The Arabic Network of Human Rights Institutions has expressed its extreme indignation over the increase of the harassment of journalists, bloggers and activists in Morocco. This comes after the arrest of the blogger 'Hasan Barhon'. In addition, they cite threats and assault against 'Ahmed El-Merini', as well as the arranged robbery of the activist 'Mohamed El-Morabt'.

Gold traders in the eastern Congo district of Ituri have heard of the Dodd-Frank act, or 'Obama's law' as it's known here, but don't see why it's got anything to do with them, reports Reuters. The legislation, signed by President Barack Obama in 2010, puts the onus of proof on end-users. But while it has sent shockwaves through the global gold industry, the fractured and opaque nature of the gold supply chain means it has yet to have an impact where it counts - on the ground.

Egypt’s first democratically-elected President, Mohamed Morsi has ordered the formation of a commission to review the cases of the people arrested following last year’s popular revolution. The commission is going to be made up of members of the military and the Interior Ministry as well as a general prosecutor, the country's official Middle East News Agency (MENA) reported. It quoted Morsi as saying 'this commission should be formed as soon as possible to release all who were proved not involved in any criminal cases'.

There were 800,000 new refugees in the world in 2011, according to the latest data out this week from the UNHCR. 2011 is a record year for forced displacement, with more people becoming refugees than at any time since 2000. This online map provides an excellent data visualization tool for patterns of displacement globally.

Certain governments in East Africa have recently come under scrutiny for cracking down on peaceful protests. Yet freedom of assembly is a fundamental right enshrined in international law and in the constitutions of these nations.

These three Middle Eastern nations have not succeeded in their attempts at emergence due to meddling by imperialist powers and the lack of capacity to challenge them.

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has halved food rations to refugees living in camps in at least four African countries citing a funding shortfall. The cuts have already affected 16,000 refugees in Malawi’s Dzaleka camp who have been on half rations since March, while a further 120,000 refugees in Uganda began receiving half rations of cereals in May.

Aid agencies working in northern South Sudan are worried about refugees from Sudan's war-torn Blue Nile State who are reaching under-resourced camps in increasingly poor health. In recent weeks over 35,000 people have flocked to a site 50km from the border known as Kilometre 18 (KM18) by aid agencies - the distance to the nearest refugee camp (Jamam) holding over 30,000 people.

Attacks on LGBTI people in South Africa and Uganda continue while in Ghana a 20-year-old refugee camp is set to close. Protesters have returned to the streets of Sudan. And is former Egyptian strongman Mubarak still alive?

As we commemorate World Refugee Day on 20 June, under the theme "One family torn by war is too many", the emphasis on family cannot be overstated because the wellbeing of every individual is strongly related to her or his access to family support.

The new Senegalese government must demonstrate its commitment to safeguarding human rights by addressing the rampant impunity which undermines the judicial system and the rule of law, Amnesty International said. In a report entitled ‘Senegal: An agenda for human rights’, Amnesty International highlights key challenges the new government must overcome to ensure human rights are enforced, respected and protected.

Sudanese riot police armed with batons and tear gas fought with students protesting for a fourth day against tough austerity measures the finance minister set out in detail on Wednesday 20 June. Student groups, inspired by the Arab Spring uprisings, have led rallies in Khartoum against planned government spending cuts and sought to galvanise anger over price rises into a wider movement to topple military ruler Omar Hassan al-Bashir who has been in power since a 1989 bloodless coup.

At least 80 people have been killed since Monday 18 June in clashes in northern Nigeria triggered by Islamists waging an insurgency against the government, figures from police and the Red Cross showed on Wednesday. The violence - some of which was sparked by church bombings over the last three Sundays - has heightened sectarian tensions in Africa's most populous country, which is evenly split between Christians and Muslims.

The Programme Officer, as member of Goree Institute’s programme team, will be responsible for the successful delivery of Goree Institute’s programme of work on conflict prevention and peacebuilding, and developing and establishing new areas of engagement for Goree Institute in West Africa. He/she will be responsible for conceptualizing and implementing projects and will work in close cooperation with partners to develop and implement Goree Institute’s programme and projects.

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has halved food rations to refugees living in camps in at least four African countries citing a funding shortfall. The cuts have already affected 16,000 refugees in Malawi’s Dzaleka camp who have been on half rations since March, while a further 120,000 refugees in Uganda began receiving half rations of cereals in May.

The first batch of 700 South Sudanese have returned to Juba from Israel, as part of a policy to deport Africans and protect the state's Jewish identity. Israel and its military ally South Sudan, which gained independence in July 2011 after decades of civil war, both claim that the process has been one of 'voluntary repatriation'. While some among the first planeload of 124 people were very guarded about their feelings of returning to their new but still extremely impoverished nation, several people said the South Sudanese are being forced out.

Rwanda on Monday officially closed the 'gacaca' community courts, the controversial tribunals both credited with easing tensions and criticised for possible miscarriages of justice. 'Today's event is not simply to mark the closure of the courts, but also to recognise the enduring value of the process,' President Paul Kagame said at the closing ceremony in Kigali.

Gunfire and rioting rocked two northern Nigerian cities Tuesday in a fresh round of unrest, prompting authorities to slap curfews on both after weekend violence killed 52 people. The unrest broke out in the cities of Kaduna and Damaturu, adding to fears of spiralling violence in the country's north, where Islamist group Boko Haram's insurgency has been concentrated.

South Africa is getting two-thirds fewer applications for asylum than a few years ago, but researchers say officials make such bad decisions that the whole system is now meaningless. Department of Home Affairs (DHA) officials are so biased and administratively unfair that asylum-seekers are systematically rejected, resulting in an asylum system which 'functions solely as an instrument of immigration control', according to a report by researcher Dr Roni Amit, of the African Centre for Migration and Society at Wits University.

Swaziland soldiers sprayed the house of the kingdom’s main opposition leader with bullets in what pro democracy activist believe was a planned attack. The home of Mario Masuku, President of the banned People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO), at Makhosini near Nhlangano was hit by bullets fired by members of the kingdom’s army, known as the Umbutfo Swaziland Defence Force.