A new report by REDRESS and Reprieve, Kenya and Counter-Terrorism: A Time for Change, details the horrific stories of the arbitrary detention of 150 victims in Kenya from 21 different nationalities. Many of these were tortured and ill-treated; many were rendered to Somalia and then transferred to Ethiopia. There are also allegations of interrogation by foreign intelligence services, including British agents. Many of the victims have now been released, but the whereabouts of others are still unknown.

cc The murders of the Kenyan human rights activists Oscar Kamau King'ara and Paul Oulu reveal a wide malaise across Kenyan society with regard to basic human rights, Kang’ethe Mungai writes. Stressing that the murders send a clear warning sign to human rights defenders of the existence of a ‘death squad’ likely operating under government auspices, Mungai reflects on some of the confusion around the underground Mungiki sect and its war with the country’s police. The author argues that the public deserves both greater objective information on the sect and public declarations by its leadership in order to make informed opinions detached from government rhetoric. This, Mungai contends, will enable the government and civil society to properly engage with a group of considerable appeal among the country’s marginalised youth in a peaceful way befitting the memories of campaigners like King’ara and Oulu.

The peace and security council of the African Union (AU) condemned the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court against Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and recommended the chairperson of the AU Commission, Jean Ping, send a delegation to the UN Peace and Security Council to aimed at stopping the indictment. Elsewhere, the AU called on the authorities of Guinea Bissau to cooperate with other stakeholders in launching a full investigation into the assassination of President Joao Bernardo Vieira and General Batista Tagme Na Wai to help identify the perpetrators and bring them to justice. The AU Commission chairperson sent a delegation led by the Commissioner for peace and security, Ambassador Ramtane Lamamra, to Madagascar for consultations with the Malagasy parties in pursuit of a peaceful and negotiated solution to the current political crisis. The AU chairperson, Libyan leader Muammar Al-Gaddafi, received representatives of the AU Commission in Tripoli to discuss key issues such as the implementation of decisions and declarations adopted during the 12th AU ordinary summit, the situation of peace and security on the continent and actions being taken by the Union to address these.

As the world celebrated International Women’s Day, the AU, while enumerating instruments and mechanisms aimed at promoting and protecting women’s rights in Africa, reiterated its commitment to eliminate violence against women and girls and said that men should be more involved in the recognition of human rights and fundamental freedoms of women.

Furthermore, the chairperson of the council of ministers of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and Foreign affairs minister of South Africa Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma stated that while SADC supported the integration of Africa, regional integration had to be achieved before the formation of a single AU government could be realised. The general secretary of the SADC Parliamentary Forum, a body established in 1997 to create a platform for the region’s legislators to share knowledge and experiences in governance, explains why the Forum needs to be transformed into a fully-fledged parliament to consolidate its role in advancing democracy, development, wealth creation and poverty reduction.

In other news, with the possibility that a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council could be allotted to Africa, countries like Nigeria, South Africa, Egypt, Libya, Senegal, Kenya, and Botswana have commenced ‘to lock horns in a diplomatic tug-of-war’ over which country is the best candidate to occupy the seat. The former president of Botswana and current chairperson of the advisory board of the newly created Coalition for Dialogue on Africa, Festus Mogae, said Africans should stop blaming others for the continent’s problems, but instead take responsibility for some of Africa’s ills. Finally, the Director of Africa Department at the International Monetary Fund has warned that the global financial meltdown could wipe out the financial successes recorded by African countries over the past decade.

Civilians are slowly returning to their homes in the North Kivu region of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), despite continuing violence and displacement due to militia activities, sources said. "While we are seeing tentative returns in some areas, we are also seeing new displacement due to ongoing rape, killings and looting," Bob Kitchen, country director for the International Rescue Committee (IRC), said in Goma.

Three weeks after disarmament was officially launched in the border region of Ed Damazin in Blue Nile State, Sudanese officials have discovered that raising money is tough and getting ex-combatants to hand in arms even tougher. The disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) programme requires US$430 million. A 16 February donor roundtable in Juba, the Southern capital, received pledges for $91 million.

Thousands of Zimbabwean refugees in South Africa have been displaced after an order by the Department of Home of Affairs for them to vacate a field in Musina where they have been living for several months. The order has seen some of the refugees leave the large open makeshift living quarters, known as “The Showground”, which Government claimed had become infested with germs and disease.

Zambia is to intensify its corruption fight which is aimed at prosecuting all those who plundered and mismanaged public funds. Vice president George Kunda who is also justice minister said Zambia is governed by tenets of laws and that no person whether in the private or public sector is above the law.

A UN investigator of extra-judicial killings in Kenya has called for an international inquiry into the murder of two human rights activists. Oscar Kamau Kingara was shot dead along with a colleague hours after a government spokesman accused their group of aiding a criminal gang. A consortium of human rights groups in Kenya says it holds the government responsible for the death.

A U.S. federal court has denied a request by Nigerian victims of human rights abuses for a new trial against Chevron, which was found not liable for aiding and abetting those abuses after a jury trial last December. The plaintiffs in Bowoto v. Chevron had argued that a new trial was warranted due to insufficient evidence for the defense verdict, erroneous legal rulings, and prejudicial misconduct by Chevron’s lawyers. Judge Susan Illston of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California disagreed, letting the verdict stand.

The arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir is a victory for the court's top prosecutor. But the chances that the case will ever come to trial are slim. The international arrest warrant issued for Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir by the International Criminal Court is without question a feather in the cap of its top prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo.

This is a full video confession by a Kenyan Police Officer who witnessed extra-judicial killings of 58 suspects by his colleagues under orders from their superiors. The confessions was taken by the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights on June 25th 2008. The officer, Bernard Kirrinya was shot dead in Nairobi on October 16th 2008.

The biggest challenge facing China is not slowing growth but unemployment, which could trigger social unrest, a Chinese government minister has said. Commerce Minister Chen Deming told the BBC that when economic growth slowed "the chances of possible social unrest increase as well".

Pre-Trial Chamber I at the International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued an arrest warrant against Marshal Omar Hassan Ahmad Al-Bashir, the military ruler of Sudan for his role in escalating violence and the humanitarian crisis in Darfur, Western Sudan. He was accused of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur since 2003.

This conference will mainly seek to develop a vocabulary to make sense of new forms of mobility and chart an agenda for their study. Often labelled as “transit migration”, new forms of multi-directional and flexible mobility reflect inherent tensions between movement and containment. In some instances, such movements are shaped by longstanding labour migration patterns towards Europe but are not determined by them. Elsewhere, migrants are marooned for years where their journeys are interrupted and reshaped through their interactions with transnational traders, political exiles, migrant workers, and students.

cc Highlighting the importance of taking action on acts of large-scale theft and economic abuse, Gabriel Dolan argues that while corruption is certainly not restricted to the African continent, it is perhaps more apparent in the striking inequalities to be found between self-interested socio-political elites and impoverished masses. Criticising the tendency of human rights investigations to gloss over the role of social injustice and economic crimes in fuelling impunity and perpetuating corruption, Dolan states that Kenya’s Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC) should fully acknowledge the plundering of the country’s resources by certain figures and ensure that recovered wealth is redistributed in the form of reparations for victims. With a view to enabling greater funding for educational initiatives, the author contends that the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) should throw its weight behind a campaign to have grand corruption recognised as a crime against humanity.

This course is designed to enable participants to develop effective conflict prevention strategies that can allow constructive dialogue between contending views without the need to resort to the use of violence. It is designed to strengthen the capacity of individuals and organizations to engage in conflict prevention, including early warning systems.
Course Length: Residential – 3 weeks/Distance – 16 weeks
Deadline for application: 4th May 2009/10th August 2009

“It has long been said that security begins with you,” states a Darfurian man in the midst of a crowd demonstrating at the UNHCR Compound on 2 Februrary 2009 after a fellow refugee and security personnel was shot. Darfurians demonstrated at the main gate of the UNHCR compound to express their grievances to the official bodies responsible for protecting refugees against attack and insecurity. They addressed their concerns to UNHCR, implementing NGO agencies, and the Kenyan Government.

Field posts serve as a point of direct contact between refugees and UNHCR staff in airing complaints and rights claims. They serve to monitor the treatment of refugees and ensure that their rights are upheld. But many refugees claim that the system is failing in its critical protection function.

Free press or the right to free expression is a human right duly recognized by international human rights law as well as under Kenya’s domestic law. In the context of Kenya, refugees reside in the urban and rural locations of Nairobi, Mombasa, Nakuru, and Kakuma and Dadaab refugee camps respectively.

The book is intended to serve as a practical aid to the understanding of the problem of trafficking in persons and aims to encourage effective actions taken by the various international, regional and national initiatives to curb the menace of human trafficking. It also contains an exhaustive list of Appendices on international conventions, treaties and national legislation on human trafficking to serve as useful reference materials for research.
Price of book is $20.