A network of African civil society and international organizations today called upon African Union states to use the AU’s upcoming session about the International Criminal Court to promote the court’s ability to prosecute the world’s worst crimes fairly and effectively.

The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme, scheduled to meet in Swakopmund, Namibia, from November 2 to 5, 2009, should immediately suspend Zimbabwe for continuing human rights abuses and widespread smuggling in the Marange diamond fields.

Human Rights Watch writes to South Africa Minister of Mineral Resources Susan Shabangu to encourage South Africa to support Zimbabwe's suspension from the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme.

Recent attention to multidrug-resistant and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR- and XDR-TB) has increased discussion and debate over the extent to which limitations to human rights can be justified in the name of public health. Particularly in the case of drug-resistant TB, some countries have adopted rights-limiting measures before offering appropriate and proven programmatic interventions that respect human rights.

The European Union and South Africa should take steps to enhance cooperation on international human rights issues when they meet this week. The second EU-South Africa summit meeting is scheduled for September 11, 2009, in Kleinmond, South Africa.

Southern African leaders should press Zimbabwe's power-sharing government to end ongoing human rights violations and to implement legal reforms.

Human Rights Watch writes to Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, South African minister of international relations and cooperation, and Fredrik Reinfeldt, Swedish foreign minister, concerning the September 11, 2009 European Union-South Africa summit.

What is surprising is the recent assault on the ICC from within the African Union, despite, as outlined in a recent communiqué of its Peace and Security Council, its "unflinching commitment to combating impunity." Several of the AU's North African members - who are not, incidentally, parties to the ICC - are trying to undercut its support on the continent.