Renewed combat in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has caused a drastic deterioration in the humanitarian situation and immense suffering for civilians, the Congo Advocacy Coalition, a group of 83 aid agencies and human rights groups, has said. The coalition called for urgent action to improve protection of civilians and an immediate increase in assistance to vulnerable populations.

The story of displacement and death in the Darfur region of Sudan is indeed horrific. And, since Sudan is one of the few countries in Africa which has been off-limits to US oil deals and capital penetration, the crimes of the Sudanese government have a special resonance in U.S policy-making circles.

The son of former Liberian leader Charles Taylor has gone on trial in the US accused of torture. Prosecutors says Charles "Chuckie" Taylor Jr led a unit that tortured and executed government opponents in Liberia between 1999 and 2003.

Some 75,000 people have fled attacks by Ugandan rebels in northern Democratic Republic of Congo, the Catholic aid agency Caritas has said. Fighters from the Lord's Resistance Army are reported to have killed villagers and abducted children during recent attacks. The rebels have moved from their original bases in Uganda to north-eastern DR Congo and South Sudan.

Nigerian police have arrested more than 200 suspected militants in raids in the oil-rich Niger Delta, authorities say. Some suspects are accused of recruiting youths to target oil installations around Port Harcourt. The military commander in Rivers State was cited as saying his men had found almost all militant camps there, and he would mount a campaign to destroy them.

The 2008 Conference on Refugee Warehousing presents a unique opportunity to learn about the issues and join the global movement to end the human warehousing of refugees. Learn from experts and activists in the field. Keynote speakers Dr. Barbara Harrell-Bond of the American University in Cairo and Merrill Smith of USCRI and will kick off the conference with an inspiring talk about how you can help stop this inhuman practice.

An interim order by South Africa's Constitutional Court could keep temporary shelters open for the foreigners displaced by xenophobic violence earlier this year - or it could leave more than 4,000 camp residents out on the street. Civil society has called for the camps to remain open until government publishes a detailed reintegration plan, and is hoping an interim court order will delay closure, set for the beginning of October by Gauteng provincial government.

The UN Refugee Agency and the governments of Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) this week intensified efforts to encourage the last 51,000 Congolese refugees in camps in northern Zambia that the time is right to go home.

South Sudan's military accused Ugandan rebels on Friday of attacking them on the Congo border, killing one soldier and the son of a local chief. Major General Biar Ajang of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SLPA) said the attack by Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) guerrillas took place on Thursday in Sukure Payam district.

Intense fighting has broken out between the army and rebels loyal to the former general Laurent Nkunda in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), with the army using rocket launchers and other heavy artillery, the United Nations peacekeeping mission hasreported. To ensure that civilians were not harmed, the peacekeepers interceded with Congolese troops who agreed to cease fire by the end of the day. The fighting took place in Kirotshe, a town near Goma, which has seen several fierce battles in recent days.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has proposed that the Security Council consider sending 6,000 United Nations troops to replace a European Union force in eastern Chad and north-eastern Central African Republic (CAR), which have both been wracked by violence and civilian displacement in recent years.

Following the entry into force in June 2008 of the Pact on Security, Stability and Development in Africa’s Great Lakes region (the Great Lakes Pact), the Norwegian Refugee Council’s Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) and the International Refugee Rights Initiative (IRRI) released The Great Lakes Pact and the Rights of Displaced People: A Guide for Civil Society. The Guide aims to help organisations use the Great Lakes Pact to promote the rights of refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs) in the region.

Fourteen abuse victims, backed by a coalition of African and international rights groups, have filed complaints with a Senegalese prosecutor accusing the former Chadian dictator Hissène Habré of crimes against humanity and torture. The charges mark a new phase in the long-running effort to bring Habré to trial for atrocities committed during his 1982-1990 rule.

Nigerian militants on Monday attacked a Shell-operated oil installation, forcing the evacuation of nearly 100 people, in a third day of heavy fighting with security forces in the Niger Delta region. The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) declared an "oil war" on Sunday and warned all oil workers to evacuate the delta immediately, threatening to further disrupt production in the world's eighth largest oil exporter.

The most urgent test of the grand coalition in Kenya is resettlement of the estimated 350,000 or so people made homeless by the violence after the December 2007 elections. Launched in May, the government's Operation 'Return Home' has been riddled with flaws and many experts on internal displacement argue it has exacerbated the crisis rather than resolving it.

The essay, by Stephen Lewis, must be one of the most compelling pieces I have read on the conflict/rape/gender violence scourge in Africa. Besides being very intersting, very passionate and very well written, it brings out some profound, solid truths that need to be broadcast across Africa, if at last the continent will do something about women, war, rape and violence.

The Security Council has voiced serious concern at the recent fighting between Government forces and rebel groups in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), some of the worst violence since the signing of a January peace deal. The Council stressed that the clashes that broke out in North Kivu on 28 August between the country’s armed forces (FARDC) and the National Congress for People’s Defense, known by its French acronym CNDP, are a violation of the Actes d’Engagement signed by both parties earlier this year.

On Monday 8 September, a Moroccan man became the first blogger to be sentenced to two years imprisonment. Mohamed Erraji was also fined 5,000 dirhams (US$625) for “lack of respect due to the King”. He is not the first Moroccan to be jailed for peacefully expressing his views on the monarchy, which is still a “taboo” subject in Morocco.

We write in regard to the arrest warrant requested by the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) for President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan. We understand that this request is likely to come under intense international scrutiny in the coming weeks. The stakes are extremely high for the victims of atrocities in Darfur and for global efforts to curtail impunity for the most serious crimes. We urge your government to weigh these issues in light of basic principles already expressed by the Security Council.

As representatives of national and international human rights organizations working in Burundi, we urge you to extend the mandate of the Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Burundi. He has been and should continue to be an effective counselor to the Government of Burundi, a firm support to Burundian civil society organizations, and a passionate voice for victims of human rights abuses.