The world court has ruled that Belgium cannot bring war crimes charges against a foreign government minister who enjoys diplomatic immunity. The decision by the International Court of Justice in The Hague (ICJ) is expected to stymie attempts to bring charges against several world leaders, including Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

Representatives of the ICRC and the Tanzania Red Cross Society are taking part in the "Tanzanite" military peace-support exercise organized by France and Tanzania in coastal areas near Dar es Salaam and Tanga. "Tanzanite" brings together armed forces from 16 African countries and military observers from across the world. Involving more than 2,000 troops, the exercise aims to improve coordination between various African armies and to enhance the ability of governments to cope with political and humanitarian crises.

Calling on the international community to "remember Angola", UN Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Kenzo Oshima told the UN Security Council on Wednesday that the country's protracted conflict had led to levels of suffering that were "truly shocking".

Botswana said Thursday it will not accept financial assistance from international organizations working to help hunter-gatherer tribes continue living in a massive game reserve. Over the past few weeks, the government has stepped up efforts to relocate the Basarwa tribes of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, a 52,000-square-kilometer (20,000-square-mile) semidesert region in the middle of the country.

Human Rights Watch expressed its disappointment at today's decision of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that a Belgian arrest warrant for the acting Foreign Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo violated international law.

Human Rights Watch expressed its disappointment at today's decision of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that a Belgian arrest warrant for the acting Foreign Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo violated international law.

The 1994 genocide left just over a million people dead, according to an official report published by the Rwandan Ministry of Local Government. The report is based on a census carried out in July 2000. However, only 934,218 victims could be clearly identified.

A Sudanese government air raid on a World Food Program depot, which killed two children, was denounced by the State Department on Tuesday as an outrageous tragedy.

The Church did not play an active role in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, a Catholic priest testifying for genocide suspects Elizaphan and Gerard Ntakirutimana told the International Criminal tribunal for Rwanda.

The college of Omdurman in Sudan has suspended a number of students for human rights activities.

Uganda should be held responsible for grave human rights violations taking place in territories it occupies in northeastern Congo, Human Rights Watch has said. A resurgence of ethnic fighting there has claimed scores of lives over the last few weeks and displaced at least fifteen thousand people. The dispute, rooted in conflict over land, flared in an area that is contested by three Congolese rebel factions and effectively governed by none of them.

Zimbabwean watchdog bodies have accused the Southern African Development Community (SADC) of being an 'old boys club' that gangs together to protect each other's dictatorial rule. Speaking at this week's "using democracy to destroy democracy" meeting in the capital city Harare, political activists said SADC countries, particularly South Africa, had fallen prey to President Robert Mugabe's gimmicks. "Mugabe's regime is hiding behind tailored but defective concepts of colonialism and Pan-Africanism to garner SADC's support to authenticate its rule," said a University of Zimbabwe political commentator, Brain Raftopolous.

Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues will hold its first session in New York from 13 - 24 May 2002. The Permanent Forum was established in accordance with United Nations Economic and Social Council resolution 2000/22 to serve as an advisory body to the Council, with a mandate to discuss indigenous issues relating to economic and social development, culture, the environment, education, health and human rights.

Before I went to Durban, I had read all the NGO position papers and learned about globalism's role in racism. I got the feeling that U.S. objections to the Durban conference had more to do with globalism than to the Israeli-Palestinian issue. I was aware that U.S. preparation for the conference was half-hearted. The Clinton and Bush administrations could have done more. So when I went, I really didn't expect major U.S. support for the conference.

Approximately 8,000 civilian human rights and anti-racism activists and government representatives from 163 countries gathered in Durban, South Africa, from August 28 through September 8 to try to come up with solutions to the problems of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, and related intolerances worldwide. Whether they succeeded or failed is a matter of debate.

The word ‘racism’ is often used in everyday life, yet the definition of the term is surrounded by controversy. No one single concise definition of the term has been reached. People use the term colloquially to mean many different things while specialists of every field have their own meanings.

A second round of Inter-Congolese dialogue is scheduled for February 25, in Sun City, South Africa. Sceptics question the ability of Botswana's former President, Ketumile Masire, to facilitate the talks because he does not speak French. But in an interview with a group of international journalists, including allAfrica.com's Ofeibea Quist-Arcton, Masire says language is not the issue.

Three suspected UNITA rebels were shot and killed last week near Namibia's northern border, Namibian defence officials said at the weekend.

The Malawi government has defended it's human rights record ahead of a public inquiry into political and religous discrimination, violence, and related intolerance.

Fleeing fighting in the Angolan countryside, more than 5,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) arrived in the eastern city of Luena in January, the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in its latest situation report.