Namibia has rejected a United States ultimatum to give American soldiers blanket immunity from prosecution in the International Criminal Court (ICC). The US has decided to suspend military aid to countries that refused to enter into an agreement with it, which would effectively grant American servicemen immunity from prosecution in the ICC.

Several non-governmental organisation (NGO) networks in the SADC region have issued an open letter to their heads of government, focusing on ongoing events undermining civil liberties and civil society in Zimbabwe and Swaziland. The open letter emerged from a workshop convened by CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation at a gathering of the SADC Council of NGOs in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania on Tuesday 19 August.

On the eve of the annual Summit of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in Tanzania, Amnesty International called on SADC leaders to jointly and publicly express their concern regarding Zimbabwe's deepening human rights crisis.
Related Link:
* SADC RALLIES ROUND ZIM
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Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has threatened to hit his opponents with "the full wrath of the law" if they tried to destabilise the nation. He said this on Tuesday just hours after Zimbabwe's opposition party offered a political truce with the government. Before Mugabe delivered his speech, the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) announced that its lawmakers would not boycott Mugabe's speech - as they usually do - but would remain in parliament as part of an effort to build goodwill to end the political standoff.

The general response by black Zimbabweans to the dire conditions in which they try to survive, and to the hate-speech against minorities with which they are daily bombarded, must constitute final, irrevocable proof that apartheid was unjustified and unjustifiable. The overall refusal by Zimbabweans to give way to hate-crimes against officially-designated scapegoats - whites, Jews, Asians, homosexuals - is the great "positive" news, to which the media do not give sufficient prominence.

Increasingly desperate for food and pleading for evacuation, hundreds of Sierra Leonean refugees jammed the UNHCR compound in war-ravaged Monrovia on Wednesday amid continued fighting between government troops and rebels.

This UNAIDS monograph documents the first large-scale AIDS and STI intervention programme to be implemented during a refugee crisis. It describes the operational aspects of the intervention, the observed impact and the effect this experience had on policies and practices in other refugee situations, among both international and nongovernmental organisations.

A new guide provides a comparative analysis and factual guide to refugee law throughout Southern Africa, including in-depth country guides for Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania, Uganda, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The new publication 'A Reference Guide to Refugee Law and Issues in Southern Africa' is produced by The Legal Resources Foundation (Zambia - http://www.lrf.org.zm/ ), the Legal Resources Centre South Africa ( http://www.lrc.org.za/) and the Zambia Civic Education Association. It is hoped that the guide will be a wealth of information in the areas of domestic and international refugee law, as well as the factual situation of refugees across Southern Africa.

Human rights defenders in the Democratic Republic of Congo are under increasing attack, Human Rights Watch says in a newly-released backgrounder on freedom of expression and freedom of assembly. In the past few years, the main rebel groups and the previous DRC government have been responsible for intimidating and harassing those who have exposed human rights abuses. But the new transitional government in Kinshasa offers the chance to break this pattern, Human Rights Watch said.

The orthodox definition of international security puts human displacement and refugees at the periphery. In contrast, the publication Refugees and Forced Displacement demonstrates that human displacement can be both a cause and a consequence of conflict within and among societies. As such, the management of refugee movements and the protection of displaced people should be an integral part of security policy and conflict management.

The government of Sudan is considering a date for the resumption of postponed peace talks with the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A). "We are still consulting on that," Sudan's deputy ambassador to Kenya, Muhammad Ahmad Dirdeiry, told IRIN. He said a decision would be made before 3 August, which the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) mediators have suggested as a starting date. The talks were originally scheduled to restart on Wednesday.

Vice President Lt-General Seretse Ian Khama this week became the new national chairman of the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), sweeping aside incumbent Ponatshego Kedikilwe in a landslide election victory. The emphatic win at the BDP's congress on Tuesday makes Khama, a relative newcomer to the party, an almost certain bet to succeed President Festus Mogae as the BDP's presidential candidate after the 2004 general elections.

Médicins Sans Frontièrs (MSF) on Wednesday called for greater assistance to refugees returning to Angola, saying that many had resettled in areas lacking basic services.

The military junta which seized power in the potentially oil-rich island state of Sao Tome and Principe last week, signed an agreement with international mediators on Wednesday to allow the reinstatement of the elected government of President Fradique de Menezes, news agencies with local correspondents reported.

Growing discomfort with U.S. unilateralism has increased anti-American sentiment across the continent and prompted calls for UN rather than U.S. leadership in the war on terrorism. But terrorism is far from the most critical problem confronting the continent, argues this article. Poverty, AIDS, protracted violent conflicts between countries, debt burdens, and the breakdown of states have all ranked higher on the agendas of African leaders and regional organisations.

Civil society networks are recognised almost universally as essential promoters of democratisation. What makes a coalition of civil society organisations (CSOs) effective? What role should international NGOs play in fostering alliances of local CSOs? Should local networks pursue international advocacy?

Not a single member of the Nigerian police or security forces has been charged with dozens of killings during the "Miss World" riots in Kaduna last November, Human Rights Watch said in a new report. The 32-page report, "The 'Miss World riots': continued impunity for killings in Kaduna," provides detailed eyewitness accounts of how soldiers and police killed people in cold blood between November 21 and 23, during an operation intended to restore law and order.

Zambia this month signed a bilateral agreement with the United States not to extradite US citizens accused of war crimes to the International Criminal Court (ICC), a US embassy official told IRIN last Friday.

The massive and unexpected attack, launched by the rebel Palipehutu-Forces for National Liberation (FNL) on Bujumbura during the early hours of July 7 was a rude reminder that the lengthy peace process has not yet been able to achieve its goal. Burundi is yet again bleeding.

Swaziland's draft constitution was initially greeted with relief by pro-democracy groups who had feared it would be far more draconian. But six weeks on, banned political parties have begun to condemn the document for its ambiguous language regarding the legalisation of political groups. "We will only be interested in a constitution that would be inclusive of the entire people of Swaziland, not just a few. So we reject this draft constitution with contempt," the People's United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO) said in a statement last week.