Over the last two years, North Africa, and to some extent the whole southern coast of the Mediterranean, has become a 'dead end zone' for Black African migrants. "Passing through North Africa, migrants are treated like slaves" for having committed the only 'sin' of deserting the misery, persecutions and conflicts of their countries in search of a better life, a disturbing development of European Union Migration policy.

The Rwandan Batwa pygmy people have demanded respect for their rights, saying that ignorance about their problems is the "biggest evil" to overcome. The president of the Batwa community Zephyrin Kalimba told a conference on the indigenous people of Africa, held in Kigali, that his people had been denied their land rights and evicted from their ancestral homes.

The Augustin Nzojibwami-led FRODEBU party faction has demanded that a people's referendum be organised so that the "Burundi people voice their opinion on the alienation of their right to elect their leaders to foreigners, the loss of its sovereignty and the partitioning of the country in G7 (Hutu) and G10 (Tutsi)".

The state government of Bahr al-Jabal, southern Sudan, on Monday declared flood-affected districts in and around Juba town to be "disaster zones", Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA) reported on Tuesday. Local government officials said some 17,000 people had been made homeless after the Nile river burst its banks following heavy rain, dpa reported.

Injecting a strong note of caution, one senior diplomat said: "The Zimbabwe delegation in Abuja was not led by Robert Mugabe."

An international conference ‘Implementing the ICC, for policymakers, lawyers and the military’ will be held from 19 – 21 December 2001 in the Peace Palace, The Hague. With the number of ratifications rapidly growing the establishment of the ICC seems to come faster than anticipated. Therefore it is of great importance that the central themes of the conference focus on the design and the consequences of the establishment of the ICC for target groups mostly affected by the functioning of the new court. These target groups are policymakers, lawyers and the military. For additional information, please email the organisers.

The west needs to apologise to its former colonies in Africa for the worst excesses and oppression of the imperial days.

With one day remaining in the conference, the negative coverage of the World Conference Agianst Racism (WCAR) has reached a crescendo. We share the sense of missed opportunity that surrounds the conference, and yet whatever the last day brings, the notion of "failure" would be too simple and misleading. Indeed, if the goal of the conference is to raise consciousness about race and intolerance the signs of success abound. The greatest success has been the mobilization of victims of racism from communities around the world who have put their plight on the international agenda.

The US helped inflame rather than defuse the rhetoric around the conference, reports Gerald Lemelle from Amnesty International.

Civil society groups have been unable to forge a final declaration or programme of action to fight racism after five days of intensive talks alongside a similarly fractious meeting of their governments. The Aug. 28-Sep. 1 NGO (non-governmental organisation) Forum, held in tandem to the Aug. 31-Sep. 7 World Conference Against Racism, was marred by disorganisation and irreconcilable disputes over the wording of the declaration and action plan.

Host country South Africa tries to find a compromise amidst rumours that other governments may emulate the US walk-out.

The United States and Israel, faced with an implacable wall of support for Palestine, pulled out of the U.N. World Conference Against Racism Monday.

Recently released documents have shown the role of the United States in blocking international action against the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. Africa Policy says that the documents reveal the "systematic indifference to African lives", as well as the fact that there has still been no official American investigation of responsibility for US actions and inactions at the time. These, it adds, "are a revealing commentary on the continuity of structural racism embedded in US foreign policy making".

Reparations for the African slave trade, suggests Anti-Slavery International, could include the full payment by Western countries of 0.7 per cent of their national income to development assistance, debt cancellation and reduced tariffs or import duties. In this briefing on OneWorld Africa, the group adds however that little progress has been achieved at the World Conference Against Racism in Durban, South Africa.

The nongovernmental organisation Refugees International, which has lately been focusing intensely on the conditions and climate within refugee camps in Tanzania, has told a visiting US Congess delegation of the great need to support education programmes and initiatives to make the refugees more self-reliant.

The Carnegie Council on Ethics and International Affairs (CCEIA) is seeking short essays (1000-1200 words) for publication in the Fall/Winter 2001 issue of Human Rights Dialogue. The Fall/Winter 2001 issue will explore the nexus of human rights and peace work in conflict situations.

Intolerance is often a root cause of migration: people migrate for reasons that may include poverty and racial and gender discrimination. Migrants are often subject to racism, racial intolerance, xenophobia and related intolerance not only in their country of origin, but also in the country of destination.

Fidel Castro, President of Cuba, delivered an inspiring message that cut to the heart of the controversy that has surrounded the World Conference Against Racism. He emphasised that "No one has the right to boycott this conference which tries to bring some sort of relief to the overwhelming majority of mankind afflicted by unbearable suffering and enormous injustice."

An economic stabilisation and reform programme designed to appeal to international donors has been launched by Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), Britain's 'Financial Times' reported on Thursday.

The regional capital of the southern Middle Juba region, Bu'aale, was captured on Tuesday by the militia of Juba Valley Alliance (JVA), local sources in Kismayo, 500 km south of Mogadishu, told IRIN.