The flood of refugees fleeing Cote d’Ivoire into north-eastern Liberia since early November trickled to a halt for the first time last weekend, with a few even returning home as tension eased. UN officials in Cote d'Ivoire confirmed that small groups of refugees had returned home. The UNHCR said the arrival of the refugees had not caused problems with the local population. People were working side-by-side on farms and helping each other with child care.

Civil society organisations from the surrounding countries to Zimbabwe will be holding peaceful placard demonstrations in front of the Zimbabwean Embassies on 10 December 2004 to mark International Human Rights Day. The demonstrations are part of a series of civil society events aimed at putting an end to ongoing human rights violations and the closure of civic space in Zimbabwe. They will provide opportunities for civil society activists, Zimbabweans in the Diaspora and citizens of Africa to show solidarity towards their Zimbabwean brothers and sisters and to advocate for the repeal and progressive amendment of existing and planned repressive legislation in Zimbabwe, including the proposed NGO Bill.

International justice systems must be retained for effective prosecution of perpetrators of serious crimes, an official of the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) said last Thursday. ICTR Prosecutor Hassan Jallow said international courts such as the ICTR, the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the Special Court for Sierra Leone have proven viable in ensuring the prosecution of people bearing the greatest responsibility for crimes. He was speaking at the beginning of a three-day colloquium of prosecutors in Arusha, Tanzania, which is also the headquarters of the Rwanda tribunal.

The road between Ziguinchor, capital of Senegal's lush southern region of Casamance, and Cap Skirring, a once booming beach resort, is only 70 kms long. But the journey takes three hours because of military roadblocks and killer pot-holes caused by two decades of strife-related neglect. The Casamance, wedged between Guinea-Bissau to the south and Gambia to the north, was once Senegal's bread basket and a tropical haven for European tourists. But for 22 years it has been the scene of an on-off separatist conflict that has displaced 50,000 people and left hundreds injured by land-mines.

For the islanders of Diego Garcia, the actions of the British government in removing them from their island homes in the 1960s are a painful memory, daily re-awakened in their struggle for a better life and justice. To many who hear their story, the deportation of the Chagossians to make way for a US military base, ironically known to Americans as 'Camp Justice', was a dreadful abuse of power and violation of rights. Justice now seems a long way off for the islanders whose claims of a right to return to their Indian Ocean homes. But as the islanders and their counsel prepare to take their case to the European Court of Human Rights, rights lawyers and human rights advocates are looking again at the circumstances of their removal, and have begun to discuss whether it should be labelled as a 'crime against humanity'.

Britain was given a full outline of an illegal coup plot in a vital oil-rich African state, including the dates, details of arms shipments and key players, several months before the putsch was launched, according to confidential documents obtained by The UK Observer. But, despite Britain's clear obligations under international law, Jack Straw, who was personally told of the plans at the end of January, failed to warn the government of Equatorial Guinea.

Imagine for a moment that every single woman on the African continent was guaranteed an absolute right to peace and that the mechanisms existed for her to enforce that right should it be violated. It's a quantum leap of the imagination from a situation where millions of women are vulnerable to armed conflict, where rape is routinely used as a weapon of war by armed groups, where women suffer disproportionately from the effects of poverty, HIV/AIDS, discriminatory gender practices and other forms of oppression.

Make no mistake, we're a long, long way away from a situation where the rights of women are considered to be set in stone. Recently the Security Council considered the first Secretary-General's report on the state of implementation of Resolution 1325, which concluded that “thus far, the international community has not been able to prevent acts of violence against women from occurring during armed conflict.” Amnesty International pointed out at the time: “We are currently witnessing horrific levels of gender-based violence committed with impunity against women and girls in many conflict-affected countries.”

So in such a seemingly hopeless situation why bother with the host of international protocols, treaties and the like? Aren't they just idealistic statements that are never meant to be achieved, rhetoric for the politicians to sign as evidence of their hard work? We all know that the real balance of international power mitigates against the lofty ideals they contain ever being achieved. Perhaps this is the realistic viewpoint and there is no point in getting over-excited about the remote possibility that one day all women - and by implication all men - might one day live in peace.

And yet it must be possible to make that leap, it must be possible to somehow close the gulf, the disconnect between the reality and the paperwork. The thing is it’s not even in the realm of imagination anymore: The Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa specifically guarantees women a right to peace. The Protocol goes further by guaranteeing the rights of refugees, by demanding that states reduce expenditure on guns and bombs, by calling for women to be present at the peace table and for states to introduce concrete measures to end violence against women. Once enough African countries ratify the protocol before the African Union, states will be obligated to enact legislation which gives voice to the rights outlined in the protocol. It is a long, long road, but it is possible to see a situation where those seemingly idealistic rights could be enforced.

What's the point of all this for the average citizen? Today is the start of 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence, an international campaign originating from the first Women's Global Leadership Institute in 1991. The dates November 25, International Day Against Violence Against Women, and December 10, International Human Rights Day, were chosen in order to symbolically link violence against women and human rights and to emphasize that such violence is a violation of human rights. This 16-day period also highlights other significant dates including December 1, which is World AIDS Day.

The 16 Days Campaign has been used as an organizing strategy by individuals and groups around the world to call for the elimination of all forms of violence against women by raising awareness about gender-based violence as a human rights issue at the local, national, regional and international levels; strengthening local work around violence against women; establishing a clear link between local and international work to end violence against women; providing a forum in which organizers can develop and share new and effective strategies; demonstrating the solidarity of women around the world organizing against violence against women; and creating tools to pressure governments to implement promises made to eliminate violence against women.

There's so much that can be done to close the gap between where we are and where we want to be. Find out what's happing in your area in relation to the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence. Join in. Sign our petition calling for the ratification of the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa that will be presented to African heads of state at an African Union summit in January. Tell them its important. Pambazuka News will be carrying editorials to highlight key dates during the 16 days. This week we have an article to mark International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and our lead editorial is about World Aids Day. Next week we will have more articles relevant to the 16 days. The week after we will have an editorial on Human Rights day. Read the editorials. We’ll also be carrying a special section for news about the 16 days. Send us your news.

And if you absolutely can't find it in yourself to do something - anything - to support the rights of women just sit back and imagine for a moment that every single woman on the African continent was guaranteed an absolute right to peace and what a difference that would make. Maybe that will move you to something.

* Please send comments to [email protected]

>>>>>Sign up for women’s rights: http://www.pambazuka.org/petition

>>>>>Stay awake: Get Pambazuka News alerts: http://www.pambazuka.org/petition/alerts.php

The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) has embarked on a three-year project to fight child abuse in Malawi. The US $3.5 million project, funded by the Norwegian government, will tackle issues such child labour, juvenile justice and violence against children, UNICEF representative Aida Girma told IRIN on Wednesday.

They threaten the peace, stability and development of the world's poorest continent and kill or mutilate 12,000 people each year. This was the reason that African governments agreed recently to a landmark initiative aimed at eliminating an estimated 40 million landmines from the continent. At the African Union (AU) headquarters in Addis Ababa, a new "common African position" was unveiled on 17 September 2004. It aims to ensure that the continent becomes an anti-personnel mine (APM) free zone, with a framework largely centred on the 1997 Ottawa Convention. The initiative also stresses inter-African cooperation as a vital issue in successful mine clearance and calls for more support for victims and greater transparency by governments.

This article from Women's Human Rights Net addresses the root of violence through an analysis of masculinity as it relates to public and private conflicts, the creation of a culture of peace and sustainable human development as central tenets of a new society, the violation of women's right to participate in peace processes, the struggle against globalized impunity and its consequences in relation to the right to justice, truth and accountability.

The latest Justice Africa briefing on Sudan says that after ambiguity during most of 2004, international policy towards peace in Sudan has stabilized on a strategy that prioritises the Naivasha peace talks, while seeking a decisive end to the violence in Darfur. But, says Justice Africa, there are clear efforts to undermine the prospects for peace, especially from some elements within the Government of Sudan. "There are three overlapping explanations from this, including lack of capacity to control the armed militias and security forces in Darfur, a GoS policy of testing the limits of international concern, and a concerted attempt by those still loyal to Hassan al Turabi, some still within government and others in the opposition, to destablise the situation and bring down Ali Osman, so that they can take power."

Displaced residents of the troubled Pool region in the Republic of Congo are gradually returning home under a government-facilitated programme that saw 150 people make it back to their village of Fiya last week. They had fled the Pool in 2002 when the civil war erupted in the area between government troops and the so-called Ninja rebel forces loyal to the Rev Frederic Bitsangou, alias Pasteur Ntoumi.

The Public Health in Complex Emergencies training program (PHCE) is a two-week residential course that focuses on critical public health issues faced by NGO/PVO personnel working in complex emergencies. The goal of the course is to enhance the capacity of humanitarian assistance workers and their organizations to respond to the health needs of refugees and internally displaced persons affected by these emergencies. The 2005 course dates are now available.

An official report presented to the French government paints a damning picture of racial discrimination in the workplace and recommends a series of measures including the mandatory introduction of anonymous CVs. According to the report, young people of Arab and African origin are up to five times more likely to be unemployed than the rest of the French population, while their chances of even achieving an interview are severely reduced as a result of their name and skin color.

A new report by World Vision about the conflict in northern Uganda illustrates the impact that a crisis can have on the spread of HIV/AIDS. The report states that while the spread of HIV/AIDS is down nationally, "prevalence rates are actually on the rise in conflict-affected areas, most notably in Gulu, the largest and most populated of the war-affected northern districts. Rates in this area were almost double the national average."

Because of a sharp rise in violent crime, including rape, armed robbery and murder, Burundi is poised to pass a law to greatly speed up the judicial process. But critics, including Amnesty International, say the draft law “makes a mockery of justice.” This week, Burundi’s National Assembly may consider draft legislation that would truncate the judicial process - from arrest to possible execution - to less than 40 days.

The Swiss Foundation Population, Migration and Environment (PME) and the International Metropolis Project are pleased to announce a Call for Proposals to conduct developmental studies of 'The Governance of International Migratory Flows and International Migration'. The developmental studies should contribute to the preparation of more elaborate research proposals that seek the support of national and international research funding bodies, including foundations. Successful applicants may receive up to 100,000 euros to conduct the developmental studies that have been accepted. Research outlines pertaining to these studies should be submitted no later than January 1st, 2005. Visit the website for more information.

Applications are invited from persons living and working in Rwanda to participate in a distance learning course on ‘The role of the media in the genocide in Rwanda’.

The 1994 genocide in Rwanda provides a telling case study of two quite separate roles for media in a conflict situation. The genocide was among the most appalling catastrophes of the 20th century, and media played a significant part both internally and internationally. Prior to the genocide, radio stations and newspapers were carefully used by the conspirators to dehumanise the potential victims, Rwanda's Tutsi minority. During the genocide, radio was used by the Hutu extremist conspirators to mobilise the Hutu majority, to coordinate the killings and to ensure that the plans for extermination were faithfully executed.

While a series of terrible massacres of Tutsi were carried out and as the signs of ever-increasing violence grew, Rwanda was totally ignored by the international media. When the genocide came, the erratic media coverage largely conveyed the false notion of two ‘tribes’ of African ‘savages’ mindlessly slaughtering each other as they had done from time immemorial. As a result, there was little public pressure in the West for governments to intervene.

In this distance learning course you will study these two facets of the media role in the genocide in detail. You will see how easily the concept of free speech and free press in a local situation can be perverted for foul ends. We will ask how this dilemma could be resolved. We will explore the problem of inadequate or even distorted international coverage of crises and conflicts in areas poorly understood by Western journalists. We will consider whether this unfortunate situation can be improved in the future.

The course, developed by Fahamu for UPEACE, will be taught by Gerald Caplan, a Canadian-based public policy analyst and international coordinator of the "Remembering Rwanda" Project. He is also a public affairs commentator and author of "Rwanda: The Preventable Genocide," the report of the International Panel of Eminent Personalities To Investigate the 1994 Rwandan Genocide, appointed by the Organization of African Unity (OAU). He is presently co-editing a book on the Rwandan genocide ten years later.

The course has been developed for journalists and other professionals in the field of media, students of journalism, NGO staff and policy makers, and will lead to a certificate from the University for Peace.

This course is designed to take 10 weeks using an interactive CDROM containing all materials required for the course. You will be guided in your work by a course tutor via email. You will also have an opportunity to discuss your work with fellow students via email.

The course will include a workshop in which all students, as well as the tutor come together for several days of intensive work. There will be a final short period in which students will work independently and submit a final assignment. The topic for this assignment will be determined at the workshop.

Applications are invited from suitable candidates in Rwanda to attend the first course. The distance learning course will begin on 10 January, with a workshop to be held in Butare, Rwanda, on 15-17 March.

Please note that this is a pilot run of the course and that is why it is limited to Rwandan participants. Following the first pilot, the course will be fine-tuned and will be made available at a later date for broader participation from elsewhere in Africa.

Eligibility
Applicants must:
- Have good command of written and spoken English
- Have access to a computer with a CDROM drive (PC or Mac) for at least seven hours a week
- Have an email address (access to the WWW would be an advantage)
- Be living and working in Rwanda

Application process
Applicants should submit a letter, in English, of at least 500 words explaining why this course is important in their work, and motivating why they should be selected. They should submit a summary CV of no more than one page, and provide evidence from their employer/institution that they have access to a suitable computer. Applications should be sent by email only to Fahamu to: [email protected]. Applications should be received by 22 November 2004.

Fees
There are 15 places available. Since it is a pilot course, fees, and costs of attending the workshop in Butare will exceptionally be met by the University for Peace.

"Visa applicants are used to verbal abuse, being shoved about, being threatened with horsewhips and belt buckles and kept out in the sun or rain for hours on sluggish queues even though they arrived at the consulate at exactly the time they were told to and even though they have paid or will pay up to a hundred dollars for the torture of applying for a visa. The presumption is that the applicant is a liar, that all the documents put forward in support of the application are fakes. Occasionally you hear applicants who have been humiliated to breaking point venting their frustration on their interviewer from the direction of the cubicles, yelling like lunatics. Or you hear the terrible pleading in their voices, the readiness to endure even more humiliation, in order to meet a medical appointment or attend a daughter’s wedding or visit prospective business partners, and the sound is unbearable."

“They grew up hearing the sound of weapons, bombs and strong explosions; they took part in some of the cruellest battles ever seen anywhere: for this reason, I wonder if these children will ever manage to overcome the trauma of war,” the President of Sierra Leone, Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, said at the opening of the conference dedicated to children in West Africa organised by the Italian department for international development.