The current window of opportunity for peace in Sudan could be missed if efforts are not made by the international community to revitalise a comprehensive peace process, according to a new report by the International Crisis Group (ICG).

The World Food Programme (WFP) has announced that it is planning to carry out a series of food deliveries to assist war-affected people in Raga, a strategic town in western Bahr al-Ghazal, southern Sudan, which government troops seized from the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) in mid-October 2001.

The Nigerian government has so far failed to conduct any investigation or prosecution into the massacre of more than two hundred unarmed civilians by the Nigerian army in Benue State in October 2001, Human Rights Watch has charged in a report.

Concern is mounting in Madagascar that the strangulation of the opposition-held capital Antananarivo by a blockade laid by the army and government supporters, could spark a humanitarian crisis in the city.

Some 4,800 families have been displaced in Rushubi town in Isare District, in Bujumbura Rural, east of Burundi's capital, Bujumbura, a humanitarian source reported local authorities as saying on Wednesday.

The administration of President George W. Bush is actively considering "unsigning" the 1998 Rome Protocol establishing an International Criminal Court (ICC) before it takes effect next week when the 60th signatory to the treaty is expected to deposit its ratification with the United Nations, according to knowledgeable sources.

Joseph Mwale, a Central Intelligence Officer accused of killing MDC activists Tichaona Chiminya and Talent Mabika in Buhera during the June 2000 parliamentary elections campaign, is reportedly spearheading retributions on MDC supporters in Chimanimani.

A total of 64 pro-democracy protesters arrested on Saturday when violent police action crushed anti-government demonstrations around the country were still in jail on Sunday and were being denied legal access, lawyers said.

Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai said on Sunday that his party would not co-operate with the government of President Robert Mugabe, which he described as a "military junta." We cannot be expected to co-operate with such a regime," he said. "If they don't want to talk about new elections, then there is no need to even start negotiations," said Tsvangirai.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard has told President Thabo Mbeki and Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo that Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai won the recent presidential election, but that hundreds of thousands of votes were shifted to change the result after the votes had been counted.

A technical committee, meeting to prepare for Somali reconciliation talks, ended its deliberations on Friday by establishing the terms of reference for the conference. Sources close to the meeting, held in the Kenyan capital Nairobi from 3-5 April, told IRIN the terms of reference included agreement on cessation of hostilities, recognising steps made so far in national reconciliation, discussing the concerns of the neighbouring states, and abiding by the outcome of the conference.

After a week of harrowing television footage commemorating Rwanda's genocide, survivors marked its eighth anniversary on Sunday wanting to lay the gruesome past to rest.

he Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD-Goma) armed opposition group on Tuesday gave custody of 104 child soldiers to the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and its partner agencies, International Committee of the Red Cross, Save the Children-UK (SCF-UK) and SOS Grands lacs in Goma, eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). According to a statement from UNICEF on Thursday, the liberation of this first group of children signals the start of a larger agreement reached with RCD Goma to ultimately demobilise some 2,600 child soldiers from within their ranks.

State-sponsored militia are continuing to carry out assaults and acts of sexual violence in reprisals against the opposition. Militias are also controlling the distribution of food supplies in rural areas and it is feared that this is systematically being used as a tool of repression against opposition supporters.

In its 2001 report on the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Human Rights Watch (HRW) says that President Joseph Kabila promised human rights reforms, but delivered "relatively little".

The United Nation's Children's Fund (UNICEF) on Thursday reiterated its "grave concern" over the fate of thousands of children abducted by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) in southern Sudan, especially in light of the reported abandonment of many of them by the rebel group after a major military offensive by the Ugandan army.

A human rights organisation has called for the establishment of a South African-style Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) to take forward Angola's peace process.

Human rights group Zimbabwe in Crisis appealed for urgent assistance on Friday for at least 50,000 people who it says have been displaced by political violence and land seizures. "We are dealing with a humanitarian crisis and are asking organisations like the United Nations and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees to help," said spokesman Kumbirai Hodzi.

The cease-fire signed in Luanda presents a new opportunity to build respect for fundamental human rights, according to Amnesty International.

Schools are no longer just places where youngsters acquire an education. They are increasingly called on to turn out responsible and tolerant citizens. Focus, a four-page special dossier from UNESCO, examines whether we are asking too much of schools.