Africa - Audio Commentaries

Burundi

Maria Burnett, Human Rights Watch Researcher, hrwpress@hrw.org — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 10:00:00 -0500

The political situation in Burundi is marked by efforts of the ruling National Council for the Defense of Democracy–Forces for the Defense of Democracy (CNDD-FDD) to monopolize power and by continuing impunity for severe human rights abuses. Read more [+]

Central African Republic

Olivier Bercault, Human Rights Watch Researcher, hrwpress@hrw.org — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 10:00:00 -0500

Since gaining independence in 1960, the poverty stricken Central African Republic (CAR) has experienced dictatorial rule, corruption, and severe political instability. François Bozizé, the current President, came to power in a March 2003 military coup and in May 2005 won a contested election organized to legitimate his administration.
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Chad

David Buchbinder, Human Rights Watch Researcher, hrwpress@hrw.org — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 10:00:00 -0500

Chad plunged into civil war shortly after it gained independence from France in 1960 and has been intermittently wracked by conflict ever since. The current round of internal conflict is in its third year and is complicated by the war in the neighboring Darfur region of Sudan. Khartoum increased its support to Chadian rebel groups based in Darfur in retaliation for Ndjamena’s support to Sudanese rebels with bases in Chad.Read more [+]

Democratic Republic of Congo

Alison Des Forges, Human Rights Watch Researcher, hrwpress@hrw.org — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 10:00:00 -0500

Despite widespread optimism following the 2006 elections, violence against civilians, political repression, and impunity has continued during Joseph Kabila’s first year as the newly elected president of the Democratic Republic of Congo. In eastern Congo, political agreements to integrate combatants loyal to renegade
general Laurent Nkunda failed, and war continues. Read more [+]

Eritrea

Human Rights Watch Researcher, hrwpress@hrw.org — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 10:00:00 -0500

The government of President Isayas Afeworki continues to maintain its totalitarian grip on the country. Arbitrary arrests and detention without trial are common. Prisoners are routinely tortured and kept for years in underground cells in isolation or crammed into shipping containers. Mass arrests and harassment of members of minority religious denominations continue. The government imposes such prolonged and repeated compulsory military service that thousands of young men have fled the country. Read more [+]

Ethiopia

Human Rights Watch Researcher, hrwpress@hrw.org — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 10:00:00 -0500

The Ethiopian government’s human rights record remains poor, both within the country and in neighboring Somalia, where since early 2007 thousands of Ethiopian troops have been fighting an insurgency alongside the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia. Read more [+]

Guinea

Dustin Sharp, Human Rights Watch Researcher, hrwpress@hrw.org — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 10:00:00 -0500

2007 was a tumultuous year in Guinea, characterized by rising demands for political change, continued economic uncertainty, and brutal repression by security forces. In January and February government security forces violently repressed a nationwide strike organized by Guinea’s leading trade unions to protest widespread corruption, bad governance, and deteriorating economic conditions. Read more [+]

Rwanda

Alison Des Forges, Human Rights Watch Researcher, hrwpress@hrw.org — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 10:00:00 -0500

The Rwandan government continues to struggle with the consequences of the genocide that killed about three-quarters of the Tutsi population in 1994. In 2001, Rwanda established a system of community-based gacacacourts to try
all but the most egregious genocide-related crimes. In many jurisdictions faulty judicial performance undermined trust in the system. As the number of persons accused of genocide soared to 818,000, the government in March 2007 reformed the gacaca jurisdictions for the third time, seeking to expedite the trials.
Read more [+]

Somalia

Human Rights Watch Researcher, hrwpress@hrw.org — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 10:00:00 -0500

2007 was a bleak and turbulent year for Somali civilians, particularly in the volatile south-central region of the country, following the December 2006 invasion by Ethiopian forces in support of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG), which ousted the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) from Mogadishu. Read more [+]

Sudan

Selena Brewer, Human Rights Watch Researcher, hrwpress@hrw.org — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 10:00:00 -0500

The dynamics of conflict in Darfur in western Sudan became increasingly complex during 2007 as militia and rebel factions proliferated. Peace talks in Libya towards the end of the year were hampered by key groups refusing to participate. Meanwhile, delays to the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), signed in January 2005 to end 21 years of north-south conflict, threatened to derail the consolidation of peace in the south. Read more [+]

Uganda

Maria Burnett, Human Rights Watch Researcher, hrwpress@hrw.org — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 10:00:00 -0500

Throughout 2007, the impending Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) held in the Ugandan capital Kampala in November had the effect of a creating a particular context for government action on human rights. The govern-
ment engaged in talks with the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), which yielded relative peace in northern Uganda and hopes for an end to over 20 years of conflict. Read more [+]