Ghana-based sub-regional press freedom body Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) has said that some students in Mali ransacked a private radio station, 'Radio Kayira', destroyed broadcasting equipment worth about FCFA 18 million approximately (US$3,571,950), and stole more than FCFA 2 million (about US$398,556) in cash.

In this audio recording from Chatham House, Pa'gan Amum, Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) Secretary General and Chief Negotiator of the Republic of South Sudan discusses the increased tensions between Sudan and South Sudan and gives his thoughts about how to solve the pressing issues of security, oil revenue sharing and border demarcation in order to prevent further deterioration in relations.

The much anticipated reconciliation talks between President Alassane Ouattara’s ruling party coalition and opposition parties ended much like they began: with the party of former President Laurent Gbagbo, the Ivorian Popular Front (FPI), conditioning future engagement on the release of Laurent Gbagbo and the other former party leaders in detention. These preconditions not only expose the FPI political elite’s contempt for the thousands of victims of often heinous forms of political violence, but also reinforce the perception that the party remains more interested in hard-line politics than in helping end the root causes of the country’s grave human rights abuses.

The conviction of a prominent member of Equatorial Guinea’s beleaguered political opposition is a travesty of justice, Human Rights Watch said. A trial court in the city of Bata found Wenceslao Mansogo Alo, a medical doctor, guilty of professional negligence and sentenced him to three years in prison in a politically motivated trial.

Abuzar Al Amin, former deputy editor-in-chief of Rai Al Shaab, a Sudanese newspaper affiliated with the opposition Popular Congress Party, was arrested in May 2010. He was convicted and sentenced to five year’s imprisonment. Abuzar Al Amin was finally released on bail on 22 August 2011. However, the charges against him have not been dropped and he has not been brought before a court. As a result, he is currently limited in his capacity to work due to the risk of re-arrest.

The new Constitution of Egypt is on the verge of being drafted. In order to support the forthcoming work of the drafters, ARTICLE 19 has produced a comprehensive policy brief outlining how the new Constitution should protect the right to freedom of expression and freedom of information. The brief is based on international legal standards on freedom of expression, including the decisions of international and regional human rights courts as well as the authoritative interpretation of international human rights law by the UN Human Rights Committee, regional mechanisms and other bodies, such as the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression.

Following World Press Freedom Day on 3 May, Reporters Without Borders has taken a look at the breaches of freedom of news and information in Nigeria during the first quarter of 2012. During the period in question, Reporters Without Borders recorded: the murder of one journalist, the killing of another with no proof that it was linked to the victim’s work, nine assaults, seven arrests, three journalists threatened, four instances of seizure of equipment or deletion of files, three cases of access to information being cut off, three court cases against journalists and news organisations, the closure of a press centre and a media outlet’s premises vandalised.

Hundreds of representatives of free media are getting ready to go to Rio de Janeiro, in June 2012, to help to prepare the Peoples’ Summit at Rio+20, a parallel event to the UN Conference on sustainable development. They will work to spread the voice of the people gathered at the Summit, who instead of talking about the management of the environment by economic power, will speak about the ways for the environmental and social justice.

At UNCTAD XIII recently held in Doha, a united front of the BRICS, the G77 and China, supported by intense NGO lobbying and a highly publicised letter from former senior UNCTAD staff (including several from the Caribbean), successfully resisted efforts by the Global North to retsrict the agency’s critical work linking trade, development and the global financial and economic crisis. Was it a victory for the South, or a draw? Visit the page through the link provided for three perspectives on the meeting:
- Victory for the South by Deborah James
- Draw at Doha by Vijay Prashad
- South wins battle for new UNCTAD mandate by Martin Khor.

SocMed invites students to apply for the fourth annual course Beyond the Biologic Basis of Disease: The Social and Economic Causation of Illness, a social medicine immersion experience conducted on-site at Lacor Hospital in Gulu, Uganda from January 7, 2013 to February 1, 2013. This unique immersion course incorporates innovative teaching methodologies to merge teaching of clinical tropical medicine with understanding the socioeconomic, cultural, political, and historical underpinnings of illness. Visit for more information about the course, its directors and guest lecturers, and SocMed. Questions can be sent to [email][email protected]

On April 26, former Liberian President Charles Taylor was convicted by the UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone on 11 counts of war crimes, crimes against humanity and violations of international law for aiding and abetting rebels from 1996-2002 in Sierra Leone’s 11-year civil war. Immediately after the verdict, announced on the eve of Sierra Leone's 51st Independence Day, emotions ranged from excitement to disappointment, showing the complexity of the case.

In a special co-production by SOAS Radio and Pambazuka News, our presenter Robtel Pailey was in the Hague, interviewing Brenda Hollis and Stephen Rapp, current and former chief prosecutors of the Special Court for Sierra Leone; Courtenay Griffiths, Taylor’s defense attorney; Sharon Taylor, Taylor’s daughter; Hawa Momoh and Abu Duffae, Sierra Leoneans who witnessed the verdict with anticipation; and A. Fasu Kanneh, a Liberian resident in the Hague who worked with Taylor in 1980s Liberia. We discuss whether or not Charles Taylor’s verdict is an indication of selective justice, as argued by the defense, or a victory for international justice, as argued by the prosecution.

ZANU PF’s information minister Webster Shamu has threatened a crackdown on the independent media in the country warning that 'the gloves may soon be off'. Shamu was speaking at a Zimbabwe Media Commission (ZMC) function in Harare that was meant to celebrate World Press Freedom Day.

The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) and the Tunisian Center for Freedom of the Press have announced a training directory entitled 'Internet and Freedom of Expression'. It is the first Arabic directory containing six of the social media websites and online blogs with an explanation of how to design campaigns over the internet. This was in the occassion of International Day for the freedom of the press in Tunisia.

At least 18 journalists have been assaulted, injured, or arrested in the past three days (from 5 May), while covering clashes between protesters and thugs and uniformed military personnel in front of the defense ministry in the neighbourhood of Abbassiya in Cairo. The report comes from the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

This hour-long video on the Ndifuna Ukwazi blog contains an interview with Doron Issacs from Equal Education. The video looks at the origins of the organisation. 'The Equal Education approach was to set up youth meetings to get young people to determine what issues were important and what hindered their performance at schools. These evolved into campaigns and activities geared to educating communities and parents on the education system, how to understand their rights and how to work with the education authorities to fix the problems that emerge.'

Swaziland is at position 168 among 197 nations in the world for media freedom in a survey just published by Freedom House. The kingdom, ruled by King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, is at number 40 among 49 countries in Africa. Freedom House concludes that the media in Swaziland is ‘not free’.

'The World According to Monsanto' is a full length documentary about biotech company Monsanto's control over the seed and food chain. It can be viewed through the weblink provided.

The East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Network has welcomed two resolutions adopted by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) raising concerns about the situation of journalists in Somalia and Ethiopia. The 51st Ordinary Session of the ACHPR that took place in Banjul, The Gambia, began on 18th April and concluded 2 May 2012. Members of the East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Network (EHAHRD-Net) and its secretariat actively participated in the Commission session, as well as the NGO Forum that took place on 14th-16th April.

As Uganda joined the global community in marking World Press Freedom Day, research shows that some media houses in the country have caved in to pressure from the State and no longer report on critical issues affecting the country. Speaking at the release of a report titled: ‘Media Liberalisation in Uganda: Threatening Journalists’ Rights and Freedom’, in Kampala, Mulindwa Mukasa, the executive board chairperson of Human Rights Network for Journalists (HRNJ) said: 'During the Buganda riots, media houses were closed while others were sternly warned to desist from covering the events of the riots. This forced some media houses to lay-off objective journalists and replace them with less critical ones.'

Nega’s wife, who has been jailed herself for her journalism, said she was accepting the award on behalf of her husband “at a time when freedom of expression and press freedoms are at the lowest point in Ethiopia.”