The latest arrest of #thisflag movement founder Pastor Evan Mawarire in Zimbabwe has drawn sharp criticism of “a government hell-bent on criminalizing him” from Amnesty International. “Pastor Evan Mawarire is a prisoner of conscience held solely for the peaceful exercise of his rights. He must be immediately and unconditionally released,”…
Nasser Zafzafi, the prominent activist of the “hirak” movement in Morocco’s restive Rif region, is due to appear in a Casablanca court on Monday. Zafzafi and 30 other protesters detained during the latest round of demonstrations spreading from Al Hoceima to other Moroccan cities will appear before Casablanca’s Criminal Chamber…
An Amnesty International press conference planned in Cameroon was shut down by security agents on Wednesday, although the human rights organization says it complied with prior notification laws ahead of the event. Managers at the hotel in Yaoundé, where the Amnesty meeting was planned, were told by officials to shut…
Human rights organization Amnesty International has called on the United Nations to add human rights monitoring to the mandate of the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO). “The UN mission in Western Sahara is the world’s only modern peacekeeping operation without a human rights component,” said Heba…
Rwandan authorities have released British citizen Violette Uwamahoro on bail, the BBC reports, after a judge said there was no evidence to warrant her detention. The 39-year-old Uwamahoro, a dual citizen and native of Rwanda who is pregnant, is required to stay in the country. Prosecutors have 30 days to prove…
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has called on the nation’s security forces to put an end to violent attacks, following local reports of between 30 and 50 people killed earlier this week in the Benue region. The deaths at a market in Zaki Biam were tied to the conflict between Fulani…
The toll has soared to 113 people who died last weekend in a landslide at an Ethiopian trash dump, and dozens remain missing as the search for victims continues near Addis Ababa. The accident happened Saturday night at the dump on the outskirts of the city where people often gather to…
From Ethiopia and Sudan to the #ThisFlag movement in Zimbabwe, human rights across Africa are in the spotlight of an annual Amnesty International report released Wednesday. On the one hand, social movements in countries like The Gambia that “would have been unthinkable only a year previously” offer some optimism for…
A rally organized by Biafran activists to celebrate the Friday inauguration of United States President Donald Trump spun into violence in the city of Port Harcourt, local media and activists report. The rally, planned by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) separatists, attracted large crowds of pro-Trump supporters waving both…
In response to the arrest of longtime Oromo leader Merera Gudina, the Amnesty International organization swiftly condemned the decision of Ethiopian authorities on Thursday. “The arrest of Merera Gudina is an outrageous assault on the right to freedom of expression and should sound alarm bells for anyone with an interest…
Kenyan government officials are coercing refugees to return to Somalia – and the very risks they’ve tried to flee, the Amnesty International human rights organization said in a report released Tuesday. More than 280,000 refugees, most of them Somali, live in the Dadaab refugee camp that Kenya announced in May it intends…
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has appealed to South Sudan to investigate both this month’s attacks on Dinka civilians and retaliatory threats now being made against tribal groups from Equatorian states. In the two weeks since the attacks, messages warning Equatorians to leave or be eliminated were…
Sudanese forces are suspected of using chemical weapons in attacks against civilians, according to an Amnesty International report released Thursday. The global human rights group said an investigation using satellite imagery to support more than 200 interviews with survivors, combined with expert analysis of images, suggests at least 30 chemical attacks…
Amnesty International has reported that the Central African Republic’s (CAR) biggest traders are purchasing diamonds that are worth several millions dollars without sufficiently exploring where the diamonds come from and if they support armed groups in the country. Amnesty said these armed groups are responsible for “summary executions, rape, enforced…
Amnesty International has released a statement saying that Burundi’s security forces used torture on those whom they suspected to be opponents of President Pierre Nkurunziza during his bid for his controversial third term. The report written by the rights group details torture and ill treatment used on “persons who belong…