After weeks of investigation into the October 2 death of Saudi Arabian journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey, the United States said Tuesday that it stands by its relationship with Riyadh – a move that critics say gives a green light to repressive, authoritarian governments in Africa and across the globe….
In Ethiopia, millions of Oromo celebrated Irreecha at the weekend, an annual thanksgiving festival that just two years ago was marred by violent protests and mass arrests of Oromo activists. The Ethiopian government claimed a death toll of 669 people, though that number was disputed by other observers. This year,…
Laureen is the editor of Africa Times
Amnesty International says its experts have verified two videos from Cameroon’s Anglophone regions that, two years after peaceful protests were met by military force under President Paul Biya, now demonstrate escalating violence in the West African nation. The first video shows the decapitation and mutilation of a gendarme, presented by…
With an investigation now complete, the United Nations representative in Malawi, Maria Jose Torres, is calling on the government to promptly prosecute 12 people connected to the death of an albino man earlier this year. The dismembered body of 22-year-old MacDonald Masambuka was found in April after he went missing in…
Burundi has again pushed back at the findings of a United Nations human rights investigation released Wednesday that found grave violations continue in the small African nation, including summary deaths, torture, sexual violence and arbitrary arrest. Government spokesman Willy Nyamitwe, a senior advisor to President Pierre Nkurunziza and member of his…
It’s been a year since Diane Shima Rwigara, the Rwandan opposition candidate who dared to challenge President Paul Kagame, went missing with her mother Adeline. They remain detained and are formally charged with trying to overthrow the government. The anniversary, coupled with the recent East African outcry over Afrobeats artist…
Former president of Chile Michelle Bachelet has officially been appointed as the new United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, following a vote Friday at the UN General Assembly in New York. The Bachelet announcement was warmly received by UN Secretary General António Guterres, who called her “a pioneer, a…
In Cameroon, more than 160 prisoners escaped early Sunday after a group of armed men attacked the Ndop prison, released its inmates and set fire to the facility in the country’s troubled northwest Anglophone region. The national media agency in Cameroon said that a group they identified as armed secessionists…
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed continues his outreach tour in the United States on Saturday with a gathering for the diaspora in Washington D.C., part of a concerted effort to encourage Ethiopians who have left the country to return home and build its future. Abiy’s meeting at the Walter E….
The sense of gravity in the moment was hard to miss, even with a friendly joke about former United States President Barack Obama’s dancing ability, as South African President Cyril Ramaphosa introduced the speaker to thousands gathered for the Mandela Lecture at Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg. The international community was…
Laureen is the editor of Africa Times
Hundreds of migrants rounded up in Algeria have arrived in Niger, despite the Algerian government’s strong denials that it is forcibly removing the primarily West African migrants and dumping them in the desert. Migrants from Guinea, Cameroon and other nations tell the International Organization for Migration (IOM) that they are…
Amnesty International has called on authorities in Malawi to ensure justice for victims targeted because they are albinos, a practice that has claimed the lives of 21 people since 2014 and amounts to nearly 150 total cases. The attacks against people with albinism are fueled by stereotypical beliefs that their…
Burundi’s ruling party distanced itself on Saturday from a savage overnight attack in Ruhagarika- Bugunda that left at least 26 people dead, with reports that 11 of the victims were children. The CNDD-FDD nonetheless continued campaigning ahead of a May 17 constitutional referendum that would allow President Pierre Nkurunziza to…
Human rights advocates from countries as diverse as Benin, South Sudan and Malawi stood in solidarity with their Tanzanian counterparts on Thursday, in a letter sent to President John Magufuli calling for an end to repression. Some 65 people and organizations signed the letter condemning ongoing attacks against media outlets,…
Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, is appealing to the international community to take serious measures to curb the spiraling ethnic and communal violence in Central African Republic. “Last week’s violence in Bangui demonstrates just how volatile the situation is, and how easily crowds…