A revised media law promised by the Rwandan government prior to and during its Universal Periodic Review at the UN Human Rights Council in 2011 fails to safeguard the right to freedom of expression and a free media, says Article 19. The State retains its control over the media in the draft Law by determining rules for its operation and defining journalists’ professional standards. Media freedoms and the right to freedom of expression are not safeguarded and can be restricted in violation of international law due to overbroad definitions and the creation of vaguely defined prohibitions.

On 8 January 1912, South African intellectuals - including pioneering black newspaper publishers Pixley ka Isaka Seme, editor of Abantu-Batho, and John Langalibalele Dube, editor of Ilanga lase Natal - formed Africa's oldest liberation movement, the African National Congress (ANC), in the Wesleyan Church in Bloemfontein. During centennial commemorations of this event, twitter users made the #ANC100 hash tag a global trend. The lively social media debate illustrated both the discomfort many Africans feel toward criticism of their leaders, and the role as scapegoat that the media is currently playing as the ANC struggles to hold onto a decisively positive legacy, says this Committee to Protect Journalists post.

It would be hard to find a better symbol of media repression in Africa than Eskinder Nega. The veteran Ethiopian journalist and dissident blogger has been detained at least seven times by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi's government over the past two decades, and was put back in jail on 14 September 2011, after he published a column calling for the government to respect freedom of speech and freedom of assembly and to end torture in prisons. Eskinder now faces terrorism charges, and if convicted could face the death sentence. He's not alone: Ethiopia currently has seven journalists behind bars. More journalists have fled Ethiopia over the past decade than any other country in the world, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

A new Institute of Development Studies short film examines how the British media portray poverty in developing countries. 'Famine, War and Corruption: The British Media’s Portrayal of the Global South' features interviews with journalists and filmmakers, including Jon Snow (journalist and news presenter, ITN), Caroline Nursey (director, BBC Media Action) and Richard Kavuma (journalist, The Observer, Uganda).

The articles in Issue 38 of Forced Migration Review cover the positive and the negative aspects of the spread of technologies; the increased accountability, and the increased scope for controlling displaced people; the opening up through the internet of possibilities beyond the traditional confines of life as a displaced person, and the risks and dangers that that brings; and the potential in technological advances for assistance and protection programmes.

The Angolan government has warned Namibians living illegally in that country to get their papers in order. Namibians living or grazing their cattle in the Cunene and Quando Cubango provinces bordering Namibia have been urged to apply for residence permits to have legal status in Angola. This was done at a meeting held at Olupale in Quando Cubango Province which was attended by Namibians and Angolans and was addressed by the Cunene Province governor, Antonio Ndidalelwa.

Coca-Cola has been accused of supporting the regime of Swaziland dictator King Mswati III. The Swaziland Democracy Campaign, an organisation that aims to depose Africa's last absolute monarch, has called on the multi-billion dollar drinks giant to pull out of the country immediately. The US-based beverage firm owns a manufacturing plant in Swaziland - its biggest facility in Africa.

Just over 55 years ago, on New Year's Eve 1957, trailblazing South African journalist Henry Nxumalo was murdered while investigating suspicious deaths at an abortion clinic in Sophiatown, a suburb west of Johannesburg. Nxumalo's short-lived journalism career was remarkable - he operated as one of the first black journalists under apartheid and pioneered undercover investigative journalism in South Africa.

Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology (MMUST) Annual Conference for 2012 will be hosted by the Faculty of Education and Social Sciences (FESS) on the theme ‘Action Research in Higher Education and Development in Africa’. The Conference seeks deeper understanding of people, places and processes in action research and their impact on development in Africa.

Two Swedish photojournalists have been convicted by an Ethiopian court for supporting terrorism, but the Committee to Protect Journalists contends they are the victims of a politicised trial.

The Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights (EOHR) issued a press release condemning the targeting of media personnel in Egypt, who have received death threats via text message for their work in exposing government corruption. EOHR reports that Adel Hamouda, the editor-in-chief of Al-Fagr newspaper, Madi al-Gallad, the editor-in-chief of Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper, Amr Al Lithy, the presenter of the '90 Minutes' talk show, and Lamis Al Hadidi, the presenter of the 'Hona Al Asima' talk show, all received death threats via text message on 13 December.

Malawi police on 18 December stormed a stage on which a play was being performed, and led the play's main actor away into a waiting police van. According to posts on Facebook, the play is titled 'Semo' produced by Lions Theatre. The lead actor in the play is Thlupego Kaluli Mgawa Chisiza. According to Nyasa Times reporter, Semo is a Moses-like leader who saved a historic nation from oppression. The play is set in the increasingly undemocratic Republic of Kwacha which is plagued by learned advisors who praise an increasingly oppressive king to safeguard their positions.

The latest issue of the South Bulletin has two major main issues: The Durban Climate Conference, and the WTO's 8th Ministerial Conference, both held in December 2011. The Durban conference has given rise to a new round of climate change negotiations, which will start in 2012 and is scheduled to end in 2015. At the WTO's Ministerial Conference in Geneva, there was (in contrast to Durban) a calm and relaxed atmosphere. But there were also many issues that divided the countries, mainly on North-South lines. The South Bulletin provides preliminary analyses of these two major events.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) in conjunction with the Rory Peck Trust recently hosted a conference in Nairobi to improve assistance to the region's journalists in exile. Around 50 participants, including representatives of international and regional human rights advocacy organisations, press freedom groups, and journalists in exile, gathered at the Fairview Hotel to consider better strategies for emergency assistance.

At least 43 journalists were killed around the world in direct relation to their work in 2011, with the seven deaths in Pakistan marking the heaviest losses in a single nation. Libya and Iraq, each with five fatalities, and Mexico, with three deaths, also ranked high worldwide for journalism-related fatalities. The global tally is consistent with the toll recorded in 2010, when 44 journalists died in connection with their work

In this episode, Africa Today interviews Kambale Musavuli from Friends of the Congo on the DRC elections and talks with Hank Jones of the San Francisco 8 on the campaign to free political prisoners Jalil Muntaqim and Herman Bell.

Three staff members from the Media Monitoring Project of Zimbabwe (MMPZ) were finally set free on Friday by the High Court in Bulawayo. They had been arrested and detained two weeks ago. Fadzai December, Molly Chimhanda and Gilbert Mabusa were arrested in Gwanda over allegations that they held an ‘unsanctioned’ meeting at which they distributed DVD’s that contained ‘subversive material likely to cause public disorder.’

Algeria's People's National Assembly passed a controversial new media law on 14 December, despite opposition from journalists and many politicians. Although the act does away with prison sentences for journalists, opens up the audio-visual sector to private companies and includes a provision for new authorities to govern the press, it also places numerous restrictions on the free exercise of reporters, particularly in terms of access to sources of information.

Although Hosni Mubarak was forced to step down in February 2011, the uprisings in Egypt continue. While the uniting rallying cry may have been against dictatorship, the struggle in Egypt that took headlines across the world in early 2011 reflected deeper social, political, and economic problems. The key demands of the revolution have still not been met. The continuation of military rule and the promise of more neoliberal economic policies lead many to believe it will be a long battle. Protestors in Egypt are hopeful, however, as people all over the world revolt against an economic system that benefits the few at the expense of the many. This short documentary looks at the economic factors that led to the revolution, the reality of living under military rule, and brings up questions over the legitimacy of the current elections.

Clinics and specially trained police units work in conjunction in Zimbabwe to provide medical and legal assistance to rape victims, following a protocol that eventually leads to the justice system. But many victims say that although they make sure to seek medical attention at clinics, they refuse to report the incidences to the police for reasons ranging from fear their family members will find out to a lack of faith in the legal and justice systems.