Dr Darsi Ferrer is one of the most important civil rights leaders in Cuba today, and a tireless, courageous fighter against social exclusion. Dr Ferrer was arrested more than three months ago, and jailed on absurd, untrue charges of having 'stolen materials' from the state.

The Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, has taken note of the
introduction into the Ugandan Parliament of the Anti Homosexuality Bill, 2009.
We are of the very strong view that this bill should not be adopted. It not
only violates the Ugandan constitution and Ugandas international human rights
obligations, but also stifles debate, undermines civil society and demeans the
common citizenship of all Ugandans.

The Civil Society Coalition on Human Rights and Constitutional Law has issued a statement on the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, which was tabled in Uganda's Parliament on 14 October 2009, and is currently before the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee of Parliament. The coalition argues that the bill targets everybody, and involves everybody: It cannot be implemented without making every citizen spy on his or her neighbours.

With Nigeria's Yar'Adua administration pursuing a policy of 'deregulation', Ayodele Ademiluyi calls on Nigerian workers to oppose the country's direction and stand up for their rights. Critical of the marked gulf in the decision-making power of labour's leadership and ordinary workers, Ademiluyi also stresses the need for greater democratic organisation in the struggle to effectively challenge the excesses and exploitation of the government.

In this week’s [mp3] The Kennedy Thirteen, members of the embattled shackdwellers’ movememt Abahlali baseMjondolo are arraigned in court, miners stage a sit-in at a Mpumalanga mine, and Tanzanian workers push for salary review implementation. This bulletin is part of a partnership between Worker’s World Media Productions and Pambazuka News that seeks to highlight labour issues affecting Africa’s workers.

People living in a slum district of the Algerian capital have taken to the streets for a second day to protest against job and housing shortages. Residents of the Diar Echams area, frustrated over high unemployment and inadequate housing, clashed with police on Wednesday having started their protest on Monday night.

Eleven years ago, Raloke Odetoyinbo had been married for two years and a month when she found out she was HIV positive. In that moment she thought she had lost her chance of ever having children because, she said, she believed that her child would be born HIV positive.

African women’s organizations at the national level have been mobilized to form National Working Groups to review their country’s progress in implementing the Beijing Platform for Action. We hope that in preparing for the Africa Regional meeting on Beijing +15 for Member States in November 2009, and for the NGO Forum and CSW 54 in 2010, each National Working Group will have a document identifying 12 key accomplishments that have been made since Beijing + 10 Review process in 2004, and 12 key areas where critical gaps remain that governments must commit to address.

Over the years, The Gambia Committee on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children - GAMCOTRAP has been engaged in consistent grassroots activism and social mobilisation through training and sensitization activities to raise consciousness of men and women on the Effects of FGM on the reproductive health rights of women and girl-children.

Kareem is a young Egyptian blogger who was only 22 years old when he was sentenced to 4 years in prison by the Egyptian government for criticizing Islam and the President of Egypt on a personal blog. Kareem was threatened and harassed consistently for his writing, and was previously arrested prior to his sentence, all of which were attempts to silence his opinions which he should be free to express.

The African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights has issued a statement calling on the African Union to, among other things, intervene with immediate effect to ensure that H.E. President Sheikh Professor Alhaji Dr. Yahya A.J.J. Jammeh withdraws the threats made angainst human rights defenders, and to ensure that the Republic of The Gambia guarantees the safety and security of the members and staff of the African Commission, human rights defenders, including journalists in The Gambia, and all participants in the activities of the African Commission taking place in The Gambia.

In contrast to 1999 and 2004, with just 10 days to go before the election, the campaign is slowing down. The Bulletin’s 120 journalists spread across the country all report the same thing: “everything is calm”. In the first days the parties had caravans of cars racing around countryside, but this has dropped off considerably. And there has been a similar drop in public involvement in party parades and rallies.

Abahlali baseMjondolo Movement of South Africa, an organisation representing thousands of people who live in informal settlements, and its President, Mr Sibusiso Zikode, approached the KwaZulu-Natal High Court, Durban, challenging the constitutionality of the KwaZulu-Natal Elimination and Prevention of Re-emergence of Slums Act. The High Court dismissed the challenge.

Elementary school teachers in Tunisia organised a one-day strike on Monday (October 5th) to show solidarity with the dozens of trade union activists and educators imprisoned for their involvement in protests in Gafsa last June. Four of the 34 people imprisoned for the strike in the southern mining region are members of the Elementary Education General Syndicate of Redeyef-Gafsa

Yesterday (8 October) I was at the bail hearing for the 'Kennedy 8'. I came to Durban from Cape Town to meet up with staff members of the Clare Estate Drop-in Centre which operated in Kennedy Road supporting orphaned and other vulnerable children until the recent attacks where the CEDIC was ransacked and forced to close. I attended the hearing to find out more about what has been happening in Kennedy Road since the 26th of September. At the hearing, about 100 or so members of the social movement Abahlali baseMjondolo packed the court room to see their fellow activists. The few hundred who could not fit inside waited patiently in the adjacent foyer.

This week’s [mp3] includes a report of Zimbabwe's police forcing striking workers back to work, and protest by South Africa's COSATU against labour brokers. Elsewhere, collective bargaining agreements become more popular as labour cases stack up in Kenya's courts, and Nigeria’s cement workers cry out over inhuman treatment. This bulletin is part of a partnership between Worker’s World Media Productions and Pambazuka News that seeks to highlight labour issues affecting Africa’s workers.

Regional Campaign Coordinator - Africa
Central London Based
£37,584 plus excellent benefits and relocation package
Permanent contract

As Regional Campaign Coordinator for the Africa Program, you will be responsible for developing AI’s campaigning and crisis response work on sub-Saharan Africa. This will include initiating, coordinating and evaluating campaigns and major actions on the region. Working closely with our membership Mobilization Programme in strengthening the campaigning skills and capacity of AI’s membership structures in Africa, you will contribute directly to the development of our campaigning work worldwide.

You will have knowledge of sources of social, political and economic influence in the region and advise on AI’s strengths in mobilizing such influence in relation to Africa in order to enhance the campaigning activities on the region. Sensitive to the cultures and peoples of sub-Saharan Africa, you will have a sound knowledge of human rights concerns in the region as well as experience of working with civil society in Africa. You must be able to think and plan strategically, have sound political judgement and excellent organisational and communication skills. Fluent English and French language skills are essential.

Amnesty International (AI) is a worldwide movement of volunteers and professionals standing up for human rights. Independent of any government, ideology, economic interest or religion, we have more than 2 million supporters in over 150 countries. Our purpose is to research, speak out and take action to protect individuals wherever rights, justice, fairness, freedom and truth are denied.

Closing date for this position: 25th October 2009.

To find out more and apply, visit and quote reference AFR/09/09.

Namibia’s National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) and the Namibian Chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA-Namibia) have registered a strong protest at the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) for the reported exclusion of certain media houses and, by extension, for withholding voter vital information from a large number of potential voters.

A group non-governmental organizations (NGOs) involved in the work of the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights have written to The Commission of the African Union chariperson, Jean Ping, to request the African Union to remove the Headquarters of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights from the Gambia. The basis for this request is the personally communicated threat by the President of The Gambia, Col. A.J.J Jammeh (Rtd), to kill all human rights defenders who enter The Gambia.

The Zimbabwe Social Forum (ZSF) will be hosting the 5th edition of its annual commemoration in Harare, on the 2nd of October 2009. The theme for this year’s activities is, “Reclaiming the Political Transition for People-Centered Governance; and Sustainable Social and Economic Reform.”