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 draft "Anti-Homosexuality Bill" introduced on October 14, 2009 in Uganda's parliament would violate human rights and should be withdrawn immediately.

The Ugandan government should immediately order an independent investigation into the killing of unarmed persons during and after riots in Kampala on September 10 and 11, 2009.

The Ugandan government should immediately allow radio stations and programming that it closed down after protests in Kampala last week to return to the air and should investigate the arrest and abuse of a prominent journalist, Robert Kalundi Sserumaga.

The Ugandan police should stop using unnecessary lethal force against protesters in Kampala, where scores of people were injured and at least four died on September 10, 2009.

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.

The Ugandan government should urgently charge or release five detainees held by military intelligence, one of them for 16 months.

The  former Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano will give his final briefing to the United Nations Security Council on July 15  in his role as the secretary-general's special envoy for the areas of east and central Africa affected by the Lord's Resistance Army and their  two-decade campaign of violence. Although Chissano's mandate was suspended as of June 30, abuses by the LRA - ruthless rebels whose actions have had a devastating effect on civilians in four countries - continue.