The International Criminal Court has warned Mali it is considering investigating reports of killings, rapes and other war crimes it fears may have been committed since January when fighting erupted there, triggering a wider crisis. 'The office has been closely following the developments in Mali since clashes erupted around 17 January 2012,' the ICC prosecutor's office said in a statement, adding it would now decide whether to conduct a preliminary investigation.

One year after events that led to the deaths of 63 migrants in a boat in the waters off the coast of Libya, 4 survivors, with the support of a coalition of NGOs, filed a complaint in France concerning the responsibility of the French military for failing to assist persons in danger.

Thousands of documents detailing some of the most shameful acts and crimes committed during the final years of the British empire were systematically destroyed to prevent them falling into the hands of post-independence governments, an official review has concluded. Those papers that survived the purge were flown discreetly to Britain where they were hidden for 50 years in a secret Foreign Office archive, beyond the reach of historians and members of the public, and in breach of legal obligations for them to be transferred into the public domain.

The weekend ransacking of a church compound in Khartoum illustrates the increasing hostility faced by some of the hundreds of thousands of residents of the Sudanese capital whose origins lie in what is now the independent state of South Sudan. Seven years after southern rebels and Khartoum signed a deal to end decades of civil war and nine months after the country split in two, recent borderland clashes have given rise to fears of a return to all-out conflict.

Botswana’s has confirmed a cessation clause with respect to Angolan refugees in the country. The ministry said the decision was taken after consultations with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees. 'Taking into consideration the recommendations by UNHCR, the government of Botswana hereby declares, pursuant to article 1C (5) and (6) of the 1951 Convention relating to the status of refugees, Article I (4) (e) of the 1969 Organisation of African Unity Governing the specific aspects of the refugee problems in Africa and Botswana’s refugee Act that the refugee status of Angolan refugees who fled Angola as a result of the armed conflicts between 1961 and 2002 will cease as of 30 June 2012,' read part of a statement.

The trial of seven Free State policemen accused of murdering and assaulting protester Andries Tatane continued last week. Tatane was killed in Ficksburg during a service delivery protest, allegedly by public order police, on 13 April last year.

Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Helen Zille has apologised for referring to Eastern Cape pupils who flocked to the Western Cape for better education as 'refugees', it was reported. 'I am] very sorry because it was never meant in that context at all and it was never said in that way at all,' she was quoted as saying in the Cape Times.

Malian scholars, librarians and ordinary citizens in the rebel-occupied city of Timbuktu are hiding away priceless ancient manuscripts to prevent them from being damaged or looted, a South African academic in contact with them said. Cape Town University's Professor Shamil Jeppie said he was in daily contact with curators and private owners safeguarding tens of thousands of historic texts in Timbuktu, the fabled desert trading town and seat of Islamic learning overrun by Tuareg-led rebels on April 1.

The mission of Congolese Genocide Awareness (CGA) is to generate worldwide awareness on the effects of war in general and the civil war specifically of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Particularly our mission is to generate awareness around the reoccurrence of the rape of Congolese women and the exploitation and killing of children. More information can be found on their website at A video and song shot for their cause can be seen at

An education strategy released by UNHCR in February recognized the 'huge unmet demand for higher education among refugees' and made improving access one of its goals over the next five years. Although part of this approach involves doubling the current 2,000 scholarships a year available to refugees through the German-government-funded DAFI programme, a key element of the strategy is to make use of internet technologies and partnerships with academic institutions to reach much larger numbers of refugees through distance learning.

Pacifying the six rebel groups that hold sway across the north and northeast of the Central African Republic (CAR) is both a key component of the country’s security reform and a prerequisite for the economic development needed to end the spiral of armed conflict and criminality that has dogged the state since 1996. But funding shortfalls and the 12 January 2012 arrest of a prominent rebel leader have put the brakes on the Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) process, the active phase of which got under way in August 2011.

Policy makers and academics often pay little attention to environmental drivers of migration in Egypt. This paper demonstrates that environmental factors are often the hidden cause of the migration of Egyptians from one region to another. The analysis is situated in the broader studies on migration, and also shows why the findings of this study are significant. The paper makes recommendations that will hopefully help policy makers in understanding the causes of environmental migration and assist them in developing policies to address the problem of environmentally induced migration in a sustainable way.

Evidence that British intelligence services colluded with Libyan spies by passing over details of refugees who fled the North African country is to be investigated by the UK Parliament. Allegations that MI5 housed two Libyan agents in a central London safe house, providing them with details of asylum claimants who could be coerced into working for Gaddafi's regime, will be examined by MPs on the Intelligence and Security Committee, the Home Office said.

South Sudan's seizure of a Sudanese oilfield has all but killed off hopes the two countries will settle their disputes soon and Khartoum may demand compensation before returning to talks, a Sudanese oil minister said on Sunday. The newly-independent South seized Heglig earlier this month, raising fears of an all-out war with Sudan. Tensions have mounted since South Sudan declared independence from Sudan in July, under a peace settlement that ended decades of civil war.

The Libyan National Transitional Council (NTC) must act immediately to investigate and prosecute abuses against the Tawargha community of black Libyans, said Amnesty International today, after another Tawargha man was tortured to death in a Misratah detention centre. The body of 44-year-old father of two Barnous Bous’a was delivered to his family on 16 April. It was covered with bruises and cuts, including an open wound to the back of the head.

When the US military wants to head into un-chartered, or minimally chartered territory, they call on the experts of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, or the NGA. By compiling the most current satellite imagery, existing maps, and layers of data like roads, rivers, and towns they are able to create custom maps and imagery for specific locations or events. Currently, two Geospatial Analysts from Stuttgart, Germany are mapping out the terrain for African Lion 2012 in southern Morocco. AL-12 is a bi-lateral exercise between US Marine Corps Forces, Africa, the Utah National Guard, and the Kingdom of Morocco. It's the 8th annual African Lion exercise in the country.

The continuing failure of the Nigerian state to protect the Igbo people from genocide demands new solutions to realise security and self-determination.

Armed men have rounded up top Malian officials including two presidential hopefuls, in a show of force by a junta that seized power last month, as the interim leader named a Microsoft executive as Prime Minister. Those arrested included ex-prime minister Modibo Sidibe and Soumaila Cisse, a former minister who led the West African Economic and Monetary Union until November last year. Cisse suffered an unspecified injury while fleeing his home, and was later arrested at a hospital and taken by ambulance to the junta's headquarters in Kati, near Bamako, his office said.

Barely 24 hours after James Ibori landed a 13-year jail term in the United Kingdom for money laundering, jubilation turned to anger following reports of the planned repatriation to Nigeria of the $250 million stolen by the former Delta State governor. Nigerians both at home and in Diaspora are strongly opposing plans to return the money to Delta State where the current governor, Emmanuel Uduaghan, is Ibori’s cousin and 'stooge'.

(Paris, April 12, 2012) – The French Ministry of Justice should move swiftly to issue an international arrest warrant for the son of President Teodoro Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea, EG Justice, Human Rights Watch, and SHERPA said today. On April 11, 2012, judicial sources confirmed that a French public prosecutor has endorsed the request of investigating magistrates to issue a warrant for Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue (“Teodorín”) over allegations of money laundering in connection with his lavish purchases in France.