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    Juliane KippenbergChildren as young as six are working in toxic conditions in Mali's gold mines. Juliane Kippenberg reports.

  • A Congolese army soldier stamps on Fabien Mutomb, provincial vice-president of the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS), as the army and police break-up a peaceful protest in Lubumbashi on December 14, 2011.
    © 2011 Getty Images
    Africa: Violent Elections Underscore Rights Concerns
    Elections held throughout sub-Saharan Africa in 2011 signaled a growing formal commitment to democratic rule, but Africa’s leaders deployed violence and curtailed rights during election periods and beyond to hold on to power, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2012.
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    • Mali: Child Labor and Mercury in Gold Mining
      Dec 1 2011 - 16:58

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    WAITING FOR JUSTICE
    The New Racism: The Political Manipulation of Ethnicity in Côte d'Ivoire
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Reports

Africa

  • South Sudan: Justice Needed to Stem Violence
    Feb 10, 2012
    South Sudan should urgently ensure an effective and independent investigation into the violent, ethnic-driven attacks in Jonglei state, and arrest and prosecute those identified as responsible. To assist this task, it should promptly ask the United Nations and regional organizations to establish a commission of inquiry.
  • Guinea: Progress in Massacre Probe
    Feb 9, 2012
    The decision by investigative judges in Guinea to file charges against a high-level military official allegedly implicated in grave violations of human rights during a massacre of protesters in 2009 is an important step toward ensuring justice for the victims. Security forces were implicated in the killings of more than 150 opposition members and the rape of over 100 women in the aftermath of a peaceful demonstration.
  • Nigeria: Child Lead Poisoning Crisis
    Feb 7, 2012
    Thousands of children in northern Nigeria need immediate medical treatment and dozens of villages remain contaminated two years into the worst lead poisoning epidemic in modern history, Human Rights Watch said today while releasing a video on the issue. Four hundred children have died, according to official estimates, yet environmental cleanup efforts have not even begun in numerous affected villages.
  • Letter to the Ministry of Mines
    Feb 3, 2012
  • A Chance for South Africa to do the Right Thing for Syria
    Feb 2, 2012

    Will history repeat itself at the United Nations Security Council? The last time South Africa was called to vote on a resolution on Syria, on October 4 last year, it chose to abstain, along with India and Brazil.

  • Letter to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Regarding Contact between UN Representative Gambari and Sudanese President al-Bashir
    Feb 1, 2012
  • Ethiopia: Future of last remaining human rights monitoring NGO in the balance
    Feb 1, 2012
    On February 3, 2012, the Cassation Bench of the Federal Supreme Court of Ethiopia will hear a petition by the Human Rights Council (HRCO), Ethiopia’s oldest human rights organization, to admit an appeal against the freezing of its bank accounts. Amnesty International, ARTICLE 19, CIVICUS, East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project and Human Rights Watch express deep concern at the obstacles and restrictions to which HRCO and other human rights organizations in Ethiopia are now subjected, as illustrated by this case. The decision of the Supreme Court will be of great significance for the future of HRCO’s vital work and for the wider promotion and protection of human rights in Ethiopia.
  • The Dark Side of Côte d’Ivoire’s Recovery
    Jan 31, 2012
    When I returned to Abidjan in mid-January, bright lights were strung across the bridge into downtown, proclaiming 2012 a year of reconciliation. I asked the taxi driver how things were progressing, and he said, “The Ouattara government does more work in 10 weeks than the Gbagbo government did in 10 years.” Formerly potholed roads are being repaired throughout the country, trash once stacked on the street is being collected, and treatment at state-run hospitals is largely free, even if patients must often pay for the medicine and tools doctors need.
  • AU: African States Should Increase Support for Justice
    Jan 26, 2012

    Over 30 civil society organizations from close to 20 African countries wrote today to African member countries of the International Criminal Court (ICC) urging their renewed support for the court’s efforts to combat grave international crimes. The letter was sent on prior to the 18th summit of the African Union (AU), which will take place on January 29 and 30 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

     

  • Letter to Foreign Ministers of African States Parties to the ICC
    Jan 26, 2012

    On the occasion of the 18th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union (AU)–which will take place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on January 29-30, 2012–we, the undersigned African civil society organizations and international organizations with a presence in Africa, write to share some important developments affecting international criminal justice in Africa and to encourage African states parties to reaffirm their strong support for the International Criminal Court (ICC) and its goal of ending impunity for grave international crimes.

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