Darfur Relief and Documentation Centre (DRDC) is gravely concerned about the renewed military operations and displacement of civilians in Darfur. Violence is reported in Korma, Meliet, Jebal Moo, Jebal Mediob and eastern Jebal Marra in North Darfur State. Heavy military equipments including fighter planes and artillery are being used intensively during the last 4 weeks causing indiscriminate damage on civilian targets.

A one year-old Ethiopian girl named Galila died in Egypt's El Quanater prison after having been incarcerated with her mother for six months, in contravention of Egypt's obligations under Article 31(1) of the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees not to punish refugees.

In this week's Pambazuka News, Tafadzwa Thelma Madondo writes about last year's xenophobic attacks in South Africa and their dramatic consequences for foreign women and children. Madondo argues that the government did not do enough to protect the most vulnerable to violence and that more has to be done to guarantee everyone’s safety in South Africa in the future.

While the Niger Delta represents the epicentre of an ongoing crisis in Nigeria, it is but a microcosm of a nationwide problem, writes Sabella Ogbobode Abidde in this week's Pambazuka News. The country must face up to its difficulties, Abidde contends, and not simply marginalise voices of dissent. Common sense must prevail and President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua must use the instrument of the state to pursue peace.

Aid workers in eastern Chad are preparing to move some 28,000 Sudanese men, women and children from a refugee camp infiltrated by supposed rebels. The Chad government decided in mid-September to relocate Ouré Cassoni camp, which is near the northern town of Bahai and 7km from the border with Sudan.

After days of stalling, hundreds of people displaced by Kenya's post-election violence in early 2008 have begun leaving a camp in the western town of Eldoret after receiving cash handouts from the government. Most of the estimated 2,700 internally displaced persons (IDPs) had, between 28 September and 1 October, declined to accept KSh35,000 [US$460] from the government to help them resettle.

As three truck-loads of newly arrived soldiers from the Central African Armed Forces (FACA) drove through Obo, local residents talked with bitterness and resignation about the continuing security problems and inability of either local forces or their allies from the better-equipped Ugandan People’s Defence Force (UPDF) to flush out combatants from the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA).

A month before the recent attack in Jonglei State that left scores dead, Daniel Dau had moved his family from Duk to Twich East County, about 100km away, believing they would be safer there. But he was wrong. On 20 September, Duk Padiet village in Twich was attacked and at least 167 people killed, according to Jonglei State statistics.

Algeria has addressed the cases of nearly 25,000 victims of terrorism through its national reconciliation programme, and many key terrorists have surrendered, leading some observers to proclaim the process a success. The 2005 Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation "has realised its objectives," said Farouk Ksentini, head of the National Commission for the Promotion and Defence of Human Rights, at a special forum on Monday (September 28th).

ARTICLE 19’s Comment expresses alarm in relation to almost all the provisions of the Genocide Ideology Law which was adopted by the Rwandan Parliament on 23 July 2008. In ARTICLE 19’s view, the law’s central concept of “genocide ideology” is extremely broadly defined and would catch a whole range of legitimate forms of expression. Indeed, the definition of “genocide ideology” violates international law under the Genocide Convention 1948 and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 1966 in multiple ways.

Although Algeria was affected by large-scale displacement caused by conflict between 1992 and 2002, internally displaced people (IDPs) were not a priority for the government during or after the conflict. As a result, even the most basic information about their number and situation has consistently been unavailable. The European Union estimated at the end of the conflict that violence had displaced one million people, while other sources put the number as high as 1.5 million. The government has not contested these figures.

What role do young women play in contemporary African wars? Mainstream thinking on war and conflict sees women as passive and peaceful and men as active and aggressive. This report from the Nordic Africa Institute calls for a broader understanding of women’s roles and participation in armed conflict in Africa. Programmes to disarm, demobilise and re-integrate former fighters need to be adapted to local contexts and designed to meet the needs of female ex-fighters.

Guinean security forces should immediately cease violent attacks on demonstrators protesting against the military government, Human Rights Watch has said. Human Rights Watch called upon the government to hold accountable security forces responsible for firing upon and killing dozens of generally peaceful demonstrators in the Guinean capital, Conakry, on September 28, 2009.

The Ugandan government should immediately order an independent investigation into the killing of unarmed persons during and after riots in Kampala on September 10 and 11, 2009, Human Rights Watch has said. A Human Rights Watch investigation found that at least 13 people were shot by government forces in situations where lethal force was unnecessary.

Sudanese women who escaped the Darfur conflict to eastern Chad are facing high levels of sexual violence, an Amnesty International report says. Despite the presence of a UN force, women and girls are being attacked when they leave 12 designated camps in search of water, the report says. It also documents cases of refugees being attacked inside the camps by Chadian aid workers.

Residents of the Somali port of Kismayo are burying the dead and tending to the injured after a day of fierce clashes between rival Islamist groups. Al-Shabab has gained control of the city and the Hizbul-Islam fighters have withdrawn to villages to the west.

Nine Zimbabwean human rights activists and others tortured in custody are suing government officials for $500m (£314m), their lawyers have said. Jestina Mukoko and eight others are suing the police commissioner, a cabinet minister and police officers.

The government will hand over election violence suspects, thought to include six sitting Cabinet ministers, to The Hague. The six are part of a list of suspected perpetrators of the chaos, compiled by a judicial commission of inquiry chaired by Justice Philip Waki, that also names five MPs, seven former MPs and prominent people and businessmen. They are accused of either financing or orchestrating the worst ethnic violence in Kenya’s history in which 1,133 people were killed and 650,000 others left homeless.

Libya deported an additional 740 Nigerians Thursday, bringing the total number of Nigerians repatriated from the north African nation in recent days to 1,064, the local press reported. Last month, Libya also brought back about 330 Nigerians. Most of the deportees did not have the required papers to stay in Libya, which many use as a transit point to Europe.

Dear Mohamed Bayoumi,

I am writing to advise that sadly, the baby Gelilla Kinfe – date of birth 16/12/07, the secondary applicant for the refugee/humanitarian visa for Australia, passed away last weekend (27/9/09). Not even two years old she died in prison where she had spent most of her small life. The cause of death at this stage is unknown, presumably malnutrition or some preventable illness brought on by the sad circumstances of her life. The mother and principal applicant for the Australian refugee / humanitarian visa is, understandably, inconsolable at this time. The sponsor is also extremely sad, frustrated, and feeling powerless to help her sister – a refugee detained as an illegal entrant in a Cairo prison.

We have urged the Australian government to prioritise the application for the Australian visa, however at this stage we have had no response. We ask that you please do what you can to assist the mother. Thank you for your assistance to date.

Please confirm receipt of this email.

Yours sincerely,

Lesley Hunt
Registered Migration Agent 9801052