The United Nations Human Rights Council should use its special session on May 26, 2009, to seek commitments from the Sri Lankan government to address the country’s disastrous humanitarian situation.

Human Rights Watch writes to urge Dr. Ihsanoglu to use his position as Secretary General of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference to support measures at the upcoming Summit of the Organisation of Islamic Conference in Dakar, Senegal on March 13-14 that would improve and strengthen the 1999 OIC Convention on Combating International Terrorism. In particular, the OIC should consider two amendments to the Convention to narrow its overbroad definition of terrorism and make absolutely clear that there is no sanction in Islam for deliberately attacking civilians, whatever the circumstances or justifications.

The conflict-ridden West African subregion is a sad showcase of the human rights and humanitarian costs of the uncontrolled proliferation of small arms and light weapons. Quantities of arms have flowed to the region despite the rampant misuse of such weapons by state and non-state actors alike.

Liberia urgently needs more peacekeepers. But West Africa as a whole needs sustained and skillful diplomacy just as badly. The continuing war in Liberia is a regional war, and the United States has lost many opportunities to engage West African governments in ways that might have lessened the suffering this war has caused. The Bush administration should not lose any more chances.

U.S. President George W. Bush will be traveling to Africa from July 7-12, visiting Senegal, South Africa, Botswana, Uganda, and Nigeria. This packet from Human Rights Watch includes material for each stop along the way.

West African governments are failing to address a rampant traffic in child labor that could worsen with the region’s growing AIDS crisis.

Human Rights Watch writes to the foreign and justice ministers of a number of African states and those of states that played a leading role in creating the Sierra Leone Special Court, stressing the importance of cooperation with the court. In particular, it is crucial that any country to which someone indicted by the Special Court has fled return that indictee to Sierra Leone. The perpetrators of truly horrific crimes should not be permitted to escape justice by fleeing from the state where the crime occurred.

The Community of Democracies should be a caucus of nations committed to the universally recognized human rights without which democracy cannot thrive. It should allow democratic nations to share experiences, to coordinate policies and to reach out to non-governmental actors with similar goals.