As a gay man living in Tanzania, Cassim Mustapha could have faced imprisonment, but prosecutions under the country's Sexual Offences Act are rare, and the bigger threat came from his own community. After one of his neighbours attacked him with an axe leaving a deep wound in his head, Mustapha fled and applied for asylum in Malawi, the first country he reached. Persecution relating to an individual's sexual orientation or gender identity is increasingly recognized by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and in refugee law as grounds for claiming asylum. Most such claims are based on the 1951 Refugee Convention's definition of a refugee as someone having a well-founded fear of persecution because of 'membership of a particular social group'. However, many lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) individuals fail to gain asylum on this basis.

Fifty four people trying to reach Italy from Libya died of thirst after a 15-day voyage in which their rubber boat gradually deflated, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said on Tuesday 10 July, citing the sole survivor. It said the man, an Eritrean national, was rescued by Tunisian coastguards in a state of advanced dehydration clinging to the remains of the boat after being spotted by fishermen the previous night, the agency said.

The world needs more doctors, nurses and other health care workers - 3.5 million of them, to be exact. The poor state of human resources in the health care system came under the spotlight at a session at the People’s Health Assembly, a five-day international meeting currently underway at the University of the Western Cape campus in Bellville. 'Human resources are at the heart of a good health system,' said Bridget Lloyd from the People’s Health Movement (PHM), who chaired the meeting. 'But in Africa we face great challenges with human resources in the health sector.'

The Tunisian League for Human Rights (LTDH), the Arab Human Rights Organization (Egypt) and the Libyan Human Rights League, among several organizations and activists, signed on Sunday an international Pact of Honour against torture in Tunis, reported TAP news agency. LTDH President Abdessatar Ben Moussa said that 'the pact commits the signing parties to defend and campaign for the respect of human rights and fundamental liberties', stressing that the league will spare no effort to include the principle of criminalising torture in the future Tunisian Constitution.

The United Nations is increasingly hiring Private Military and Security Companies (PMSCs) for its missions across the world, raising concerns over the use of firms known for participation in human rights abuses, as well as an overall lack of accountability structures governing these contractors within the UN system. Between 2009 and 2010 alone, the UN increased its use of private security services by 73 per cent (from 44 million to 76 million dollars), according to a new report by the independent policy watchdog Global Policy Forum (GFP).

A Liberian parliamentary delegation on security says it was told of the presence of rebel training bases in Grand Gedeh County, near the border with Cote d’Ivoire. The disclosure is contained in a report by the legislators to the House of Representatives. And it comes at a time when Ivorian authorities have been warning that disgruntled supporters of ousted president Laurent Gbagbo could be regrouping across the border in Liberia to wage war against the government of Alassane Ouattara.

Saudi Arabia has a major problem with water scarcity and only 1% of its land is suitable for agriculture. 'Saudi investors have reportedly planned or concluded investments covering 800,000 hectares of land in Africa (accounting for almost 70% of all large deals struck by Saudi firms globally),' says Standard Bank in a recent report.

The highest court in Egypt has overturned a decree by President Mohammed Mursi to recall parliament. Mr Mursi had issued the decree in defiance of a military council ruling that dissolved parliament. Members of parliament gathered for a brief session earlier in the day before the ruling of the Supreme Constitutional Court was announced. Thousands have gathered in Cairo's Tahrir Square to protest against the court's latest decision.

Uganda is 'overwhelmed' by the current influx of Congolese refugees fleeing renewed fighting in North Kivu Province in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and is calling for an emergency meeting of countries in the Great Lakes Region to work out a road map for lasting peace, say officials. 'We have a problem of feeding these big numbers. The influx has come at the time when our donors are experiencing financial shocks, which has a direct impact to government and UNHCR [UN Refugee Agency] to look [after] and cater for the refugees,' Musa Ecweru, Uganda’s state minister for relief, disaster preparedness and refugees, told IRIN.

Authorities in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo accused neighbouring Rwanda on Tuesday 10 July of 'invading' a volatile border area, portraying an advancing rebel insurgency as a Rwandan military operation. The Rwandan government has consistently denied allegations by Congolese officials and United Nations investigators that it is fomenting and supporting the Tutsi-dominated M23 rebel movement in Congo's mineral-rich North Kivu province, long a tinderbox of regional ethnic and political tensions.

On Wednesday 27 June 2012, at approximately 7am, one bulldozer arrived at Abonnema Wharf waterfront and, under the supervision of heavily armed security forces (members of the Joint Task Force (JTF), Operation Polo Shield), began to demolish buildings in the community around 11am. Later a second bulldozer arrived. No notice was given prior to the demolition, reports Amnesty International. The demolition was carried out despite a High Court order in November 2011 restraining the Rivers State government from demolishing the community.

SA's former ambassador to Iran will remain on full-paid suspension until the foreign ministry's investigation into allegations that he accepted bribe money from MTN is completed. Clayson Monyela, spokesperson for the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, confirmed that Yusuf Saloojee, currently SA's ambassador to Oman, has been suspended by the department, on full pay.

Non-governmental organisations in the Democratic Republic of Congo province where Thomas Lubanga Dyilo used children as fighters in his militia in 2002 to 2003 have slammed his 14-year sentence as inadequate - and potentially dangerous. The International Criminal Court sentenced Lubanga, a former leader of the Union of Congolese Patriots, to 14 years in prison for recruiting children during a bloody conflict in the northeastern DRC province of Ituri. 'Fourteen years is a joke. Taking into account the six years he has already spent in prison (since his arrest in 2006), he will serve only eight more,' Joël Bisubu, from the NGO Justice Plus, told IPS.

A summit of Western African leaders has called for a national unity government to end the political crisis gripping Mali since a military coup in March. The regional bloc, Ecowas, also urged Mali to request international military intervention to win back the country's rebel-held north. The area was seized by Islamist and Tuareg rebels after the March coup.

Arable land is vital for Africa, both as a key asset for farmers and, together with vegetation, to help store carbon that would otherwise be emitted into the atmosphere and contribute to climate change. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that by 2030 Africa will lose two-thirds of its arable land if the march of desertification. Luc Gnacadja, the executive secretary of the UNCCD, gave an exclusive interview to Africa Renewal’s Busani Bafana on the sidelines of the Rio+20 Summit, which can be accessed through this link.

Human rights campaigners working for Mau Mau veterans have complained that the Kenyan government is refusing to finance a case against the UK. The former fighters Mau Mau have arrived in London to sue the former colonial authorities for torturing them during their fight for independence. Kenya's government has previously said it supports the Mau Mau case. But officials were unable to explain why they were not helping pay the veterans' expenses.

One year after the formation of South Sudan, the country’s women say that independence has not resulted in the positive political, economic and social changes that they had hoped for. Women activists worry that even after separation from Sudan, when South Sudan became the world’s newest country and Africa’s 54th nation, the government has not done enough to improve the lives of its women. But as people across the country celebrate the first anniversary of independence from Sudan, after a 21-year civil war, the year has been fraught with crises.

Dr. Gary K. Busch, de nacionalidade norte-americana, é especialista em política africana e possui vasto conhecimento em negócios nesse continente. Além da experiência como professor e responsável por Departamento na Universidade do Havaí, ele presta consultoria a várias companhias de transporte e logística que operam em escala mundial. Ele foi igualmente Diretor de Pesquisa em importante sindicato norte-americano e Secretário Geral Assistente de uma organização sindical internacional. O site francês Terangaweb o entrevistou com vistas a sólida análise baseada em experiência prática.

Every 40 hours in the United States one Black woman, man or child is killed by police, and by a smaller number of security guards and self-appointed vigilantes. These are the startling findings of a new Report on Extrajudicial Killings of Black People released July 9, 2012.

Seventeen human rights non governmental organizations officially launched their 'Human Rights in 100 Days' campaign to pressure new Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi to follow through on rights of Egyptian citizens. The newly created Forum of Independent Egyptian Human Rights Organizations, which includes the Egyptian Association for Community Participation Enhancement (national focal point of Social Watch), had sent a letter to President Morsi 'delineating the most important steps which must be taken to improve Egypt’s human rights condition and which they believed were missing from the President’s strategies and statements,' reported Bikya Masr news portal.