January 9 marked the first anniversary of the historic "comprehensive peace agreement" (CPA), which ended the devastating 21-year war in the south between the central government in Khartoum and the impoverished people of southern Sudan. Despite the enthusiasm of the anniversary celebrations in the ramshackle southern capital of Juba, there are growing concerns that Sudan's powerful northern elite is not committed to peace and may again plunge the south into war. The CPA came about after years of negotiations, which dragged on inconclusively for more than a decade until the administration of US President George Bush came to office in 2001. After 9/11, Bush dangled the carrot of lifting sanctions imposed by the previous US administration in return for Khartoum's cooperation with Washington's phoney "war on terror" and a negotiated settlement to the unwinnable southern war.

Reflections on Genocide features a historic public multimedia exhibition of the Rwandan genocide rape survivor's stories, most of them HIV-positive today. The oral history gallery exhibit, Speaking the Unspeakable, is part of a new grassroots oral history documentary project, The Tubeho ("To Live Again") Project, launched recently by the UK-based and Rwandan Survivor's Fund (SURF) and the US and Rwanda-based Women's Equity in Access to Care and Treatment (WE-ACTx), both focused on empowering women with HIV.

Some 17,000 Sudanese refugees in Uganda have registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees for repatriation, and the first batch could be home as early as next month. But humanitarian agencies say most refugees are reluctant to return home because they feel security has not been fully restored in Southern Sudan and that social infrastructure like schools and hospitals is lacking. This is the reason more than 150,000 Sudanese refugees in Uganda are yet to sign up to return home.

On the plains of Kabkabiya town in North Darfur, numerous abandoned villages dot the empty landscape. Their burned remains bear witness to the escalation of the Darfur conflict in 2003. "When the conflict began here," said a community leader who requested anonymity," the janjaweed [militias] attacked the villages around Kabkabiya, especially to the east and south. They killed many people, took their animals and destroyed their belongings."

Women screamed and gunshots rent the air when a 14-seater aircraft carrying the governor of Jonglei state and other dignitaries overshot the Padak Airstrip by about 100 metres. More shots were fired when the pilot managed to stop the plane at the edge of a dam. Soldiers manning the airstrip used rifle butts to control the crowd that surged forward to surround the plane. Luckily, no one was seriously hurt during the mishap. This is the situation on the ground in Southern Sudan; weapons are everywhere. In fact, it is easier to get a Kalashnikov than a loaf of bread.

A presidential decree in Algeria will consecrate impunity for crimes under international law and other human rights abuses, and even muzzle open debate by criminalizing public discussion about the nation’s decade-long conflict, four human rights groups cautioned. The organizations are Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the International Center for Transitional Justice, and the International Federation for Human Rights.

The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and its member organisation, Liberia Watch for Human Rights (LWHR) welcome the launching of the Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) on January 20, 2006, in accordance with Article XIII of the Liberian Comprehensive Peace Agreement. The Liberian TRC is notably mandated to conduct investigations and publish a report documenting gross human rights violations, violations of international humanitarian law as well as abuses that occurred, including massacres, sexual violations, murder, extra-judicial killings and economic crimes, such as the exploitation of natural or public resources to perpetuate armed conflicts in Liberia between January 1979 and October 14, 2003.

This paper outlines the considerable challenges facing girl mothers leaving fighting forces who seek to reintegrate into their communities in southern and western Africa. Often stigmatised and rejected by their communities, these girls struggle to find ways to earn a living to support themselves and their children in the face of economic and sexual exploitation. The authors call for improved support from their communities so that mothers can better care for their children and earn their own living. They speak of a need for a healing period prior to reintegration, as well as access to public medical services, education and skills training.

Education International (EI) is working with partner Global Union Federations, the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), as well as partner NGOs, Action Aid and Amnesty International for the release of Kassahun Kebede, chairperson of the Addis Ababa branch of EI affiliate, the Ethiopian Teachers' Association (ETA). Kassahun Kebede is among the 131 opposition leaders, human rights defenders and journalists facing trial in Addis Ababa on charges that include treason, conspiracy and genocide. According to the press release dated 22 Feb 2006, Kassahun Kebede has been officially adopted as prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International.

Thousands of people displaced in the sectarian crisis in Anambra State are still in camps in Onitsha and Asaba vowing not to return unless their security is assured. In separate interviews with Daily Trust, leaders of the Hausa and Yoruba communities said their homes were destroyed during the crisis. The Sarkin Hausawa of Onitsha, Alhaji Iliyasu Yushau, said though his house in Onitsha was not destroyed, his properties were looted and the house vandalized. "They could not burn my house because it will affect the houses of some senior Igbo citizens whose houses are bordering mine. They have however removed every important thing from the house and my adjoining office. The documents that will not be important to them were set ablaze. I and my family escaped with just the dresses we were putting on," he said.

The pages of Ghana's international migration story are filled with contrasts. According to the country's 2000 census, the population of 19 million is composed of a mosaic of ethnic groups, virtually all of whom claim to have migrated to Ghana from other regions of Africa. The Castle of St. George d'Elmina and other infamous abodes of the "doors of no return" mark the paths of slaves destined for the Americas. The current Ghanaian government has swung these "doors" back open, hoping to persuade American and Caribbean descendents of the slave trade to live in Ghana. Meanwhile, Ghanaian citizens continue to emigrate to North America, Europe, and other parts of Africa. The economic, political, and social woes of the past three decades have created a new diaspora of Ghanaians searching for opportunities elsewhere. As a result, Ghana is often highlighted as a nation struggling with the effects of brain drain.

For as long as a decade, some suspects at Meru Prison have waited for justice. With their cases far from being finalised, they are not sure whether their tribulations will ever end and fear they may not leave the prison alive. Prisoners live in appalling conditions due to congestion. This is as a result of a lethargic court system, inefficiency by the police and a slow pace of prison reforms.

The trial of Ethiopian opposition supporters, journalists and human rights activists has been adjourned after the federal high court rejected an application by three of the 129 defendants to have a separate trial. Judge Adil Ahmed ruled that the three defendants - two employees of the British nongovernmental organisation ActionAid and a teacher - would not be tried separately because doing so would delay the entire proceeding, in which the accused face wide-ranging charges including conspiracy, treason and genocide. "We have examined your request for a separate trial based on the country's penal code which stipulates how charges should be pressed against a defendant and when a separate trial is appropriate. We have found that the charges are in line with the penal code," Adil said on Wednesday (March 1).

Millions of vulnerable people in Kenya and Somalia could face a catastrophe if sufficient food donations are not delivered to them in the coming months, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has warned. Addressing a news conference at the end of an 11-day visit to eastern Africa, WFP Executive Director James Morris described the situation in the two countries as "serious - very, very serious".
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* Millions face hunger, in urgent need of aid

"It is now over 15 months since the presentation on 5 October 2004 of the report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) to the President of Sierra Leone at a well-attended ceremony in Freetown. The presentation should have ushered in the ‘follow-up phase’ to the work of the TRC. Yet at the time of writing, the work of implementing its recommendations is not even close to beginning. First, there was a long delay in making the report of the TRC available to Sierra Leoneans. Copies of the report only arrived in August 2005. In the previous month, the Government of Sierra Leone (GoSL) published a White Paper in response to the report that was widely regarded as weak and inadequate. All this prompted many Sierra Leoneans to fear that the TRC process had fatally lost momentum."

Migration is and will continue to be a reality globally and in Sub-Saharan Africa. Harmonisation of migration policies could lead to significant advantages in terms of global integration and will have many direct benefits for Southern African states. Recently, the Southern African Migration Project (SAMP) and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) co-hosted a Migration Dialogue for Southern Africa (MIDSA) workshop - MIDSA is a consultative process that aims to facilitate regional dialogue on migration policy issues amongst governments in SADC.

The Somali Bantu are often called "Africa's Lost Tribe." During Somalia's civil war in 1991, the Bantu had no allegiance to other Somali clans and thus no means of protection.  They suffered looting, rape and murder at the hands of warring factions and fled on foot to refugee camps in Kenya. Photographer Roberto "Bear" Guerra recently spent several months documenting the lives of Somali Bantu refugees in Boston.

The UK has failed to act on promises to plug loopholes that allow the sale of arms to countries with poor human rights records, aid agency Oxfam says. It says that military vehicles were sold to Uganda by a South African subsidiary of the UK firm BAE Systems. These were used to quell demonstrations and disperse opposition supporters as recently as 10 days ago, it says.

While fighting stopped in Liberia well over two years ago, thousands of refugees sheltering in camps in the lush forest region of neighbouring Guinea have no intention of going home, not now, not ever. Their sights are fixed on the board by the camp entrance that proves there remains a chance of seeking refuge in the United States.

East Africa could be the site of lightning strikes by US special forces and aerial drone weapons in coming years as part of what the Pentagon is terming "the long war" against Islamist militants. The Horn is specifically cited in the recently completed Quadrennial Defence Review as one of the global regions of growing concern to US strategists.