The deadline for disarmament of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) has passed without the Congo-based rebel group surrendering. The FDLR’s future is uncertain, but there are a number of reasons why these anti-Kagame rebels are reluctant to disarm.

The brutal kleptocracy of Equatorial Guinea hopes to gain a measure of international acceptance by hosting the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) soccer spectacle that kicked off last weekend. The oil and gas wealth generated by this “Kuwait of Africa” provides the economic wherewithal for the ruling elite to buy favours while the bulk of the population wallows in repressive poverty.

The failure of Rwanda’s Faustian bargain— trading democracy for development and ending up with neither — should come as no surprise to students of history and human nature.

The captured rebel commander should be encouraged to be an insider witness and provide information about the atrocities committed by his group and the Ugandan military in the 20-year war in the north. His evidence may confirm the suspicion that President Museveni deliberately permitted the war to drag on in order to punish northerners and under-develop the opposition stronghold.

Murder is wrong when committed by individual gunmen with grudges and it is still wrong when it comes from a drone strike. A unity march should denounce human rights abuses, of which warfare is the worst.

The Catholic Archbishop of Jos Ignatius Kaigama has raise a timely and profound issue: There should be global mobilisation not just when terrorism rears its ugly head in Europe but also when Africans fall victim in their homelands.

Why is Abuja not ‘the capital of the world’ today? Why is it that African leaders will fly to Paris to express camaraderie and unity after seventeen Europeans are murdered, but are entirely absent if and when 2,000 Africans are butchered?

Rape cartoons are funny if it's inconceivable to you that you could ever be raped. If you live in a bubble of gender privilege that insulates you from all consequences of rape culture.

“Je Suis Charlie” has become a sound bite to justify the erasure of non-Europeans, and for ignoring the sentiments, values and views of the racialized “other.” In short, Je Suis Charlie has become an arrogant rallying cry for white supremacy that was echoed at the white power march on Sunday in Paris and in the popularity of the new issue of Charlie Hebdo.

How can one pretend to fight against terrorism while continuing to hold strong ties with nations that sponsor different Jihadist groups, and that export a reactionary and obscurantist ideology? Different fundamentalist groups have been backed, trained and financed by the West (including France) for decades.

Where are the marches in Africa for the Baga massacre, where 2,000 mainly women, children and the elderly were killed by Boko Haram? Where are the public condemnations and editorials of outrage for Baga?

The absolute, unconditional revulsion experienced by Europeans in the face of these deaths should make us wonder why they do not feel the same kind of revulsion in the face of a similar, if not much higher, number of innocent deaths caused by conflicts that, at bottom, may have something to do with the Charlie Hebdo tragedy.

In the wake of the brutal murders of journalists at Charlie Hebdo, PEN calls on Governments to implement their commitments to free expression and to desist from further curtailing free expression through the expansion of surveillance.

Big leader cults have a long history in South African politics. So to argue that South Africa needs new leaders is to misread the key political task on the leadership question. What the country really needs are new models of leadership that break fundamentally from the cult of the big leader, and organisational forms that create the basis for more sustainable leaderships to emerge.

Muslims are almost always expected to apologise for any terror attacks in the name of their religion. How can this be justified? On the other hand, there is no global outrage whenever people are killed and maimed in senseless wars waged by Western powers. Why?

In this interview, human rights organizer Jackson Doliscar details increasing violations of human rights by the Martelly dictatorship, with the active support of the United States.

Perhaps five million of France’s six-and-half million Muslims are Algerian. Most are poor, regarding themselves as second-class citizens in the land of equality. There is a critical historical context to this and the Paris attack that needs to be appreciated.

How have the great capitalist democracies demonstrated their commitment to free speech? The US military has killed journalists in the Middle East. Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is still being pursued... And are Charlie Hebdo’s crude and vulgar cartoons really about free speech?

Is 2015 the year of change in Zambia? With the 20 January presidential by-election fast approaching will there be a shift from a growing democracy to a mature democracy? Can the nationa finally shed the coat of corruption and become a truly democratic society that can trust and rely on its elected officials?

2014 in South Africa was marked by a number of large-scale national scandals. Far more insidious, however, are the small, subtle, everyday distortions or omissions of truth which have become pervasive in our political discourse. These distortions, championed by politicians, characterize the public, the media, NGOs and academia.