The Court of Appeal reaffirmed that the refusal to register a gay organisation was both irrational and in violation of the right to freedom of association. In an important judgment for the LGBTI community, the Court emphasised that there is no legislation in Botswana which prohibits anyone from being homosexual.

The recent arrest comes only six months after the activist was released released from prison on fabricated charges of committing arson. On 16 May 2014 he was convicted to seven years' imprisonment – a sentence that was later reduced on appeal to two years.

The Justice for Walter Rodney Committee is concerned that, despite a promise by President Granger, the renowned intellectual and activist’s family and the public in Guyana and abroad are yet to receive the Walter Rodney Commission of Inquiry Report.

The abuses appear to have increased as public protests and demonstrations escalated following the Arab uprisings, the secession of South Sudan in 2011, Sudan’s economic downturn, and the proliferation of new wars in Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile.

Dr. Kim has taken an uncompromising stance protecting violators of human rights and denying their victims aess to justice, even in the most egregious cases involving those who are battling cancer and depression. Dr. Kim has only one honourable thing to do: Resign. If he fails, the Bank’s Board of Governors should force him out.

A new report maps the growth of LGBTQ organizing in West Africa, highlighting challenges and opportunities.

One year after their arrest on March 15, 2015, three food, land, and human rights defenders continue to languish in an Ethiopian jail. After several court hearings, the prosecution has yet to present any evidence to support the spurious charge of “terrorism” under Ethiopia’s controversial counter-terrorism law. A March 1 hearing was once again adjourned and rescheduled for March 15, due to the failure of witnesses to appear in court.

Plans for real estate development, tree planting, and new cash crops for economic up-liftment in the area of Mwireri/Gitugi and its neighbourhood in Laikipia County, have been dealt a severe blow by the illegal siting of a stone crusher and quarry on land earmarked for agricultural and residential development.

The New York City Bar’s Committee on African Affairs and the Leitner Center for International Law and Justice cordially invite you to a presentation by REED BRODY, Esq., Counsel and Spokesperson for Human Rights Watch, who specializes in pursuing abusive leaders for atrocities and human rights violations.

Monday, April 11, 2016 at 6:30 p.m.

Fordham Law School, Classroom 3-02
140 West 62nd St., New York, NY (between Columbus and Amsterdam Avenues)

Dubbed the "Dictator Hunter" in one of the four documentaries about him, Reed has worked since 1999 as counsel for the victims in the case of the exiled former dictator of Chad, Hissène Habré, who was finally tried in Senegal after a 25-year campaign to bring him to justice. The historic trial is the first time a deposed ruler has been tried by a court of a country other than his own for human rights violations. It also marks the first time that a trial in Africa has relied on the international law principle of universal jurisdiction a trial in Africa has relied on the international law principle of universal
jurisdiction which allows a court to hear a case concerning serious crimes committed by foreign actors against foreign victims.

Reed has also worked with the victims of Augusto Pinochet and Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier. He is the author of four Human Rights Watch reports on U.S. treatment of prisoners in the “war on terror”.

The presentation is free and open to the public.

Sponsored by the NY City Bar’s Committee on African Affairs (co-Chairs, Elizabeth Barad and Jason Spears) and the Leitner Center for International Law and Justice at Fordham Law School (Executive Director, Elisabeth Wickeri) and co-sponsored by the NY City Bar’s Committees on International Human Rights (Chair, Anil Kalhan), and International Law (Chair. Caline Mouawad), Council on International Affairs (Chair, Martin Flaherty) and the Cyrus R.Vance Center
for International Justice (Alexander Papachristou, Exercutive Director).

Please R.S.V.P. to [email][email protected][/email]

To mark International Women's Day, Professor Naila Kabeer looks back over the history of feminist economics and outlines her reasons why it matters for the future.

On February 16, 2016, Pambazuka News carried an article by Yonas Biru, a former World Bank staff, titled, compares African staff to animal in official report’[/url]. The article precipitated an exchange among three former senior staff of the Bank, which we reproduce here. We have withheld their names and edited their comments slightly to protect their identities.

Eminent scholars from around the world have written to the president of Sierra Leone to intervene to save the career of Prof. Ibrahim Abdullah of the University of Sierra Leone. His treatment by University authorities could terminate his career or tarnish his hard­-earned academic reputation.

Pambazuka News invites contributions to assess the extent to which the African Union (AU) has promoted and protected Africa’s unity in the current globalised world.

Guyana’s President Granger has dismissed the report of the Walter Rodney Presidential Commission of Inquiry, without making the findings public. The Justice for Walter Rodney Committee insists that the report should be released to Dr Rodney’s family, lawyers representing all sides and to the people of Guyana.

The women say that presidential election data are impossible to explain logically and warrant immediate independent scrutiny by patriotic Ugandan citizens.

UAF Supporting Women Human Rights Defenders working on Extractives: Field Experience Sharing Session

There is a plan to develop 25 acres of Sigiria Block in Karura Forest for commercial use. A company by the name Ibis Hospitality Ltd is alleged to have proposed to build a six-star hotel in the forest against public interest.

The ‘No to ProSavana Campaign’ has been monitoring the ProSavana Programme. This programme raises many concerns and fears because of the way it was conceived and the negative impacts it has had on peasant agriculture, the environment and human rights.

Several organisations have written to the African Union and regional bodies asking them to condemn the decision by Ugandan authorities to shut down Internet access during recent elections ostensibly for national security. Such an action – which is becoming widespread - violates human rights and international law. It must not be allowed to become the new normal in Africa.

Two weeks after the report of the commission of inquiry into the death of Dr Walter Rodney was presented to the government of Guyana, an international pressure group is calling on President Granger to make the findings public. Dr. Rodney’s family, Guyanese and admirers of the radical intellectual and organizer around the world need to know the truth about his death 36 years ago.