The Tanzanian government on Wednesday denied and termed as "unfounded" allegations by the Burundian government that it had been offering military training to Burundian rebels. Tanzanian radio quoted the permanent secretary in the ministry of foreign affairs and international cooperation, Hasan Kibelloh, as saying that Tanzania was not supporting any rebel group fighting the Burundian government.

Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai arrived it his country's High Court on Monday stressing his innocence to charges which could see him barred from taking part in next year's presidential elections.

Rwanda and Zimbabwe, the major foreign powers on opposing sides in Congo's 2 1/2-year war, will push for a speedy end to the conflict in order to deal with problems at home, President Paul Kagame said Monday.

A new union of armed and unarmed opposition forces in the DRC has been formed, Radio France Internationale (RFI) reported on Thursday. The movement is called the "Union of Congolese forces for the Integral Respect of the Lusaka Accords and the holding of the inter-Congolese dialogue" (UFAD). The new movement's creation was announced by rebel MLC leader Jean-Pierre Bemba. It is supposed to be a uniting body of all the armed and unarmed parties.

With the international focus on peace moves in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), an "explosive situation" in neighbouring Burundi is being largely ignored, regional analysts warned on Friday.

Burundi's President Pierre Buyoya on Sunday said the country could solve the transition problem in two phases if the signatories of the of the peace agreement so desired, Burundi radio quoted him as telling journalists in Bujumbura. President Buyoya had just returned from Pretoria, South Africa where he held talks with the mediator of the Burundi peace process, Nelson Mandela and the country's President Thabo Mbeki.

Benin yesterday got a new government, in the wake of a controversial presidential election, with many familiar old faces in the revamped line-up. Benin's President Mathieu Kerekou has begun his final five-year term as the west African country's head of state after retaining his post in a March election which his main challengers boycotted.

An impending appeals court ruling in Tunisia threatens to undermine the Arab world's oldest independent human rights organization, according to a report released today by Human Rights Watch and the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders. The Observatory is a joint program of the International Federation for Human Rights and the World Organization against Torture.

The African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights has declared the trial of The Anchor newspaper Deputy Editor-in-Chief, Mr. Niran Malaolu, by the Government of the late General Sani Abacha in 1998 unjust and a violation of provisions of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and other international human rights instruments.

The UN move to not reelect America to its human rights body indicates just how much the world has been outraged by George Bush's early decisions.

The Zambian president, Frederick Chiluba, has defied his own high court and expelled his vice-president and eight other cabinet ministers from the ruling party for opposing plans for a constitutional amendment allowing him to cling to power for another five years.

Amnesty International today called on the Liberian government and armed opposition groups based in Guinea immediately to end abductions of women, children and other civilians.

For much of the past two decades, international efforts to improve information with regards to refugees has been focused on public opinion in host countries. While there is little doubt that promoting a favourable climate of public opinion to facilitate the protection of refugees is vital, information strategies should have a broader focus. In short, there has been a significant lack of emphasis on programmes designed to keep refugee populations informed of events directly concerning them. There is a great deal of talk about ensuring the rights of refugees, but in these discussions far too little emphasis is placed on providing such information to those most directly concerned.

UNHCR must learn when to concede that it alone cannot be successful in the battles that must be fought with governments to ensure that refugee protection is ensured. The refugee camps along Guinea's border with Sierra Leone have been located too close to the border for far too long. The cross-border attacks have led to a security situation where access to the refugees is limited, resulting in the inadequate protection and assistance for the refugees. Yet such a situation might have been avoided if UNHCR had effectively engaged its partners at an earlier stage to lobby and pressure the Guinean government.

Amnesty International today called on Talisman Energy Inc. to do more to safeguard human rights in Sudan. "Amnesty International is disappointed that Talisman Energy's Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Report 2000 does not adequately address the issue of the human rights impact of the company's operations in Sudan," the organization said.

On April 24, 2001, the UN Commission on Human Rights that met in Geneva, approved by overwhelming majority the creation of an Intersessional Working Group and the appointment of an expert to study the Draft International Convention on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.

Thirty nations have now ratified the treaty creating the International Criminal Court, half the 60 needed to make the court functional. The court would be the first permanent tribunal to handle cases of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. The United States signed the treaty in the waning days of the Clinton administration but chances of ratification are slim since Bush administration officials say they will not send it to the Senate for action.

Several countries with poor human rights records should not have been voted onto the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, Human Rights Watch said today.

Algeria: Little hope of justice for nation's ancient people despite government promise of 'full investigation' into police killings of protesters.

The threat of illicit trafficking in nuclear materials and radioactive sources will bring more than 300 officials from over 70 countries to Stockholm this week.