Farm workers do backbreaking work sometimes for 12 hours a day to produce food and wine, yet they are forced to work under unsafe and unhealthy conditions

If the brutal law being considered by parliament is passed, thousands of Ugandans could face execution -- just for being gay

The solutions for avoiding climate disaster pursued by rich Western nations cannot effectively address the crisis. African civil society organizations want developed countries to accept responsibility.

The shack-dwellers movement in South Africa is growing, with the recent opening of new branches that bring the total to 64.

The discriminatory provision in Trinidad’s immigration law is not only wrong in itself but clearly runs counter to the right to freedom of movement of persons.

Draft resolution adopted by the UNGA Third Committee is a landmark step in global efforts to put an end to this human rights violation

World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) calls for the effective implementation of the decision of the Human Rights Committee condemning South Africa for acts of torture and other forms of ill-treatment

Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife is run in an undemocratic manner, with students and other members of the institution excluded from critical decision-making. The 50-year-old university should embark on reform by first restoring the banned students union.

Statement on Israeli aggression on Gaza read at a press conference in Accra on Tuesday, November 20, 2012

There is hardly any meaningful international response to the horrible suffering of up to a million Sudanese now targeted in a military campaign by President Al Bashir – who is already indicted for crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court.

PEN Kenya condemns in the strongest spirit possible the attack on the person of Okoiti Okiya Omtatah on 8 November 2012 and the attempts and threats on his life which he has often spoken about. Regardless of the reasons for his attack, we know Omtatah to be a voice of free expression, a political activist as well as a writer. We know that he has lost a tooth before after an attack by the then acting boss the Nairobi Central Police Station Richard Mugwai (now transferred but who was promoted after he beat up several activists) and that case is documented. We know that Okoiti continues being a political activist and that he was attacked outside the Nairobi Police station and he lies in hospital with a deep gash on his head and more lost teeth.

Silencing the voices of the outspoken is meant to instil fear in one and all. Insecurity in Kenya is a matter of grave concern. We urge one and all not to be intimidated and condemn this case and others fearlessly as we look to an election year. We must be secure in Kenya and enjoy all our freedoms. May justice be served to Omtatah and his attackers be brought to book. We must be the defenders of justice and peace since justice and peace have been prevented from being our shield and defender for many years now.

Philo Ikonya
Austria,Vienna
09-10.2012
Member, PEN Kenya
Board Member, PEN International

Trade justice organisations have published a new report titled, ‘Southern alternatives to EU Trade Policy’, which proposes a diverse set of alternative to the current unjust international trade system.

The Civil Society on Monday launched a campaign against corruption which they said would go on until Government takes action on corrupt public officials. Representative s of various civil society organizations converged at Uganda Manufacturing Association Hall in Nakawa dressed in black T-shirts wielding placards with anti-corruption slogans. Leading the group, Irene Ovonji-Odida from Action Aid International Board of Trustees, said wearing black symbolized they had started mourning and mobilizing citizens to rise up against the evil of corruption.

Zimbabweans providing cheap labour in the fast-growing Chinese mines bear the brunt of extremely harsh conditions and low wages, a Johannesburg-based advocacy group, Southern Africa Resource Watch (SARW) reveals in its research, the first such report detailing China's labour practices in the country. Hard labour, exposure to risky conditions, violation of labour laws, long working hours, non payment of overtime, disregard of public holidays and use of Chinese language in corporate literature were among extreme conditions faced by workers at most Chinese interests in Zimbabwe, the report said.

Civil society organisations line up activities ahead of the national anti-corruption week in December.

The government has long tried to channel the few scraps that come to the poor through organisations loyal to it to reward obedience and at the same time repress dissent.

It has once again happened that intellectual freedom has been curtailed in Uganda following the raid by police of an anti-discrimination play by Talented Ugandan Kuchus (TUK), a group of young talented performers whose message is of non-discrimination.

The production titled ‘Lighting the Shadows’ was rudely interrupted by one gentleman who had several policemen to back him. The audience was dispersed and so was the cast. Everyone was ordered out of the theatre. The Civil Society Coalition on Human Rights and Constitutional Law (CSCHRCL) was one of the major sponsors of this advocacy event to which the public as well as the diplomatic corps were invited.

Jeff Ogwaro, CSCHRCL Co-coordinator, Kampala Uganda

As Gold Fields announced its operations resumed, another operator said it was hit by a strike, suggesting labour unrest in the mines is far from over. Gold Fields said the reinstatement of 8,500 dismissed workers at its KDC East operations near Johannesburg had ended a 23-day strike and heralded a return to production. But Village Main Reef, one of South Africa's smaller gold producers, said employees at its Buffelsfontein Gold Mine had embarked on a wildcat strike.

In the Great Lakes region of Africa, regional solidarity has been dealt a heavy blow following the mysterious deaths of five leaders in just two decades.

BDS South Africa welcomes the position adopted by the African National Congress (ANC) International Solidarity Conference to support the international boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel campaign.