doctor has estimated, prompting calls for reform in a country where the termination of pregnancies remains illegal. Campaigners say some of those resorting to illegal abortion are the victims of rape, driven at least in part by the social stigma attached not just to having a child out of wedlock but even having suffered rape.

CHRI's concern about the human rights situation in The Gambia

Crime-fighting unit The Hawks have said they were investigating the MTN Group - Africa's largest mobile phone operator - over allegations of bribery related to its Iranian licence. 'We can confirm that we are conducting a formal investigation,' McIntosh Polela, a spokesman for the unit, said. Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri, based in Istanbul, is suing MTN in the US for $4,2bn, alleging the SA-based company bribed Iranian government officials, arranged meetings between Iranian and SA leaders, and promised Iran weapons and United Nations votes in exchange for a licence to provide services in the Islamic Republic.

Over the course of nearly 20 centuries, millions of East Africans crossed the Indian Ocean and its several seas and adjoining bodies of water in their journey to distant lands, from Arabia and Iraq to India and Sri Lanka. The African Diaspora in the Indian Ocean World traces a truly unique and fascinating story of struggles and achievements across a variety of societies, cultures, religions, languages and times.

A university student in Swaziland was shot with a live bullet by police following campus disturbances, human rights activists report. The 23-year-old student at the Limkokwing private university in Mbabane was reportedly an innocent victim of the shooting. The Swaziland Solidarity Network (SSN) said, ‘The student was on his way to his dormitory when he was struck by the live bullet in his leg.’

Regional leaders mediating in Zimbabwe said they want to see democratic and constitutional reforms before fresh elections can be held next year. The Southern African Development Community called on Zimbabwe's coalition government to work on a new constitution and put it to a referendum to adhere to the terms of the power sharing deal brokered by the group in 2009, according to a statement released by the group Saturday.

Progressive small farmer organizations in Mexico scored a victory over transnational corporations that seek to monopolize seed and food patents. When the corporations pushed their bill to modify the Federal Law on Plant Varieties through the Committee on Agriculture and Livestock of the Mexican Chamber of Deputies on March 14, organizations of farmers from across the country sounded the alarm. By organizing quickly, they joined together to pressure legislators and achieved an agreement with the legislative committee to remove the bill from the floor.

South Africa receives more asylum seekers than any other country in the world with people mainly coming from Zimbabwe, the DRC, Burundi, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Somalia, as well as from countries further afield to escape poverty, insecurity and political turmoil. Up to 1.4 million of South Africa’s refugees and asylum seekers are Zimbabwean, representing almost 15 per cent of Zimbabwe’s population. This is according to a new report, 'Perils and Pitfalls ? Migrants and Deportation in South Africa', from the Solidarity Peace Trust/Passop. This report brings to light the discrepancies between the legal requirements around deportation of migrants and the anomalies in its practical application. It is clear from the findings that South Africa is falling short of its lofty legal standards in the manner that the various government agencies are dealing with this huge challenge.

The Egyptian government, amid opposition by Bedouins and environmentalists, has reaffirmed its nuclear energy program.

Four African migrants have been hospitalised after a deadly arson attempt on a Jerusalem building in which they were living. The incident, which police described as 'very serious', took place in an old two-storey building in a poor neighbourhood near the city’s Mahane Yehuda market.

Namibia's Chamber of Mines believes that the government has no role to play in the country‘s mining sector apart from regulating the operating environment. The position is likely to put miners at loggerheads with the state, which is following the global trend of resource nationalism. Namibia in 2011 declared all minerals - except zinc and fluorspar - strategic and handed over all exploration rights to state miner, Epangelo Mining Limited.

‘We are profoundly alarmed that the meeting will serve to deepen neoliberal policies and processes of capitalist expansion, concentration and exclusion that today have enveloped us in an environmental, economic and social crisis of grave proportions.’

Egypt’s popular political leader and former presidential hopeful Mohamed ElBaradei has said the upcoming presidential runoff in the country should be canceled. He argued that the real battle in Egypt was 'writing Egypt’s new constitution and canceling the presidential elections, because the legitimacy of one of the candidates is highly doubtful', referring to presidential candidate Ahmed Shafiq, who was Mubarak’s last prime minister.

Born Again in the United States of Uganda is the story of how well financed U.S. evangelicals, fundamentalists and neoconservatives conspired in the incitement of hatred against gays and how this led to the introduction of the ‘Kill the Gays’ bill to Uganda’s parliament.

The British government has denied legalising gay relationships is a precondition that it has set for Malawi to be a beneficiary of its aid. The United Kingdom (UK) Secretary for International Development Andrew Mitchell said at a press briefing he had alongside President Joyce Banda at Sanjika Palace in Blantyre. Mitchell said even though the UK champions the promotion of human rights, it has not particularly attached its aid to gay rights as had been earlier reported.

The June 2012 issue of the Fahamu Refugee Legal Aid Newsletter is now .

In this issue:

- Palestinians who fall under the 1951 Convention: a Norwegian case
- Legal aid profile: the Cambridge Pro Bono Project
- Ruling: the state is obligated to provide adequate translation services in RSD interviews
- Open letter to the Cyprus Bar Association
- Conference panel: the need for competent counsel for refugees
- Why immigration detention harms people and doesn’t work
- South Africa: High Court refuses to grant leave to appeal closure of refugee reception office
- Important judgement on the value of medical reports

Also in this issue are announcements, requests, Country of Origin and legal news listings, publications, opportunities, and conferences and courses.

As always, we welcome your feedback and suggestions.

Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale has lashed out at the government's handling of the suspension of crime intelligence boss Richard Mdluli, becoming the first minister to speak out about the atmosphere of 'fear' it has generated. Mdluli was suspended for a third time yesterday when Johannesburg Labour Court Judge Andre van Niekerk ruled that a court order setting aside Mdluli's suspension be rescinded. Sexwale said failure by the police and the National Prosecuting Authority to act effectively against those accused of serious offences resulted in the public losing confidence in the security services, the justice system and the constitution.

MDC-T secretary general, Tendai Biti has described the Sadc meeting in Angola as 'probably the most important post-GNU summit' adding the regional body had made it clear that new elections could not be held without political reforms. President Robert Mugabe had hoped Sadc would endorse his push for new elections to go ahead this year even if political reforms that include the writing of a new constitution are not completed in time. But Biti said the troika meeting told coalition parties to implement all agreed electoral, political, security sector and media reforms over the next twelve months. However, Zanu PF spokesman, Rugare Gumbo accused the MDC formations of misinterpreting the Sadc resolutions saying the bloc merely said reforms should be implemented within 12 months. 'We still have seven months before the end of the year. I am confident within the next few months, we will have implemented the reforms in time for elections in 2012,' he said.

Change is about to sweep Ugandan politics after decades of Museveni rule...

The Energy ministry says it will re-examine laws to satisfy the emerging demands of transparency, disclosure, fairness and justice in the sharing of oil revenues among explorers, host governments and the local communities. 'The recent positive development in the exploration of fossils, especially petroleum and coal, also calls for a review of the current legal and regulatory frameworks to cater for emerging needs,' said the Energy PS Patrick Nyoike. ‘The National Energy Policy recognises that. We have a five- year window to put issues in place,' he told stakeholders discussing a draft Bill.